On December 6, 2010 - 1991 Heisman Trophy Winner Desmond Howard, on behalf of the Heisman Trophy Trust, announced this evening the finalists for the 76th Annual Heisman Memorial Trophy on ESPN's 6pm EST edition of SportsCenter. The four finalists for this year's award are University of Oregon running back LaMichael James, Stanford University quarterback Andrew Luck, Boise State University quarterback Kellen Moore and Auburn University quarterback Cam Newton.
All four finalists will be invited to New York for the live Heisman Trophy announcement on Saturday, December 11, which will air on ESPN at 8pm EST presented by Nissan North America. For the third straight year, two finalists will face each other in the BCS National Championship Game as James will go up against Newton on January 10, 2011.
James is looking to take home Oregon's first Heisman Trophy award. The sophomore rushed for 1,682 yards, averaging 6.0 yards per carry. He finished the season with 21 rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown. James leads the nation in average rushing yards per game with 152.9. James broke the Pac-10 record for rushing yards by a sophomore and ranks second on Oregon's single-season rushing list, 40 yards away from equaling Jonathan Stewart's record. James holds the Oregon single-season record for most rushing touchdowns scored.
Luck would be Stanford's second Heisman winner. Jim Plunkett won the award in 1970. This season, Luck passed for 3,051 yards and 28 touchdowns. He also rushed for three touchdowns. Luck holds the Stanford school record for single-season touchdown passes and total yards on offense (3,489). The junior is one of four quarterbacks in school history to throw for over 3,000 yards in a single season. Luck is also on pace to set single-season records for completion percentage and passing efficiency rating.
Moore is the first Boise State player to be named a Heisman finalist. Moore finished seventh in the 2009 Heisman Trophy voting. This season, Moore passed for 3,506 yards and 33 touchdowns. Moore has broken school records for career completions (803), passing yards (10,528) and touchdowns (97). Moore is one of five active players with 10,000 passing yards and is the only junior on the list. Moore is also one of four Broncos to throw for at least 3,000 yards in a season, and is the only one to do so three times.
Newton attempts to become Auburn's third Heisman winner, following in the footsteps of Pat Sullivan (1971) and Bo Jackson (1985). This season, Newton passed for 2,589 yards and 28 touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,419 yards and 20 touchdowns. Newton is the first SEC player to ever throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a single season. He also became only the second player in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history to throw and run for 20-plus touchdowns in a single season, joining 2007 Heisman Trophy Winner Tim Tebow.
The Heisman Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding college football player in the United States as determined by 870 media representatives from six regions across the country, every living Heisman winner and one overall fan vote through a partnership with Nissan North America, Heisman's presenting sponsor.
"This year's finalists have had an extraordinary year on the football field and we're excited to welcome them to New York for what should be an exciting and memorable weekend for each of the finalists," said Robert Whalen, Executive Director of The Heisman Trophy Trust. "The Heisman Fraternity is an elite group and it will be an honor to celebrate the newest member this weekend."
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Suspended Or Not, The Cam Newton Investigation Is Everything That's Wrong With The NCAA
For two weeks now, the media has descended on Auburn, Starkville, Gainesville, and everywhere in between, all looking for the same thing: Proof that Cam Newton did something wrong. But if he did take money, is that really "wrong"? Whether Cam Newton gets suspended by the NCAA, or he continues to play and Auburn wins the National Championship two months from now, the damage has been done.
The furor that's emerged over Newton's eligibility has already brought out the worst in us, exposing the dark side of maybe the most purely jubilant sport in the universe. It's sad, because really, the game itself is like nothing you'll find anywhere else in sports. The fans, the food, the celebration—it all fits so perfectly next to college football, a sport full of mind-bending trickery, eye-popping athleticism, show-stopping cheerleaders, heart-stopping endings, all of producing a flurry life-defining memories.
That sounds like hyperbole, but I'll always remember exactly where I was when Texas beat USC. When Ed Reed saved Miami against Boston College. When USC snuck past Notre Dame as time expired in 2005. When Boise State fooled Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Or when Cam Newton single-handedly destroyed LSU's defense on this run three weeks ago. And it all happens against a vivid backdrop of familiar faces and festive traditions that make it that much more irresistible.
At a bare minimum, college football gives us vast spectrum of colors and characters and shapes and sounds that just don't exist in any other corner of the sports universe. Whether it's the sound of Verne Lundquist on a Saturday afternoon, the charm of Les Miles' transparent lunacy, or the hypnotic sound bytes from insanely biased fans that call in to radio shows like Paul Finebaum's, it's all something to cherish.
But then, looking at the Cam Newton ordeal, watching this all unfold, it's been hard to reconcile the game we love with the people that bring it to us. First, a source says a different source allegedly sought payment in exchange for Newton's commitment this past year, and next thing you know, reporters are shaking every bush from from Gainesville to Starkville to try and dig up something that might incriminate a 21 year-old kid.
Next thing you know, we're ignoring privacy laws to prove that a college kid cheated on a term paper. Next thing you know, we hear the FBI is getting involved. Next thing you know, ESPN's quoting off-the-record sources quoting a kid's father who reportedly said that recruiters should talk to yet another source—four degrees of separation from the college athlete at this point--and that somehow makes the case against Newton more convincing.
Next thing you know, CBS' SEC halftime show becomes a soliloquy about integrity, with Spencer Tillman talking of a father selling his son. "This is so disappointing to me," he said. "Sport merely reflects what's going on in society ... And we're losing our moral compass."
...And here we are. Pretending this doesn't happen all the time, pretending that it shouldn't happen at all, and waxing poetic about some grand ideal that doesn't (and shouldn't) exist anywhere else in America. It's the one aspect of this eccentric little world that's not charming in the least. It's cruel and exploitative. But most of all, the attitude of the media is just insulting.
Basically, they've taken word-of-mouth testimony from transparently shaky sources and used that as an excuse to execute a witch hunt against the most famous player in college football. And that would be fine, but not when you consider how many rumors these guys hear every day about this guy who took that, or that guy who took this. The rumors are everywhere, and completely believable.
For instance, about six months ago, a source told me that in 2008, Tyreke Evans took $50,000 to commit to Memphis. A day later, according to the source, a man from the University of Memphis showed up at his door with a list of things that Evans couldn't spend the money on. No jewelry. No TVs. No cars. No rims. These sort of things. Apparently, the list is standard issue for all of the players that are "taken care of" in this way.
The same source told me that he heard from another source that Julio Jones, the superstar receiver from Alabama, had taken $80,000 to commit to the Tide. "Everybody gets paid," he explained.
The whole thing just spits in the face of what college sports are supposed to be about. It makes me sick, really. And you know wh—wait, what? You want to know more about my source? You want proof that those guys took something? You want facts, names, and bank statements?
But... But... Haven't we spent the past five days convicting Cam Newton with circumstantial evidence and second-hand, anonymous sourcing? Hold on a second.
Sources ... off-the-record requests ... third parties with more specifics ... Isn't this how the game is played? What makes my Tyreke story any less legitimate than ESPN's? What if I told you my source was a professional athlete? Would that make a difference?
It shouldn't.
My "reporting" here is as ambiguous and inconclusive as anything that's been said over the past 10 days about Cam Newton. But if I worked for ESPN or the New York Times, maybe my word would be enough. Even the guys in Blue Chips did more legwork to fill in the backstory.
Indeed, if we're going to talk about why Cam Newton embodies everything that's wrong with college sports, we need to say this up front: More damning than any evidence against Newton is the blatant hypocrisy we've seen from the mainstream media. For instance, back in August, when a young reporter from the Chicago Sun-Times cited "a reliable source" suggesting John Calipari (Tyreke Evans' old coach) paid $200,000 to a new recruit, it prompted members of the college basketball establishment to start crowing about journalism:
But when different outlets build a report around the off-the-record testimony of anonymous sources at a school that Cam Newton rejected—exactly what happened with the Calipari story above—apparently we all need to take a closer look. And suddenly, instead of journalism's soul, we're focused on that of the SEC.
It's all indicative of a double-standard that underpins this entire discussion. When it comes to policing college athletics, the NCAA is bad enough. But its symbiotic, sniveling national media deserves just as much blame for any hypocrisy here.
Basically, depending on the source, they go back and forth between "don't ask don't tell" and "shoot first, ask questions later." And for the past week, for some reason, everyone decided that Cam Newton's reputation and character needed to get assassinated.
I wouldn't have the gall to call my Tyreke Evans news anything other than exactly what is—a rumor. Until there's proof, it's nothing more than a conversation starter at cocktail parties. But then, that's me. With some college sports journalists, the audacity of the NCAA's hypocrisy has trickled down to their level. And that's how someone like Cam Newton can get crucified without a shred of proof. It's cruel, insulting, and horribly exploitative.
And Spencer Tillman? The CBS talking head expressing shock and dismay over the Cam Newton scandal? His college team, Oklahoma, was infamous for its corruption, crime, and scores of scandals that ultimately led to NCAA probation three years after Tillman won a National Title. How can somebody so obviously versed in the underbelly of the NCAA get sanctimonious about a kid getting paid, or a father looking out for his family? The audacity knows no bounds.
Now, speaking of boundless, audacious hypocrisy, let's move on the NCAA!
While the vultures swarmed around Cam Newton last week, the NCAA quietly suspended Kentucky freshman Enes Kanter, explaining in a press release, "Kanter played three seasons with the Turkish sport club Fenerbahce from 2006-07 to 2008-09. Although he competed primarily for the club’s under-18 junior team, he did compete on the club’s senior team in 2008-09. According to facts agreed to by the university and the NCAA Eligibility Center, Kanter received $33,033 more than his expenses for the 2008-09 season."
As NCAA Spokesman Kevin Lennon said, "the consequences of receiving payments above his actual expenses is not compatible with the collegiate model of sports that our members have developed."
Indeed, in the same sport that inked a television contract worth 10.8 billion dollars just a few months ago, $33,000 will knock you out of the game. Even if you grew up in Turkey, far removed from the NCAA's jurisdiction, where only real laws matter. Even if your coach makes as much as $50,000 to make a speech, $33,000 is just not compatible with the collegiate model.
Welcome to the life of Enes Kanter, and any other big time college athlete. In college football, it's no different. Should Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers make the BCS Title Game, there's a $9 million payout that gets divided among SEC schools. When Alabama won the 2009 National Championship, $1.3 million was distributed among its coaching staff. The money doesn't stop there, of course. The director of this year's title game, John Junker, netted $600,000 in 2009 for ... doing what, exactly?
Didn't the athletes sell the game for Junker?
Didn't Alabama's athletes win the national title for their coaches?
Ah, but that's the beauty of college football and college basketball, the only Big Businesses in the world that operate on the strength of completely free labor. It's supply-and-demand economics, where the players supply everything for free, and the demand gets bigger every year. There will be 73,000 tickets at this year's title game, and not one will be on sale to the public. Schools will spend a small fortune buying up their share, with the rest to be distributed among corporate sponsors.
Because the NCAA has "friends of the program" too, ready to slip them cash to feel like part of the team. But when someone like John Junker is accepting free money, it's called good business, and he gets a raise on the salary that makes no sense to begin with.
When you break down the model, as Bloomberg explains—you know, an outlet used to covering actual businesses that operate under rational economics—Cam Newton is a bargain:
So if Cam Newton took money to play at Auburn, then good for him. He should have asked for more. Big time athletes, particularly football stars, have no idea whether they'll one day make it to the pros to earn the payday that changes their family's life. Just as often, a big time recruit like Marcus Dupree can fall victim to injuries that defer the dream for good.
If you're a big time recruit, it would be insane not to exploit whatever leverage you might have. Lord knows, if a recruit pans out as expected, schools and networks and sponsors will return the favor:
Looking at the Cam Newton investigation, you might say, "Where there's this much smoke, there's probably fire." And that's fine. Cam Newton probably took money to play football in the SEC. But if he did, he's definitely not the only one. And when it comes to looking for the "fire" in college sports, you have to remember, there is smoke EVERYWHERE. This is college sports, where cheating has gone on for sixty years. But the NCAA and its attendant media would rather ignore the forest and focus on the trees. So amidst all the smoke, the burning bush goes ignored.
That's how, instead of anything resembling enlightenment, we get stuck submitting to the NCAA's dark ages-ideals, bowing at the foot of false prophets who make money hand over fist selling this stuff to the masses, all while exploiting some fetishized ideal of an era in amateurism that never existed, asking us to believe that it makes perfect sense for athletes to generate billions and win nothing in return.
Of course, a religion can't have a "Good" without establishing "Evil", so along the way, it becomes advantageous for the religion to turn someone like Cam Newton or his father into a villain. Indeed, in the same sport that holds Bear Bryant as a God, even as he paid players and exploited the system at every turn, it somehow has become okay to look at Reggie Bush or Cam Newton as cancerous.
See, when you break it down in abstract terms, the NCAA and the people abetting its policies have a lot in common with some of the worst, most manipulative religions and dictatorships we've ever seen. The NCAA isn't Al-Qaeda, but it's an institution founded on exploitation that perpetrates itself with alternating doses of audacious rationalization and moral zealotry. They thrive by indoctrinating teenagers too naive to know better with backwards ideology too entrenched to question, with propagandist spokesman from the media, ready to pounce at the first hint of dissent.
So... Put it this way. Among governing bodies, the NCAA's more Al-Qaeda than All-America. And the media? The people that know the truth and ignore all this in favor of prosecuting Cam Newton? These people are aiding and abetting the backwards ideologues behind it all.
Regardless of whether the NCAA suspends Cam Newton or his conviction remains confined to the media, all of it perpetuates the same perverse logic, and it's all just sad. College football is so great in so many different ways, but then there's this dark side. And when it's exposed for what it is—as happens every few years—rather than point fingers at the relatively anonymous bureaucrats and journalists upholding this sham of a system, we point toward people like Reggie Bush, or John Calipari, or anyone else alleged to have skirted the rules of the NCAA's backward religion.
And now everyone's pointing at Cam and Cecil Newton, using the sermon of some snake like John Bond as an excuse to demonize the only folks here who dared exercise common sense. They've done the same to Enes Kanter, who might have carried Kentucky to the Final Four and a giant pile of cash. Same with A.J. Green, the Georgia superstar that was suspended for selling his jersey. The same jersey of which Georgia sells eight different versions, with profits going to the NCAA, the school, and Nike.
The really sad thing about people blinded by the NCAA's rhetoric and disappointed in Cam Newton is that Spencer Tillman is right. All of this is reflection of society's values. A free market society where exceptional talent gets rewarded, parents fight for the rights of their kids, and hard work prospers. Indeed, it seems obvious that someone like Cam Newton should command a commission on the profits he's made for Auburn and the SEC this season. But then... That's just the point.
For all the purity of college sports' appeal, among the NCAA dictators and all the media, sponsors, and networks professionally invested in selling it to us, not unlike a cult, there's only one rule that everyone really follows: Common sense can't win.
The furor that's emerged over Newton's eligibility has already brought out the worst in us, exposing the dark side of maybe the most purely jubilant sport in the universe. It's sad, because really, the game itself is like nothing you'll find anywhere else in sports. The fans, the food, the celebration—it all fits so perfectly next to college football, a sport full of mind-bending trickery, eye-popping athleticism, show-stopping cheerleaders, heart-stopping endings, all of producing a flurry life-defining memories.
That sounds like hyperbole, but I'll always remember exactly where I was when Texas beat USC. When Ed Reed saved Miami against Boston College. When USC snuck past Notre Dame as time expired in 2005. When Boise State fooled Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Or when Cam Newton single-handedly destroyed LSU's defense on this run three weeks ago. And it all happens against a vivid backdrop of familiar faces and festive traditions that make it that much more irresistible.
At a bare minimum, college football gives us vast spectrum of colors and characters and shapes and sounds that just don't exist in any other corner of the sports universe. Whether it's the sound of Verne Lundquist on a Saturday afternoon, the charm of Les Miles' transparent lunacy, or the hypnotic sound bytes from insanely biased fans that call in to radio shows like Paul Finebaum's, it's all something to cherish.
But then, looking at the Cam Newton ordeal, watching this all unfold, it's been hard to reconcile the game we love with the people that bring it to us. First, a source says a different source allegedly sought payment in exchange for Newton's commitment this past year, and next thing you know, reporters are shaking every bush from from Gainesville to Starkville to try and dig up something that might incriminate a 21 year-old kid.
Next thing you know, we're ignoring privacy laws to prove that a college kid cheated on a term paper. Next thing you know, we hear the FBI is getting involved. Next thing you know, ESPN's quoting off-the-record sources quoting a kid's father who reportedly said that recruiters should talk to yet another source—four degrees of separation from the college athlete at this point--and that somehow makes the case against Newton more convincing.
Next thing you know, CBS' SEC halftime show becomes a soliloquy about integrity, with Spencer Tillman talking of a father selling his son. "This is so disappointing to me," he said. "Sport merely reflects what's going on in society ... And we're losing our moral compass."
...And here we are. Pretending this doesn't happen all the time, pretending that it shouldn't happen at all, and waxing poetic about some grand ideal that doesn't (and shouldn't) exist anywhere else in America. It's the one aspect of this eccentric little world that's not charming in the least. It's cruel and exploitative. But most of all, the attitude of the media is just insulting.
Basically, they've taken word-of-mouth testimony from transparently shaky sources and used that as an excuse to execute a witch hunt against the most famous player in college football. And that would be fine, but not when you consider how many rumors these guys hear every day about this guy who took that, or that guy who took this. The rumors are everywhere, and completely believable.
For instance, about six months ago, a source told me that in 2008, Tyreke Evans took $50,000 to commit to Memphis. A day later, according to the source, a man from the University of Memphis showed up at his door with a list of things that Evans couldn't spend the money on. No jewelry. No TVs. No cars. No rims. These sort of things. Apparently, the list is standard issue for all of the players that are "taken care of" in this way.
The same source told me that he heard from another source that Julio Jones, the superstar receiver from Alabama, had taken $80,000 to commit to the Tide. "Everybody gets paid," he explained.
The whole thing just spits in the face of what college sports are supposed to be about. It makes me sick, really. And you know wh—wait, what? You want to know more about my source? You want proof that those guys took something? You want facts, names, and bank statements?
But... But... Haven't we spent the past five days convicting Cam Newton with circumstantial evidence and second-hand, anonymous sourcing? Hold on a second.
Sources ... off-the-record requests ... third parties with more specifics ... Isn't this how the game is played? What makes my Tyreke story any less legitimate than ESPN's? What if I told you my source was a professional athlete? Would that make a difference?
It shouldn't.
My "reporting" here is as ambiguous and inconclusive as anything that's been said over the past 10 days about Cam Newton. But if I worked for ESPN or the New York Times, maybe my word would be enough. Even the guys in Blue Chips did more legwork to fill in the backstory.
Indeed, if we're going to talk about why Cam Newton embodies everything that's wrong with college sports, we need to say this up front: More damning than any evidence against Newton is the blatant hypocrisy we've seen from the mainstream media. For instance, back in August, when a young reporter from the Chicago Sun-Times cited "a reliable source" suggesting John Calipari (Tyreke Evans' old coach) paid $200,000 to a new recruit, it prompted members of the college basketball establishment to start crowing about journalism:
But when different outlets build a report around the off-the-record testimony of anonymous sources at a school that Cam Newton rejected—exactly what happened with the Calipari story above—apparently we all need to take a closer look. And suddenly, instead of journalism's soul, we're focused on that of the SEC.
It's all indicative of a double-standard that underpins this entire discussion. When it comes to policing college athletics, the NCAA is bad enough. But its symbiotic, sniveling national media deserves just as much blame for any hypocrisy here.
Basically, depending on the source, they go back and forth between "don't ask don't tell" and "shoot first, ask questions later." And for the past week, for some reason, everyone decided that Cam Newton's reputation and character needed to get assassinated.
I wouldn't have the gall to call my Tyreke Evans news anything other than exactly what is—a rumor. Until there's proof, it's nothing more than a conversation starter at cocktail parties. But then, that's me. With some college sports journalists, the audacity of the NCAA's hypocrisy has trickled down to their level. And that's how someone like Cam Newton can get crucified without a shred of proof. It's cruel, insulting, and horribly exploitative.
And Spencer Tillman? The CBS talking head expressing shock and dismay over the Cam Newton scandal? His college team, Oklahoma, was infamous for its corruption, crime, and scores of scandals that ultimately led to NCAA probation three years after Tillman won a National Title. How can somebody so obviously versed in the underbelly of the NCAA get sanctimonious about a kid getting paid, or a father looking out for his family? The audacity knows no bounds.
Now, speaking of boundless, audacious hypocrisy, let's move on the NCAA!
While the vultures swarmed around Cam Newton last week, the NCAA quietly suspended Kentucky freshman Enes Kanter, explaining in a press release, "Kanter played three seasons with the Turkish sport club Fenerbahce from 2006-07 to 2008-09. Although he competed primarily for the club’s under-18 junior team, he did compete on the club’s senior team in 2008-09. According to facts agreed to by the university and the NCAA Eligibility Center, Kanter received $33,033 more than his expenses for the 2008-09 season."
As NCAA Spokesman Kevin Lennon said, "the consequences of receiving payments above his actual expenses is not compatible with the collegiate model of sports that our members have developed."
Indeed, in the same sport that inked a television contract worth 10.8 billion dollars just a few months ago, $33,000 will knock you out of the game. Even if you grew up in Turkey, far removed from the NCAA's jurisdiction, where only real laws matter. Even if your coach makes as much as $50,000 to make a speech, $33,000 is just not compatible with the collegiate model.
Welcome to the life of Enes Kanter, and any other big time college athlete. In college football, it's no different. Should Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers make the BCS Title Game, there's a $9 million payout that gets divided among SEC schools. When Alabama won the 2009 National Championship, $1.3 million was distributed among its coaching staff. The money doesn't stop there, of course. The director of this year's title game, John Junker, netted $600,000 in 2009 for ... doing what, exactly?
Didn't the athletes sell the game for Junker?
Didn't Alabama's athletes win the national title for their coaches?
Ah, but that's the beauty of college football and college basketball, the only Big Businesses in the world that operate on the strength of completely free labor. It's supply-and-demand economics, where the players supply everything for free, and the demand gets bigger every year. There will be 73,000 tickets at this year's title game, and not one will be on sale to the public. Schools will spend a small fortune buying up their share, with the rest to be distributed among corporate sponsors.
Because the NCAA has "friends of the program" too, ready to slip them cash to feel like part of the team. But when someone like John Junker is accepting free money, it's called good business, and he gets a raise on the salary that makes no sense to begin with.
When you break down the model, as Bloomberg explains—you know, an outlet used to covering actual businesses that operate under rational economics—Cam Newton is a bargain:
So if Cam Newton took money to play at Auburn, then good for him. He should have asked for more. Big time athletes, particularly football stars, have no idea whether they'll one day make it to the pros to earn the payday that changes their family's life. Just as often, a big time recruit like Marcus Dupree can fall victim to injuries that defer the dream for good.
If you're a big time recruit, it would be insane not to exploit whatever leverage you might have. Lord knows, if a recruit pans out as expected, schools and networks and sponsors will return the favor:
Looking at the Cam Newton investigation, you might say, "Where there's this much smoke, there's probably fire." And that's fine. Cam Newton probably took money to play football in the SEC. But if he did, he's definitely not the only one. And when it comes to looking for the "fire" in college sports, you have to remember, there is smoke EVERYWHERE. This is college sports, where cheating has gone on for sixty years. But the NCAA and its attendant media would rather ignore the forest and focus on the trees. So amidst all the smoke, the burning bush goes ignored.
That's how, instead of anything resembling enlightenment, we get stuck submitting to the NCAA's dark ages-ideals, bowing at the foot of false prophets who make money hand over fist selling this stuff to the masses, all while exploiting some fetishized ideal of an era in amateurism that never existed, asking us to believe that it makes perfect sense for athletes to generate billions and win nothing in return.
Of course, a religion can't have a "Good" without establishing "Evil", so along the way, it becomes advantageous for the religion to turn someone like Cam Newton or his father into a villain. Indeed, in the same sport that holds Bear Bryant as a God, even as he paid players and exploited the system at every turn, it somehow has become okay to look at Reggie Bush or Cam Newton as cancerous.
See, when you break it down in abstract terms, the NCAA and the people abetting its policies have a lot in common with some of the worst, most manipulative religions and dictatorships we've ever seen. The NCAA isn't Al-Qaeda, but it's an institution founded on exploitation that perpetrates itself with alternating doses of audacious rationalization and moral zealotry. They thrive by indoctrinating teenagers too naive to know better with backwards ideology too entrenched to question, with propagandist spokesman from the media, ready to pounce at the first hint of dissent.
So... Put it this way. Among governing bodies, the NCAA's more Al-Qaeda than All-America. And the media? The people that know the truth and ignore all this in favor of prosecuting Cam Newton? These people are aiding and abetting the backwards ideologues behind it all.
Regardless of whether the NCAA suspends Cam Newton or his conviction remains confined to the media, all of it perpetuates the same perverse logic, and it's all just sad. College football is so great in so many different ways, but then there's this dark side. And when it's exposed for what it is—as happens every few years—rather than point fingers at the relatively anonymous bureaucrats and journalists upholding this sham of a system, we point toward people like Reggie Bush, or John Calipari, or anyone else alleged to have skirted the rules of the NCAA's backward religion.
And now everyone's pointing at Cam and Cecil Newton, using the sermon of some snake like John Bond as an excuse to demonize the only folks here who dared exercise common sense. They've done the same to Enes Kanter, who might have carried Kentucky to the Final Four and a giant pile of cash. Same with A.J. Green, the Georgia superstar that was suspended for selling his jersey. The same jersey of which Georgia sells eight different versions, with profits going to the NCAA, the school, and Nike.
The really sad thing about people blinded by the NCAA's rhetoric and disappointed in Cam Newton is that Spencer Tillman is right. All of this is reflection of society's values. A free market society where exceptional talent gets rewarded, parents fight for the rights of their kids, and hard work prospers. Indeed, it seems obvious that someone like Cam Newton should command a commission on the profits he's made for Auburn and the SEC this season. But then... That's just the point.
For all the purity of college sports' appeal, among the NCAA dictators and all the media, sponsors, and networks professionally invested in selling it to us, not unlike a cult, there's only one rule that everyone really follows: Common sense can't win.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Cameron Newton's Heisman Hopes Slimming According to some...but not me
This weeks bye gives Cameron Newton and the auburn tigers a much needed break on the field... But off the field, Newton will not be so lucky.
Media reports surrounding a possible pay for play scandal involving Cameron Newton will only intensify as the Iron Bowl nears.
And while Auburn fans have their sights set on a possible national title the most coveted individual award may be lost.
CBS sportswriter Dennis Dodd tells CBS 42 that negative reports surrounding Cameron Newton are costing the Heisman hopeful much needed votes.
Dodd is a Heisman voter and says that other voters have told him that they will not support Newton.
"Given what we've gone through with Reggie Bush there's a lot of voters that think fool me once shame on you... Fool me twice shame on me. They don't want to be deceived again. I'm sure the Heisman people don't want to have to take the trophy back... So I think all that plays into it."
For the record, Dodd says he's voting for Cameron Newton unless something substantial comes out showing that Newton or his family accepted money to play college football
Media reports surrounding a possible pay for play scandal involving Cameron Newton will only intensify as the Iron Bowl nears.
And while Auburn fans have their sights set on a possible national title the most coveted individual award may be lost.
CBS sportswriter Dennis Dodd tells CBS 42 that negative reports surrounding Cameron Newton are costing the Heisman hopeful much needed votes.
Dodd is a Heisman voter and says that other voters have told him that they will not support Newton.
"Given what we've gone through with Reggie Bush there's a lot of voters that think fool me once shame on you... Fool me twice shame on me. They don't want to be deceived again. I'm sure the Heisman people don't want to have to take the trophy back... So I think all that plays into it."
For the record, Dodd says he's voting for Cameron Newton unless something substantial comes out showing that Newton or his family accepted money to play college football
Cameron Newton Leads Undefeated Auburn to 49-31 SEC Win Over Georgia
Cameron Newton scored two touchdowns and passed for two more as undefeated Auburn University, the No. 2 ranked college football team, defeated the University of Georgia 49-31.
Until the game began it wasn’t certain Newton would start as Auburn’s quarterback after ESPN reported his college choice was part of a play-for-pay recruiting plan and Fox Sports reported that he had three instances of cheating while at the University of Florida in 2007 and 2008.
Newton is “solid as a rock,” coach Chizik said in a televised interview. “He’s one of the best young men I’ve ever been around.”
The Auburn Tigers (11-0, 7-0 SEC) clinched the Southeastern Conference West championship today at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.
“Right now we deserve to be SEC champs,” Chizik said. “I cannot give enough credit to our seniors. They never sweat. We were playing sloppy in the beginning. They never get down; they stay focused.”
Newton put Auburn on the board with a 31-yard scoring run less than three minutes into the first quarter.
Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray threw for three unanswered scores, putting the Bulldogs (5-6, 3-5 SEC) ahead 21-7 at the end of the first. He completed 15 of 28 passing attempts for 273 yards.
Auburn dominated the second quarter with a 4-yard run by Onterio McCalebb, his first of three scores, and Newton’s 18- yard pass to Philip Lutzenkirchen to tie the game at 21-21 at the half.
McCalebb scored twice in the third quarter as Auburn went up 35-31. Washaun Ealey ran for seven yards for a Georgia touchdown and Blair Walsh hit a 28-yard field goal.
Newton ended the game with a 13-yard touchdown completion to Lutzenkirchen and a one-yard scoring run. He completed 12 of 15 passing attempts for 147 yards and carried 30 times for 153 yards.
Until the game began it wasn’t certain Newton would start as Auburn’s quarterback after ESPN reported his college choice was part of a play-for-pay recruiting plan and Fox Sports reported that he had three instances of cheating while at the University of Florida in 2007 and 2008.
Newton is “solid as a rock,” coach Chizik said in a televised interview. “He’s one of the best young men I’ve ever been around.”
The Auburn Tigers (11-0, 7-0 SEC) clinched the Southeastern Conference West championship today at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.
“Right now we deserve to be SEC champs,” Chizik said. “I cannot give enough credit to our seniors. They never sweat. We were playing sloppy in the beginning. They never get down; they stay focused.”
Newton put Auburn on the board with a 31-yard scoring run less than three minutes into the first quarter.
Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray threw for three unanswered scores, putting the Bulldogs (5-6, 3-5 SEC) ahead 21-7 at the end of the first. He completed 15 of 28 passing attempts for 273 yards.
Auburn dominated the second quarter with a 4-yard run by Onterio McCalebb, his first of three scores, and Newton’s 18- yard pass to Philip Lutzenkirchen to tie the game at 21-21 at the half.
McCalebb scored twice in the third quarter as Auburn went up 35-31. Washaun Ealey ran for seven yards for a Georgia touchdown and Blair Walsh hit a 28-yard field goal.
Newton ended the game with a 13-yard touchdown completion to Lutzenkirchen and a one-yard scoring run. He completed 12 of 15 passing attempts for 147 yards and carried 30 times for 153 yards.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Cameron Newton Making the Most of Opportunity at Auburn
It was just four years ago that Auburn quarterback Cameron Newton had a future laid out for him that looked to be filled with unambiguous promise and possibility.
As an Atlanta prep phenom, Newton displayed a combination of size, athleticism and all-around ability that made him one of the most coveted high school football prospects in the country.
Playing for Georgia’s Westlake High School, the 6'5", 220-lb. Newton was literally and figuratively head and shoulders above the competition he squared off against.
In his final two seasons of high school, the star dual-threat quarterback totaled over 4,500 yards of offense, and he showed he could be equally effective as both a passer and a runner.
Colleges around the South took notice pretty quickly, and the scholarship offers started pouring in from the SEC and ACC. Schools like Georgia, Virginia Tech, Ole Miss and Oklahoma all showed their interest, but it was one school in particular that stood out for the big recruit—the Florida Gators.
At the start of his senior season, Newton announced his intentions to play for Urban Meyer down in Gainesville, and he would ultimately go on to make his commitment official just a few months later on National Signing Day. The quarterback’s versatile skill set looked like the perfect fit for Meyer’s spread offense, and it was assumed that Newton would in all likelihood be the heir apparent to Tim Tebow.
Things started off strong for Newton down at Florida, where he would enroll early and eventually beat out fellow star recruit John Brantley for the backup quarterback job.
After seeing limited playing time behind Tebow as a freshman, Newton lost his grasp on the backup spot to Brantley before the start of the following season and agreed to take a redshirt year.
A few months into the 2008 season, Newton was found to be in possession of a stolen laptop that he had allegedly bought from another student. Newton panicked after police questioned him about the computer that he had painted black as a disguise and threw it out the window to try to get rid of the evidence.
He was taken into custody for the incident, and after the ordeal became public knowledge, Coach Meyer suspended him from the team indefinitely.
The suspension, coupled with a lack of playing time and the departure of offensive coordinator Dan Mullen, led the young quarterback to reevaluate his future with the Gators.
After the season concluded and Newton watched Tim Tebow carry the Gators to a national championship, he decided a fresh start would be the best decision.
Newton chose to transfer to Blinn Junior College in Texas. It was there where the quarterback was able to revive his career and gain his luster back by leading the Buccaneers to a National Junior College Championship in his only year at the school.
His performance during the season once again had Newton in the spotlight as one of the most coveted recruits in the nation. Recruiting services such as Scout and Rivals rated him as a five-star talent, and schools like Oklahoma, Kansas State, Arizona and North Carolina showed their interest.
In the end, Newton’s decision would come down to two schools: Mississippi State and Auburn.
It was at Mississippi State where Newton was offered the chance to reunite with his confidant and former coordinator Dan Mullen, who had implemented his spread attack and showed he was revitalizing a Bulldog program that had seen its fair share of tough times.
The real appeal for Newton, though, was another first-year SEC coach, Auburn’s Gene Chizik.
Chizik convinced Newton that he was the type of quarterback who could thrive in Gus Malzahn’s offense and lead the Tigers to great success.
After making the decision to come to Auburn, Newton has done just that.
2010 has proved to be a breakout year for the superbly talented junior, and now that Cam finally has his opportunity to prove his tremendous abilities to the college football world, he’s certainly making the most of it.
Through seven games of the season, Newton has paced Auburn to an undefeated record and a Top Five ranking in the country heading into this weekend’s crucial SEC West showdown with LSU.
As expected, he’s been equally as dangerous of a runner as he has been a passer and has looked downright unstoppable at times. There doesn’t seem to be a defense in the country that’s equipped to contain him.
Newton is currently one of the highest rated passers in the country and is now second amongst all college quarterbacks in total rushing behind only Michigan’s Denard Robinson.
To say that he’s made the most of his fresh start at Auburn might be the biggest understatement of the season.
Newton has proved that the past is the past and that everyone deserves a second opportunity in life. No one should be forced to have his or her talent go to waste because of a silly decision.
I know I made more mistakes in my first two years in college than the previous 18 years of my life combined. Young kids do dumb things. It’s just a fact of life.
Was Newton wrong to purchase a laptop that he most likely knew was stolen? Yes, but there have been far more terrible crimes committed.
Heck, just look at some of the shenanigans that are going on these days at Florida, Newton’s former school. Can we say that buying a stolen laptop is any worse than, say, threatening the life of your girlfriend, a crime recently committed by Gators wide receiver Chris Rainey, who is now back practicing with the team?
At this point, it really doesn’t matter.
Newton has found himself a new SEC home, and there doesn’t need to be any hostility or ill will directed toward the Gators. Things simply just didn’t work out.
All Cameron has to do now is keep playing at the level he’s already showed that he’s capable of performing at, and things will only continue to get better for him.
If we could award a Halfway Heisman Trophy, there’s no doubt in my mind that Newton should be the victor. No one has carried his respective team and willed them to success the way Newton has thus far.
Now it’s up to Cameron to keep it going because things will only get tougher. However, judging from some of the adversity he’s already faced in his college career, it seems that he’s equipped to handle whatever gets thrown at him in the second half of the season.
Cameron Newton and the Top Heisman Trophy Contenders this Season
Cameron Newton has become the face of college football quarterbacks this season as he has led his Auburn Tigers to eight straight wins so far, and he is at the top of most college football experts' Heisman watch lists.
Newton has a total of 13 touchdown completions and 14 touchdowns so far this season, and he will look to add to those stats today against Ole Miss.
Last year's Heisman winner Alabama's Mark Ingram even said that he would give his vote to Newton, and there is no arguing this Auburn quarterback's impact with the Tigers.
But who else is in the running for college football's greatest prize?
According to the ESPN Experts' Poll, the rest of the top five Heisman contenders are as follows:
2. LaMichael James, Oregon: The Oregon Ducks wouldn't have the best offense in college football without this sophomore running back, and James is responsible for 12 of the No. 2 team's touchdowns.
3. Kellen Moore, Boise State: This junior quarterback has played a key role in the Broncos' longest consecutive winning streak in college football with his 82 career touchdown completions.
4. Andrew Luck, Stanford: The Standford Cardinal has remained at the top of the Pac 10 conference (with their only loss to Oregon) with the help of this junior quarterback.
5. Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State: This week, we could see Blackmon fall out of the Heisman running as he was suspended from today's game after a DUI.
Cameron Newton has become the face of college football quarterbacks this season as he has led his Auburn Tigers to eight straight wins so far, and he is at the top of most college football experts' Heisman watch lists.
Newton has a total of 13 touchdown completions and 14 touchdowns so far this season, and he will look to add to those stats today against Ole Miss.
Last year's Heisman winner Alabama's Mark Ingram even said that he would give his vote to Newton, and there is no arguing this Auburn quarterback's impact with the Tigers.
But who else is in the running for college football's greatest prize?
According to the ESPN Experts' Poll, the rest of the top five Heisman contenders are as follows:
2. LaMichael James, Oregon: The Oregon Ducks wouldn't have the best offense in college football without this sophomore running back, and James is responsible for 12 of the No. 2 team's touchdowns.
3. Kellen Moore, Boise State: This junior quarterback has played a key role in the Broncos' longest consecutive winning streak in college football with his 82 career touchdown completions.
4. Andrew Luck, Stanford: The Standford Cardinal has remained at the top of the Pac 10 conference (with their only loss to Oregon) with the help of this junior quarterback.
5. Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State: This week, we could see Blackmon fall out of the Heisman running as he was suspended from today's game after a DUI.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Heisman Trophy Watch 2010: It's Still Cam Newton's To Lose
Examining the 2010 Heisman Trophy race, ordering the potential candidates by threat level. This week: Cam "Cameron" Newton is trying his best to stave off stiff competition from a host of other talented spread quarterbacks, and his best remains very, very good.
Cam "Cameron" Newton, QB, Auburn
The Auburn coaching staff seems to be going all-out to display Newton's versatility to Heisman Trophy voters as more than just a guy who can fall and gain three yards. He throws touchdowns! He runs for touchdowns! He catches touchdown passes! Newton attempted a season-high 24 passes against Ole Miss on Saturday, and racked up a season-high 18 completions to go with them.
Cam "Cameron" Newton, QB, Auburn
The Auburn coaching staff seems to be going all-out to display Newton's versatility to Heisman Trophy voters as more than just a guy who can fall and gain three yards. He throws touchdowns! He runs for touchdowns! He catches touchdown passes! Newton attempted a season-high 24 passes against Ole Miss on Saturday, and racked up a season-high 18 completions to go with them.
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