Barking Carnival — Blog — Why Not Deal With Street Agents? Why Does the SEC?

Bagmen

If street agents are becoming an increasingly dominant fixture in college football (and they are) why doesn’t Texas participate in the game? After we started writing about it, this question was posed to me by more than a few of my friends who pointed out what we all know: our alums are outrageously wealthy, obsessed with football, love to meddle, and easily capable of placing every street agent in Texas on permanent retainer. We could own the current principals and even create some of our own. One, two…one thousand Will Lyles. Allegedly.

So, pesky moral objections aside, what do we have to lose?

That, to me, is a question posed by people who grew up not knowing a lot of hustlers, opportunists, criminals, grifters, and ruffians. Or they don’t follow politics. If public schools and busing gave me one gift, it was the ability to broaden my horizons to include a large number of questionables in my circle of acquaintance, so I’ll tell you.

I heard an anecdote from Jay Leno (of all people) once that did a pretty nice job of explaining why you don’t get involved with street agents and hustlers. Or, more broadly, why you never want to get involved in a power relationship with someone with nothing to lose when you have moral, financial, and reputational stakes in the game.

Leno’s wisdom:

Back in the 1970s, Vegas and Atlantic City were still mobbed up and the casinos were often semi-legitimate fronts for illegitimate enterprise. Leno was a struggling comic who could barely pay his rent, looking for his big break.

One evening, he performed a late night set at a smoky club for his customary chump change and, after his set, was informed by a large sweaty guy that he should come back to a private booth and meet someone. It was suggested in such a way that the answer needed to be yes. Leno quickly realized he was being called back to meet a local wise guy. The wise guy told Leno he was a funny guy (no accounting for Mob taste), expressed his interest in helping him in his career, and slipped him $100 for walking around money. After some chit-chat, he said, in the familiar refrain of mobsters and extortionists the world over,”Anyone ever gives you trouble or you need something, anything, you come to me. You got it? Anything. You come to me. I’m going to look out for you. OK?”

Now, Leno is barely getting by and there’s no doubt that the young comic is feeling a little giddy, maybe a little important – he’s been called over to this big guy’s table and told that he’s going to be sponsored by him, he could help Leno in a thousand little ways at that stage in his career – but he makes the right call. He slides the $100 back across the table and says that it was a honor to meet the gentleman, but he was doing fine. He wouldn’t need any favors, but really appreciated an important guy thinking of him. Then he left.

Two days later, the incident forgotten, Leno felt a tap on his shoulder and saw the made guy – a little inebriated, maybe feeling a tad too truthful – and he said:

“You know you’re a smart kid. You never take anything from a guy like me. And you never take a favor. Because then I own you. I got nothing to lose. You got everything to lose. Good boy.”

Then he patted his cheek affectionately and stalked off.

Pay a street agent $4,000 for a recruit visit or $30,000 for a commitment – even through a Byzantine chain of 3rd parties rife with plausible deniability – and you’ve just started a relationship that you can’t break. One controlled by the party with the least to lose. And when you’re running an enterprise worth hundreds of millions with a reputation at stake, an article in Sports Illustrated prompted by a street agent that you wouldn’t pay follow up quiet money to is a virtual certainty. See Reggie Bush and his dealings with a disgruntled “real” agent. Not to mention that you validate and increase a street agents standing in the recruiting world by playing their game.

So why do Auburn, LSU, Alabama, Tennessee play the game?

First and foremost, they have no reputation to uphold. The SEC has informally agreed that cheating will be tolerated, most particularly in a non-SEC border state like Texas. They have too much to lose with internecine warfare. They saw what it did to the conference ten years ago and everyone saw what it did to the SWC in the ’80s.

Second, who will tell the tale? ESPN – a sports media company (not a journalistic enterprise – even though it pretends to its trappings) – is incentivized to keep a lid on SEC malfeasance with its new massive SEC TV contract. And the local state papers are all in the bag for the hometown team. It would require an out-of-state paper, probably outside the SEC, to ask some of these tough questions. And a readership that gave a damn. The New York Times relies on homer stringers for that sort of stuff (hello Thayer Evans) and they view recruiting as an anthropological exercise in the seamy underbelly of Red State America. Their prevailing notion, like any SEC fan you talk to, is that everyone is equally dirty.

Third, when you’re admittedly dirty at a school where the academics provide a backdrop for the business of football, the leverage of the extortionist is greatly reduced. In short: if you have a clean reputation and choose to cheat, you have a hell of a lot to lose. When you have a dirty reputation and cheat, you’re simply fulfilling public and constituent expectation. An extortionist’s leverage is always directly proportionate to the victim’s fear of public revelation or physical/financial harm.

Fourth, as my SEC graduate girlfriend pointed out to me, do you really want to be the street agent that tries to extort LSU? In a state where the local papers, law enforcement, and judiciary are in the bag? And where there are no shortage of good ‘ol boys eager to find you alone in a parking lot?

What to do then? Joe Paterno counsels simply ignoring the cheating and letting it implode in its own good time. Stay clean and quiet and keep the moral high ground. That’s what he did with Jackie Sherill when he was at Pitt (aside from his famous quote of why he won’t retire – “Because I won’t leave college football to Barry Switzer and Jackie Sherrill.”) That appears to be Mack Brown’s stance as well.

Personally, I’d like to be a little more proactive.

If I’m Will Muschamp, I can make life very uncomfortable for street agents and the schools that do business with them in the state of Texas. A few well-placed jibes against schools that do business with them would be sufficient to motivate even the laziest newsroom to start checking travel, inquiring about “consulting arrangements”, and puzzle through why multiple recruits are being delivered hundreds or thousands of miles to certain camps by guys who live 250 miles from these recruits and bear no family relation. There are a million ways to get the word out.

If cockroaches flee sunlight, open a up a curtain. If you don’t, spare me the whining when they multiply. And they will.

S-E-C! S-E-C!

Article Tags:

College Athletics, College Football, Street Agents

76 Responses

TaylorTRoom said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 10:44 am

This is a brilliant piece of writing. Very nicely put.

Bellmont, whether it wants to or not, is going to have to talk about street agents, if for no other reason than to make sure that no booster gives them money. Remember, these guys are hustlers, and they will start calling up boosters, trying to get them to participate in the recruiting. I imagine that UT will have to come up with a directive to boosters (LF members) that is more explicit than it currently has.
Steve Nebraska said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 10:47 am

This sounds like something the Dallas Morning News would be perfect for.
Parlin Hall said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 10:49 am

A punch line to the Leno anecdote is that guys like his interlocutor can and do believe the truth of any position they choose to take while they’re taking it. So that a third conversation might well have gone like this, with the speaker again believing every word he said:

“You know you’re a dumb kid. A guy like me you take a favor from. You got everything to lose. Good bye.”

Which only proves your larger point, I suppose: you only win if you walk away.
BatesHorn said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 10:54 am

Yeah, I don’t think Belmont has had to work very hard to keep the Booster’s out of the recruiting business since SMU died, but the temptation here is going to be hard to resist for some. Especially since some of our weaker brethern (Baylor) are getting in on the action.
Art Vandelay said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 10:55 am

“This sounds like something the Dallas Morning News would be perfect for.”

On one hand yes, but they have trimmed their staff almost to the bone. Most of their stories now are from the AP or NYT.

Yahoo! Sports seems to be the only outfit that is digging in this area. I haven’t a clue who makes up Yahoo! Sports.

Great stuff Scipio.
pleaseplaykindle said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 11:39 am

Why is it assumed that UT is not doing any of the things that the SEC schools are? What proof is there.

And also, what’s stopping bloggers from doing the investigating?
Huckleberry said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 11:50 am

Your first paragraph is confusing. Are you asking for proof that Texas is not doing something? IOW, asking us to prove a negative?
Nordberg said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 11:57 am

“Why is it assumed that UT is not doing any of the things that the SEC schools are? What proof is there.”

Dude, we barely even recruit anymore, much less get into any kinds of bidding wars.
TaylorTRoom said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 12:01 pm

Well, because we know that the key recruits associated with the one “alleged” guy won’t give a visit to Texas (one sort of visited- he showed up late and left early; he was trying to whet Texas’ appetite), although they keep talking about Texas as a favorite. We know that when one of our commits was introduced to the “alleged” guy, he decommitted and is now visiting elsewhere with the group his agent shops around. Is that enough for you?
Will Lyles said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 12:20 pm

Any Texas boosters on this thread? call me . . .
Bornahorn said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 12:23 pm

Does the FOIA apply to public universities? If so, it seesm like it could be used to ferret out consulting agreements or the like with street agents.

I am sure that it does not apply to private schools like Baylor.
BatesHorn said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 12:26 pm

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: This stuff will get worse until the IRS figures out someone isn’t paying the federal vig.
OldtimeHorn said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 12:35 pm

Looks a little too much like a longhorn cockroach there.
no offense said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 1:34 pm

but where are yall getting this inside information?

And by street agent you just mean a guy that is in the guys entourage and speaks on his behalf or what?
uthookem said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 1:49 pm

no offense, read the linked stories for the background.
CloseToJumping said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 1:59 pm

I can tell you where I got the data that sparked recent conversation – I don’t know why it is such a mystery or so hard to believe. I got it from people that are involved with all of this for a living, know their shit, know the parties involved, and have nothing themselves to lose – other than they think all of it is shady shit ruining a great sport. There are also coaches involved that understand it at the high school level and hate it, as well as plenty of boosters that know their shit, have been approached, and have reported it upwards.

So many people have assumed that it’s just a bunch of nancy douches on the Internet making things up because a recruit here or there went the wrong way. No, that is not the case.

Texas, in conjunction with some other schools, or, gasp, the NCAA, needs to hire PIs and journalists and get this out. Report findings to the IRS if they like. All of that is infinitely doable.

Currently, Brown and company are aware of what is going on. The simple reality of it is that right now, they want to see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and hope it all goes away.

In a similar path to the Leno story and the “beware the man with nothing to lose” concept, I think of Sun Tzu and what he wrote regarding one of the ways to bring down a general – if he is moral, he can be shamed. It’s the concept followed by anyone looking to rebut with “what makes you think Texas isn’t doing it!” & “Everyone does it.”. A thief, whether stealing your time, your money, your integrity, your life, or your possessions has the concept of “everybody does it” written into their moral fabric as a rationalization for their behavior. You are as guilty as they are in their mind, therefore they can do what they want to you.
bduran said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 2:06 pm

I did a web search for street agents and ncaa football and found articles referencing them on espn, cbs, and SI. There wasn’t much there, but apparently people (and not just our cutting edge barkers) are aware that this is a growing problem.

Just go to http://www.google.com and type in words that you would like to appear in articles.
srr50 said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 2:09 pm

A wise man once said,

“You Lie Down With Dogs, You Get Up With Fleas.”

“This sounds like something the Dallas Morning News would be perfect for.”

SMU went down because there was a newspaper war in Dallas between the Times Herald and the Morning News, and the SMU cheating scandal was the perfect scenario to wring out headlines.

I think the PI-IRS angle is much more efficient today.
VoiceOfReason said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 2:16 pm

To presuppose that Texas is uninvolved in recruiting shenanigans is absurd

Matching Major Infraction Cases

Sel Date Institution Summary
Jun 17, 1987 University of Texas at Austin Improper entertainment, financial aid, lodging and transportation; extra be …
Oct 12, 1982 University of Texas at Austin Complimentary tickets; improper recruiting inducement. …
Apr 12, 1965 University of Texas at Austin Improper recruiting entertainment, inducements, lodging and transportation. …

Matching Major Infraction Cases

Sel Date Institution Summary
Sep 18, 1991 University of Tennessee, Knoxville IMPERMISSIBLE RECRUITING: arrangement for an airline ticket on credit to a …
Oct 09, 1986 University of Tennessee, Knoxville Improper entertainment, lodging and transportation; extra benefits; eligibi …
Found 2 Major Infraction Cases
Black Scholes said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 2:21 pm

‘VoiceOfStupidity’ would be more accurate.
CloseToJumping said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 2:27 pm

It’s the same thing every time. We gave some dude a pair of boots in the ’80s and another guy a flight home for a funeral and we’re on the level with the cheaters down the street. I sometimes wish we actually did cheat so we could look at the rest of the morons and say “I told you so. Enjoy competing with every other sped for the scraps we choose not to buy.”
Nordberg said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 2:37 pm

Not to mention the little fact that all of those violations occured long before the Mack Brown regime, making them completely meaningless to the discussion we’re having here.
HenryJames said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 2:37 pm

No shit. Read the actual report.

And here is the era when Texas was ‘cheating:’

1985 8-4
1986 5-6
1987 7-5

OU

1985 11-1
1986 11-1
1987 11-1

A&M

1985 10-2
1986 9-3
1987 10-2
srr50 said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 2:43 pm

Not to mention that in every NCAA report from those infractions they praise UT’s level of cooperation and willingness to change the system.
CloseToJumping said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 3:10 pm

I think one of us should write a story on it. A contrast between what OU, ATM, and their ilk were doing, and what happened with us. The docs are all there and exploitable. Someone that experienced that time first hand with a knack for putting a story together. Someone like, srr50? TaylorTRoom? EyesOfTX? Someone of that ilk.

The ongoing stupidity from idiots like “VoiceOfReason” would then have an easy rebuttal that I’d happily rub in their filthy, cheating faces like so much fecal matter. Unfortunately, I think guys like him and his okie/aggie brethren would probably enjoy the taste.
BatesHorn said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 3:40 pm

As the child of a UT faculty member, another reason ut doesn’t cheat is the faculty is already disgruntled about perceived favortism towards the athletics. Even a scent of impropriety would send them to Defcon 1 on the report to ncaa/go to media/street protest scale.
Scipio Tex said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 3:49 pm

Bates, correct. That was one of the key components of the reputational stake I was hinting at.
glenn said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 4:31 pm

you know, i was thinking about this situation on the drive back from the metroplex this afternoon. i utterly agree with your point about dealing with street agents, scip.

not long ago someone mentioned the clean schools getting together a group of their own. i think the consensus was that wouldn’t work.

how about this, though?

a sizable number of high quality, clean(ish) programs get together and form a new conference. tell the ncaa it can be an ncaa conference but we have to make our own rules. ncaa won’t bite on that so we’ll have to go independent.

the new conference recognizes the new reality and realizes that it is time for the kids and their families to get more than tuition, books, room and board.

each school sets up funds that boosters contribute to — absolutely aboveboard. for schools like texas the money would flow like the mighty muddy. coaches bid coffer money not school money for the kids, and with no middleman to pay we should be able to outbid any of the hanger-on ncaa schools.

taxes would be a problem. we’d have to bid with that in mind. but the first two or three ncaa cheater families that get jail time would change the scenery. and i think the irs is probably very interested already.

the conference wouldn’t go beyond a conference championship, but the season would be a doozy. while the ncaa is putting on its flea circus, ohio state would be tuning up to play us or nd or such. and nd wouldn’t look like nd now. nd boosters circle the planet three times. they would have a king’s row of players every year.

you’re pretty sure the tv boys wouldn’t be interested in that game?

if the sleazes want to play that song and the ncaa and espn fellows want to sing along, i think we can make up a verse or two and not have to hide a thing.

it’s not the paying that is the problem. it is the pretending.
Newy25 said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 4:43 pm

It is also why Oklahoma allows Justin Chiasson on campus. You have to have a much higher tolerance to off the field problems for fear of a player lashing out at the program.

Also see Ryan Perrilloux and his 1,678 chances at LSU before he was thrown out.
exuLt said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 5:25 pm

Wait, wait. If we slip the babbo some money, then we own him, right?

I musta missed something in your analogy.
Trix for Kids said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 5:52 pm

I will offer a counter point to the concept of getting the IRS involved….

If you look at the websites associated with Lyles:
http://www.mlscombines.com
http://www.elitescoutingservices.com

Notice that they are selling “services”, such as combines, camps, recruiting analysis books, “consultation” services, and videos. Also notice that the target audience is college coaches, moreso than recruits. So, it is perfectly legal for a school to pay thousands of dollars for these “services”, and as long as the street agents are smart enough to report their income, then I don’t see how the IRS has a beef.

This is one of the more sinister aspects of the current vintage of street agent….they can actually report a completely above the board business.

For example, if LSU pays $38,000 for recruiting “services”, how can it be determined that what they actually received was a guaranteed committment from a player? As long as the street agent ships a bunch vidoes and makes themselves available for the 24×7 “consultation” service, then this is perfectly legit transaction.

The only one with a tax issue will be the recruits’ family if they receive money in this transaction and don’t report it. Somehow I doubt that the street agent cares about that though.

My radical idea: A bunch of guys on this website each pay $1,000 and we have CTJ hire a private investigator to tail some agents and their recruits. Once some juicy evidence is gathered, we do NOT go to the NCAA or a media outlet with the evidence (they have too much incentive to ignore or bury the story). Instead, we post it ourselves in all the online places that we know will attract college football fans. Remember, this is not criminal activity here, it’s breaking NCAA recruiting rules, so we wouldn’t be exposing ourselves to liability (some attorney please verify this before I cut my check).

Surely the NCAA will be compelled to do something with the evidence once it’s spread through the public domain via cyberspace, because academia and sanctimonious media types will force it to be so.
glenn said:

July 23rd, 2009 at 8:35 pm

yes, trix, unless the agent under reports, the irs interest will be in the families. they can’t report earnings.
Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 07.24.09 | The Epic Sports Wagering Broadcast said:

July 24th, 2009 at 5:02 am

[...] brings me to Barking Carnival’s Scipio Tex excellent essay on street agents. I won’t try to summarize, but I think it’s well worth your [...]
BatesHorn said:

July 24th, 2009 at 6:04 am

“The only one with a tax issue will be the recruits’ family if they receive money in this transaction and don’t report it. Somehow I doubt that the street agent cares about that though.”

That’s where the IRS is eventually going to get involved. If you think recruits are going to idlely sit buy, let Will Lyles take money to advise them, and not eventually start getting a piece of the business, you’re naive.

Although, under the current environment, it’s awfully difficult to figure out how these agents aren’t in fact engaging in a form of human slavery (which I believe has already been pointed out).
Phil Stroud said:

July 24th, 2009 at 7:59 am

Scip, you are one talented SOB. That piece could not have been better articulated.

What do you feed your girlfriend to give her that kind of insight and perspective? That’s a conversation with a spouse/girlfriend that most of us only dream of.
VoiceOfReason said:

July 24th, 2009 at 9:25 am

CloseToJumping
“It’s the same thing every time. We gave some dude a pair of boots in the ’80s and another guy a flight home for a funeral and we’re on the level with the cheaters down the street. I sometimes wish we actually did cheat so we could look at the rest of the morons and say “I told you so. Enjoy competing with every other sped for the scraps we choose not to buy.””

VOR: Dude – here is the violators playbook, plays out this way in all but a handful of celebrated cases
step 1: cheat alot
step 2: get away with most of it
step 3: get busted for giving a recruit a cheeseburger or something
step 4: start kissing the NCAA’s ass and pretend to cooperate with components of the investigation that don’t really cause any pain. Also, pay a boatload of lip service to being cooperative and checking things out on your own. It’s also a good idea to punish yourselves in ways that don’t really cause any pain as a way to try to minimize the damage that’s sure to come later
step 5: get put on probation. the cheeseburger is the stated reason, because it’s the only thing the NCAA can prove because they suck at investigation and don’t have subpoena power, but the punishment is clearly for more than the stated reason, since they know that there is much more monkey business going on, but the cheeseburger is the only thing they can prove
step 6: complain that you got the book thrown at you for giving away a cheesburger

read the infraction database. It’s all a bunch of cheeseburgers, sneakers, and funeral plane tickets with only a few celebrated exceptions. This is true for the SEC just as much as it is Texas for the most part. And the blog post sites SEC programs as renegade that have fewer probations than the supposedly clean Texas program.

Nordberg
Not to mention the little fact that all of those violations occured long before the Mack Brown regime, making them completely meaningless to the discussion we’re having here.

VOR: as is the case with the probations at the SEC programs cited by the original blog post.

HenryJames
No shit. Read the actual report.

And here is the era when Texas was ‘cheating:’

1985 8-4
1986 5-6
1987 7-5

OU

1985 11-1
1986 11-1
1987 11-1

A&M

1985 10-2
1986 9-3
1987 10-2

VOR: If your conclusion is that violations were occuring exclusively to the time period busted, then you are pretty naive. Also, just because you sucked at cheating, didn’t mean you weren’t a cheater.

srr50
Not to mention that in every NCAA report from those infractions they praise UT’s level of cooperation and willingness to change the system.

VOR: see above playbook
TaylorTRoom said:

July 24th, 2009 at 10:14 am

VOR: Do you really believe there was no significant difference between Texas and OU/TAMU/UH in the ’80s?

Are you affiliated with one of those schools? Which one?

Why do you believe the NCAA acted as it did, penalizing OU and TAMU much worse than Texas in the ’80s?
HenryJames said:

July 24th, 2009 at 10:24 am

He’s a Sooner so we’re through the looking glass here.
Minnesotahorn said:

July 24th, 2009 at 11:01 am

Exactly. What’s hilarious is that VOR exhibits the mindset described by CTJ in his first post to a tee. It’s a freaking awesome display of oblivious douchebaggery.

Once more for good measure:

“In a similar path to the Leno story and the “beware the man with nothing to lose” concept, I think of Sun Tzu and what he wrote regarding one of the ways to bring down a general – if he is moral, he can be shamed. It’s the concept followed by anyone looking to rebut with “what makes you think Texas isn’t doing it!” & “Everyone does it.”. A thief, whether stealing your time, your money, your integrity, your life, or your possessions has the concept of “everybody does it” written into their moral fabric as a rationalization for their behavior. You are as guilty as they are in their mind, therefore they can do what they want to you.”
VoiceOfReason said:

July 24th, 2009 at 11:18 am

I’m not aware in the specifics between OU/Houston/A&M vs Texas’ probation. I’ll assume that there is a difference that’s not insignificant for the sake of this discussion.

However, Texas is not new to rules violations & probations. While not the most oft-penalized cheater, Texas is by no means a one-off penalized cheater and even further from being completely clean.

I believe that if the recruiting game changes toward the use of street agents, Texas will be far from a holdout in getting involved in the game. Texas will get involved as required to secure top talent in whatever the legal or illegal processes of the day are, and get involved without significant hesitation.

To think that Texas will somehow be placed at any disadvantage at any time as recruiting processes evolve is absurd.
HenryJames said:

July 24th, 2009 at 11:26 am

I’m not aware in the specifics between OU/Houston/A&M vs Texas’ probation.

Then there’s no reason to read anything you wrote after that.
Nordberg said:

July 24th, 2009 at 11:27 am

VOR Translator says: I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about.
8straight said:

July 24th, 2009 at 12:04 pm

“To think that Texas will somehow be placed at any disadvantage at any time as recruiting processes evolve is absurd.”
The idea that Texas evolves illegal cheating tactics to fit the mode of the day is what is absurd. I’ll get you Fred Akers’ number. You can call and tell him how money was not an obstacle when it came to recruiting against SMU and OU in the early/mid ’80s.
Bob in Houston said:

July 24th, 2009 at 1:55 pm

“Although, under the current environment, it’s awfully difficult to figure out how these agents aren’t in fact engaging in a form of human slavery (which I believe has already been pointed out).”

The NCAA is at the head of that line.
Eyes Wide Open said:

July 25th, 2009 at 10:06 am

“Your first paragraph is confusing. Are you asking for proof that Texas is not doing something? IOW, asking us to prove a negative?”

The above question is not as ridiculous as it seems on its face. Huck, are you pretending to be as gullible as your namesake? For a comparative analogy, think Albert Pujols, Mark McGwire, or Barry Bonds before media thought it appropriate to expose them (no reason to believe that they did not know about all the doping from the very start. It was probably obvious to everyone involved with the scene). Beforehand, there was this thing you call “no evidence” of their cheating, but given the unreal results they were putting out on the field, their level of play, one would have been reasonable (or not boneheadedly stupid) to assume to that those boys were cheating long before any of the evidence became public, and one would have been right on that count. Whose to say that the same principle does not apply to Texas football? What is UT ranked coming into the season? What? No. 1 or 2.

Given this one really has ask the question: Could any hitter have kept up with those boys above if they were not clean? The answer being an obvious no. Could not the same question be asked about UT football? Could UT keep up with or be better than all the other large state schools who are cheating up to their necks, if UT was not also involved with the same tactics, although possibily with a tad bit greater sophistication, kind of like a customized steroid cream instead of a typical steriod injection? I’m afraid the answer on this one also seems to be fairly clear.

Sure you boys are not indicting your very own program, in a round about way, in your efforts to expose all the other large state schools as cheaters? You know what they say: if you live in a glass house (or are ranked preseason No. 2)………you guys know the saying, I am sure. You aren’t trying to assert that this saying does not apply to your great state, are you all? If not they are guys not just throwing mud in your very own faces in a logical round about way? Can’t you Howdy, Howdy How Texans keep up with the logical deduction long enough to clearly see the consequences of this point?
HenryJames said:

July 25th, 2009 at 11:03 am

In the past crazy shit like that was scribbled on notes that were only read by crime scene investigators. So thanks, internet!
8straight said:

July 25th, 2009 at 11:07 am

“Could UT keep up with or be better than all the other large schools who are cheating up to their necks, if UT was not also involved with the same tactics…..I’m afraid the answer on this one also seems to be fairly clear.”

I see you ascribe to the French Tour de France theory. No matter how many times Lance has been tested and the results are negaive the tests don’t really tell the whole story. How could someone, particularly an American, win so many times and be that good without cheating like the others who have doped up? All the big guys do it so Lance does it regardless of what the facts say.
VoiceOfReason said:

July 25th, 2009 at 2:35 pm

8straight, if you had to put everything you had on Lance Armstrong being clean or dirty during his run, and there was a new foolproof test to find out, where would you put your money?

I know where mine would be.
8straight said:

July 25th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

You just proved my point.
ponderos said:

July 25th, 2009 at 4:22 pm

Since a shitton of riders over Lance’s 7 year run tested positive and Lance never did even though he had a French microscope up his derriere 365 days a year, I knwo where I’d put my money, too.
t1climb1 said:

July 25th, 2009 at 7:31 pm

One of my good friends was Lance’s roommate during one of those years. I know what I would (or wouldn’t) be doing with my money…
Lance Armstrong's pet hamster said:

July 25th, 2009 at 8:04 pm

“Since a shitton of riders over Lance’s 7 year run tested positive and Lance never did even though he had a French microscope up his derriere 365 days a year, I knwo where I’d put my money, too.”

“One of my good friends was Lance’s roommate during one of those years. I know what I would (or wouldn’t) be doing with my money…”

Pondie, are you trying to help or hurt Lance, our hero? If that many riders on the Tour, practically all of them, were doping to improve their performance to above and beyond human levels, then how in the hell is anyone going to believe that Lance could be so dominant over all his seven year in a row run and still be clean himself? Please for the sake of Lance’s reputation and public, media driven persona, please refrain from your efforts to “help” Lance anymore.

And I believe that we all can sense what “11climb1″ is implying here. You see what all you irrational Lance defenders coax out of the wood work. Pretty soon people will begin to start putting 2 and 2 together and speculate that Lance’s cancer could have been due to or accelerated by his years and years of doping. Afterall, why else would a young athlete in his prime be suddenly stricken with scrotum cancer and what else could explain his miraculous recovery other than his laying off the dope, laying off of the stuff that was causing his cancer to begin with, at least plausibly speaking that is? Sure other explanations could be given, but this would be the most plausible of all of them by far. Please don’t break this hamster’s heart and expose another All American sport’s icon as a fake, phoney, and a big time doper.
Facebook User said:

July 25th, 2009 at 8:30 pm

Scrotum cancer. Good name for a punk band.
WB_Heaven said:

July 26th, 2009 at 7:01 am

http://www.myspace.com/smashedscrotum
VoiceOfReason said:

July 26th, 2009 at 7:04 am

“Since a shitton of riders over Lance’s 7 year run tested positive and Lance never did even though he had a French microscope up his derriere 365 days a year, I knwo where I’d put my money, too.”

on his chemists/doctors
other riders on the tour the last seven years said:

July 26th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

We we, we are mainly French and from other faggedy European countries, so our opinions really aren’t worth a shit, but we would agree that the odds of UT football being clean is about the same as the odds of Lance being totally clean during his seven year reign.

One has to understand that cycling is a sport where performance enhancers make all the difference in the world, more so than in most other sports. Other sports also require skill and superb coordination, qualities which performance enhancers are less likely to affect. Cycling in this respect is comparable to a track and field event, to weight lifting, or to the lineman in the NFL. Cycling only measures one physical attribute in a linear fashion, that of endurance basically, and it is almost unthinkable that one person could dominate such a sport full of others resorting to performance enhancers if he also has not resorted to the same tactics. Such a thought is almost inhuman.

In cycling, there is no aspect to it where your skill or coordination edge could help to offset the advantages of just sheer, brute performance. Hence, it is almost unthinkable and literally impossible to believe that a lone person who is totally clean could out cycle, could out endurance, an entire field of other riders who are on enhancers even just once, let alone seven years in a row, let alone even after that said rider has recovered from a grave illness. The very thought is assinine. Sorry but that Hollywood script does not float in Europe (remember even Hollywood Rocky was on roids in actuality), but evidently it does it float in your great state of Texas. Evidently bullshit does fly in Texas.
Man of Genius said:

July 26th, 2009 at 2:48 pm

Don’t mean to come across as an intellectual snob or an intellectual elitist, but, theoretically, the principle, “you don’t want to get involved with someone with nothing to lose”, is a fallacy. Just wish to point this out and educate everyone about this matter. I do admit, on the common, everyday, casual, superficial, non-thinking level, this saying does have a grain of truth to it, but when examined with greater depth, accuracy, and precision – in other words, when examined with the thoughtfulness of an educated man – the above principle can plainly be proven as false, and, in actuality, ironically, the very opposite of the saying above is the more accurate and the more profound truth. On a higher level of thought, a man with truly nothing to lose is, in truth, the best and the only honest man a person, here on earth, could ever deal with or be fortunate enough to encounter.

That none of you Longhorns, or should I say, more appropriately, “dumb” horns, have been able to see the apparent logical fallacy of the above principle speaks volumes about the quality of education the University of Texas is providing its students these days. Apparently, the University of Texas no longer seems to see fit to teach its students the art of logical insight nor a capacity for a clarity of thought which is above the fray and the confusion of the common, ordinary, uneducated masses.
Trips Right said:

July 27th, 2009 at 7:03 pm

So Willie Lyle now has his hooks sunk into Darius White. This shit is getting ridiculous. It’s time to either up the ante with our recession proof deep pockets or take an NCAA Compliance Officer hostage and threaten him with a night on the town with HenryJames’ hipster friends.
whoopspat said:

July 27th, 2009 at 7:18 pm

How the hell is Will Lyles getting to these guys? 7 on 7’s? What the hell is his pitch?
NateHeupel said:

July 27th, 2009 at 7:32 pm

Anyone remember the JaMarcus McFarland story? I do. I remember the steaming piles of bullshit lobbed out by Barking Carnival and Thayer Evans. That’s right, boys. You were no better than Thayer Evans in this one sad moment. No less full of yourself and no less full of shit. That is the worst insult I can muster.

The funny thing is that in all of the allegations leveled during the recruiting of McFarland, two things stand out. The first should scare the living shit out of UT fans on here like CloseToJumping who live under the delusion that UT is squeaky clean. The second should give them great comfort that the problem isn’t institutional.

1) McFarland and his mother both alleged improper inducements by UT boosters (particularly a no-interest “loan”). These allegations were never rebutted by anyone involved with UT or even Barking Carnival. Several other allegations were rebutted, but only with McFarland himself firing out the rebuttals first. Then, all of a sudden, UT backs out of recruiting a player they needed desperately.
This leaves one very obvious conclusion: Mack Brown went on his own trip through the looking glass and found out UT’s boosters play dirty, too. He knew if he stayed in, he was getting an NCAA investigation ASAP.

2) UT backed right the hell off as soon as the “story” came to light.
Mack Brown decided that homie don’t play that, and he walked away. This means that UT’s dirty play is probably identical to that of OU: run by boosters on the sly with no less than plausible deniability for the entire university. This is a GOOD thing.

Want to know why UT would never want the kind of investigations some of you call for? Because they have no clue what everyone else’s investigators will find when they decide to return fire. The McFarland incident was just enough to put a very serious seed of doubt in the minds of Dodds and Brown.
Trips Right said:

July 27th, 2009 at 7:45 pm

Good. Let’s just pay ‘em then Nate, since everybody does it. Which school wins out in your mind, chief?
Trips Right said:

July 27th, 2009 at 7:55 pm

Oh and back to Jamarku$. You can’t be stupid enough to go all in on the UT booster story after this whopper.

“The Times article included inflammatory statements McFarland had written about the recruiting practices of Texas and LSU for a senior English class assignment.

McFarland said he embellished a passage taken from the English paper detailing free alcohol and drugs and topless women at a party of Texas fans in Dallas.

“Some things we knew were kind of mixed up because (the reporter) got a paper of mine,” McFarland said. “The paper I wrote for an English class – it was spiced up a little bit for class. But a majority of it was correct.

“I could have said I just went to a party. For an English paper – I’m taking a college course – you’ve got to explain. It’s brainstorming. If I knew he was getting it, I would have known what was right and what wasn’t right.”

McFarland declined to indicate what parts of his English paper were “spiced up,” but reiterated no Texas players or coaches were at the party in Dallas.

He said he was not sure how the Times reporter obtained the English paper but suspected a family member had given it to him.

“I didn’t know he had it,” McFarland said, referring to Times reporter Thayer Evans. “He came to my house one time when I dropped LSU (from consideration) just to observe. I think he got it then.”

A lavish party hosted by boosters, coaches or players during the recruitment of a prospect as McFarland described in his paper is forbidden by NCAA.

McFarland said neither he nor his mother have heard from the NCAA since the story was published. He said he has not spoken to Texas or LSU since the story ran.”

And in case you forgot, here’s the English paper.

“McFarland made four official visits during his recruitment — to Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana State and Southern California.

He said he saw everything from flat-screen televisions in Texas Coach Mack Brown’s bathrooms to L.S.U.’s recruiting hostesses sitting on the laps of prospects.

But the best summation of his experience might have come from a paper he wrote for his English class comparing Oklahoma and Texas. The paper, “Red River Rivals Recruit,” includes a description of a wild party hosted by Longhorns fans at an upscale hotel in Dallas after the Oklahoma-Texas game on Oct. 11.

“I will never forget the excitement amongst all participants,” McFarland wrote. “Alcohol was all you can drink, money was not an option. Girls were acting wild by taking off their tops, and pulling down their pants. Girls were also romancing each other. Some guys loved every minute of the freakiness some girls demonstrated. I have never attended a party of this magnitude.”

He continued: “The attitude of the people at the party was that everyone should drink or not come to the party. Drugs were prevalent with no price attached.”

Come on Nate, you’re better than that weak shit.
Facebook User said:

July 27th, 2009 at 8:12 pm

I don’t want anybody who doesn’t want to go where alcohol is all you can drink, girls are nuding up and also romancing each other.

This is how I decided on going to Texas.

Joking aside, Nate, you can think Texas boosters are peeling of Benjamins left and right. Fine. But alluding the Jamarkus McFarland saga is not your best foot forward.

For you newcomers:

Barking Carnival > NYT
Jerry Bomar said:

July 27th, 2009 at 8:46 pm

I got things I could say, but I ain’t talking.
TaylorTRoom said:

July 28th, 2009 at 2:56 am

Yeah, I didn’t think the school was required to rebut a story that the newspaper backtracks on.
TaylorTRoom said:

July 28th, 2009 at 3:53 am

Seriously, Nate, the OU staff has to decide if they want to stay with White, if it’s true that he’s involved with Lyles. Remember the Hart Lee Dykes deal? Dykes was given immunity and squealed on about four programs. Any one of about five different recruits can blow up this guy’s game. Side note- I remember the indignation of OU Compliance guy Watson, who was upset that Dykes took $1k from OU during recruitment, committed to OSU, and it was OU that got penalized! Oh, the injustice!
SkyMonkeyHorn said:

July 28th, 2009 at 6:10 pm

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/sports/ncaabasketball/27hoops.html?ref=ncaabasketball

Looks like this is also connected to the summer programs and agents. Estimate that 400 coaches were there the 2 days I attended.
NorthDallasSooner said:

July 29th, 2009 at 2:23 pm

What chaps us non-orange is that you guys refuse to even consider the possibility that you have boosters that do illegal things too. No school can completely control it’s booster base. You can only be responsible for yourself, so I take Mack’s word that he doesn’t cheat. But neither he nor you guys can ever know whether or not your boosters are mucking up out there. To quote Don Rumsfeld “you’re asking to know the unknowable.”
dick said:

July 29th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

NDS, I think most people could consider the possibility but we just don’t think we’d be losing out on someone like D White (#1 prospect in state, openly loved Texas up until a month ago) if that indeed was happening.
Art Vandelay said:

July 29th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

Quoting Don Rumsfeld? Really???
Scipio Tex said:

July 29th, 2009 at 2:53 pm

NDS –

You always offer great commentary so thanks for chiming in.

Here’s my perspective:

I don’t doubt that we have some boosters capable of all sorts of malfeasance. I happen to know a couple that would gladly get the Fed-Ex packages moving if they thought they wouldn’t become outcasts.

What we do know with some certainty is that any potential bad actor is not doing anything in ways coordinated with – implicitly (Big Red Autos) or explicitly (A&M, SMU, OSU, OU 1980s; Alabama with Means)- with our football program.

And for an individual rogue booster to try to do that, he would be a social outcast among other influential alums. And a pariah with our fans. That’s not the environment that typically engenders cheating.

By contrast, guys who facilitate cheating at some other schools are seen as cult heroes and they’re big swinging dicks amongst their alum buddies. It’s a bragging point. I bought so-and-so. That’s my player. Not so Texas. You’ve got to trust me on this one – it’s just the culture of the school in relation to its athletics program – even if comes from being – from some perspectives – a bunch of holier-than-thou pricks who don’t have to cheat because we’ve got lots of dough and we’re the #1 state school in the heart of prime recruiting territory. I get that.

In short, you won’t see Will Lyles at our closed football camp being called for by an assistant.

Our coaches and administration also hammer our big alumni repeatedly to never ever “help” and that if they want to do so, they need to do it through the Longhorn Foundation so that we can bludgeon our recruiting competition with facilities and resources. And they don’t say it with a wink. Ever.

We’re not crystal clean, because there isn’t a pure football program in America – including the service academies – but in big-time football, we’re markedly on the clean side of the leger. I don’t write that as a Texas alum – I write that as a guy who follows college football with a passion and is actually somewhat fascinated by the different culture-of-cheating programs.

Like Taylor TRoom has pointed out before, people cheat to make up ground. We probably don’t cheat because generally we don’t have to. Make sense?

What I do resent is the notion that EVERYONE is equally dirty when it’s objectively clear that that’s not the case historically, at present, or down the road. That’s not fair to the programs who generally do it right and it plays into a cynical view of the world that coarsens our athletic culture.
srr50 said:

July 29th, 2009 at 3:50 pm

What I do resent is the notion that EVERYONE is equally dirty when it’s objectively clear that that’s not the case historically, at present, or down the road.

I will back Scips statement with 30 years experience in the recruiting mess.

We have had players who actively sought out goodies, and were able to find alums, or rabid fans who wanted to be on the “inside” and gave some help, usually in the form of a summer job that required very little work.

However, we have never had an organized, systematic setup run from inside the department. We have never had “lack of institutional control” problems.

There was a time when we might have been persuaded to join the organized action, but we backed away.

If saying “EVERYBODY does is, and EVERYBODY is equally dirty,” helps you sleep better at night, than by all means go ahead.

It just doesn’t make it true.
NateHeupel said:

July 29th, 2009 at 9:04 pm

A quick summary of what I’m about to say for those lacking in patience or reason:
1) Neither OU nor UT cheats at an institutional level. Their boosters are a different story, and we have no way to answer this without complete bullshit by either side.
2) The part of the McFarland story that was rebutted was unrelated in content or source to the part that I refer to (McFarland’s mom). Thus, the rebuttal attempt using the unrelated source (the infamous school paper) is logically and factually invalid.
3) No, this isn’t a “OU did it, so UT must be doing it, too.”

First of all, I think both universities are in the exact same boat. The coaching and administrative staffs are squeaky clean. There’s way too much information sharing on the internet for that to happen. It’s what the boosters do on the sly that we’re all just guessing and bullshitting about what really goes on.

I think the difference is how each school handles massive screw ups. UT cuts ties and walks away. OU takes away the kid’s phillips head and gives him a Grey Goose and Tropicana.

Trips:
I am saying that it’s blatantly fucking stupid to assume that one allegation being rebutted is sufficient to rebut the whole story. Especially when the two allegations had entirely different sources. The one rebutted was the “school paper”. The one I refer to was leveled by J-Mac’s mother in an unrelated incident. Saying that the negation of one automatically negates the unrelated other is the kind of desperate, bullshit logic you see from me around the 2nd week of January.

FROM THE INITIAL ARTICLE:
“McFarland’s mother, Kashemeyia Adams, said she received numerous offers, including one for an interest-free loan from a former classmate, if her son were to choose Texas.”

FROM THE FOLLOW UP RETRACTION:
“Adams said that since The Times article was published, her son has been the target of racial slurs from angry Texas supporters, and she said she would not let him talk to reporters in the future. But she defended Evans’s story. “An article was written, and I was very well pleased with it, and that’s that,” she said.
Hard to be well pleased with something that you know to be false.

If UT’s boosters weren’t possibly playing dirty here, Mack Brown has NO REASON to cut ties with McFarland whatsoever. On the contrary if what you and many others here were alleging is true (that OU was actually playing dirty), Muschamp calls Bob Stoops (because we all know Mack doesn’t have the balls for this kind of awesome move) and says “Yeah, we got some good stuff on you here along the Big Red lines. Why don’t you just tell JaMarkus you’re not interested anymore and staple his ticket to Austin on his coat? Thanks so much, Bobby, and give my regards to Bing Bong.”

Has Texas been as dirty as OU in it’s past? NOT EVEN CLOSE. I think UT’s “dirty little secret” is institutionalized racism going up to the 70’s, but that’s another post for another time.

Do I think this is an “everyone does it” situation? NO. UT has so many built in advantages that it’s not even funny. They don’t need to have their boosters do anything. All you need is a kid with just enough moral flexibility to appreciate 6th Street for exactly what it is.

That doesn’t mean that boosters wearing your beloved burnt orange don’t occasionally do dumb shit against the wishes of Brown, Dodds, and the UT athletic dept. Much like Stoops, Castiglione, and the OU athletic department have no reason to desire cheating themselves. It’s just counterproductive.
TaylorTRoom said:

July 30th, 2009 at 2:50 am

Nate, you interpret her claim as a report of illicit booster activity. I interpret it as a way of closing the recruiting activity of UT down, because McFarland had made his decision, and in a way that would keep the UT coaches from talking to her son anymore.
TaylorTRoom said:

July 30th, 2009 at 4:16 am

Nate, one more thing…Ms. Adams made an allegation publically of a NCAA violation. Why hasn’t it been followed up on by the press? There is no UT coverup possible now that her statement is in the public domain. Evans could aske her who, Oklahoma media could ask her who, and OU compliance can ask her who from UT might have offered something. Lack of evidence is not proof, but Ms. Adams claims are just hearsay by a biased participant without substantiation.
Barking Carnival — Blog — USC Continues to Cheat & The NCAA Is Too Gutless to Care said:

December 18th, 2009 at 11:15 pm

[...] read about it here (the initial rip on it by me); here (a follow-up rip on it by TaylorTRoom) ; and here (more expounding on the nonsense by ScipioTex). What’s rarely ever discussed by ESPN or the other media outlets is the actual street agent [...]

61

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USC Continues to Cheat & The NCAA Is Too Gutless to Care
By CloseToJumping on December 18th, 2009
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By TaylorTRoom on October 7th, 2008
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dick commented on the blog post Second Round Bets 3 minutes ago

I wish they weren’t playing Kentucky next. Same goes for #11 seed Washington having to play West Virginia.

Sucks that we are getting the two best teams left in the tourney playing in the Elite 8 possibly.
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No stats, no recaps, none of that.

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Tim commented on the blog post Spring Preview: Tech Offense 2 hours, 23 minutes ago

With Leach at the wheel I was expecting a 10 win minimum season with the guys this team has coming back in 2010. Now with Tubbs, Willis, and Brown running the show I’m in agreement it’s anywhere between 9-12 wins this year.

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No problem.

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ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember 5 hours, 55 minutes ago

This really has been a great start. It’s pretty exciting to see dark horse teams winning by playing solid basketball rather than just shooting the lights out. 4 year players are so key.
Bob in Houston commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember 5 hours, 57 minutes ago

And nobody melts down like Maryland fans. I can’t even post some of the stuff they have spewed.
dick commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember 6 hours, 44 minutes ago

Hopefully, yall caught the Maryland Michigan St ending. Freakin’ thrilling. Maryland almost pulled off a comeback for the ages.

officially the best opening weekend ever
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 6 hours, 49 minutes ago

Tom Izzo can coach some ball.
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 6 hours, 50 minutes ago

MSU at the buzzer!!!!!!
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 6 hours, 53 minutes ago

Fear the Turtle! Came all the way back from a dozen down to take the lead on MSU…
D W commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember 6 hours, 59 minutes ago

It’s incredible how few teams play good, fundamental basketball.
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 7 hours, 3 minutes ago

tOSU will be moving on. Evan Turner does a little of everything. 22 pts, 8 reb, 8 ass. Great player.
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 7 hours, 3 minutes ago

tOSU will be moving on. Evan Turner does a little of everything. 22 pts, 8 reb, 8 ast. Great player.
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 7 hours, 10 minutes ago

Bob Huggins looks like a guy I wouldn’t want to play for. He makes Barnes look like Dick Vermeil….
Scipio Tex commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember 7 hours, 12 minutes ago

Scratch that. The Big Red are blowing Wisconsin out.
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 7 hours, 14 minutes ago

I’d be happy to see the last two minutes of the OSU/Tech game. 4 pt game with just under two minutes.

Cornell putting it to the Bo Ryan’s….
Scipio Tex commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember 7 hours, 40 minutes ago

Cornell is playing phenomenally well. I’d be surprised if Wiscy doesn’t cut into the lead in the 2nd half.

Jay Bilas may end up looking like a genius.
admin commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember 7 hours, 56 minutes ago

parlin – Shoot me an email sailorripley at barkingcarnival dot com.
ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 8 hours, 50 minutes ago

I really want Mizzou to give it to WVU.
Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Round 2 Saturday Recaps 9 hours, 3 minutes ago

What kind of NBA player does Samhan end up as?

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dick commented on the blog post Second Round Bets 9 hours, 15 minutes ago

I really like Cal today.

ATM and Cornell look too good to be true and the public is all over both of them.

I gotta believe that Izzo beats Maryland today, I haven’t been impressed with the Terps this year. I am surprised that they are favored.
ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 9 hours, 37 minutes ago

Gonzaga is getting plowed like a future Zeta during her Provisional Summer session.
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Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 9 hours, 48 minutes ago

Jordan Hamilton + 2 years ~ Wesley Johnson. Discuss.
James commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember 10 hours, 6 minutes ago

” a heavily tattooed lycanthrope Irish wookie named Lucas O’Rear”

That is just strong command of the English language.

This piece was a nice balm on the hangover.
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Turns the Page 10 hours, 8 minutes ago

gotta,

I think your overall point is a good one. Barnes is a “system” guy especially defensively, which plays into how he overall plays the game. He wants to play a high pressure, overplay man2man scheme predicated on effort, good technique and overall quickness. Similar to Duke, but even Coach K (in fairness
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 10 hours, 19 minutes ago

Would have never guessed that UNI had an Ali shooting threes for them….
ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition 10 hours, 36 minutes ago

Anyone else as confused as I am by this “Ivan Brothers” ad campaign? WTF?

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Nordberg said:

8straight said:

Bob in Houston said:

Eyes Wide Open said:

HenryJames said:

8straight said:

VoiceOfReason said:

8straight said:

ponderos said:

t1climb1 said:

Lance Armstrong's pet hamster said:

Facebook User said:

WB_Heaven said:

VoiceOfReason said:

other riders on the tour the last seven years said:

Man of Genius said:

Trips Right said:

whoopspat said:

NateHeupel said:

Trips Right said:

Trips Right said:

Facebook User said:

Jerry Bomar said:

TaylorTRoom said:

TaylorTRoom said:

SkyMonkeyHorn said:

NorthDallasSooner said:

dick said:

Art Vandelay said:

Scipio Tex said:

srr50 said:

NateHeupel said:

TaylorTRoom said: