Monday, July 26, 2010

When is a Smoking Gun not Smoking or Even a Gun?

This blog does a nice breakdown of the facts regarding the tweet that everyone is yelling about.

Doubts about Club LIV tweet

It even gives proper credit for some nice investigation by StateFansNation for debunking this as proof of guilt.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Wrath of the Sports Agents

MIAMI - Sources in attendance at Frank Gore's mid-May party are begining to shed new light on what happened there. In conjunction with this report from al.com it appears that Marvin Austin's activities at the party are yet untold.

During the party an agent's runner that Marvin Austin was familiar with attempted to start a conversation with Marcell Dareus. Austin realized that the Alabama player was not allowed to talk to agent runners at all because of his age. When Austin made it clear that the runner should back away, the runner tried to tell Austin that it was none of his business. Austin then made it very clear that the runner needed to go somewhere else and what the runner could do with himself. As Austin was a good bit larger than the runner, the runner decided to go ahead and leave.

It appears that Austin took up for his buddy and got bit for it.

Saban vs. Sports Agents

Never at a loss for words, Nick Saban has been up front with his distain for sports agents. The New York Times has interviewed a few agents to get their reponse:

With a Player Under Investigation, Saban Criticizes Agents

Imagine that, somebody picked up the phone and asked questions.

I will take exception to this statement in the article:

“The solution is not to ban the N.F.L. and agents, it is to get the administration and coaches more involved in educating the players and bringing the agents into a proper forum,” Brad Blank, a Boston-based agent, said. “There are programs where they have a period where agents can visit the players, but it is all done right in front of the coaches, and it gives the guys who are going to try and slip in the back of a dorm less of an advantage.”

By all accounts, the programs in question spend lots of time trying to educate players and control interactions. It does not appear to be working against the bottom feeders out there.

UNC's Brown Refutes Internet Story

On Friday, July 23, on WDNC in Raleigh/Durham, Host Taylor Zarzour expressed extreme confidence that only a couple players were investigated in the NCAA inquiry. In addition, Zarzour mentioned that he talked to UNC cornerback Charles Brown and that Brown disputed this story outright.

Zarzour also stated that his contacts say the NCAA investigation is only about UNC defensive tackle Marvin Austin.

Each of these statements goes to reinforce those made by other sources.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

South Beach Party is Ground Zero for NCAA

One thing seems clear. There was a party at Frank Gore's house in Miami.

Report: Trips to Miami under scrutiny

It would appear that players from many major programs in the Southeast were in attendence. How many, who they talked to, and how they got there are questions that the members of the media do not have answers to.

Right now it is a whirlwind of conjecture. Perhaps some investigative reporting is in order. If it exists anymore.

UNC's Little Cleared By the NCAA

CHAPEL HILL - Sources close to the North Carolina football program have confirmed that senior receiver Greg Little has been cleared by the NCAA to play in the 2010 season. All of the questions asked by the fact finding committee were answered to their satisfaction. They found that no gifts or money were given to Little by sports agents or any other non-family member.

The offical confirmation by the North Carolina adminstration and/or the NCAA will not be made until the full investigation is over.

A.J. Green and the University of Georgia

ATLANTA -- Georgia associate athletic director Claude Felton says the NCAA has requested permission to conduct an inquiry on campus.

Felton told The Associated Press the instructions from the NCAA prevent him from disclosing any details about the reason for the inquiry, but added Georgia officials have assured the NCAA it will receive full cooperation.

Felton, who said the notification from the NCAA came late Wednesday afternoon, said the NCAA has asked that athletic association officials, coaches and student-athletes decline comment until the inquiry is completed.

TMZ.com reported Wednesday that Georgia is investigating whether All-America wide receiver A.J. Green attended an agent's Memorial Day weekend party in Miami that also has spurred investigations at Florida, Alabama and South Carolina.

Georgia football coach Mark Richt met with Green on Tuesday, and Green denied being in Miami that weekend, sources told ESPN.com.

On Thursday, during the SEC media days in Hoover, Ala., Green said: "We can't make any comments about it, but I've never even been to Miami."

Green, who is the No. 4 overall prospect on ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper's 2011 Big Board, is entering his junior year, and there are assumptions he will enter the NFL draft following the 2010 season.

"I have my circle, and I know who to trust and who not to trust," Green said. "I'm at the point of my life right now that I don't need to make any new friends. I've got to keep that same circle I've had since Day 1 and not let anybody in that."

Ingram and the University of Alabama

TUSCALOOSA | Hesiman Trophy winner Mark Ingram got NCAA approval to make a trip to the Washington, D.C., area in May to visit former Florida player Joe Haden and is not under investigation by the NCAA over the matter, a University of Alabama athletics department spokesman said Thursday.

Celebrity news web site TMZ.com is reporting that Ingram attended a May 12 party at District nightclub in Washington, D.C., and that the NCAA wants to talk to Ingram about the trip. The party was for players who had recently been drafted by the National Football League, according to the report.

“This was vetted before it happened,” UA spokesman Doug Walker said.

Ingram approached the UA compliance office before making the trip, and UA got clearance from the NCAA, which said the trip was permissible as long as Ingram provided receipts showing he paid his own way. Ingram presented the receipts to the UA compliance office upon his return.

“Mark provided appropriate documentation,” Walker said. “We're not aware of any issues with this.”

The TMZ report comes on he heels of news that UA, in conjunction with the NCAA, is probing a similar issue with Marcell Dareus, a first-team Preseason All-Southeastern Conference defensive lineman, over his trip to a party held by an agent this summer in Miami.

Ingram set a single-season Alabama rushing record last season, running for 1,542 yards -- with a 6.2-yard average per carry -- and scoring 18 touchdowns to become Alabama's first-ever Heisman Trophy winner in the closest vote in the 75-year history of the award.

New Information on NCAA Investigation at UNC

CHAPEL HILL - Sources say that the information provided to other outlets by player agents has been fabricated. It turns out that a few agencies were rebuffed by the players at UNC. In turn the agencies decided to begin a smear campaign against these players.

Stories of players demanding money from the agencies for interviews has proven to be entirely false. It was the easiest way for the agencies to throw up a red flag while still appearing to operate under state laws in North Carolina.

Once the NCAA has completed its inquiry at UNC, these new statements will bear themselves out.