Sunday, April 21, 2013
A-Day
I wasn't able to see the game because we don't get CSS. I did listen to some of it. Arttis-Payne sounds good. We can always use another good running back. I think we have 2 good QBs but neither is a great one. I'm thinking this Nick Marshall will come in and be the starter. We need better than good at that position. Glad to see that we set a record with an attendance of 83, 401. This was the last rolling of Toomer's Corner. I never was big on that personally but it was great to see the pictures of the last time at least for the time being.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
The Gorilla in the Room
BY Phillip Marshall
AuburnUndercover
Is ESPN good for college football?
On face value, the answer would obviously be that it is. It gives college football more exposure than it’s ever had and puts millions of dollars into the coffers of college football programs every year.
But it’s not that simple.
If you are one of the handful of programs that ESPN has anointed as the bastions of the game, then ESPN is definitely good for you. The positive attention is a boon for recruiting. The network keeps your name in the public eye, hires your coach to do advertisements and more.
If you are one of the programs that ESPN has anointed as a loveable underdog, it’s good for you, too. How many people would really be aware of Boise State were it not for ESPN?
But if you’re one of the other guys, especially if you’re one that doesn’t stay in its perceived place, ESPN isn’t always so good for you. When the network decides to do indepth stories on the supposed ills of college football, it will look at you first. And when it does a report that is filled with holes, its own commentators and radio show hosts spring to its defense.
Never was there a better example than in 2010. ESPN broke the story that the NCAA was looking into the recruitment of Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. No problem there. It was news. Then ESPN proceeded, as is its way, to try to prove its own theory of the case. It turned every postseason awards show that included Newton, even the Heisman Trophy announcement, into a grilling session.
When Newton and Auburn were cleared, ESPN shrugged its proverbial shoulders. To this day, some ESPN commentators refuse to accept reality. They still hint or say outright that Auburn’s national championship was tainted.
When, instead of an unbiased search for the truth, the effort is to prove your own theory and call it news, you lose all credibility. Even in this day when the line between commentary and news reporting has blurred, that’s as true as it ever was.
And now comes the latest: last week’s long story on former Auburn players and synthetic marijuana. The author and others from ESPN have taken to the airwaves to defend a story that was so full of holes it’s already been blown to pieces. Will ESPN admit that? No chance. Instead we hear a national radio show host spend days trashing Auburn as if he has a clue of what he’s talking about. We see a television commentator who also has no clue do the same.
ESPN isn’t alone, of course. But it’s the gorilla in the room.
There are lots of good reporters at ESPN. Chris Low, who covers the SEC for ESPN.com, is as good and fair as you’ll find. The same can be said for columnist Ivan Maisel and others. It’s not guys like Low and Maisel that are the problem. When we started AuburnUndercover.com in July 2008, we were affiliated with ESPN. I discovered quickly that it’s a behemoth of an organization in which one hand frequently doesn’t know what the other is doing.
What can Auburn do? Nothing, really. ESPN’s billions give it unprecedented influence over college football. I don’t know many people, if any, outside of Bristol, Conn., who believe that influence is healthy. ESPN's cash buys power, and ESPN is the ultimate opinion-maker. All the while, as an organization, ESPN is about ratings, not fairness.
And there is no sign that will change anytime soon, if ever.
AuburnUndercover
Is ESPN good for college football?
On face value, the answer would obviously be that it is. It gives college football more exposure than it’s ever had and puts millions of dollars into the coffers of college football programs every year.
But it’s not that simple.
If you are one of the handful of programs that ESPN has anointed as the bastions of the game, then ESPN is definitely good for you. The positive attention is a boon for recruiting. The network keeps your name in the public eye, hires your coach to do advertisements and more.
If you are one of the programs that ESPN has anointed as a loveable underdog, it’s good for you, too. How many people would really be aware of Boise State were it not for ESPN?
But if you’re one of the other guys, especially if you’re one that doesn’t stay in its perceived place, ESPN isn’t always so good for you. When the network decides to do indepth stories on the supposed ills of college football, it will look at you first. And when it does a report that is filled with holes, its own commentators and radio show hosts spring to its defense.
Never was there a better example than in 2010. ESPN broke the story that the NCAA was looking into the recruitment of Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. No problem there. It was news. Then ESPN proceeded, as is its way, to try to prove its own theory of the case. It turned every postseason awards show that included Newton, even the Heisman Trophy announcement, into a grilling session.
When Newton and Auburn were cleared, ESPN shrugged its proverbial shoulders. To this day, some ESPN commentators refuse to accept reality. They still hint or say outright that Auburn’s national championship was tainted.
When, instead of an unbiased search for the truth, the effort is to prove your own theory and call it news, you lose all credibility. Even in this day when the line between commentary and news reporting has blurred, that’s as true as it ever was.
And now comes the latest: last week’s long story on former Auburn players and synthetic marijuana. The author and others from ESPN have taken to the airwaves to defend a story that was so full of holes it’s already been blown to pieces. Will ESPN admit that? No chance. Instead we hear a national radio show host spend days trashing Auburn as if he has a clue of what he’s talking about. We see a television commentator who also has no clue do the same.
ESPN isn’t alone, of course. But it’s the gorilla in the room.
There are lots of good reporters at ESPN. Chris Low, who covers the SEC for ESPN.com, is as good and fair as you’ll find. The same can be said for columnist Ivan Maisel and others. It’s not guys like Low and Maisel that are the problem. When we started AuburnUndercover.com in July 2008, we were affiliated with ESPN. I discovered quickly that it’s a behemoth of an organization in which one hand frequently doesn’t know what the other is doing.
What can Auburn do? Nothing, really. ESPN’s billions give it unprecedented influence over college football. I don’t know many people, if any, outside of Bristol, Conn., who believe that influence is healthy. ESPN's cash buys power, and ESPN is the ultimate opinion-maker. All the while, as an organization, ESPN is about ratings, not fairness.
And there is no sign that will change anytime soon, if ever.
Secure in the Truth
BY Phillip Marshall
AuburnUndercover
The question has been put to me numerous times in the last three days. Why Auburn? The truthful answer is I don’t know.
I don’t know why Auburn is such a target. But I did know what to expect after Selena Roberts did a disservice to herself and her profession with one of the worst hatchet jobs I have seen in all my years in this business. ESPN followed with a long story about Auburn players and synthetic marijuana that still has me scratching my head.
And what I expected to happen is what has happened.
ESPN paid little attention to Auburn’s response, which basically obliterated the story. Roberts responded defensively to anyone who questioned her.
And the usual suspects piled on. Even Pulitzer Prize winner Sara Ganim, who broke the Jerry Sandusky story wide open at Penn State and now work as for CNN, offered a hand-wringing tweet about a “black eye” for college athletics. A national radio talk show host derided the Auburn campus as one of the least attractive in the SEC. Yes, things got that silly.
Synthetic marijuana was legal and available at convenience stores? Auburn was one of the first in the SEC to test for synthetic marijuana? Auburn has one of the tougher drug testing programs in college athletics? The players “quoted” by Roberts rose up immediately in protest? Who cares? Why let facts like that get in the way of a good tale?
Much of what was said in both stories is ridiculously easy to disprove. But you can forget about any kind of fair shake from ESPN. It plans to make the story a TV show, so it will do what it does. It will do all it can to drive ratings.
Some national outlets have come to Auburn’s defense and have pointed to the massive holes in both stories. But they have been largely overlooked and drowned out. Good for them for trying to be fair.
Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs has had his say. Former head coach Gene Chizik has had his say. Parents of players have disputed both reports. To those who want to believe differently, it doesn’t matter. Three players await trial on armed robbery charges stemming from the well-documented incident of March 2011. They and their families, understandably, are doing all they can to mitigate their situations. The common thread: It was Auburn’s fault.
Auburn has been given a full exam by the NCAA three times since November of 2010. It has come out clean every time. Maybe that’s happened before, but I’m not aware of it. Does anyone really believe Auburn is so good it can not only trick the NCAA time and time again, but commit major violations right under the NCAA’s nose? Really?
Though Auburn stands accused of nothing illegal by anyone that matters, its reputation has taken a terrible and hit. It’s sad. No one expects college football fans to look beyond the headlines. A large number of those folks are convinced Auburn is dirty, and nothing Jacobs or anyone else can say or do is going to change that. You’d like to think professional news people would be determined to look beyond the headlines. Some are. Many aren’t.
So what can Auburn and Auburn people do now? My suggestion: Speak the truth and be secure in the truth. What is the truth?
* Auburn’s football program has not been sanctioned by the NCAA in 21 years. In that same period, 10 SEC teams have been.
* The NCAA has looked hard at Auburn three times since 2010. Auburn has emerged clean every time.
* Auburn has had more perfect records in the last 10 seasons than any team in the SEC.
* Auburn has had more perfect records in the last 20 seasons than any team in the SEC.
* Despite being beaten the past two seasons, Auburn has won seven of its last 11 against Alabama.
* Auburn has won six SEC championships in the past 30 years, one less than Florida, the same as LSU and one more than Alabama.
None of that means Auburn football is today where Auburn people want it to be.
There is no question that Alabama is the dominant program in the SEC. With three national championships in four seasons, that can’t be argued. And Alabama, historically, is the strongest program in the SEC. That’s makes Auburn’s historic success even more impressive.
The notion that Auburn somehow doesn’t belong, that it is an interloper among the top programs in the SEC and in college football is simply not supported by facts or by history..
AuburnUndercover
The question has been put to me numerous times in the last three days. Why Auburn? The truthful answer is I don’t know.
I don’t know why Auburn is such a target. But I did know what to expect after Selena Roberts did a disservice to herself and her profession with one of the worst hatchet jobs I have seen in all my years in this business. ESPN followed with a long story about Auburn players and synthetic marijuana that still has me scratching my head.
And what I expected to happen is what has happened.
ESPN paid little attention to Auburn’s response, which basically obliterated the story. Roberts responded defensively to anyone who questioned her.
And the usual suspects piled on. Even Pulitzer Prize winner Sara Ganim, who broke the Jerry Sandusky story wide open at Penn State and now work as for CNN, offered a hand-wringing tweet about a “black eye” for college athletics. A national radio talk show host derided the Auburn campus as one of the least attractive in the SEC. Yes, things got that silly.
Synthetic marijuana was legal and available at convenience stores? Auburn was one of the first in the SEC to test for synthetic marijuana? Auburn has one of the tougher drug testing programs in college athletics? The players “quoted” by Roberts rose up immediately in protest? Who cares? Why let facts like that get in the way of a good tale?
Much of what was said in both stories is ridiculously easy to disprove. But you can forget about any kind of fair shake from ESPN. It plans to make the story a TV show, so it will do what it does. It will do all it can to drive ratings.
Some national outlets have come to Auburn’s defense and have pointed to the massive holes in both stories. But they have been largely overlooked and drowned out. Good for them for trying to be fair.
Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs has had his say. Former head coach Gene Chizik has had his say. Parents of players have disputed both reports. To those who want to believe differently, it doesn’t matter. Three players await trial on armed robbery charges stemming from the well-documented incident of March 2011. They and their families, understandably, are doing all they can to mitigate their situations. The common thread: It was Auburn’s fault.
Auburn has been given a full exam by the NCAA three times since November of 2010. It has come out clean every time. Maybe that’s happened before, but I’m not aware of it. Does anyone really believe Auburn is so good it can not only trick the NCAA time and time again, but commit major violations right under the NCAA’s nose? Really?
Though Auburn stands accused of nothing illegal by anyone that matters, its reputation has taken a terrible and hit. It’s sad. No one expects college football fans to look beyond the headlines. A large number of those folks are convinced Auburn is dirty, and nothing Jacobs or anyone else can say or do is going to change that. You’d like to think professional news people would be determined to look beyond the headlines. Some are. Many aren’t.
So what can Auburn and Auburn people do now? My suggestion: Speak the truth and be secure in the truth. What is the truth?
* Auburn’s football program has not been sanctioned by the NCAA in 21 years. In that same period, 10 SEC teams have been.
* The NCAA has looked hard at Auburn three times since 2010. Auburn has emerged clean every time.
* Auburn has had more perfect records in the last 10 seasons than any team in the SEC.
* Auburn has had more perfect records in the last 20 seasons than any team in the SEC.
* Despite being beaten the past two seasons, Auburn has won seven of its last 11 against Alabama.
* Auburn has won six SEC championships in the past 30 years, one less than Florida, the same as LSU and one more than Alabama.
None of that means Auburn football is today where Auburn people want it to be.
There is no question that Alabama is the dominant program in the SEC. With three national championships in four seasons, that can’t be argued. And Alabama, historically, is the strongest program in the SEC. That’s makes Auburn’s historic success even more impressive.
The notion that Auburn somehow doesn’t belong, that it is an interloper among the top programs in the SEC and in college football is simply not supported by facts or by history..
Monday, March 18, 2013
Auburn Baseball
Not surprisingly, Auburn is swept at home by Vanderbilt. Auburn next plays at LSU. Both opponents are highly ranked. I can only expect that LSU will sweep us too. We will start conference play 0 and 6. What another bummer of a baseball season.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Spring Tuneup
Thank goodness Auburn's basketball season is over. The Tigers lose to Texas A & M in opening night of the SEC tournament. That's a 3 & 16 conclusion to the worst roundball season in my memory. I wish Barbee would be terminated, but I doubt it will happen.
The baseball team is 10 & 3 after a light pre-conference schedule. Conference play begins with second ranked Vanderbilt. I do not expect anything better than possibly playing in the conference tournament.
Spring football begins week after next. There will be talk of players, of position changes, this and that, but I have learned that we cannot make anything of spring training unless someone gets hurt.
The baseball team is 10 & 3 after a light pre-conference schedule. Conference play begins with second ranked Vanderbilt. I do not expect anything better than possibly playing in the conference tournament.
Spring football begins week after next. There will be talk of players, of position changes, this and that, but I have learned that we cannot make anything of spring training unless someone gets hurt.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
About Barbee
Auburn finishes 3 and 15 in the conference in the third year of Tony Barbee's tenure. I say be gone with him!
Saturday, February 16, 2013
No Hope
I conclude that there is no hope for Auburn basketball. This team was humiliated today 83-52 by Florida, the worst home loss in Auburn Arena history. This is the ninth loss in ten games. I watched most of it, more than I could stomach, before leaving. Florida may be the best team in the SEC, and may make a run toward the Final Four. The disparity between good basketball, which Florida plays, and bad basketball, which Auburn plays, was never more apparent than today. Chubb missed an open putback, Wallace missed an open layup, and the Tigers were turning the ball over faster than they were making baskets. Florida plays with confidence and is more athletic and quicker. Auburn is slow, unsure, and incompetent. Auburn is suppose to have its most talented and deepest roster in a while, but it ain't showing at all. There is no hope for Auburn basketball this season or beyond.
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