The Bama penalty: Tough on the surface, soft underneath
Alabama makes such an inviting target, what with the houndstooth hats and the braying fans and the abject lack of moderation. And Bama’s most famous salaried employee is the glowering Coach Satan, who makes a mint and smiles never. There are those among us — heck, there are times when I’d have been one of them — who’d say nothing is too harsh for the haughty Crimson Tide.
But this one comes close. Forfeited games over textbooks that weren’t sold for profit? Sixteen programs — 16 of 21, if you’re counting — on probation over textbooks? Heck, at this point shouldn’t we be happy any school’s student-athletes are even interested in textbooks?
The guess is that the NCAA piled on because it tired of seeing those crimson blazers in its hearing room. Alabama forfeited eight victories (plus one tie, as if you can forfeit a non-win) back in 1995 after the violations involving Gene Jelks and his tape recorder and Antonio Langham and his agent. It got hit again with five years’ probation and a two-year bowl ban in 2002 for the Logan Young/Albert Means/Memphis fallout.
Loading ...But this one didn’t involve money to a recruit or a player. This wasn’t even one of those Kiffin-esque secondary recruiting vioaltions. This one involved textbooks. And that’s surely why the NCAA huffed hard (ordering the 21 forfeits) but didn’t really follow through (no scholarship penalties). This probation was meant to embarrass Alabama for embarrassing the NCAA yet again, not to hamstring the Tide into the next decade.
Naturally, Tide fans won’t see it that way. Naturally, they’ll point to their orange-clad neighbor and moan, “How come Tennessee never gets nailed?” But Bama will just have to bite its tongue and be satisfied with having the better coach — and all its scholarships.
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103 comments Add your comment
Ray
June 11th, 2009
7:49 pm
What a joke.
I’m just waiting for the next violation to come to light. Anyone know where I can get a good deal on a car in the Gadsen area?
Atlanta Gator
June 11th, 2009
7:53 pm
I have mixed feelings about the NCAA sanctions against the University of Alabama.
I am not an apologist for the guilty. I really believe that if you do the crime, your need to be prepared to do the time. But, in this case, the university is being punished for the independent actions of several of its athletes, not its coaches, not its alumni, and not its administration. If anything, the athletic department is guilty of some mild form of negligence for having failed to more closely monitor its textbook distribution program. Clearly, there was no intent to on the school’s part to evade the rules, nor did the school’s athletic teams receive any sort of unfair competitive advantage. Not every stupid crime by a college athlete is the responsibility of the athlete’s institution.
No one received any cash, and the only beneficiaries were the friends of athletes who received free books. The guilty parties are the 7 football players, the other athletes, and their friends. These individuals are arguably guilty of stealing from the university, not that the university is guilty of intentionally distributing unauthorized benefits. Alabama self-reported and relied on the good sense of the NCAA to make the penalty fit the crime. I’m not sure this punishment does.
Rather than vacating wins 2 to 5 years after the fact, I think that ALL of the students who improperly received “free” text books should be forced to repay the costs to the university, with penalties and interest, under threat of criminal sanctions (misdemeanor or potentially felony theft charges, depending on the dollar amounts involved). They knew, or should have known, that they were receiving these benefits improperly under NCAA rules, and almost certainly illegally under state law (i.e. theft by deception).
As for the athletes, they are also guilty of stealing from the university, too, even if they were not the ultimate recipients of the benefits. To the extent they still have remaining NCAA eligibility, they should be punished prospectively, not retroactively. By declaring them retroactively ineligible, only the school is punished. By declaring the responsible athletes ineligible for part or all of the 2009-10 season, the truly guilty parties would be punished. That would provide real deterrence to college athletes from acting in ways that hard the interests of their athletic programs and universities.
Alabama should appeal, and should propose more fitting punishments of those directly responsible.
BAMA STAN
June 11th, 2009
7:53 pm
12 NATIONAL TITLES – 21 SEC TITLES
Not worried about Tennessee – most Bama fans actually feel that we deserved the punishment we received.
Every school has to be held accounatable – PERIOD.
Bama deserved the probation due to the actions or our staff under DuBose.
If a few BAMA fans want to point fingers at Fulmer and Tennessee … and Spurrier – for turning us in – that is their problem. I am glad they turned us in so that we could fix the problem – no matter how painful and embarrassing the situation was – we are in better shape because we got caught – and was forced to deal with some reality.
BAMA needs to focus on being the best they can be – with high morales and accountability.
The TEXTBOOKGATE is an embarrassment – but no coaches or staff were involved – no competitive advantage gained – no profits were made by the players – just stupid young adults taking advantage of a benefit – thinking they will not get caught.
I hope we do not appeal – let’s take our punishment and move forward. Need to be accountable.
WITH THAT SAID……….ROLLLLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
luckydog
June 11th, 2009
7:55 pm
Prior to 1964 NCAA penalties were very rare.
DawgMAN
June 11th, 2009
7:57 pm
WOW BamaStan – surprised you are not moaning and crying and making excuses and whining about PHAT PHIL and stuff. Enjoy reading your post and glad to see you being a standup guy and all.
gatorman770
June 11th, 2009
7:57 pm
When will the NCAA get around to busting USC for Bush’s momma’s free house or will they remain “untouchables”? I guess a free house to a players momma is not like money to a recruit or a player.
buckblue
June 11th, 2009
7:57 pm
I heard they are going to change their name to Criminal Tide…..formerly known as the payroll tide….what a joke…..
UGA 4ever
June 11th, 2009
8:00 pm
Nothing more obnoxious than 18 to 21 year olds thinking that they are adults!!! More embarrasment for Alabama – we have had our embarrassing moments as well.
Apprciate Bama Stan’s post.
GO DAWGS!!!!
buckblue
June 11th, 2009
8:00 pm
I guess we can’t make any more jokes about the criminal tide losing to UL Monroe….the game never existed…..
joewillie
June 11th, 2009
8:05 pm
In the ongoing dinner theater known as Being Alabama only the actors change. The roles remain the same.
Bear’s School went on NCAA probation Thursday for the fourth time in 14 years. Something about a textbook scandal. The details aren’t really important. There are major violations, but only because Alabama is to the rulebook what Michael Vick is to pit bulls. A constant, menacing threat.
The question has become when aren’t there major violations in Tuscaloosa? The latest penalties mean that ‘Bama has been eligible to be an NCAA repeat offender since 1995. Alabama has been committing major violations while serving time for major violations.
Seriously, the Tide need to clean up their act. (Getty Images)
One slip-up during the five-year repeat violator statute of limitations is considered serious. It makes a program eligible for the NCAA death penalty. At Alabama, they scoff. It’s a Crimson and White Groundhog Day every day.
By the time Alabama’s latest NCAA repeat offender clock stops ticking it will be 2014. That’s 19 years of — as one infractions committee chairman once put it — “staring down the barrel of a gun” for the program. Nineteen years of being on death row.
If this is staring down the barrel of a gun, then ‘Bama is Dirty Harry. Make the Tide’s day. Alabama’s romp through the rules and regs is a clear indicator that SMU’s death penalty in 1987 will be the one and only such punishment ever handed down. The NCAA will never again drop the hammer because in the Yellowhammer State we’ve seen that nobody does it better. Or worse.
And keeps playing games.
• Alabama must vacate victories
Any other school would get a swat on the butt for what was announced Thursday. Apparently players were using leftover textbook money from their scholarships to buy books for friends and relatives. Big whoop.
Alabama, though, is being forced to vacate victories under Mike Shula (2005-06) and Nick Saban (2007). Could be as many as 23. This isn’t Bobby Bowden controversial. Some Tide fans will likely say good riddance to forgettable 6-7 and 7-6 seasons in ‘06 and ‘07.
Once again, big whoop.
There seems to be, though, a new age of wrongdoing. Some sort of anarchy has broken out. We knew the NCAA enforcement staff was outmanned. Now it is being outsmarted. The NCAA cops apparently sleep. The coaches? Not so sure. They are looking for ways to cut corners whether their compliance directors like it or not.
A couple of years ago the coaches were up in arms about a ban on texting. Now we’ve got Twitter, and it’s legal, until the next technology evolves to hound recruits.
Saban got around a spring ban on head coaches meeting face-to-face with recruits by installing a webcam.
Lane Kiffin is practically daring to the NCAA to come in and do something about his secondary violations.
Auburn didn’t know when it had a good thing going. It used limousines during a recruiting sweep this offseason (legal). Then it went out and allowed recruits to T.P. trees at Toomer’s Corner (perhaps illegal).
“I’ve seen schools with 10-12 secondary violations in a year,” one compliance director said, “20-30 in a year.”
There seemingly is no downside for the rules benders. If the violations are serious enough, all you have to do is get lawyered up with one of a myriad NCAA troubleshooters out there. You thought USC was in trouble? Yes, but Tim Floyd’s resignation this week actually helps the Trojans. The cleansing has begun with one of the rogues out of the picture.
You might have heard that Florida State is dealing with an academic scandal. But the only reason anyone cares is that the penalties might impact Bowden’s career victories. Never mind the fact that FSU is tied for second all-time on the major infractions list.
The guy you feel for is SEC commissioner Mike Slive. He sits in the middle of the slime. His noble goal was to get the conference probation free by summer 2008. Only Arkansas track penalties stood in the way, until now.
Alabama being the granddaddy of shredding the NCAA rulebook seems to be kicking off another round of unprecedented turbulence. How do we know this?
On Sept. 29, 2007 Florida State defeated Alabama in Jacksonville. In hindsight, the game might be the first in history that neither school had a chance to win. The NCAA is looking into whether both schools will vacate victories from that season.
David C
June 11th, 2009
8:14 pm
If 15 out of 21 programs isn’t “lack of institutional control” I don’t know what is
PaulC
June 11th, 2009
8:21 pm
Bama will get in trouble again sooner or later. Cheating is part of their DNA. There is a situation in Memphis which warrants attention that’s coming very close to the Albert Means situation. Bama fans may think they got off scot free this time but it’s only a matter of time before the axe falls. The sun rises, the sun sets, and the University of Alabama runs a corrupt program. Sorry Bamers, those are just facts of life.
Gator Growl
June 11th, 2009
8:21 pm
Didn’t give Bama any competitive advantage…punishment was about right for the crime…
Gator Growl
June 11th, 2009
8:25 pm
As far as Tennessees NCAA punishment…that will start Sept 19th.
Silver Skillet
June 11th, 2009
8:39 pm
The Big Bad NCAA put Alabama on three years probation and ordered the university to pay a fine of $43,900 as well as vacate an unspecified number of victories from 2005 through 2007.
The crime? A total of 201 student-athletes, spanning 16 different sports at the university, received what the NCAA terms as “extra benefits” because of loopholes that were present at that time in the university’s textbook distribution system.
Initially, five members of the football team – former players Antoine Caldwell, Glen Coffee and Marlon Davis and current players Marquis Johnson and Chris Rogers – were identified as being involved in the improprieties. After further investigation, it was determined two additional football players were involved, but they have not been identified.
1) No coaches or staff members were involved
2) There was no competitive edge gained by the indiscretions
3) Not one student-athlete pocketed even a single dollar in the scandal
Alabama self-reported the indiscretions to both the SEC and NCAA, promptly suspended the offending players, conducted its own comprehensive self-investigation into the matter and took a proactive approach to fixing the infrastructure problems that led to the indiscretions. Students also had to repay the cost of the optional textbooks they improperly received.
I smell an appeal and rightfully so……
JoeB
June 11th, 2009
8:45 pm
PaulC, Remember Ga also paid for Albert Means and so did Tenn. Just that Bama paid more and got him, and was turned in….
K-Town Dawg
June 11th, 2009
8:56 pm
Where is ROSWELL ED?
I figured he would be all over this.
Mark Bradley
June 11th, 2009
8:59 pm
Mal Moore. Mal Function. Just saying.
bird
June 11th, 2009
9:10 pm
Yall hoping Bama would have gotten the worst is to funny..lol! ROLL TIDE!!!
wawel78
June 11th, 2009
9:14 pm
I’m still trying to figure out the point of this one – either punish the program or move along and nothing to see here. Taking away wins is about the dumbest punishment I’ve ever heard.
bigcooterb
June 11th, 2009
9:33 pm
My guess is there is not a school in the country where this does not happen. Kids being kids do things like this because they can.
Diamond Dawg
June 11th, 2009
9:35 pm
Nice job Bamers!! You guys are ridiculous. Now it makes sense as to how they looked so confused against Utah! Can’t read!
Ryno
June 11th, 2009
9:37 pm
The worst part of the deal is that Bama was already under probation for previous infractions when these new ones happened. They didn’t even get out from under the last ones before these popped up. Can someone tell me about the records that allegedly disappeared from Bama offices in 2005? If true, that COULD signal a coverup of more serious things. I don’t know that or am accusing that, but it would be good to get the scoop on that.
bamabone
June 11th, 2009
9:38 pm
bird has it right: any SEC fan rooting for another SEC school to get nailed by the NCAA is beyond contempt. now, rooting for Notre Dame or USC to get their just desserts…that’s just good clean fun. RTR!
Frozen_Gator
June 11th, 2009
9:46 pm
I believe that the penalties were too stiff. If Bama had all of their vacated wins they would be 1,2,or 3 in all-time wins and that is important. I’m not jealous but I certainly respect it………The more pressing problem though is Alabama will have to walk on egg shells for 5 more years………. A student called Finebaum and there is a way to make a buck. The athlete sells a $200 book for $100. He keeps the C note and the student gets his money back when he turns the book in at end of the term. Isn’t America great! Of course I’m sure that never happened………..I guess no one ever helped Corrine Brown-D-FL get any books………Hope Bama does well and we don’t have any more arrests….Go Gators
WinderDawg
June 11th, 2009
9:51 pm
Here is to hoping that the SEC, which has long been known as one of the best, if not the best confrences in the country, will clean up it’s act.Alabama gets a slap on the wrist, because they are Alabama. All of the schools in the confrence,UGA included, need to tighten up on all this BS thats going on. I thought it was bad when we had Danny Ford and Jackie Sherrell but that dumbA$$ in Tenn, and The fool at Auburn are bringing more negative attention to us.As much as i hate Spurrier, he runs a clean program. Theres something to be said for that. As far as Alabama goes, while i respect the tradition, they should know better. But some people never learn. I lived in Dallas, TX when SMU got the death penalty, and they have never recovered, so who are we?, the next SWC? a renagade confrence that will one day be busted up? I hope not, but then again, the southwest confrence thought they were above reproach too.
North GA Nole
June 11th, 2009
9:54 pm
joewillie – name your source on the list of major infractions…
Ricky
June 11th, 2009
10:00 pm
Looks like a lot of Dawg fans are still upset about getting their A$$e$ handed to them by Bama last year.
OleManBourbon
June 11th, 2009
10:05 pm
So obvious which comments are written by Auburn fans. . .
Frozen_Gator
June 11th, 2009
10:06 pm
BTW……..I wonder if that #@$%^^& coach fron ut Lame kitten will have some classless remark to say about this.
bamaguy
June 11th, 2009
10:20 pm
Alabama wins a National Championship while on probation. Enough said.
Bama is America's Team
June 11th, 2009
10:25 pm
This fall Bama on probation but will still be kicking A$$!
Ted Striker
June 11th, 2009
10:26 pm
Maybe Alabama dodged a bullet on vacating additional games — if this also took place prior to 2005. Quoting Paul Dee, chair of the NCAA Infractions Committee: “The university could not produce records before the 2005 fall semester, so it’s unclear if similar violations occurred earlier.”
This isn’t apples to apples but this ruling doesn’t seem to bode well for Bobby Bowden and Florida State.
(And I still think that USC should have been required to vacate the national championship over the Reggie Bush fiasco).
FL DAWG
June 11th, 2009
10:33 pm
All in all bama got of lucky considering some of these infractions happened while they were on probation. The punishment fit the crime. Had they suspended the players still on the roster the punishment would have still fit the crime. Bama got the lesser of two rational punenalties. Hopefully, all SEC schools will clean up their own miss givings and the league will be better off because of it. Watch your step Bama for five more years. Go Dawgs!
Joke
June 11th, 2009
10:41 pm
Ah, the $EC..the situational ethics conference. Bama on probation….shcoker. Tennessee threw death threats at a helpless woman prof. who couldn’t help but call out abject fraud among student atheletes. 24 gators arrested in 2 years, including one guy chocking his grilfriend and another using a dead girls credit cards. Don’t forget probations at the other schools in the past 10-20 years, save dear ole Vandy.
Gotta love it when it’s proudly admitted, “if ya ain’t cheatin, you ain’t tryin.” Karma is a $#%^… lowdy, help us all.
Mark Bradley
June 11th, 2009
10:43 pm
Didn’t Paul W. Bryant make some joke about coloring books burning when Auburn’s library caught on fire?
Rolltide23
June 11th, 2009
10:46 pm
There are no excuses for cheating. But the NCAA has so many rules. Iam sure half of the coaching staff and players don’t know all of them. D-1 college football programs are making millions and millions from these athletes but the athlete cannot even work a summer job and get paid. Some of the players comes from very poor families. The NCAA should allow stipends for the players and that would eliminate all of the cheating.
Milburn Drysdale
June 11th, 2009
10:53 pm
Ricky, The Dawgs fans are upset? About what? I didn’t see any posts in here where anyone was hammering on Alabama (except maybe BuckBlue). Mosts posts in here are sticking to subject. Personally, I think these charges are kind of Mickey Mouse,and Lord knows what kind of stuff ALL schools are doing. But last year is so…last year.
reality check
June 11th, 2009
10:56 pm
What coach Bryant said was no joke
Carey
June 11th, 2009
11:04 pm
Your title of this story is misleading. Where did you get a degree from? So what is tough and what is soft Bradley? You make a remark about textbooks, this involved non athlete students getting books not the way you wrote it. The athletes did not get the books for themselves, as that would not be a violation. Poorly written article.
Fact checker
June 11th, 2009
11:11 pm
“Fifteen programs — 15 of 21, if you’re counting — on probation over textbooks?”
Actually, men’s and women’s track & field programs is probably counted as six of Alabama’s 21 sports (men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s indoor track, women’s indoor track, men’s outdoor track and women’s outdoor track). That would raise the participation to 19 of 21 sports.
Can anyone name the two clean programs in Tuscaloosa?
Fact checker
June 11th, 2009
11:15 pm
Fact checker is not an editor, therefore…make “men’s and women’s track and field programs ARE probably counted”
oldmac
June 11th, 2009
11:22 pm
Heck everybody knows that “the Bear” invented the “hundred dollar handshake” and stuffin’ cash in the shoes in the locker room. Nothing new from them.
JB
John Doe
June 11th, 2009
11:48 pm
Never heard of Mark Bradley until tonight. After reading his Blog about Alabama, I understand why. Why so bias? Coach Satan? “Bama’s most famous salaried employee”? You need to go back to high school English and learn a few things. For example, don’t start a sentence with, And. “Naturally, Tide fans won’t see it that way. Naturally, they’ll point to their orange-clad neighbor and moan, “How come Tennessee never gets nailed?” Really? Probably not. Bama hates UT but Bama is not a bunch of cry tits and take responsibilty for what has happened. Read the press releases and statements.
Guess this goes to show that anyone can do anything! You don’t need a clue as to what’s going on, just paraphrase something you just read off the AP.
One last thing, Bama has 12 National titles and 21 SEC titles. WHO BETTER?!
ROLL TIDE!!!
Atlanta Journal Constitution » Blog Archive » The Bama penalty: Tough on the surface, soft underneath
June 12th, 2009
12:01 am
[...] Mark Bradley | ajc.com – [...]
Tide fan
June 12th, 2009
12:02 am
Buckblue,
You just may be the all time stupidest person to post on here. We should change our name from crimson tide to criminal tide or parole tide? Are you just stupid?
As Atlanta Gator points out this isn’t about the administration, the coaching staff, or anyone affiliated with the university doing any cheating. Its about some kids who figured out there was a loophole in the textbook distribution system and they started gaming the system to get some textbooks for their friends, girlfriends, etc.
And your bit about wiping the La-Monroe game off the books as if the game was never played! Wins are vacated, not losses you freaking ignoramus dumbazz!
Tide fan
June 12th, 2009
12:04 am
Mark,
It was Steve Spurrier that made that joke about Auburn.
RealDawg
June 12th, 2009
12:31 am
The penalty is way to light. You have the athletes, the students they “gave” them to, their friends, etc. Do you think for a second that none of the dozens of coaches of the 16 teams had any idea this was going on for some time? Also, there is no way in the hundreds of transactions that a student didn’t get something back for their kindness.
Current nor future players not involved should be punished BUT the athletics program should be hit in the pocket book much greater than $40k. Call it a stupid tax.
swgaboy
June 12th, 2009
12:50 am
Already on probation, and yet no repeat offender status? What’s going on with the NCAA? The textbook scandal on its own isn’t that serious in my opinion. BUT what they are already on probation for is extremely serious. That should mean that Alabama should have to be squeaky clean throughout its probation process. Clearly it’s not. This should have resulted in loss of schollies and post season appearances.
baconboy
June 12th, 2009
1:02 am
I think Ted Striker, above, may have hit the nail on the head. I think the real target here may be FSU. By vacating these wins they set a precedent they can appeal to when they take away those wins from Bobby Bowden. If I was Bowden, I’d be really, really nervous.
Ken Stallings
June 12th, 2009
1:14 am
Up to this point, I would never had known it was an NCAA violation to “give” textbooks to friends. I knew it was an NCAA violation to “sell” them, but not to “give” them. I really think the NCAA is going way overboard on this one, and while I’m not an Alabama fan or alum, I would agree with those who complain about this one.
What’s next? An athlete cannot buy someone lunch on a date?
The only entity frauded in this case is the University of Alabama, who ostensibly at least lost some textbook sales. So, when exactly does the prohibition of giving away books as gifts go away? Is it a lifetime ban or just for the life of the scholarship?
Is it OK to give a book for a class already completed to your mother?
Or how about giving a book to a poor student who’s struggling to make ends meet?
In an era where we have AAU coaches acting like agents-in-waiting for college basketball recruits, I think the NCAA looks more than a bit harsh on this one.
Gene Stallings
June 12th, 2009
2:05 am
Man, I need to wash all this stuff down with a big ole co-cola.
David
June 12th, 2009
7:24 am
Textbooks, Textbooks, we talken about textbooks?
What a joke, the other universities in the SEC better watch out, because the big bad NCAA is coming after you next.
What are they going to do next, put universities on probation because they did not watch the players go to the bathroom carefully enough.
DawgSpanky!
June 12th, 2009
7:30 am
Bradley- you UGay homer you, as usual your’re quick to slam other institutions, but if this was your beloved East Central Community College over in Athens, you’d be whining about how harsh the penalties were to your favorite traditionaless football program (a paltry one MNC). Even Tech has four MNCs. And on cue, the UGAy Trailer Dwellers are on here making fools of themselves again. The barner ‘necks must all be drunk or stupid right now to profess their continual ignorance. The bottom line is Textbook Gate should have been an institutional matter only. The arbitrary and capricious nazis from the ncaa, as usual, used an institution to Self-Report and to investigate itself, only to the ncaa slam it in the end. In the mean time, the likes of the Ohio State Cow College, USC, UGAy and yes, ut run roughshod around and over the ncaa rulebook.
Nachos
June 12th, 2009
7:30 am
Well at least we dont have Gene “pop my colla” Chizik as our coach! Suck on that barners
dgroy
June 12th, 2009
7:30 am
The joke here is the almighty NCAA. I’m sure there are incidencies like this in all our colleges and universities…..the almighty just picked a high profile institution to punish. All you dawgs out there, this is not gonna help you beat ‘bama…..they’re just better than Georgia in football.
Randall
June 12th, 2009
7:34 am
The whole problem with this…the NCAA “picks” the schools it will punish. I, for one, want to know why the Reggie Bush issue at USC was never investigated. Didn’t he admit taking $250K? His mom got a new house? Are certain programs, like USC, “untouchable”?
Nachos
June 12th, 2009
7:36 am
Fear the Chizzzzz
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu254/Jch4ua99/Chezdikandhispoppedcollar.jpg?t=1244476681
UGA89
June 12th, 2009
7:50 am
(Pa)ROLE TIDE (Pa)ROLE
Atlanta Gator
June 12th, 2009
7:50 am
Interesting commentary and perspective from Ivan Maisel of Sports Illustrated . . . .
NCAA ruling indicates a turning Tide
Ivan Maisel
Sports Illustrated
With the announcement Thursday that the NCAA has wrist-slapped Alabama for its textbook problem, the university’s rehabilitation might be complete.
Not so long ago, the school didn’t have a textbook problem. It was a textbook problem.
Here stood a two-time loser in NCAA court, a school that lost a total of 38 scholarships in two cases only seven years apart, a school that as recently as 2002 made the NCAA lawyers dust off the death penalty to see whether it fit Alabama’s crimes.
Yet on Thursday, the NCAA Committee on Infractions imposed no scholarship reductions on the Crimson Tide football team or any of the university’s other 15 teams with players who obtained free textbooks for their buddies.
The committee ordered Alabama to vacate any victories from 2005 to 2007 in which the 201 student-athletes competed. The university also must pay a fine to the NCAA of $43,900, the cost of the free textbooks distributed. That’s not quite 48 cents per seat at one of the Tide’s seven games at Bryant-Denny Stadium this fall.
Something has changed at the Capstone. In recent weeks, coach Nick Saban worried aloud that the university had not defended itself aggressively enough to the NCAA Committee on Infractions. That is quite a change from a university that for years didn’t appear to take the NCAA Manual seriously.
Take yourself back to 1993, the year after Alabama won its sixth AP national championship. Alabama had never been on NCAA probation. When coach Gene Stallings discovered that corner Antonio Langham’s eligibility might be in jeopardy, the university’s investigation consisted pretty much of a broom and a rug under which to sweep it.
Once the NCAA determined that Langham had signed with an agent, and that athletic department officials dithered in their investigation, the hammer came down. When the Committee on Infractions ruled in 1995, it took away 26 scholarships and put Alabama on three years’ probation (later reduced to 17 and two, respectively).
The committee used the term “distressing failure” in its report to describe the action of athletic director Hootie Ingram, Stallings and others in their investigation of Langham.
Lesson learned? Seven years later, the NCAA came after the football program in the case of Albert Means, a Memphis defensive tackle recruit. Again, the university failed to understand what it had at stake.
In the days before the NCAA announced its verdict, faculty athletic representative Gene Marsh, a member of the Committee on Infractions who had recused himself from the case, told athletic department officials that Alabama had no reason to worry. The football team might lose a scholarship or two, but there wouldn’t be any bowl sanctions.
The NCAA stripped Alabama of 21 scholarships, added a two-year bowl sanction, put the football program on five years’ probation and described the university as “looking down a gun barrel” at the death penalty.
Coach Dennis Franchione, who had been at Alabama for little more than a year, said he felt blindsided. The tangible loss of scholarships took its toll on the football team. Franchione stayed one more season. Then came the five-month stint of Mike Price and the four-year slog of Mike Shula.
Football mediocrity, together with the intangible stain of being a two-time NCAA loser, took its toll on Alabama officials. They got it.
In the brief statement that he read to the media Thursday afternoon, athletic director Mal Moore said that Alabama “conducted an exhaustive review.”
He added, “We have clearly demonstrated our intent to do things the right way.”
On Thursday, Committee on Infractions chairman Paul Dee, the former Miami athletic director, said, “I think the University of Alabama did a terrific job.”
The penalties apply backward, not forward. Alabama must vacate 21 football victories. But that’s about it. Where these textbooks are concerned, the NCAA made a molehill out of a molehill. Alabama accepted responsibility, performed its due diligence and fixed the flaw.
In other words, in its dealings with the NCAA, the university finally found a textbook solution.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=maisel_ivan&id=4252254
Doug
June 12th, 2009
7:50 am
Now I am not an Alabama or SEC fan, but I think that the penalty for these violations is ridiculous. The teams know they won those games, despite what the history (record) books say. And the penalty does nothing to make the institution remember to follow those rules. Just have a penalty, but one they will remember, like the gate at their next sold out SEC game. That would make the entire athletic department sqirm.
Gen Neyland
June 12th, 2009
8:00 am
Some will rightly claim the penalty against Alabama to be no more than a slap on the wrist and a cue to all Athletic Dept’s to work a bit more dillegently in expressing and understanding the rules and regs to the student-athlete. Personally, the action taken is like bringing suit against Smith & Wesson for the act of the whack job pulling the trigger…and now we’ll have a asterisk beside the years in question and the base for arguing all-time W’s and L’s in the land of the Red Elephant.
dd
June 12th, 2009
8:03 am
Can football season just get here please??
Atlanta Gator
June 12th, 2009
8:04 am
A couple of additional comments . . . .
The NCAA meted out the current penalties because Alabama has been on probation for major violations twice since 1995, and again for a five-year probation for major violations as recently as 2002-2007. The current violations overlapped with Alabama’s last 5-year probation, and the NCAA could have taken far stronger action than they did. Regardless of the vacated victories from 2005, 2006 and 2007, Crimson Tide fans should be happy that the new penalties do not implicate their current coach or administration, do not involve a loss of scholarships, and do not include any ban on bowl participation. If Alabama keeps its nose clean for the next 2 years, it will be fine. IF . . . .
As to whether the most responsible parties have been appropriately punished for the Alabama textbook scandal, please see my comment @7:53 PM. This is one of those rare occasions where the student-athletes are the most responsible parties, and Alabama did what it was supposed to do in investigating the problem and self-reporting what it discovered.
As for Southern Cal being guilty of a loss of institutional control, and the USC alumni (and perhaps coaches and administrators) being guilty of far worse than Alabama’s most recent transgression, there is a diesel locomotive coming down the tracks, slowing, but surely, and USC is going to get run over. Count on it. Just because no one at USC or the NCAA is making public comments, doesn’t mean that a very thorough investigation is not being conducted. See the following link for an update:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4252667
dd
June 12th, 2009
8:06 am
Can football season just get here please?
Atlanta Gator
June 12th, 2009
8:10 am
Gen Neyland—-As to the vacated wins, there will be no asterisk. As I understand it, the games in question will not be treated as “forfeits” (i.e. losses). Alabama will not get to count the wins, and the opponents will not be able to claim the wins, either. Same treatment that Florida got when Florida was forced to vacate the 1984 SEC football championship. Florida could not claim the championship, nor was the runner-up (Tennessee) able to claim it, either.
Bottom line: Alabama will vacate up to 21 relatively meaningless football wins from the 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons, reducing their all-time win total, but not increasing their all-time loss total.
N.GA.DAWG
June 12th, 2009
8:14 am
TIDE FAN, ILMAO. THAT WAS TOO FUNNY!
Reality Check...
June 12th, 2009
8:15 am
DawgSpanky needs a reality check….
REN
June 12th, 2009
8:36 am
Oh no ! Giving text books to students, let’s just hope they can read.
Sweet Little Auburn Girl
June 12th, 2009
8:44 am
I think that part of the punishment for Alabama should require the all Bama football helmets to have the same # on each helmet (-21)! Gee I that is a great idea!
gdawginkalamazoo
June 12th, 2009
8:49 am
Lack of institutional control would definitely be part of the problem here. That many programs, that many athletes? Come on. And nobody knew? Absolutely NOBODY involved with the distribution of the books, checking off which athlete got what? It was just plain stealing. Call it what it is. I know what I had to pay for textbooks at UGA and to say that these athletes were doing it out of the goodness of their hearts is just a poor guess that they didn’t receive some kind of a benefit.
But I have to agree with the people up top that said the vacating of the victories is more of a precedent to deny Bowden his appeal. If so say good night to Bobby because he is done.
The vacating of wins will affect Bowden. Can anybody tell me how many times JoPa and the Penn State program has been on probation over the years? I don’t think they want Bowden and the problems he has had over the years to be the all time victory leader.
Atlanta Gator is a Know-It-All
June 12th, 2009
8:59 am
It would be great if Atlanta Gator would stop posting all the time, or for at least 5 minutes.
There is no National Championship in College Football
June 12th, 2009
9:00 am
Ah yes, what would an AJC blog about SEC teams be without revisionist history……..and arbitrary claims of National Championships that don’t even exist in College Football. And of course we can’t have a blog without embittered trade schoolers like dawgspanky showing off their persistant inferiority complex. Spanky: Georgia Tech has never won a National Championship (no D1A team has)………they have never been awarded a MNC by the AP. They trail the series with Georgia by over 20 games and have won only one in every three games they’ve played against UGA in their history. Not to mentinon that “Community College” is the oldest University in the South, 100 years older than Tech. And Tech was founded by UGA “community college” graduates. Give it a rest.
UGASlobberknocker
June 12th, 2009
9:01 am
that seems awful harsh to me. These are kids with no money caving into human nature. Wrong, yes? worthy of this? no way.
Satan Sabin
June 12th, 2009
9:09 am
Have I ever lied to anyone? Well maybe just to, er,ah, well only to them and them and them once or twice. Remember, I am the Messiah, the king of football, a legend in my own mind perhaps, and you can bank on that. I am only keeping the cheating legend going from the Bear Bryant era at the Univ. of Cheaters!Blame Fulmer for ending it Tide fans.
“With the latest ruling, the Crimson Tide’s five-year repeat offender status will extend until 2014. By then, it will have been 19 years since Alabama was operating with a clean bill of health from the NCAA.”
buckblue
June 12th, 2009
9:15 am
Looks like the Criminal Tide will have been on probation for 21 straight years when this last sentence is over…..that is it they don’t get caught again for cheating….which seems to be part of the gumps DNA….
Tidefan…I am not a very smart man….but I do know what cheaters are….lol……
Roll Tide…We are rolling baby…..lol
Otto
June 12th, 2009
9:17 am
Atlanta Gator I’ll believe the USC thing when it happens. The NCAA has had plenty of time to complete that case.
However Bama is at the top the list for what? Paying players? Giving players cars? Free shoes? Agents?
No….The athletes found a way to get their friends text books.
Why? so they could study and get decent grades. Bama is the only school that could be put on probation for wrongly giving Athletes and their friends text books. If anyone should be punished it is the book store staff for not running their department in a profitable manor.
The NCAA is a joke.
For the Bammers this is coming from a UGA fan with Auburn family ties.
» SEC: Florida after point guard; Book thrown at Bama John Clay’s Sidelines
June 12th, 2009
9:18 am
[...] Mark Bradley of the AJC writes that the penalties look tough on surface, but are soft underneath. [...]
SEC: Florida after point guard; Book thrown at Bama | MrSEC.com
June 12th, 2009
9:21 am
[...] Mark Bradley of the AJC writes that the penalties look tough on surface, but are soft underneath. [...]
MSL52
June 12th, 2009
9:31 am
Otto, very good post. I have noted quite a few Georgia fans ripping Alabama on it’s recent penalty handed down by the NCAA. It is amazing how some of these posters have selective amnesia. If memory serves me correctly does the name Martavious Houston come to mind? Didn’t an asst. coach offer him a one time $7,500 payout, $500 a month and a car to sign with Georgia? Let’s not also forget the Basketball fiasco of a few years ago, and if anyone wants to bring up the Antonia Langham case remember that Georgia also offered money to him, they just got outbid by Bama.
DW
June 12th, 2009
9:45 am
I see your point, Mr. Bradley, but I don’t care about UT. This punishment is way too excessive. Textbooks?! Come on….
DW
June 12th, 2009
9:45 am
Oh, and thanks, Otto.
JaxDawg
June 12th, 2009
9:54 am
The NCAA is a joke! Don’t get me wrong, what the players did wasn’t right, but their own rules put players in a situation to be tempted to do things like this to make a buck or two on the side.
1. You have a system that has a great majority of it’s players coming from poor backgrounds, give them a scholarship, “3 hots & and a cot”, but no spending cash.
2.Many of the families of these athletes aren’t in a position to send them pocket money. Then the players are told they can’t have a PT job while in school.
3. Some of these same players then walk into a campus bookstore or gift shop watching people drop $75 – $150 for replica jerseys with their number, knowing that the reason they are purchasing it is due to the performance and work they put in, and yet won’t see 1 dime for it. The school makes money, the NCAA makes money from lics., Nike makes money, but not the athlete who’s “payment” is his scholarship. Then every Sat they go out and play in front of 80,000 fans who droped $40-50 each for a ticket for one game (over 3 million total per game), knowing that they don’t have money to take their girl out afterwards. Yet if a local eatery offers them a free meal the player gets in trouble.
It’s a recipe for disaster. So should we be surprised that they take advantage of a loophole in the system to put some spending cash in their pocket?
I know many again will say “yeah but they’re getting a free education”, however academic scholarship winners don’t have these kinds of restrictions to their scholarships, and they also don’t help to bring the millions of dollars to the school that the players do either.
If they would just come up with a system to pay players a reasonable amount to take some of the financial pressure off, and then have a zero tolerance policy where the player would be immediately dismissed from school and scholarship revoked if they accept even 1 cent from an outside source (booster, agent, or local business) This would remove the financial burden and eliminate the temptation to have their hands out or doing something shady for cash.
For superstar players, who have their numbered jersey produced, give them the option of keeping their scholarship and “stipend” OR they can take a percentage of the jersey sales as payment but would then have to pay for their tuition, books and living arrangements.
Think Tebow, AJ Green, Juilo Jones, or Jevan Snead wouldn’t take that deal?
Until the NCAA addresses this need, these kids are going to hustle and try find a ways to put a little money in their pocket.
Hamad Meander
June 12th, 2009
9:55 am
When will it ever seem like the schools that self-report are dealt a break vs. the teams that deny,deny,deny? Also, how is it that the football program is responsible for the actions of students that doesn’t have anything to do with coaches, boosters, or others?
Seems like the NCAA punishes the smaller infractions and turns a blind eye to the major situations like at USC. Believe this – if USC self-reported the situation with Reggie Bush’s family’s house, they would probably have the same punishment as Alabama’s even though the money involved is 100x less.
Otto
June 12th, 2009
10:09 am
JaxDawg I agree 100%
More Opinions On Bama’s Punishment | MrSEC.com
June 12th, 2009
10:39 am
[...] An interesting point.Mark Bradley of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution believes the penalties were tough on the surface, soft underneath. (He also works in some shots at Lane Kiffin… as does just about every writer in the country [...]
RealDawg
June 12th, 2009
10:57 am
JaxDawg-These are not professional athletes.
The solution you mention would only cause greater issue with some of the players running around with pockets of cash and others trying to keep up with them.
The way these athletes are treated at major schools is far beyond three squares and a cot. They have tutors, better loding, get massages, tons of athletic gear, better food, etc. They live a much better lifestyle than the average student (scholarship or not). They also get plenty of other “perks”. I have seen it clearly from Gymnastics to Football. They do ok. Besides, you are in college, what do you need extra cash for?
The majority of the programs or athletes do not generate revenue. The revenue generated from a select few pay for the majority that cost money.
Everyone of those student athletes at Alabama knew what they were doing was wrong. Coaches had to know sooner than they reported. There is no way payment or compensation did change hands for the “free” books.
Bamafan
June 12th, 2009
10:59 am
Atlanta Gator is the best writer on this AJC blog and makes the best points!! Something has to been
done to turn around the culture problem with Alabama cheating in someway in football.
Perry
June 12th, 2009
11:18 am
Alabama was justly punished for the text book case. I still laugh though when I hear Auburn fans pile on…it’s an embarrassment to the great state of Alabama to have such backward redneck fans. Auburn is a great University but it’s football fans have a complex when it comes to Alabama. I believe they have finally realized that SABAN is the NEW SHERIFF in town and they envision losing 10 straight. On top of that they are also losing all of the top talent in the state and probably will for years to come. Yes they get crumbs, but Bama gets the Pick of the Litter. Auburn has a Long History of probation involving their football program and remember boys…History repeats itself.
SC Davis
June 12th, 2009
12:14 pm
The Southwest Conference destroyed itself because the only thing more popular than cheating was turning the other schools in. The most effective tools to rein this in are scholarships, recruiting restrictions and money. If schools on probation did not get a cut of the TV or bowl revenue, that would wake them up.
JoeV
June 12th, 2009
12:31 pm
Throw the book at Alabama for REPEATED violations! Its getting ridiculous how much crap goes on there. The next major infraction needs to equate to the Death Penalty for this REPEAT offender institution.
Blind Bob
June 12th, 2009
12:36 pm
12 NATIONAL TITLES – 21 SEC TITLES
OTTO and Jax Dawg – great posts.
The NCAA has a system in place that benefits the NCAA more so than the student athletes.
I have read arguements that each scholarship athlete should also be paid a stipend to give them spending money. There are a lot of kids that that do not have parents giving them $100.00 per week for spending money.
The big issue with a stipend is that you would have to give EACH scholarship athlete on campus the same – unless you want to open a discrimination lawsuit. And last I checked, the majority of Athletic Departments are in the red – subsidized by tax payers and student fees.
Interesting situation and I am not sure of a solution.
One last time – Alabama deserved the penalties and probations associated with the Albert Means situation and Coach DuBose. I do not have any issue with any of that – nor do most Bama fans.
However, with TEXTBOOKGATE – yes, embarrassing to see people take advantage of situations – I just assume we move forward – lesson learned.
ROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Blind Bob
June 12th, 2009
12:39 pm
Hey BAMA STAN – borrowed you tag line…… love it!!!!
12 NATIONAL TITLES – 21 SEC TITLES
I saw that you predicted LSU will win the WEST – this maybe true – but you are giving LSU too much repsect. ALABAMA will win the WEST – MARK MY WORDS!!!!!! and ROLL TIDE – BUDDY – ROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Blind Bob
June 12th, 2009
12:42 pm
SC Davis – great point – nothing speaks to the Big schools like a money – and a cut in revenue would certainly get their attenttion – plus I would add that scholy reductions is also important.
Bummer Bare
June 12th, 2009
12:45 pm
the state of alabummer and unevesity of alabummer are the mostest funniest backward clowns ever bred.
sign
bare bryant.
Bummer Bare
June 12th, 2009
12:45 pm
Bare “butt” bryant said Roll baby Roll……..
UGADawg83
June 12th, 2009
1:51 pm
I just love how rednecks turn into legal scholars whenever Alabama gets hit with NCAA sanctions.
Will
June 12th, 2009
4:05 pm
Be careful Bama students. It is reported on Drudge that the new healthcare bill also calls for a $600 billion dollar tax increase! The money you are making on those books is reportable to the IRS.
Tidewatch
June 12th, 2009
8:25 pm
Atlanta Gator is right about the textbook situation.
alsim
June 12th, 2009
9:21 pm
For those of you who think the penalty is fair because maybe you are not the greatest fan of the Tide, remember it might be your school next.
What happens if an athlete uses his food card to get an extra apple and then gives it to his girlfriend?
.