Unverified Voracity Has Bad News For Les Miles Comment Count

Brian

I agree with these men, whatever they happen to be saying. Would you like your Gallon touchdown in… Italian or something?

Les Miles is in a lot of trouble, unless he isn't in any. Sports Illustrated has published the first of five articles detailing NCAA malfeasance at Oklahoma State initiated during the Les Miles era and continuing today. This one is about players getting money from boosters—a lot of them:

In separate interviews seven other former Cowboys told SI they received cash payments; 29 other OSU players were named by teammates as having also taken money. Those payments, which stretched from 2001 to at least '11, were primarily delivered three ways: a de facto bonus system based on performances on the field, managed by an assistant coach; direct payments to players from boosters and coaches independent of performance; and no-show and sham jobs-- including work related to the renovation of Boone Pickens Stadium -- that involved at least one assistant coach and several boosters.

The moral outrage here is all gone…

One or two standouts bought a new car or expensive jewelry, team members say, but the vast majority of the players used the extra cash to purchase everyday items -- food, clothing, tickets to a movie. "There were some athletes who were almost starving," says Carter. "Wherever the money came from, they were like, Yeah, I'll take that."

…but flagrantly violating NCAA rules is, you know, not good. And if you're wondering why so many dudes are breaking omerta here; we may find out at the end of the series, which promises an article on:

THE FALLOUT

One of the selling points of college football is that it changes lives, that young men have their character and fortunes enhanced by taking part in the sport, even if they remain on campus for only a short time. But in the past decade, player after player has been driven out of Stillwater, returning to worlds they had hoped to escape. Some have been incarcerated, others live on the streets, many have battled drug abuse, and a few have attempted suicide. COMING IN NEXT WEEK'S SI/ONLINE SEPT. 17

That does retain outrage.

I'm surprised, but not that surprised. Miles has left a trail of sketchy events in his wake that get overwhelmed by his nuttiness. I may have been 100% wrong about Hoke during the last coaching search, but at least I was right about Miles. Again, it's wonderful to look at Brady Hoke and know that he will neither choose a dumb punt nor turn purple on the sideline nor have a massive cadre of discontent former players who hate him so much to take him down.

Side note: I feel really bad for Brian Phillips. Squinky's revenge. I may feel less bad when Oklahoma State gets a warning squint from the NCAA.

You oughta have excellent medical insurance. Purdue football in two articles. One:

Purdue safety to play vs. Indiana St. with two broken hands

It's not unusual for a college football player to wrap up a broken hand and play with it, particularly for a big game. But Purdue safety Landon Feichter is preparing to play for his Boilermakers' home opener against Indiana State Saturday with two broken hands.

Two:

Purdue safety Landon Feichter breaks leg

Feichter was forced to leave Saturday's game in the first half with a leg injury and coach Darrell Hazell confirmed on Saturday night that Feichter had suffered a broken leg.

It's just a flesh wound.

The moral of the story is if you see Purdue football coming towards you, punch it in the nose and run away. Purdue football will have a broken nose, but won't be able to tell.

Jeremy Gallon presents. Okay, official Michigan tumblr, okay:

tumblr_msvlykalEU1s9fzcoo1_400[1]

Gardner knows this is going on, and enjoys looking at the back of his own head.

So that explains it. Via Doug Karsch, Jeremy Gallon describes his game:

"That was a great performance. After the game, I asked him, 'How tall are you, and how tall do you play?' He said, 'I'm 5-8 and a half, but I play like I'm 5-9.'

Now is not then. Orson found this. It is Greg Robinson:

THE BEAVER IS OUT! THE BEAVER IS OUT!

This man was in charge of our defense. He is a weirdo who sets everything on fire. How does that guy get hired by anyone to do anything more complicated than clean gutters? 

Also:

Saying a quarterback reminds you of Erik Ainge of Tennessee can be good and bad. It's good, because he's mobile, physically gifted, and often fearless. It's bad because sometimes that means Evil Erik Ainge, the one who threw interceptions when the team could least afford it. Gardner sort of reminds me of Ainge. Tommy Rees, however, might BE Erik Ainge, using a warm body as a spiritual proxy to replay his career in an alternate historical line.

Accuracy issues largely put aside, Gardner's main issue is Reesin' it too often.

Yes. Throw it to Dileo. From Michigan Monday:

Drew Dileo had three catches for 18 yards out of the slot, including the final touchdown of the game on a nice option route that left a defender reminiscing about where Dileo used to be and no longer was.

Get this man the ball.

LAZERS. Stewart Mandel:

That No. 17 Michigan beat the comparably ranked No. 14 Irish is not especially surprising. That it rolled up 41 points on a very talented Notre Dame defense, however, is eye-opening. In particular, quarterback Devin Gardner put all questions to rest about what Michigan's offense will look like post-Denard Robinson. It looks really darn explosive, primarily because Gardner -- who wore No. 98 this week in honor of 1940 Heisman winner Tom Harmon -- has asserted himself as a laser-armed passer.

…Gardner's skills were never more evident than on his last touchdown pass, which came on second-and-goal from the four-yard line with 4:18 remaining. With Notre Dame pass rushers Stephon Tuitt and Prince Shembo coming at him full bore from opposite sides, Gardner set his feet and threw a perfectly placed dart to receiver Drew Dileo in the end zone.

Probably not a rivalry. This is on the official Notre Dame football blog:

That Notre Dame was struggling against Michigan made me feel that void much more acutely than I would had we been winning, or even struggling against another opponent.

But this was Michigan.

I was shaking in the aftermath of the two fourth-quarter pass interference calls, completely enraged. “I can’t remember the last time I was this pissed,” I texted my dad, who replied, “2011.”

Oh, yeah. 2011.

Etc.: Michigan moves into BCS bowl projections. MVictors has everything you need to know about the Harmon stuff. USF dude impressed with M-ND. Gardner and Gallon postgame. NDMSPaint does Eminem. Northwestern QBs were rather good against Syracuse. Stuffing the Passer. Go. Partake.

Comments

M-Wolverine

September 10th, 2013 at 12:02 PM ^

Sad.

Beaver hardest worker in the animal kingdom. And polar bears and spiders are the deadliest killers in the animal kingdom.*

As messed up as Process I and Process II might have been, at least we had the common sense to not get Miles, twice. Would win football games, but just shady.

And I've watched that tumblr like a dozen times. Hypnotic.  And did Gallon have to stand on a table to be interviewed by Karsch? (Because Karsch is, like, really tall...)

And really?

 

Last January, when we lost the national championship game, I cried physical tears**. I cried more over that game than I did over breakups in high school. It will probably stand out as the most heartbreaking sports moment of my life. But even then, with so much riding on that game, that team, that season, I didn’t feel like I do now.

Now there may be time for even non-girls to get emotional over a game, maybe a hard fought loss, or a crushing last second defeat.  Not knocking emotion. But if you get sad about a game you should have know you were going to get ass whipped in, rather than mad or just starting to laugh at how bad it is after awhile, you really have deluded yourself into how "much was riding on the game."  

Looking, getting a likewise beating from Bama sucked, but I didn't like our chances, and after you really start getting smacked around, it just is. Don't act like "we were sooooo close...."

 

*Obscure reference/joke

**Qualify as Tears of Unfathomable Sadness?

gwkrlghl

September 10th, 2013 at 12:03 PM ^

Bill Martin yachting and Dave Brandon wisely (so so wisely) going with Hoke look better and better in retrospect. Miles is a grade A skeeze. I am certain that if the allegations are true, the exact same crap is going on at LSU right now and probably would've been going on here if we had hired him

Good riddance. Hoke uber alles

Yeoman

September 10th, 2013 at 1:37 PM ^

There was only one explanation that ever made sense for that: Martin was under pressure from his superior to take a decision he absolutely did not want to take so he sabotaged it in the only way possible, by being unavailable at the crucial moment.

He left a good legacy at Michigan if you ask me, but that might have been his finest hour and it's a shame he's taken so much crap for it.

OldLady

September 10th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^

I believe this stuff goes on in many (most?) places, but after reading the SI piece, I was surprised at how little actual evidence was set forth.  Seemed like mostly the word of a handful of disgruntled former players who apparently didn't have much of a reputation on the OSU squads, plus some allegations about two players who are now dead.

Or maybe I'm just scarred from stretchgate and am giving too much benefit of the doubt...

That said, the fact that boosters and coaches acknowledge that they employ football players to do their household chores and apparently pay in cash seems extremely suspect in and of itself.

Also, Stuffing the Passer is comic gold.

Yeoman

September 10th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^

...isn't what was going on but how little they seem to have done to maintain any sort of plausible deniability about it all.

When similar reports came out about the hostesses at Arizona St. Gene Smith said he'd never heard of any such allegations and no they don't keep tabs on the activities of the hostesses because they trust their students and student-athletes to do the right thing and they see no need for controls.

That's how you maintain deniability. Fail to monitor, let things get out of control on their own, maybe let a few subtle hints drop that you aren't going to be looking too closely. It's when you let yourself get involved in it that you risk getting into trouble.

The sex itself is S.O.P. at many, many places. Sending the coaches in to personally interview the women you're going to use to entice prospects with sex is pretty brazen.

enlightenedbum

September 10th, 2013 at 1:36 PM ^

Yeah, the only thing there that seems damning from an NCAA sense is the jobs the boosters/coaches admit happened.  With the "job" part disputed, obviously.  I mean, I don't really doubt the players who say money was exchanged, but it's not like they found a ledger or something.

denardogasm

September 10th, 2013 at 12:49 PM ^

It drives me crazy when I hear people say student athletes are starving. They get free food at training table!! Lots of it!! And how the F*** could a guy gain 30 pounds of muscle in 7 months of offseason if he was starving??! I don't know how anyone can let players get away with those claims.

Yeoman

September 10th, 2013 at 12:52 PM ^

And I didn't realize quite how much the world has changed. When I lived there I spent my Saturdays hunched over a radio trying to somehow coax some football over Armed Forces Radio and I met absolutely no one that was even aware of the existence of the sport.

And now they're watching it themselves on TV. Unbelievable.

RJWolvie

September 11th, 2013 at 6:31 PM ^

META/SIAP: pics not showing in iOS any more

Anyone else having about half of pics not show? (Using app, on iPhone or iPad) Anyone have a fix?

Noticed problem only recently (w/in last few weeks as season about start)

Thanks!