SEC bag men.
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/4/10/5594348/college-foot…
April 10th, 2014 at 11:51 AM ^
Did you read the article? I don't think it claims to be uncovering all kinds of corruption in college athletics. It's just a great read into some of the details behind the scenes.
What I found most interesting is how the "bag man" alluded to 2 different groups of people: the 1%'ers who give $100,000's on up to get their name on a building, and the 3-4%'ers who are really passionate sports fans that may actually have more control over a team than the guy/gal who donates $1 million.
I didn't realize that these guys are like independant contractors who make a $200,000 a year, and want to have a direct effect on their team's success by essentially throwing away $40,000 a year to a vice. It makes me wonder if there are any Michigan "bag men" on this forum.
I'm betting you're one of the guys who has "We already have multiple threads about topic x *sigh*" locked and loaded in the holster at all times.
April 10th, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^
The sky is blue.
Is an interesting read though.
April 10th, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^
an old ally named Harvey Dent fought it and was close to victory.... but they tore even him down.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:10 PM ^
You're not planning on posting like this forever, are you?
April 10th, 2014 at 12:16 PM ^
only until he gets 7000+ points within a three month time span.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^
Good. It's getting a little old already.
Maybe you should be Batman's arch nemesis...Batman really is only as good as the villain he's facing.
A middle-aged English Earl living in the early 20th century vs. an armored martial arts expert with a net worth of billions and his own underground lab for developing military technology? No thanks.
Well, if we're living in superhero land, I actually like your chances. You're royalty, so you can summon loyal soldiers/liaise with the British government for same. So, you've got the army and navy of the greatest empire on earth in terms of strength (pre- WW2 Britain) vs...Batman. Get me some popcorn, I'm in.
The Penguin from the original TV series wore a top hat, monacle and smoked cigarettes with a cigarette holder...I think I like your chances too.
trained Rocky.
*things looking up
April 10th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^
Least interesting game of chicken, ever.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:35 PM ^
Honestly, The Batman is the only hope to stopping these activities. The NCAA is in the middle of a fight with current student athletes over compensation. We can't expect them to fight actual corruption at the same time on their limited budget.
I haven't seen the Iron Shiek post in awhlie, so there's hope.
April 10th, 2014 at 11:53 AM ^
I'm appalled.
April 10th, 2014 at 11:53 AM ^
I hope I am alive when all this corruption blows up.
It's gonna be so fascinating watching it play out.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:53 PM ^
Probably won't happen. As the interviewee even states in the article: "Who is opposed to these kids getting paid?" Southerners have "no moral outrage" whatsoever to this behavior, and the momentum is currently swinging more towards this line of thinking nationally. The chances of this network going down in legal/NCAA flames is probably very low now, but the possibility of making it more fair, equal, and transparent with new rules may be coming in the near future.
April 10th, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^
An article about people taking a dump on the NCAA isn't going to ruffle my feathers. Very interesting to read, however.
April 10th, 2014 at 11:58 AM ^
Great read. Not surprised at all though.
April 10th, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^
April 10th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
Well he did a good job because I read the it and I'm planning on watching that 45 min interview that was at the end of the article.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^
Paul Finebaum doesn't believe this nor is he blindingly opaque about a certain program or coach.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:03 PM ^
It sounds as if a number of you are shocked, but of course I knew it all along.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:07 PM ^
The article says that this conversation took place about a week or so before NSD, took place about a #1 ranked player at his position, and obviously happened at an SEC school.
Im also assuming the kid was uncommitted at the time and committed on NSD, just based on the wording of the bagman's quote and the fact that he was still being recruited at the time of this meeting.
Looking at 247's list of players from this past year, just briefly looking through it, Marlon Humphrey and Rashaan Evans names both jump out.
Humphrey was visiting Mississippi State January 26th, and he committed to Bama on NSD.
Evans was visiting Auburn January 24th, and he committed to Bama on NSD.
Both are ranked #1 at their position by 247.
These are two of your candidates as to who was being payed, thus making MSU, Auburn, and Bama schools that may be paying players.
So no one is shocked.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:14 PM ^
Based on that information you provided, I assume its Miss State this bag man is working for. If it was Auburn, I feel like it would be worded differently due to the rivarly.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
no one is shocked, but the article is a pretty good read and i am sure that some of it (most of it?) can apply to every big-time school (including here).
aside from the scandelous nature of the article, i thought this was an interesting tidbit of recruiting information:
Some coaches encourage players to visit other campuses to recruit other players.
maybe that should make us think twice when heavy ohio-lean so-and-so comes to visit (or vice versa).
April 10th, 2014 at 12:21 PM ^
2 things, if you don't think this happens in the big ten, albeit maybe on a smaller level you are pretty naive, but two my favorite line was that they sometimes meet at a waffle house. I mean really? A waffle house?
April 10th, 2014 at 12:31 PM ^
I don't know about football, but I do know about this stuff with B1G basketball (source being a former coach). It works a little differently though. Small amounts of cash are paid out to family members, advisors, friends, etc. in exchange for steps along the recruiting path. Open a letter? $500. Answer a phone call? $700. Official visit? $2000. (numbers are just examples, not exact figures)
The good news...this doesn't happen at Michigan. The obvious news...OSU is regarded as the dirtiest in the B1G.
April 10th, 2014 at 11:21 PM ^
Michigan and the proof is......?
On the other thread of this subject a former player said it didn't happen when he was playing. I've no reason to disbelieve him. But it does leave open the possiblity that it does occur now and the possibilty that he said not, when it in fact did.
April 11th, 2014 at 12:00 AM ^
"Does not happen"...present tense. Missing two Final Four banners from how long ago? Current coaching staff arrived how many years post Fab 5 era? Yeah, I'm "pretty fucking crazy"; crazy enough to understand the difference between something that happened nearly twenty years ago and today.
In some southern states there is a Waffle House at almost every exit. Maybe it is a good way to not get tracked or create a routine since you can change it up by just driving another mile down the road.
Yeah the drive from ann arbot to atlanta for the final four last year probably took us past about 300 waffle houses, and don't get me wrong it was good, it was just funny to read.
you meant Waffle House as a good thing
in a waffle house late at night or early morning...stars,ballers,businesswomen & men,regular folks and your holy rollers.
Waffle House,Cracker Barrell and Chick-Fill-A...they RULE here in Bama.
At the Waffle House.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:25 PM ^
The reason none of this gets truly exposed is:
1. No media has a real interest in exposing it. There is little to gain, but a lot to lose--a local paper in the South can basically just sell off its printing presses and leave town ahead of the bankruptcy judge if they do this to a team they're covering. We are "reasonable" up here, and look at how many of us still have trouble with the Freep for a relatively light-weight scandal caused by a respected journalist in Rosenberg.
National media doesn't really want to get into this and they don't have the people on the ground to do it. It's a rabbit hole that is simply too deep and too complex to push into, and the problems that it would cause are too much to worry about.
2. Nothing that is happening here is illegal, unless these people are evading taxes. People gripe about the NCAA being dumb, but honestly, how in the world are they supposed to police this? I thought they were stupid to give Cam Newton a blanket stamp of approval so quickly, but realistically we all knew something was up but it was completely unprovable.
The NCAA does not have subpoena power; they cannot compel people to speak honestly.
There is a reason that major scandals often coincide with serious legal issues--it is those legal issues that involve actual law enforcement, and the NCAA violations that are exposed are a tertiary effect of those investigations. Remember, that's how the Ed Martin thing blew up here--Martin got nailed for real crimes, and as a consequence the NCAA violations were exposed.
The only way any of this really comes out is if the IRS starts doing some heavy investigation of all of the cash movement. Surely some of these payments are missing from 1040s.
I hate all of this. Not because someone's sister gets rehab paid for, but because the playing field is uneven and people pretend that it is not.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:25 PM ^
So what's the consensus here? Do you think we have a bag man network in Ann Arbor?
On one hand, I say no because I hope we don't and I haven't really seen evidence of such. On the other, couldn't I just be naive with my head in the sand thinking that way?
April 10th, 2014 at 12:30 PM ^
April 10th, 2014 at 12:37 PM ^
I'm sure there are very passionate and upper-middle class Northwestern guys out there, but they would probably be few and far between, and not live in many areas where you would need a few bag men to build personal relationships.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:37 PM ^
There may be some relatively small versions of what happens down in the SEC around here, but many of the driving factors that enable such a pervasive culture of corruption as described in this article don't exist in the big ten footprint.
If the B1G schools played this game I'd think that we'd see a lot more players from the south coming north, as well as a much better overall W-L record on the field. The current state of the conference suggests to me most B1G schools are not playing this game.