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

jblaze

September 10th, 2013 at 2:08 PM ^

of limitations for the NCAA. This isn't a court of law, but an organization enforcing it's own rules. If they could get Penn St for Sandusky (happened in 90s and maybe 2001-2?) they can get Miles and Co for this.

However, at most it will be a 2 year bowl ban and a loss of 5 scholarships. BFD.

kia

September 10th, 2013 at 3:35 PM ^

Jayden. although Lisa`s article is neat... on sunday I got a top of the range Nissan GT-R: when I got my cheque for $7178 this - 4 weeks past and would you believe, ten/k lass month. without a question it is the best-job I've had. I started this four months/ago and immediately made minimum $81, per-hr. check it out......          

MGlobules

September 10th, 2013 at 10:26 AM ^

in a general sense because I will go to my grave loving me some stodgy, old-school-gentlemanly-foot-off-the-fourth-quarter gas pedal Lloyd. But also because of Les Miles. 

And the fact that we had to go through RichRod to get to Brady Hoke? Hey, he gave us Denard. And we'll always have Indiana and Penn State. 

The Geek

September 10th, 2013 at 1:22 PM ^

I realize it's heresay, but a pattern of indiscretion may be why Lloyd did not want Les Miles on the sidelines.

I breathed a sigh of relief when reading the story... How close were we to hiring Les Miles? Ol' Herbie thought it was a done deal! :)

It's been my opinion that the three years of RR were worth it, because we wound up with the RIGHT coach in the end.

French West Indian

September 10th, 2013 at 10:27 AM ^

And judging by the ridiculous super bowl-like spectacle that Michigan just hosted, none of us should be surprised someday when the Wolverines get caught too.  The money has clearly taken hold and it'd be naive to think that Michigan is any better than the rest.

Personally, I'd rather see Michigan go Ivy League style & remove scholarship athletes in favor of fielding true student athlete teams.  I'm clearly in the minority but all this shit...the night-time games, celebrity endorsements, big time recruits with rap careers, the television network...fuck it

Life was better with noon kick-offs and no TV timeouts.

jmdblue

September 10th, 2013 at 11:22 AM ^

Hoke has built everything he has on a stated foundation of integrity.  He has a lot to lose if it turns out boosters are in the locker room handing out cash.  Think Rosenberg et al wouldn't have noticed and reported such a thing?  Brandon, Martin, Goss, Schembechler and Canham are/were all true believers.  So were Moeller and Carr (I think Moeller... ).  We are in the fortuitous position to be able to recruit to that ethos, and from what we see, we're doing it successfully.  Do I have any doubt that some of our football players have received a little extra for playing?  A cushy job? a nice meal? No, I'm sure it happens.  Do I think our program is engaged in gathering a little posse of comfort women to provide bjrs to recruits?  No.  We've seen the cars they drive and they ain't much.  We have a guy like Lewan who loves it so much he delays millions to hang another year.    All that said, life was better with noon kickoffs (didn't they all use to be at 1?) and no TV timeouts.

Alton

September 10th, 2013 at 12:09 PM ^

"Life was better with noon kick-offs and no TV timeouts."

NOTE:  every Michigan game ever that kicked off at noon has had TV timeouts, because every Michigan game ever that has kicked off at noon has been televised.  The games start at noon because of television.

 

enlightenedbum

September 10th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^

Don't care about the money.  The players should be seeing some of it.

I care about powerful men asking female students to fuck recruits.  That is not quite Penn State, but it's really bad.  It's like when a professor sleeps with a student or a TA.  Obviously in that situation the kid is an adult and can consent, but there's still a massive power imbalance.  I also care about the academic fraud, as the whole degree thing is the fig leaf we put on college football to pretend it's even vaguely a half-decent deal for the athletes.

1464

September 10th, 2013 at 12:52 PM ^

It's not all that creepy.  If you have seen the extent that jersey chasers will go, you'd realize a lot of the "hostess" stuff is self motivated.  Girls like sex too.  I'm guessing that the girls who volunteer to be hostesses are pretty aware of the requirements, and probably view them as perks.

enlightenedbum

September 10th, 2013 at 12:59 PM ^

Once you add institutional involvement, consent becomes murky.

God knows jersey chasers are a thing.  I was on campus when Michael Phelps enrolled, after all.  I'm fine with that.  Good for the girls.  But power imbalances when it comes to sex are Very Bad Things (TM), so when powerful institutions like the school you're enrolled in and college football get involved, that's not good.

Summary: fine with hostess programs, as long as everyone in the institution does the nudge nudge wink wink say no more thing and let the girls do what they want.

panthera leo fututio

September 10th, 2013 at 1:40 PM ^

Totally agree with this. There's nothing incompatible with saying that 1) There are many woman on campus who might be eager to have sex with players/recruits, and 2) Having university-paid positions where part of one's job is to have sex with recruits is enormously problematic. Whether a girl joins one of these hostess groups naively, or she has a change of heart but needs the position, or she's just not feeling it one day, it's easy to see how such an institution can be terribly, terribly coercive.

M-Wolverine

September 10th, 2013 at 1:31 PM ^

I knew someone at Arizona who bangs basketball recruits, players, and chases NBA guys.  She may have issues, but I don't think anyone is pressuring her to do it. But I also doubt that the athletic department has never heard of such things going on, and I'm sure players and such hook up other players.   There's just a great difference in the definition of a "hostess" at different schools. At places like Michigan it means guys probably like being given tours by young women than old dudes. At other schools it means the players aren't taking them to a safe party, some girl is taking them to party.

The thing that skeeves me out a little is the way recruiting is going a guy who is a 2015 recruit here on a visit is how old? Particularly if you have an upper classwoman hostess, you're practically at statutory rape.

Yeoman

September 10th, 2013 at 1:46 PM ^

It's the interviewing part that creeps me out. They're not just turning a blind eye to it, the coaches are actively involved in deciding which women are going to be sent after the recruits.

Players hooking up other players? I have no problem with that. Sex on a recruiting visit? Why not? The point of the visit is to get a taste for college life, to decide which place is for you, isn't it?

But 50-year-old men hooking up recruits with other students in the furtherance of their own career...that's just wrong.

Don

September 10th, 2013 at 10:29 AM ^

Some of it sounded vaguely Slavic... could it be Romanian? That's got some of the Romance language lilt with equal parts guttural Slav stuff in it.

BrewCityBlue

September 10th, 2013 at 10:37 AM ^

MVictors atricle on Harmon i watched the video of his run against Cal where he jukes a fan at the last moment before the goal line. Harmon is only wearing 1 sleeve. I think Devin's been doing that for longer than since he starting wearing #98, but i found it interesting and cool none the less. 

Medic

September 10th, 2013 at 10:39 AM ^

I'm gonna nit pick here call that block quote on athletes starving some seeerrriiious bullshit.

Scholarship athletes *DO NOT STARVE*. Ever. Even if you are the poorest motherf'r on the team, you still get 3 squares a day and if you really need extra food you can always take extras from the cafeteria (I love you West Quad caferteria!).

My parents had nothing, never sent me money, and I ALWAYS had plenty to eat. I cannot imagine a scenario where coaches would setup their athletes without a food plan either, ESPECIALLY in football.

Don

September 10th, 2013 at 10:49 AM ^

It reminds me of the "I had no money to buy pizza" crap that CW spouted. I don't doubt that there was some serious horseshit going on in Stillwater, but athlete's training tables mean they eat better than non-athlete students. The only possible reason might have to do with off-season periods.

chitownblue2

September 10th, 2013 at 11:01 AM ^

Well, Webber's assertion that he didn't have money for pizza could be true. The scholarship meal plan doesn't provide him with an expense account at Cottage Inn or Dominos. He could very well have not had the discretionary income to buy things he wanted to buy.

M-Wolverine

September 10th, 2013 at 11:49 AM ^

If he didn't have two parents with high paying jobs that didn't have to pay for his education, food, or really clothing (you know how much clothes athletes get for free?). And even guys who have parents who aren't well to do, when all your needs are taken care of for you all your income is discretionary.

Now, there are a few really sad cases that we should probably do more for, the guys who are sending every extra buck they have home to help support their family and such, but it's not the majority, and it sure as hell wasn't Webber.

Zone Left

September 10th, 2013 at 11:33 AM ^

There was a book about Miami football a few years back. The gist about food was that they had something like five days of training table and got like $15 for the weekend. That's not starvation, but it sounded like none of them realized they could, you know, cook versus going out to eat.

Section 1

September 10th, 2013 at 11:43 AM ^

There are no big time collegiate football players who face "starvation."  NONE.  Zip, zero, nada.

Are we to understand that a kid from Oklahoma or Texas whose family is dirt-poor is somehow abused, disadvantaged, or made worse as a result of winning a full athletic scholarship to Oklahoma State University?  

If we are to believe George Dorhrman and SI (not a good idea), these "starving" athletes are also being induced to attend Okie State with comfort girls, are eased through their undergraduate degrees with coursework helpers, and more or less encouraged in every legal and illegal way to play better football.  Something they all did pretty well before they got to Stillwater.  

I don't care for the picture that we see painted of Oklahoma State in this story.  But never has SI, or any mainstream sportswriter, proposed anything that deals with the soul of college football as it ought to be.  A farm league for the NFL is not a worthy goal.  Paying college football players is not a solution.

Yeoman

September 10th, 2013 at 1:22 PM ^

On the one hand you have Tom Hammond crying in his beer because ND's getting torched for a long TD; on the other hand you have (1) a Dutch socer announcer calling a Dutch goal and (2) presumably neutral Hungarians laughing at ND being made to look silly by Gallon. I'm pretty sure DigTV doesn't have a contract with Notre Dame.

Ufer was pretty somber when an opponent ripped off a long one; I wouldn't describe him as a boring announcer.

Don

September 10th, 2013 at 10:51 AM ^

1980. Completely horseshit PI call along the sidelines against Michigan in the waning seconds put ND in field goal range for Harry Oliver.

Karma's a bitch.

chitownblue2

September 10th, 2013 at 10:59 AM ^

Scholarships include meal plans. I think the NCAA is mostly in the wrong on this issue, but the assertion that OSU players were starving for any reason other than deciding to do so is nuts.

MCalibur

September 10th, 2013 at 12:22 PM ^

but Syracuse, man. That's not exactly a plus defense. NW has a maybe slightly above average offense on the whole and a probably crappy defense. Trevor can do his thing and the Wildcats could still be in jeopardy.

If you still find yourself worrying I have two words for you: Devin Gardner.