The truth about that crazy tigerdroppings post.

[auburn123 0]

Mods. Please don't delete this post.  I feel like that some people who haven't been around Auburn for a while need to know this information to defend our university against the spreading virus that is "As the Plains Burn."  I've been debating with myself and my spouse for a time whether to post this or let it go.  After the Cleveland story came out, I decided that I had to post this. 

So, here goes.  Basically, the "As the Plains Burn" is a conglomeration of many sources of information that is webbed together to basically argue Auburn has been cheating for a long time and it is back to cheating.  He starts the post with information and misinformation regarding our probation in 1993.  He uses the wikipedia article regarding the probation from that time.  Yes, some of our coaches and boosters made some huge mistakes in the late 80's and early 90's.  Eric Ramsey sought out money and food and was given those things illegally by a booster with the help of at least one coach.  A couple of other players also said at that time they were also given illegal benefits.  We did the crime and we did the time.  It likely cost us a national championship in 1993.  (BTW, I know for sure he used wikipedia because both claim that Pat Dye was prohibited from being at Auburn events until 1995.  Anyone who can remember after the 1993 Alabama game knows that Pat Dye was in the locker room during Bowden's "now, I'm an Auburn man" speech).  He also claims that Lowder had something to do with the 1993 probation, which he did not. 

Then, the writer takes part of an April 2001 interview that Terry Bowden did with Wayne Flint (I believe) and Paul Davis.  At that point, Bowden said that there had been a pay-for-play scheme in place when he got to Auburn that he ended by 1995.  He said that Lowder and Rane were part of those involved in this.  Bowden said that those comments were "off the record."  He has not commented again about those comments.  None of the other coaches have ever acknowledged such an arrangement, including his brother who served as OC under both Dye and Terry and coaches now working for our rivals.  AD Lude has also denied any knowledge of such an arrangement.  After negotiating his final settlement with Auburn, Bowden still hasn't said anything else about this issue.  It would've been incredibly dumb if Auburn had kept such a scheme while on probation. 

He basically argues that Bowden was fired for not doing what Lowder said.  Same for Tuberville. 

Next, the writer discusses the SACS probation issue.  He correctly notes that part of the deal is that the accrediting agency concerned micromanagement of the university by Lowder and some members of the BOT.  However, he incorrectly says that SACS put Auburn on probation for Lowder paying players.  Auburn was taken off SACS probation the next year due to many people's efforts to decentralize the power of the trustees, including adding more trustees.  Of course, that's not mentioned. 

The writer then picks up with the electronic bingo scandal.  The author posts a link to a column by Paul Davis in which he is discussing some concerns about the link between Tigers Unlimited and a lobbying firm Fine-Geddie.  Geddie is a lobbyist who got arrested for his alleged involvement in the scandal.  For those outside the state, essentially, the allegations are that Milt McGregor and another casino owner tried to bribe state senators to vote for an electronic bingo bill.  Unfortunately, Davis uses the term "pay for play" to describe the bribes, which some conspiracy theorists incorrectly take to mean the Geddie was involved in paying football players.  The story has absolutely nothing to do with football. 

Davis claims that Lowder and McGregor used Tigers Unlimited to lobby for gambling legislation rather than to promote Auburn interests.  He has nothing to back that up, other than the fact McGregor is a donor to Auburn and Geddie got in trouble for his alleged role in the bribery.  BTW, Geddie's firm represents a ton of interests besides TUFS, including Univ. of Alabama, Alabama Power, Exxon-Mobil, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Alabama, the Birmingham Water Works, McWane Inc., Merck, Motorola, Regions, the Retirement Systems of Alabama, Vulcan Materials, and Verizon, according to this article http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-stories/2010/10/bingo_indictment_profile_rober.html .

Of course, Davis doesn't mention that either.  Again, Davis's column has nothing whatsoever to do Auburn football.

In As the Plains Burn, the author also tries to link the McGregor to a pay-for-play scheme, due to the fact that he is an Auburn booster and he is in trouble. The author cites a bunch of sometimes contradictory ramblings from Bama forums, speculating that the FBI caught McGregor on its wire taps (which has been widely denied).  Apparently, the tenuous link between two separate FBI investigations is the only thing that fuels all of this speculation.  In these forums posts, many of the predictions of supposed insiders have already not come true. 

 

In these posts, Auburn supposedly hired Chizik because he was alternatively a good ole boy who knew how the system worked (even though he was a decade removed from the alleged pay-for-pay scheme) or he was a patsy who doesn’t know what Jacobs, Dye, McGregor, and/or Lowder are doing behind his back. 

In summary, the author tries to say that Lowder has been cheating for the past 20 years at Auburn and he claims Lowder still is.  The only actual claim that Lowder did such things was from Terry Bowden in the 2001 interview that he has not gone on the record to discuss.  However, the author adds inaccuracies to try to tie all of these events together.  There is nothing whatsoever in "As the Plains Burn" that provides evidence of any pay-for-play scheme.  All the author does is recount a couple of bad moments in Auburn history, weave in inaccuracies in those events,  remove all the signs of positive changes at Auburn in the past generation, and speculate fantastically about Armageddon-like events at Auburn.  In doing so, he creates a somewhat coherent, though terribly inaccurate and biased view of the University. 

I hope that helps some of you.  For those with more information, please let me know and I will update this post. 

Thanks for reading all this. 

[312234 0]

Did you write that?  Is this the first place this has been posted?

[auburn123 0]

Did you write that?  Is this the first place this has been posted?

Yes and yes. 

[caleb1633 1,418]

There's so many glaring inconsistencies in that article it's unreal. You don't even have to know any of the legal stuff in it to see some of the things that don't add up. For instance the author says Chizik was brought in because he was wanting to make a career advancement and would be willing to do whatever it took to do so, yet at the end it says he doesn't know anything about what the article is saying. Then that he knew of the PFP stuff from when he was there under Tubbs, but Tubbs was fired because he wouldn't start the PFP stuff up once Saban was hired. If Tubbs didn't do the PFP stuff then why would Chizik know how it works? Whole thing is a crock. Any one of us could come up with a storyline to make any school look like they're cheating. Also as far as the ATM cards, it would take about 30+ people signing falsified documents that could land them in jail for up to 20 years to be able to pull all that off. Then the Alabama Gaming Commission with the casinos??? Gambling is illegal in Alabama. Homeboy had a nice try and to those who only hear what they wanna hear can believe it, but it's a bunch of bull.

[DunderMifflin 60]

I appreciate your efforts because I know that took some time to put together.  Unfortunately people are going to believe what they want to believe.

I have come to the conclusion that the best way to 'fight' some of this stuff is to simply do the right thing long enough that people realize the attacks are completely false.  Fortunately I believe Auburn has done that.  There has not been an NCAA issue at Auburn since the current crop of prospects being recruited were born.  To repeat, kids have been born and graduated high school since the last time Auburn has had a major football related NCAA issue.  THAT is the real truth, and is what will set us free in the long run.  By comparison, alabama has not even been off of probation in the past 16 years.

I believe that Auburn is currently in very good hands, and may have never been stronger at any point in its history.

That other story makes for good reading for bama fans and others who aren't close enough to know the facts.  But the fact that somebody types something doesn't make it true.

[n2hoops 0]

good stuff 123 - I have been waiting for some good rebuttals to the "fiction" from tuna and W&L

[AuStang16 0]

tigerdroppings? Rarely go there, but, I can say that pretty much everything on there is complete BS.

[greenaj1345162886 0]

tigerdroppings? Rarely go there, but, I can say that pretty much everything on there is complete BS.

As the name implies...haha

[AUFan1 0]

one of the biggest inaccuracies of the as the plains burns thread is the claim of the Alabama Gaming Commission doing a large investigation... No such state agency exists. There is a racing commission, but not a gaming commission.. I pointed this out several weeks ago.

[WDR 0]

I loved as the Plains Burn. I thought it was really funny. My favorite part was the recruiting part under the Chiz. Saying tha Trooper paid all the #1 players we got from various states.

[AUFan1 0]

If you look at the sources for the Cleveland story, the first one you see is Tigerdroppings.. Who would write a story and then credit their source as being a rant on a message board?

[fortworthtiger 34]

If you look at the sources for the Cleveland story, the first one you see is Tigerdroppings.. Who would write a story and then credit their source as being a rant on a message board?

apparently I'm a little late to the game on the Cleveland story...what is that about?

[auburn123 0]

apparently I'm a little late to the game on the Cleveland story...what is that about?

Basically, someone here posted an article from a Cleveland fan blog that was a cleaned up version of the tigerdroppings post with a focus on Lowder. 

[ww 0]

It is all so frustrating, though.  We all know that it is fiction, but other people do not.  It is also disappointing when family members buy this garbage.  I really just wish it would all hurry up and go away.

[tigerscoach 0]

I was just going to post the same thing about how the Bammers are still all giddy about crap like this!  

Here's the link to the "article" if you can call it that.  Check the first source of information....this guy bought it HOOK, LINE and SINKER!  When will these guys learn?  Heck, he even references the TD post by name in his article!

http://theclevelandfan.com/ohio-state-buckeyes/3-buckeye-archive/7274-the-fall-of-bobby-lowder-and-the-fallout-at-auburn

Auburn inside sources have repeatedly said that the FBI has nothing to do with the Cam situation.  Even the lawyers for these guys have said so!  

[telling tiger 156]

You cannot talk people out of being stupid. It's us against the world, figure that out ,embrace it and run with it. This is a classic example of one of my favorite sayings ,"People talk most about what they know the least,".

[Guest gkc81]

Wow.  In my wildest dreams I never knew AU folks ran such a sophisticated crime syndicate.  No wonder the Red Elephant Club wants to bring AU down; its pure jealousy.

[oldaufeller 367]

Same guy cries while reading romance novels.  Ohhh, that should be me!

[AUPride4Ever 0]

Thank you so much for this post. I've been frustrated with the fact that anytime this gets brought up, threads get locked or deleted. Whether one believes it or not, it is concerning what that these idiots are making national news with their venom. My question is who is the tuna person. He (or she) sounds like a dejected lover. Thanks again for taking the time to give us some insight into this mess.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

That guy......he's on a mission to ruin Auburn's reputation. Why is that? Is he mentally ill?

[Chaotic_zx 1,044]

Not really concerned with that site. It is garbage like that article, that has made me take my current point of view.

POV: I hope the corn dogs, the turds, r-kans-as, ugay, & moo state lose every game they play. I feel no need to go to that site. If I want to have rational conversations about football or the politics of the game, that is no place to be. I know there are a few good AU fans there but I simply can not stomach that anymore.

Let me sum up the info you get from there: AU will be out recruited by everyone else in the SEC including Vandy. If by some strange chance AU does get a recruit over them, then it's because they didn't want him, didn't have room for him, or AU paid for him. Auburn will lose every game/every year. If by chance AU wins(even beat UT Chattanooga), then it's because AU paid the Refs, paid players, their team screwed up, or were having a bad year. If anything positive happens at AU, they belittle it. It's as if the world is coming to an end because AU is doing well.

Frankly, to #&!! with them. If they can't be supportive of AU, then I refuse to be supportive of their teams.

[avltiger 0]

If one judges by the records of our teams over the past several years, while good but not great consistently, and if the accusations were true, then we haven't been getting our money's worth.  We should have been Number One or nearby more often than our records show.

More or less the same argument that some bammers are making about lil nic being paid so much for such, in their eyes, poor results.

Some times, we keep an obviously mean-spirited and derogatory story going by honoring it with our attention and rebuttals.  While I am no fan of his or of his feigned ignorance, maybe we should do as Big Jim did in the 1940s and 50s, let the mud dry and then brush it off.

I've waited for a lifetime for Auburn to be on the top!  Let's enjoy it!

War Eagle!!!!!

[312234 0]

If one judges by the records of our teams over the past several years, while good but not great consistently, and if the accusations were true, then we haven't been getting our money's worth.  We should have been Number One or nearby more often than our records show.

More or less the same argument that some bammers are making about lil nic being paid so much for such, in their eyes, poor results.

Some times, we keep an obviously mean-spirited and derogatory story going by honoring it with our attention and rebuttals.  While I am no fan of his or of his feigned ignorance, maybe we should do as Big Jim did in the 1940s and 50s, let the mud dry and then brush it off.

I've waited for a lifetime for Auburn to be on the top!  Let's enjoy it!

War Eagle!!!!!

That.

[7to881345162856 0]

This is about as credible as Shane from Centerpoint

[Elephant Tipper 430]

Two comments:

1)  The NCAA would have taken Terry Bowden, a WILLING and KNOWLEDGEABLE witness as described in the article FROM 9 YEARS IN THE PAST, and served AU's head on a platter.  With the level of corruption described and vast number of conspirators in these events which happened 15 YEARS ago it would have unraveled under its own weight.  And then the writer wants you to disassociate yourself from reality to believe that the practice would be handed down to two subsequent coaching regimes with Tuberville and Chizik.  

2)  AU would have removed Lowder from the Board of Trustees if true.  Period.

The NCAA DID NOT and would be remiss if so much corruption were evident as described by this basement writer in Louisiana.  Living in the dark of your basement probably creates other boogeymen too.  So sad.