Bama's Method of Self-Reporting

[AuburnChopper1 0]

All of these threads are ridiculous. Minor violations happen - if you thought Auburn was going to be perfectly clean, you're delusional. I remember seeing Kodi Burns on the jumbotron and wondering, "Is that legal if he's already committed? If not, we're busted for something."

Impressive....you catching that.

All of this uproar over minor violations is almost the same as the Bham News posting front page headlines titled, "Saban Wants Irish," which concerns Nick Saban mentioning possibly, in the future, maybe, if things work out right, playing Notre Dame.

I think there were multiple points that could have been taken from this thread that ran deeper than the fact at it's core there were points about minor infractions, but I digress....

Has the offseason been this boring? Barry Bonds about to break the homerun record even though it's almost proven he took steroids? Alex Rodriguez having a historic season? NBA refs possibly point shaving because of gambling? Michael Vick and dog fighting?

It's hasn't been all THAT boring, but I don't think these items would be discussed here. No wonder you're annoyed by these threads.

Just pickin' man. Everyone's entitled to their thoughts! Besides this thread was here basically just to mess with BG....

Have a good night!

[TigerHeat 9]

It's called bait. You bit.

Auburn people on an Auburn board (yeah, that pesky auburn board thing again) like to point out to Bammers where they're wrong when they come crying to an AUBURN BOARD.

You oblige more often than not.

Probably your weakest post to date.

Wow...what a blow. Deftly, no, masterfully delivered by the Grand Master of weak posts.

[WAR-MATT 2]

Bammer's spin on being turned in by other schools. We need to save this spin-job because I know it's going to come back and bite them, bank on it.

Sports columnist Ray Melick » More columns from Ray Melick

In his seven months at Alabama, Saban's name has turned up more than any other coach's in other schools' allegations of secondary NCAA rules violations, an official with knowledge of the infractions process says.

That doesn't mean he's breaking more rules than anyone else - or that he's breaking any rules at all. It just shows how closely rival coaches are monitoring the Alabama staff.

Coaches at other schools never seem willing to admit to filing any official complaints about any other coaches. It seems all coaches love to talk about how, if they suspect a rival coach of doing something inappropriate, they call that coach and settle it just between themselves.

But those same coaches who say they haven't officially complained about Saban all say they know of coaches who have.

What they're complaining about, if true, would all appear to be secondary violations in nature - improper contacts with recruits, for instance - and allegations of this kind are made by coaches against each other almost every week.

Even if proved true, individual secondary violations occur so frequently that, unless the NCAA determines they occurred consistently and willfully, they rarely bring any sort of serious action against the school.

In fact, a person familiar with the NCAA's handling of such matters told me a certain number of secondary violations are tolerated by the NCAA. If anything, NCAA officials often get suspicious when a major school with a broad-based athletics program self-reports only two or three secondary violations in a year. The NCAA understands it is almost impossible not to accidentally cross the line occasionally in the course of doing ordinary business.

The attention on Alabama's recruiting perhaps is a measure of the respect other coaches have for Saban's recruiting ability. His reputation as a football coach is not for out-scheming other teams as much as it is for out-recruiting them. Saban's reputation among coaches is for relentlessly pursuing better talent.

More likely, however, the reason for the increased attention is that it's part of the price Saban pays for being the highest-paid college football coach in the country, with a national championship ring on one of his fingers and the reputation of the University of Alabama behind him.

Being scrutinized this closely is a tough way for anyone to make a living.

But then, that's why they pay Nick Saban the big bucks.

[WAR-MATT 2]

Another story on the Bammers being turned in. Saban just doesn't know why they can't all just get along.

AL.COM

Saban: Hurting each other just hurts the SEC

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Nick Saban has a message for you, the football coaches of the SEC, his colleagues old and new.

Wait. It's not really a message. The new Alabama coach is not going to tell you what to do. He just wants to share his philosophy and hopes you'll see its merits.

He's coming to you in the spirit of collaboration, not competition.

Saban knows some of you cried "Wolf!" when you saw him back on the recruiting trail. He knows some of you have turned him in for what you believe to be violations.

He really wishes you saw things his way.

"We all have to compete against each other," Saban told me last month. "But the more we try to hurt each other, it hurts the league. It really does."

Saban doesn't want to hurt you. He does want to beat you, and if you're Auburn, he wants to dominate you 365 days a year. But don't get your headsets in a twist.

"That's been another one of my pet peeves," he said. "It's not personal."

It's business. In the SEC, you're family.

Can't you all just get along?

It's not like Saban is asking you to do something he's not willing to do himself. Consider his stance on whistle-blowing.

"I don't turn other people in," he said. "I just say, `All right, guys, let's go do our business. This is what we can control. Let's try to go do it the right way and do the best we can."

He cited his relationship with Bill Belichick. Saban coaching the Miami Dolphins against Belichick and the New England Patriots didn't damage their friendship.

"We had to compete against each other 365 days a year, but it never was personal," Saban said. "We talked after every game we played. He was never (ticked) at me. I was never (ticked) at him.

"If we ever had an issue with each other, he would pick up the phone and call me. Or I would pick up the phone and call him. It was kind of a mutual respect."

Look, Saban has been around the blocking sled. He understands that dealing with "issues" man-to-man isn't the way all coaches do business.

In his words, "There's another mindset out there that's always worried about, `Well, this guy did this and that guy did that and let me turn'em in for this and do this and do that.'"

You can take Saban's approach one of two ways. His supporters would say he really does want everybody to get along for the good of the league. His critics would say he wants to get away with as much as possible.

Saban said that while he was with the Dolphins some of the SEC coaches he's again competing against "helped the hell out of me."

"I talked to Tommy (Tuberville) for a long time about drafting Ronnie Brown," he said. "I sat in Phillip Fulmer's office for a long time about drafting Jason Allen.

"I heard a sermon once in church: `Don't burn bridges. Build bridges. It'll always help.' I try to do that all the time."

So, if you think that recruit's workout was an illegal tryout, or if you think that non-contact greeting was a recruiting pitch, don't call the SEC office or NCAA headquarters.

Call Nick Saban. He's sure you can work it out. Kevin Scarbinsky's column appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Write him at kscarbinsky@bhamnews.com.

[AUChizad 0]

"We had to compete against each other 365 days a year, but it never was personal," Saban said. "We talked after every game we played. He was never (ticked) at me. I was never (ticked) at him.

Notice this man can't be quoted for a newspaper article without them having to parenthetically substitute a cleaner word for an explicitive?

So anyway, basically, he's saying "Guys, just let me cheat and quit being a taddle-tale."

Got it.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Notice this man can't be quoted for a newspaper article without them having to parenthetically substitute a cleaner word for an explicitive?

The only word that would fit there would be "pissed". And that isn't even in the swear filter here.

[AUChizad 0]

Notice this man can't be quoted for a newspaper article without them having to parenthetically substitute a cleaner word for an explicitive?

The only word that would fit there would be "pissed". And that isn't even in the swear filter here.

I wouldn't have mentioned it if this were the only time I've seen it. Hence asking "Have you ever noticed...?"

I'll spare everyone the 8 pages where you manipulate and spin the conversation with vague hypotheticals by NOT trying once again to explain to you why a trend is more significant than an isolated incident, especially in regards to Nick SaVior.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Well it is shocking to the world, to know that college coaches use foul language.

[AUChizad 0]

Well it is shocking to the world, to know that college coaches use foul language.

Look, I'm probably the last person on this board to get offended by anything, let alone "dirty words".

My point was, for $4 mil/year to represent your program, brush up on some basic PR skills. I've never seen a quote by him that's more than a sentence or two long that doesn't have to be edited.

That's all I'm saying.

[AuburnChopper1 0]

Well it is shocking to the world, to know that college coaches use foul language.

WHAT!?