"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
In general I tend to not believe fans when they accuse writers of a vendetta against a school. Whether it's Curry Kirkpatrick at IU (Wayback machine) Pete Thamel or Pat Forde at UK, or Selena Roberts at Auburn. There's generally very little reason for a writer to have an ax to grind against a particular school, and a very big reason for that school's fan base to have an ax to grind against a particular writer.
That said, reading this particular story,http://www.roopstigo.com/reader/aubu...tas_for_glory/
there's a lot of emphasis on one person's story and very little evidence that can back it up or refute it. This makes for an intriguing story, but not for good journalism in my opinion.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
That article is pretty weak. Reads a lot like the hack job that Dohrmann tried to do to OSU.
Roberts blames Bobby Lowder and the BOTs for changes in the journalism program at Auburn that she did not agree with and apparently has taken personally. She has essntially ground an axe mutliple times in her career with pieces about Auburn athletics that consistently paint the same picture as the link in your post. Also, this isn't the first time her bias i.e. "the culture of big time football ruined a vital academic program!" has hurt her credibility.
Ignore everything she has ever written about Auburn and simply read her treatment of the Duke Lacrosse case and decide if she hasn't jumped a shark long ago.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
Thousands of people at Auburn have been paid and continue to get paid biweekly and monthly.
But if you want to talk about something that happened in the early 90's as part of a probe into my objectivity, i'd say the discussion actually says much more about you and it also ignores just about every contribution I've made to a discussion about Auburn on redszone.
But ya, Auburn has a culture of changing grades but wouldn't let a 5 star prospect into school because they didn't like an English grade he had gotten and Auburn suspended a player accused of armed robbery as way to deflect attention from Cam. It's all perfectly logical.
Last edited by jojo; 04-04-2013 at 09:54 AM.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
I tend to think that once someone gets wind of an allegation they sink their teeth into it. Maybe they don't have an "ax to grind" per say but they want to see something come of the story. I don't think a good reporter really cares about a school one way or another, they just want to see their work validated. The good ones are able to back away from the story, the bad ones press.
In most cases its someone who feels slighted or is upset at a school/coach/etc. who brings down the program. At Miami it was Nevin Schapiro who was a ponzi schemer. At OSU it was a tattoo parlor owner in trouble with the law. In regards to Auburn there has been a ton of smoke. If I am a betting man, I am betting there will be a fire soon.
If you look long enough at any major football program in D1 I think you would eventually find something.
If you can find someone outside the program willing to talk, you get your story. If you can't, all you get is a drive-by. It can all be true or can all be sensationalized, doesn't really matter if the NCAA can't get anyone to sell you out. Auburn hasn't had anyone willing to sell them out yet, so they get a clean bill of health. (I'm not saying they are doing anything that any other program is not.)
Frankly, this woman has a crazy vibe to her and doesn't feel on the up-and-up to me. I'm willing to give Auburn a straight pass on this drive-by unless something else comes out of it.
GL
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
I think there is a good chance this story is probably true. However everything she sites is going to be very hard to prove, unless you have someone in the athletic department that wants to own up to changing grades for athletes. I doubt there are going to be emails or computer records of those things happening and without hard evidence this isn't going anywhere.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please. |