Sabanfreude: AL.Com Bammer comments
The internet's cure for depression.
I love me some Alabama comments section. LOL
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2016/05/jim_harbaugh_blasts_nick_saban.html#incart_river_index
I can't think of one legitimate reason why these camps shouldn't take place.
They help high school students learn the game. They help prospects, coaches, and universities to get exposure. They facilitate some healthy competition.
What am I missing here? How could they possible be anything but beneficial?
These camps happen in other sports all the time and are not considered a big deal. It's just that the southern coaches don't want to have to work a little harder, and don't want others getting to see their recruits.
Don't you get it? These camps are bad for college football!!! No actual evidence has been provided to support that position, but we know it's true because Nick Saban says so!!!
Dear God, would somebody think of the children.
(Purely playing Devil's Advocate here, I believe the camps are objectively great)
The camps aren't free, and it ties up a lot of time and money for players. If there's, say, a dozen camps from a number of schools in the same general region (say, a 2 hour drive radius for a player), many players will feel obligated to go to as many of them as possible. This is more financial expense for families (some of whom may have difficulty affording it), as well as potentially lost time at work for a parent to take them to the camps. The proliferation of camps is making it more expensive for players to be recruited and to get in front of all the coaches they want/need to, which both (a) is bad for players' families and (b) invites bag man shenanigans, since any financial assistance to attend the camps would be a violation.
Alright, now I need to go shower to wash the SEC stink off...
I get what you're saying, but these camps are usually $30-50 max. You could attend all 12 of them within driving distance, and still end up spending less money then a mom, dad, and recruit would spend on a single unofficial visit (flight/gas money, hotel, food, etc). This usually turns into a full weekend too, where the local camps are usually only 4 hours.
"The proliferation of camps is making it more expensive for players to be recruited and to get in front of all the coaches they want/need to"
This is absolutely wrong.
If a player has a chance to attend a camp that is 2, 4, 7 hrs away (the closest to them) that can be a problem because of:
a) scheduling conflict
b) travel time & expense.
c) has to compete with hordes of other players for very limited coach exposure.
When you add more camps from other schools (like Michigan) you:
a) allows more schedule flexibility (parents off work / other conflicts.)
b) may be in a location closer to home making it faster & less expensive.
c) More coach eyeballs per player than at a more crowded camp.
d) can attend more than 1 camp if desired.
Sure, travel aside if you decided you HAD to attend every camp in a 500 mile radius sure, that would be more expensive.
The benefits of more camps for players is 99% positive.
The hypocrisy is strong.
Did he ever comment on how oversigning and pushing kids into grey shirts was good for college football? Because that would be some Grade A prime bullshit...
I was done reading after "Nobody outworks Saban."
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I'm having a ball in the comments section.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/sports/college/sec/university-of-alabama/article29055703.html
Key dates for Alabama’s NCAA run-ins since 1993:
January 1993: Led by coach Gene Stallings, Alabama defeats Miami 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl to finish 13-0 and win the 1992 national championship, the school’s first since Bear Bryant’s last in 1979. Early the next morning, star defensive back Antonio Langham signs with a sports agent, but the underclassman decides to stay at Alabama.
September 1994: NCAA delivers official letter of inquiry accusing Alabama of rules violations under Stallings, including allowing Langham to play during the 1993 season and lack of institutional control.
August 1995: In its first-ever NCAA penalty for rules violations, Alabama is placed on probation for three years, banned from a bowl appearance, ordered to give up 26 scholarships over three years and forced to foreit eight victories from 1993.
November 1995: NCAA appeals committee sides with Alabama, lifting one year of probation and restoring nine scholarships.
May 1996: NCAA strips the football program of one scholarship for failing to disclose player loans that were guaranteed by a Birmingham tire and wheel dealer.
November 1996: NCAA Infractions Committee admits making a major mistake in its handling of the Langham case, publicly apologizes to a school official wrongly accused of ethical lapse. Stallings retires days later, setting the stage for the hiring of defensive coordinator Mike DuBose as head coach.
February 1999: Alabama avoids NCAA sanctions following claims a former assistant basketball coach, Tyrone Beaman, tried to create a slush fund for recruits. NCAA warns severe penalties could result from any violations over the next five years.
May 1999 — Head coach Mike DuBose holds a news conference to deny rumors of improper conduct with a former secretary. DuBose later admits his denial was misleading and the school pays $360,000 to settle the woman’s sexual harassment claim.
December 1999 — DuBose receives two-year contract extension after Alabama beats Florida 34-7 to win its first Southeastern Conference football title since 1992.
November 2000: DuBose resigns and coaches his last game, a 9-0 loss to Auburn that caps a 3-8 year, Alabama’s worst season in more than four decades.
December 2000: TCU coach Dennis Franchione accepts the Alabama job after other high-profile candidates withdraw from consideration.
January 2001: Following days of rumors posted on Internet chat rooms, a newspaper in Memphis, Tenn., The Commercial Appeal, reports that a Crimson Tide booster is said to have paid a high school coach $200,000 to steer a top recruit, Albert Means, to Alabama.
February 2001: Alabama receives a preliminary letter of inquiry from the NCAA.
August 2001: Federal grand jurors in Memphis indict former Trezevant High School head coach Lynn Lang and former assistant Milton Kirk on charges of trying to sell Means to seven schools.
Sept. 6, 2001: Eight days later, Alabama receives official notice of alleged rules violations from NCAA.
Feb. 2, 2002: Alabama football receives five years probation, including a two-year postseason ban, because of a recruiting scandal in which boosters were accused of paying money for prep players.
Oct. 17, 2007: University bookstore employee discovers questionable textbook charges by women’s track and field athlete, prompting internal investigation.
Feb. 20, 2009: Alabama appears before NCAA Committee on Infractions.
June 11, 2009: The NCAA places 16 athletic programs, including football and men’s basketball, on three years of probation for misuse of free textbooks student athletes obtained for others using their scholarships.
April 28, 2016: Bo Davis fired for pending recruiting violations.
Um, yeah, they play by the rules?
*bangs podium* "INTEGRITY OF THE GAMEEEEE"
"Coach Fran" was once a hot commodity in coaching circles, but revealed himself to be a complete scumbag, especially at TA&M.
The best thing Franchione ever did was hire a much better coach (Gary Patterson) to be his defensive coordinator and eventually his successor at TCU.
RDT, is that you?
That's an impressive streak . . . a rules violation almost every single year this century.
That's some dedication and committment there, Alabama.
If you ain't a cheatin', you ain't a tryin'.
...that Harbaugh has an ulterior motive at play here. Beyond Harbaugh's obvious finger pointing at hypocrisy, he may be cleverly positioning Michigan at odds with the other top program(s) in the nation to set up a potential showdown in a playoff scenario that would have the media salivating. As of now, Who wouldn't love to see Michigan/Alabama play each other at the end of the season? This could be the intangible that gets Michigan a few more votes...
I hope you're right though.
Rather, "You can measure a man by the caliber of his enemies." Kirk needed Khan. Skywalker needed Vader. If you wanna be seen as the hottest coach in town, you can't find a better adversary to pick a fight with than Saban. Harbaugh hasn't yet beaten MSU or OSU, let alone make the CFP, but by pissing off Saban he's building this immediate perception that his fledgling program is on equal footing with Alabama. Now, mark my words he has every intention of getting reality caught up with that and the aptitude to do so, but reality is, last season Michigan finished 10-3, solidly in that tier just below the serious CFP contenders like Clemson, Alabama and OSU (MSU don't count; they didn't belong there and Alabama proved it). So, they couldn't build this kind of hype based on record alone.
I don't necessarily think Harbaugh went nuts with satellite camps solely for the media exposure -- there are cheaper ways to do that -- but riling up coaches across the country can only be a perk. It's got the media, the NCAA and HS kids buzzing about Michigan and Harbaugh.
That has been Harbaugh's MO since Stanford. He arrived at the Farm and immediately started sparring with Carroll and USC in the media during the 2007 offseason.
(http://www.scout.com/college/stanford/story/632081-harbaugh-we-bow-to-nobody).
It's opportunistic, not calculated. The reporters threw him a fatball at his introductory press conference but he passed on dissing MSU or OSU, which was the smart move at the time. Also, Saban going on a rant was the best thing to happen yet with these camps because it makes him the crazy bad guy and legitimized Michigan all at once, but Harbaugh didn't do anything to directly provoke Saban.
Yes Harbauagh is very self-aware and crafty at PR jujutsu, but the MO isn't to pick a fight with the top dog. It's more to Batman the hell out of the FBS world and give these predictably self-interested coaches rope to hang themselves with. But it's not like Harbaugh needs Saban's wrath for this to go according to plan. The satellite camps are happening anyway, the NCAA is exposed AND pissed, kids are loving it, and the blitzschedule is drawing press on its own. In this battle, Saban's just a crane game plushy that Harbaugh picked up along the way.
he's building this immediate perception that his fledgling program is on equal footing with Alabama.
That's exactly right. And you see it most often in the "He's building a monster up there" type comments of elite recruits.
Harbaugh is very smart. He knows what he is trying to do. Recruiting-wise, he's managed to skip a few steps and move right to the top of the line.
Michigan should not be out-recruiting 90% of the SEC at this juncture. But we are.
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They're 17-year-olds; this is how they're wired to think. They LOVE seeing a contrarian attack the Machine. This isn't a 2016 thing. It's probably been an ongoing thing since, like, 4000BC.
The awesome thing about Harbaugh is that it isn't a show. It's real. He'd love to get into a boxing match with Saban, and I mean that literally. And there's nothing HS kids adore more than a genuine contrarian doing real things.
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This isn't a 2016 thing. It's probably been an ongoing thing since, like, 4000BC.
This is true. Fact: Amish teenagers, who are not allowed to have electronics and drive cars, will customize and trick-out their horse buggys like other teenage boys do with their cars.
It's a youth thing. Teenagers love the show. And Harbaugh is the ringmaster.
What teenager wouldn't want to go on an OV to Ann Arbor, if nothing more than jo see what the buzz is?
You get an offer from Michigan and you are going to immediately run out and tell all your friends. You think they are going to care about a Penn State ofer?
you're missing the absolute certainty for the unlikely to occur wet dream
which is that now thanks to harbaugh we've blown any shot at getting alabama in a home and home again
/s since we've played them never and alabama has no balls to leave the south under saban
Those comments on AL.com made me value the educational opportunities that I've had in my life so much more than I did at the outset of reading their take on the situation. That's about all I can really say. That, and the almost deity-like status of Nick Saban (and by some weird extension, the supposed integrity of the SEC's position - emphasis on "supposed") in Alabama circles seems to make normal conversation with any Alabama fan impossible, at least for the few who were attempting normal discourse in the comments.
I did not read the comments on AL.com because, as a matter of personal policy, I don't read the comments on AL.com (or anything on the Freep.) However, having lived in Alabama for over thirty years, I can assure you that most of those commenters did not go to Alabama. At best they went to Trailer Park State Technical and Cosmetology School for the Moronic. Look. I'm not pretending that Alabama grads aren't going to be hypocritical about Harbaugh's intentions. They will defend Saban to the death. But the vast majority of the true morons who support Alabama (e.g., most of the Finebaum callers) never came close to going to college there. Most of the graduates are passionate about their program like we are. There are some assholes, but mostly they are fans who love their program. The scary ones (e.g., tree poison types) are just redneck losers.
The scariest thing is that none of them had any idea that there were any recent Alabama rules violations. The Harbaugh tweet did not make any sense to them at all.
While it is a national story everywhere else, this news has been completely hidden from them in SEC country. They're like the manipulated proletariat behind the Iron Curtain, only receievng the information the controlled media wants them to receive.
Lol
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1. Saban - Coach of Alabama talking about integrity and compliance.
2. The strange people he has to talk to at the high school camps. (That would be the coach Nick).
3. The concern for the new enrollees starting school when the coaches can have very limited interaction right now.
4. The statement about the high schools shouldn't be "using" the college coaches. (As if the attendance would be the same) Yet those coaches have to waste their time if Saban wants to talk about a player.
5. So many more.
To really understand what a gigantic douche this guy is watch the whole video. He acts like he's the Mother Teresa of football, but every opinion is in his own best interest.
At some point you reach a level where you are so used to everyone telling you that everything you do is so enthralling all the time, that you start to believe it yourself.
I think Saban is at that point where he actually believes his own shit.
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To their credit, I didn't notice an abundance of "little bitch". If this were OSU or MSU, especially the latter, there'd be all kinds of little bitch.
Saban really has the oratory at the podium thing down. He seems to know that so long as you speak passionately and earnestly, it doesn't matter how many lies or contradictions you say, the disciples will eat it up.