CAM NEWTON OFFICIALLY DECLARED ELIGIBLE

Image courtesy of AJC.com

According to NCAA.org Cam Newton has been cleared of all charges of impropriety by the NCAA and is free and clear to play. In other words you can stamp Cam Newton on the Heisman Trophy and give Auburn the National Championship in about...oh...5 weeks from now.

Here is the official release...

Auburn University football student-athlete Cam Newton is immediately eligible to compete, according to a decision today by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff. The NCAA concluded on Monday that a violation of amateurism rules occurred, therefore Auburn University declared the student-athlete ineligible yesterday for violations of NCAA amateurism rules.

When a school discovers an NCAA rules violation has occurred, it must declare the student-athlete ineligible and may request the student-athlete’s eligibility be reinstated. Reinstatement decisions are made by the NCAA national office staff and can include conditions such as withholding from competition and repayment of extra benefits. Newton was reinstated without any conditions.

According to facts of the case agreed upon by Auburn University and the NCAA enforcement staff, the student-athlete’s father and an owner of a scouting service worked together to actively market the student-athlete as a part of a pay-for-play scenario in return for Newton’s commitment to attend college and play football. NCAA rules (Bylaw 12.3.3) do not allow individuals or entities to represent a prospective student-athlete for compensation to a school for an athletic scholarship.

In conjunction with the case, Auburn University has limited the access Newton’s father has to the athletics program and Mississippi State has disassociated the involved individual.

“The conduct of Cam Newton’s father and the involved individual is unacceptable and has no place in the SEC or in intercollegiate athletics,” said Mike Slive, Southeastern Conference Commissioner. “The actions taken by Auburn University and Mississippi State University make it clear this behavior will not be tolerated in the SEC.”

“Our members have established rules for a fair and equal recruitment of student-athletes, as well as to promote integrity in the recruiting process,” said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president for academic and membership affairs. “In determining how a violation impacts a student-athlete’s eligibility, we must consider the young person’s responsibility. Based on the information available to the reinstatement staff at this time, we do not have sufficient evidence that Cam Newton or anyone from Auburn was aware of this activity, which led to his reinstatement. From a student-athlete reinstatement perspective, Auburn University met its obligation under NCAA bylaw 14.11.1. Under this threshold, the student-athlete has not participated while ineligible.”

“We are pleased that the NCAA has agreed with our position that Cam Newton has been and continues to be eligible to play football at Auburn University,” Auburn University Director of Athletics Jay Jacobs said. “We appreciate the diligence and professionalism of the NCAA and its handling of this matter. “

During the reinstatement process, NCAA staff review each case on its own merits based on the specific facts. Staff decisions are made based on a number of factors including guidelines established by the Division I NCAA Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, as well as any mitigating factors presented by the university.

Reinstatement decisions are independent of the NCAA enforcement process and typically are made once the facts of the student-athlete’s involvement are determined. The reinstatement process is likely to conclude prior to the close of an investigation. It is NCAA policy not to comment on current, pending or potential investigations.

There you go. Case closed. Nothing to see here. Moving on.

JUST CURIOUS, WHERE IS THE NATIONAL OUTRAGE OVER THE RANDY SHANNON FIRING?

From the AP...

His voice nearly cracking, Miami athletic director Kirby Hocutt somberly laid out some of the many reasons why Randy Shannon was right for the Hurricanes.
The academic success. Improved recruiting classes. His decades as part of the Miami family.
Then there were 22 reasons that Hocutt couldn't ignore — the games Miami lost under Shannon. In the end, those carried more weight than anything else.

I'm just going to go ahead and point out how ridiculous the media can be when it comes to issues such as racism. About 6 years ago Notre Dame got hammered by the media for firing head coach Tyrone Willingham after only 3 seasons. His record was about the same as Randy Shannon's in Miami and he graduated players too. But Notre Dame was blasted by media personalities such as John Saunders, Mike Wilbon, Mark May, and Jason Whitlock for firing a minority coach before his contract was up. The University of
Miami just did the same thing to Shannon. He took them to 3 bowl games in 4 seasons.

But you won't hear a peep about it because it doesn't involve Notre Dame.

Why is that you ask? Because those 4 media assholes I mentioned earlier now realize they were wrong about the Willingham firing. It had nothing to do with Willingham's skin pigmentation. It had everything to do with the L's on his resume. And the constant golf outings. And now they realize the Shannon firing had nothing to do with him being a minority coach or being able to run a clean program or graduate his kids. In the end all that matters is the wins and losses on your resume.

Unless you lock the son of an ESPN personality in a storage locker. All bets are off then.

BRUCE PEARL CALLS LANE KIFFIN A DUMBASS

From the mouth of Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl to a crowd of people gathered at a Knoxville Quarterback Club:

"I've made mistakes, I clearly did, but what I was hoping for was that some other dumbass would get on the front page and take me off the hook,'' Pearl said. "I miss Lane Kiffin.''

Talk about delivering an all-time zinger. I mean wow. I didn't realize someone as sleazy as Pearl could be so damn funny. Outstanding.