Meh, depends which two supermodels were making out. Anyway, this is getting horribly OT so I have no more interest in continuing. Nothing is ever gonna change, so you can either keep complaining about it... or you can go get a job at the NFL and try to revolutionize things with your brand new, never before thought of, spring developmental league idea.
Just because college football players are nfl prospects does not mean the nfl adds to college popularity. as a matter of fact that logic is almost reverse of what you are arguing. i can argue the nfl is enhanced by the popularity of prospects. the nfl draft needs college football for knowledge of prospects for instance. college football doesn't need the draft
Allow me to amend my wording. The NFL didn't bring college football to the forefront. The NFL is now bringing college football to the forefront. As in, the NFL is creating more football fans and increasing exposure for the sport of football moreso than the NCAA. And it has been this way for 30 or so years. I didn't mean to imply that the NFL somehow necessitated the NCAA or something bassackwards like that. Only that the NFL is pushing the NCAA's popularity along moreso than vice versa now. This just happens to coincide with the birth of the internet and media age, so the effect is exponential compared to when the popularity of the NCAA gave birth to the NFL.
If the NFL disappeared, college football's popularity would explode. A huge chunk of fans who invest time in both would concentrate all of their energies to college. If the NFL never existed, college football would be HUGE, probably much more than it is now.
I hadn't thought about that, but it's probably true. However, conversely, if college football disappeared, the popularity boost would be much less for the NFL, since the fan base is smaller. The NFL would thrive on though, especially now that they no longer need the NCAA and are fully capable of creating and running their own farm system at a profit. This is absolutely untrue. The NFL commercialized football and brought it into everyone's home on a weekly basis. Not just college students and alumni. Everyone. They pioneered football as entertainment and a business. If the NFL never existed, college football would not be the better for it.
So... I have a source close to the program. Well, he has family close to the program. He's always been money with interesting information but he never has anything mind blowing to say. I asked if this whole Manziel thing was a big deal and he said he wasn't sure and that there's more to the story. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing, I imagine bad. The last thing I expected to hear was "I'm not sure", I figured he'd spin some sort of good news. A little concerning for me personally... but I'm still not too worried about it. I'll hear more from him tomorrow.
If circumstantial evidence and innuendo were enough, Miami and Auburn would be serving a period of severe sanctions. If they are going to strip a kid of his eligibility, it needs to be more than "my best friend's boyfriend's sister knows a guy who saw Johnny at 31 Flavors." If the payment happened, I seriously doubt there is any paper trail, like a bank deposit. If that money is still there, it is likely deposited in the First National Bank of Mattress. The broker certainly isn't going to say anything as doing so would open him up to inquiry on why he didn't report the large cash transaction to the Feds.
You're assuming rational behavior out of Johnny Lohan and Uncle Nate. Not sure how they earned that benefit of the doubt from you... (other than your likely bias due to being an Aggie alum)
You're assuming (a) that Johnny Football is smart and (b) that the broker wants to keep this secret. On the former, he's done a lot of stupid things this offseason, so he may very well have done something as stupid as depositing money in a bank. On the latter, the broker's a businessman and his interest was/is in selling merchandise. Iif he paid five-figures, he's going to ideally want that to be a legitimate business expense so it's tax deductible. He doesn't care about Manziel's eligibility. For all we know, he simply wrote a check to the guy.
There's a difference between circumstantial evidence and innuendo. Honestly, people go to prison on circumstantial evidence. I have no idea what evidentiary standard they need...and I have no idea what the NCAA already has or doesn't have.
Let me make this painfully clear. If Johnny did this and it can be proven, he deserves to lose his eligibility. Not only that, he should be expelled as a student at A&M. However, it needs to be proven. Somebody telling the NCAA that Johnny did it isn't enough. I could call the NCAA tomorrow and tell them that I saw AJ McCarron picking up underage hookers. My saying that doesn't make him a child molester.
Totally agree with the last paragraph..that's what I said in my earlier post. Accusation alone isn't gonna get it.
Tim Brando said this morning that by this point, the NCAA has likely conducted all the interviews. He believes that, if there were substantial evidence, A&M would have declared him ineligible and applied for his reinstatement.
It is my understanding that the source told the NCAA that it was a cash transaction, although they didn't see any money exchanged.
I can buy that. He may very well be right. But let me also say that if A&M were in the Big XII still, Brando would have gone on the radio this morning to tell you Manziel tortures puppies and should be banned not only from the NCAA, but from these United States of America. That guy is the biggest SEC shill ever created.
On his radio show, I have found him to be more evenhanded than his previous endeavors. Of course, that may be largely because he has a national audience on TV and satellite radio for three hours a day.
Makes sense - yeah, then the question is whether a money trail can be shown. I'd also be curious if they interviewed Manziel himself - with guys like Dez Bryant and the UT point guard who's name I'm blanking on, it was lying to the NCAA that ultimate got them in trouble rather than the original incident. In particular, I'd love to hear his answers to: (a) Why would you sign hundreds of items for a random stranger to sell and profit off of? (b) Why do you have a handler and what exactly is his role?
While the money trail is pretty important, if they can prove Nate Fitch was going around and asking for $ even with no paper trail, they can get pretty screwed too. I'm guessing if the NCAA asks for Fitch's bank account records, he doesn't have to show them?
If they ask for Johnny's bank records, he doesn't have to provide them. They don't have subpoena power. Of course, they can suspend him for not cooperating. Nate's bank records would be a closer call, but I would imagine the same result since Johnny decided to have a personal assistant.
