I always thought of recruiting rules as just something that you have to go through. They sucked, but those were the rules.
But I'll be damned if I don't find them more and more stupid every time I read them. A coach can't have contact with a player, more than a greeting, when he goes to evaluate them between April 15th and May 31st. Is this not just ridiculous? You're supposed to make an assessment on the player, but can't figure out what's going on in his head? And with gasoline prices being what they are, what the hell would be the point of even going to evaluate?
Oh well. I guess I'm just talking out my ass right now.
More news on Saban's "too in-depth" conversations with recruits. Check here, here, and Sports Illustrated's article here. Never before have I seen so much media coverage of secondary violations. I guess everybody that hates on us really wants to see something bad come out of this.
The NCAA crap isn't slowing down Coach Saban and his staff. They will be in Atlanta, on Georgia Tech's campus, to watch the "Southeast Elite prospects" perform one-on-one and seven-on-seven drills. But I guess he can't talk to any of them.
THE MIKE DUBOSE ERA
#2: Auburn 18 Alabama 17Nov. 22nd, 1997 at Auburn, AL
This will notoriously be DuBose's biggest loss because it was the "one that got away." This game not only gave Alabama it's worst record in forever, but it also gave Auburn a spot in the SEC championship game.
One play ended Bruce Arians' career at the Capstone. The screen pass to Ed Scissum with 45 seconds left on 3rd and 8. Everybody's heard Herm Edwards with the whole "YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME" speech, but in this case, playing to win the game meant not taking a risk. Why throw any kind of pass in that situation? You're up 2 points with 45 seconds left on your own 36 yard line. Auburn only had one time out left. Run the ball, force them to use the time out, then punt it and make them earn it.
Bear Bryant said there's only three things that can happen when you pass, and two of them are bad. I guess nobody down there used any logic at that time. DuBose said that he didn't know what the play was, which, to me, was a sure sign that things weren't going in the right direction.
Ed Scissum will have to live with that fumble forever, and it hurts my soul to have seen him left out on a string. I had never seen a football player cry like that.
¶ 9:04 AM
