Money quote from Clay Travis’ interview with the SEC Commissioner:
“This was a case of first impression,” Slive said. (A case of first impression has no existing precedent). “The SEC had to determine whether it violated SEC bylaws for an individual’s family member to solicit funds from an institution that is different from the one he attended. Ultimately,” Slive said, “I had to determine what the appropriate league response was after balancing all of these factors and after considering all of that I did not believe that he had violated our bylaws.”
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the commissioner of arguably the most powerful college football conference in America putting his seal of approval on a father shopping his son to the highest bidder.
That is bloody sad.
Get The Picture 
My son is 8 weeks old and I’ll take $200,000 up front for him to play at the school of your choosing.
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Cecil Newton is the pimp. Mike Slive is just a bitch.
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+ 200,000
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No. Mike Slive is the whore. What else would you call someone who f#cks for money?
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Without knowing a thing, I bet there’s a catch-all dishonorable conduct bylaw, which applies without any word stretching whatsoever to Cecil Newton’s conduct, and Slive forgot it.
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Does that mean that this SEC Bylaw, quoted earlier in this blog, has no bearing on this:
“If at any time before or after matriculation in a member institution a student-athlete or any member of his/her family receives or agrees to receive, directly or indirectly, any aid or assistance beyond or in addition to that permitted by the Bylaws of this Conference (except such aid or assistance as such student-athlete may receive from those persons on whom the student is naturally or legally dependent for support), such student- athlete shall be ineligible for competition in any intercollegiate sport within the Conference for the remainder of his/her college career.”
That seems pretty clear, but this situation is so muddy it’s totally opaque. Of course, we all know that nothing will happen until after the MNC game, if then, since the money and NC prestige are just too valuable to risk.
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+ 50,000, then 50,000 more, then 80,000 more.
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We know that MSU didn’t pay the Newtons, so they didn’t receive the benefit. The Auburn argument is in the phrase “agrees to receive.” Auburn sympathizers say that an agreement requires both parties to consent. In other words, asking and being turned down doesn’t constitute an “agreement.”
Newton’s actions obviously violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the bylaw, but he has a chance to play for the national championship, so exceptions must be made.
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If the Auburn Tigers were 8-4, Cam Newton would have been suspended by the SEC without another thought. Instead, Auburn is undefeated and is the athletic standard bearer for the SEC, the lynch pin in the annual plan to get two teams into the BCS and thus fill everybody’s wallets. I’m sure Slive hates rubber-stamping Cecil Newton’s conduct as he has, but he loves money more than he hates cheating. War Eagle, Mr. Commissioner, and let’s hope that no pesky bowl bans come down the pike in the next few years, just in case Auburn stays good enough to qualify for the money bowls in years to come.
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So… if Richt is recruiting a coveted 5* and someone from the kid’s family seriously infers (or directly states) that its going to take something extra to get the kid to sign with Georgia, and Richt (or Garner) diplomatically tells the family member to pound sand and not compromise the athlete’s career, should Georgia be allowed to continue to recruit the coveted prospect? If Georgia can’t, can that prospect sign elsewhere if there is no discussion of extra benefits at the other school? Or, should that athlete’s career be over as no school can legitimately sign them now that extra benefits have been brought up?
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More information is needed to accurately answer your question. What’s Georgia’s record in your scenario? Is Georgia a leading contender for a national championship and/or BCS bowl bid that will bring crates of money into the SEC?
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Take the money. And run.
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I’m afraid corruption is going to be the end of the SEC’s elevated status. With a boob like Slive willingly turning a blind eye to stuff like the Newton scandal, obviously for the purpose of putting an SEC team in the NC game, conference rep is going to take a major hit, especially when the truth about this finally comes out.
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F the conference.
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it won’t matter when USC does to AU what it did to Bammer…without Scam, AU is a 6 and 6 team at best…ask any Aubum fan as they would agree, though not publicly
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Oh, they’ll agree in public. I mean, not all of them will grant you 6-6, but I think they’d all agree they’re a 7-5 team without him.
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A lot of good points made here…of course it’s all about money…from the player /father/recruitment level to the college presidents that control the NCAA and BCS… BILL nailed it…no way anything will happen before the MNC… The “smoke filled back rooms” will not let that happen.
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Money corrupts. The SEC is already seen as a rouge league by the rest of college football and now it has dropped any pretence. We are the NFL’s best minor league farm system and we need money to maintain our status. It’s really pretty simple.
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Whatever they can do to set up the NC that will get the best ratings…UO/AU
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