Seen The Gambling Story Swirling Around Clemsons QB? Theres An SEC Tie To It
First things first, we dont believe things written by guys who dont sign their name. If you think it and believe it, sign your name. Whether its in a comment box or on a blog, sign your name
or else well roll our eyes.
For that reason, there was some serious eye-rolling when we first learned of the internet-driven story claiming that Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd had run up an $80,000 gambling debt. That story hit the worldwide web just hours before the Tigers 51-14 beatdown at home by Florida State.
Ah, ha! Boyd must have thrown the game to cover his debts! After all, he was just as terrible as the rest of his teammates on Saturday night.
Well, with this kind of rumor percolating on the net, coach Dabo Swinney and athletic director Dan Radakovich had to at least follow up with their star player. Swinneys take:
I dont really know where that came from. When I heard it, it was pretty shocking. That being built on top of the loss made it a rough weekend
That just added to my beautiful Sunday. I spoke to Tajh about it, and he just shook his head. So, I have no reason to not believe Tajh Boyd. That is the only comment there is. Its disappointing that we live in this world where things like that happen. I have no reason to think that he lied to me. Hes never lied to me before
I have no reason not to trust him, absolutely. No question, his integrity is impeccable.
Radakovich forwarded the info to the Atlantic Coast Conference office and he said Clemsons compliance office is looking into the track record of the site.
What theyll find is that the site is the work of a man who calls himself Incarcerated Bob. Columbia newspaper The State reached out to ol Incarcerated Bob and they were told that his information comes from direct sources in Vegas that have ties to the bookies.
As The State points out at the bottom of this story (same link as above), a number of writers who actually sign their name to their work have dismissed Incarcerated Bob. Former Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer David Purdum said via Twitter that the website has continually made up stories (without) attribution for publicity. No reason to believe this is any different. Matt Miller of NFLDraftScout.com called the Boyd story a complete lie aimed at hurting the player.
And this is where theres a tie to the SEC.
Last summer, Incarcerated Bob on his gambling-centric site claimed that Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace had received Western Union payments from someone involved in sports gambling. Sound Familiar?
At the time, Ole Miss reached out to the writer via email: Since this situation would constitute a NCAA compliance issue we are asking if you would talk with us and/or provide that information so we can review it appropriately and handle within NCAA guidelines. Thank you for the consideration of this request.
But Incarcerated Bob wouldnt talk big shock and, well, lets quote his site for the rest of the story (all typos are his):
Contacted by Twitter this afternoon and the reason why accts are suspended was the University of Ole Miss (NCAAF) complained about reports that i had certain details of violations by athletes that are currently playing for the Football program. I was contacted last week by the compliance office of Ole Miss, who wanted me to hand over the details i had, once i declined they complained to Twitter and well you see the final result as of now. (His account was suspended.)
Still that will not stop me from bringing down that program and posting all the evidence i have (Western Union Receipts, etc
) so if you see small time, (expletive deleted) no hits bloggers, failed gamblers, taking credit for getting me suspended from Twitter
Just LOL at them, they are very irrelevant and Twitter only made the decision to suspend me because of a powerful program who currently have alumni that work closely with Twitter #Thinkonit
All i will say is this
(QB) Bo Wallace loves Picking Winners.
Incarcerated Bob who seems to have a short temper and a poor grasp of the Kings English then goes on to provide the address where Wallace allegedly received Western Union payments from gamblers.
When all this went down, Mississippi State fans were fast to accept and promote Incarcerated Bobs news on pro-Bulldog messageboards. Heres guessing if the story had been written about a State player, MSU fans would have called it bunk and Ole Miss fans sorry, University of Ole Miss fans would have trumpeted it.
Look, if Incarcerated Bob wants to be taken seriously, he should first use his name and second be willing to at least speak with the compliance departments at these schools. That doesnt mean he has to give up confidential sources, but to do a complete duck-and-run job whenever someone asks him a questions undercuts any credibility the writer might have. And judging by a Google search of Incarcerated Bob and his site
hes not got much credibility in the first place.
opcorn:
