Is Bama next?

#426
#426
UGA insider said:
This will drag into the season and possibly after the season. If Bama starts off and stays strong throughout the season, this will drag on until after the season. Bama is No. 2 right now, the NCAA is not going to come down on a top 5 team while the season is going on. There's too much money to be made.
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Kinda like how Slive ignored it's own rule to keep Newton in the championship game and the NCAA did not make the Ohio State players sit out till the next season.:whistling:
 
#431
#431
T-Town Menswear is back in the News

Disassociated Alabama Booster Continues to Own Bama Program : Outkick The Coverage

Remember our old friend Tom al-Betar, the owner of T-Town Menswear, a shady suit and Alabama memorabilia store, in the local Tuscaloosa mall?

A couple of years ago Alabama disassociated the booster from the program after he sold lots of player autographs. Alabama argued -- wink and nod -- that the players had no idea their autographs were being sold.

Well, our old buddy Tom has a new website and a new business, he's dropped the suits. Now he just sells Crimson Tide memorabilia.

So what's on the front page of the website?

Autographed jerseys from AJ McCarron, TJ Yeldon, and Amari Cooper.

Two of these guys are current players for the Crimson Tide.

That's an NCAA violation.

Displaying the jerseys in this manner is also a direct violation of the requirements Alabama laid out in this disassociation letter that it sent nearly three years ago to Al-betar.

In its letter disassociating him from the program Alabama instructed Al-betar as follows, "You should refrain from obtaining any items of memorabilia from our student-athletes, including used equipment and apparel. You should also refrain from obtaining autographs from our student-athletes when they are in your store."

Despite Alabama's hectoring letter, Al-betar didn't just "refrain from obtaining any items of memorabilia from our student-athletes," he opened a memorabilia store designed to sell these objects!
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T-Town Gallery - Tuscaloosa, AL | Sports Memorabilia & Collectibles

aj%20tom%20and%20katherine%20webb.jpg
 
#432
#432
I guess a "cool story bro" is in order. Everyone knows this stuff is nothing more than a story. NCAA is probably buying some of these items for their offices.
 
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#436
#436
bamawriter said:
Travis is going to beat the heck out of this dead horse.
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If this guy sold stuff AFTER the letter, the horse isn't dead.

Although Bama has typically gotten away with everything in regards to this type of stuff, I'm sure the NCAA has already sent their "Kiffin Division" to sniff stuff out.
 
#438
#438
bamawriter said:
And after disassociating Al-Betar, what would you propose that the school do?
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Just cause the school disassociates themselves with this booster, doesn't mean the school can't get in trouble if the players take illegal benefits. It's not like the tattoo artist in Columbus was associated with Ohio State in anyway. He just gave 'em tattoos for signed gear.

In this case, it's logical to presume that this guy 'could' be giving players illegal benefits for signed gear.

That's why it's a story.

Bama asked him to refrain, and the NCAA was ok with it. He didn't refrain, and actually did it more, so what's the NCAA going to do now? Probably nothing, but Clay is trying to test the NCAA and their ever-consistent punishments
 
#439
#439
bamawriter said:
And after disassociating Al-Betar, what would you propose that the school do?
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Institutional control.

The institution cannot control their kids even after being told not to associate with this guy. This on top of the lineman who was paid 40k by an alumni who was a runner for an agent. Plenty of smoke for an investigation.

Now will the NCAA look into Bama, NO! Not as long as Emmerit is in charge.
 
#441
#441
Morpheus said:
How about a law suit? Surely the University doesn't want common grifters taking advantage of their unwitting and innocent student-athletes.
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Sue him for what?

How about threatening the kids with suspensions for associating with him?
 
#442
#442
Majorvol23 said:
Just cause the school disassociates themselves with this booster, doesn't mean the school can't get in trouble if the players take illegal benefits. It's not like the tattoo artist in Columbus was associated with Ohio State in anyway. He just gave 'em tattoos for signed gear.
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That's not a good comparison. When an Ohio State official, Jim Tressel, was made aware of the situation with his players, he not only didn't do anything to stop it, he actively covered it up.

Alabama did everything they were capable of doing to stop the activity. While certainly an NCAA issue, what Al-Betar is doing is no illegal, so the school has no recourse via the courts.

Probably nothing, but Clay is trying to test the NCAA and their ever-consistent punishments
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Clay staked the entire launch of his website on this story. It was rife with his own leaps in logic, and outright falsehoods that he didn't bother to vet before posting.

I love how quickly Travis moves from being a sleazebag to a genius depending on who he's taking on.
 
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#443
#443
hog88 said:
How about threatening the kids with suspensions for associating with him?
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Sounds so simple, doesn't it? But are you going to bench every kid whose signature is available on eBay?

I understand that this situation is a particular blatant example. But where exactly is the line drawn? If you don't think kids are getting paid for their autographs all over the country, you are naive. Heck, I'd be shocked if many eBay auctions don't lead back to the player or his family.
 
#444
#444
bamawriter said:
That's not a good comparison. When an Ohio State official, Jim Tressel, was made aware of the situation with his players, he not only didn't do anything to stop it, he actively covered it up.

Alabama did everything they were capable of doing to stop the activity. While certainly an NCAA issue, what Al-Betar is doing is no illegal, so the school has no recourse via the courts.
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Solid point on Tressel trying to cover it up, I forgot about that, & by no means should the punishment be as harsh; but if these players were told to steer clear this place and, basically, disassociate from him, but they were still going to visit him? That could be Bama's problem

Just to be clear, I don't think Clay is a genius - He's just as annoying as he's ever been. He's a sensationalist Vandy lawyer working for web traffic, ha. He's just trying to break a story and see how the NCAA will respond.
 
#445
#445
Majorvol23 said:
if these players were told to steer clear this place and, basically, disassociate from him, but they were still going to visit him? That could be Bama's problem
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I agree. But do you expect Bama to suspend a bunch of starters when their isn't an actual proven violation occurring?
 
#447
#447
bamawriter said:
I agree. But do you expect Bama to suspend a bunch of starters when their isn't an actual proven violation occurring?
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Yes, when they blatantly violate team/university rules. That's that whole institutional control thing.
 
#449
#449
bamawriter said:
I agree. But do you expect Bama to suspend a bunch of starters when their isn't an actual proven violation occurring?
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No, suspending before an NCAA investigation would be an admission guilt, and that would be foolish on Bama's part. However, this being a recurring issue could give the NCAA an opportunity to dig around a little further, and no school ever wants that.
 
#450
#450
hog88 said:
Yes, when they blatantly violate team/university rules. That's that whole institutional control thing.
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The NCAA's standards for lack of institutional control don't include violations of team rules or university policy. If the school is telling the players not to be around this guy, they can choose to punish them as they see fit. But it's not a lack of control if the players don't listen, at least according to the NCAA. As of yet, there's no one has been accused of an NCAA violation.

Now, arguing that the coaches should punish breaking of team rules by suspending a bunch of guys is fine. It's also painfully naive.

Either way, don't cross-up school and NCAA rules. They aren't the same.
 
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