As the TIDE DROWNS------

NOTE: I PREFACE ALL OF THIS BY SAYING I CANNOT NOR HAVE NOT VERIFIED ANY OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. WITH THAT UNDERSTANDING, THIS IS A COMPILATION OF Articles posted on Internet Sites:

For those looking at patterns, lets look at the pattern at Alabama

Key dates: Alabama’s NCAA run-ins:

January 1993: Led byGene Stallings, Alabama defeats Miami 34-13 in the Sugar to finish 13-0 and win the 1992 national championship, Early the next morning, star defensive back Antonio Langham signs with a sports agent, but the underclassman decides to stay at Alabama.

September 1994: NCAA delivers letter of inquiry accusing Alabama of rules violations , including allowing Langham to play during the 1993 season and lack of institutional control.

August 1995: Alabama is placed on probation for three years, banned from a bowl appearance, ordered to give up 26 scholarships over three years and forced to foreit eight victories from 1993.:

May 1996: NCAA strips the football program of one scholarship for failing to disclose player loans that were guaranteed by a Birmingham tire and wheel dealer.

February 1999: Alabama avoids NCAA sanctions following claims a former assistant basketball coach, Tyrone Beaman, tried to create a slush fund for recruits. NCAA warns severe penalties could result from any violations over the next five years.

May 1999 — Head coach Mike DuBose holds a news conference to deny rumors of improper conduct with a former secretary. DuBose later admits his denial was misleading and the school pays $360,000 to settle the woman’s sexual harassment claim.

December 1999 — DuBose receives two-year contract extension after Alabama beats Florida 34-7 to win its first Southeastern Conference football title since 1992.

November 2000: DuBose resigns and coaches his last game, a 9-0 loss to Auburn that caps a 3-8 year, Alabama’s worst season in more than four decades.

December 2000: TCU coach Dennis Franchione accepts the Alabama job after other high-profile candidates withdraw from consideration.

January 2001: Following days of rumors posted on Internet chat rooms, a newspaper in Memphis, Tenn., The Commercial Appeal, reports that a Crimson Tide booster is said to have paid a high school coach $200,000 to steer a top recruit, Albert Means, to Alabama.

February 2001: Alabama receives a preliminary letter of inquiry from the NCAA.

August 2001: Federal grand jurors in Memphis indict former Trezevant High School head coach Lynn Lang and former assistant Milton Kirk on charges of trying to sell Means to seven schools.

Sept. 6, 2001: Eight days later, Alabama receives official notice of alleged rules violations from NCAA.

Feb. 2, 2002: Alabama football receives five years probation, including a two-year postseason ban, because of a recruiting scandal in which boosters were accused of paying money for prep players.

March 2007:

For three credits one summer, Ahmad Childress said, he and five teammates composed an entire football class that required only instructing a football camp for kids in Gulf Shores and writing a four-page essay.
"That was the whole class. I got an A," Childress said. "Yeah, it was a little weird, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do to be eligible."

Alabama cornerback Simeon Castille wishes he were still a communications major. He wants to become a broadcaster.

He's a general studies major in the College of Human Environmental Sciences now because "I screwed up, and this is getting me back on track to graduate."

Castille was academically ineligible for the Cotton Bowl last season. He became lazy, he said, and passed only three credits in the fall 2005 semester, leading to his ineligibility and a change in major.

General studies in HES is a popular place for key Alabama football players. It accounts for 40 percent of the majors for undergrad starters in 2006, as of Oct. 14, according to the team's media guide.

"It's a safe home for athletes to be eligible for football and other sports, too," said Childress, the former Alabama defensive tackle who was a general studies major. "You really don't do too much work.


Oct. 17, 2007: University bookstore employee discovers questionable textbook charges by women’s track and field athlete, prompting internal investigation.

Feb. 20, 2009: Alabama appears before NCAA Committee on Infractions.

June 11, 2009: The NCAA places 16 athletic programs, including football and men’s basketball, on three years of probation for misuse of free textbooks student athletes obtained for others using their scholarships.

2009 Street Agents: Where did the first Badgersports national 7-on-7 tournament take place? Tuscaloosa, of all places, in 2009. Things went so well it was held there again this year. While it’s against NCAA rules for a university to host kids on an official visit while participating in one of these tournaments, the school’s facilities serve as a weekend-long pitch to become the next Marcel Dareus or Trent Richardson.

2009: Eventual Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and preseason All-American Julio Jones also received improper benefits during the off-season in 2009, according to the NCAA, from the same individual as Harris. Ingram and Jones were declared ineligible by Alabama during fall camp and then reinstated by the NCAA the week of the opener after they repaid the value of those benefits to a charity.

2009 - Jerrell Harris: TUSCALOOSA -- How much more does a used laptop computer cost than a deep-sea fishing trip?
Six college football games.
That's what it cost Alabama sophomore linebacker Jerrell Harris.
Half of a regular season.

But the going rate for even a new laptop computer is roughly $500, give or take a Benjamin. That might be less than it costs to charter a boat for a day on the Gulf of Mexico.

January 2010 (had not heard of this, have no idea what is going on with this one, but wanted to post anyway, read for yourself and draw your own conclussions)...
LINK
All of this leaves us with some intriguing questions:
* Is there a connection between Paul W. Bryant Jr.'s fraudulent business practices and the University of Alabama's success on the football field? Has Bryant invested ill-gotten funds into the Crimson Tide program? Does Bryant have an unusual ability to write large checks on short notice to help the Tide gain, and sustain, championship status?

* Who exactly called off the investigation of Alabama Re and why?

* Does someone with Paul W. Bryant Jr.'s history have any business helping to run the affairs of a major university? If Bryant conducts his personal business affairs in a fraudulent manner, what kind of influence is he having over a public institution?

Alabama Football Booster Has Ties to Insurance Fraud
Paul W. Bryant Jr., the most prominent financial booster of the University of Alabama's football program, has connections to a massive insurance-fraud case that resulted in a 15-year prison sentence for a Pennsylvania man.

The revelations come less than a week after Alabama defeated the University of Texas to win the BCS national championship game in Pasadena, California.

2010 - Marcel Darius: Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus has been suspended for two games following an investigation into not one but two spring trips that might have involved improper contact with agents.

He also must pay $1,787.17 of benefits to a charity of his choice, the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff has ruled in a decision announced tonight.