re: ESPN called out by USA Today

That is a different story is it not. Forgive me, but is this not a thread about the ESPN story concerning drug testing and synthetic marijuana? Why are you jumping all over the place?

I guess we must believe you.

I can repeat myself because I'm getting older. It's called sometimers.

You Aubies need to file some slander lawsuits. This ESPN/NYT crap about your program is just that-crap!

That's my opinion as well. They appear to have a hard on for Auburn. The only thing they haven't reported yet is a third source rumor that an Auburn player was mistakenly undercharged for an order of fries at the campus cafeteria., which highlights a systematic culture of improper benefits given to athletes.

If improper crap is going down - report it, but make sure your facts are straight and you have valid sources that back your charge. What's going on between ESPN & this Roberts count is nothing but unsubstantiated slander, based on all I've read on the story.

Are they simply pissed because they were left with egg on their face for running a poorly investigated story a couple of years ago? If the charges were true, it wouldn't have taken Schad, Schlabauch, or any of the other hundred of "reporters" to find a real smoking gun that would have proven their claim. Was it Tuberville's claim in 2004 that ESPN had too much power in college athletics? I don't know the answer, but whatever happened, ESPN is acting like a psychotic jilted lover in this deal.

They are not that good.

Is USA Today a reputable news outlet? Will they still be considered so when they run an expose on Auburn? Or will they go the way of all the others who either "Just have a blog," or are "biased hack writers." Funny. Reputation seems to be based upon the favorability of the story.

oh look, an ATPBer live and in person

quote:

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Wasn't the shite still legal when said players were allegedly smoking it?

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A couple points that touch on that question from this article.

LINK .

Auburn's athletic administration and coaching staff could not have legally informed parents about failed tests for synthetic marijuana before the drug was banned, according to documents obtained by AL.com through an open records search.
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But when Auburn began testing for synthetic marijuana on Jan. 27, 2011, the drug was not banned by Auburn, the NCAA or the state of Alabama. Because the drug was not banned by Auburn, synthetic marijuana was not covered under Auburn's drug testing waiver policy.

The ESPN article points out that possession of the drug had been outlawed in July of 2010, but the drug was still readily available. Synthetic marijuana could still be bought at stores until Gov. Robert Bentley issued an executive order on Oct. 14, 2011, banning stores from selling the product.
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After testing was implemented, athletes were offered counseling – because it was not banned, counseling sessions could not be mandatory – although several athletes skipped those sessions, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. Mosley admitted to ESPN that he skipped a session set up by Malzahn after a meeting that Malzahn says centered around depression.

ESPN's original story indicated that Auburn did not communicate with the parents of Mosley and Kitchens, an assertion Jacobs disputed in his open letter and backed up by phone records released to AL.com Friday. Thirty calls were made from Auburn's coaching staff to Kimberly Harkness between May 1, 2010 and March 22, 2011, and more than 100 calls from Auburn's coaching staff to Harrison Mosley between May 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011.