Why do so many think Bama is a bunch of cheaters?

[Bamabuzzard]

I was raised an Alabama fan (by my parents) my entire life. However, I truly didn't start keeping up with and truly following the program until I was about 19/20 years old. I'm now 30 (as of yesterday) so I've got roughly ten years of following tide football under my belt. Anything beyond the 1994-95 season I'm not real familar with other than the National Championship game of '93.

In those ten years I've noticed a common attitude among fans of other schools (not just SEC fans) and that is they truly either hate or seriously look down on Alabama football. I've talked to (and have many good friends) fans from just about all SEC teams and fans of Texas, OU, Baylor, aTm etc. and the common gripe I hear from all (most are independent parties of each other) is that we're a bunch of cheaters. Now aside from this recent episode of sanctions involving Phat Phil, I never knew of another case in where we were accused, tried and convicted of "cheating". But my God, I've heard it for years (even before the recent events) from other fans of how our program has always been full of a bunch of "cheaters".

Why? Are these people simply making this stuff up out of thin air just because we've been so successful over the years or is there some truth to all the smoke they're blowing? I'm not bringing this up to start accusations "rumors" etc., I'm simply bringing it up because I'm truly uneducated of the history of our program on certain issues.

 

[Rolling Tide]

I personally think it was start back when the Coach Bryant was at TA&M and was asking the boosters to pony up the doe to get some of the top recruits in Texas to come to A&M. He then comes to Bama and they automatically think he was doing the same thing here.

 

[Wild_Tide_Child]

It's a simple thing called...envy When (if) their favorite team has it's day in the sun, they'll stop talking about other programs and focus on their own...When you're on top or considered a "traditional national power" you can be guaranteed that the title will be accompanied with scrutiny...Again it all boils down to envy of a winning tradition.

 

[GulfCoastTider]

There have been two separate NCAA investigations into the Alabama program, the first concluding in 1995 and the second concluding in 2001. Both resulted in severe sanctions on the program.

In my opinion, both investigations were fishing expeditions, in which the NCAA threw enough mud at the program until they found some that stuck. My opinion doesn't matter much, though.

It is disingenuous for anyone from the former Southwestern Conference to label the University of Alabama football program as a bunch of cheaters. Those people invented the process. The only program to have ever suffered the football "death penalty" was SMU, and it was the documentation of conference-wide cheating that led to the dissolution of that league.

It is also disingenuous for someone from Auburn to level that allegation. Auburn University remains the single most penalized athletics program in the SEC.

The current athletics department staff and compliance department staff are about as clean as you could possibly hope for. None of the current coaching staff or players are even remotely connected to past NCAA violations.

The best way to approach these people is to remind them of their own skeletons, while explaining that the University of Alabama has paid its debt to society and now simply wants to compete on a level playing field.

You could also point out the inconsistent application of NCAA rules. Several programs have admitted to violations at least as aggregious as the ones we were found guilty of, and got off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. In that case, you simply shrug and say something like:

"I guess they came after us so hard because we're so damned good, and the others were just jealous." That usually ends the conversation.

 

[teamplayer]

I think GulfCoast summed it up about as well as it can be done.

 

[Crimson Hawk]

A person like Coach Bryant comes along only once in a lifetime. People that have never experienced someone like him, tend to not be able to understand how he could possibly have the effect on a program, that he did, so, he must have been cheating. It's a handy excuse for all losers!

 

[TideMobileBay]

Uh, It might be because we got caught cheating.

Well...our largest and most prominent booster did anyway.



Yeah, other people do it. So what?

We're Alabama. We shouldn't

Fulmer's a scumbag. Yeah I know.

Let him rot in Hell, while we kick his butt here on Earth.

But none of that changes the fact that Logan Young was a cancer. Thank God the knife was taken to him, and got him out of the UA system.

He was dirty and still is dirty. All it takes is one above-the-law meathead like him to bring a program down. Just one.

Keep him and people like him away from my Tide.

The best thing that could have happen to us was the purging of jerks like him from the Tide Nation. As long as we keep it clean, I personally dont give a rat what they think about us.

If we are clean and winning, then their rage is jealousy pure an simple.

I know that 99.9% of the Tide Nation is above board. But it only takes one a** to bring the whole thing down.

Are we cheaters? NO!!!! But those losers at the NCAA aren't looking for all of us. They just need to find one.

 

[Alanbama27]

Actually the biggest issue has been the fact that prior to the NCAA actually setting scholarship limitations, Bama was well known for taking players from other areas of the country even if we had no intention of playing them...but we would take them so nobody else could have them.

This was during the Bryant days and it ticked people off who used to say that there is no way a top recruit would come to Bama and NOT PLAY unless he was getting paid for doing so. What these other schools failed to realize is that many people would come to Bama simply to get an NC Ring, even if they didn't play or played on Special Teams even if they could have played and started at a lesser school....LIKE AUBURN!

That my friend is THE REST OF THE STORY!

 

[Baldbass]

I think GulfCoast summed it up about as well as it can be done.

Dittos.

 

[pcolatide]

I think there are multiple reasons for people

thinking that Alabama cheats. I'll only go in to one that I have facts on. I want to first say that the situation I am mentioning below are not Alabama fans and do not involve the University of Alabama. When I go to family reunions with all my Alabama cousins I have heard many discussions of the amounts of money they give and to whom to create slush funds for distribution as needed to other SEC schools. They operate like the mafia. When they need a recruit they pass the word that this kid is looking at Alabama and they need to outbid Bama etc. It kills these people for Alabama to beat them and they give more and more. And because they know what THEY are doing they believe that Alabama MUST be doing it also. There is a rotten subculture out there in South Alabama and if you don't know it you aren't connected.
For obvious reasons I don't wish to say more on this issue.

 

[Bama 13-0]

"our largest and most prominent booster did anyway"

You need to rethink that. I am 99% sure Logan Young was neither our largest, nor most prominent, booster. Not by a LONG shot!

 

[TideMobileBay]

"our largest and most prominent booster did anyway"

You need to rethink that. I am 99% sure Logan Young was neither our largest, nor most prominent, booster. Not by a LONG shot!

How about loudest and most obnoxious? Oh, and can I throw in dirtiest too?

 

[Bamabuzzard]

thinking that Alabama cheats. I'll only go in to one that I have facts on. I want to first say that the situation I am mentioning below are not Alabama fans and do not involve the University of Alabama. When I go to family reunions with all my Alabama cousins I have heard many discussions of the amounts of money they give and to whom to create slush funds for distribution as needed to other SEC schools. They operate like the mafia. When they need a recruit they pass the word that this kid is looking at Alabama and they need to outbid Bama etc. It kills these people for Alabama to beat them and they give more and more. And because they know what THEY are doing they believe that Alabama MUST be doing it also. There is a rotten subculture out there in South Alabama and if you don't know it you aren't connected.
For obvious reasons I don't wish to say more on this issue.

This is EXACTLY what my late grandfather talked about a lot. He was a Miss St. alumni and used to tell me stories of how "back in his day" things like this were running wild in the SEC. I always would wonder if he knew anything about Alabama, but he never did mention us specifically. He would just say something like "Everybody was doing it." and just leave it at that.

 

[Redwood Forrest]

A person like Coach Bryant comes along only once in a lifetime. People that have never experienced someone like him, tend to not be able to understand how he could possibly have the effect on a program, that he did, so, he must have been cheating. It's a handy excuse for all losers!

The Bear DOMINATED the SEC like no one before and no one since. They either must admit he was the GREATEST COACH of all time, or else he was cheating.

 

[IH8Orange]

Accusations without proof are completely worthless... as are those that put forth those accusations.

They can make all the accusations about cheating in the past that they want, but can they back up their accusations with anything? The NCAA surely wanted to catch Coach Bryant if at all possible, but they were never able to pin anything on him. Does that mean that there was no cheating? No. However, it forces anyone that wishes to assert that there was cheating to rely on assumption for support and that makes one look foolish and small-minded.

Just listen to Bobby from Homewood on the Finebaum show for an example of such a fool. He thinks that he is cool, apparently, for his continuous smear campaign of a man who has been dead for over 20 years. He goes beyond degradation of Bryant as a coach and actually makes personal attacks. That shows just how lowbred and petty some humans(term used loosely) can become over a game.

 

[rtrcam]

Jealousy, plain and simple.

Texas A&M was put on probation when Coach Bryant was there. He didn't know it was against the rules for players to be paid. (The ncaa wasn't anywhere near the organization then that it is now.) He said in books later on that it was the most embarrassing moment in his career. He vowed that his program would never be put on probation again. He told his coaching staff at Alabama that if they were ever caught cheating that they would be fired on the spot.

What happened with Alabama in the 1995 and 2001 cases (the proven facts), happens everywhere, especially other big time programs. The ncaa wanted to nail one of the big dogs. We had nitwits in charge, (at least from the 2001 violations, Sorenson and Bockrath) and we proved to be ripe for the picking for the ncaa.

The media and other fans across the country calling BAMA "cheaters" used to make me mad, but I've gotten to the point that I simply don't care what other people think. They're going to say those things whether they are true or not, out of hatred, jealousy and spite.

 

[rtrcam]

And another thing is, the public only sees when a program has committed violations and is put on probation. They don't take the time to research the facts.

Some of the ncaa's rules are the stupidest non sense.

 

[Crimson-Blitz]

Two words.

" :biggrin: Penis envy".

 

[PattheCatinSaudi]

Just a personal observation to those who claim CPB cheated. My ex-brother-in-law is Barry Krauss, his best friend at "Bama was Marty Lyons. Both were highly recruited HS players from Fla. Both were NFL 1st round draft picks.

Neither were offer ANYTHING to come to Alabama. Neither were Bama fans growing up, they were recruited by Coach Bryant and his staff and came to Bama to play for them. Their senior year, both lived in a crappy apartment and both drove piece of crap cars.

Did they get $100 handshakes from boosters after games? yes Did they go to bars in Tlsa that let them drink free? yes Did they pay less rent on their crappy apartment than other tenants in the same complex? yes Were there stores in Tlsa that would give them generous discounts? yes

Were they paid to come Bama or paid to play while at Bama? NO

End of personal story :cool2:

 

[Crimson Hawk]

Just a personal observation to those who claim CPB cheated. My ex-brother-in-law is Barry Krauss, his best friend at "Bama was Marty Lyons. Both were highly recruited HS players from Fla. Both were NFL 1st round draft picks.

Neither were offer ANYTHING to come to Alabama. Neither were Bama fans growing up, they were recruited by Coach Bryant and his staff and came to Bama to play for them. Their senior year, both lived in a crappy apartment and both drove piece of crap cars.

Did they get $100 handshakes from boosters after games? yes Did they go to bars in Tlsa that let them drink free? yes Did they pay less rent on their crappy apartment than other tenants in the same complex? yes Were there stores in Tlsa that would give them generous discounts? yes

Were they paid to come Bama or paid to play while at Bama? NO

End of personal story :cool2:

Thanks PattheCat. CPB didn't have to cheat to get the best recruits, they wanted to play for him!