re: Stephen A dropping bombs on Finebaum and the SEC

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Former Alabama football players say the school's No. 1-ranked football program has tried to gain a competitive edge by encouraging some underperforming players to quit the team for medical reasons, even in cases where the players are still healthy enough to play. At least 12 times since coach Nick Saban took over the program in 2007, Alabama has offered players a "medical" scholarship, according to public statements made by the team. These scholarships, which are allowed under NCAA rules, are intended to make sure scholarship athletes who are too injured to play don't lose their financial aid. A player who receives one of these scholarships is finished playing with that team.

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Roster management - that is, oversigning and grayshirting - came up early in Nick Saban's signing day news conference Wednesday, and the Alabama coach seemed to welcome the chance to address the controversial subjects. "We have never gotten rid of a player because of his physical ability," Saban said about oversigning.

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The SEC The Southeastern Conference has long been a target of oversigning criticism. Some of its schools have been the most abusive when it comes to promising scholarships it doesn’t have room to give. Alabama’s oversigning history dates back to the 1920s, a decade before the SEC was formed. In 1941, William Bradford Huie wrote an article for Colliers Weekly Magazine documenting the Crimson Tide’s oversigning tactics. In a 15-year span, the Tide hoarded more than 1,500 student-athletes, mostly within state, and provided them with a hope of one day playing at Alabama.

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Huie, an Alabama graduate and former university employee who said the Tides’ practices led to him no longer being a fan of college football, states Alabama ran hundreds of players off either by flunking them out or forcing them to quit.

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In the same time frame, the SEC signed or exceeded 28 players on 34 different occasions. Only Florida and Vanderbilt stayed under the number 28 each year. When asked if other conferences such as the SEC enjoy a competitive advantage due to its signing practices, Hawley offers an analogy. “If you’re playing five-card stud, you deal me five cards, but the other guy is getting eight and picking his best five, that’s a disadvantage,” he said. “We haven’t focused (on what other conferences are doing) as a conference, but everyone acknowledges there’s a competitive element involved.”

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You can see that Finebaum is driven by pure dislike of LSU and nothing else. He actually gets angry face when saying “LSU” or “Kiffin”

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That’s a good sign. ESPN is going to carry the narrative for what’s going to happen. It’s the PR mouth to set public expectations and opinions. It knows what’s going on behind closed doors and is setting the stage to manage reactions.

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