Usually, when you see the above title, this is where we expose our state mediots for their orange and blue slanted journalism.

However, today we take the rare occasion to congratulate the Birmingham News’ Don Kausler, Jr. on his “Hot Corner” piece: “On oversigning recruits, Alabama’s Nick Saban deserves to be cut some slack”

Within it Kausler rightly explains that Alabama head coach Nick Saban operates within the rules and doesn’t do anything illegal, so therefore the flack he takes on the subject of over signing is unwarranted. In truth, it’s downright lazy journalism to suggest it.

Speaking of lazy…

This piece could be in response to Kausler’s no-talent, hack co-worker Kevin Scarbinsky whining about Nick Saban not disclosing the number of players he has on scholarship. Scarbinsky is to writing as Rosanne Barr is to acting. How either found themselves employed in their profession is a miracle…I mean five loaves and two fish kind of miraculous.

Kausler is not Charles Goldberg. He doesn’t take the media release from the athletic department straight off the fax and rearrange the words for an article. He is a journalist, an objective observer not simply putting on the party hat to sing the company line.

So for Kausler to defend Coach Saban on anything speaks volumes.

There are reasons Saban takes hits from media critics, but seeing how years ago he wrote them off as not-to-be-trusted morons looking to contort the facts for a good story, I join him in not caring what they say.

There are also reasons why the media is so critical of Alabama’s athletic department. To its own fault, it is the least accommodating of any of the institutions in the state. Unlike Auburn, it doesn’t pander to media personnel, leaving them warm cookies to find at weekly press conferences. Alabama’s philosophy is: “We are Alabama, and we’ll operate however we want. If you want to stand close by (for as long as we decide) you may find a crumb or two for your stupid story.”

Therefore, there’s no wonder a slant in one direction over the other has emerged over time, especially when you have snot-nosed “reporters” on the job who think they are celebrities at best, entitled at worst.

But in short, great job by a good journalist. I still won’t buy a Birmingham News though.

(Follow me on Twitter for capstonereport.com news, commentary and smack.)

33 thoughts on “State Media Accountability: Don Kausler, Jr.”

  1. The Bleacher Report on Auburn oversigning:

    “Class sizes: 2007—30; 2008—29; 2009—28; 2010—32 for a grand total of 119 players.

    On numbers alone, Auburn has been the worst offender for oversigning recruits. 119 players is 34 players beyond the limit. That’s not only an additional class worth, it’s an illegal additional class worth!

    Tommy Tuberville’s classes did tail off at the end, but I won’t buy for a second the idea that the cupboard was bare, which is the excuse coaches often use for signing large classes.

    Nor do I see how Gene Chizik will be able to flout the Houston Nutt rule and sign all 32 of the players in the 2010 class, unless he counts the early enrollees towards the previous class. Even then, the NCAA caps the number of enrollees at 25. Someone isn’t getting his fifth year of eligibility here.

    A repeat performance in 2011 can’t and shouldn’t be tolerated.”

    So, all you Auburn hypocrites stop whining because Saban spanks that Auburn ass in recruiting every year.

  2. Brando,
    Maybe a spot on the bedsheet. AU oversigned because the cupboard was bare with 75 scholarships (yet we should have beaten your dynasty team). We actually get rid of the pimps, crack dealers, violent football players who batter other students and those who violate rules (ie Savage from Huntsville and 2 other players I don’t recall). No half game suspensions like DJ Hall.

    You got your ass handed to you last year in recruiting and get ready for Spanky to get spanked. Remember you still lost this year Loser and we have the crystal.

    Bow down Biotch

  3. Nicket, so it is okay for Auburn to oversign, but Saban be the DEVIL? Do you know how many scholarships Bama has had? Didn’t think so. Really, you should look at all the facts before you start making judgements. But Auburn showed that they are going to be ruthless and cut throat as they can get with the recruiting. Targeting Bama players and trying to pull Lane Kiffin type stunts with these kids, Limos, Big Cat weekends, strippers, and generally a lot of promises that won’t pan out is starting to pay off for you guys. But the truth is, Auburn tried but couldn’t pull it off. Not even on a NC year for Auburn. That is what is funny.

  4. We don’t know the open scholarships because they don’t publish that information. They are as transparent as a Barrack Obama government. AU had some recruiting tactics that are ridiculous in some cases, limos make someone feel important, parties make you feel wanted, and strippers, well they make Crimsonite feel like he needs his male lover.

    However all these tactics are used by saban as well and to think otherwise is RETARDED. The only difference is we dont cut players if they are good students and are going to practice. Example Neil Caudle, Blake Burgess, others that I could go on again after I look at the roster of third string scholarship players which I won’t bore you with. Hey I don’t care if Saban slaps a players mom and then kicks him off the team but don’t expect a Christmas card from the media or the players high school coach unless you buy him some new athletic fields or something like that.

    Wink, wink.

  5. Good nite guys, love to rattle your cages. I am out like your fat moms in dodgeball.

  6. I get it. Favorable of Auburn = no talent hack. Favorable of Alabama = get this guy a Pulitzer. Auburn has certainly oversigned in the past, but how many of those players were cut because of “health” issues?

  7. I’m taking a War Eagle right now and let me tell you,I wish my fat moms was here to hold my hand cause it’s backed up like an Auburn recruiting class up in this peice right now!!!! Heyyyyyyyy !!!!
    But seriously you guys know I rant and rave because I have issues that stem back to my childhood and teen days right?
    Being sodomized in the closet and passed around the locker room as high school mascot wasn’t fun at all but *sigh* my senior year was a blast.
    That’s where I found love. Summer lovin had me a blaaast summer lovin happened so faaaast met a guy cute as can be.… you guys get the picture.
    They used to call me luscious kisses, but that is another story all in its own. Keep the stories comin!! I will too!

  8. Hey WDE, if I really gave a crap about Auburn I would tell you. Obviously they are going somewhere, and it isn’t because of graduation alone. But the point is Auburn does it too. Saban isn’t the only one. And there is nothing against the rules, and there is nothing you can do about it.

  9. I’m not saying it is against the rules. But Auburn, nor any other school, utilizes this loophole to the extent that Nick Saban uses it. And as far as I know, since Gene Chizik has been there Auburn has been able to retain everyone who has been offered a scholarship. I applaud those who are critical of this practice because the interests of the kids need to be protected.

  10. WDE, Auburn sends players to JUCO right? Some are academic, some are medical, some want to transfer if they want playing time. Bama and Auburn both have this every year. It is not against the rules. Scholarships are for 1 YEAR. And how many players have you heard talk like Saban done them wrong? If it was so widespread, why haven’t any former Bama players spoke up and done something?

  11. And the only loop-hole Auburn works is the dad-an-agent loophole. And the ‘I didn’t know’ loophole. Get a grip. Auburn won’t hang with Bama and Saban very long. I know Chizik is trying every trick and publicity stunt in the book, but in the end, Sabans way is better and it will win out in the long run.

  12. Guess aubs forgot about Eric Smith. Currently being sued for punching student in the back of the head. Hell he kicked a ducks player in the head on national tv.

  13. Brent Calloway received 200 text msg and 2 faxes in one day from the AU coaching staff. The RHS staff stopped counting after that Monday.

  14. Are you totally insane Ewok? Bama does not use the same tactics as Barnie. Saban plays a little bump and run, but that’s about it. Even pissing off Oklahoma St with Barry Sanders Jr. didn’t bring anything against him. Bama doesn’t need to play Limo or Big Cat games to get recruits. As for donations to high schools you can damn well bet Saban was certain no rules were being broken if Bama was involved. Ha Ha was already pre enrolled before Bama supposedly donated to his school in thanks for use of their facilities prior to the Cap 1 bowl. Whoever made the donation to DeMatha did it long before the signing sting operation CK pulled against Cheezedick. He was already committed to Bama and his brother was already attending Bama. So you can take your accusations and shove ’em! RTR!

  15. Crimsonite, that’s an awful lot of smoke. Haven’t you guys been arguing “were there’s smoke, there’s fire”? I can’t wait to hear your convoluted justification for it’s different for Bama. 🙂

  16. 47, there is no smoke coming from Bama. All the smoke you see is coming from Lee Co. Is the NCAA even mentioned a word about Bama and your accuasations? No. But we do know that the NCAA is still investigating Auburn. Bama is not breaking any rules. Auburn is. The recruiting tactics Chiznik is using is pretty tasteless, in the same way Lane Kiffin was. Limos, Big Cat weekends, and secondary violations will only get you so far. But I understand that is the only way Auburn can compete with Bama in recruiting, and it reeks of a desparation move on Auburns part. Keep on doing what you are doing, we will see who ends up on probation.

  17. Per ESPN.com:

    “Good column the other day by Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News on Alabama coach Nick Saban’s cagey, Belichick-like answers concerning oversigning and how the Crimson Tide allegedly manipulate the 85-scholarship limit. Whatever Saban thinks he is gaining by withholding the numbers, he’s drawing undue attention to the way that Alabama operates. My guess is pretty soon his competitors will propose NCAA legislation to force a more open accounting of how schools meet the scholarship limitation.”

  18. Where is the smoke? He still not breaking the rules. Prove that he is breaking any rules. And if the rules change, guess what? Auburn won’t be oversigning anymore either. Just like the rule change where a dad can’t sell his son and get away with it. So bitch and moan some more because Bama still out recruited Auburn. You are just like all the other old-school Auburn fans: It’s only fair if you handicap Bama. Who will Auburn buy this year to have a chance?

  19. Ok I have to ask the question since you turds decide to bash Auburn again instead of talk of your own team. Whats the problem in the coaches taking a Limo to High Schools to get attention? I mean from a morality stand point I think taking a bunch of big time recruits to your house to ride 4 wheelers and eat from the “kings” table is WAY worse. Now yall run along and bring us back some “inside info” on how the NCAA and FBI investigation is going. I need a good laugh today.

  20. Hey, whatever works for you 47. Nobody said riding in a limo was illegal, but it is pretty stupid. All for publicity. Targeting Bama commits and trying to manipulate kids to make a big ‘splash’ kinda backfired on you this year. Saban doesn’t have to rely on cheap tricks to sell the University of Alabama. Just my opinion. And nobody is claiming ‘inside info’ about Auburns pending NCAA investigation results. Just knowing they are doing the full body cavity search on you guys, it is highly likely they find something to find you guilty of. The speculation is just half the fun! When you guys are punished, then we get to talk about that! You be sure to hang out, it wouldn’t be as much fun without you 47. All you have done is pissed Saban off. It is going to be fun watching how he handles the Auburn game from now on. How much you want to bet he runs the score up on you guys this year?

  21. What smoke? There is no smoke you stupid tards. If there was any smoke you’d hear 3/4 of the college football world screaming bloody murder. The only thing you hear is a bunch of wildly desperate retarded Barnturd blogers running their diahrrea infested mouths. Nick Saban knows how to tiptoe around the edges of NCAA rules. With his professional abilities and Bama’s mystique there is no need to do anything illegal, and he will not allow it, especially with the whole Bama nation knowing that anything even resembling paying a recruit would be the end of our football program. He has legally built a looming dynasty if that’s even possible in this day and time. It is ludacris, even insane for anyone to think Saban or Bama would do anything for any 1, 2 or even 3 athletes that would destroy what we now have. In simple terms that even a goat phucker can understand – It doesn’t matter what you think is suspicious, it doesn’t matter where you think you see smoke. Just phucking forget about it because it aint happening!

  22. NICK SABAN could pull up at a high school in a phuckin Prius and would still be as well known as if he had pulled up in a stretch hummer! awbarn coaches are still so unknown they have to use flashy tactics just to get noticed! bottom feeding got damn thug ass trailer trash awbs! thats all u mudda phuckas are and ever will be i dont give shit if u win 12 bcs titles in a row yall still aint shit……..PERIOD!

  23. Gosh, seems like I may have touched a nerve. Crimsonite, I’m a bit confused. I thought Bama was the poster child for everything rituous and good. Why would “anything even resembling paying a recruit be the end of [your] program”?

  24. Ha ha ha! Sarchasm noted. But you get the picture. Illegal $hit is for struggling and or desperate programs, not for programs whose future is even more promising than their immediate glamorous past; especially when that program still has its feet on the Gallows door. And I’ll be honest with you. I’ll admit that in Bama’s current state of success, if we were to be caught buying a recruit we would deserve the death penalty. RTR!

  25. 47, Auburn has set the standard for football programs paying players for decades. Auburn has been placed on probation more than Bama. Another true fact. The only records you own over Bama is that, and Heisman trophy winners. And you don’t have any candidates left for the Heisman. I wonder which player for Bama will be in the next Heisman race? With the way Saban recruits and coaches them up, it is just a matter of time before he has one. And Auburn is really pulling desperate moves just to keep up.

  26. Is it me, or would the world be better off if we lined up all these moron Barner posters Clockwork Orange style and made them watch what their beloved AU tigers are really like after a game. You know, pry their eyes open, refresh them with eyedrops, and make them watch their heroes smoke pot, use that ATM card, get the $1k handshakes and screw white women.

    Nevermind. Might be too cruel to force them watch their mothers, sisters, and girlfriends wipe Cammy Cam juice off their faces. To the victor goes the spoils.

  27. Actually Pimpleton,
    Seems like your team just got done wipeing Cam juice from their chins after that 2nd half clinic. I was also at the BCS NC game, you know the one we took away from your midget’s dynasty team, and guess what? We WON, and you didn’t so stuff it poser.

    I think some juice is probably been rubbed across your top lip like a dirty Sanchez, pillow bitter.

  28. You stupid cumbucket motherphuckers, everyone of you actually think you did something last year. Every phucking one of you knows damn well that Scum the cum Newton knew EXACTLY what his dad was doing, and that damn well makes him ineligible under NCAA rules. Doesn’t make a phuck what the NCAA’s reasoning was behind allowing him to play ($$$$$$$). He knew. I know it, you know it, the NCAA knows it, Miss St knows it, everybody knows it! He played, but he was dirty and got off scott free. Yet you $hitholes just rant on, as proud as you can be of something you achieved by using a lier and cheater. You’re actually proud of it. No shame, no shame. What a bunch of worthless pieces of $hit. What a worthless piece of $hit program that is so proud of cheating to win! You people make me sick! FO!!!! RTR!

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