Bennett, Read all the way to the end of this . I think there are others besides LSU fans that dislike Nick Saban. Shula off base By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports November 6, 2007 Every year, the 1972 Miami Dolphins pop champagne when the final undefeated team loses, preserving their 17-0 squad as the last to enjoy a perfect season. It's a rite of autumn in the NFL. But now, here comes the New England Patriots, and if ever the cork was staying put, this is the threat. They've blown out eight opponents, beat their only perceived equal on the road, and now stare down history in a way perhaps like no one previously. So leave it to Don Shula to start the tarnishing, start the mud slinging. The Hall of Fame former Dolphins coach claimed to the New York Daily News that because the Pats were caught filming the New York Jets defensive signals from the sidelines in the season opener a violation of league rules that a 19-0 season would be marred and that an asterisk could be attached to it. "The Spygate thing has diminished what they've accomplished," Shula told the paper. "You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They've got it." ADVERTISEMENT Ah, not really. Shula certainly has the right to an opinion on the Patriots, but if it isnt going to be fact-based then it rings hollow and desperate in a way that is far beneath him. This isn't to defend the Patriots or Bill Belichick for that blatant and calculated bit of cheating. It was an embarrassment for the franchise and its coach. The NFL was right to fine Belichick $500,000, the team $250,000 and take a first-round draft pick (or a second- and third-round pick were the Patriots to somehow miss the playoffs). It should have gone further and suspended Belichick for the second Jets game this season. But the facts of the crime are clear New England was caught filming Jets coaches during the first half of the first quarter of the first game of the season. The first time the Patriots employee operating the camera tried to head to the locker room, he was stopped by NFL security and forced to hand over the incriminating evidence. New England's coaches never got to watch the tape. The filming constituted cheating and the intent was obvious. But thanks to what is now a convenient bit of circumstance, to say the Patriots gained an advantage from the film is inaccurate. They couldn't have. The reality is New England hasnt gotten anything out of the so-called "Spygate" this season except deserved national scorn. Shula also raised the issue of alleged past filming, but tape of defensive signals from past seasons would be mostly useless. NFL teams constantly update their movements, even week to week, since it isn't against NFL rules to film the coaches' signals from other areas of the stadium. New England was trying to get a real-time, in-game advantage. The NFL confiscated previous season tapes and destroyed them without further punishing the Pats. Shula even accuses NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell of covering up past crimes, which is a strong allegation that the league, naturally, denies. "I think the commissioner just wanted it to go away," Shula said. Vast conspiracy theories aside, the debate here is about this season and this season only. If you want to project back on previous seasons where allegations of similar conduct, among other stories, exist and even question the legitimacy of New England's three Super Bowls, hey, that's what Belichick has wrought upon the franchise. The Patriots have no moral high ground to stand on. But for this year, considering the severity of the punishment and the level of outrage, you could even argue that New England is possibly the cleanest team in the league. However, Shula is arguing forward just in case New England wins its next 10 games, Super Bowl included. "(The NFL's punishments) tells you the seriousness or significance of what they found," Shula told the paper. "I guess you got the same thing as putting an asterisk by Barry Bonds' home run record." Of course there could be some back story at play here beyond Shula's interest in preserving the unique greatness of that Dolphins team. It starts, naturally, with Belichick. One of the Pats coach's closest friends and chief protégés is Nick Saban, who took over the Dolphins from 2005-06, ran them into the ground, fled in a heap of lies only to replace Shula's own son, Mike, at Alabama. There is also New England's 21-game win streak over the course of the 2003 and '04 seasons that some Patriots players tried to equate to the Dolphins 17-0 season, which Shula at that point claimed wasn't the same. Whatever it is, Shula has this one wrong. While it will certainly play well to the growing anti-Patriots crowd nationally, regardless of intent and even giving thanks to fortuitous timing, New England is in the clear this season. The facts are the facts, the timeline is the timeline, no matter how Shula wants to spin it. Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist. Send Dan a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast. Updated on Tuesday, Nov 6, 2007 6:53 pm, EST
Frank - I read it, but the article doesn't do much in the way of hating Saban. This writer may not like him, but that was a lot of reading for one sentence to say that Saban isn't the writer's best friend. I've already heard the "Belichik is a cheater and no one likes him and he and Saban are friends so that makes Saban hate-able" rhetoric. For the record, I don't care how many people hate Saban. And I'm sure coming to Alabama didn't help him in the popularity contest - plenty of people love to hate Alabama because of its tradition. They think Alabama fans feel like they walk on water. No matter how bad Alabama gets, the teams that beat them go home and brag; it's just the way it is. Same thing goes for Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Nebraska, USC, Michigan, etc. So we're(Alabama fans) used to people hating us, for whatever reason they want to come up with, from "you can't be good if you don't wear orange" to "you stole our coach". It just seems like a waste of time to spend more time spreading hate for other teams than love for your own. That's where I and many(but certainly not all) Alabama fans stand. But Belichik couldn't care less who likes him and who doesn't. He only wants to manage his players, limit mistakes, and win every game. If Saban is friends with the coach that's making the Pats look like "The Team of The Century", I should be concerned...how? Seems like a great friend to have. Keep fishing though
BT, check out this warning UM is sending out regarding the last game in the Orange bowl: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/colleges/um/story/296618.html One problem in the article. They said "fans," as in plural. I think they meant just "fan" since usually only one person shows up for their games. P.S. I think the 300 officers will still have a tough time holding down that lone fan. It's Da U, son.
You are right about the author of the piece but I was thinking more along the lines of Don Shula. I know he has made some comments about Alabama firing of his son in the past.
I really liked Shula, and I know a lot of Alabama fans did as well. He was a Capstone quarterback and a likeable person. I thought this year was going to be better for him, but he got canned. I wasn't expecting that, and, if given the chance, I don't know how many Bama fans would have voted for it. If I were Don Shula, I'd be pissed if my son was fired from any job, but especially this one. I think Don feels like Mike got a raw deal. I would agree to some extent, but losing to Auburn doesn't help his cause, and losing to Mississippi State realllly doesn't help. In the end, he's just not enough like his father to coach at a college football dynasty.
Been laying low. Congrats on last week. No offense but I think if you guys want to run the table the rest of the year you need to settle down a little bit. 130 yards in penalties...Hard to win if you beat yourselves. Good luck from here out.
I agree with you 100% . LSU needs better mental preperation. I think we were trying to maintain our SEC lead in penalties.
Greetings from Park City, UT. I also don't think we have hit 'rock bottom' yet. IF, and that's a big IF, we win another game this year I expect it to be either this weekend or against BC (as tradition would have it). Hopefully Marve (who has a nice mirror collection that he was just adding to) will be a good QB and a great leader. So far I like him! I can live on the memories of our Glory days for several years before I get depressed. No worries about keeping my chin up. Any good games this weekend? I was thinking that the move out of the orange bowl was not good, but maybe I am wrong. The recruits seem to be more impressed with it, and maybe more locals would go see the Canes play there since the dolphins are so bad these days.
I'm taking Illinois to cover the 15 point spread to Ohio State. Anyone else? I'll also give Clemson -9 over Wake Forest, and Georgia -2 over Auburn for the parlay.
I hope so (Illinois) and I like your picks... I just can't decide which I dislike more, Wake or Clemson, to make up my mind about that one
Many, many years. When the starting quarterback scores more points for the opponent than the opponent scores for themselves, chances are you're gonna lose. I give coach Croom a lot of credit: he really has turned that program around, and they're now bowl eligible. Alabama shouldn't have lost, but it won't bring me down at all. It's all about the process Keep trying while you can, Frank. You've got maybe a year left of boasting before things get back to normal in the SEC.
Bama lost. Can the Illini hold on to be OSU with 3:38 left and the score 28 to 21??? I hope so, but they have broken my heart too many times.
If you'd like to add another Ferrari to your garage, contact me and I'll help you win millions. Some see it as a gift, I just call it being well informed .
haha, just happened. fingers crossed on both ou and ku losing as well, mizzou's gonna be in the top 3!
Bennett, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Nick is not that great of a coach. The secret to his success at LSU was that he recruited in Louisiana. We stopped losing our best recruits to other states. It was easy for him because there wasn't any competition in state, that will not be the case in Alabama we will see how his recruiting goes when he has to compete with Auburn in state. Things are normal in the SEC right now. I like it just fine these days. In three years you are gonna be filing a police report for robbery by Nick Saban.
Go Irish! First time we've lost to two armed services teams since 1944. Hey we're not doing well but who cares, we're still having fun. And yeah with all the good recruits hopefully we'll do better next year. <-- not a fair-weather fan
Good recruits? What about the other top 10 classes that went to ND the past few seasons? Sorry, but Weiss is simply not a good coach. Pats' offense has actually gone up since that dead-weight left.
