ChopOMatic

I have to wonder if any of the commenters on this article are aware of the NCAA Student Assistance Fund and its purpose. It's actually funded in part by the NCAA itself, with the money going to the conferences, and its administration and rules left largely up to each conference. Nah, scratch that--I don't wonder. It's obvious that not a soul here is aware of it or what it's for, or aware of the fact that student-athletes are routinely given money from it for a variety of one-time personal needs like rent, utilities, travel, etc. It's much more fun to read click-bait headlines and jump to wild conclusions.

I wouldn't call Clowney a bust, but he appears to be injury-prone and that's certainly a problem, as well.

You HAVE to be kidding, right? It's a little harmless humor, nothing more. I remember the 2003 game when Russell Crowe led Hotty Toddy from the Jumbotron, right after the scene from Gladiator where he killed a tiger. Was that too offensive to some mythical someone, somewhere? Perhaps Mike the tiger?

BTW, great game by the Gators. #HottyToddy

There are a lot of bad "protection calls" going on but this one was a perfect call. The fact that he made the catch is irrelevant. The kicking-team player cannot be within one yard in front of the receiver when he's in the process of catching the ball. There would be a lot less misunderstanding on this one if they all properly referred to the new rule as the "modified halo rule" or some such. Here's the illustrative example directly from the 2015 NCAA football rulebook: "Punt receiver B44 is standing at his 30-yard line in position to catch the kick. Defender A11 races down the field to cover the punt and reaches a point about a foot directly in front of B44 as the ball descends. B44 makes the catch without having to adjust his position or manner of catching the ball because of the presence of A11, who does not pull back to give B44 more room. RULING: Foul for kick-catch interference. A11 entered the one-yard area directly in front of receiver B44. 15-yard penalty."

Keeping it real here, there's little doubt in my mind that Saban was indeed talking about Alabama fans while couching it in diplomatic terms that encompassed everyone. I spent most of my adult life in northeast Mississippi, which has a hefty contingent of Bama fans, and I've also spent my share of time in Alabama itself. I've never seen another fan base come close to the unrealistic expectations and over-the-top behavior of so many Bama fans. Certainly not all, mind you, so don't think I'm blasting Bama Nation in general; I'm not. The guy has averaged a national championship every other year since he got there. Given that, it's stunning that there are so many out there who raise almighty hell after a loss, start calling for his head, etc. And they're not isolated incidents ginned up by Finebaum. There are plenty of them. And if you want really visible proof of questionable fans, go back and watch the fourth quarter of the Ole Miss game. With nine minutes left and the Alabama players fighting their guts out over and over, fans were leaving in droves.

We do hear about these things more often because of today's instacomm environment, but reality is that thuggish behavior is definitely on the rise, not just in football but everywhere we look. It used to be that the typical arrest involving a football player was DUI, smoking pot, etc. Yeah, those things are illegal and DUI in particular is a scourge on our society, but now we're seeing these arrests are more and more for violent crimes like assault and rape. I applaud the coaches who fight it. In the days of Taylor's dad doing the throat slash, it wasn't as big a deal because we didn't have so much real violence going on all around us. No one saw Fred Taylor do a throat slash and wondered if it was a gang signal or a real threat or anything of the kind. Kinda like the more seasoned among us grew up running around shooting each other with cap pistols and no one thought a thing about it. Sad.