Friday, October 17
Rival fan hires private investigator to probe Tide recruiting practices
Am I kidding? Sadly, no. The following excerpt is from Kevin Scarbinsky's column detailing the secondary violation that caused Tide receiver Branden Gibson to receive a two game suspension.
"A lot of people have been watching the Crimson Tide rebuild for the last 22 months, and not all of them like what they've seen. Some of those observers -- including coaches and fans of other schools -- have been watching closely to see how the rebuilding has been done.
So closely, one person who supports another school said, he has hired a private investigator to probe Alabama's recruiting practices."
Wow! A person who supports another school has hired a private investigator to probe Alabama's recruiting practices. What a sad, lonely little person determined to find recruiting violations that will get Alabama put on probation, or hopefully even the death penalty. I can imagine him sitting in his living room with a big blue tarp spread out covered with the family of recruit X's garbage, a spotlight illuminating the the cast aside products of an everyday life, he plucking through the refuse with gloved hands and tweezers searching desperately to find that one thread, that one piece of evidence that will slay his white whale. His biz hub occasionally coming to life with a fax that outlines the days operation of his hired gun following the every move of a high schooler, examining reports on vehicle registrations, new drapes in the sun room, a girlfriend with a new necklace. In the dinning room the table and chairs are gone replaced by a large dry erase board covered with names and numbers and connecting lines. In the quiet and dark of his loneliness the story takes shape, the evidence slowly builds and in his mind he knows he is so close to bringing down the evil that haunts his soul and stalks his beloved team. He is the last defense. The last Knight of the Round Table that is left to fight the dragon. The last priest to fight the devil. His bones ache and his mind is weary, but his soul is full of the mission that has fallen to him. In his bed he looks over photographs, small captions of private lives that he has snuck into to steal a piece of, where he looks for traces of the corruption and decay he is fighting to overthrow. In the dark of the night with his dreams turned to nightmare, the Tide winning and winning and winning, he rots from the inside unaware that the end is already written and he is worse than the foe he strives to fell.