Numbers of the Day

Today's post on "Somewhere in Section 25" is brought to you by the numbers:

2: The number of Auburn's ranking in US News and World Report's ranking of the best cities to live in in the US. To tell the truth, I think we got jipped. Albuquerque? I've never really heard anything good about New Mexico, except that there's some mediocre skiing. As far as I knew the only thing of real importance that's happened in Albuquerque was that Bugs Bunny took a wrong turn there once or twice. Of course, that is an admittedly bold statement coming from someone in Alabama. And I never have been to Albuquerque, so my opinion isn't really that informed. Nonetheless, I happen to be of the totally unbiased opinion that Auburn is the greatest place in the world. Congrats to whomever congrats need to go to for this fantastic piece of positive publicity for The Loveliest Village (City Counsel? Mayor? Regardless, great work!).

And

200: The number of students allegedly involved in Textbookgate, according to Kevin Scarbinsky. Now, while the talk around the AU campus throughout this whole deal has been "oh wow, that's a huge deal" I'd like to remind anyone thinking that this is the Albert Means case again that it's not. Of those 200, the vast vast majority of the people involved did not realize they were breaking a rule, and of all the athletes involved, there are less football players involved than any other Bammer sports program. Not to mention the fact that a couple of textbooks probably aren't going to sway the minds of recruits as Bammer points out in their letter to the NCAA ("minimal if any competitive advantage"). I don't know of any recruit that's going to say, "Alright! If I go to Bama, I could make a few extra bucks on my books every semester," especially if the Escalade didn't convince them to go (ZING!).

That being said: TWO HUNDRED PEOPLE! WTF, BAMA? For a program that was supposed to be on lockdown--and I mean LOCKDOWN--that's a definite "Lack of Institutional Control" if I've ever heard it. The nature of the offense itself really wasn't that bad, but the fact that it was so widespread sure is, especially for an athletics program that's still on the probation period.

It was my belief that if Dad catches you with your hand in the cookie jar and whups you, you don't turn around and go back to the cookie jar two hundred more times. At least not while Dad is still standing in the kitchen, watching that jar of cookies right after he caught you.

That just seems a little thick. The smoke never really had cleared from the whole Albert Means thing, but it seems like the Bammer Administration just kinda let the whole textbook thing go. I'm just at a loss at the whole thing. Oh well, their pain is my entertainment.