It's official - LSU Cheated in 2000 Peach Bowl

Story here.

Mayne claimed in her lawsuit that she gave failing grades to 10 football players in a fall 2000 kinesiology introductory course.

Those 10 football players got extra credit through a special post-semester study session designed to raise their grades and keep them eligible for the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. The Tigers defeated Georgia Tech in that game 28-14.

Well, what the hey, they won a National Championship soon after. Maybe if we start cheating we could win too. Ethics Smethics!! Let's dump this coach we have, who stands for the all that is good in the student-athlete, morals, ethics and high standards, and let's bring in a guy who cheats and can win more games sooner.

Because after all, what's most important is winning games NOW, right? Sure, we have had a winning record, sure we have gone to 8 bowl games in a row. But we need to compete for national and conference titles every year, because that's GT's history. Oh wait, that's not our history, but it needs to be.

Winning is all that matters. We don't really care about the student athlete right? As long as they are a strong, productive piece of meat, then we love them. Why else do we say that the coach is "bringing in the horses". These are not "people", they are players. When these players start acting like 19 year old kids and making mistakes, we cannot tolerate it any longer. Bring in the 2nd string!!!! In fact, we should just fire the 1st string guy. After all, they're not here for an education right? What does their education do for us as fans - NOTHING!!!! Winning ball-games is what we want. We pretend to care about the kids, but we all know the dirty truth. It's winning we care about, not the student-athletes.

The system works just fine. The school makes boat-loads of money off the players. The TV networks make a boat-load of money off the players. The bowl games make money off the players. The sports video game market makes money off the players. The NCAA makes money off the players. The PLAYERS make money off..... oh wait, the players get screwed. But again, we're all ok with this as long as they win games, right????

Can you tell I'm feeling slightly sarcastic? Slightly frustrated? We all cheered when Coach Hewitt called 790thezone and hammered the talk guys for calling Luke Schenscher an oaf. But do you remember what else he said? He said that talk radio and the internet have contributed to an environment that will not allow a coach to "build a program". Results have to be instantaneous.

Well let me tell you something. If you expect instataneous results then GT will become a laughing-stock caurosel of coaches in the next decade. So will Notre Dame.

Read this article calling out the administration of Notre Dame.

The athletic director stressed that the football coach has done wonderful, inspirational work off the field. The academic performance has never been better, he said. The coach is a man of unassailable character who has recruited players of similar ilk.

"In a lot of ways," the athletic director said, "this program hasn't been this healthy in a long time."

Firing Ty Willingham exposed Notre Dame as nothing more than a football factory.
Except for one way. The wins-and-losses way. Which is what truly matters at all football factories.

But here comes the reality check for the Domers. Now that you've licked Willingham's blood from your claws and outed yourselves as a football factory, can you win like one?

The punchline"

A check of four preseason magazines showed the Irish ranked anywhere from 37th to 49th. A check of Jeff Sagarin's current computer rankings puts the Irish No. 29.

Looks like Notre Dame has overachieved.

But not by the new Notre Dame standards. For any self-respecting football factory, seven victories a season over three years won't cut it.