SEC outrage? What for?
I love this Lane Kiffin story. The new head coach at Tennessee, speaking in front of a bunch of orange-clad check writers, accused Florida coach Urban Meyer of cheating. Floridas athletic director came out and expressed his indignation over the insult. Kiffin apologized.
Its important to keep in mind that this is the Southeastern Conference were talking about. Over the years, illicit bags of money have changed hands in the SEC with cartel-like frequency; in 2005, for instance, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia and Mississippi were all on probation at the same time for major recruiting violations in either football or mens basketball. And the SEC has a long history of coaching cannibalism.
What bugged Florida A.D. Jeremy Foley and SEC commish Mike Slive, and lots of other schools no doubt, is the fact that Kiffin hadnt even unpacked his carpetbags before biting a fellow member of the snake pit.
If it had been South Carolinas Steve Spurrier making the same crack about Nick Saban, all involved would have had a hearty good ole boy guffaw about it over their Jim Beam and opossum fritters. If it had been Meyer two-time national champion head coach, and therefore, two-time earner for the league of the largest BCS check available he would have gotten more pats on the back than Tim Tebow at a Gator pep rally.
And now SEC buzzards surely will cackle a little more around the carrion, after Tennessee reported a couple of minor violations involving a fog machine and a mock press conference. But that doesnt mean Kiffin should be lambasted for acting holier than thou and then getting his comeuppance. It means he passed the initiation into the SEC coaching fraternity.
The annoyance with Kiffin I can understand. Slip him a note, tell him to shut up. But the sanctimonious outcry was silly. This SEC has as much right to the moral high ground as the other SEC has in the case of Bernie Madoff.
