White Limos, Hot Chicks and High School Seniors

SB Nation Auburn blog, Track Em Tigers, got upset with comments Urban Meyer made in this Pat Dooley story about Auburn's use of a white limo to pick up recruits. Track Em Tigers response was not to rebuttal Meyer's contention that the limo ride should be illegal. It was, 'Your crap smells worse than ours!' and noted how an Auburn recruit visited UF and "put his wallet in his front pocket" because the Miami-area recruits visiting Gainesville would steal it. Not only does the line rip UF for recruiting less than classy guys, but it throws around the standard "Miami guys are thugs" stereotype.

I find all of this stupid.

I don't doubt the recruit put his wallet in his front pocket, or even assumed all Miami guys are pickpockets. But, college recruiting is like making sausage. We see Percy Harvin or Knowshon Moreno or Glenn Dorsey and assume they were all recruited under ethical circumstances. So when we see Gene Chizik riding around in a 1985 Lincoln Continental, we get pissed, totally ignoring that Meyer can fly-in future players. We think it is shady when we hear stories of LSU chaperones sitting on recruits laps, but get whiplash watching a Gator Greeter drag a recruit and his family across campus on Orange & Blue Day. Putting one school over the other in terms of who has smarter guys or less criminals is a waste of time, since we have no idea of the behind the scenes action. You're naiive to think Meyer or Pete Carroll or Mark Richt would do only ethical things to get recruits.

As long as we have had college football, coaches and athletic departments have found creative ways to get recruits. The film "Horse Feathers" documents this perfectly. It was made in 1932. That's how long schools have used pretty girls, liquor and cash to get recruits. We don't question these practices until our school gets in trouble or another school does it in the open, like Auburn's limo or USC hosting a pool party with the Song Girls and recruits. The only reason why anyone should be bothered by Chizik's ride is because it looked like a limo Vegas chapels use when you marry the chick you just got drunk with at the Treasure Island pirates show. I'm sure some Auburn booster owns a Chrysler dealership with a few 300s he can drop off for the team.