Oklahoma dismisses QB Bomar/NCAA probation

[methomps]

hahahaha. Good find, Dryden.

Y'all should have read Soonerfans before the implosion. Their collective opinion on that piece of junk they call an offensive line was hilarious. "they'll be fine, maybe even the best in the conference!!!"

Not to mention the ubiquitous "our receivers are better then texas'" and "AP will run for 2300 yards". yeah right.

Every fanbase might overrate their own players a little bit, but those guys took it to new levels.

Taking the usual homer bonus into account, those don't seem that unreasonable. ucla thinks they have a better coach than USC because Dorrell got called about 2 NFL jobs this offseason.

 

[AJHawkfan]

At lunch time I turned the TV on to ESPN's Cold Pizza. Normally I can't stand watching this crap, but I wanted to see what they were saying about this debacle. They are reporting now that as many as 25 Oklahoma footballers were employed by this same car dealership.

I'll see if I can find anything online reflecting that statement.

 

[fourteenandoh]

the plot thickens...

 

[AJHawkfan]

CBS Sportsline mentions 24 possible players employed (see the end of the article):

http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/9584077/1

Sorting out the mess in Norman, not a moment too Soon


Dennis Dodd Aug. 3, 2006
By Dennis Dodd
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer


It has happened before, you know.

Oklahoma suddenly losing its starting quarterback.

Oklahoma having to win with an unproven replacement.

Not only unproven, Jamelle Holloway was a true freshman in 1985.

Holloway was forced into starting at the break of a leg -- Troy Aikman's. Miami broke Troy Boy's stick in a Norman conquest that year, setting in motion a series of events:

* Miami won the game but Holloway came in, fitting in comfortably to direct a true option offense the rest of the year.
* Oklahoma won the remainder of its games and a national championship.
* Aikman eventually transferred to UCLA, then became the No. 1 overall draft choice in 1989.

If only Oklahoma -- and Rhett Bomar -- could be so lucky this time.

It can be argued that OU was in a worse situation back then. At least fifth-year senior Paul Thompson has taken some snaps. Back then, the season already had started.

When Bomar was kicked off the team Wednesday for accepting excessive cash amounts from a booster, Thompson became the starter with a month to prepare.

Yeah, things look absolutely rosy in Norman.

Thompson actually started last season but was switched to receiver after Bomar took over. The one-time golden boy's career is all but shot. Someone will likely take a chance on Bomar, but if it is a BCS AQ (automatic qualifier) school, you have my permission to pelt the AD with nasty e-mails.

That's only one piece of fallout that shook the game to its foundations Wednesday. Bomar's exit has implications way beyond Norman.

The breakdown:

Texas: Let's get this out of the way early -- the 'Horns are loving it, dancing in the streets, throwing Rhett Bomar masquerade parties. (The best-dressed cheesy used-car salesman slinging around Monopoly money wins).

Poll dancing: With Bomar (and guard J.D. Quinn) gone, Oklahoma would have started in or near the top five. At least one preseason publication had them winning the national championship.

Now? OU is still a top 25 program this year. It still has Adrian Peterson and a solid defense. But take the national championship out of the equation. Whoever replaces Bomar, the offense will have to be altered significantly.

How significantly?: A.P. will still have a fine season but you can likely forget about that 2,200-yard season and the Heisman.

Defenses will stuff the box, not worried at all about Thompson as a thrower (or runner, for that matter). Get ready for a lot of screens, flares and draws. The coaching staff is going to have to rush to retool the offense. The opener is in a month.

Coach Bob Stoops had to replace four offensive line starters to begin with. Quinn, a redshirt sophomore who started four games, wasn't considered a starter and was coming off a shoulder injury.

If Peterson is able to squeeze 1,300 yards out of this mess, more power to him.

BCS bowl: Hang with me here, but the Sooners could still, somehow, squeeze out a Big 12 title.

Throw out the non-conference. Doesn't matter in this conversation. OU will probably go 3-1 against UAB, Washington, Oregon and Middle Tennessee.

That might have been what they would have done with Bomar and Quinn anyway. Forget Texas for the moment (read below). All four Big 12 road games are still winnable: Missouri, Texas A&M, Baylor and Oklahoma State.

That leaves home games against Iowa State, Colorado and Texas Tech. Which leads us to ...

The Longhorns thing: With its starting quarterback returning, Oklahoma was favored to win the Big 12. Without its starting quarterback, Texas wasn't.

Are the teams now even?

Not exactly. Texas has been preparing for this moment since Vince Young declared for the draft. The Longhorns will have to win a different way, by running and playing defense. Aside from quarterback, they are loaded.

"We'll still run the same offense," said Mack Brown, who did add that you won't see many third-and-30s converted anymore.

No, you won't, and neither will Oklahoma.

The first week of October in Dallas is a strange thing. It's a psycho-drama that can't be figured out in August. Remember, OU has won five of the past six.

By Oct. 7, Thompson will have played four games. Brown might still be sorting through Colt McCoy and Jevan Snead.

I'm not in any way predicting an OU win at this point. I just want to be at the Cotton Bowl that day.

What about Paul?: Thompson is limited (11 for 26 last year), but he has been a good soldier. As a fifth-year guy, he has been around since 2001, when Jason White was a sophomore.

The kid was once rated the No. 10 athlete-type coming out of Leander, Texas. He deserves his shot. If Thompson falters, then juco transfer Joey Halzle will get his chance.

If he was named starter today, Halzle would have a month to learn the offense and start beating Big 12 defenses. No big deal.

Wasn't Josh Heupel a juco transfer?

NCAA implications: To be determined. If it's true that up to 24 Oklahoma players were working at Big Red Imports, the school has a lot 'splainin' to do.

How could Stoops not know what was going on? And does OU face future sanctions? Booting two significant players off the team after an internal investigation will help in the NCAA's eyes, but how much?

 

[Dryden]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/SportsStory.asp?ID=060803_Sp_B1_QBsvi38776_1

QB's violations contain major ramifications
By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist
8/3/2006

The loss of Rhett Bomar will have a serious impact on Oklahoma's football team this fall but of far more concern could be the long-term affect from an NCAA investigation.

Bomar was tossed from the OU football team for his involvement in a scheme that paid him money for little or no work.

It is a serious matter.

Of immediate concern at OU is the upcoming football season. Preseason drills open this week.

This was a team expected to contend for the national title.

Now, Oklahoma is in no better shape, especially at quarterback, than rival Texas and others around the Big 12.

The news that Bomar, one of the top high school recruits in the nation just two years ago, was taking cash he shouldn't have is the kind of violation that could create a huge mess.

The trouble with the NCAA, not the woes it could cause during the upcoming season, might be the worst thing Oklahoma faces.

The timing couldn't be much worse for OU. It comes just months after the NCAA finally concluded a messy investigation of the OU men's basketball team and other programs.

Now this.

It is a violation of the simplest rule in the NCAA rule book by one of the highest-profile athletes
in the Big 12 Conference. It comes at a school that has a lengthy history with the NCAA.

This isn't going to go unnoticed in Indianapolis.

The Sooners know it.

You don't go throwing your potential All-Conference quarterback off a potential national championship team just for fun. This is serious and Oklahoma officials know it.

You can make bank on the fact that every major official, from OU President David Boren on down, was consulted.

If it wasn't a big deal you'd be hearing about a suspension for a couple of games.

You don't get paid to play in college football. Boosters have long bent the rules in a variety of ways. However, this is the most basic of rules. Giving money to a football player is the big no-no.

The NCAA rule book is thick enough to be the Tulsa phone book. But that particular rule doesn't need any explanation.

It isn't up for interpretation by attorneys.

This is pretty up front. Don't take money because you are the star quarterback.

If you are a booster, keep your money in your pocket. Save that cash for the donor increases to keep your seat at the stadium.

The last thing you do is put your school in jeopardy of getting some harsh punishment by spreading around some cash to your favorite players.

The players know better. The so-called adults know better.

Those issues will play out over months.

For Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, the impact is immediate.

As practice starts this week, the Sooners still have the nation's top running back with a questionable line, but no longer is there an established quarterback.

Bomar, who went from inadequate against Tulsa to the Holiday Bowl MVP in one season, is a big void at quarterback.

That doesn't mean the season is lost.

Oklahoma still has plenty of players to be very good. But you don't lose a player of Bomar's caliber and expect it to roll on without interruption.

OU will still be good enough to beat most folks.

A year ago, Oklahoma made its quarterback disappear in the second half of a victory over Tulsa.

OU, realizing Bomar was not yet ready to attack any team with his passing, did not throw a pass in the second half to rally past the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa went on to win the Conference USA championship.

Oklahoma simply gave the ball to Peterson and he eventually collapsed TU's defenders.

Peterson is good enough to do that to a lot of teams, although he would take a beating if forced to carry that kind of load all season.

Still, OU has the kind of players to give it a chance in most games this fall.

 

[Dryden]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/SportsStory.asp?ID=060803_Sp_B1_Oklah24943

What's next for Sooners?: Oklahoma may face sanctions
By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
8/3/2006

NORMAN -- The news that Oklahoma football players Rhett Bomar and J.D. Quinn had been dismissed from the team for NCAA rules violations was something of a kick in the Sooners' gut.

But is another still to come?

What are the ramifications for an athletic department whose men's basketball program just went on probation in May?

"You can't make any judgment right now," said Gary Roberts, who has been active in NCAA legislative cases for 20 years as director of the sports law program at Tulane Law School. "All the facts must come out."

Right now, those facts are that Bomar and Quinn accepted payments for services that went unperformed at the Norman car dealership Big Red Sports and Imports. An OU investigation uncovered the extra benefits violation, and Sooner coach Bob Stoops permanently removed Bomar and Quinn on Wednesday.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, an NCAA spokesman refused to speculate on OU's situation.

Stoops' pre-emptive strike, according to Roberts, bodes well for OU, should the NCAA become a more central figure in this case.

And should the NCAA come sniffing around, its investigators are bound to ask questions.

"How did these kids get these jobs? Was there
a systematic pattern by which they were paid?" Roberts said. "Most important, what did the people in the athletic department know about this? How close is the booster to the department or the coaches?

"Unless (investigators) find a direct link between the scheme and the department, the ramifications shouldn't be too serious."

The most serious is found in NCAA Bylaw 19.5.2.3: "An institution shall be considered a 'repeat' violator if the Committee on Infractions finds that a major violation has occurred within five years of the starting date of a major penalty."

OU was put on a two-year probation for major men's basketball violations in May. Further NCAA sanctions as a result of the Bomar / Quinn violations could, therefore, expose OU to repeat violator penalties such as that which is outlined in NCAA Bylaw 19.5.2.3.2: "The prohibition of some or all outside competition in the sport involved in the latest major violation for one or two sports seasons. . ."

"If the university were to allow (the rule breakers) to participate in practices or games with the knowledge they were committing infractions, that would subject the football program to very serious penalties," Roberts said. "If the coaches were somehow implicated -- if it was found this wasn't just the work of some rogue booster -- then you have something very serious."

As it stands, that isn't the case.

"Right now, this doesn't appear to be the kind of case that would trigger severe penalties," Roberts said. "To know for sure we'll have to wait until everything comes to light."

 

[MrCodeDude]

I don't how we didn't see the signs earlier.

 

[Dryden]

http://www.oklahoman.net/article/2824650/?template=sports/ou

The verdict’s in: Bomar’s a knucklehead
By Berry Tramel

I asked Bob Stoops a tough question a few weeks ago. Is Rhett Bomar rogue or rascal? Typical college kid or knucklehead?

Stoops stuck up for his quarterback. Said Bomar’s transgressions were the product of youth. Said he expected Bomar to overcome his mistakes. Said Bomar was a smart guy.

But Bomar answered the question himself when he accepted unearned money from Big Red Sports/Imports.

The Oklahoma quarterback squandered his crown-prince status. Jeopardized his future. Relinquished his fast track to lieutenant governor or the broadcast booth or a plum coach’s office.

Knucklehead.

Harsh words for a 21-year-old, but proper. The same description doesn’t apply to J.D. Quinn, Bomar’s partner in time. Offensive linemen aren’t depended on like a starting quarterback. Offensive linemen don’t stroll down the same crimson carpet while gridironing as Sooners.

OU quarterbacks enjoy a cushy ride. They are set up often for life. To whom much is given, much is required. Bomar sacrificed his Oklahoma, and who knows what else, future, not to mention the trust of his teammates, when he took the shortcut of booster money.

Since September, Bomar twice was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol. Once was outside his Norman home; once was in front of 19,000 Hornet fans at the Ford Center. The latter incident meant Bomar is either incredibly stupid, which I don’t think is the case, or else he believes the rules don’t apply to him. Now, I think that is the case.

That invincibility paid off for Bomar on the field. He lowered his helmet and fired passes into crowds and played football the way Tony Stewart drives. With flair and with passion and with no restraints. He followed no rules.

And it blew up on Stoops.

Stoops built the newest Sooner monster with quarterbacks remarkably similar in smarts and sense and savvy. Josh Heupel, Nate Hybl and Jason White were not studs of any kind. Physically, Heupel and White were not pro-caliber quarterbacks, and Hybl barely qualified. Arm strength and mobility were not their strengths; accuracy and decision-making were.

But Stoops’ quarterbacks 1999-2004 were solid citizens. Guys you could count on. Straight arrows. Cornerstones. Old for their age. Rocks.

Bomar broke the mold. Young, unbridled, wonderfully talented. Mike Gundy said Bomar was the best high school quarterback he’s ever seen.

But Bomar was undependable off the field and too soon to tell if dependable on it. Turns out Bomar was more rogue than young rascal; he self-destructed before he could outgrow his fallacies.

Remember the old Sesame Street song? “One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn’t the same?“

Put Bomar in a lineup with Heupel, Hybl and White, and No. 7 sticks out like grease gravy in a French restaurant.

You can’t blame Stoops for wanting to upgrade the talent. If Bomar had followed the most routine rules, he was headed for stardom. Bomar could have owned this state, at least the crimson side of it. The Schooner ponies would have been renamed Bomar and Sonar.

But Bomar wasn’t like Heupel, Hybl and White. Bomar cut corners. He lived reckless. He didn’t understand that the college life in large part requires patience.

Is it fair and just that all kinds of people are making a big living on college football, but the guys taking all the hits on Saturdays aren’t paid a dime? No.

Just as it’s not fair or just that all kinds of people are making a big living on college in general, but the students taking all the tests and writing all the papers are paying much of the freight.

College, football included, is not the financial reward. It’s not the end of the rainbow. College, football included, is a doorway to success. It’s the path many people must travel to reach life goals.

With a little patience. Bomar could have been en route to the NFL or the state capitol or a television studio chair, just like so many Sooner QBs before him. Instead, he lived reckless. Knuckleheads often do.

 

[lvbuckeye]

I commend Stoops for making a bold statement. Who knows if they were/are crooked or not, I'd be willing to bet that a majority of major programs are. At least he actually kicked a guy off the team, you have to give him credit for that at the very least.

i don't commend him. the kid made $18,000... for standing around at a car lot... for like 50 hours... i don't know about you, but i would LOVE to make $360 AN HOUR for nothing... Stoops is not to be commended. he had absolutely NO CHOICE...

 

[Dryden]

http://www.oklahoman.net/article/2824651/?template=sports/ou

Blame falls squarely on Bomar, Quinn
By John Rohde

Turns out the Oklahoma football team has a quality punter after all.

Bob Stoops punted Rhett Bomar and J.D. Quinn off the team Wednesday.

And if state law permits, Stoops no doubt would like to punt a conniving, jock-sniffing OU booster across state lines as well.

Quarterback and the offensive line - two positions where the Sooners could ill-afford to take a hit - just got blind-sided.

Bomar and Quinn got precisely what they deserved.

So don’t blame Stoops, don’t blame athletic director Joe Castiglione and don’t blame school president David Boren. Instead, you should thank them.

If you want to blame somebody for the Sooners’ latest tango with trouble, blame Bomar, Quinn and a bumpkin booster.

And to a certain extent, blame Kelvin Sampson.

Sooner athletics remain squarely in the crosshairs of the NCAA following its recent investigation into the men’s basketball program. Wounds remain fresh for OU’s compliance department.

The NCAA sniffed out Sampson’s oversized phone bills and didn’t like what it smelled.

The Sampson case officially is closed, but the stench still lingers.

Sampson revived the school’s renegade reputation when he and his staff combined to make 577 impermissible phone calls in a four-year span.

And because sports fans love to hold grudges, that unmistakable aroma of nationwide discontent toward the Sooners is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

The NCAA major infraction rap sheet has six cases against OU - Jan. 11, 1956; Jan. 11, 1960; Sept. 20, 1973; Nov. 11, 1980; Dec. 19, 1988; and May 25, 2006.

In an effort to prevent a seventh entry, Bomar and Quinn wisely got booted.

In the Sampson case, OU acted swiftly with self-imposed sanctions. As a result, the school managed to escape the NCAA’s dreaded “lack of institutional control” tag, which is the insult of all insults.

What Castiglione and Co. did in the Sampson case was a pre-emptive strike (men’s and women’s gymnastics also were implicated).

What Castiglione and Co. did Wednesday with Bomar and Quinn was preventative maintenance.

If there is a problem, get rid of it. Be it player, coach or booster. And that’s precisely what OU did.

Had the Sampson investigation not occurred, would Bomar and Quinn still have been kicked off the football team? Presumably yes.

But since the Sampson investigation did occur, the answer unequivocally became yes.

There is no wiggle room these days in the OU compliance office, which incidentally received high praise from NCAA officials for its internal handling of the Sampson affair.

Until Sampson’s stumble, the school had gone 18 years without a major violation.

Now thanks to Bomar and Quinn, the NCAA no doubt will soon pay a visit, if it hasn’t already.

Don’t hold your breath for Bomar’s return. He’s gone. Permanently. As he should be. Ditto for Quinn.

The mere thought of possibly reinstating either player would turn up the stink meter full-blast.

With his partying, drinking and ill-gotten gains, Bomar is beginning to resemble Pigpen from Peanuts.

A dirty cloud surrounds him. Bomar won’t be welcome at any NCAA institution - unless it’s an incredibly stupid one.

Therefore, NAIA ball awaits Bomar and Quinn.

In ruining their own reputations, Bomar and Quinn have sabotaged everyone else associated with OU.

Those who remain true to the Sooners will now bear the brunt of jokes, snickers and innuendo.

Sadly, this has been going on for 50 years.

Despite Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer having an NCAA rap sheet, OU fans’ reverence remained unwavering.

The same no doubt will hold true for Stoops.

The final stop on the annual Sooner Caravan will be held at 6:30 tonight in the National Cowboy and Western History Museum.

The standing ovation Stoops was going to receive anyway will last a little bit longer and sound a little bit louder.

Stoops has earned that standing O.

It was a helluva punt.

 

[EngineerHorn]

How significantly?: A.P. will still have a fine season but you can likely forget about that 2,200-yard season and the Heisman.

Defenses will stuff the box, not worried at all about Thompson as a thrower (or runner, for that matter). Get ready for a lot of screens, flares and draws. The coaching staff is going to have to rush to retool the offense. The opener is in a month.

Coach Bob Stoops had to replace four offensive line starters to begin with. Quinn, a redshirt sophomore who started four games, wasn't considered a starter and was coming off a shoulder injury.

If Peterson is able to squeeze 1,300 yards out of this mess, more power to him.

It was a mess to begin with. Losing one OL doesn't make it go from "okay" to a "mess" just like that. It went from very crappy to a big steaming pile of feces. He would've been lucky to get 1600 even if this hadn't happened. That 2200 yard business was funny (although I can't fault him for his confidence).

IF he gets 400 carries, then he MIGHT get to 2000 yards, and even that's a stretch. 5 ypc might be too much to ask from him.

 

[}LonghornFan{]

Press Conference Today?

Just got verbal word that a press conference is set for 3pm today to anounce two more players are getting released. Rumored to be the kicker and someone else.

Anyone hearing the same?

 

[Dryden]

i don't commend him. the kid made $18,000... for standing around at a car lot... for like 50 hours... i don't know about you, but i would LOVE to make $360 AN HOUR for nothing... Stoops is not to be commended. he had absolutely NO CHOICE...

It would also be pertinent to point out that Oklahoma has a "three strikes, you're out" policy, mandated by the school board and in effect for all student athletes in all sports. Both Bomar and Quinn had been previously cited for consumption offenses, twice each. Under the letter of the OU policy, they both would've been booted off the team for so much as being ticketed for jaywalking, and they had been warned to that effect.

I'm sure the whole part about lying to NCAA investigators back in April during the Adrian Peterson/Lexus investigation didn't go over well either.

Just as people should not have villified Jim Tressel before an NCAA investigation had begun, nobody should be so quick to build statues and deify Saint Stoops for taking a hardline stance with two stupid players who had a history of entitlement problems.

The shit hasn't even begun to hit the fan.

 

[BearBuck27]

Just got verbal word that a press conference is set for 3pm today to anounce two more players are getting released. Rumored to be the kicker and someone else.

Anyone hearing the same?

I read somewhere that the kicker and a cornerback were involved. I don't know if that's true, but that's just what I read. Do you know if that 3pm CST or EST?

 

[lvbuckeye]

So, with an infraction / History that relatively parallels TS, you would like to applaud Stoops for booting him. Then I would imagine that you criticized Tress for retaining TS and allowing him to make amends...

Stoops is taking a reactionary approach to hopefully avoid the full attention of the NCAA (which I will add that Tress welcomed because he had nothing to hide).

In my opinion, this is a fart in the wind, the shit and the fan have yet to make acquaintance. That is all.

you can't compare the Rhett situation to the Troy situation. Troy took $500 to pay Reecie's phone bill...Rhett tooK enough $$$ to buy a 2006 Honda.