View From the Stands-June 7th, 2009

It's about Damn Time!: For years, many SEC basketball fans have wondered how Rick Stansbury could recruit to Starkville. There was the location, the lack of available help from football, and then "there is no where to practice" according to Ben Hansbrough, Tyler's younger brother, who transferred from the school. There have been many accusations, especially from Alabama fans, of Stansbury paying his players, paying off churches to get players to State, and even the idea that he was bringing in players who never graduated high school. Now, the NCAA is getting involved for the first time. This past recruiting season, a kid by the name of Renardo Sidney out of Los Angeles had these finalists for his signature: UCLA, USC...Mississippi State. Sidney eventually signed with the Bulldogs after his scholarship offers were rescinded by USC and UCLA. The NCAA now wants to look into the family's bank and housing records while Renardo attended Fairfax High School in the Los Angeles area. Once again, its about damn time someone looked into $tansbury's recruiting.

That other New York team "got what he said I don't have": For those who did not take notice, the New York Mets got swept, yes, swept, by the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier this week in a three-game set in the Three Rivers city. Carols Beltran, not to be taken as a loser (despite his career beginning in Kansas City) was none to thrilled with his team's performance, and wasn't impressed with the opponents. "To come in here in Pittsburgh and get swept, I feel embarrassed," Beltran said. "I know they're a big-league ball club, but we are better than them." He says this while, as he noted, his team got swept. After three chances and you come up 0-3, I don't think you are correct But hey, he should be used to having teams being better than him since, as I noted, he started with the Royals. Adam LaRoche of the Pirates responded by saying Beltran had "zero class and zero professionalism." Beltran, before Saturday's game against the Nationals, he responded (mistake #1) to LaRoche, repeating his comments and went on to use excellent English to disagree with the class comment, saying, "I don't agree with him. I got class and what he said I don't got. I got all what he said I don't have." (mistake #2) By responding, that's not really showing class. It doesn't come across very good when you say these comments before losing 7-1 to the worst team in baseball (mistake #3). It's ok, it's not like the Mets have blown back-to-back September leads in the NL East and missed the playoffs both years.

The Village Idiot Strikes Again!: If Lane Kiffin isn't in the news, its not a news day. ESPN's Outside the Lines did a report on Kiffin, covering all of his talking, accusing, and downright stupidity. Take a look at it below.



Besides Ed Orgeron calling him "ahead of his time,"(Yaw, yaw!), Kiffin once again committed a recruiting violation in the report. Near the end of the report, Kiffin is seen meeting with a recruit, the recruit's father, and an assistant coach. It is against NCAA rules to meet with a prospect while in the presence of the media, and of course, just as the report talks about his five previous secondary violations, he commits another. It is bad enough this guy has been given the ability to coach, especially in the SEC, but considering he will be at Tennessee, it just proves that God has a sense of humor.