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Something Stinks In Pahokee

   New York Times sports reporter Pete Thamel ”broke” the story of the NCAA’s investigation into Tennessee’s football recruiting practices. After inititial investigation into his story, there seems to be a stink arising from little Pahokee, Fla., which drifts over to Gainesville and all the way north to a couple of offices in mid-town Manhattan.

 The Players -

  • Pete Thamel - College sports reporter for the New York Times
  • Connor Ennis - Sports department staff editor, New York Times
  • Chris Dunkley - Pahokee football prospect being recruited by Tennessee and Florida
  • Ariel Alejo - Pahokee principal, Florida Alum, Gators fan
  • Urban Meyer - Head coach, University of Florida

   Lets start with a flashback to 1998. In the first game of Tennessee’s national championship run, the Vols narrowly defeated the Donovan McNabb led Syracuse Orangemen. A Tennessee loss looked eminent until a fourth down pass interference call allowed the Vols to move within range for a last second field goal for the win. The pass interference call led to a fervent outcry of SEC referee bias by the Syracuse area media. Conner Enis and Pete Thamel were both Syracuse students and writing for the Syracuse Post Standard and The Daily Orange at the time. Getting Interesting?

   Thamel was at the forefront of reports on the recruitment of Bryce Brown, the heralded running back who eventually committed to Tennessee and was seen as a major coup for young head coach Lane Kiffin. It was a surprise when Brown was briefly declared ineligible by the NCAA roughly two weeks before the season began so they could investigate some reports they had gotten. Brown was eventually cleared to play. Pete Thamel has also witten so many gushing stories about the Florida Gators and Tim Tebow that it led one Gators blogger to refer to him as the “program’s most talented chronicler.” After Thamel’s prediction of a Gator blowout over Tennessee in this year’s contest didn’t come to fruition, he met with Meyer in his campus office the following morning. Here is the resulting article which blamed the lack of a blowout on the Flu and “Tennessee’s apparent lack of interest in actually winning the game” One thing is clear..Pete Thamel and Urban Meyer have a relationship.

   The NYT article states that the NCAA has interviewed a handful of recruits regarding the investigation. The most interesting is Chris Dunkley. While the other players and/or their families were willing to talk about what they discussed with the NCAA and were generally complimentary of Tennesse, Dunkley refused to discuss what he told the investigators. Dunkley happens to play for Pahokee High School. The same school whose principal, Ariel Alejo, tried to ban Tennessee coaches from recruiting his student-athletes. This was after Tennessee Coach Lane Kiffin made statements to the press that he didn’t trust the way things were done in Pahokee regarding the recruiting process, insinuating  that they tried to steer players towards Florida. Of note: Ariel Alejo is a Florida Alum that has a good relationship with Urban Meyer and is known to be a huge Gators’ fan.

   Urban Meyer. With the verbal jabbing back and forth between Gainesville and Knoxville since Lane Kiffin was hired at Tennessee, it is apparent that the cocky Tennessee coach has gotten under his skin. It is also apparent that the Vols have been raiding the state of Florida of some of its best football prospects which had until lately been almost guaranteed locks for the Gators. Meyer has friends in the administration at Pahokee. He also has a more tight than common relationship with an investigative sports journalist at the New York Times. Motive and Means?

   In an ominous sign of things to shortly come, and a possible inside joke between the two, Pete Thamel wrote this of Meyer just a week ago - “The most memorable moment from the news conference may have been when Meyer was asked about Tennessee Coach Lane Kiffin’s assertion that Alabama is the better-coached team. Meyer smiled big and said, ‘No comment.’



71 comments to Something Stinks In Pahokee

  • Whatever

    Your twisting of the facts is laughable. While I can’t verify everything you said, one thing I do know that is out-and-out wrong: Kiffin’s coaches weren’t allowed onto Pahokee High School Campus because your coach, Lane Kiffin said this:

    The fax machine wouldn’t work, or they would have changed the signatures, all the things that go on in Pahokee now.

    This so angered the community that even the chamber of commerce for the area demanded an apology. Try to spin this all you want, but your coach, once again, had to tuck his tail and say he made a mistake.

    So, based on your twisting of that, this entire article can be filed under “tinfoil hat” theories.

    To humor you though: if this was true… how ironic. Kiffin likes to pretend (he is a kid you know. Kids pretend) that he knows recruiting rules. He accused Urban Meyer of cheating and didn’t know what he was talking about. It’d be hilarious if Meyer flipped the script on him.

  • Inside Rebels

    Make NO mistake….This WILL begin to crumble the Vols and Kiffin! Living in the Duncan School district, KNOWING the AD, Coach and players, what was done cant be un done and only half the REAL story is out there (In Public) One of the Players targeted at Byrnes, Had this to say ” I got a call from the girls to come to the Hotel, I called BB and he checked it out and advised us NOT to go. AND he even Called David Reeves TN Quarterback Coach and informed him. Mr Reeves NEVER informed the compliance office nor the NCAA as required. These “HOstesses” were from Kiffin’s posse and WOW if it goes on like it did here and on the visits….There will be hell to pay soon Vols!!! Mark it down, you heard it here first!

  • BUCK

    Is this writer on the UT payroll? It’s become known that several of the writers are, in fact, in the UT’s ath back pocket.

    They have even planted bogus info about coaches leaving to hurt other schools recruiting.

    Nice try.

  • Art Skeels

    This writeup is so typical of the decline in journalistic standards at the NY Times, and their sinking credibility in this country.

    Completely ignored is the rancid stench surrounding the recruitment of Nukeese Richardson, and rampant allegations of illegal inducements attached thereto. Instead we are led on about some mysterious brotherhood between Principal Alejo and his Florida education (which has never been mentioned around here before). Alejo was insulted because of the rude and condescending remarks made about his school and community by the Tennessee coaches or their representatives.

  • Freehawk

    Thank you sir, for exposing this conspiracy. All Vol fans know that Lame Kitten has already said UT will be cleared, and he is all powerful in these things. So far his track record is perfect. For instance, he said if the WR from SC signed with SC, he would be pumping gas all his life. I pumped some gas today and in fact millions of people in SC did also, so Lame was correct with that prediction. Amazing! I look for the Government to send Black Helicopters and unmarked cars to Knoxville to suppress the truth on this story, because everybody knows the Government hates the UT Vols and loves the Florida Gators. The proof is known but the evidence is too voluminous to go into here. The NY Times just smears great representatives of the Vols like Nuke Richardson, because he was driving a Prius as his getaway car, and the Industrial Military Complex and the Petrochemical Refining Industrial Lobby like the Florida Gators, heck just about any team, more than the Tennessee Vols. But God loves the Vols more than any team (the proofs are too numerous to mention) and will smite down any who oppose them. Look how he smited the Gators this season, and how he annointed his Son, Jonathan Crompton, to lead the vols to countless victories this season.

  • Freehawk

    I left out “tinfoil hat”
    My apologies

  • Mickey

    Based on the outcome of the SEC Championship I think Kiffin knows a lot more about football, Florida and Alabama than Thamel or the NYT

  • HAHAHA

    It will be funny to hear the UTers cry and moan in 1-2 years after Kiffin has ruined that program and left it for dead. “Oh he’s getting all the recruits!” Yeah..recruits that rob people and sodomize their cousins with plungers! Be proud UT! Said thing is…you probably are! LMAO!!!!!

  • Hey “Inside Rebels”. I go to school at utk and I’m from South Carolina close to Spartanburg. I know people involved with Orange Pride and I’ve seen pictures of the girls at the Byrnes game. the sign said “Willis and Miller have our hearts” No sign says anything about come to tennessee. Your information is not good.

  • at MOST a secondary violation….at most

  • Bama has been cheating since they started playing football in that god-forsaken state, I believe every player is on salary down there—paying high school coaches was just the first.. Florida was put on a 5 year probation death penalty after 1984 season and had to give back a SEC championship.

    Tennessee has been investigated before, notably for the tudoring/grade fixing scandal when I was there; funny thing about pissed off employees…they lie after they get fired from the university to try to bring down a team, that time lying to ESPN with no case. Holding up signs at a high school football game is nothing like paying off recruits and high school coaches like Bama and Florida have done in the past. There is a fine line to recruiting and it is a battle out there. I will always cheer for the SEC, but I can never cheer for Bama or Florida, no class rednecks.

  • Tennessee has admitted to 6 very small violations since Lane has been there and the NCAA wouldn’t have even caught those. 1984 Florida, fired a coach after the NCAA found 106 violations….

  • Clearvol

    Freehawk, what have you been smoking? What’s with “lame kitten” thing? What does that even mean? Once again no proof to this story as expected however the fear is showing from the land of the gaytors.

  • Arielisaman?

    Yes, all the BS won’t matter. Times are changing.
    Kiffin will have UT on top of the SEC East as soon as next
    season. If not - 2011 and then get ready for a big winning streak.
    Everyone knows it’s coming. Yes, even you.

  • [...] Speaking of the stupid story that now “I’m not letting die”, Did you check out this little article on the New York Times writer and Pahokee? Very interesting for my little conspiracy theorists… Something Stinks in Pahokee [...]

  • NCAAman

    This is to all you gators fans saying shit about Vols recruits. http://13psi.com/who-are-the-gators-recruiting/
    Can’t wait to hear your reactions on this.

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