College Football Dynasty Alabama Found Guilty by NCAA

So, Alabama has been found out at last.

None of their wins should be counted. The true ruler of the state of Alabama is Auburn.

Tennessee has a cleaner program and, here's the kicker, LSU has a better coach.

What do you mean none of that is true? I heard the news, there's good rockin' tonight!

In an exercise in media overplay of a story from several years ago, the final verdict came down to Tuscaloosa regarding the Crimson Tide Athletic Department.

According to the even-handed body known as the NCAA, an environment was created for 22 participants in 16 different sports at Alabama to be found guilty of "intentional wrongdoing."

From the discussion and backlash, you would believe Alabama has something to apologize for beyond not keeping close enough tabs on how many books for specific courses the athletes were allowed to obtain.

The wonderfully talented British playwright, William Shakespeare, titled one of his works "Much Ado About Nothing." That seems to be a fitting description to the climax of the so-called "Alabama Investigation."

Specifically, athletes in 16 sports were found to be abusing their privilege to obtain complimentary text books.

Since less than a third of the individuals involved were from the football program, it seems unnecessary to label this "a football crisis" or even "a shocking end to the career of Nick Saban" as some supporters of other programs would have us believe.

Alabama will vacate some victories. They will be fined. A slap on the wrist of probation.

School President Robert Witt declared that "not one athlete pocketed a single dollar" from this alleged scandal. Further, he maintains the penalties "affect the past but, not the future."

Head Coach Nick Saban, speaking from the golf course, allowed he was "happy for the players" and confirmed his belief the ruling will fail to have any negative effect on the future of the Crimson Tide program.

Alabama officials stated they will not contest the fine. It was also suggested there will be no attempt to reverse the penalties except for the vacating of victories.

In short, there is no real damage to Alabama football, and the mighty Tide can look forward to a glorious fall campaign.

So, what kind of story is the supposed "BookGate" of Title Town? Not much of one really. Not when you consider the Alabama officials communicated openly and cooperated fully in the investigation.

No, it hasn't always been so. There was a time when poor judgement caused a harmful circling of the wagons and the the results were predictable.

This is a new day in Tuscaloosa. Give the administrators credit for learning their lesson.

And remember, if someone wants to defeat Alabama, the football field is the only place where it really counts.

Say, who were those guys from Utah anyway?