Color Blind: Has Auburn Resurrected a Race War In The South?

I didn't read into this completely, and I've always had an animosity for the Post-NBA Era of Charles Barkley, but did Sir Charles strike more than a nerve with his comments this week? I mean, when you think about it, he has a valid point.

But I'm a madman who is a glutton for conspiracy and conflict; What do I know?

Auburn sent Tommy Tuberville packing because he wasn't getting the job done this season. But according to Big Mama Tuberville, Auburn fired him. To this day, the Tigers are sticking by their opinion that Tuberville resigned on his own recognisance. I highly doubt that he would just walk away on his own free will.

So Auburn was already in a deep hole when that happened. And everyone has been cracking jokes about it. YouTube has even made a set of funny clips involving Hitler movies with funny subtitles. But on the serious side, we haven't had anyone be this bizarre since the White Sox singing "Don't Stop Believing"...badly, I might add.

But this is something that no one saw coming. The Fans of Auburn wanted a proven winner to lead them into 2009. They wanted someone who would take them back to the promise land known as the SEC Championship. With Nick Saban running things at Alabama, Auburn needed someone who would turn them from a laughing stock into championship contenders.

Instead of a proven winner like Turner Gill, who just led Buffalo to the MAC Championship, they got Gene Chizik.

Chizik may have been a good choice when he was at Auburn helping them finish undefeated, but he is 5-19 as a head coach. The fans were not happy with the decision. But Auburn AD Jay Jacobs made it clear that "race was not a factor. Chizik was the best fit for Auburn." The problem with this: Auburn is not happy about it. The fans aren't happy about it. And alumnus Charles Barkley is really not happy about it.

The best fit? Gill looked to be the clear choice after turning the 10-69 program known as Buffalo around and not only clinching the MAC Championship, but also defeating the previously undefeated Ball State Cardinals in the championship game. He also got them into a bowl game against Connecticut.

As for Chizik, he was 5-19 in two seasons at Iowa State. What happened to the once proud program of the Cyclones?

When Barkley went public with his complaints about Auburn not hiring a black coach, they relieved him of his duties as a member of the basketball coaching search committee. He gave three potential coaches, who all wanted the job...just like Gill wanted the job as Auburn's football coach. The basketball program chose Jeff Lebo instead.

The Result: They were 4-12 last season and 4-4 this season. Good decision?

If Barkley is right that race played a factor in the hiring of Chicken Little Chizik, then Auburn is unleashing a backlash that will be felt all over the country. It's obvious that minority head coaches are dwindling all over the country, but are schools just interviewing minority coaches just so they fill the quota set forth by the NCAA?

But if Jacobs says that this is the best decision for Auburn, he better hope that Mr. Chick-Fil-A provides more than just a decent record next season. The Tigers need to win the West and go to a bowl game. If that doesn't happen next season, Auburn may be looking for a new AD to go along with the anarchy and downward spiral that they are on right now.

But maybe I'm wrong, and Auburn knows exactly what they're doing.

But what do the fans think?