Game misconduct mars the Iron Bowl

Tonight’s “Iron Bowl” game between Alabama and Auburn should be a highlight of any college football season. With both teams ranked in the top 10, the focus should be on another edition of arguably the sport’s fiercest rivalry.

Yet things are rarely that simple in the crazed Southeastern Conference where NCAA rules are often treated with the same respect bootleggers showed Prohibition. And that’s where Auburn quarterback Cam Newton comes in.

Newton is the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy. That’s what throwing for 21 touchdowns and running for 17 more (and even catching one) in the rugged SEC will do for you.


Yet those impressive numbers matter little when compared to the controversy surrounding how he got to Auburn. Published reports indicate that Newton’s father Cecil outlined a pay-for-play plan for recruiters from Mississippi State when his son was transferring from junior college last fall. Add in that Cam Newton left his first university, Florida, under shady circumstances (an arrest for possessing a stolen laptop as well as accounts of cheating) and the stereotype of a lawless SEC school is reinforced.

Heisman voters (like this one) also are at a loss as to how to treat Newton. Five years ago, Reggie Bush of Southern Cal won the Heisman only to return it after the Trojans were placed on NCAA probation this summer due in part to cash benefits given to Bush.

This now-you-see-it, now-it-doesn’t-count cloud is what’s wrong here.

You might be asking whatever happened to innocence until proven guilty. The problem is that NCAA schools do not operate in a court of law. Schools agree to abide by the NCAA’s eligibility rules for athletes. And those rules seem to state that regardless of whether Newton received money from Auburn, if a representative attempted to arrange extra benefits for him, he is ineligible.

The only way this doomsday scenario for Newton cannot play out is if the media completely whiffed on the allegations. That’s about as likely as Harvard facing Yale for the national championship.

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Iran arrests over attacks on nuclear scientists
By James Reynolds
BBC Iran correspondent

The two scientists worked on Iran's nuclear programme
Iran's intelligence minister says the country has made a number of arrests following attacks on two prominent nuclear scientists in Tehran on Monday.

One scientist was killed and another left seriously injured.

Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi said a number of people were identified and arrested in connection with what he called the two terrorist attacks.

Mr Moslehi did not identify the suspects, nor did he say how many people had been arrested.

But he did repeat Iran's claim that the intelligence services of the US, Britain, and Israel were responsible for the attacks.

The two scientists, Majid Shahriari and Fereydoon Abbasi, were targeted separately as each drove to work on Monday morning.

Reports said motorcyclists drove alongside the scientists' cars, attached magnetised bombs to the side of the vehicles, and then drove away.

The bombs exploded, killing Dr Shahriari and seriously injuring Dr Abbasi.

The attacks and subsequent arrests come just a few days before Iran is due to restart talks on its nuclear programme with the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.







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