BEFORE THE GAME: Mark Schlabach did not get the customary “glad y’all folks are with us, drive safe” from Auburn fans on Saturday – or at least this Auburn fan (is that the guy from the airport?):
AFTER THE GAME: Wish the above treatment had been reserved for Thayer “Hatchet Job” Evans and the hit piece he rode in on. Does this video of Cam Newton walking back to his scooter after the game look like folks were in a “subdued mood” to you, “Thayer”? People are straight up daring each other to run up and touch his garments, all Mark 5:28-style. (And when he turns around, it’s like he even knoweth that virtue hath gone out from him). Thayer — have you ever been to a homecoming game?
Thayer Evans is such a hack. That piece was disgusting. “Crowd was subdued… empty seats… a lot of people left before the game was over…” ummm, that’s called “Homecoming against an FCS team.” It wouldn’t have mattered had the allegations against Cam come out or not. Way to skew the facts to support what you want people to see, Thayer. I sent him a nasty e-mail about his first article. Now I think he’s just trying to stir the pot even more. Wow, what an idiot.
Thayer trying to cover himself….showed what an obvious hack he is and now has to keep it up to satisfy his new fans in the western part of the state.
Not to mention it was freezing cold. The students were all gone at halftime because they were sitting in the shade.
As an Auburn grad, that Schlabach video is thoroughly embarrassing.
I agree, David. It’s not surprising that Pedro Gomez was one sided later on, when talking against Auburn.
David —
At first, I thought Schlabach was the least to blame of the ESPN trio for the whole fiasco. But he deserves every second of that and more.
Why the hell was he here? To cover Chattanooga? To report who won homecoming queen? Auburn is not under investigation. He should be in Starkville, or John Bond’s house, or anywhere else in the world.
Mark’s a grown man. He can take a verbal beating, unlike the college student who plays quarterback that has to listen to one every time he turns on a TV and it hasn’t even been proven that he’s done anything wrong.
Besides, it not like what that guy was yelling isn’t true.
Seeing these two headlines together. . . I thought I saw Cam ask Schlabach to step out of the boat . . . . he would sink for sure.
How can you talk about “rabid tiger fans” in one breath and in the next breath talk about the “subdued” atmosphere in the stadium?
Fox Sports, Fox News…journalism at it’s finest!
I agree completely with David. Auburn Men and Women don’t behave that way.
Justin – this is not a defense of Schlabach. He is to blame. This is a defense of the character of Auburn people, and how we treat others, whether we agree or disagree. What’s all that in the Creed about the human touch and cultivating sympathy with your fellow men? It’s not the Auburn way.
Agreed, not the Auburn way.
Scream War Eagle all day though.
Did we learn nothing from the airport video??? Sure they deserved it, but if you’re going to dress someone down do it with style and class. I guess at least he wasn’t swearing at the guy. ESPN will play that clip back ( with the word “journalism” edited out)and say that was AU fans yelling at Cam…
After seeing the second video I feel bad for Cam. I guess that’s the price of celebrity, but we’re going to have to get him something similar to the pope mobile. That scooter ain’t cutting it anymore.
http://www.churchhopping.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/popemobile.jpg
Wow… Poor Mr. Mark.
I know Mark Schlabach and thankfully he wasn’t fazed by the harsh language. He had to have a police escort before the game even started.
Like I said, I disagree.
It’s not that it was just Mark Schlabach. It’s what Mark Schlabach was doing. He was in Auburn, NOT covering the game, but covering an NCAA investigation regarding Mississippi State. What he and Pedro Gomez was doing was further pushing their absurd innuendo, and that guy, like me, had had enough of it.
If I see Schlabach walking down the street in Montgomery, I’m not going to mess with the guy. But if he’s in Auburn, using his influence to imply to the world that Cameron Newton accepting $200,000 to go to Auburn, which is something that has not been proven, then I’m going to tell him how I feel about that.
Schlabach can man up and take the slander, because he’s given out a whole heck of a lot more these last couple days.
I have to chime in here.
The Auburn way is to cultivate sympathy with your fellow man, and that man was defending an athlete that has no voice publicly to refutiate those absurd inuendo filled attacks on his and his parents character. Defending the helpless seems more to be the Auburn way than yelling down a hack.
At least he didn’t shoot the disgusting SOB!
WAR EAGLE!
I don’t care what anybody says about how he deserved it. The video doesn’t show everything that happened. It is his job to write about sports and usually he writes what he is told to write. Again, I have met Mark Schlabach and he is the most humble, down to earth man I have ever met and I think it is ESPN’s fault for sending him to cover the game.
@Kirsten – So he was there to cover the game? What part of the game did he report on? I saw a few if his reports that day and not once was he asked about the game. He was there to report on the allegations so he could do it with the stadium and an Auburn logo behind him as he spoke. Why else would he be out there with the crowd? He could have done those same reports from a studio. I hope he wasn’t expecting a warm reception and I hope his feelings weren’t too hurt when he didn’t get one. I don’t necessarily agree with the guy shouting him down while the camera was rolling but please don’t try to make me feel sorry for Schlabach. He knew what he was doing and what he was getting into.
thayer f’ing evans has yet another damn article up trashing cam
Cam needs to own up to this latest allegation if it is true. He paid his price at JC and appears to be in a better place as a person. However, I am disappointed that Auburn went down this road. One person does not a team or university make. I pay money to sit in that stadium every Saturday as a proud alumn. I will hold judgement until some proof has come forth, but I am not going to make excuses this time if this is true.
Justin- you’re free to do what you feel is right. Just don’t do it while calling yourself a “3rd generation Auburn Man.”
@JA He was supposed to cover the game but what you don’t see in the video is that the rowdiness of the crowd got worse and he had to have a police escort to his car and police cars escorted him off the campus. I agree he could have done what he did at a studio and he should have but he doesn’t get to choose.
Big A — Cam doesn’t need to own up to anything. His private academic records are no one’s business but his own.
Kirsten — I can promise you that he was not here to cover the Auburn vs. UT Chattanooga game. And no matter what his boss tells him, his name is the one on the report bylines and his name is the one that he says when he tosses it back to the studio. I’m not saying he’s a terrible person, I’m just saying he was wrong to be there, and you can’t expect bystanders to NOT call him out on it.
Well that’s where it gets interesting. I disagree because I actually know Mark Schlabach and heard his side of the story before anyone elses. I heard about the whole thing from him not from a media interpretation or a video. Also yes his name is on it but if his boss is paying him to go to a game then he doesn’t really get to choose where he goes. But this story is partly just a matter of opinion.
So, Kirsten, he was sent there to cover the game but was never asked one question about the game all day? You are trying to tell us he was duped by his boss? And that he was surprised that it turned ugly when he was standing out in the street where tiger walk takes place? Was he duped into that one too? Again, I’m not saying the shouter was correct, or that I’m condoning behavior hat turned “ugly”, but as you say he was stating his opinion. In what other way or forum are we to state our opinion where it can be heard?
And can you point me to the piece he wrote concerning the game? Since he was there to cover the game, I’m sure he took notes but I’m having trouble locating the article. Seems to me the only thing he wrote was about TCU on Sunday.
I didn’t say he was suprised. He probably did see it coming, but like I said he had to leave before the game. Now: you are stating your opinion and in a way I am pleading his case because I know his side of the story. How would you like to be in the middle of an angry crowed of fans? He is a person and he was just doing his job. I mean how else is he gona take care of his wife and his three daughters
Poor guy. I guess he is the innocent victim here. He was only saying and writing what his overloard boss told him to say and write.
Seriously! R U People kidding me? How are you going to feel when he blows the whole thing out of the water? Really? Who is the half bald man who is an idiot? And who is the red-neck girl who keeps screaming “tell me the truth”? Are all YOU people kidding me? This is his job and any journalist job! The TRUTH WILL PREVAIL! KNOW IT NOW! SUCKS FOR ALL YOU CRAZYS!