I’m ashamed to say that in my youth I actually paid money to go see pro wrestling at the Coliseum in Jacksonville. And I have to tell this story. Call it the saga of Gentleman Saul. The only wrestler I remember at the Coliseum was Haystacks Calhoun. But I remember there were a couple of tag-team wrestlers whose manager was Saul Weingeroff, who wore a black suit, black hat, and sported a black walking cane. I think he was called Gentleman Saul. Anyway he refused to let his wrestlers fight Haystacks and another wrestler because he said “I don’t want my boys to catch fleas.” A few years later there was a boxing match in Palatka, in the old high-shool gymnasium. Who arranged this farce I have no idea, but one of the boxers was none other than Saul Weingeroff. His opponent was Johnny Theobold, a washed-up Palatka Class D baseball player who was working, as I recall, as a truck driver for the local Coca Cola plant. Of course he was the hometown favorite in this historic match. I remember seeing Johnny train for the bout by running sprints out at the old baseball park where he used to pitch. After a sprint or two he would sit down to rest and smoke a cigarette. Well, it wasn’t much of a boxing match. After a round or two Johnny was so exhausted he could hardly stand up. But the referee disqualified Saul for a low blow, and Johnny was declared the winner. Saul pleaded with the referee, saying, “No! If I lose this match, I’ll be all washed up!” A showman to the end. And a pathetic end at that.
Any punishment where the AD starts his statement sentence with “We are pleased…” is not punishment enough.
Agreed. I want the same level of wailing from his protest about not being one of the top four teams in the country … despite obviously not being one of the top four teams in the country.
Don’t worry. They will find a way to cheat around this punishment so that they can continue to buy players, err, I mean pay for name, image and likeness!
Exactly. Look at the punishment. It doesn't hurt. The Holes can't associate with THAT collective or booster anymore? LOL. No problem, form another collective, and have that booster write checks to his buddy, who then pays the new collective. Lose 5 scholarships over two years? That's nothing. Pay NIL to kids who aren't on scholarship to attend. LOL again. No bowl bans?? Why not? It pays to cheat now, because even if you get caught, the punishment is meaningless.
I hate the Noles but to get punished for that is crazy. The booster could have sent a limo for the kid and all good, but the coach drives him there, its over. Such a stupid time to be alive in CFB right now.
Giving your coach a raise to $10m a year right after this announcement… they sure look like they have corrected things. Only at FSU.
Thanks for posting, cocodrillo, I love stories like that. And I remember Haystack Calhoun. In Inverness sometime around 1960 we had a wrestling show come to town and the troupe had a wrestling bear. The show’s finale was a challenge: anyone who could stay in the ring with the beast for 1 minute ( I think) would receive $50.00. After a lot of chatter among the crowd one brave lad climbed into the ring amid the raucous cheers of the crowd. He climbed into the ring at which point the bear raised up on hind legs and let out a menacing growl. The young man exited the ring at lightning speed and no one saw him for a long time afterward. I know I strayed off topic but I had to share that sweet memory.
Would have been a few years after 60, but my grandad made my dad wrestle a bear at one of those things. He was 12 or so. I don’t think the bear had teeth or claws, but it was still a bear, and none of the grown men there wanted to tangle with it. Unfortunately my dad wasn’t given the opportunity to just run away like the fella in your story.
Not 100% sure of the details but it wasn't because he drove. Was more about the deals between the 3 over phone calls as well. Atkins also apparently lied but the ncaa had the records and caught him.
I’m not ashamed at all. It’s a show and usually pretty entertaining. As kids, our parents would drop us off at the Orlando Sports Stadium(later renamed for Eddie Graham). We were a bunch of middle schoolers having a blast. The characters/wrestlers were great. There were many you just had to hate. Fast forward a few decades and it would be great to see Ric Flair with at least two babes on the Florida sideline. Somewhere along the way he and Spurrier became friends. So, if you don’t like it, you’re going to learn to love it, because it IS THE BEST THING GOING TODAAAY! WHOOOO!
Agree. There is not any D1 power 5 team that hasn’t committed minor infractions. This is a chump move by the NCAA.
Apart from mild public embarrassment and media scrutiny unless you’re Michigan in the middle of a championship run… and even that ended well for Michigan.
