Thursday, November 29, 2007

Much ado, but so far, nothing

Thursday started off as an uneventful day.

Tommy Tuberville left for his Arkansas duck-hunting trip without speaking to Auburn officials or commenting to the press. Auburn officials privately indicated they expected talks to resume later, but by all accounts, Thursday was set to be a slow day.

Then a few Arkansas media outlets jumped the gun.

Their ”scoop”—namely, that Tuberville was on the verge of an agreement with Arkansas to become the Razorbacks’ new head coach. Arkansas news station KNWA-TV was among the first with the story, breaking into programming in its haste to get the story on the air.

In its entirety, the version of the “report” posted on the station’s Web site contained no real facts...just vague statements along these lines:

KNWA firmly believes the Auburn coach is close to an agreement.

If that’s the case, it’s news to Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs. As I wrote in my story in tomorrow’s Opelika-Auburn News, Jacobs hasn’t been contacted by Arkansas officials, who are required by Tuberville’s contract to seek Jacobs’ permission before beginning negotiations.

(Below is a picture of one person who is “shocked, shocked” at the thought that Arkansas and Tuberville might have communicated without clearing it with Jacobs first.)

Now, of course, there are no shortage of questions, and a real drought of answers:

What’s next? After what appears to have been a false alarm, will Arkansas and Tuberville reach a deal? With the Razorbacks pay Auburn the full $6 million buyout specified in Tuberville’s contract? Will Auburn settle for less? With all this in the recent past, can Auburn and Tuberville ever have a workable relationship again?

That, of course, is why we have daily newspapers, not to mention the Internet. Stay tuned.