Hitting the Links: August 7th, 2013

I briefly considered turning this into two separate posts but after a short deliberation I decided to just go full blown links style and put it all together one big mashup. We have the usual smattering of "links" this morning tossed together with a little Johnny Footall and Notre Dame fall camp videos.

There must be 1,000 stories floating around the web on one Jonathan Manziel at this point so I did my best to capture the basic storyline in the linked headlines.

The Fighting Irish have obviously kicked off fall camp at Shiloh Park but due to the media blackout we don't have much to go on other than a few videos courtesy of FIDM. Rather than posting a bunch of commentary about those videos I decided to just embed all of them in the post so that we can over analyze them as a group in the comment section!

Let's get to it.

Division 4 eh. If you talk about something enough it just might happen.

Knight Commission recommends further study of 'Division 4' - CBSSports.com

While no one has defined Division 4 specifically, it would basically be a group of schools playing college football at the highest level who call their own shots in legislative matter. To that point, the commission also said there is a "general loss of confidence in the NCAA governance process".

Murtaugh is going to love these uniforms.

Iowa State honoring legend of Jack Trice with throwback uniforms against Iowa | Dr. Saturday

Iowa State plans to wear throwback uniforms Sept. 14 for its game against in-state rival Iowa. Reading descriptions of the uniforms can conjure some scary images considering these throwbacks are inspired by those from the 1920s, but photos published on www.cyclones.com show they're actually not bad.

Speaking of the ridiculous uniform department...

Ohio State's new face mask features 'Block O' | Fox Sports

Presenting the new facemask available to Ohio State players...

Nick Saban is a baller and he wants you to be a baller too.

Nick Saban will show you the money in latest recruiting pitch - NCAA Football - Sporting News

Alabama head coach Nick Saban is taking a pretty transparent route with his new recruiting pitch. The other day the university athletic department released a photo of a nine checks with the names of Saban's players who entered the NFL Draft this season. Each check had the amount that the former Tide player had signed for -- all in all, totaling more than $51 million. At the bottom, Saban signed the photo with the caption "The process pays off."

Sadly I'm not the only one that thought that one Jonathan Manziel a.k.a. "Johnny Football" a.k.a. "JFF" might eventually get himself into a scrape that he couldn't get out of. I will say that I was expecting something significantly more rock star like an alcohol fuel high speed chase with pistols blazing out the window. You know, something a little more over the top. But getting busted for selling autographs? Come on man! Just last week we were reading about how wealthy his family is. He wanted some new rims? Really? Anyway, the latest JFF saga is below. Manziel may find a way to escape the clutches of the NCAA on this deal but his season definitely looks questionable at the moment.

OTL -- NCAA investigating Johnny Manziel for profiting from autographs - ESPN

The NCAA is investigating whether Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel was paid for signing hundreds of autographs on photos and sports memorabilia in January, "Outside the Lines" has learned. Two sources tell "Outside the Lines" that the Texas A&M quarterback agreed to sign memorabilia in exchange for a five-figure flat fee during his trip to Miami for the Discover BCS National Championship. Both sources said they witnessed the signing, though neither saw the actual exchange of money.

This Is Johnny Manziel’s Manager – Uncle Nate | Busted Coverage

If you’ve been following the Johnny Manziel saga, you know of a shadowy figure known as Uncle Nate. You might remember the name from last week’s Wright Thompson piece where Paul Manziel, Johnny’s father, says that the family hired Nate Fitch, a college student, to be Johnny’s manager.

It's nice to be reminded that Gregg Doyel doesn't save all of his ridiculousness for Notre Dame.

If report is true, Johnny Football should pack it up and head to Canada - CBSSports.com

How does Johnny Canadian Football sound? If the reports are true, and Johnny Manziel knowingly broke NCAA rules, Gregg Doyel says the Aggies QB should get out now and head to the CFL.

Texas A&M retains law firm for Johnny Manziel matter | USA TODAY

The law firm that helped keep Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton eligible during the 2010 season at Auburn has been hired by Texas A&M to do the same with Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.

If you are going to try and get out of this one those are probably the right guys to call.

Broker says Johnny Manziel took $7,500 for autographing helmets - ESPN

An East Coast autograph broker told ESPN on Tuesday that Johnny Manziel was paid $7,500 for signing approximately 300 mini- and full-sized helmets on Jan. 11 and 12 while he was attending the Walter Camp Football Foundation event.

If I missed anything the full SBN story stream is at the link below.

Johnny Manziel under NCAA investigation for autograph payments, according to report - SBNation.com

Shifting gears now. What else? Oh this one is pretty good.

ESPN's Jay Bilas takes NCAA store to task on player likenesses | Campus Union - SI.com

As the NCAA investigates Johnny Manziel allegedly profiting off his own autographs, calls of the governing body’s hypocrisy have exploded. ESPN college basketball analyst and resident NCAA critic Jay Bilas unleashed a series of critical tweets Tuesday featuring screenshots of the NCAA’s online shop, ShopNCAAsports.com.

I'm thinking Charlie Strong is one coach that might be able to make this work.

Ex-Auburn RB Michael Dyer under zero-tolerance policy at Louisville - College Football - SI.com

Cardinals coach Charlie Strong said Monday that the former Auburn running back must sign a behavior contract and be subject to a zero-tolerance policy as conditions of joining the program.

Leslie Miles ain't come here to play zero-tolerance. In Red Stick he just puts it up to a team vote. "How many y'all want Jurrmah back on the dang team? Okay then Jurrmah get ya pads on." (adjusts hat)

Running back Jeremy Hill reinstated by LSU - SBNation.com

LSU reinstated running back Jeremy Hill, head coach Les Miles said Monday. Hill had been suspended since being arrested following a bar fight in April. Video that clearly showed him assaulting another man surfaced, and Hill pleaded guilty to the charges. The running back avoided jail time, and Miles at that point had left the door open for a possible return.

Now back to South Bend. UND.COM kicked camp off with a little article listing an interesting set of numbers related to training camp at Shiloh Park. Hit the link for the full list. A few of the highlights are below.

Notre Dame Training Camp 2013 - UND.COM - University of Notre Dame Official Athletic Site

DAY 1: BY THE NUMBERS

20,000: Weight in pounds of ice

800: Gallons of Gatorade (by powder)

607.5: Gallons of Gatorade (by bottle)

500: Different pairs of shoes

400: Pieces of chicken breast at both lunch and dinner

350: Pieces of pork chop at dinner

Off to Shiloh Park. Video time.

First in the chute is a trio of videos from Sunday evening courtesy of BGI.

8 bit Tommy Rees is ready to play.

Irish Chocolate has to go down as one of the most popular ND players of the modern era right?

CBK talks kicking off fall camp.

Now get on the bus to Shiloh Park where FIDM has been providing all of the content.

Keith specializes in these Zapruder film style FIDM breakdowns.

Practice report breakdown: Day One | Inside the Irish
Just because contact drills don't start for a few days doesn't mean we shouldn't over analyze every frame of practice footage UND.com provided us. As usual, here's an overly critical look at the 90+ seconds of practice video released late Monday night by the FIDM staff.

CBK

Day 2

CBK

Z-Ma

What else?

The HLS crew is breaking down the Top 25 ND Football Twitter accounts that you should follow. @OneFootDown came in at #15. Follow us!

#HLSrecap Top 25: Preseason Rankings Part 2 - Her Loyal Sons

Hump day. Hit our home page for depth charts, Shamrock Series Uniforms, Jack Swarbrick, Tommy Rees breakdowns, and everything else that has been going on around here. See you in the comments!