Conspiracy theories start when something seems out of whack, doesn't make sense or when details emerge that cast doubt on the "official" story of how or why something happened.
Sports conspiracies are no different.
Consider a recent episode of HBO's "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel" in which four former players claim they received extra benefits while playing for or being recruited by Auburn between 2002 and 2008.
Sure, it doesn't take a stretch of one's imagination to believe that former Auburn players (each with an ax to grind, by the way) received money handshakes from boosters after performing well in a game.
It's possible that former Auburn defensive end Stanley McClover was the willing recipient of boosters' money handshakes and a backpack with 7 grand inside.
It's also possible he was angling for increased exposure and donations as the founder and president of his recently incorporated nonprofit Big Brothers United Inc., which had a charity event filmed by HBO for the show.
Who knows?
I wouldn't be shocked either way.
Heck, the winners of the first organized intercollegiate athletics event, an 1852 rowing contest between Harvard and Yale on New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee, received an 1850s version of the money handshake:
"Presidential-aspirant General Franklin Pierce was in attendance and presented the Harvard rowers with prizes valued at more than $500, including gold-leafed oars and jeweled trophies from Tiffany & Co.," writes sports journalist Mark Yost in his book "Varsity Green."
Cha-ching!
But the Auburn four don't name names.
They either can't or they refuse to.
There's more substance in an anecdote from 1852 than in their stories, which aren't even a decade old.
"Is there a wizard behind the curtain? I don't know," said coach Gene Chizik in November after one more allegation surfaced against former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton in yet another article relying on unnamed sources.
That question still resonates among many Auburn fans and lends to the notion that HBO's show is just another part of a larger smear campaign orchestrated against Auburn by its competitors.
It feeds the talk of conspiracy, which, naturally, is directed at Auburn's hated rival, the Alabama Crimson Tide (insert rumor here). (Rebuttal rumor here).
Surely, no entity had more to lose from an Auburn national championship nor more to gain from recent pay-for-play allegations against Auburn than Alabama.
The claims of money handshakes are not what's driving the conspiracy theory that those loyal to the Crimson Tide are somehow (insert acronym here) involved in the recent spate of allegations unleashed by former players on HBO.
It's the peculiar decision by HBO to contrast the pay-for-play allegations of four former Auburn players with a former Alabama player, receiver Tyrone Prothro, who claims he received no extra benefits while playing for the Tide.
It's HBO's decision to exclude from the program McClover's former high school coach and Auburn teammates who have refuted the four's pay-for-play claims and offered their own testimonies since rumors of the show surfaced.
"I think that during my four years here everything's been run by the books by both coaching staffs," said former offensive lineman Lee Ziemba. "These allegations are very implausible.
"I played 52 games at Auburn. I was an All-American, won a national championship with my teammates, played in a 14-0 season--and I didn't see a dime from any boosters or any coaches."
That side of the story was absent from HBO's show, which only fuels the conspiracy fire.
"I can assure you for the record that all the former Auburn football players who were interviewed on-camera appeared in the story," said HBO media relations representative Ray Stallone in response to an email from The Plainsman.
Notice how he said "interviewed on-camera" and not "contacted for the story," since numerous former Auburn players have said they were contacted by HBO representatives sniffing only for a snitch.
"The show that aired on March 30 was journalistically sound," Stallone said.
Obviously.
It should come as no surprise that talk of the "crimson" conspiracy only increased when it was discovered that the executive producer of HBO Sports, Rick Bernstein, sold "souvenirs and refreshments...at famed Iron Bowl football stadium Legion Field" as a young man, according to a 2006 article in the Tuscaloosa News.
Bernstein is responsible for what goes on the air from HBO Sports, although he's not alone in the production of Real Sports, according to Stallone, who said "there was no bias."
"Rick has not lived in Alabama since he left for college at Missouri in 1975," Stallone said. "It's unfair to draw any correlation from his childhood to the story that aired on Real Sports."
OK. If HBO says so, it must be true.
Sure, it is easy enough to accept the idea that HBO merely wanted to ride the media gravy train, seeing an opportunity to capitalize on the controversy (and ratings) generated by the pay-to-play allegations against Newton and Auburn to make a larger point about the "state of big-time college sports."
That Auburn and Cam Newton were never implicated in any wrongdoing in the Newton affair (that was Mississippi State and Cam's father, Cecil) doesn't seem to matter.
"Everybody wants to think that a winner is cheating," Ziemba said. "If we went 5-7, no one would be asking if we cheated or not because it wouldn't matter."
Were there pay-for-play schemes and money handshakes at Auburn? Perhaps.
Are there crimson wizards behind the curtain orchestrating a smear campaign? Perhaps, as well.
We'll likely never know for sure, but it should shock no one that some Auburn fans have donned tinfoil hats.
Good conspiracy theories often contain at least a grain of truth, but sometimes, to some, they seem to contain a silo's worth.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
