In America, the winner takes all.

Chapter 195
In the locker room of the Tennessee Volunteers' home court, the originally relaxed atmosphere of the Alabama players looked at a few uninvited guests in suits and ties who suddenly walked in, and the smiles on their faces suddenly disappeared.

"This is the team's locker room, this is the team's private area. If the NCAA needs to inquire about Ethan O'Connor, they must at least wait until we finish changing our clothes." Ron, standing next to Ethan, immediately Just said.

"Ethan O'Connor is suspected of a player bribery. In order to prevent collusion, he must be investigated immediately." One of the supervisors in suits and ties said a middle-aged man with dark blond hair.

"But..." Special teams coach Danny Pillman couldn't help but help.

"But you need to change clothes, right? It's no problem at all. We will stand here and supervise Ethan O'Connor to finish changing clothes conscientiously." Among the several people, another young woman spoke.

Seeing that several people were unwilling to leave, Ethan didn't care and finished changing his clothes under the eyes of several people.

Looking at the well-developed muscles on Ethan's body, the woman who just spoke crossed her arms and looked at him with interest, but that was all. The expression on her face soon returned to a serious state.

The woman looked around twice and nodded slightly.

"Just stay here. I'm afraid your coach and teammates are also curious about what you did."

As several NCAA inspectors walked into the crowd, the players immediately moved out of the way.

The woman's men pulled the table over, placed chairs on both sides, and a simple interrogation table was set up.

The team members surrounded the table, with Ethan sitting on one side and the woman sitting on the other side. Behind her stood her colleagues. This woman must be the leader among them.

"First question, do you know Pat Barnes?" She stared at Ethan, her voice slightly lowered.

It turned out to be about him...

Ethan shook his head, expressionless: "I've never heard of this name."

"Really?" the woman sneered.

"You met at the high school all-star game, which was two years ago. You have kept in touch since then and occasionally go out for parties. At the party, there were also Adam from Ohio University and Tom Bray from the same high school as you. Di, is there even half a lie in what I said?"

She told the whole story about how Ethan and Pat got to know each other. It was obvious that she had conducted a detailed investigation on Pat and Ethan before coming here.

"Why don't I remember?" Ethan looked appropriately confused and frowned slightly.

Who knows whether what he says now will have a negative impact on him in the future.In order to avoid leaving any excuse, Ethan will not admit anything.

The United States is a maritime law system. Don’t forget the Miranda warning. There are many lies told with open eyes.

The woman chuckled: "It doesn't matter, you don't have to admit it, but don't forget what you have done before - providing intermediary services for players, bribing sporting goods manufacturers to bribe young players, undermining the operating order of the NCAA, and infringing on the rights of other players. Normal rights and interests.”

From the woman's tone, it sounded like Ethan had done something heinous, and the big hats were pulled off one by one.

"Your good brother Pat has already recruited all of them, and we have obtained enough evidence. If you are willing to cooperate and tell the truth, for the sake of your cooperation, we will treat you leniently as appropriate. You will not Received a permanent ban."

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. You have obviously found the wrong person. It may be someone else with the same name as me. I have been training in Alabama." Ethan shook his head again.

Obviously this was an inducement.

If the other party really has sufficient evidence, they will not come over to question you, but will directly announce the punishment.

But don't think of these people as being kind.

"Very good. I like how you pretend to be confused. Many people have also maintained this state when I asked them, including the sports director of your school. But you have also seen the final result." The woman. Shaking his head, he was obviously a little annoyed by Ethan's playful and silly attitude.

It turned out that this woman was the one who ordered Alabama to restrict recruiting and ban it from participating in bowl games.

"In addition, a fine for dangerous behavior in Alabama is also being drawn up." She turned to look at the people in Alabama.

Lighting cigars collectively in the locker room, with the team taking the lead, is a serious dangerous behavior, poses a fire hazard, and violates the NCAA's relevant code of conduct.

"Regarding the Victory Cigar...Alabama's athletic director Bob Boone has notified the association and has handed over the fine." Eugene spoke at this time, and the cigar in his mouth was now emitting wisps of smoke.

"You are too presumptuous!" The woman turned around and yelled angrily.

"How can this be considered outrageous? We have been cooperating with the NCAA's relevant work. This time we notified in advance and took the initiative to hand over the fine, which is obviously a reflection of our positive attitude. The supervisor should not only not criticize, but also praise us. That's right." Ethan said with a smile at this time.

There was a low laugh from the crowd.

The University of Alabama, especially the football program, has never been friendly towards the NCAA. It can even be said to be tense, especially after the NCAA just punished the University of Alabama.

It's not just Alabama, any university that makes a lot of money from its football team has a bad attitude towards the NCAA. The ultimate reason is because the benefits are unevenly distributed. The NCAA can't get much profit from the football project. There are five major leagues in the league. , the NCAA also has no way to intervene in the bowl game.

"Wait for me!" The woman stood up angrily, supporting the table, pushing the team members, and left with her men.

"Ethan, you have provoked a rose with thorns. Her name is Rose. She once served as an assistant prosecutor in Cook County and is currently the director of the NCAA's disciplinary committee. She is a selfless woman." Ron blew. whistle.

Cook County is the most populous county in the United States and includes Chicago.District prosecutors in the United States can be understood as lawyers hired by local GOVs. To become an assistant prosecutor at a young age in a place like Cook County is obviously not an ordinary person.

"Maybe she entered menopause early." Ethan recalled the strong smell of gunpowder in her words.

·
Although he said he had no respect for Rose, in terms of behavior, Ethan did not show any neglect and called Pat immediately to inquire.

"I'm sorry, Ethan... I said something big at a party and the news leaked out. Someone in the team was jealous and reported anonymously. Didn't the NCAA find you?" Pat's voice on the other end of the phone sounded a little frightened.

"It's nothing serious, just a person named Rose came to our door after the game..." Ethan said casually.

"Stop it, Ethan, she is not easy to deal with before she finds concrete evidence." Upon hearing Ethan say this, Pat immediately began to advise Ethan to stop.

"This has nothing to do with whether to stop or not." Ethan shook his head.

Except for a few young players who were close to him, he did not try to recruit any college football players, and did not even mention it in front of his Alabama teammates, just because he did not want to be targeted by the NCAA.

In other words, he didn't do anything at all.

The NCAA is obviously not targeting itself by sending such a high-level figure.

Well, there's only one reason...for the University of Alabama.

I just happen to be in it, so that the NCAA can take action.And coming here this time to question Alabama's leading players in front of so many people is obviously a pressure signal from the NCAA.

If they don't cooperate, they'll be looking for trouble for the Alabama players.

The United States is very slippery in playing this game.

The specific reason is unknown to Ethan, and when he hung up the phone, he saw that head coach Eugene was also talking to someone else. Ninety-nine times, the other end of the phone was Bob Boone, the school's athletic director.

This further confirmed Ethan’s guess.

Although he had already speculated that the matter was not directed at him at all, Ethan still called Lisa in the same way.

"The players in the NCAA system can be counted on one hand..." Lisa had no idea about Pat's matter. It had been less than a week since Pat's matter was leaked, and the relevant NCAA investigators had just announced it yesterday. When he came to find him, Pat didn't tell the whole story, saying that he took the initiative to cooperate and that Ethan just happened to know Wilson's relevant personnel.

This can be regarded as changing the nature of Ethan's role in this matter from an "intermediary" to a "recommendation". If he really reports the matter exactly as it is, I'm afraid it's not just colleagues who will come with Rose.

Lisa then talked about Ronaldinho's situation. His brother was indeed a careless guy. He kept clamoring for money, but Lisa was able to deal with it.

Ethan asked Lisa to temporarily suspend all business arrangements for players under the NCAA system.

"There is no business arrangement, the players under the NCAA are all losers." Lisa laughed.

After finishing the call with Lisa, Ethan immediately dialed Grace's number.

If Lisa belongs to the "sports agency" business, then Grace's business belongs to "club operations" and "event operations". There is an essential difference between the two.

"Aha, you still know how to call me?" There was a trace of sadness in Grace's long-lost voice.

"If you need it, I can call you every day." Ethan said.

"I don't need it. You should call the Alabama cheerleaders. They are young and beautiful. This is not exactly what you want." Grace's sour tone almost came out of the receiver.

"I haven't really been in contact with any of the female Alabama cheerleaders." Ethan shook his head.

McKenna is a Crimsonettes, what does it have to do with cheerleading?
"Really?" Grace expressed doubt.

"Of course it's true. Did you watch the game just now?"

"Well... the final two-point conversion was quite successful." Grace said, obviously she had been paying attention to Ethan silently during this period.

"There are still two weeks until the next game. Are you coming to Alabama for a tour? Let me show you the scenery here."

"They are all old buildings from the middle of the last century. What's there to see? But I just have to go on a business trip, so I'll drop by your place and have a look." Grace agreed "reluctantly".

Finally, Ethan told her about the company, and the two were now real partners.

Grace has received a lot of good news. All businesses are very stable. Thanks to John's relationship, some events under CIF are even preparing to be outsourced to the company.The prospects are very bright.

Grace and Ethan agreed on a time to come, and finally hung up the phone. When Ethan hung up, he found that Eugene, who was sitting in front, was still talking to the school's sports director.

The routine data release session was ultimately handled by secondary coach Curley.

"Ethan O'Connor made a total of 27 passes in this game, and successfully gained 18 yards on 196 passes. In comparison, Peyton Manning made 25 of 15 passes, with a success rate of just over half..."

From a purely statistical perspective, Ethan's performance in today's game was also stronger than Peyton Manning's.

It can be said that it crushed Payton in all aspects, and the national college quarterback rankings will definitely change after this game.

Regardless of what happened surrounding the game, Ethan still maintained a high-spirited attitude in the game.

Heading for the Heisman Trophy!

·
After returning to school that night, the team immediately disbanded, but Ethan saw a girl standing there.

"Welcome back, my great hero!" McKenna stood there with a bright smile, then flew over and jumped into Ethan's arms.

Her expression was full of pride. As a member of the Crimsonettes, she was not like a cheerleader who could follow the team everywhere. She only appeared on the field during home games. This time, she was waiting in front of the training hall. Sen.

As for the group of teammates who got off the bus at the same time, they couldn't help but booed when they saw this scene. The matter between Ethan and the Crimsonettes captain was already semi-public.

The documentary crew that had been following Ethan also recorded this scene.

That night, Ethan and McKenna went out for a meal and a date outside the school, and then got a room. Finally, Ethan drove the physically and mentally exhausted McKenna back home.

Before leaving, McKenna spent more than half an hour with Ethan before getting off the car.

The next day, Ethan was taken to the athletic director's office by school staff in the training room.

"Still adjusting to life in Alabama?" Bob Boone shook hands with Ethan.

Compared with the last time, he looked a little pale and depressed. The dark circles under his eyes were particularly obvious. It seemed that he had not rested well during this period.

"Let's talk about the NCAA and the school." Ethan said straight to the point this time.

Now that I am involved in it, I need to see what the school means.

"The NCAA wants to control the bowl series and officially award the title of national champion. Several schools in the other five major conferences have already nodded, including Ohio State in the big ten. But in the Southeastern Conference, no one agreed to its conditions. The reason is simple. The Southeastern Conference gets the most attention and invests the most in football. We don’t want to share the profits. So, the NCAA came to us. In exchange, Alabama can get the opportunity to participate in the bowl game this year. And Alabama is not prepared to be a traitor in the SEC, and the school wants to fight to the death with the NCAA."

"And if Alabama doesn't agree...it's not just you, two girls in the football volunteer group were also investigated by the NCAA yesterday. There will be more investigations against Alabama in the future." Bob Boone He sighed, quite a bit like the situation was stronger than the person.

"Obviously my position as sports director will not be guaranteed." Boone sighed.

With so many scandals exposed, he would naturally take the blame and resign.

Although he also knows that he is just a scapegoat in the battle between Alabama and the NCAA, this is the rule of the game in college football.

"What if there is another option?" Ethan tried to ask.

(End of this chapter)