Civil War Brewing

And it doesn't involve Oregon=Oregon State.

In fact, the situation at Florida State is taking on new life and has more plot turns than a bad soap opera.

First, you have the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, as reported by Heather Dinich (ESPN):

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said Sunday he isn't planning on quitting anytime soon, but the chair of the university's board of trustees has seen enough of the man who transformed the program into a collegiate powerhouse.

"My hope is frankly that we'll go ahead, and if we have to, let the world know that this year will be the end of the Bowden era," chairman Jim Smith told the Tallahassee Democrat on Sunday. " ... I do appreciate what he's done for us, what he's done for the program, what he's done really for the state of Florida.

"I think the record will show that the Seminole Nation has been more than patient. We have been in a decline not for a year or two or three but I think we're coming up on seven or eight. I think enough is enough."

Interviewed by The Associated Press on Monday, Smith said the arrangement with Bowden as head coach and his successor, Jimbo Fisher, as offensive coordinator isn't working.

Smith confirmed to the Democrat that Florida State president T.K. Wetherell and legal counsel Betty Steffens have been working with Fisher to finalize a contract for him as head coach.

"The president intends to announce we've negotiated a contract with coach Fisher," Smith said, according to the newspaper.

Interesting that he mentions 8 years, when it was but in 2005 when Bobby battled Joe in the Orange Bowl after winning the ACC. And in a response to the shot heard round Tallahassee, we have a rebuke from Ann Bowden, wife of the beleaguered coach.

Ann Bowden, wife of Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden, told the Orlando Sentinel her husband has been betrayed by the chairman of the school's board of trustees and other boosters as pressure builds on the Seminoles legend to retire amid the program's worst start since 1983.

"I am angry," Ann Bowden said Monday. "I'm angry at some of our boosters that Bobby has worked for and supported, raised money for. And he's been such a top quality person, such great character and everything for this university. And for them to turn their back on him like that, I don't care if he is 80 years old ..."

"I'm disappointed in Jim Smith, who's been a longtime friend," she said. "Jim Smith's been a longtime friend of ours. When we first came here and we struggled and Bobby went on the road for nothing to raise money for this university and traveled all over the state, set up most of these booster organizations because they were doing nothing when he came here trying to raise money."

"He helped to build that booster program and they used him. They used him and to me, that's so disrespectful. It's disrespectful to who he is, what he's done and I think it's very disrespectful of Jim Smith.

Ann Bowden said her husband has no intentions of stepping down before he is ready to do so. Ann said Bobby shouldn't have to be forced out. She said he'd tell him to continue coaching. She doesn't want him to hang it up at the end of the season.

"I don't think he is going to retire at the end of the season," she said. "That's my feeling,"

How bout that for a cliff hanger? Stay tuned . . .

Bowden to Forfeit Wins

From SI.com:

The NCAA infractions committee intends to uphold sanctions against Florida State
that would take away wins in 10 sports, including as many as 14 by football
coach Bobby Bowden.After a public records lawsuit and intervention by Florida's
attorney general, the NCAA allowed Florida State to release the committee's June
2 response to FSU's appeal of the NCAA punishment that would strip the school of
the victories.Though university officials had said earlier Thursday that would
be no comment from Florida State, president T.K. Wetherell denounced the NCAA's
response.

But the issue is far from over . . .

The NCAA called Florida State's staff involvement in the cheating "especially egregious because of their positions as individuals charged specifically with maintaining academic integrity within the athletics program."

"This is the response from the committee on infractions which entered the finding that we are appealing so you wouldn't expect them to change their mind," said Bill Williams, the Tallahassee attorney handling the case for Florida State. "We will respond to this and then we ultimately have an oral argument before the infractions appeal committee in Indianapolis (Ind.) and then they will make a final decision."

Williams said he expected the hearing would be scheduled in late
summer or early fall, but admitted that was a guess.

The NCAA explained their rejection of the appeal . . .

The 23-page response said the loss of scholarships imposed as part of the original penalty would have been much greater without taking away victories in the various sports where athletes involved in the cheating had competed.

Florida State did not challenge the loss of scholarship reductions that included two in football this year and another next year.

So how many more scholarships will Bobby Bowden be willing to forego to get his tainted wins back?

There has been speculation about what affect this has on the all-time wins race between Paterno and Bowden. Many feel that if the 14 wins are deleted for Bowden, this effectively ends the race. This assumption is based on the fact that F$U will likely not renew Bowden's contract in 2010, because it would necessitate a large buyout of Jimbo Fisher, who has already been anointed for the job.

But we already know that F$U's boosters are capable of raising ridiculous amounts of money to buy out contracts (refer to the buyout of Bowden's son Jeff as exhibit A,) so that doesn't guarantee that Bobby won't be coaching at F$U beyond 2010. Moreover, it certainly doesn't exclude the possibility that Bobby might not continue coaching elsewhere if he chooses. Surely some University will see the opportunity to have a legend on their sidelines. Hell, if he coaches for Tallahassee High School , those wins will still likely count for his career total!

Some even speculate that Paterno might consider retirement if Bobby is no longer coaching. Well, like I just said, I'm not convinced that it is a given that Bowden will not be coaching till he drops, and therefore, I would expect the same for Paterno. And even if Bowden raises the white flag and retires, it's not a done deal that Paterno would do likewise.