Did we ever think this would be clear cut and easy?
Some say yes, some say no, and in two days they'll reverse their stories again with some plausible explanation, or an anti Mack accusation of how he is poisoning the well etc.
"What we have here... Is a failure to communicate..."
At this point here is my take on all of the "inside sources" etc.
A. Our Regents and BMD folks aren't even in agreement at present. That is pretty much understood. They each may have their own favorite different candidate, and they are all used to getting their way.
B. Each BMD, along with the AD, also has their favorite pawn in "leaking" information in order to stir fan and alumni opinion since they are too "gentlemanly" to engage in the media spin directly. Mostly using websites like OB, IT, HS and some other more mainstream mouthpieces and some have multiple plants in each I'd guess, monitoring each other etc.
C. It is entirely possible that someone posting that Saban is a dead deal is doing so either as a request to keep things more calm for both teams leading up to the bowl games. It is also possible that the all too eager pawns are just being fed falsehoods intentionally for the same desired result. Same with any other top level candidate, not just Saban. That's why I don't bad mouth the folks like JS or McPhaul if we find out they are incorrect. They can be unwittingly duped after being fed several truths as well.
D. They (BMD and AD) all also probably throw out smoke screens and red herrings to change the focus of the fan base every few days when a single story starts to take hold and become the consensus across the websites.
E. all of this adds up to each of us who is too passionate for our regular logic to kick in, picking a "horse" (candidate) and "rider" (messenger of an inside source) that we either feel is most accurate, or matches our personal desires.
F. I have come to the conclusion that this is politics and show biz, if they aren't already the same thing.
I'm happy to call HS home because of the junior high crowds dominate the pay sites now, (which are virtually worthless, since they are wrong as often as correct now) and over 90% of the folks here "get it" as opposed to trying to "be it".
Also, don't correct me if I am mistaken..let me live in my own world, but McPhaul was the first to call the "shot across the bow" referendum meeting the regents would have if Powers didn't move quickly enough on sending Mack along. And he called it before the meeting was made public and even before Powers even seemed to know it was coming. That to me does show his "sources" have some sway and intel. But things can always change quickly when billionaires get in pissing contests, and in all of these meetings the egos on every side of the table are ginormous be it a coach, AD, BMD... It digresses to the sophistication of a bunch of Jr High name callers. I lived it in the corporate world.
So I say we are going to get Malzahn because all of the others seem to be so much smoke. And I'll be very happy with that.
