[T]he story was greeted with great disdain in Auburn and with considerable laughter in other SEC locales like Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Knoxville, Tenn. But if you looked deeper, you would find that even those rivals who got a kick out of seeing the Tigers embarrassed were a bit nervous themselves.

Why?

Because they are all afraid their team is going to be next.

One of the most peculiar things about college athletics — and sports in general — is that even the most diehard fans watch the games with the nagging suspicion that everyone — even their team of choice — is cheating. Whether it's happening or not, many of them accept this as a necessary evil, even if they would prefer to ignore it and hope no one else notices.

Let's say you're an alumnus and supporter of University X. And let's say you take a trip back to the town of your alma mater and see the kid your school just signed to play quarterback driving past campus in a new Escalade.

Are you simply excited to see a young superstar in person? Or is your first reaction to think, "Gee, I hope no one tries to find out how he paid for that?"

These are answers that everyone deserves but nobody really wants. This is the reason most people aren't interested in the Auburn story, just like they aren't particularly riveted by the Barry Bonds controversy.

After all, if those pesky reporters can nail the single-season home run king, then they might be able to nail my guy too, right?

This is why many people always will hate sportswriters more than political scribes. After all, the charm of politics is the corruption, the lying, the infighting. Sports are supposed to be the respite from all that madness, and the journalists who bring the ugly stuff to the forefront are ruining the fun.