Double-secret information

Another reason I like covering Auburn ...

So I'm at AUM tonight covering the Senators' SSAC tournament game against Reinhardt College. A couple of the Senators' regular starters are out of the lineup, so I roll into the press box and ask about it. This is standard stuff.

AUM's publicist, Darrell Orand, declines to give me the information. He cites HIPPA. Officially, that's the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It was signed in 1996 to help people avoid the scandalous dissemination of sensitive medical information.

Sports teams rarely, if ever, withhold information in the name of HIPPA.

I can't remember a single time Auburn withheld information like that about a player. It just doesn't happen very often anywhere. You HIPPA supporters probably will pass out if you read the official NFL Draft scouting reports at NFL.com, which list every major/minor injury suffered by every possible draftee.

All this because I wanted to know about AUM third baseman Bruce Alter's bum ankle.

You'd think AUM would appreciate the interest.