Posted on 09/22/2019 4:49:53 AM PDT by C19fan
Throughout his career, Tennessee athletic director Phillip Fulmer has earned the reputation as a relentless backstabber. That began when he took the Tennessee head coaching job from Johnny Majors in the early 1990s, angling while Majors was recovering from heart surgery. Later, Fulmer consistently attempted to undercut a procession of Tennessee coaches — Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley and Butch Jones — and also played grand maestro in the coup to unseat athletic director John Currie last year. For decades, Phillip Fulmer’s reputation has revolved around consistently and persistently operating to maximize the full glory, attention and financial benefit of Phillip Fulmer. Someone get embattled Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt a Kevlar vest and tell him to watch his back. It only makes sense that Fulmer is going to cover up his own administrative failings to pull off one final machete through the spine and take over an utter disaster of his own creation.
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I think it is 95% certain that the Pac-12 is out of playoff contention.
That Notre Dame v. UGa was a throw back game. Give credit to Bulldog Nation for causing 7 false start penalties. I do not see Notre Dame getting back in the playoff race with their remaining schedule. I do not see enough quality potential wins on the remaining schedule especially with Michigan imploding.
If you look at the box score Bo Nix had 106 yards on 13 for 21 and 38 yards rushing. One would think he stunk but he had zero turnovers and an effective game manager.
Schadenfreude Moment of the Week: Michigan great Charles Woodson shell shocked at halftime of Wisconsin's beat down of his alma mater: Video
Fixed.
Tennessee has a partner in race to the bottom for SEC Worst. Arkansas lost to San Jose State. I have heard that when the SEC admitted TAMU that destroyed Arkansas’ recruiting base. Previously Arkansas was able to recruit Texas talent who wanted to play in the SEC but obviously these kids can stay home at TAMU.
In other news, while one huge Ohio state university was running up the score on a tiny Ohio state university, its players were prancing around as though they were whomping the Patriots.
My disgust for OSU athletics was reinforced thereby, and it only took about ten minutes of viewing same.
Fox sports Woodson was an embarrassment. Wisconsin spanked Michigan and it’s storied coach. Go Bucky
Well half way through the 3rd quarter of late last night’s UCLA vs WA St. game I’d say Tenn. was saying well at least we aren’t UCLA. Well on there way to starting the season 0-4 a funny thing happened after being down by 32 points. Final score UCLA 67, WA ST. 63. Chip Kelly lives to see another day, for now!
It doesn't top what ESPN is still trying to do with the barely lucid Lee Corso.
No love for Philip Fulmer or UT but this writer gives it to Fulmer in the neck - after complaining that Fulmer would like to do just the same to his coach.
He, of course, provides no evidence that Fulmer wants the coaching job again (especially at his age), would take it or would be permitted to take it. But the media are now above trifles such as sources, facts and corroboration.
The question I pose at the start of every season - and one which remains unanswered - is: ‘If all these fans expect their team to go 11-1 every year exactly which 50% of the teams will be losing those games? It’s simple math.’
It’s hilarious to see scorelines now with XYZ State listed with a 2-2 record. You think - ‘Hey they’re a .500 team they can’t be that bad’ until you recall that the 2 wins were against the equivalent of junior colleges. Which means they lost their first 2 real games. But coaches and ADs certainly know it - but keep quiet about it. Easier to sit at the year end press conference and say ‘We were 2 games above .500’ or ‘We had a .500 record in our league.’
The NFL has more problems that it can shake a stick at but the one thing it has is (enforced) regional rivalries and an extensive - and mostly fair - playoff system. The talk has been growing of 64 D-I aka FBS schools breaking away from the NCAA and forming the university equivalent of the NFL with regional divisions and the prospect of matching division A against division B as they do in the pros in order to cross-pollinate the sport.
This would resolve all the conference high jinks and would put regional/historical rivals back on each others’ schedules eg Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Syracuse, Maryland et al. It would eliminate the silliness of having Clemson and South Carolina in different conferences - ditto for Florida, Florida St and Miami, Texas/Texas A&M, Nebraska/Oklahoma and so on. Traditional rivalries, especially those most important to the Big Ten and SEC would be retained. A wild card system similar to the pros would still allow good teams that don’t finish in first place to enter the playoff(s) and set up additional potential matchups with rivals in the playoff(s).
The one major problem with a closed shop is that it’s a closed shop. Although they were upset yesterday, UCF, for example, is an up-and-comer in football but would possibly be locked out of a 64-team league of old-line schools. Why should Rutgers enjoy the fruits of others’ labor? A relegation/promotion system might work but would require agreement between NCAA and the top tier system, whatever it’s called.
It’s bad and getting worse. God love the guy but he’s 83 and has never recovered fully from a stroke.
David Pollack is the heir apparent and it’s telling that he occupies Corso’s seat for half the show. He’s very patient - but also very good and my guess is that the ESPN suits have told him he has the gig when it comes open - otherwise he would be a hot property for Fox or CBS to poach.
Herbstreit does his best to coax Corso’s words out of him and finish his sentences but enough is enough. Putting on a silly hat in the last minute of a show doesn’t outweigh the 2 hours that go before it.
Anyone who hires Lane Kiffin as head coach should be fired for incompetence.
It would be better to revert to club sports, get rid of athletic scholarships, pay coaches like ordinary adjunct faculty, and reinstate real academic requirements. The players should carpool to away games, or at best take a team bus, with no more than two overnight games a year as a special treat. That would restore local and regional rivalries and traditional conferences at a stroke. Any tv revenues would go to the general scholarship fund. Alums could still tailgate and party, but they would be watching student athletes, not NFL farm teams.
I would also get rid of playoffs, which I have been vehemently opposed to from the get-go. Instead of being mere playoffs, the bowl games would then be restored to their own traditions. We should go back to having national championships determined by polls of coaches and sports writers, mathematical models, etc.
We should also get rid of weekday games, which have been proliferating in recent years. The University of Southern California now plays at least one weekday game every season. These interfere with the educational mission of the school by bringing noisy fans onto the campus during class time and making it difficult for students to find parking.
I agree with you, and of course there’s zero chance of that’s happening.
One remarkable thing is how few of the top 25 universities in the USNews rankings have good top level football teams. Notre Dame, sometimes Stanford, sometimes Northwestern a little bit. Other than that you have Duke and Vanderbilt and Rice, good schools that can’t figure out how to stop playing football, and then the Ivy league and schools like MIT, UChicago and such that play DIII football in spite of being mid sized universities.
Perhaps the tiny university shouldn’t want the big bucks that come from playing at the big university’s stadium, but I guess those benjamins are pretty important to the tiny university’s board.
I’m with you on club sports and scholarships. CFB is essentially a competition of ringers.
We could make a humble start by requiring players to sign a roster sheet before starting each game. All the major programs would take an immediate hit, and half the SEC would probably have to fold.
As a Buckeye alum, I agree with you. Case in point is that Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones once said,'We ain't come here to play SCHOOL,'
As a Buckeye alum, I agree with you. Case in point is that Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones once said,'We ain't come here to play SCHOOL,'
Followed closely by USC. Both teams meet on 10/26, which, if USC wins, will most likely be just their second win of the season.
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