Posts Tagged ‘Bobby Petrino’

Raise your hand if you had Arkansas – in their first year after losing Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and their top six tacklers – winning five games last year.

If you aren’t an optimistic fan in a Hawg hat and your hand’s up, you’re lying.

The first five games of the Bobby Petrino era in Fayetteville were bleak. The Razorbacks needed minor miracles to beat I-AA Western Illinois (Arkansas converted a late fourth and ten and scored with 1:49 left) and UL Monroe (down 24-6 in the third quarter, Arkansas rallied and got another late fourth down conversion) before getting blasted at home by Alabama (49-14), at Texas (52-10) and at home against Florida (38-7).

Arkansas then went to Auburn and stunned the Tigers, before falling by a combined three points to Kentucky and Ole Miss. After losses to South Carolina and Mississippi State, Arkansas got the type of win that can jumpstart a program.

Down 30-14 early in the second half, much-maligned senior Casey Dick came off the bench and led the comeback, throwing this TD pass to London Crawford with under 30 seconds left for the win and a wave of offseason optimism.

But how much noise can the Razorbacks make in a top-heavy SEC West with a difficult schedule?

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Then I’m walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel

• “Walking in Memphis” by Marc Cohn

Well, it seems that Bruce Pearl will be staying in Knoxville for the foreseeable future, which is good.  The question, however, remains: What are we to make of this “Memphis Incident”?

For starters, I am greatly relieved that Bruce Almighty will still be wearing orange next season.  That is the good news, not that there is necessarily some “bad” news, but keeping Pearl on the sidelines in Knoxville is definitely very good.

That said, what exactly are we to take away from the brief and furious flirtation (so brief and furious that I never even got a chance to comment before it ended) with the notion that Coach Pearl might bolt to the Pyramid City to take the reins as head coach of the Memphis Tigers?  The real answer is probably “nothing.”  Still there are a few thoughts that jump out to me—random observations, I suppose—which seem relevant, if less than timely.

Bruce Pearl is Happy at Tennessee…

It seems to me that Bruce Pearl sent two messages yesterday.  The first is a very positive one, namely that he is happy as coach of the Tennessee Volunteers and has no desire to leave behind what he has begun.  Bruce Pearl likes it here.

Why do I say that?  Well first of all is the obvious: he is staying here.  More importantly, however, is the what he said in his public statement last night.  To me, it makes it clear that Pearl is truly happy to be at Tennessee.

I truly love my job, and I want it to be clear that I’m not interested in any other job.  There’s no place in the country I’d rather be than the University of Tennessee.  My children are happy here in the Knoxville community—one is in high school, one is in middle school and two are currently attending the university.

My staff and I are building a consistent top-25 program and I’m honored and privileged to serve the greatest fans in the country. Tennessee has all the resources necessary to win championships, from our recently upgraded facilities to our ability to schedule.

It’s great to be a Tennessee Vol!

• Bruce Pearl commenting on rumors of him leaving Tennessee | UT Sports.com

Now in the era of sports double-talk and lip service (See Bobby Petrino at any point in his career), it is rarely advisable to take public professions of loyalty at face value.  I understand that.  Still, there are different degrees of lip service and there are different types of coaches.  Pearl’s statement was anything but tepid—it was largely unequivocal and pointed.  In other words, he could have simply said “I’m staying,” and left the other assurances out of the discussion; he didn’t.

Second of all, for reasons unknown to me (considering I have never met Pearl), I trust the man.  Maybe that owes to the side of him that exudes infectious enthusiasm about everything to which he is tied; maybe it is because of his well documented history of loyalty at Iowa and Wisconsin-Green Bay; maybe it is because he is a con man and I’m snowed.  Regardless of the reasons, Pearl is unique in my mind because I do believe that he is both loyal and trustworthy as a coach.  My gut tells me that if he was not happy and was considering a move, while he might not come out and say it, he would similarly not effervesce about how much he loves it at Tennessee.

Furthermore, if he had wanted to leave, it would have been hard to argue with his decision given the suggestion that Memphis was prepared to offer up to $ 3.25 million a year (approximately $ 1.25 million more per year than his new contract is reported to provide).

Thus, I believe him when he says that he never intended to leave, and that he truly loves coaching the BasketVols.  If he truly wanted to leave, he would have.

Yeah, yeah, I know—I’ve obviously been drinking the Kool Aid…

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Well, after failing to get my Oklahoma State preview up in time for the game, and given the quick end to the BasketVols‘ run in the NCAA Tournament, I really haven’t had a lot to offer these past few days.  Of course, when you set the bar very low—which has always been the policy of Gate 21—it takes extra effort to fail in grand style.  I guess I am running behind in my running behind…

In the meantime, here’s a little something that is worth giving a look.  I’m a bit behind in getting this up, but this is pretty funny if you ask me (which I realize you didn’t).

Here is a pretty hilarious look at the various coaches of the SEC in a way that I don’t think I have ever seen before.  As always, this comes courtesy of VolzRChamps and BlazerChronicles.com, with a Tennessee All-Sports Update.

The Blazer Chronicles: A “Quotetastic” Look at the SEC

That Bobby Johnson quote is simply priceless…

– So it goes …

Video Courtesy of: VolzRChamps / You Tube • Blazer Chronicles

Check out the Full Poll Results at Garnet and Black Attack!

Final 2008 Season Poll

Well, as we try to dig out of the snow that has covered everything in my neck of the woods, I am trying to get caught back up.  Yes, I admit it I’ve been lazy these past few days and haven’t posted a darn thing.

Back in the saddle, here we go…

Yes sports fans, the 2008 college football season is in the books.  We here at Gate 21, along with fellow fans of the other SEC teams hated to see it go so much that we drug out our final voting for as long as we could.  Try as we might, however, football season is over.  Thus, here is my last ballot in the SEC Power Poll for the 2008 season, along with an feeble attempt at explaining why I’m such a moron.

In all its radiant glory:

Well, there you have it.  My final ballot for 2008.  Hopefully, the powers that be will ask me back for another round in the fall.  Either way, it has been fun indeed.  Do not, however, be dismayed—I’ll be posting my SEC Basketball Power Poll ballot in the next day or so.

The Rest of the Power Poll

Now that you have wasted your time looking at my ballot, go check out what everybody else is saying over at Garnet and Black Attack, where the final poll results will be posted Wednesday-ish.

– Go Figure …

Check out the Full Poll Results at Garnet and Black Attack

Week 7

Through 12 October 2008

Here’s my ballot for this week’s SEC Power Poll, along with an feeble attempt at explaining why I’m such a moron…

In all its radiant glory:

The Rest of the Power Poll

Now that you have wasted your time looking at my ballot, go check out what everybody else is saying over at Garnet and Black Attack. I’ll try to link or post the final poll results once it is released later in the week.

– Go Figure …

Well, once again I have added to the conversation over at Rocky Top Talk. This time a little look into how Tennessee values Bruce Pearl, as compared to other coaches — including it’s own.

While not as acerbic as my usual posts, this one was tough — and (cringe) actually resembles a real report by a real journalist. I actually had to do some research and find sources and things. I hate it when I can’t just make baseless allegations grounded on nothing more than the empty space between my ears. What is the world coming to?

Anyway, if you feel like giving it a look, just click the following link: How Much is Winning Worth?.

At any rate, I should be back on Gate 21 full time sometime in the near future (not that anyone cares).

– Go Figure …

Damn! Didn’t See That Coming. ESPN (among others) are reporting that Atlanta Falcons Coach Bobby Petrino called Falcons owner Arthur Blank and abruptly resigned on Tuesday — apparently to take the head coaching position at Arkansas. I am not going to pretend that I had any idea that Petrino would be the next “Hogmaster General,” I really can’t say that I am all that surprised. I can think of a number of reasons why Petrino might want to quickly cut out of town on the laughable Falcons.

Let’s see…

First of all there’s the fact that the Falcons … uh … suck. That’s always a good reason to leave. At 3-10, it’s true that they aren’t as bad as the Dolphins … but, then again, who isn’t (sigh … I miss Dan Marino). This whole season the Falcons level of play has been lower than crocodile piss, and with no improvement in sight, I can’t say I blame him for hitting the road.

Then there is the PETA poster-boy Michael “I love my dog” Vick. Vick has single-handedly destroyed any semblance of a team that ever existed in the Falcons’ clubhouse. He is a lowlife who not only engaged in inexcusable conduct, but constantly lied to everyone about the whole damn thing. Of course, maybe I’m a bit naive in thinking he would be honest about running a dog fighting operation under the nose of the FBI. I guess it was fairly unlikely he was just going to come out and say: “Yeah, I did all that shit. Well, I did give that Nun back her rosary, but the rest of that stuff, it’s all true…”

Ahh, but I digress…

Still, last January (when he took the job with Atlanta), I’m sure Petrino is thinking that he has himself a fine quarterback to build his dynasty with the Falcons. As he was wiping the last little bit of garlic-butter sauce off his lips before leaving “Papa John’s State University“ heading toward fame, fortune, and 21 consecutive Super Bowl titles, I doubt that illegal dog fighting was really on his mind. Funny how things can change quickly sometimes. I guess he didn’t want to be “Like Mike” as much as he used to.

Then, of course, there is the fact that for all but the briefest of moments, the Falcons have been a persistent cellar-dweller in the NFL. They have peopled the underbelly of the league almost the entire time the team has been in existence. Their moment of glory? They have the distinction of being the team that even John Elway and the Denver Broncos could beat in the Super Bowl. (Only took him like 43 tries) I mean, for the love of the Almighty, it wasn’t all that long ago that the Falcons were coached by Jerry Glanville — who actually used to leave tickets to every game at the box office for Elvis. So, it’s not like Petrino is walking away from the Steelers of the 70’s; the 49′ers, Redskins and Cowboys of the 80’s and 90’s; or the modern day Patriots. The Falcons have always excelled at sucking.

Then there is the Nick Saban factor…

Ahh yes, good old Nick “Take the credit at LSU for a championship, go to the NFL and run the Dolphins in the ground while making big piles of money, and jump ship to Bama for even more money so you can lose to the Reformed Buddhist University of Southwestern Pascagoula” Saban. Old Nick has set the standard in carpetbagging (as YMSWWC and 3rd Saturday in Blogtober both point out). He has shown all too plainly exactly how much money you can make this way — sweet crazy piles of money. Ignore the fact that he is an average coach at best (except when he’s playing Tennessee, in which case he looks like the second coming of Ivan the Terrible). As much as I used to really dislike the Ole’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier, I have to give him credit. At least he had the decency to go to the Redskins and take his medicine. His performance at Washington was pretty lousy. Yet, he stayed there long enough to prove that the Redskins’ sucking was not merely a figment of our collective imagination, but was something we could look forward to for years to come. Then after he stayed there long enough to make it look respectable, he left, and sat on the bench for a year before going to South Carolina and Augusta National — he even got to keep all of his piles o’ cash.

Petrino, however, is much more like Nicky-boy — grab the cash and then get the hell out of town. So rather than talk to the owner of the Falcons, he phoned his resignation in. I mean there are still games left in the NFL season (I guess Glanville will be back on an interim basis). Oddly enough, Granny Clampett Holtz did the exact same thing to the Jets back in 1976 — also to go to Arkansas.

Coincidence … or so the Germans would have us think.

Lou “Granny Clampett” Holtz at home with the Family

All my rambling criticisms aside, I can understand completely why Petrino would be dying to go Hog-wallerin’. Still, after the way the Arkansas faithful treated Houston Nutt this past year, he better be careful. It’s one thing to get fired by some overbearing NFL owner for not winning — it’s another thing entirely to take one of those boar tusks the hard way.

— Go Figure … lawvol

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