Posts Tagged ‘Rocky Top Talk’

As I mentioned the other day, any of you that have regularly read Gate 21 have probably notice the deafening sound of the silence here for the past month or so.  That silence was prelude to this post.  There is no better way to say it than to quote the words of the legendary John Ward:

It’s Time…

I started Gate 21 in 2007 not really knowing what I was getting myself into.  I really had no concept of what it was that I wanted to do with the site or, in fact, how I would do it.  I just decided one day that I could write a blog as well as the next guy and within 10 minutes, the original version of Gate 21 was live for all to see over at WordPress.com.  Within 2 months, I had over 10,000 visitors and had taken the site to a privately hosted (i.e. I had to pay for it) server and debuted the cartoonish looking site that hung around until mid-2009 when I overhauled the site once again.  You are looking at that version now.

Since that less-than-auspicious beginning in 2007 I have spent literally thousands of hours writing, designing, re-vamping, updating, and otherwise working on producing and publishing Gate 21.  Along the way I have had had the help of many, many, people.  These would include writers HomeSweetHome and VolAmbassador, who have both made major contributions to the site over the past several years.  Then there were others across the blogosphere who have both assisted and collaborated with me on articles, memes, roundtables, Power Polls, BlogPolls, and running jokes.  These would include folks like Ghost of Neyland, MoonDog, LSUFreek, Will, Hooper, and of course—the best of the best—Joel at Rocky Top Talk.  These are but a few of the many with whom I have interacted and with which I have had the pleasure to become acquainted.

Then there are those of you out there across the blogosphere and the wider arc of the internet that have visited my humble site and read a bit of what I had to say.  There are even those of you who have taken the time to leave a comment here and there.  To each and every one of you I offer my sincerest gratitude for more than 2 years of interaction across the divide that is the internet.  I have not always been right about things, I have not always been serious,  I have not always been couth, but I have always tried to be honest about my views and perspectives on the world around me and my love for the Tennessee Volunteers.  All I can say is that these last 2 1/2 years have truly been a pleasure.

All things, however, must come to an end…

Thus, while it pains me on many levels, this will likely be the last post on Gate 21, at least for the foreseeable future.  And, now it is time for the Gate to close.

The thousands of hours that I have spent on this site have been a labor of love, as blogging always is.  While I may have advertisements here on the Gate, the fact of the matter is that I have lost money on this endeavour from the outset.  The cost of hosting the site alone has been substantial.  Yet, this exploration of “Life, the Universe, and the Bounce of the Ball” (Thank you Douglas Adams) has been a welcome and wonderful creative outlet for me, and one which has been far more “therapeutic” than I ever imagined.  And to those of you who have visited and taken the time to comment all I will say is that you never know just how much a single sentence left in the comment box or via Twitter really means to folks like myself who are blogging their lives away.

There’s really nothing that makes a writer feel better than knowing what they wrote was interesting enough that someone felt compelled to respond…

Now, however, the demands of my “real” life are such that I simply cannot maintain the Gate in the way that I have in the past.  It is hard enough to run a site with substantial help and a bevy of free time.  It is next to impossible to do that alone while trying to maintain a job, a family, and some semblance of sanity.  As I have said before, the informational cycle on the blogosphere lasts approximately as long as the attention span of a hyperactive 4-year-old who just ate 5 bags of Skittles and washed them down with three cans of Red Bull, and I simply cannot keep up with that.  My lack of timely comment over the past football season stands as a testament to that reality and one which I simply can no longer ignore.

I know, Frank, shocking isn't it?

These sorts of conclusions are not always fun, but they are necessary.  I think Lieutenant Frank Drebin probably said it best:

Okay, enough of the depressing stuff, now for the good news…

For those of you who have enjoyed my writing—though I am certain there aren’t that many of you—take heart!  I am not abandoning my devotion to Tennessee athletics only to go gentle into that good night.  While I may not be able to justify continuing on here at the Gate, I fully intend to continue writing about the Vols.  Why?  Because, in the words of Clay Travis, I simply cannot imagine not doing it.

Thus, it is my distinct pleasure and honor to announce that, effective immediately, I will be joining on as a writer for the VolNation Blog.  Thus, any of you who wish continue to read my mindless prattling, I’ll still be around.  I cannot overstate how lucky I feel at having the chance to jump on board at VolNation, and I hope to see some of you over there in the near future.  While my time at Gate 21 is now at an end, I am extremely excited about what the future holds in store for me at VolNation.

In the meantime, the Gate will not be disappearing (though, after the next few days, I really won’t be monitoring comments any longer).  It will still be here and you will still be able to send me hate mail via the contact form here on the site, at the email address listed in the sidebar and on the Ushers page, or via Twitter.  For those of you who have subscribed to the RSS feed here at the Gate, you can now follow me via the feed at the VolNation Blog.  The Gate will now take its place among the so-called “dotsam and netsam” that floats across the web.  Everything will stay right where it is—most notably, my tribute to Sam and Andy’s.

As for me, I am on to a new home on the web and new challenges.

So, for the last time, I bid you farewell from Gate 21.  To each of you out there with whom I’ve come in contact as a result of my time publishing Gate 21 over the past 2 1/2 years, I say thank you for reading, best wishes, and Godspeed.  Now, more than ever, I suppose my signature “tagline” seems appropriate.  Thus, I will end this final post as I have ended those that came before it.

Until we meet again … Go Vols!

– So it goes …

Note:  This post is essentially a comment responding to a post by Hooper over at RTT regarding the Brian Butler Saga.  I considered posting some of this as a comment on that venerable site, but opted instead to post my thoughts in an actual article.  Thus, I would encourage anyone reading this post to give the original post by Hooper a look.

For a detailed account of Brian Butler’s exploits in the world of college football recruiting you should check out an excellent article written by The New York Times’ Thayer Evans and Pete Thamel entitled “College Recruiting’s Thin Gray Line,” upon which the author of this post also relied.

Brian Butler has been called many things by many people, not all of them are nice.

Butler is a former rapper and call-center manager, and a seemingly respectable football trainer based out of Wichita, Kansas.  At present, Butler is the principal and operator of the Potential Players recruiting service through which he serves as a self-styled, come-lately, “recruiting adviser” to high school football standouts across the country.  A “gifted” self-promoter, he is also the subject of a recently announced investigation by the NCAA.

Brian Butler working a recruit (NY Times / Simmons)

There are many questions being asked about Butler by many people, especially those recruiting high school standout Bryce Brown (which includes Tennessee).  The fundamental question, however, centers on whether he is essentially seeking to act as a sports agent for players being recruited by college football programs.

For now, at least, there is no definitive answer to this query.

The reason that this is an issue is that Butler has widely taken the position that the only way that college recruiters can speak with high-schoolers that he is “advising” is by going through him.  To many, this appears—at least outwardly—that Butler is serving as an “agent” rather than simply as an “adviser.”

Again, why does anyone care?  Under NCAA bylaws, current and potential student athletes are prohibited from retaining agents, and requires that all prospective athletes undergo an amateurism certification process, which includes, among other things, certifying that the athlete has not agreed to be represented by an agent.  On the issue of agents, NCAA Bylaw 12.3 states that:

An individual shall be ineligible for participation in an intercollegiate sport if he or she ever has agreed (orally or in writing) to be represented by an agent for the purpose of marketing his or her athletics ability or reputation in that sport. Further, an agency contract not specifically limited in writing to a sport or particular sports shall be deemed applicable to all sports, and the individual shall be ineligible to participate in any sport.

• See NCAA Operational Bylaw 12.3.1 (PDF )

The NCAA’s website offers additional guidance stating that:

…a student-athlete (any individual who currently participates in or who may be eligible in the future to participate in intercollegiate sport) may not agree verbally or in writing to be represented by an athlete agent in the present or in the future for the purpose of marketing the student-athlete’s ability or reputation. If the student-athlete enters into such an agreement, the student-athlete is ineligible for intercollegiate competition.

Also, a student-athlete may not accept transportation or other benefits from an athlete agent. This prohibition applies to the student-athlete and his or her relatives or friends.

The term “agent” includes actual agents, runners (individuals who befriend student-athletes and frequently distribute impermissible benefits) and financial advisors.

It is not a violation of NCAA rules if a student-athlete merely talks to an agent (as long as an agreement for agent representation is not established) or socializes with an agent.

• via: Overview of NCAA Bylaws Governing Athlete Agents | NCAA.org

Thus, Butler acting as the only means of communication with a recruit could be troubling and potentially a violation of NCAA rules, hence the NCAA investigation.

This raises a particularly thorny set of issues for high school athletes and their families, college athletic departments, high school coaches, college boosters, the NCAA, and State Legislators.  That’s right, I said State Legislators.

For these reasons, I am personally of the opinion that someone—whether it be Butler, athletes, college institutions, or otherwise—will end up paying for what amounts to an infraction that lies in the proverbial “gray area” of the NCAA’s rules.  A violation in spirit, if not in the letter.  The problem is, however, that whether Butler’s conduct violates many rules or none all depends on the perspective applied to the facts, and for the record, I make no assertion that I know or understand all of the facts.

Still, let’s use a hypothetical to illustrate the complexity of the situation.

Read the rest of this entry »

As I indicated last week, Gate 21 has been given the chance this year to participate in the College Football BlogPoll — a clear sign of the lack of good judgment on the part of the BlogPoll brain trust.

I posted my preliminary ballot late last week with my meager attempt to quantify the merits of the various teams from across the country as we sit at the brink of a new season.

Since then, however, Joel at RTT has taken the BlogPoll to a whole new level through the creation of an algorithm-based analytical computer model which quantifies the ranking of the teams based upon a list of indicators.

Owing to the fact that I can hardly add or subtract (which guided my choice of professions) I am not entirely sure that I understand his new ranking model completely.  Still, it is truly impressive and is really worth giving a look if you are a fan of stats.  Needless to say, it makes my method of assigning rankings — based largely on the clever use of chalk, a tape measure, and a set of lawn darts — look … well … very “quaint.”

Man, and I remember the days when I used to just be able to say “That team looks good…”

– Go Figure …

Image Courtesy of: Just Jay It!

Keepin’ this summertime “love train” going on down the tracks, here’s another shout out to one of the best blogs around — the inimitable Rocky Top Talk…

Rocky Top Talk (or “RTT” as it is often referred to) is pretty much the best of the best in the world of Vol-blogs when it comes to substance and community. RTT really has no match when it comes to serious coverage of everything related to the Tennessee Volunteers.

RTT is constantly updated with news and notes, and has more “breakdown” information than pretty much anybody out there. It has some great regular features, including Blogmaster General Joel’s daily Talking Points, the Animated BlogPolls during football season, and some great stat-ist-ification. In addition to its content, RTT has the best community interaction anywhere in Vol-blog-land — allowing readers and fans to post their own Fanposts and Fanshots, as well as participate in polls, live-blogs, and more. Pretty much, Rocky Top talk has it all, and makes Gate 21 look like the BasketVols under Wade Houston (sigh).

To top it all off, as of this morning, RTT has a new look as it just completed a total facelift from top to bottom — with added features and a really sharp new theme.

So slide on over to Rocky Top Talk and give it a look…

– Go Figure …

Well, as expected, there have been a few surprises in the Tournament so far. I being busy re-modeling my garage have been a bit slow to comment on these (as if anyone cared…). Be that as it may, here are my observations…

• Kentucky Consistency: Despite managing to make something out of nothing, Billy Clyde and the boys in blue have proven in the NCAA Tournament that they still possess the ability down the stretch to demonstrate the quality which helped pave their way to an 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament: the ability to suck the tubes hard when they really have to.

In fairness, however, the Vanderbilt Commodores also proved that — when forced to play on a normally configured basketball floor — they blow.

That’s the last time I take either of them as a longshot in my bracket…

• Pac-10 Power: I don’t claim to keep up with the Pac-10 in anything, but I was under the impression that UCLA, Stanford, and USC were supposed to be simply amazing teams which made their opponents quiver in fear, little children run for their mother, and grown men crap their pants. Apparently, Kansas State didn’t get the memo, and Marquette and Texas A&M all but disregarded it.

News Flash, UCLA is beatable…

• Bulldog Blowout: Despite veritable orgy of wins over the last week leading up to the NCAA Tournament, the Georgia Bulldogs did not achieve the ridiculous and manage to amass more wins in the post-season than they did during the SEC regular season. Nice run, however for the Dawgs, but now the party is over..

So could someone please tell Dennis Felton that Wade Houston called and wants his moustache back?

• The Kevin O’Neill Chronicles: After coaching the Arizona Wildcats all season while Lute Olsen “found” himself (despite the fact that Olsen has to be approaching 70 — or at least looks like it) Kevin O’Neill again gets the shaft as Olsen made it clear that he will now resume his role as head coach. I guess Olsen is done chasing skirt, and can get back to doing his job. I don’t get why Olsen needed a whole season off because of a divorce — Bruce Pearl has actually improved his record during his divorce, and Pat Summitt hasn’t been too shabby during hers either.

Given Tennessee’s experience with O’Neill and his refusal to put up with the Big Dickey’s bullshit (did I say “bullshit?” I meant “bullshit.”), I’d say it’s a safe bet that O’Neill is gonzo, and that right soon. As the only Pre-Pearl / Post-DeVoe coach the BasketVols ever had that was worth a damn, I wish him well. Speaking of which, the SEC schools that are thinking of trading up on their coach could do a lot worse than giving the old “Revco Kicker” a look.

I guess Lute Olsen and the Big Dickey have one thing in common … now O’Neill thinks they are both two-faced jackasses…

• Dookus Go Homeus: Dook took it in the teeth, exactly as I didn’t predict. Oh well, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and UConn already screwed my bracket enough to make Dook’s loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers a game of little consequence. I just hate it that the Belmont Bruins couldn’t pull it out the night before — I was so hoping that the Bruins would give it to Coach Kryezq?r²gxmzrfeykzwGkeeei the hard way, and lay it on the “regal” ACC. Hats off to West Virginia for finishing the job.

As for the boys of Belmont, I know moral victories are like french-kissing your sister (fun at first, but then just damn nasty) but Belmont obviously has a really hot sister. No shame in taking Dook down to the wire, even if you came up one point short. Thankfully, Joel over at Rocky Top Talk didn’t have a coronary or toss his cookies on his keyboard during the 70-71 loss by Belmont…

… if Joel had quit posting due to death or a broken computer I’d have had one less great resource to plagiarize.

• UConn Sucks: But of course I think everyone already knew that…

• In Case You’re Keeping Score: Finally, just to show — like Eliot Spitzer — I am accountable to the people, my bracket is completely shot to hell.

More to come, on the BasketVols, and on everyone else once the rest of the Sweet 16 are confirmed…

– Go Figure …

Images Courtesy of: Loser With Socks, SportsCrack, Georgia Sports Blog, and WildcatsMania

Well, the final brackets are out…

Despite having the No. 1 RPI and Strength of Schedule Rating, the BasketVols were not awarded a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. As Fulmer’s Belly, the Bruce Ball Blog, and 3rd Saturday in Blogtober all pointed out, that sucks. There really isn’t much more to be said about it, and at this point complaining further is — essentially — pointless. It ticks me off, but there’s nothing to be done about it now. I suppose we got one-upped by the “regal” basketball schools. Still as the blogs above point out, along with my man Basilio, any other school with Tennessee’s resume this season would have been a lock. There’s only one thing to do now…

…make them all regret passing us over.

Anyway, you can get a look at the full bracket here, and feel free to print it out to use for your office pool, for writing your grocery list, or for papering a bird cage…

2008 NCAA Tournament Bracket

For those of you out there who have nothing better to do, feel free to join in Rocky Top Talk’s ESPN Tournament Bracket Challenge along with a whole bunch of Tennessee bloggers and other members of the nuthouse. You can learn how by sliding over to RTT and reading Joel’s remarkably well-written instructions on joining in the fun.

Once I’ve had a chance to digest the whole thing, I’ll be posting my bracket so everyone in the blogsphere will be able to make fun of how bad I am at picking winners…

On a completely different note, I’d like to congratulate the Georgia Bulldogs and head coach Dennis Felton on winning the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs showed a lot of heart in managing to bring home the Tournament crown. Best wishes to the Dawgs in the NCAA Tournament.

– Go Figure …

If any of you care (and I doubt you do), you can read my thoughts on the Tennessee – Vanderbilt game over at Rocky Top Talk, as I continue guest posting over there in Joel’s absence (I bet I don’t get invited back for a second go-round, and a Christmas card is completely out).

Anyway, if you want to read, and see my handy-dandy Kevin Stallings fark, just click the link: Lawvol on Tennessee-Vandy.

– Go Figure …