Valentino Rossi Italian
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln
With the whirlwind of speculation going on around the resignation of Jim Tressel, what are the bigger lessons for college football programs?
Based on the SI article out yesterday, it looks like one answer is insulate your head coach. I couldn't tell you if the Vest is a control freak, but from the outside looking in, it sure seems like he is. For his new gig selling insurance...or used cars, he needs to learn to delegate.
I am not making light of those decisions or the outcomes. They are very bad on both accounts. However, it isn't hard to make the argument that had Tressel trusted an assistant coach or a director of football programs, he'd still have Gordon Gee picking up his lunch tab on a regular basis. His pleas of ignorance can only work if he has plausibility deniability. You have to have the pretense of not being in the loop to make it work.
The sin of omission is viewed very differently than the sin of commission. When you are the loop, there is no one to kick the smoking gun toward when the police show up. Gene Smith and Gordon Gee are about to prove that point pretty convincingly in front of the NCAA.
I am sure we'll see more about this in the coming days, but it isn't hard to see why blue chip players thought Columbus was such a cool place to play football. Being treated like royalty is hardly unique in a college football town. Being treated like Vince Neal on the Girls,Girls,Girls tour is something entirely different. Not to say it doesn't happen other places (it does), but when you add that context it makes those decisions more understandable.
TD
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Ed. note: After re-reading this, it appears I could be condoning these actions. I am not. I am simply saying Pat Dye and Jim Tressel got into trouble when they took matters too much into their own hands.
Based on the SI article out yesterday, it looks like one answer is insulate your head coach. I couldn't tell you if the Vest is a control freak, but from the outside looking in, it sure seems like he is. For his new gig selling insurance...or used cars, he needs to learn to delegate.
I am not making light of those decisions or the outcomes. They are very bad on both accounts. However, it isn't hard to make the argument that had Tressel trusted an assistant coach or a director of football programs, he'd still have Gordon Gee picking up his lunch tab on a regular basis. His pleas of ignorance can only work if he has plausibility deniability. You have to have the pretense of not being in the loop to make it work.
The sin of omission is viewed very differently than the sin of commission. When you are the loop, there is no one to kick the smoking gun toward when the police show up. Gene Smith and Gordon Gee are about to prove that point pretty convincingly in front of the NCAA.
I am sure we'll see more about this in the coming days, but it isn't hard to see why blue chip players thought Columbus was such a cool place to play football. Being treated like royalty is hardly unique in a college football town. Being treated like Vince Neal on the Girls,Girls,Girls tour is something entirely different. Not to say it doesn't happen other places (it does), but when you add that context it makes those decisions more understandable.
TD
=======
Ed. note: After re-reading this, it appears I could be condoning these actions. I am not. I am simply saying Pat Dye and Jim Tressel got into trouble when they took matters too much into their own hands.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Dawgs to Corvallis
Quick breakdown on the Corvallis regional.
Baseball is a very different game than basketball, but if you see a team seeded 12 in the basketball tournament carrying a 16/1 RPI/SOS facing a bracket that had no better than the 26th RPI and 73rd SOS, you'd probably pick that team to the second weekend, right?
Oregon is a regional host on the strength of their 2.96 ERA, which was third best in the Pac-10. Apparently, West Coach chicks dig pitchers. They stumbled down the stretch, ending on a five game losing streak in which their bats needed hats, only scoring 8 runs in those games.
Creighton didn't put up big numbers anywhere but in the W column. They won the regular season and the MVC tournament championships, ending the season on a 9-1 run. They will be looking to go home to Omaha, where they play some home games at TD Ameritrade Park, the new home of the College World Series.
Georgia didn't do anything particularly well this season. They faced top 50 competition in 45 of their 62 games, garnering 21 wins in those games. They didn't do well on the road, have a pedestrian 4.99 ERA and a less than pedestrian .277 BA. However, win or lose, Georgia won't be intimidated by the competition in Corvallis.
Arkansas-Little Rock is very happy to be here. They have the worse record of any team in the tournament, but got hot at the Sun Belt conference tournament to secure their first bid.
Hopefully, the tough schedule that put Georgia on the bubble will pay dividends in Corvallis.
TD
| Team | W-L | Conf Record | RPI | SOS |
| Oregon State | 38-17 | 21-7 | 30 | 73 |
| Creighton | 44-14 | 24-7 | 26 | 127 |
| Georgia | 31-30 | 16-14 | 16 | 1 |
| UALR | 24-32 | 10-12 | 158 | 83 |
RPI and SOS are from Warren Nolan
Baseball is a very different game than basketball, but if you see a team seeded 12 in the basketball tournament carrying a 16/1 RPI/SOS facing a bracket that had no better than the 26th RPI and 73rd SOS, you'd probably pick that team to the second weekend, right?
Oregon is a regional host on the strength of their 2.96 ERA, which was third best in the Pac-10. Apparently, West Coach chicks dig pitchers. They stumbled down the stretch, ending on a five game losing streak in which their bats needed hats, only scoring 8 runs in those games.
Creighton didn't put up big numbers anywhere but in the W column. They won the regular season and the MVC tournament championships, ending the season on a 9-1 run. They will be looking to go home to Omaha, where they play some home games at TD Ameritrade Park, the new home of the College World Series.
Georgia didn't do anything particularly well this season. They faced top 50 competition in 45 of their 62 games, garnering 21 wins in those games. They didn't do well on the road, have a pedestrian 4.99 ERA and a less than pedestrian .277 BA. However, win or lose, Georgia won't be intimidated by the competition in Corvallis.
Arkansas-Little Rock is very happy to be here. They have the worse record of any team in the tournament, but got hot at the Sun Belt conference tournament to secure their first bid.
Hopefully, the tough schedule that put Georgia on the bubble will pay dividends in Corvallis.
TD
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Diamond Dawgs to Dance?
At this point, it comes down to how much the selection committee likes the schedule Georgia has played and how many of the already announced regional hosts win their conference bids today. Virginia, Florida, Rice and Cal State-Fullerton have already done so. With an RPI of 16 and an SOS of 1 (acording to Warren Nolan), the Dawgs seem to be in good shape. If they make it, their 31-30 record won't be the worse, as Alcorn State is several games under .500. Hell, Illinois won the Big 10 at 26-24. So much for uniform start dates.
Much like men's hoops, The Dawgs are bubbly going into selection day. The SEC locks are Vandy, Florida, South Carolina, and Arkansas. Alabama and Mississippi State are on the bubble with Georgia. LSU didn't make the conference tournament, so they are a very special case.
By my view, they select Georgia and Mississippi State. If they go one more, I think it is LSU, however, 'Bama did go 2-1 against the Tigers. That is why I think the stay out of the mess and leave both teams at home. Either that or take all eight. Obviously, I don't know.
With regional sites announced, the NCAA's penchant for not asking teams to travel too far and no likely conference vs. conference match-ups at the regional sites, we can make some educated guesses about where Georgia will play if they make the tournament. Atlanta and Clemson are the most likely spots, but the Dawgs could be sent to Chapel Hill or Tallahassee, too. A best case scenario would be at Clemson as a 2 seed with Charlotte and Sacred Heart as the third and fourth teams. A worse case would be in Chapel Hill as a three seed with East Carolina as the two seed.
The remaining at-large teams, top-eight national seeds, first-round regional pairings and site assignments will be announced at 12:30, Monday, May 30 on ESPN.
TD
Much like men's hoops, The Dawgs are bubbly going into selection day. The SEC locks are Vandy, Florida, South Carolina, and Arkansas. Alabama and Mississippi State are on the bubble with Georgia. LSU didn't make the conference tournament, so they are a very special case.
| Team | W-L | Conf Record | RPI | SOS |
| Georgia | 31-30 | 16-14 | 16 | 1 |
| Miss St | 34-23 | 14-16 | 23 | 22 |
| Alabama | 33-26 | 14-16 | 36 | 18 |
| LSU* | 36-20 | 13-17 | 23 | 32 |
* I included LSU because the selection committee could take them; there is no requirement they make the conference tourney to play in the NCAA tournament. I just don't think they will select them.
By my view, they select Georgia and Mississippi State. If they go one more, I think it is LSU, however, 'Bama did go 2-1 against the Tigers. That is why I think the stay out of the mess and leave both teams at home. Either that or take all eight. Obviously, I don't know.
With regional sites announced, the NCAA's penchant for not asking teams to travel too far and no likely conference vs. conference match-ups at the regional sites, we can make some educated guesses about where Georgia will play if they make the tournament. Atlanta and Clemson are the most likely spots, but the Dawgs could be sent to Chapel Hill or Tallahassee, too. A best case scenario would be at Clemson as a 2 seed with Charlotte and Sacred Heart as the third and fourth teams. A worse case would be in Chapel Hill as a three seed with East Carolina as the two seed.
The remaining at-large teams, top-eight national seeds, first-round regional pairings and site assignments will be announced at 12:30, Monday, May 30 on ESPN.
TD
If You Can't Spot the Sucker...
You are the sucker.
While I am intimidated by the task of matching the quality work that has been done here before, I am comforted by the reality that I won't reach that level much.
I am an optimistic and ambitious person by nature. While I might not reach the level of writing you have seen here over the past seven years, that won't keep me from working to reach that level. Optimism is what gets your heart stomped flat. Ambition is what gets you rings that you can trade for tattoos and cars in Columbus, Ohio.
In that vein, the Diamond Dawgs' run in Hoover makes me think of the power of optimism. After the loss to Vandy in the opening game of the SEC Baseball Tournament, I thought Perno was in trouble. Putting aside the level of the competition, not showing up for that game, after losing two of three in such heartbreaking fashion the weekend before, was a killer.
However, the heart and fight of the Diamond Dawgs showed optimism, even in the face of long odds, is worth getting your heart stomped flat over. Coach Perno's use of his pitching staff yesterday was masterful. You could say it was out of necessity, but it was masterful. Of course, timely hitting and strong defense makes all coaches look good.
Will the Diamond Dawgs get a bid to play in the regional? I don't know. The selection committee has shown that tough scheduling in a tough conference gets you selected, if you are eligible. The Dawgs got eligible with the run in Hoover. More importantly, they beat top rated teams and played with heart in the second game yesterday. That should get them in.
Do they have enough to make it to Omaha? If they can beat South Carolina and Florida and give Florida all they can handle in the second game of the day, they can beat anyone, anywhere. Seeding and placement is key. Oh yeah, a rain out that gives Palazzone three chances to pitch wouldn't hurt either.
And it looks like Paul has found the sucker.
TD
While I am intimidated by the task of matching the quality work that has been done here before, I am comforted by the reality that I won't reach that level much.
I am an optimistic and ambitious person by nature. While I might not reach the level of writing you have seen here over the past seven years, that won't keep me from working to reach that level. Optimism is what gets your heart stomped flat. Ambition is what gets you rings that you can trade for tattoos and cars in Columbus, Ohio.
In that vein, the Diamond Dawgs' run in Hoover makes me think of the power of optimism. After the loss to Vandy in the opening game of the SEC Baseball Tournament, I thought Perno was in trouble. Putting aside the level of the competition, not showing up for that game, after losing two of three in such heartbreaking fashion the weekend before, was a killer.
However, the heart and fight of the Diamond Dawgs showed optimism, even in the face of long odds, is worth getting your heart stomped flat over. Coach Perno's use of his pitching staff yesterday was masterful. You could say it was out of necessity, but it was masterful. Of course, timely hitting and strong defense makes all coaches look good.
Will the Diamond Dawgs get a bid to play in the regional? I don't know. The selection committee has shown that tough scheduling in a tough conference gets you selected, if you are eligible. The Dawgs got eligible with the run in Hoover. More importantly, they beat top rated teams and played with heart in the second game yesterday. That should get them in.
Do they have enough to make it to Omaha? If they can beat South Carolina and Florida and give Florida all they can handle in the second game of the day, they can beat anyone, anywhere. Seeding and placement is key. Oh yeah, a rain out that gives Palazzone three chances to pitch wouldn't hurt either.
And it looks like Paul has found the sucker.
TD
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