That list apparently includes email, letters, the internet and the telephone. To be fair, Bear Bryant and Wally Butts could've told you that he didn't know how to work a phone...at least not a party line. But I digress.Apparently, Bisher is unfamiliar with those methods of communication and research given that he didn't use any of them to ask Damon Evans, "Why are you using a search firm to hire a basketball coach?" Instead, he wrote a long article stating that UGA shouldn't use a search firm, and "I have no idea how a search firm operates." His entire premise being that Bobby Knight is right there. Why do you need a firm to hire a guy that's just sitting right there.
If he really wanted to understand why we were using a search firm, he could've read his own newspaper. Last week Damon Evans outlined why he was using a firm stating:
Evans was asked why UGA chose to hire the search firm.Or he could've read my site. Or this very thoughtful piece on Parker's web site that explains why search firms are used.
“They’re very reputable in the business,” he said. “They have a strong reputation for the amount of detail they put into the process, how they develop their searches, the people they’ve place, their background checks. They’re able to assist institutions in making a high number of high-level contacts in a short amount of time. And the manner and discretion with which they handle the process is very important.”
Or frankly, he could have just come right and said that he doesn't think Damon Evans is qualified to be athletic director at Georgia. Why hint around it? Just come right out and say, "If he doesn't hire Bobby Knight like I suggested, he's not qualified to be athletic director."
By the way, Furman Bisher is currently 90 years old so it makes sense that he wouldn't find any objection to Bobby Knight turning 69 before the start of next season.
How old is Bisher? His landmark interview of Shoeless Joe Jackson took place 16 years before Bobby Knight became the head coach at Army.
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Update: As LadyQ points out on a hoops message board. It would probably help Bisher to know that his beloved Georgia Tech used the same search firm to hire Paul Johnson.
PWD
(ht - jimfromduluth)
25 comments:
The article is disgraceful in its ignorance and intent.
The coot needs to go.
Here is some serious BS from Bishers blog.
"Frankly, it’s my guess that Evans is fearful of dealing with Bob Knight, though he would be Knight’s boss."
--You've got to be kidding me.
Maybe Evans is simply aware of Bob Knight's raging temper, filthy mouth, and his lack of commitment to his last job.
Why the hell would anyone want him to coach at UGA? Why would an AD want to have a class act like Mark Richt in one office and a loose cannon like Knight in the next?
He's a miserly old codger that runs his mouth off like he invented the game.
He's a lot better sitting behind a desk at ESPN than behind a desk in the UGA Athletic Department.
Bob Knight is/was a great coach, but he wouldn't be great for UGA.
Go Dawgs!
Hey Furman,
UGA doesn't want a coach with a long history of embarassing his schools.
Winning without honor is a great loss.
Damon Evans's strategy: Bring in outside help to make a long list of the most talented and accomplished candidates and then pick the very best one available.
Furman Bisher's strategy: Eh, just hire this old guy because he said he'd take the job.
Yeah, why wouldn't we take sage, well-thought-out advice like that? Apparently Furman married the first girl who ever said "yes" when he asked her out.
Give Furman credit, he knows that the internet is not a truck, but rather a series of tubes that take his words and have them magically appear on his smartbox.
He then ties an onion on his belt.
This is a direct quote from old man Furman himself:
"He went through the required routine, contacted one of those search firms, and a week after the Army-Navy game the search firm called Paul Johnson. The deed was done. No lollygagging."
Article:
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/sportscolumns/entries/2008/02/19/johnson_trusts.html
I mean, really, come on.
He then ties an onion on his belt.
It was the style at the time.
Sonny Perdue was right about the AJC
Furman still thinks that it's the sixties. Why would you not interview people when a perfectly good old white man is available. Hey Bobby Knight likes to hunt and fish, therefore must be qualified to recruit Atlanta players. I think Furman needs to take a walk through the streets of Atlanta and any other major Southern City for that matter and see if his 1960's point of view still stands. He probably still looks for the cops when an African American sits next to him at the lunch counter. I say this because him and my grandfather (a GT grad) were good friends and my granddad was one of the worst people in atlanta in the 60's and 70's. Furman please stop writing opinion articles, because your time has passed. By the way, Damon is doing exactly what you are suppose to do in a mid season fire. You do not go after other coaches during the season, you let recruiters and agents handle it for now.
If Sonny Perdue was right about anything, it was on accident.
Actually I do think Evans is fearful about dealing with Knight.
Fear is not a bad thing; fear often keeps us from doing very stupid things like hiring a guy who has
1) disgraced his country by throwing a Puerto Rican cop/guard into a garbage can
2) berating athletic department employees
3) berating officials on national team and throwing a temper tantrum that would embarass my 4 year old
4) telling the press and his critiques to kiss his ass (classy)
5) punching his players
6) verbally abusing his players (oh, but he stands by and helps so many; Hitler loved dogs, too.)
7) walked out on a job halfway through a season
Fear is not a bad thing. Fear is often that voice in your head telling you not to do something that is going to put you in a bad spot.
The most stunning thing about the article to me is that Bisher thinks his suggestion in a column two weeks ago is OWED AN ANSWER by the UGA athletic department.
"This possibility has been hanging around for several days and all that has come out of Athens is stony silence. Neither Evans nor President Michael Adams has uttered any kind of response."
Seriously? Has this been his experience over his 252 years in journalism? That he writes an article, and the subject of that article swiftly and publicly responds? Either this man has lost his wits, or he is astoundingly self-absorbed. For his sake, I hope it's the former.
"Frankly, it’s my guess that Evans is fearful of dealing with Bob Knight, though he would be Knight’s boss."
Yea Furman, Damon Evans is terrified of Knight. Damon Evans ran routes across the middle in the SEC but I'm sure he is wetting his pants thinking about a geriatric basketball coach with a gut.
Didn't Furman have an article last year about how wrong it was for baseball to open the season in Japan because of what happened in the 40s? Good Lord this guy is a joke, even for the AJC.
onlineathens.com did an article today about our AA. We are sitting on 60 million dollars right now. I think we can afford to go after someone better than BK.
Let North Avenue hire Knight
Mike - they would, but they can't afford him.
My favorite comment from that piece of crap Furman wrote came from SECFan1:
"The only thing Furman wonders about is where he left his teeth."
Somebody at the AJC hide Bisher's stewed prunes again?
You know Terence Moore is going to hate to see Bisher go, because that will leave him as the biggest jackass on the AJC sports staff (Mike Luckovich will always be the biggest dick overall at the paper). The AJC board should just give Furman a puzzle and stick him in an office near the boiler room.
He's pissed about a few other things, too...
http://www.truveo.com/Grumpy-Old-Man/id/288230385409776572
"Mike Luckovich will always be the biggest dick overall at the paper."
Luckovich may, in fact, be a dick. However, he's also hilarious 95% of the time, so he gets a pass. He's the Will Ferrell of political cartoons.
Furman made a big deal out of the 75 grand that UGA was paying to the firm to run the search. Where I come from, that's real money. But, you've got to consider what you're spending it on. When you're going to pay a coach millions, it's doubtlessly worth it to invest some tiny percentage of that amount into finding out if you're paying the right coach. This is a HUGE decision. If it gets messed up, it costs millions and the basketball team still stinks. Spending $75,000 to hopefully help get it right is a no-brainer.
-2 Hitler reference.
It might be time for Parker Executive Search Firm to update the Parker Executive Search Frim website:
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Parker Executive Search helped bring Kelvin Sampson and Indiana together.
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Norman Dale weeps.
Can anyone find a source that states our all-time record vs. Gators in Men's Basketball...I have lunch riding on it...Thanks!
"I am, in no way, campaigning for Bob Knight to be the basketball coach at Georgia"
He says this right before he campaigns for Bobby Knight to be the coach.
Is this the bus to Shelbyville?
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