It's amazing to me that so many Tennessee fans are righteously indignant over Orgeron's recruiting tactics when they didn't have a problem with the manner in which they snagged Nu'Keese Richardson and Janzen Jackson from Florida and LSU this time last year.
I guess it's only dirty recruiting when somebody else does it.
Curious as to what Travis' comments were prior to the Kiffy Leaving Soiree? I have this funny feeling he was like most 10RC fans, "Ol' Kiffy's got em on the run. He ain't afraid of Urban, he beat UGA, He's the man!!!" Funny how they all went to the wall for this Bozo when he "was their man" and now that he's gone they have done a 180 degree. Got to love ol' UT for comedy!!!
ClayTravisBGID "Top 1% of 1% strangles woman, charged with four felonies. Gator DB Wondy Pierre-Louis still on lam, likely beaten deep http://is.gd/6wVnh"
And "My wife is making me clean the house because NPR is coming over to interview me for a story. Somehow I still lose"
I think Clay is kind of a douche, even among lawyers, but I'm with him on this until he gets to item 15: Is this Mike Hamilton's fault?
Unless you lack 20 simultaneously functioning neurons, how can there be any ambiguity about this? This goes way beyond Kiffin's love affair with USC. Lane practically showed up to his interview wearing an "I'm the kind of idiot who will set your program back 5-10 years" t-shirt. This was like when we hired Harrick. The only people not worried were too busy mainlining Kool-Aid.
Here's the other part I don't buy: "Kiffin leaving now actually kept the school from getting in any serious trouble as a result of Lane's antics."
Probably so, but no thanks to Hamilton. Had Hamilton fired Kiffin, then he could be credited for steering UTK clear of the NCAA. But Kiffin left on his own. Had Kiffin stayed put, Hamilton would have inertly allowed Kiffin to walk UT right into the teeth of the NCAA. Clay's argument is basically "Credit Hamilton for hiring a guy who was such a beyond-the-pale shitstain that he was gone before he could get us in any real trouble."
Can't have it both ways. If Hamilton doesn't get the blame, then he doesn't get the credit either.
Anyway you slice it, Hamilton colossally botched the most important thing he's paid to do, and I can't fathom why he should keep his job in the wake of such a debacle. I think the apt comparison is Howell Raines' protection of Jayson Blair at the New York Times, which justifiably cost Raines his job as executive editor.
Other than having its water dosed with crazy pills, I don't know how the UTK AD managed to go from the Majors/Fulmer era to this in the span of a year. If it's not Hamilton's fault, whose is it?
Travis sure came up with all of this stuff in a short time-frame, huh?
I mean, there's no way he would've had all this information on his beloved UT and held on to it, only to pile on Kiffin once he was gone. Right? Right?
I'm not sure why any Dawg fans should be happy...UT got lucky, they got rid of a goon and hired a person of integrity. This move is mot going to help UGA in the long run.
So, after the Jerry Tarkanian of CFB bolts UT, Hamilton hires the football Atticus Finch. Sorry, sure Dooley has apprenticed under some good coaches and sports a law degree to boot, but he's swimming with the sharks now. I don't see anything his resume that spells a winning record at UT. He'll keep the out of trouble, shake hands and kiss babies like a southern gentleman, but that won't put W's on his marker. I think Miss Cleo sees fire and pitchforks on the hill for Derek Dooley, Esq.
If Derek's last name wasn't Dooley, Dawg fans would be laughing at the hire. As you know, Derek went 17-20 in the WAC while having the most ready-access to fertile recruiting grounds (Louisiana and Texas) of any team in his conference. Either he didn't recruit well enough or coach them up well enough. It doesn't bode well for Vol football.
I've seen some Dawg fans post that it will be difficult to root against UT now. Well, not for me.
I'm sure Derek's a nice guy and all, but I don't know him or anyone in the Dooley family (and Derek's just become an instant multi-millionaire), so I have no problems with rooting for UT to reel off a string of 5-7's over the next few years. I understand Vince rooting for his son; I don't understand UGA fans rooting for Vince's son.
As someone who's met Clay and read his work, I can state honestly that he was fairly skeptical of the Kiffin hire early on. At the end of his book On Rocky Top -- which chronicled the misery of UT's 2008 season, of course culminating in the dismissal of Phil Fulmer -- he expresses regret that a loyal UT alum was shown the door, and some degree of worry that an outsider like Kiffin might not be as mindful of UT's heritage or traditions. Which, of course, turned out to be the understatement of the year.
I think I remember Clay saying that he'd had the information on some of Kiffin's douchebaggery for a while, but didn't run with it because it mostly came from a single source (and one within the program at that, who stood to be in some amount of trouble if the info went public). A little self-serving, perhaps, but understandable; we all remember what a frenzy the Vol fanbase was in early on about how ZOMG AWESOME Kiffykins was and how he was so fearless about tweaking every other program within arm's length. Those people would've crapped a collective brick had Clay dared to shatter that illusion, and I dare say he would've never been served a meal in Knoxville again.
Anyway. Probably more information than anyone cared to know, but I don't think there's anything sinister going on here.
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13 comments:
I'm sure glad Clay was able to remind readers he worked at a law firm. Not just any lawyer, a laid-back dude lawyer who plays by his own rules!
Hilarious!
It's amazing to me that so many Tennessee fans are righteously indignant over Orgeron's recruiting tactics when they didn't have a problem with the manner in which they snagged Nu'Keese Richardson and Janzen Jackson from Florida and LSU this time last year.
I guess it's only dirty recruiting when somebody else does it.
Curious as to what Travis' comments were prior to the Kiffy Leaving Soiree? I have this funny feeling he was like most 10RC fans, "Ol' Kiffy's got em on the run. He ain't afraid of Urban, he beat UGA, He's the man!!!"
Funny how they all went to the wall for this Bozo when he "was their man" and now that he's gone they have done a 180 degree.
Got to love ol' UT for comedy!!!
Clay is also a good twitter read...
ClayTravisBGID
"Top 1% of 1% strangles woman, charged with four felonies. Gator DB Wondy Pierre-Louis still on lam, likely beaten deep http://is.gd/6wVnh"
And "My wife is making me clean the house because NPR is coming over to interview me for a story. Somehow I still lose"
I must agree w/ Mr. Travis, a report of kiffy gettin' robbed @ pelletgun point might add a poetic twist of justice to the entire kiffin era.
p.s. florida sucks
I think Clay is kind of a douche, even among lawyers, but I'm with him on this until he gets to item 15: Is this Mike Hamilton's fault?
Unless you lack 20 simultaneously functioning neurons, how can there be any ambiguity about this? This goes way beyond Kiffin's love affair with USC. Lane practically showed up to his interview wearing an "I'm the kind of idiot who will set your program back 5-10 years" t-shirt. This was like when we hired Harrick. The only people not worried were too busy mainlining Kool-Aid.
Here's the other part I don't buy:
"Kiffin leaving now actually kept the school from getting in any serious trouble as a result of Lane's antics."
Probably so, but no thanks to Hamilton. Had Hamilton fired Kiffin, then he could be credited for steering UTK clear of the NCAA. But Kiffin left on his own. Had Kiffin stayed put, Hamilton would have inertly allowed Kiffin to walk UT right into the teeth of the NCAA. Clay's argument is basically "Credit Hamilton for hiring a guy who was such a beyond-the-pale shitstain that he was gone before he could get us in any real trouble."
Can't have it both ways. If Hamilton doesn't get the blame, then he doesn't get the credit either.
Anyway you slice it, Hamilton colossally botched the most important thing he's paid to do, and I can't fathom why he should keep his job in the wake of such a debacle. I think the apt comparison is Howell Raines' protection of Jayson Blair at the New York Times, which justifiably cost Raines his job as executive editor.
Other than having its water dosed with crazy pills, I don't know how the UTK AD managed to go from the Majors/Fulmer era to this in the span of a year. If it's not Hamilton's fault, whose is it?
Travis sure came up with all of this stuff in a short time-frame, huh?
I mean, there's no way he would've had all this information on his beloved UT and held on to it, only to pile on Kiffin once he was gone. Right? Right?
Travis remains a hack.
I'm not sure why any Dawg fans should be happy...UT got lucky, they got rid of a goon and hired a person of integrity. This move is mot going to help UGA in the long run.
So, after the Jerry Tarkanian of CFB bolts UT, Hamilton hires the football Atticus Finch. Sorry, sure Dooley has apprenticed under some good coaches and sports a law degree to boot, but he's swimming with the sharks now. I don't see anything his resume that spells a winning record at UT. He'll keep the out of trouble, shake hands and kiss babies like a southern gentleman, but that won't put W's on his marker. I think Miss Cleo sees fire and pitchforks on the hill for Derek Dooley, Esq.
If Derek's last name wasn't Dooley, Dawg fans would be laughing at the hire. As you know, Derek went 17-20 in the WAC while having the most ready-access to fertile recruiting grounds (Louisiana and Texas) of any team in his conference. Either he didn't recruit well enough or coach them up well enough. It doesn't bode well for Vol football.
I've seen some Dawg fans post that it will be difficult to root against UT now. Well, not for me.
I'm sure Derek's a nice guy and all, but I don't know him or anyone in the Dooley family (and Derek's just become an instant multi-millionaire), so I have no problems with rooting for UT to reel off a string of 5-7's over the next few years. I understand Vince rooting for his son; I don't understand UGA fans rooting for Vince's son.
As someone who's met Clay and read his work, I can state honestly that he was fairly skeptical of the Kiffin hire early on. At the end of his book On Rocky Top -- which chronicled the misery of UT's 2008 season, of course culminating in the dismissal of Phil Fulmer -- he expresses regret that a loyal UT alum was shown the door, and some degree of worry that an outsider like Kiffin might not be as mindful of UT's heritage or traditions. Which, of course, turned out to be the understatement of the year.
I think I remember Clay saying that he'd had the information on some of Kiffin's douchebaggery for a while, but didn't run with it because it mostly came from a single source (and one within the program at that, who stood to be in some amount of trouble if the info went public). A little self-serving, perhaps, but understandable; we all remember what a frenzy the Vol fanbase was in early on about how ZOMG AWESOME Kiffykins was and how he was so fearless about tweaking every other program within arm's length. Those people would've crapped a collective brick had Clay dared to shatter that illusion, and I dare say he would've never been served a meal in Knoxville again.
Anyway. Probably more information than anyone cared to know, but I don't think there's anything sinister going on here.
Paul,
Grantham was on The Rude Awakening this morning and had one heck of an interview. Here's the link: http://www.680thefan.com/archives.aspx?type=1
I think every dawg fan should listen, it's very impressive.
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