Does the Prez even UNDERSTAND the BCS?
Once again it is Fearless Friday, Memorial Day Edition. This is where you are free to sound off on any topic, even if it’s non football related.
On a programming note: We’re going to take a break for the holiday weekend and will rejoin you on Tuesday for the annual SEC Meetings in Destin. Given some of the stuff that has happened among the league’s football coaches since national signing day, that first coaches meeting should be a lot of fun.
Until then, here are five burning questions to ponder. Feel free to talk among yourselves:
Does President Obama even UNDERSTAND the BCS? The new president is a pretty smart man but Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany recently told USA Today: “He’s a scholar and a lawyer and a great politician. But I don’t think he understands the complexity of the issue.”
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bigten/2009-05-20-jim-delany-obama-bcs_N.htm
Oh, it gets better.
“It’s very hard to be disagreeable with a popular president, that’s my first thought. The reality is that he has a pulpit and people listen. I think his strength is probably basketball brackets.”
What does this mean? It’s simple. For the longest time the conference commissioners who make up the BCS have simply been on defense. They were convinced—and still are—that the law is on their side.
But we are in a totally different political climate now where having the law on your side may not be enough. So this is another example of the BCS starting to go on offense. Stay tuned.
Does the transfer rule need to be changed? Former Miami quarterback Robert Marve has announced that he will transfer to Purdue instead of Tennessee. Marve started 11 of 13 games last season for Miami but left the program. One of the factors that pushed Marve to Purdue was that if he attended Tennessee he would have to pay his own way for the 2009-2010 academic year. Why? It’s because Miami would not release him from his scholarship to play for any ACC or SEC team. And if a school doesn’t officially release a player, he cannot receive an athletic scholarship from another Division I-A school for a year.
That rule needs to be changed. I still believe that players transferring from one Division I-A school to another should have to sit out a year. But if the kid is willing to sit out a year, I don’t believe his old school should be able to restrict where he transfers. The scholarship contract is already one-sided enough in favor of the school.
What do you think?
Are coaches are going to have to take furloughs, too? Here’s a good piece of reporting by Glenn Guilbeau of the Gannett News Service about how universities, like a lot of businesses, are dealing with tough economic times by asking employees to take furloughs of one or two weeks. Arizona State, Clemson, Maryland and Utah are among the schools that have already implemented furloughs. Others will surely follow.
http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20090518/SPORTS/90517019/1006
There may be some debate about what coaches will be required to do if their university implements furloughs. But if they are smart the coaches won’t say a word and will “donate” a week’s salary to the cause. Politically, you can’t have the academic side struggling to survive and have the athletic side not pitching in to do its part.
LSU’s Les Miles, for example, makes $3.751 million per season as the head football coach. But it is logical that he would have to donate only from this base pay of $300,000, which is the only part paid by the university. The rest comes from other sources.
Does Lane Kiffin deserve a break on the Twitter NCAA violation? Yes. Like all of the football coaches who now have Twitter accounts, Kiffin has somebody to do the actual Tweeting for him. An employee on his first day posted a reference to J.C. Copeland, a defensive end from LaGrange who had just verbally committed to sign with Tennessee next February. That’s a no-no by NCAA rules. You can’t mention recruits by name until they sign on the dotted line. Tennessee self-reported the minor violation, its fourth since Kiffin came on board as head coach.
Expect more of this kind of stuff until coaches become more comfortable with the technology and get the staff up to speed on the complex recruiting rules. I am not ruling out the possibility that the NCAA will eventually put a ban on coaches Tweeting just like they did with text messaging. Like most things that are done for recruiting, this one has the potential to get out of hand.
Will Kentucky will win the SEC—in men’s basketball? I know this a football blog but last week I was in Lexington, Ky., on business and I’ve got to tell you—that place is up for grabs. The excitement level was off the charts about the arrival of John Calipari as head basketball coach. Well, it looks like that $4 million a year is already paying off. Now Calipari has added the No. 1 point guard in America, John Wall of Raleigh, to what was already one of the nation’s top recruiting classes. That just shows you the biggest difference between football and basketball. A dynamic coach can sign one big-time recruiting class and totally transform the program. The downside to that is all of those guys could leave after one year.
Enjoy your holiday, folks. Please be careful. We’ll talk to you next Tuesday from Destin.
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169 comments Add your comment
Steve
May 22nd, 2009
8:40 am
Tony, the key point about Marve is that his father and his high school coach was talking to other schools while he was still under scholarship with Miami. This is the reason why Shannon would not let him transfer to an SEC school. Marve claimed that his father had cancer and wanted to be closer to home. If that is the case why did he not go to UCF or USF? The bottom line is Marve was a brat at Plant HS, and Miami would not put up with his immaturely. I hope he grows up at Purdue, and get his grades in order, but I have my doubts.
Lane "Shirt-Rippin" Kiffin
May 22nd, 2009
8:44 am
My latest signee, Titus “Hubcaps” Hudson just ran a 4.3 40, and that was with an ankle bracelet.
Call 'em like I see 'em.
May 22nd, 2009
8:50 am
Scholarship/transfer rules should be relaxed in cases where a head coach is replaced.
Delaney said pretty much the same thing you did a month or so ago – Football coaches don’t (usually) presume to know much about creating laws, why should those writing the laws expect that they would understand the football landscape? If Obama/Congress want to devote a good chunk of their time to looking into the BCS, that’s fine – but I doubt anyone in DC will have the time needed to look at all the aspects of the issue.
Whyso
May 22nd, 2009
8:55 am
Hearing there will be NCAA news coming from Alabama today about violations. Any truth to this Tony?
Max Sizemore
May 22nd, 2009
8:56 am
“Shirt-Rippin,” that’s a good one.
Mikey
May 22nd, 2009
8:58 am
The Obama administration should have more pressing issues to worry about than college football. If they don’t, folks we are in more trouble than suspected.
GeoffDawg
May 22nd, 2009
8:59 am
As much as I might be offended by the BCS results, it’s a very scary time when you can’t depend on the rule of law. A president that can initimidate preferred stockholders into taking far less than what they’re entitled, can replace the CEO of a major corporation at his whim, and who can “spread the wealth around”, has no business encroaching on the BCS. He doesn’t even have a strong grasp on matters pertinent to his job performance like the economy or national security. Why he thinks his time is better served trying to get up to speed on BCS politics is beyond me.
CharlotteGator
May 22nd, 2009
9:04 am
Sorry, but I can’t give any credence to anything out of Delany’s mouth. This is the same guy that said the only reason the SEC is faster/better than the Big Ten is because of lax admission standards in the SEC. Guy is an idiot and has no idea what he’s talking about. Maybe he should focus on counting the actual amount of teams in his conference, attempting to field one team that can compete w/ the country’s elite, or maybe even sitting down and shutting up.
AtlantaCane
May 22nd, 2009
9:07 am
Tony: Marve was restricted from transferring to FLorida, LSU and Tennessee only. The other 9 SEC programs were in the clear. The Hurricane coaching staff placed UF, LSU and UT off limits because they felt there had been tampering (read: discussions) during the ‘08 season involving some combination between Marve, and/or his former HS coach and/or those three schools. The fact UM said no to other ACC schools is a policy other schools have followed in the past. Originally, UCF and USF were also on the list and that’s because UM has them on their schedule. But after Marve’s father told the media he was quite sick and needed his son to play near their Tampa home Miami released those two schools. Even so, the Marve camp still complained (my guess is they wanted UF). So what happens? Marve ends up going to Purdue which is some 1,000 miles from Tampa with Tennessee, about 700 miles away finishes second. I hope the best for the young man, but you won’t find many UM fans, if any, who are upset that he’s gone. The right guy (Jacory Harris) stayed behind and we’ll be better for it sooner than later. Thank you. Go Canes!
AUtiger
May 22nd, 2009
9:08 am
I cannot wait for the NCAA to make it’s announcement about Alabama. I heard it could happen any day now, if it happens today that would really make for a great memorial day weekend.
GATAEagle
May 22nd, 2009
9:10 am
It’s long past time the BCS took their own actions to balance this out with a playoff system, if it takes Obama pressuring them with this talk about wasting Congress’ time about it, then I support him. If Obama and Congress actually have to act then both groups are more idiotic and irresponsible than I had previously given them credit (and that’s a big leap).
GeoffDawg
May 22nd, 2009
9:18 am
I honestly don’t want to get involved in a political debate here today and would rather focus on football. One thing that needs to be said though and if it offends some, so be it. It is not the president’s job to micro-manage the country. We have the legislative branch to pass laws and the judicial branch to interpret those laws. That’s why we have separation of power in government for those checks and balances. I don’t want a president that can swoop in and just change something at his leisure just because it’s politically unpopular at the time. We used to be governed by a king and that didn’t work out so well.
Tony Barnhart
May 22nd, 2009
9:24 am
AtlantaCane,
Thanks for the clarification on Marve. I still think the rule should be changed.
Been hearing for a month that Alabama is going to hear something else from the NCAA. But I haven’t heard it from somebody who really knows.
CRIMSON RULES
May 22nd, 2009
9:31 am
HEY autigger tell us MORE! Inquiring mind’s want to know !! I LOATHE BARNNER LOGIC& need a good laugh!!
SEC fan
May 22nd, 2009
9:32 am
Tony,
UT just had their strength coach quit. He was on board 6 months and his salary was $190K. That is now 11 full scholarship players and a newly hired and well paid coach. Seems there is something much bigger than Twitter Gate and shirt ripping going on at UT. The coach worked for Spurrier before UT so he was use to working for a demanding personality. Why all these guys leaving? At what point will the media start asking questions about the exodus? 6 months – 11 players, 1 newly hired coach – something really strange here!
bigdawg01
May 22nd, 2009
9:32 am
AUtiger:
You better hope for more than the NCAA. It is not looking good for Auburn for the foreseeable future. You should also hope for T-town falling into a big sink hole, or perhaps a freak lightning storm that hits Saban in the face??? Too harsh, i was just thinking like i was an AU fan.
Happy Memorial Day to all, have a safe weekend!
PMC
May 22nd, 2009
9:35 am
The President has been making up the law as he goes since he’s been in office. I suggest the commissioners watch thier tone or they will have thier own government oversite to deal with.
Bamafan
May 22nd, 2009
9:38 am
All the kitty cat fans don’t worry about the crimson tide slap on the wrist with the NCAA. The real problem is how is the cow college going to stop Saban and the crimson tide in the recruiting wars!!
Your tiger prowl ride around the state is not working and I think that Saban and company will make
Auburns limo stunt look really silly!! Everybody have a great weekend including the kitty cat fans!!
GO BAMA ROLL TIDES!!
NCAA Official
May 22nd, 2009
9:46 am
U.S. Presidents should not be messing with us. The only good news about the Obama comments regarding the BCS is that at least we now have a President that can spell both BCS and NCAA.
quaildawg
May 22nd, 2009
9:47 am
Why asked Obama? Who you really should be asking is the Teleprompter!!!
Obama just doesn’t seem to be the football type. Soccor version maybe but FOOTBALL nope.
Max Sizemore
May 22nd, 2009
9:48 am
I heard Monte Kiffin speak at the Orlando Nike Coach of the Year clinic on March 1, and he is a nutcase. Very enthusiastic, and he must be a great coach (Tampa two coverage), but still a little nuts. I’m not surprised his son is a chip off the old pistaccio.
Corrine Brown (D) FL
May 22nd, 2009
9:52 am
I be back, Baby.
Sure been busy wit all dis governmentalism. Who be the NCAA? Do they know Corch Meyers?
It is CLEAR, that the Gator is superior. Corch Meyers, and Percy Harvey: I hopes you have a nice labor day!
GO GATOR!
Bravedawg
May 22nd, 2009
9:52 am
TONY,
The coaches are safe from imposed furloughs because they are on contract. However, I do agree with your sentiment that they should volunteer that money to go back to the school. Additionally, I think your distinction between “base salary” and “total salary” is important. I don’t think many people realize that the numbers you hear on the news (2.8 mill/year, 3.5 mill/year, etc) are not the base salary for these coaches. Of course, their base salaries are still exorbitant, but not quite as much as most would think.
TIM BROWN
May 22nd, 2009
9:55 am
Does anyone really understand the BCS?
AUtiger
May 22nd, 2009
9:58 am
Bammers, the SEC is a tough football conference. It makes it even harder when your competing with crooked programs like Alabama. It’s about time you go back on probation, you’ve only been off it for a few years now.
David Basham
May 22nd, 2009
10:00 am
Jim Delaney and the Big Ten might be “going on the offense,” but they’re going to find out, sooner rather than later, that the worst thing you can do to a highly-educated person such as the President is to claim that the issue is “too complex” for them to understand.
It’s really not. Well over half the bowl games are meaningless competitions. Yes, they energize the fan base, give the respective programs a few extra weeks of practice and can serve as a launching pad to the next season — but all of that would still be the same if there were a 4 or 8-team playoff.
Also, let’s be clear: It’s not just the President who is asking for a playoff, but Congress as well. It’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when. Perhaps Delaney should focus on un-screwing up the Big Ten’s shortened schedule that has the conference out of sight and out of mind during the first week of December.
Finally, to merge two of your topics: Does Lane Kiffin even understand Twitter? ‘Cause he sure doesn’t seem to understand NCAA rules, and this is just the stuff that is getting ink in the press. Makes me curious as to the other shady stuff he’s likely already involved in that hasn’t seeped to the surface yet.
AUtiger
May 22nd, 2009
10:06 am
I don’t know the difference between your & you’re, but I know Bama be crooked!
dgroy
May 22nd, 2009
10:08 am
OK, I’m gonna add my two cents worth about a 1-A Football Playoff. I’m old and I’ve been a college football fan for many, many years but, I’ts gotten too big folks…..green is great but greed is awful and that’s what college football has become…..extremely greedy….and that’s the only reason that a playoff hasn’t happened yet. I know some of you are gonna blast me, so go ahead.
TommyP
May 22nd, 2009
10:11 am
Tony: PLEASE post a blog pertaining to what happens when all of these “minor violations” accumulate. What does the NCAA do?
Nobody knows. And honestly….between you and Dick Vitale, I don’t know whom protects their respective sport at the expense of responsible journalism.
spider
May 22nd, 2009
10:11 am
we do not elect and pay for those people to go to washington dc too waste time and OUR money too worry about sports..its make me sick everytime i hear about a congressman worrying about a BCS problem or a pro athlete on steroids..they need too worry about how to bail out what used to be middle class people who now poor people
wisdom
May 22nd, 2009
10:14 am
obama is a damn fool….impeach him…what the hell does know about anything much less football.
Tech Fan Since 1950
May 22nd, 2009
10:14 am
Tony, the law is on their side? When will you and the elite commissioners ever learn that the BCS is a complete fraud. The NCAA is the legitimate governing body for college sports. Why then is there not a BCS for basketball, baseball, softball, tennis, golf,volleyball, etc. (you get the picture?)? President Obama deserves great praise for advocating a national play-off system. It is about time “MR. COLLEGE FOOTBALL” got onboard too! One gets the impression that President Obama knows more about college athletics than some of the athletic directors and writers that cover the sports.
JayD
May 22nd, 2009
10:15 am
The president might just be a fan – Don’t you all have jobs? Can’t you work in any industry or field, and have an opinion on CFB? Also, the NCAA is NOT made up of former coaches, players, or people connected to sports om any way shape or form. They don’t have any special knowlege about football that the rest of us don’t have – Doesn’t take a genius or a president to figure out that going undefeated and having no chance to at least compete for a championship is unfair – Even to a HUGE UGA/SEC fan!
spider
May 22nd, 2009
10:16 am
i totally agree with you dgroy, i am old too and have been a huge college sports fan all my life, i dont like the idea of a playoff or the BCS, but i realize im in the minority, thats why i go to GA TECH games and SDSU aztecs games, i’ll never have to worry about either of their football teams being involved in this mess
AltamahaDawg
May 22nd, 2009
10:21 am
Jim Delaney or Barack Obama. Yea, some options we got there!
Huh?
May 22nd, 2009
10:24 am
Does the President understand the BCS? The fact that this question even has to be asked proves what an absolutely laughable system we have. This is freaking football for God’s sake, not the Taliban-Pakistan conflict. Why do we have a system that not even the President of the United States can understand? Tony, do you not see the insanity of this? What a joke.
Coach O
May 22nd, 2009
10:30 am
Huh?
What time is that Taliban-Pakistan kickoff? I might have to keep my shirt on if I go to that game.
John McCain
May 22nd, 2009
10:32 am
Wisdom,
Obama is a vast improvement over the illiterate he replaced. You need to change your post name to IDIOT.
Steve
May 22nd, 2009
10:33 am
Tony:
Did I not say the same thing as Atlantacane said? Thank for reading.
P.S.:
I am surprised you did not say anything about ESPNU coming to Comcast. It’s about time..
Miles
May 22nd, 2009
10:34 am
Mr. Barnhart, your thoughts regarding the Marve situation are absolutely true. Rather than furloughs, maybe schools can raise money for their programs in the way the UNLV just did, i.e., scheduling a butt kicking at Morgantown, WV in 2010 for $750,000! As it relates to the BCS, Obama is pressing for the same thing all honest college football fans want: FAIRNESS!
Got 12?
May 22nd, 2009
10:34 am
The NCAA has not made an announcement regarding BAMA but ESPN has:
The game against Virginia Tech will air on ABC at 8PM on September 5. Accordingly, Atlanta will probably host College GameDay.
Eric
May 22nd, 2009
10:38 am
Hey pigdawg, I think things are looking up for Auburn. We’ll see. As for our new president, I’m convinced that he understands most things much better than most people. And I know for a fact that he understands everything much better than the moron who just spent eight years trying to destroy the country. I doubt Bush could even spell BCS.
WDE!!!
Tide rising
May 22nd, 2009
10:40 am
AUtiger,
Give it a rest dude. If Bama gets hit with anything at all it will be 2-4 scholarships lost over 2 years and a year of probation. The only thing that will actually hurt will be being back in the 5 year window.
As for the institution itself or rogue boosters cheating you should learn the facts of the case. All that happened is that several athletes figured out how to game the textbook distribution system so that they could get some free textbooks to help out friends or girlfriends. That’s it. No money changed hands, no competitive advantage was gained, its not as if the school itself was cheating. The school discovered the problem, self reported immediately, punished the athletes involved and the bookstore manager who wasn’t minding the store so to speak.
BTW, the ole people in glasses houses throwing stones definitely applies to you. Auburn along with one another sec school I won’t mention is tied for 3rd most major NCAA infractions cases with 6. Alabama has had 2 but we just remember both of them because they both happened in the 90s and the actual punishment for the second case was handed down in 2002.
Normally from past history athletes gaming the textbook distribution system is a 2ndary violation so I wouldn’t get my hopes up to much if I were you. You should spend more time worrying about Auburn rebuilding its program than hoping Bama gets probation. Its pathetic that you more elated about Bama having issues with the ncaa than about anything Auburn has going on.
DirtyDawg
May 22nd, 2009
10:50 am
Where do I start…how about with the last one…dgroy: Of course college football is driven by greed (aka, money-making machine). What isn’t? After all, it’s The American Way. I still say that any playoff system that dramatically alters the bowl structure, and the dozens of communities that have come to rely on both the timing and the existence of a football game for the success of their local festivals/tourism promotion, isn’t worth the aggravation. So you end up with one or two schools claiming that they could have ‘gone all the way’ if they had been given a shot at it? If you do away with the bowls as we know them, then 25 or so teams, and their fans, don’t go home happy, with coaches keeping jobs and athletic departments getting season-ticket renewals. I say, at most, you add a ‘plus-one’ game or leave it alone.
So Lane Kiffin should be given a ‘break’ for ‘tweet-gate’? Why the hell not? After all, in keeping with his ‘hard-nosed’ approach as outlined in the SI article of some months ago, the ‘assistant’ that actually ‘twittered the tweet’ has undoubtedly been fired by now (I mean he fired the guy responsible for seeing to it that he had a limo waiting for him at the Knoxville airport but was 30 minutes late picking him up – man what an inconvenience – ruin the guy’s life so I can send a message that I’m a hardass so you better measure up)…so this guy’s got to be toast.
Combining the comment about kids being restricted as to what schools they can transfer to…or if they have to sit out a year…or how to deal with those that ‘commit’ for some time in the future like the one UT has been ‘tweeting their T’ about, just what will Mr. Kiffin say to, or about, this kid when he sees Tennessee imploding next fall and decides that, just maybe, he let this hair-brained, big-talking, hot-shot, hot-box him into a pre-mature decision? And while I’m on it, Mr. Hewitt at Tech has thanked Georgia for the gift of the recruit that the new Georgia coach, and the school, made to Tech by, I assume, not restricting where the kid could go once he decided that he’d rather be at Tech (and paying his own way) and playing for one losing coach instead of that other one that just got fired at Georgia Am I to assume that Hewitt, and Tech, wouldn’t have been so generous if the shoe had been on the other foot? I mean the last ‘gift’ Tech made to UGA was Reggie Ball and/or Chan Gailey, which I doubt they’re willing to repeat. Of course, if would also mean that Hewitt would no longer be there so I suppose the question is superfluous.
That ought to be enough to get us through to Tuesday.
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
10:50 am
First, Obama demands for a college playoff. Second, he demands for gas mileage and emission standards change, which completely changes what kind of cars we’ll be driving a few years from now. When exactly do we start calling America a socialist country? After the health system reform?
All of this sickens me. I don’t understand why people are praising Obama like he’s the second coming.
DirtyDawg
May 22nd, 2009
10:55 am
Hey ‘wisdom’…change your nom de plume. We’ve got enough laughable frauds around here as it is…not me of course.
Politics to the right of Attila the Hun
May 22nd, 2009
11:00 am
Eric,
You be right. Obama is da man. Overall, he took the deficit that Bush left us and did such a good job that he was able to quadruple the deficit in 90 days and add another 10 trillion to the debt. That makes him be 4 times as good as Bush at piling debt onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.
But don’t you worry. All he got to do is be going to the Chinese and bow down to them the way he bowed down to some 2 bit Arab oil sheik and beg them to buy more of our debt. You would think the Chinese would love making interest off our debt. The interest alone on the debt now stands at 830 billion per year. It almost be a trillion dollars a year. Thank you Mr. Obama.
Also, if Obama stand there and let banana republic dictators like Daniel Ortega and Hugo Chavez give the US a verbal beatdown for 45 minutes in front of the whole world then maybe Obama can meekly get them to buy more of our mountainous debt.
Maybe the French president Sarkozy who remarked about Obama inexperience and lack of knowledge can also buy mo of our debt. Maybe the other European leaders who also snickered about Obama incompetence can also buy more of our debt.
Obama also really good at blaming Bush for everything and diverting attention to the deepening crisis rather than being a man and accepting the obvious fact that his economic policies are simply making things worse. But he be good at blaming Bush. He do that better than anybody.
And another thing. Dis man rules with a teleprompter. Had you ever seen a man give such pretty speeches. Show me one man that do better with a teleprompter. Dat right! Nobody better with a teleprompter than Obama. Bush sucks with a teleprompter. Oh, wait a minute. He didn’t use one. Dat right dere prove how dumb Bush be. I hope Obama can fix the bcs the way he fix the debt. I’ll take his pretty speeches and emotional rhetoric over substance any day.
Chris
May 22nd, 2009
11:05 am
While the BCS has in theory brought us a #1 v #2 championship game, it’s rendered the other major bowls meaningless exhibitions. I know it’s ludicrous, but if we can’t have a real playoff, going back to the way it was would at least make the other four matchups compelling again.
And calling Obama or Tony an ‘idiot’ is what drags so many blogs into the gutter. Whether you agree with their opinions or not, juvenile bile like that takes any credibility out of a post.
Objective commentator
May 22nd, 2009
11:07 am
Hey GeoffDawg,
Re: “We used to be governed by a king and that didn’t work out so well.”
Do you mean King George the 43rd?
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
11:14 am
Objective commentator:
….how did Bush act like a king in order for you to respond like that? All I know is that the Patriot’s Act, which is probably the best thing he signed, is saving lives of thousands of Americans and tourists. What has Obama done? Kill more babies?
Attila the hun
May 22nd, 2009
11:17 am
King Obama fix everything. He learned those preferred stockholders that the UAW is far more important than the law. Obama can simply ignore the law and make those greedy preferred shareholders who have a legal right to get paid first take a back seat to what Obama wants. That what make Obama a king. Or at least a dictator right? If he can just arbitrarily circumvent the law and do what he want then what’s the difference I ask? I mean really. What the difference?
Obama doing a good job running that car company. He sliced the advertising budget in half. One can only assume Obama has a marketing degree and knows far more about advertising and its effectiveness then those fools in the marketing and advertising dept at that car co. What the hell do they know anyway?
whitx2
May 22nd, 2009
11:18 am
AUtiger
Where does auburn stand on the alltime cheating list? Wouldn’t you rather beat your rival on the field than have the ncaa do it for you? Sorry, i forgot, you’re one of the new breed of AuburnGatorUteEagles, right?
Objective commentator
May 22nd, 2009
11:18 am
Politics to the right of Attila the Hun,
Apparently, your politics include racism.
Objective commentator
May 22nd, 2009
11:19 am
The politics of hope, promise and conscience trump those of fear, division and expedience every time!
Objective? Hmm, not so much
May 22nd, 2009
11:20 am
Obama is socialist…you can divert attention away from that fact by blaming Bush, but it doesn’t change what [terrible] events are transpiring in Washington right now.
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
11:21 am
Right. We didn’t vote for Obama, so we’re racists. I see the logic. Makes total sense. (sarcasm)
DirtyDawg
May 22nd, 2009
11:22 am
Hey PTC Jacket, all it means is you’ll have to trade in your car, or is it truck, in seven years…or maybe they’ll be ‘grand-fathered in’ in which case you won’t even have to buy another bumper sticker. So this is Socialism, uh? If so I’ll take a little, common sense, Socialism over the ad-hoc, laissez-faire , no leadership, approach that’s gotten us into this mess and mire. And if moving to a sensible healthcare system, like the rest of the civilized world seems to have, that provides better results at a lower price, makes you sick, then let’s just hope that you don’t choke on your own vomit…then again, since that’s how bees make honey, go right ahead, feel free.
RB
May 22nd, 2009
11:22 am
If you guys are knocking Obama after Delany’s comments, you’re missing the boat. There’s nothing complex about the BCS, it’s a crock. Delany is just trying to protect the 18 million spread around his conference. That’s the 18 million they get for sending teams (Ohio St / Illinois) that can’t compete at the highest level of college football. NCAA football is business. Business is not complex, just follow the money.
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
11:22 am
Objective commentator:
The politics of hope, promise and conscience trump those of fear, division and expedience every time!
———————–
Yeah, try telling that to the terrorists in the Middle East that are conspiring another attack on America. Too bad that policy didn’t work for Clinton, otherwise we wouldn’t have had 9/11.
Objective? Hmm, not so much
May 22nd, 2009
11:24 am
Hold on PTC Jacket…Objective is waiting on the teleprompter to make his rebuttal! LOL
Sharecropper
May 22nd, 2009
11:25 am
Who died and made coaches god? If a coach can change schools at will — Kiffin, Johnson, et al — why can’t a player? If a pro-set passer is recruited by a pro-set coach, and that coach leaves after a couple of years, and an option coach is hired, the pro-set guy is now toast. His career is effectively over. If he wants out the new coach can tell him where he can’t play, and the NCAA will tell him how many years of eligibility he will lose, and if he stays he will never play, while the new coach is looking for a sellable reason to yank the scholarship. The player is helpless. But remember: America is the land of the free.
Will
May 22nd, 2009
11:25 am
Obama is going to fix the BCS like he is going to fix GITMO. Oh wait, he doesn’t have a plan for either.
Objective commentator
May 22nd, 2009
11:26 am
Girls, girls!
The ugly truth is that we’ve been a social democratic (read that: hybrid socialist) nation for over a hundred years!
You political Chicken Littles need to stop watching Faux News and try thinking for yourselves, rather than being Limbaugh Lemmings.
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
11:28 am
Yes, we’re aware of the socialism/democratic hybrid. We don’t want to go ALL the way to socialism, like Europe. Get it now? You must be a genuis.
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
11:28 am
Dirty Dawg: No. I own a Mercedes that gets 26 mpg, which is good for a 2002 model. I don’t want to trade all of that hard working money in for an even more expensive car that’s going to be made out of tin and aluminum and plastic and crinkle like paper when it gets involved in an accident. Obama’s plan just doesn’t make sense, because it’s going to end up costing us more money. Electric bills are going to be high. Gas stations all over the country are going to have to be modified for the new electric/gas hybrids. More electricity means more coal and fossil fuel, right? How is that supposed to help the environment? The only way we can help the environment is by either going back to horses and carts (which the democrats would probably find a way to say that the horses’ crap hurts the ground and is bad for earth) or we find supersonic cars/planes like in the Jetson’s.
DawgGirl32
May 22nd, 2009
11:28 am
OMG I think we can all get a laugh out of this. Please look at Mark Sanchez’s photo shoot for GQ and just laugh. What a d-bag.
http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_9297
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
11:31 am
Sanchez is allowed to wear that since he isn’t old, wrinkly, and pale.
CelticMan
May 22nd, 2009
11:32 am
Tony:
1. I am gonna have to disagree with you on Twitter. If Pete Carroll is not doing his own then someone has a full time job just doing that for the USC coach http://twitter.com/PeteCarroll
2. Has the SEC Media days been scheduled yet? The day Lane Kiffin has to go in front of the mics is must see TV. I can even see Alabama fans at the Galleria trying to bait him into saying or doing something unsmart.
3. The biggest issue aside from the BCS not being on the offense is the messengers. Jim Delaney and college presidents are not the most popular spokesmen nor do they connect well with ordinary fans like coaches. Given coaches generally speak in favor of a playoff (especially good coaches) and the simple logic this is a slam dunk for Obama.
4. The biggest reason why I think Obama pushes this playoff issue is in line with what I said above regarding University Presidents. It helps him identify with oridinary fans and given his Ivy League education it really works for him. Many blue collar voters sees his Ivy league education and feels a bit of a disconnect. Especially given his not so wise “cling to” speech last year he is clearly on the guard here. With Obama on the opposite side of the “pointy heads” on the BCS, this is a perfect issue for our President to show he is not just an Ivy league educated lawyer. This at least gives the perception that he will not blindly side with elite academia. Given more salient and controversial issues like stem cell research and whether or not the military can recruit on campus which are not popular with a lot of his working class base this political tactic really works for him.
Objective commentator
May 22nd, 2009
11:32 am
PTC Jacket,
Attila’s post:
“You be right. Obama is da man.”
“But he be good at blaming Bush. He do that better than anybody.
“Dat right”
Does political opinion need to be written in such a way as to insult all African Americans?
Or was Attila’s intention otherwise?
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
11:35 am
No, that could also be pointed towards the younger generation’s language, who were known for appraising Obama because he’s “da man.” You obviously didn’t have a good argument for his post, because you had to find “racism” in it and pull that card. Really low blow.
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
11:36 am
With all due respect, I value your opinion, but please don’t be like most of the democrats and pull the racism card whenever you can.
Objective commentator
May 22nd, 2009
11:37 am
PTC:
A study by a university in England recently cited many of those European countires you speak of as places where the happiest people in the world reside.
They’ve less worries about medical coverage, exceptional public schools, first rate social and public services and secure retirement.
And for the record, those societies are all socially democratic.
There are no pure socialist countries in Western Europe.
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
11:41 am
Do those countries also have a 30% unemployment rate? Honestly, if we wanted to live there, we would have moved there. Did you know that there was also a research done recently that showed that old, white republicans are the happiest? I honestly think both of those research studies are BS.
Whyso
May 22nd, 2009
11:47 am
Hearing there is more than books involved at bama. Couple of new cars were mentioned. Also wasn’t 2 car dealerships just raided in the area and their books seized.
DirtyDawg
May 22nd, 2009
11:51 am
Damn, just when I was ready to blast all you guys, ‘Objective commentator’ comes along and introduces a little common sense into the back and forth. So I suppose that my plan to tell PTC Jacket to go straight to effin hell, is probably no longer necessary..oh, what the hell. PTC – cram it up your yellow and black striped a**. This country is moving on despite the backward bigots that seem to reside, and post, around here. By the way, about that 9/11 reference…you forgot to include the 2001 part of it. Clinton and his people were all over OBL. For months and months Richard Clarke begged your boys (and that girl) to, at least, take a look at the evidence, up to, including and after the Aug 6 briefing where the briefer was admonished by Bush with an ‘OK, now you’ve covered your ass…what time is recess?’ I guess I’ve come to understand, and accept, that this state is full of people as prejudiced as you…what I can’t understand is that you’re still so proud of it. Obviously, your mommas and daddies didn’t teach you any better – guess they just taught you their own warped sense of right and wrong.
Objective commentator
May 22nd, 2009
11:51 am
When the Republicans took control of Congress in 2001, we had a $155 Billion surplus.
When Obama took over, there was a $1.5 Trillion deficit.
Not to mention our national deficit went from 5.7 Trillion to 11 trillion in the same period.
HOW can you sing the praises of a party that abandoned its core in the name of political expedience?
The Banking Sector, Wall Street and Detroit are in the shape they’re in because of a complete lack of fiscal discipline and responsibility coulpled with an utter absence of oversight and regulation.
The legislation implemented after the Graet Crash of 1929 has been eroded in the name of your precious Free Market economics.
Those laws and regulatory bodies were put in place to prevent the evry mess in which we now find ourselves.
Those who do not learn from their mistakes are destined to repeat them.
The President seeks a return from the reckless abandon of Free economics to that of controlled, sustainable growth, just as the governor on your lawn mower engine prevents it from over-revving itself into the junkyard.
Layla Is A Gator!
May 22nd, 2009
11:52 am
Well hello everyone, as you all know, it’s a beautiful day in Knoxville… and as many of you know I just got here recently with my three little ones. Hope many of you saw the pictures and video of our happy reunion! The girls looked nice in their outfits, but you don’t know how many times I had to wash those clothes plus a whole bottle of Clorox to get them that color orange! Anyway, thanks to so many of you who sent me the nice cards and graphic pictures. Everyone here has been so nice, especially those three guys I got stuck in the elevator with the other day! They all wanted to see my Teebows, good thing I didn’t have any on! And all the coaches are very friendly, Coach O does that funny thing with his tongue every time he sees me, makes me laugh. And the basketball coaches have been nice too, Bruce says he can’t wait to give me a “Pearl” necklace and Pat says she wants to serve me up some hott steaming “pie”. Speaking of pie, guess one thing I’m going to have to adjust to here is the food culture. The other night, Lil Lane and I went to a brand new restaurant that only serves RC Cola and moonpies prepared 15 different ways! I’d say unusual, although the “filet of moonpie” wasn’t too bad. Haven’t had RC Cola in a while, it’s funny how they like to put peanuts in everything up here. The owner of the restaurant came out to introduce himself, his wife and his sister though there was only one woman standing there(?). And everybody seems all a twitter about Lanes latest violation but Lane just laughs it off. Like he says all the time, Rules, Smules! Anyway, until next time…tootles from Tennessee!
DirtyDawg
May 22nd, 2009
11:57 am
Boy, Barnhart knew what he was talking about when he said this would keep us busy til next week. Sports and politics…that’ll do it every time.
Attila the hun
May 22nd, 2009
12:01 pm
PTC Jacket and objective commentator,
The posting was purposely done in Ebonics for a number of reasons.
The primary reason was of course to elicit a response and see if people like objective commentator would address the real issues such as the national debt or address the not so thinly veiled racism. Of course he attacked the racism as he should but didn’t address the meat of the argument.
The other reason I posted that is just curiosity. There are indeed some African Americans who do speak that way. Is objective commentator stating that its racist to mimick the actual way that some people speak? After all, some people do speak that way. Isn’t it racist of him to look down on the way some people speak? Isn’t that racism? Isn’t it racist for you to look down on the way some people speak just because they don’t speak proper English? For all he knew I could have been an African American who speaks and writes poorly but is conservative in his views. Objective commentator just assumes and yes, he even stereotypes and believes that any African American who speaks or writes poorly is automatically a liberal Democrat. Talk about pigeonholing people.
Another reason is that I knew it would elecit a response and an attack on the racism of the post. I’m just curious if the poster also decries Obama when he plays racial politics. Does he object when Obama writes in his book “White man’s greed ruins a nation in need”. Does he object to Obama attending a race baiting, hate mongering, anti-whitey church for 20 years and then claiming he didn’t know his pastor held these radical views? Does he object to Obama’s “typical white person” comments about white people and their views. Or does he patronize black people and excuse their behavior and their own racism by not holding them to the same standards? In other words does he look down on them and excuse their own behavior because he looks down on them in a manner that denotes lesser expectations of them which in and of itself is racist.
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
12:03 pm
DirtyDawg: Wow, way to be like Objective Commentator and pull the “prejudice” card. My parents raised me well by telling me to never call anyone racist or to never be a racist, and to respect everyone regardless of their background, culture, religious beliefs, etc. I’m not here to say that Obama is a socialist and blah blah blah. All I’m saying is that his plans–as of now–don’t make sense, and I was mostly lashing out at Objective Commentator for pulling the “racist” card. Why don’t you guys call Tony a racist for saying “Prez” in his title?
Objective Commentator: Okay, I never backed Bush up for his plans. I never said that he was the best one ever. I never said that Obama was the worst president ever. All I know is that the republicans and the democrats have both screwed up in the past…Idk, decade? And they need to organize their priorities. As in, not putting so much debt on the younger generation and for many generations to come.
And I believe Detroit is in the mess they are now because of their decisions, not of the government. Wall Street? Greed.
Guys, seriously, it’s just a business cycle. Experts will tell you that over and over, yet you’re trying to put the blame on someone. Relax, for God’s sake, the economy will pick up after people gain confidence again. Stock went up waaaay too high, and now it’s going to be adjusted to it’s normal level again.
Anonymous
May 22nd, 2009
12:08 pm
Hey Attila, how does that hood fit?
Objective commentator
May 22nd, 2009
12:15 pm
PTC,
As you can see above, I’ll enthusiastically engage in political discourse in a civil forum.
But the debate has no place for neanderthals like Attila and his not-so-thinly-veiled disparagement of the President’s racial background.
The Blog Referee
May 22nd, 2009
12:18 pm
Multiple referee whistles and penalty flags on today’s blogs!
Fifteen yards on PTC JACKET for making up economic numbers. Cite your authority next time; the real numbers are all available on line. I suggest you start with the Congressional Budget Office’s website, and some responsible financial reporting publications like the Economist, the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Fifteen yards on OBJECTIVE COMMENTATOR for making up European “happiness” surveys. Quote a respected polling organization, the publication date and the actual polling numbers, and you MIGHT have some credibility. Before you do so, I suggest you review European vs. American economic growth rates over the last 35+ years.
Fifteen yards on DIRTYDAWG, and mandatory economics study/detention hall after the game, for ignorantly advocating a failed economic system and public policies that have nothing to do with solving the problems mentioned. I hope you plan to voluntarily pay higher federal income taxes to pay for the policies you advocate, instead of merely hoping the “rich” will pay your share.
Anyone else who advocates any form of politics on this blog will be deleted. Now, shake hands and play (blog) nice.
mcdawg
May 22nd, 2009
12:20 pm
please Braves save us from the doldrums of summer and the banality of pseudo intellectual blog posts (and Obama lecture/speeches)
why do the braves sign all these aging pitchers they never see the mound?
see ya in Stillwater baby
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
12:22 pm
Blog Referee: What economic numbers did I post? The only ones that I remember being posted were by DirtyDawg. Can’t really penalize me for that if I didn’t do it…
CRIMSON RULES
May 22nd, 2009
12:23 pm
au tigger,YOU are just like a little girl whom run’s home to mommy b/c some one said…..! INDEED GET A LIFE !! MAYBE YOU SHOULD CALL COACH “CHEEZESTIK” AND TAKE A LIMO RIDE…SCRATCH THAT MAKE IT A TRACTOR RIDE YOU NEED THE FRESH AIR …..barnner girl!!!
mcdawg
May 22nd, 2009
12:24 pm
in addendum-NO Thursday night games-that is for baby conferences like the ACC
Atlanta Gator
May 22nd, 2009
12:24 pm
Objective Commentator, PTC Jacket & DirtyDawg—-Winston Churchill once defined a “fanatic” as someone who “can’t change his mind, and won’t change the subject.”
Thanks for hijacking our college football blog, and spoiling it for those of us who come here to discuss college football, boys. Why don’t you try Jim Wooten or Cynthia Tucker’s blogs, and leave the rest of us in peace?
Thanks.
Objective commentator
May 22nd, 2009
12:25 pm
PTC<
“. . . it’s just a business cycle.”
President Washington’s (the first George) administration presided over a banking debacle similar to today’s (proprtionately) and every fifteen years or so we would suffer another.
Until the Glass-Steagal Act (among others) finally regulated banking to prevent such peaks and crashes.
Contolled growth is sustainavle growth.
Liik at the utility sector.
Heavily regulated, yet the companies enjoy consistent profits and we have the most reliable power grid in the world.
The insurance sector best illustrayes my point:
But for banking deregulation allowing insurance companies to become banks, the insurance side of these busunesses are healthy as horses.
Deregulation of controlls intended to reduce market extremes is like blowing up the dam that has prevented the droughts and floods of the peviously wild river’s past.
Objective commentator
May 22nd, 2009
12:27 pm
Atlanta Gator,
I’ll humbly oblige your wishes.
Best wishes to all for a safe and fun weekend.
Attila the hun
May 22nd, 2009
12:28 pm
Objective commentator,
First of all, you criticize the “precious free market economics” approach. This precious free markets economics has lifted more people out of poverty than socialism ever has or ever will. Throughout economic history the less govt interference and the lower marginal tax rates the more prosperous an economy is and hence the people. This is just a simple fact of life that is not in dispute.
In terms of pure material wealth even a lot of poor American people have more material goods than middle class European people. A lot of middle class Europeans don’t even own cars or they pool their money between several people to own a car. I know this because my dad lived in Europe a while and couldn’t believe the incredible difference in material wealth. My relatives who’ve traveled extensively through Europe told me the same thing. So did the European exchange students that my best friends family hosted.
Drive through a poor black neighborhood and believe it or not you’ll see cars in most driveways(even housing projects), most people have tvs, washers/dryers, all the material objects that a lot of people around the world simply don’t have. They have material goods that middle class Europeans don’t ahve. Its not my fault if their priority is to buy an expensive car with their money as opposed to buying health insurance. This is what freedom is all about. You should also note as you fail to do that poverty is relative. The poorest people in this country may be poor compared to the rest of us but compared to the rest of the world they are anything but poor. And as much money that flows into the school system the problem isn’t money. There is more money that goes into poor performing inner city schools than in comparable European schools . The problem. One is government. The other is the culture of the kids in those schools. And you know this is the truth. The fact that you don’t want to hear it doesn’t change it.
Your idea that socialized western european countries like sweden are generally happier may have some validity. But they also don’t have the material wealth we have and also their societies are much more homogenous with the same social expectations generally. Its a tradeoff. If someown here wants to live a slower paced life, have less material goods and work less hours, less pressure, than so be it. Its called freedom and people here certainly have the option of having that freedom.
In regards to regulation you have it exactly backwards. Noted economist and Hoover institution member Thomas Sowell of Stanford University just wrote a book that details the events that led to the financial meltdown. While he is a conservative author he simply lays out the facts, the numbers, the legislation of what exactly happened all along that led to the subprime fiasco. In a nutshell the regulators largely caused the whole problem with a series of laws and directives to Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac to start lending to lower income people and minorities in the name of political correctness and what people like Barney Frank like to call “fairness”. It is not lack of regulation that is the root of the problem. It is the regulation and the self absorbed socialist tinkerers like Frank that overregulated and started telling banks, Fannie mae, etc. who they should be lending to and then making sure they did it. That is the whole crux of the problem. You just choose to ignore it because it doesn’t fit into your worldview.
And now you want to compound the problem even further by now having lawyers like Obama pretend that they know 2 cents about business and economics so they can further screw things up with even more government intereference. People like you with this misplaced faith in politicians and lawyers running the economy are nothing short of flat out amazing.
H OBAMA
May 22nd, 2009
12:29 pm
ALL YOU PEOPLE TALKING BAD ABOUT THE GREATEST AND COOLEST PREZ SINCE SLICK WILLY ARE GOING TO HAVE YOUR TAXES HIKED. HIKED IS THAT A FOOTBALL TERM? DON’T TELL ME I DO NOT KNOW ABOUT FOOSBALL. TAX TAX TAX SPEND SPEND SPEND I AM GOING TO OUT SPEND THE LAST ADMINISTRATION BY A BUNCH. BLOGGERS NEED TO PAY MORE TAX WATCH OUT
Cobb Dawg
May 22nd, 2009
12:30 pm
Objective Commentator,
PTC Jacket &
DirtyDawg:
Why don’t you take your “political discourse” and private debate over to one of those “civil forums” where bloggers spend their time arguing about politics, and leave us the hell alone? Can you say “time, place, manner?” Your comments are not appropriate to this civil form. Thank you.
Cobb Dawg
May 22nd, 2009
12:32 pm
Attila the Hun,
That means you, too. Please follow Objective commentator to the AJC political blogs. Thank you for consideration for the rest of us.
Attila the hun
May 22nd, 2009
12:34 pm
I’m done for the day with my ranting. You guys can have the blogs back. I’m outta here.
Anonymous, Too
May 22nd, 2009
12:35 pm
Anyone else want to engage in political BULLSH!T? Then EXIT our college football blog NOW!
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
12:35 pm
Objective Commentator: Wasn’t the Glass-Steagal Act repealed by President Clinton in 1999? And replaced by The 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act? Yeah, good job. It reallllly worked.
Anyway, I have better things to do. All I wanted to do was jab at you for pulling the racist card, which was unnecessary. Peace out.
Cobb Dawg
May 22nd, 2009
12:39 pm
PTC Jacket,
Just couldn’t let it go, could you?
Try to have a nice day, and come back when you want to talk about football.
Me
May 22nd, 2009
12:43 pm
Layla–Hilarious post plus a nice break from this political garbage!
PTC Jacket
May 22nd, 2009
12:45 pm
Cobb Dawg: I never saw your post, nor anybody else’s when I posted mine. I had to pay attention to something else, then I came back and posted it without updating the blog. Whoopdedoo.