Ok, I'm not going to claim to have a damn clue as to what UGA is currently doing. If you think you're going to get that here because maybe I have "sources," then you're dead wrong. I don't have sources. I have information, but none of that is "insider" worthy. You should go read the stuff PWD's been writing in order to get an accurate picture.

However, I would like to weigh in a bit on everything and just see what could possibly come of the search. Currently the names I'm hearing include Sean Miller, Tubby Smith, Mike Anderson and Leonard Hamilton (more on Hamilton in a second). MY OWN PERSONAL DREAM LIST would include:

Jay Wright
Jamie Dixon
Sean Miller
Tubby Smith
Mike Anderson

And here's the problems with each:

Jay Wright -- Ideally, he's my top guy. I pretty much *heart* Jay Wright. However, his contract is absurd, specifically his buyout clause. I doubt anyone is able to touch this guy when 'Nova's offseason begins. Here's what I posted about Wright verbatim on The Dawgvent earlier today:

When I look at the coaches out there and the ones that I have on my huge wish list, I still consistently have one name at the top, and that's Jay Wright at Villanova.

Dont get me wrong, I'd be thrilled to have Anderson, Dixon, Miller, T. Smith and a whole host of other folks, but looking at Wright's numbers, they've been EXTREMELY impressive.

In 15 years as a head coach, he's had:

* 7 NCAA Tourney appearances (5 in a row)
* 1 Final Four (which is still yet to be concluded)
* 2 Sweet Sixteens
* 1 Elite Eight
* Hasn't missed the NCAA or NIT in the last 11 years

His team has been by far the most well-coached team I've seen in the tournament thus far. The "hook and ladder" inbound pass against Pitt was nothing less than superb attention to detail and coaching. He mixes great defense with great shooters and dribble-drivers. He has a specific scheme for both offense and defense, which is something we've lacked under the Felton tenure. For everything Harrick did, he had a specific offensive scheme that his teams ran and it worked well while it was here.

The main thing that works against us is that EVERYONE loves Jay Wright, including Villanova, who have made it increasingly tough to interview and buy him out. His contract is a MAJOR challenge, even for a school like us who has money to burn.

In the end, I think we end up with Anderson, but I'd crawl butt naked backwards over a bed of pine cones to make it happen.

Jamie Dixon -- I like the way his teams play and you can tell he recruits well. Pitt always has a good team, maybe even very good, but rarely in that league of "great." However, I think his style would transition well to the types of recruits Atlanta produces. I also highly doubt he bolts for anywhere when the offseason begins, but if he does, I think it'll be for a much higher profile program than ours.

Sean Miller -- This is a guy much like Jay Wright in that his teams are always well coached and he consistently wins at the NCAA Tourney. Xavier had a relatively good run for the past two years in the field of 64 and I also think his level of coaching and style would transition well to what we're trying to accomplish. He's not completely off our list yet, but I haven't heard his name as much as others. I'd be thrilled with this hire though.

Tubby Smith -- I'd be thrilled with this hire too. Tubby has great AAU ties, can recruit lights out, his teams win consistently, he's not that old (57) and has a personal vendetta in the SEC, specifically against Kentucky. I think he can recruit the kids we lose state-wide to other programs and keep them away from the Florida's, UT's and Mississippi State's of the conference. Tubby has said that he's "very happy" in Minnesota, but who knows if that's true or not. Until his name leaves the list officially, I'm not counting him out.

Mike Anderson -- As PWD stated, Anderson's style of "40 minutes of hell" would play well in Athens and should fire up the fan base. The way Mizzou (RAH!) handled Memphis with their up-tempo style was a thing of beauty, especially since Memphis plays the same type of style themselves. However, with Memphis' Coach Calipari seemingly leaving for UK, it's possible that Anderson would rather go to Memphis than Athens. Also, the Tigers (of Memphis) have the same kind of money to throw at Anderson to make him want to come. If you had Memphis in one hand and UGA in the other, with the same amount of money offered, what would you do? That's the $64,000 question with this guy. I still would like the hire, but I'm not sure we're going to nail this fish.

Now, let's talk a bit about Leonard Hamilton. I'm sure most of you have no idea who he is, because I didn't either when I read his name. For those who need to know, he's the current head coach of Florida State, and the Seminoles made quite an impressive run in the ACC and the ACC Tourney. However, they were bounced out by Wisconsin in the first round as a five seed.

The problem with Hamilton is that 1) he isn't proven as he only has two NCAA Tourney appearances under his belt as a head coach and 2) He's only slightly over .500 as a head coach overall. That's not good...at all. Hiring Hamilton will be more of a whimper than a roar; more of a dud than a scud.

I've said it, PWD's said it, the message boards say it and even Damon Evans has said it. We need a coach that will fire up this fan base and breathe some life back into UGA hoops. The coach's name should do this alone, but it will take at least two years of winning to get the excitement back, as opposed to hiring a "name" and getting that immediately.

If we want to consider this search a failure, then we hire Hamilton. If we want to consider it a success, we need a name. Any one of those above would be ideal.

Also, before I let y'all go, I've heard Rick Pitino's name being thrown around some, but I think we have a 99.9% chance of NOT landing him. There's no reason for him to come here, he also makes an absurd amount of money at Louisville and there are more prestigious programs, namely Arizona, that will throw everything they have at him. However, if we do get that .1% and land him, you could consider the search an EPIC WIN for UGA and Damon Evans.

Stay tuned. This thing will be done sooner rather than later.


Until next time kids.

Be safe.

Labels: Coaching Searches, I hate Florida, March Madness, Men's Basketball

I told you that with the Examiner.com gig, I'd like to weigh in some more on some personal things and that's what I figured I'd do today. Besides, it's a lot easier to get this out over a blog instead of sending out about 500 Tweets over Twitter (say that sh*t five times real fast).

Anyway, I, like the rest of America, watched a portion of The Daily Show last night that featured Jon Stewart's thrashing of Mad Money host and Financial "Analyst" Jim Cramer. Now, it should be said up front that I tend to like Cramer. I don't think he's slimy or shady, but more of a guy who understood how the system "worked" and helped a lot of people make a lot of money within that system. Yes, he did some crazy things like helping rumors spread to drive stocks up and he told people to buy stocks that ultimately failed. Whether or not he knew about the inevitable failure, I'm not sure. However, what I do know is that Cramer is no better or worse than half of the "news anchors and reporters" that you see on television that report the "facts" in order to skew a story. That's the climate we live in today. Very rarely will you see people reporting a story like it is. It just doesn't happen.

I think it's also fair for me to point out that I have NO problem with CNBC's Rick Santinelli's "Rant" that subsequently brought up dozens of "Tea Parties" across the nation. What I do have a problem with is "articles" like this one from Crooks and Liars that claim it was all staged.

Crooks and Liars claims that Santinelli's rant was staged as part of a right-wing conspiracy due to Santinelli being in bed with the Koch's (owners of the largest private company in the nation), and so on. However, much like Cramer's shoddy reporting on the financial outlook, this "article," again the term is used very loosely, offers nothing other than speculation instead of facts. Rumors aren't news. Show me someone at CNBC or someone who was actually on the floor when Santinelli ranted saying that they saw cue cards and then we can talk about things being staged. Until then, shut up and report. Besides, even if it was staged, Santinelli is not a reporter. He's another "analyst" and his job is to offer an opinion. He did. I'm OK with that.

I know that seemed like a huge digression, but truthfully, it leads me to the meat of my point. From a public relations standpoint, Cramer was sent over to Stewart's house by CNBC and he was slaughtered. In football, you don't go to an opposing team's stadium for that kind of beating unless:

1. You're getting paid ample amounts of money to do so.
--OR--
2. You're getting that team to come back to your house so you can return the favor.

CNBC could have done a "home and home" with Stewart so that equal parts get their time in front of their audience. However, Cramer went and took his beating in front of Stewart, who, I have to be honest, was quite fair.

What I have the main problem with though is that Cramer is not a bad guy and he shouldn't be the face of the problem. Cramer's job is a lot more complicated than Stewart's. Stewart gets the luxury of waiting for news to happen and then weighing in on it. It's a very REACTIVE approach where he's never wrong. Cramer is the exact opposite. He's always on the PROACTIVE side of things. He has the unfortunate circumstance of always having to predict what people need to do with their money based on news, rumors and the like.

I'm sorry if people don't like the fact that stocks move up and down on rumors, but that's what happens. That's what's been happening for YEARS. That isn't what got us into this mess. What got us into this mess are the people sitting behind walnut desks and taking millions for a salary while borrowing against their employees' 401ks. What got us into this mess was people lying on their homeowners' applications and now getting money to help them out of their situations.

I understand Stewart has an agenda here and that is to kick CNBC's ass for canceling on him...specifically the aforementioned Rick Santinelli, who was supposed to go on the Daily Show but cancelled for no apparent reason. I totally get the witch hunt and why Stewart wants to do it.

The problem is the premise of Stewart's witch hunt is way off. You can't put a face to the current economic situation. There are two reasons for what's going on and why it's not going to get better for a while. The first one is because you have a lot of people in very high places doing a lot of shady things that led to tremendous and unconstrained growth over a period of time. Inevitably, it was all going to come crashing down. When people started buying out of Wall Street, that's when they finally said "OK, it's here" and cashed in their chips.

The second part of it comes when President Obama offered nothing towards the new "stimulus" package. We're spending money we don't have, printing money we can't back up and giving money to people who honestly don't deserve it. We shouldn't be bailing out Wall Street or the auto companies. We shouldn't be bailing out homeowners who didn't contribute to their mortgages. People who bought things they couldn't afford and credit card companies who let them do it along with allowing illegal aliens to get free healthcare with no way for them to pay it back. All of these things add up to the situation we're in now.

The age of irresponsibility has finally bitten us in the ass and it's got a kung fu grip on us. However, that's what's supposed to happen. That's how the system works and that's how the system is SUPPOSED TO WORK.

For example, I work for a small business. I'm getting laid off because of lack of work. It's not because I'm a bad employee or because I did something wrong. There are people with higher seniority with me and it ended up being my turn. Am I mad? NO. I'm not mad. Am I disappointed? A little, but only because I've worked hard for a very long time, paid my taxes and never asked for a dime in return. I honestly want to get a new job ASAP so I don't have to take unemployment. I might need the government's help to get by, but I don't want it. I want to get a new job ASAP so that I can be the self-sufficient person I want to be.

I'm absolutely SICK of people trying to put a high-profile face to this mess. It's ridiculous. If anyone wants to put a face to this, I implore you to wish in one hand and sh*t in the other and see which one fills up first. There are THOUSANDS of faces that have led to this problem. From people who bought houses they couldn't afford to Wall Streeters with shady agendas to Ponzi schemes with high-ranking officials.

You want a face to this mess, go get an American Flag. We created this problem and no one stepped up to stop it when everyone was making money. Now that everyone's losing it, we're trying to point fingers. It's reminiscent of the Katrina disaster when instead of helping people, our leadership was busy pointing fingers and trying to say whose fault it was.

We're a country full of people taking Teflon baths hoping that the sh*t won't stick to them when it's thrown. It's absurd and downright offensive. I'm tired of bailing out those that don't deserve it and I'm tired of people getting thrown on the fire for this mess.

Let's get over it and move on shall we? There will be plenty of time to figure out how we got on the roof when the building's on fire. Until then, don't you think we should be trying to find a way to get downstairs and go out the front door?

Just my two cents. I could be totally wrong. I mean after all, common sense went out of style YEARS ago.


Until next time kids.

Be safe.

Labels: General "Kit" stuff, Stupid People

So I promised in my last post that it'd be a few days before I would blog again soon. Is 25 days soon enough?

Labels: Advertising Makes The World Go 'Round, College Football, Damn It, General "Kit" stuff, Men's Basketball, Politics, UGA Football