First of all, apologies for not posting yesterday. Internet gave out at the worst possible time. Try to make up for it with brevity and quality. Okay, brevity, anyway. Well, I'll try to find some way to make up for it.
First things first. Thanks once again to all the SBN tech crew that got this platform up and running. C&F's only complaint is that he was one of the last SBN blogs to move to 2.0, but such is life.
As C&F is still "moving in," expect a few tweaks here and there. Nothing major, but I'm still trying to get everything just so. A few new addresses will be popping up on the blogroll, and please take advantage of the featured poll over to your right. This could have been done in 1.0, but C&F didn't really know how to do it.
Again, expect more stats and all kinds of great stuff as football and basketball season get started. Now, we return you to our regularly scheduled programming.
Tanner's loyalties divided? It might be easy to question where Ray Tanner's heart is when he keeps referring to N.C. State as "we." Then again, there's this:
"I think the thing that stands out the most with me is as an assistant coach there for his dad and then being a head coach we not once bid for a regional, not once, and we had some pretty good teams," Tanner said.
"It was a matter of the administration at that time not being committed enough and maybe the facility wasn't good enough. So we've come a long way, and I say 'we' as an alum. So I'm excited for N.C. State to be hosting right now."
Well, no love lost with the former administration, in any case.
First day starter: Dyson. Based on scouting reports, performance and what the Greenville News labels "demeanor," sez Tanner .
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound right-hander (7-0, 3.27 ERA) gave up two hits and no runs in 6 innings against LSU in the Gamecocks’ SEC Tournament opener a week ago in Hoover, Ala.
Dyson is expected to be opposed by 6-6 freshman right-hander Joe Yermal (8-1, 3.81) when the Gamecocks take on the 49ers at 2 p.m. Friday in Raleigh, N.C.
Horn vs. Gray, Part III. Darrin Horn responds to Chad Gray on the dismissal of the former basketball player.
“I think it’s unfortunate that Chad is still unaware of exactly what was going on. This is the second staff that he’s experienced some of those issues,” Horn said. “From what I was told, he did admit that every single thing that we discussed and the things that we laid out were not met. We hope he’ll do well.”
So maybe Horn isn't Stalin. In football, Kenrick Ellis' departure, one of the worst-kept secrets in Columbia, has also been confirmed by Spurrier.
Elsewhere...
Market rate. What do you get for constantly having teams ranked in the Top 10 preseason, then finishing with four or more losses and clinging to a ranking in the Top 25 or the "also receiving votes" category? $1.8 million a year.
Phillips offered Bowden a new contract last November after the Tigers' victory against the University of South Carolina. Bowden agreed in principal to an extension the following week after a brief courtship by the University of Arkansas.
And by brief, they mean "almost certainly initiated by Baby Bowden's agent in an attempt to get a pay raise." Ka-ching.
It's 2008 and the contract goes until 2014 -- I could be here eight more years.
Petrino to Falcons: Hugs and kisses. You know, Bobby Petrino is annoying just because he's the Gypsy Coach of the South. It's also the absolute B.S. he spouts every time about having the "job I've always wanted" or, in this case, facing "the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life." That would be -- and you may roll your eyes here -- leaving the Falcons.
Petrino insists that he is not the bad guy who has been portrayed in the media.
"When people know me, they understand how I am," he said.
But Petrino also admits that he lets very few people know him well.
You know, Bobby, it might help if you actually spoke to them instead of leaving impersonal letters at each player's locker when you leave in the middle of a season.
Surprisingly, his former players were not impressed.