What's up party people, we're back for another edition of Fetch Friday! Before we wax all philosophical on this expansion "stuff" we do need to give the Hogs their due. Got a chance to talk a little Arkansas plus twitter, Brad Paisley and SEC football on the TJ Carpenter Show the other day and as always we bring that clip to you folks. You can download the show here or listen below.
Speaking of the Hogs, some not so good news from their first scrimmage of training camp as running back Knile Davis goes down with a left leg injury. This is absolutely terrifying and he was rushed to MRI and X-ray yesterday so we'll be watching this story develop. While Petrino and the players tried to talk up Tyler Wilson and the performance of Davis' replacement all eyes will be on the potential All-SEC running back's diagnosis.
A little Ke$ha who puts on a mighty damn fine show. I found this out by going to her concert on Wednesday. I also learned that LMFAO os absolutely every bit as hype as their songs would indicate. Got asked to buy beer for underage girls, I politiely declined but at least it is good to know I in no way look like any sort of undercover cop or a person capable of getting people in trouble.
We've got former Alabama wide receiver Tyrone Prothro on the show today to talk a little Alabama football with us. Don't remember Prothro?
Yup. That's him making one of the greatest catches in the history of the game.
Prothro joins us courtesy of Subway where they are working to help with the Tuscaloosa Tornado Relief Aid. Subway donated some $10,000 to the aid and you can help out from home by texting the word FOOD to 27722 and contributing your $10. Help Tuscaloosa out folks.
We also get a chance to talks some Tide football as Prothro discusses what it has been like watching Nick Saban right the ship for the folks in T-Town. He also gives his thoughts on the Alabama offense and the possibility of two quarterbacks seeing legitimate time this year. Tyrone finishes by talking about his time with the Crimson Tide, giving tremendous praise to the Alabama family for embracing the players and making it a truly great experience.
To listen to the showclick here or subscribe to one of the methods listed below.
If you want the podcast you must subscribe to the Feedburner, but if you want to subscribe to the blog please use the RSS Feed. This is for iTunes to be able to archive the shows. You can also search for "In The Bleachers"on iTunes and subscribe to the podcast that way.
Hide ya wife, hide ya kids for this edition of the In The Bleachers Podcast as we have long time friend of the show and our guy for the Fighting Irish; The Subway Domer on to join the show. From his home base over at Subway Domer we pull our old partner on the podcast to really run down the Fighting Irish, a team that appears to be ripe for their first BCS birth since the 2006 Sugar Bowl. There's a lot to talk about as we enter year two of the Brian Kelly era in South Bend.
I kick the show off by offering a mea culpa for my lack of faith in defensive coordinator Bob Diaco. After a rocky start Diaco and the Irish defense got on the right track finish out the 2010 season and you've always got to give credit where it is due. The Domer and I then get into the nuts and bolts of this depth chart starting with the Dayne Crist-Tommy Rees quarterback discussion and the lack of true running back depth. Oh, and Michael Floyd is back.
On the defensive side of the ball they return one of the nation's elite linebackers in Manti Te'o, a kid that will anchor what should be a solid unit right out of the gate against South Florida.
We get into the schedule as the Irish have their traditional contests and a few wrinkles in there including South Florida and Maryland. While the schedule is not loaded with teams that the Irish have "no shot" against there are games out that could trip Notre Dame up on a damn near weekly basis. The Subway Domer and I bicker a bit over Lane Kiffin, obviously a point of contention for Irish fans before we get the BCS predictions. The Domer says yes and I don't vehemently disagree with the man.
Yes, that's Ke$ha to kick off the show. Why you ask? Because on a whim a few months ago I got Ke$ha tickets with the Groupon and the show is today. This is going to be interesting folks.
To listen to the showclick here or subscribe to one of the methods listed below.
If you want the podcast you must subscribe to the Feedburner, but if you want to subscribe to the blog please use the RSS Feed. This is for iTunes to be able to archive the shows. You can also search for "In The Bleachers"on iTunes and subscribe to the podcast that way.
We've been pretty heavy on the Butch Davis situation and with good reason; the rest of the college football world has been pretty stagnant as the kids get ready to come to camp. Here's the Friday afternoon radio spot that discusses the biggest issue for the Heels: What path is the future of the football program at UNC going to take?
If the widget doesn't work click here to grab the podcast.
Let me make this point clear; UNC does not have a basketball vs football war going on at the administrative or Board of Trustees level. Yes, there are fans battles and factions of pro football vs pro basketball or better put "basketball only" fans. That is not the issue here, this is a commit to football vs not commit to football problem that does not involve those guys down in the Dean Dome.
If you don't understand all the pieces at work here that's ok. Don't pretend to. The fact is there is a strong academic community that, for lack of a better term, loathes the influence and power weilded by the athletic arm of the university. That's the issue. Football is far easier to paint as the bad guy for a myriad of reasons; 85 players on full scholarship, more than triple most other rosters, huge budgets, large coaching staffs paid quite handsomely and of course now the NCAA investigation and academic fraud issues.
Painting it as a football vs basketball issue is not fair to those guys down the hill.
On a more positive note, we're always looking for the best writers, websites and podcasts and thanks to the new media there are so many great people out there writing and talking that there is truly "something for everyone" to enjoy. Unfortunately a lot of that hard work and success goes unnoticed in the mainstream, what with their ink stained fingers and syndicated radio.
Well the folks over at Blogs With Balls, who have really just done so much for everyone in our "new media" space, have sought to rectify that with the Untitled Sports Media Awards Project. Go check out the link and vote for your favorite writer, site, podcast, athlete, twitterer and more. Give the people out there banging away at the laptop a little props. It is the least you can do considering the entertainment they give you daily while you sit harnessed to the cubicle slaving away for the man.
If you're on the G+ be sure to add me ( "+Michael Felder") as we creep closer to the season, it is the easiest way to keep up with the site, the podcast and everything I'm doing over at Onside Kick, The Crystal Ball Run and the radio spots that have been coming.
While answering the Withers question was nice there has been much speculation as to who the next full time leader of the Tar Heels will be. Plenty of people including some notable national pundits have weighed in with some options and the best theater has been the callers to local radio shows offering up the names they think fit best.
They're nice, they really are all nice but the fact is I cannot get excited or even start to look at coaches right now. Sure I've got a wish list of guys from around the nation; both head coaches and assistants, that I'd love to see come in and lead my boys. The problem, well their are two problems. The first is we don't have an AD. I can't come up with targets without know at least who is going to be doing the looking and hiring; his background, what his MO is and the like.
The second problem is the real big deal. That's all UNC based and the Board of Trustees and other big money donors "fear" associated with "Big Time" football. There exists an element of "I told you so" from some influential people in the UNC community that is a facet many have not considered and/or do not understand exists. Following the 1997 when Mack Brown had us as close to "top of the world" as we've been the Texas-Mack Brown-raise scenario was UNC's first glimpse of the modern era of big boy ball.
They balked.
Hired an assistant that, while capable as a defensive coordinator, was not prepared to take the reigns of the program. A steady decline ensued including back to back losses to Furman and Wake Forest (late 90's Wake, not 2006 Wake) where the Heels could not muster an offensive touchdown. The transition from Torbush to John Bunting was handled poorly as UNC botched the firing then got "Beamered" by the Virginia Tech coach. Coach Bunting was hired during a frantic scramble when other, more qualified options were still on the table, we all know how successful the Heels were during this stretch.
Basically, with that quick history lesson you got a recap of life as a UNC football fan from the 1998 season through the 2006 campaign. 9 years. Nine years. 27-45 in the ACC. 43-63 overall. 16-18 (9-15) for Torbush. 27-45 (18-30) for Bunting. Characterized by a lot of empty seats in the stadium and punctuated with epic beat downs on national television.
Until 2006 when folks at UNC decided a near decade had been long enough, it was time to get back into the football game. They stumbled through handling the dismissal of Coach Bunting but they targeted Butch Davis and decided to cast their lot with the guy who helped rebuild Miami. Not everyone was on board with Butch from the start but there was enough support to allow coach Davis to assemble a quality staff and hit the ground running in Chapel Hill.
The uneasy crowd grumbled louder as Davis won more than the Heels had in a decade because each offseason turned into a guessing game of which job would come flirt with the coach. Rumors about Notre Dame and Arkansas floated; Davis was given raises after 8-win seasons to ensure the programs continued success. The fact his paycheck crept closer to Roy's was something that those people couldn't quite understand as he was not going to Final Fours and his team wasn't cutting down nets.
Then he slipped. The impermissible benefits. Then the academic probe. Then the parking tickets. Then the Michael McAdoo trial revealing just how bad the plagiarism was.
The public image hits kept coming and while Butch himself was set to ride through the storm and try to fix his issues the higher ups could not take the way people were talking bad about them. They said screw it, this isn't worth it and cut him loose, as you know, a week before camp. This was as much a play to satisfy the academic folks embarrassed by the happenings as it is a move to satisfy the egos of the folks who are ashamed. The ones who could not believe this could happen at "their UNC."
So, with a tiny look into that mindset there's a reason why I don't have a list. This is not about hiring the coach who gets the Heels back on the track Butch Davis had them on. I know who those guys are. This is not about keeping the money machine turning and going from 8 to 10 wins. Most smart fans know how to do that. This is not about keeping recruits coming in and NFL draft picks going out.
This is about their fear. The paralyzing, gripping fear that "big time football will make us look bad." The petrifying fear that "there's so much money involved we just shouldn't play that game."
That's the difference between North Carolina's issue and Southern Cal or Ohio State. For those guys it is just a matter of "when" they return to the success they have grown accustomed to. It is important to them to be successful. That's what matters. There will measures taken to ensure this doesn't happen again but they will not throw in the towel on the goal of a national championship by hiring bargain basement coaches or altering their goals to "just be bowl eligible."
For UNC I fear this is not the case. It is not about "when" the Heels can get back to putting up what should be a standard 8-wins a year and pushing to break through for an ACC Championship. It is about will they even give a damn to try.
That's why there is no list for me.
Here's a quick, bonus guest spot on 1560 The Game in Houston, TX that I did yesterday, talking a little more Butch Davis and how the situation really unfolded. Download here if the widget is a no go folks.
Not much fetch this week folks given the firing.
A bit of #EmoMonday on a Friday because we haven't gotten to put any Amy Winehouse out there and quite honestly I was a fan of hers. According to her folks she passed away from "alcohol withdrawal" which is a bit scary because I had no idea that could even happen. She was talented and yeah, not a good look for the rock star life.
I don't have the energy to get fancy on you all, I've been up far too long and have been in ridiculous rage mode operating at an octane I didn't even realize that I had.
Mark gets a chance to discuss the investigation from a multitude of angles and you'll come away with more of a feel for what guys like Paschal and myself are thinking in regards to how the university handled this situation. Give it a listen folks and if the widget doesn't work, click here to download Mark's audio.
Thanks again to Josh Goodson for kicking this audio my way.
Here's the spot from earlier this morning if you missed it on ESPN Triangle. Host Mike Maniscalco and I get into the Butch Davis firing from a timing and what this means standpoint. We talk about what changed to precipitate this move and why after 13 months now the "cumulative damage" has become too much. Quick spot but plenty of information to take in folks. You can also click here to download the audio.
ACC Media Days took place over the weekend and we saw the league vote Florida State and Virginia Tech as the favorite in their respective divisions and Montel Harris took home the Pre-Season Player of the Year honors. We've got Jim Young from the always informative ACC Sportson the podcast to talk a little ACC Media Days before we get into the news that shocked a lot of the college football world, including your's truly; Butch Davis being fired at the University of North Carolina.
After 13 months of NCAA issues the Board of Trustees have "backed" Chancellor Holden Thorp in the decision to fire Butch Davis. A week before the start of training camp. Five weeks before the start of the season. Whether you were pro or anti Davis staying as the head coach of the Tar Heels the fact is this timing is absolutely putrid. By all accounts no newly uncovered damning information has turned up, rather this is just a decision made as Wade Hargrove assumed leadership of the BOT.
There have been ample opportunities to fire Butch Davis from the moment the scandal broke in the summer of 2010, to the academic probe in 2010, the end of the Tar Heels 2010 season, following the bowl win of 2010 or even after signing day in 2011. Hell even after the NOA was in June. But instead North Carolina waits until this time because now, after 13 freaking months the "cumulative damage" was too much.
After ridiculously mishandling their response to the NCAA investigation, mis-advising or not advising the kids involved in the questioning and towing the "we fully support Coach Davis" line the school decides to fire Davis. This isn't about if you think he should be fired or not; this is about the timing. Those kids on that team; all of them eligible, all but the new freshman having already suffered through a tumultuous 13 months have just had the rug snatched from under them. Again.
But hey, screw those kids, that's what integrity is all about right? The Carolina Way.
The discussion with Jim is great and while your fearless leader is a bit emotional in all of this his level headedness does exactly what we have him on the show for, to dish on the happenings in the ACC and in this episode, what's going on in Chapel Hill.
To listen to the showclick here or subscribe to one of the methods listed below.
If you want the podcast you must subscribe to the Feedburner, but if you want to subscribe to the blog please use the RSS Feed. This is for iTunes to be able to archive the shows. You can also search for "In The Bleachers"on iTunes and subscribe to the podcast that way.
We've got our favorite on the show today, Laura McKeeman is back after covering the SEC Media Days for Scout.com and she's going to dish with us about all the goings ons from, as she terms it, the official start to college football season. There is a lot to get into and as Laura is on her way back to the Florida homebase from Mississippi she takes some time out to discuss it all starting with Mike Slive's announcement that he'd like to see the minimum GPA bumped up to 2.5 for athletes, something that was a bit more noble in ideal than it was in actual movement from the coaches and media's perspective.
The talk gets into the SEC East and how Georgia and Florida plan on running down the Gamecocks for a shot at winning that division. McKeeman earns the proverbial "gold star" for her celebration of an ITB favorite, Stephen Garcia who could be set up to have a damn good year in the Garnett and Black. In the SEC West we talk Petrino, get into LSU and we see eye to eye on the Bama 2011 sitting in an oddly similar situation to 2009 edition of the Tide.
Dan Mullen made some waves talking about Mississippi State being THE school in the state of Mississippi, even going so far as to say he'd worry more about Southern Miss than the gang out of Oxford. Laura goes into how Mississippi State is backing this up through recruiting, especially along the front line. However, Houston Nutt is so winning the "play Miley Cyrus at your camp" sweepstakes and she confirms yes, Oxford still better than Starkville.
To listen to the showclick here or subscribe to one of the methods listed below.
If you want the podcast you must subscribe to the Feedburner, but if you want to subscribe to the blog please use the RSS Feed. This is for iTunes to be able to archive the shows. You can also search for "In The Bleachers"on iTunes and subscribe to the podcast that way.
Today we're back in action following what turned into a long, arduous weekend of party in Chapel Hill. Bryan Morgan is on the show and that means we're getting into some football business from around the country, starting with the introduction of Morgan's slick new football website; Onside Kick. That's right folks the same Onside Kick where you've seen myself pop up doing a little football writing. The site is great and with guys like Matt Zemek, Barrett Sallee among others contributing content it can definitely be your new home for everything football.
That said bookmark the site, it can aggregate everything you need from your favorite writers to your favorite or most hated teams and put it all in one spot for you to enjoy.
As for the only the field Bryan and I talk a little "summer of scandal" as things have been a blur this offseason with Ohio State, Auburn, Oregon, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, LSU and others all being looked into by "the man" for their dealings.
After a little scandal chatter we turn to the biggest question mark entering the 2011 season; how these new conferences play out. With Utah and Colorado joining the Pac-12 in a year that finds USC a bit down and Oregon with all sorts of off the field question marks will they be able to capitalize on the uncertainty? In the B1G we've got Nebraska stepping into the league and they seem poised to contend for a Big Ten Championship from day one thanks to both Bo Pelini and the Ohio State scandal and Michigan unrest.
To listen to the showclick here or subscribe to one of the methods listed below.
If you want the podcast you must subscribe to the Feedburner, but if you want to subscribe to the blog please use the RSS Feed. This is for iTunes to be able to archive the shows. You can also search for "In The Bleachers"on iTunes and subscribe to the podcast that way.
Hide ya wife, hide ya kids for this edition of the In The Bleachers Podcast as we have long time friend of the show and our guy for the Fighting Irish; 
