“I’m surprised as you are, this is crazy.”

Hey, remember this guy?

Following Seasons 1 and 2 of Netflix’s Last Chance U at East Mississippi, the series went in search of a new program to cover. One that would provide some drama from future and former highly recruited Division I players, and coaches alike to keep fans tuned in. The bar for drama and intrigue was set pretty high.

The hit series found all that, and then some, when they decided to bring Seasons 3 and 4 to Jason Brown’s Independence Community College program in Kansas.

When Season 3 of the hit series came out, coach Brown and his bravado and unique approach was a central theme of conversations about the new direction the series had taken at Independence. There was plenty of drama between Brown and players who didn’t like his approach, as well as some on his coaching staff, and the series was just a peek behind the curtain.

Late last week, things came to a head when a screenshot started circulating on social media of a text message exchange between Brown and a player, where he plainly shared his disappointment with some of the players choices, before stating – “I’m your new Hitler.”

That went over well, as Brown got canned from his coaching position.  Fortunately for him, it seems he’s made an impressive career move.

Jason Brown was indicted on 10 charges on Friday, eight of them felonies. As reported by the Parsons (Kan.) Sun, Brown has been charged with four counts of blackmail, four counts of identity theft (all felonies) and two counts of criminal false communication.

The Montgomery County (Kan.) Attorney’s Office alleges Brown posed as an attorney of the Cochran Law Firm–that’s the Johnnie Cochran, of OJ Simpson fame–to communicate with two Kansas newspapers regarding their coverage of Brown and the Independence Community College football program, which Brown coached until his February resignation.

Okay, an impressive imaginary career move, but still…

This season’s Last Chance U ought to be a doozy.

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The Glory Years

My favorite part of this data set?

OTD in 2012, Texas A & M and Missouri officially join the SEC. Regular season conference football records since last SEC Expansion… pic.twitter.com/814ps7zZz0

— Pat Smith (@patsmithradio) July 1, 2019

Vanderbilt has a better conference record than Tennessee.

You pays your money and you makes your choice.

So,

Former Florida coach Jim McElwain gets another $1 million today from the Gators as part of a $7.5 million buyout. UF has $1.5 million in payments left. Total money paid to McElwain for his 3 years of service (22-12 record) will total $23.8 million. pic.twitter.com/TCgw3UWVQG

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 1, 2019

I don’t mean to offer that as the source of a Daily Gator post (although you’re free to take it that way), but instead, to ask this:  if paying players meant that athletic departments would be forced to exercise better judgment handing out coaching contracts so that stupid buyouts like this one were curtailed, would that be such a bad trade off?

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UPDATE:  Oh, and this guy.

Kansas Athletic Director Jeff Long on the idea of college athletes getting paid: "It has a lot of problems."

This has become one of the hottest topics in sports. What do you think? Leave a comment below and I might read some on the air at 10. pic.twitter.com/92j4DUavMo

— Scott Braswell KAKE News (@ScottBSports) June 30, 2019

For some reason, he doesn’t mention the problem with coaches and administrators splitting the pot with the players.  I wonder why.

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UPDATE #2:  This, too.

John Robinson is 23 years older than Steve Ensminger. https://t.co/aufXry8Wc1

— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) July 1, 2019

It’s nice to have friends with (other people’s) money.

One other Cocktail Party thought

This is something I’ve been pondering for a while as the Jacksonville debate continues on seemingly forever.  How do I put my finger on what makes the Cocktail Party worth saving, purely from a fan’s perspective?

I think I know.

I wrote this a while back:

It’s community.  It’s being part of a group of people who bind together, both face to face on a few special Saturdays every fall and by sharing something of themselves in a virtual sense the rest of the year, over a common passion.  You know the pain and pleasure, the highs and lows that everyone feels, even if those sometimes are expressed very differently.

I’ve been lucky in both ways.  I’ve celebrated the fall with a close group of friends for more than thirty years now.  We’ve watched each other get older, seen our kids grow up, had our laughs and our share of tears.  And on the blogging side of things, I’ve been the recipient of a steady stream of e-mails that start with something like “I’ve been a long time reader of your blog and wanted to share this with you”… and then they do.  And I honestly marvel every time I see that how this shared experience matters.

For me, one of the unalloyed joys of the college football experience is its social value.  While tailgating isn’t a totally alien experience with other sports, it’s certainly true that it doesn’t occur at anywhere near the same level that it does with this sport.  There’s a uniqueness to that I cherish.  If you want to know why I still cling to college football the way I do, warts and all, it’s in large part because of this shared sense of community.

The Georgia-Florida game ushers in the longest tailgate of the college football regular season.  How many fans across the country can say they enjoy something like that?  I don’t wish to be robbed of it.  Move the game home-and-home and we lose a lot in that regard.  Play the game in Atlanta?  Have you ever tried to tailgate by MBS or the Dome?  Good luck with accommodating 70,000 fans who want that.

Again, I know that my personal feelings mean absolutely zilch when it comes to the game’s fate.  But if you want to know why I have so much emotionally invested in keeping one of college football’s jewels in its current setting, it’s this.

Steele’s 2019 preseason SEC teams

One last snapshot from the Preview, and then you’re on your own.  (Buy the mag, in other words.)  Here’s his four preseason conference teams.

That’s 116 players in total.  Here’s the breakdown by individual teams, with the first team numbers in parentheses:

• Alabama 15 (10!)
• LSU 13 (4)
• Auburn 9 (2)
• Georgia 9 (4)
• Missouri 9 (2)
• Florida 8 (1)
• Ole Miss 8 (0)
• South Carolina 8 (1)
• Texas A&M 8 (2)
• Arkansas 7 (0)
• Kentucky 6 (1)
• Mississippi State 6 (0)
• Tennessee 5 (1)
• Vanderbilt 5 (1)

And a few random observations:

• You may not like seeing it, but this is yet another confirmation that Alabama is still on a completely different level of existence, talentwise, from the rest of the SEC.
• Gee, maybe Tennessee isn’t quite back yet.
• Everyone talks about Florida being the clear number two team in the East, but between its schedule and talent base, Mizzou could be the sneaky number two instead.
• LSU matched Georgia with four picks on the first team and finished with thirteen players overall, four better than the Dawgs.  The Tigers aren’t Georgia’s problem this year, but, as always, they’ll be Florida’s.
• Another reminder as South Carolina struggles its way to bowl eligibility:  the ‘Cocks aren’t a bad team; they’re a decent team with a bad schedule.
• Auburn has a total of two offensive players on all four teams.  Gus has his work cut out for him, it seems.
• You can pick a few bones here and there — four LSU offensive linemen seems a stretch to me, at least based on what I saw at their spring game — but this is one of the more conservative projections I’ve seen from Steele, who usually has more than a few real stretches on his lists.  I could be missing something, but he only projects  a single true freshman, LSU’s Stingley, into the entire 116.

Your thoughts?

Today, in Cocktail Party hackery

This is some header:

“Jacksonville’s $35 million gain comes at expense of Kirby Smart and Georgia”

More of the same in the article from Mike Griffith…

The University of Georgia, meanwhile, gets about $3.2 million every other year (pro-rated $1.6 annually) from Jacksonville to:

• move a designated home game away from Athens

• forfeit its biggest recruiting weekend

• put its players at a travel disadvantage in a rivalry game

Coach Kirby Smart, and some Bulldogs fans and players, don’t think that’s such a great deal…

But most all of the green stays in the state of Florida, and neither team can recruit effectively on game day in Jacksonville.

For some reason, he left out the weather, which was always one of Mark Richt’s greatest hits.  The rest of the whining sounds familiar, though.

Funny how his concerns about travel, recruiting and spending money in foreign places don’t temper his admiration of Smart’s scheduling upgrades.  All I can figure is that Griffith really doesn’t like traveling to Florida — or he’s a hack pushing somebody’s agenda.

The inconvenience of death

Just another day at Maryland…

The University of Maryland at College Park has been warned that its accreditation “may be in jeopardy,” and has until March 1, 2020, to prove to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education that it has a structure that “outlines roles, responsibilities, and accountability for decision-making.”

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education issued a release Friday that Maryland had “insufficient evidence that the institution is currently in compliance with Standard VII (Governance, Leadership, and Administration).”

It’s a procedural move that resulted from the scrutiny the university faced following the death last year of former Maryland offensive lineman Jordan McNair to heatstroke he suffered during a May 29 workout, but the accrediting body was not investigating how McNair was treated or the events that surrounded his death June 13.

Not to worry, sports fans.  Maryland’s got this.

“Under the new Board chair, the university is encouraged by USM changes and increased collaboration,” university spokeswoman Katie Lawson said in an email to ESPN on Sunday. “The renewed commitment to openness and communication will ensure that the necessary actions are taken to secure autonomy and full compliance.”

Yes, because if there’s one thing synonymous with Maryland athletics, it’s a commitment to openness and communication.  It’s just that they can’t talk about it.

And remember, Jim Delany got a $20 million bonus in part for bringing the Terps into the Big Ten.  TV money über alles is 21st century college athletics writ large.

Musical palate cleanser, a little Texas guitar edition

I hadn’t seen this clip with Stevie Ray Vaughn before, but it’s a pretty neat look at him explaining technique.

Or, you could just watch him play “Tin Pan Alley”.

Ain’t much to say after that…