“For many people, being a fan becomes a part of their identity.”

That would be the asshole part, I guess.

Mommy, make the bad schools share!

Boy, this is subtle.

In a meeting with the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle, Tilman Fertitta, chairman of UH’s Board of Regents, suggested that the Texas state legislature should pressure and/or threaten the Big 12 into giving UH a spot in the conference.  And by suggested I mean he just flat-out said it.

“Put pressure on the presidents; say, ‘If you don’t do this, we’re not going to fund you for this,’” Fertitta said of the state legislature’s role in meeting his goal. “It’s just the way it is. That’s the way to do it. …

“Be a big boy, step up and put this school that has almost 50,000 students and is so high-profile, has so many of the top schools in the United States, it’s a tier one university — we belong in the Big 12. We’re a big, major school with an unbelievable history in athletics and academia.”

The Texas legislature can’t even get Texas and Texas A&M on the same field anymore, but it’s gonna wade into this?  Sure it will.

Perhaps if ol’ Tilman availed himself of his school’s resources and learned that more Big 12 schools are located outside the state of Texas than inside he wouldn’t sound like such a dope.

“We appreciate the work Coach Jenkins did here.”

This is an amazing story about the new head coach at Alabama State University.  The most amazing part, of course, being this:

Prior to Jenkins’ departure in December from Bethune-Cookman, officials there had conducted an investigation into a number of allegations, and Assistant Athletic Director Tony O’Neal, who wouldn’t answer questions about the investigation, said, “Anything that needed to be reported (to the conference and NCAA) was reported.”

ASU Interim Athletic Director Melvin Hines said he was aware of the investigation and the incidents that prompted it, and he said he knew of the allegations reported to the NCAA.

And still hired the man!

Of course, he did get something of a bargain.

Jenkins compiled a 46-14 overall record and won Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors three times in five seasons at Bethune-Cookman. The contract ASU trustees approved will pay Jenkins a first-year salary ($175,000) that’s $90,000 less than what he was earning at Bethune-Cookman ($265,000).

At most places, a guy taking a $90,000 pay cut to come work for you should speak volumes.  But evidently they’re a little hard of hearing at Alabama State.

Taking chippiness to the next level

Whoever says bowl games are meaningless hasn’t met Texas A&M staff member Michael Richardson.

Although perhaps he will soon be called “former” Texas A&M staff member Michael Richardson.  Woody Hayes might approve, but I doubt anyone else will.

***************************************************************************

UPDATE:  Now it’s “former”.

Updyke Fever… catch it!

Seriously, WTF is the matter with some people?

It’s just a game, assholes.

Wednesday morning buffet

It’s a Gurley-free buffet, if that helps.

• This is awkward.
• Steve Hummer’s assessment of the psyche of Georgia’s fan base is pretty good:  “Georgia people habitually expect the worst. They can never relax. They can never wander the sunflower fields of blind optimism. They just know deep down that around every corner awaits a kick to a most sensitive area.”
• The advanced box score of the Florida-Missouri game is as amazing to see as the game was.
• And the advanced box score of the Arkansas-Georgia game is just what you’d expect.
• Devin Gardner’s comment about the number of racist fans he’s encountered this season puts me in mind of Randy Newman’s “Rednecks”.  Hang in there, Devin.  You’re a classy kid.
• “We found out that ball is an incredibly important part of the game of football and we didn’t secure it the way we needed to on offense and it paid off for them,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said.  Better late than never, I guess.
• When it comes to scoring this season, Georgia is a damned efficient team.

Over the top

Considering that every fan base has its share of unbalanced folks – and Georgia’s is no exception (Remember egging Aaron Murray’s house?  Good times.) – it’s still disappointing to see people lose it over a player suspension like this:

The wife of a Lindale man also named Bryan Allen told the Rome News Tribune that she was inundated by calls of people trying to reach the other man by that name

“They’ve been threatening my life and my husband’s,” she said. “They threatened to burn down my house, and I don’t even completely understand what this is all about. One of the calls said that my husband was a snitch for ratting out some guy named Gurley. I don’t even know who that is.”

Sigh.

I’m guessing the guilty Bryan Allen doesn’t live here anymore.  And probably has a few regrets about his tactics.