damn! not the greatest publicity here

I would like to have a camera feed into Hart's office right now, because if he's not feverishly working the phones, he's not doing his job. His ass needs to be 100% focused on hiring a new BB coach. Designate all the bs work to all his assistants.
 
Was there anything factually incorrect in that article?

Factually, nothing I noticed immediately, but he definitely has a lot of omissions. Such as when he compares the last 3 seasons of Pearl and Martin. Conveniently, he fails to mention Pearl made the tournament in each of those seasons and had us regularly in the top 25. Significantly different program despite what numbers removed from reality look like.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
Did you even read the article? It wasn't about UT it was about why he would stay where he is and not choose to go to a bigger program for more money. One of the main reasons is because of his family. There is a perception out there, right or wrong, that this is exactly what has happened here at UT and not just to Conzo, hence the original article of this thread.

I was responding to a comment on the article...an opinion I objected to.
 
Factually, nothing I noticed immediately, but he definitely has a lot of omissions. Such as when he compares the last 3 seasons of Pearl and Martin. Conveniently, he fails to mention Pearl made the tournament in each of those seasons and had us regularly in the top 25. Significantly different program despite what numbers removed from reality look like.

The win totals weren't much different at all.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
The win totals weren't much different at all.

Precisely what I was saying. He was tossing out numbers without context. Look at the quality of those wins each season, and that tells you why Pearl's team all made the tourney those 3 years and only 1 of Martin's made a play-in game.
 
i have tried to think of some examples that illustrate the larger point here, so i'll see if this sheds some light.

let's take phil fulmer as an example. he was fired. we know his record. we know what he accomplished. yet, even after being fired.....even after being replaced by people who failed miserably.....even though he is pretty much the only connection many people have to a period of tennessee football glory.....even though he is an alumnus and former letterman.....even though he won a national championship......

he is trashed by a large portion of the fan base. totally and completely disrespected and flat out made fun of.

He's only made fun of by internet warriors who are still fighting the Great Vol Message Board War of 2005-2008. If he walked out at halftime at Neyland this fall he'd get a three-minute standing ovation from virtually everybody in the stadium.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
i have tried to think of some examples that illustrate the larger point here, so i'll see if this sheds some light.

let's take phil fulmer as an example. he was fired. we know his record. we know what he accomplished. yet, even after being fired.....even after being replaced by people who failed miserably.....even though he is pretty much the only connection many people have to a period of tennessee football glory.....even though he is an alumnus and former letterman.....even though he won a national championship......

he is trashed by a large portion of the fan base. totally and completely disrespected and flat out made fun of.

A) He is not trashed by a large portion of the fan base. He is held in esteem, even by those who believe he lost his edge (which may or may not have coincided with the comings and going of David Cutcliff).

B) He is not coaching elsewhere. He didn't ditch us for the NFL or the Big 10. He's here in Knoxville and he's very supportive of our new coach. The AD, President, and Chancellor came here after Fulmer's exit, so he has no axe to grind with anyone associated with the football program.

It's ridiculous to say CPF is "completely" disrespected and made fun of by the fan base. Whatever anecdotes you can recite notwithstanding.
 
i have tried to think of some examples that illustrate the larger point here, so i'll see if this sheds some light.

let's take phil fulmer as an example. he was fired. we know his record. we know what he accomplished. yet, even after being fired.....even after being replaced by people who failed miserably.....even though he is pretty much the only connection many people have to a period of tennessee football glory.....even though he is an alumnus and former letterman.....even though he won a national championship......

he is trashed by a large portion of the fan base. totally and completely disrespected and flat out made fun of.
Let Brenda tell you how I feel...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGLR25EJtfE
 
This is sensationalism in that Zo had to go on his run in the tournament to quiet his critics. Let's face it, either A. Zo under coached until the tourney, B. Players underachieved (overall) until the tourney or C. Both (most likely). There were many underwhelming performances by the Vols this season from the coaches and players that are still hard to explain.

This is like buying a stock, you can look at long term performance or short term. Zo thought his short term return entitled him to more money. Only the future will tell.
 
The only fire that could be questioned was Fulmer. There's a reason Pearl was let go. Kiffin walked out. Dooley's was justified.

Where's the dysfunction part?

When you look at how low Tennessee's basketball budget is, and compare it to the budget of programs we aspire to compete with, that is one place I see dysfunction.

The other dysfunction was with Hamilton. I know of one coach that he hired that is still there and succeeding. And he is coaching tennis, a non revenue program.

IMO, and I know there will be disagreement, is Dave Hart. With the Athletic department reserve down to (a figure I heard today) at 1.9 million, Tennessee could not afford to fire a coach right now. Thanks to Hamilton, UT has been paying out way too many buyouts to build the reserve fund back up.

I think it is possible Hart may have felt it was time for the Basketball program to go in another direction. Let's face it, without Stokes, Maymon, and MacRae, next year was going to more than likely be hard to return to the dance. However, he did not want to shell out another buyout. So, he structured a contract that did not please Martin or his agent. And when Cal came calling, Cuonzo was gone. And it happened without paying a buyout.

That pleases those who didn't like Cuonzo, but right now, we have to endure bad press. But if Cuonzo had stayed, the legion of the miserable would have been making their opinions known again. Tennessee doesn't need it, Cuonzo and his family doesn't need it, and recruiting doesn't need it.

For me, it is what it is. Cuonzo wasn't my choice to replace Pearl, but I supported him as best I could until he wasn't the Vol's coach anymore. I will support the next guy too. Whoever Hart hires this time, if they want to build a winner, I hope they pony up the bucks to get a proven winner. You just don't get that on the cheap anymore. And even if the reserve fund is low, they need to give the next guy the operational budget they never have given Men's basketball. I just hope Hart gets it, and can convince Cheek and DiPietro to get it too. I would hope certain fans get it as well, but that would be a waste of time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
When you look at how low Tennessee's basketball budget is, and compare it to the budget of programs we aspire to compete with, that is one place I see dysfunction.

The other dysfunction was with Hamilton. I know of one coach that he hired that is still there and succeeding. And he is coaching tennis, a non revenue program.

IMO, and I know there will be disagreement, is Dave Hart. With the Athletic department reserve down to (a figure I heard today) at 1.9 million, Tennessee could not afford to fire a coach right now. Thanks to Hamilton, UT has been paying out way too many buyouts to build the reserve fund back up.

I think it is possible Hart may have felt it was time for the Basketball program to go in another direction. Let's face it, without Stokes, Maymon, and MacRae, next year was going to more than likely be hard to return to the dance. However, he did not want to shell out another buyout. So, he structured a contract that did not please Martin or his agent. And when Cal came calling, Cuonzo was gone. And it happened without paying a buyout.

That pleases those who didn't like Cuonzo, but right now, we have to endure bad press. But if Cuonzo had stayed, the legion of the miserable would have been making their opinions known again. Tennessee doesn't need it, Cuonzo and his family doesn't need it, and recruiting doesn't need it.

For me, it is what it is. Cuonzo wasn't my choice to replace Pearl, but I supported him as best I could until he wasn't the Vol's coach anymore. I will support the next guy too. Whoever Hart hires this time, if they want to build a winner, I hope they pony up the bucks to get a proven winner. You just don't get that on the cheap anymore. And even if the reserve fund is low, they need to give the next guy the operational budget they never have given Men's basketball. I just hope Hart gets it, and can convince Cheek and DiPietro to get it too. I would hope certain fans get it as well, but that would be a waste of time.

Great post. However, I don't think this is going to happen " pony up the bucks for a proven winner". It's just not what we do at UT. Name the last time we hired a coach that we had to do this for?
 
The truth hurts. Thanks all you idiots who signed the petition

Calling people idiots really hurts your cause! Now my point, the article definitely is a slanted but fairly accurate article but it misses the bottom line cause of ALL OUR PROBLEMS during this time frame.

All our problems can be traced back to ONE PERSON, MIKE HAMILTON. I said it before and I will say it again HAMBONE SET OUR ATHLETIC PROGRAM BACK AT LEAST TEN YEARS!

Cheek bears responsibility because he let Hambone get away with his poor leadership. UT in general is not at fault, the fans are not at fault, other than fans who call other fans idiots for signing a petition.

Now fans need to cut Hart some slack and let him work his majic. I think he did pretty good with CBJ but time will tell.

Go Vols!
 
Last edited:
I found this tidbit very interesting from the article:

Martin’s record in three seasons: 63-41 overall, 32-20 in Southeastern Conference play. Martin’s winning percentages: .606 overall, .615 in SEC games. The highlight was this year’s run to the Sweet 16 as a No. 11 seed – a run aided by facing No. 14 Mercer in the round of 32, and nearly ended in the play-in round before an overtime escape against Iowa.

Pearl’s record his last three seasons: 68-37 overall, 29-19 in SEC play. Pearl’s winning percentages: .648 overall, .604 in SEC games. The highlight of those final three years was that run to the Elite Eight as a No. 6 seed – a run also aided by facing a No. 14 seed in the round of 32 (in this case Ohio) and a narrow round-of-64 escape over San Diego State.
 
So it's okay to harass a man's family if he's losing? Wow. How do you not see that as dysfunctional?

Because they maybe the ones doing the harassing. Some people feel this acceptable actions, I'd like to see it turned on them and see how they deal with it.
 
Advertisement



Back
Top