The Morning Blitz

Each weekday morning, Matt or I will post a few links that we thought were either amusing, newsworthy, or both. We're going to try to stay away from the main stories of the day with this, since most of you have already checked out ESPN and SI.

- Sir Charles and DWade play a little 1 on 1
- Jose Canseco gets rocked by a 7'2 Korean kickboxer
- More Memphis/Calipari chatter
- Jon Roser's most recent "hit" on the Chris Vernon Show
- 10 yr old Tony Hawk (with gardening gloves)
- "One well-known American vehicle manufacturer is rolling out vehicles as usual."

Take a Step Back

Ok, everyone - just exhale.

Take a few seconds.

Now look up, the sky isn't falling. Everything that Debo said is absolutely true, especially concerning RC Johnson. However, even without this investigation, Johnson needs to go, mainly due to the coaching search. (Sidenote: how big of a story would it be if the Tigers would have hired Tim Floyd AND this broke?)

In the end, yes, Memphis will likely have to vacate it's Final Four appearance and their season record 38 wins. While the NCAA record books will not include those accomplishments, there's no way anyone will ever forget that it happened - especially here in Memphis. Additionally, any time a team comes close to that 38 win number, CBS, ESPN, etc will still include the Tigers in the discussion, albeit with an asterisk. In the end, history will recognize the accomplishments of the 2008 team because none of the allegations influenced the on court product (performance enhancers, point shaving, etc).

Onto Calipari: I'm going to take the stand that this might be good for the basketball team and its fans. Pastner has already become more beloved in a short period of time than I thought he ever would. The only caveat is that his team is still 0-0. While the city of Memphis might be enamored with him now, I'm curious to see what happens after a couple of early season losses. With Cal being embroiled in this mess, and assuming that Pastner is exonerated, Memphis fans will be less likely to long for Calipari's return. In a sense, this is a new beginning.

Debo's Reaction to the Tiger's NCAA Infractions:

Lots of Questions, One Answer

Questions that need to be answered:

a) Memphis received an infraction letter on January 16. Why is this coming out now? Who knew and when? How much did Calipari have to do with keeping this from going public (to facilitate his move to UK)? Did Pastner know about this when accepted the U of M job? And if so, why didn’t he bring it to light then. If he had it would have cast a shadow on the Calipari era, marked the beginning of a new AND DIFFERENT regime (instead of Cal’s top leiutenant), and shifted the focus of the Cal/UK story (opening a can of worms – how would UK boosters react, how would potential Cal/Memphis recruits react).

b) Kentucky reports that Calipari was upfront about allegations throughout the interview process and had a letter from NCAA saying that he is not at risk of being charged with any violations. WTF!?!? How did he get such a letter and when? Has the NCAA already concluded its investigation? What if new information comes to light implicating Calipari? This is similar to how Cal railroaded Memphis on the signed recruits issue a couple of months ago.

c) How will this affect Memphis in the future? Obviously only time will tell. Is this modus operandi for all of big time NCAA basketball? Is Pastner a true golden boy like he seems or will we go back to the swindling backhanded ways of Cal? Who will pay the price for this? Fans? AA, Dozier, Dorsey, CDR, and their record wins? Season ticket holders and the money they’ve contributed?

The RC Johnson Issue:

At a time when Memphis is already licking its wounds and trying to rebound from an unthinkable recruiting hole (losing committed recruits, losing signed recruits, and at one time, in jeopardy of losing currently rostered players), RC Johnson caps what has been a career filled with ten failures for every one success. And now his biggest success (hiring Cal) is more tarnished than ever.

Let’s look at the litany of errors RC Johnson has committed (we’ll only focus on those that have recently come to light).

• he let Cal sign players that could back out of that commitment if he left the school
• he let Cal leave and take the greatest recruiting class in the history of college basketball go with him
• he led a bumbling and moronic coaching search, saved only by the grace of Josh Pastner and God himself
• all three above errors occurred while U of M was conducting a complete re-seating of season tickets holders
• he sat on a NCAA investigation for over four months
• he did not conduct an internal investigation of the above
• he didn’t bring the investigation to light while Cal was cutting a trail to UK
• he’s essentially caused the university to lie to season ticket holders, boosters, fans, and current and future recruits for over four months
• worst of all, if this investigation had been made public by U of M right after Cal left, the entire focus of the UK/Cal hire is changed. Many UK boosters were uneasy to begin with given Cal’s past. Instead of asking how many banners they’ll hang in Rupp, the questions begin to look like this:
• a. Did Cal leave to avoid the investigation?
• b. Can Cal succeed under the bright lights and media in Lexington?
• c. How did Cal receive a letter absolving him of wrong while interviewing for a new job?
• d. How will Cal’s recruits react?
• e. Will UK boosters/fans accept this kind of SOP
• f. Is Memphis better off beginning anew under fresh baby faced Pastner?
• g. Should the violations follow Cal (or any coach for that matter)?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see where I’m going. RC Johnson’s head must roll. Not for this disaster, but for the culmination of his many failures that have more often than not been overshadowed by the success of others or the grace of the basketball gods. You can only dodge a bullet for so long. Johnson has been nicked in the past, but he’s finally been hit with a mortal blow. Its time for Tiger Nation to move on without RC Johnson. If we don’t, I fear RC will dodge another bullet, one that might strike the Memphis Tigers right in the heart.

Podcast Upcoming

After a short hiatus, Alex and Debo are back in the podcast business. This site will not only host the podcasts themselves, but both of us will have a periodic blog with some of our current ramblings. First podcast will be within the week, there's a lot to discuss!