Sunday, November 20, 2011

Cuonzo: Patience is a Virtue

When Tennessee hired Cuonzo Martin to replace beloved coach Bruce Pearl, the announcement was met with a universal, “Who?”

After the messy and heartbreaking divorce from Pearl, Tennesseans waited anxiously for the UT administration to capitalize on the rebirth of big orange basketball and find a knockout coach to be the envy of the SEC. In his brief tenure, Pearl’s teams fought for a spot among the nation’s best, went toe to toe with legendary coaches and programs, and earned victories over Kansas, Pitt, Villanova, and Ohio State. Most importantly, Pearl finished with a 20-10 record against Memphis, Florida, and Vanderbilt.

So when Pearl’s replacement turned out to be a guy named Cuonzo, needless to say there were no parades or parties in the streets.

It doesn’t help that Martin was the final hire of the disastrous Mike Hamilton era, leaving increased pressure on a coach who’s previous position was in the Missouri Valley Conference. However, the Tennessee faithful would do well to be patient with Martin.

For a program whose better days go back to the “Ernie and Bernie” show, Pearl earned cult-like status (i.e. “The Bruce is Loose”) for his flamboyant personality and endearing ability to get under the skin of opposing coaches. But where Pearl’s personality earned devotees among even the most apathetic fans, Martin seems to want his results on the court to speak for him. He doesn’t seem interested in sound bites, endorsement deals, or even being well liked. At the first SEC media day of the season, Martin had the following exchange with a Kentucky media member after he was asked if he knew Bruce Pearl: (from govolsextra)

“‘I know Coach Pearl.’

‘Do you?’ the reporter replied skeptically.

‘Oh yeah,’ Martin said.

‘You look like I’m accusing you of something,’ the reporter said, fishing for something.

Martin unleashed a hearty laugh to end the exchange.”

(It helps Martin’s curt response was to a Kentucky reporter.)

Moments like this won’t mean a thing if the Vols don’t produce on the court, but they’re huge if they do. It says Martin is cool under pressure. It says Martin doesn’t give a damn what the media (or anyone else) thinks of him. It says Martin, like Pearl, is unwilling to back down to anyone, especially Kentucky.

And for Tennessee fans mired in the darkest era in its athletic history, it says Martin is worth getting excited over.

Martin took a Missouri State team from worst to first in their conference in just three years. He convinced freshman signees Quinton Chievous and Josh Richardson to stick with the Vols. He asserted himself with current Tennessee players with statements like, “I don’t know if there are many options outside of buying in.”

The players, so far, have responded. Newly christened point guard Trae Golden scored 46 points in the first two games of the season, and Jeronne Maymon earned his first double-double as a Vol against Louisiana Monroe.

And most importantly, his team has convincingly won the games they were supposed to win. It’s early, but a positive start was critical for Martin.

Tennessee may get crushed by Duke tomorrow in Maui, and the team may finish the season 11th in the SEC as predicted. But Martin has shown he can make progress with a struggling team, and time maybe all he needs to continue the success Pearl began.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Tennessee Football in Steady Decline

On August 24, Tennessee alum Gene Wojohowski wrote a column for ESPN.com, Trying Times for Tennessee Volunteers, contrasting Pat Summit’s announcement of her early onset dementia diagnosis with the Kiffin/Pearl debacles and the overall unrest within the athletic department.

That was before the hope surrounding Tennessee football began to fade.

That was before the lose to now underwhelming Florida, four straight conference loses, and a 42 point embarrassment at Arkansas. That was before perennial conference doormat Vanderbilt was declared a one point favorite against the Vols.

Obviously, Wojohowski’s “trying times” reference was meant primarily for Summit’s battle with dementia (as well it should), but the outlook for the Vols has never looked bleaker. From 1919 until 2004, Tennessee had nine losing seasons. Nine. Included in those years are two national titles and 16 conference championships. Unless the Vols can pull out wins over Vanderbilt and Kentucky, 2011 will be the team’s fourth losing season in last seven years. Out of 346 loses in the program’s history, 41 have come since 2005. And one of those was to Wyoming.

The most significant sea change, however, has been among the Tennessee fan base. Where UT was once among college football’s elite, media coverage now features reassurances our newly hired coach (who was hired after multiple candidates reportedly turned down the position) is committed to the university.

“How can you ask for anything more than the University of Tennessee,” Derek Dooley said upon being introduced as football coach. “The times of worrying about what happened are over.”

*Dooley is now 10-13 at Tennessee.*

The language was clear. The university that produced Peyton Manning and Reggie White is now the girl with a good personality. And high school recruits want prom queens.

Contrasting Tennessee’s decline is Vanderbilt, who have lost 27 of their last 28 meetings with the Vols. These, however, are not the same Commodores. Aside from being favored at Neyland Stadium, Vanderbilt lost to Georgia, Florida, and Arkansas this season by a combined 13 points. By comparison, the Vols lost to those same teams by 60. With bowl hopes for both teams on the line, John Adams Knoxville News Sentinel headline summed up the differing paths the two universities find themselves on:

“Vandy, Vols aren’t what they used to be.”

I was sitting in the student section in 2005 when the ‘Dores last beat Tennessee, the first in my lifetime. Late in the game, a student sitting behind me said, “Okay, I’ll take next semester off and graduate next fall so this won’t be my last football game.”

Even with that ridiculous statement, it came with an assumption next year won’t be so bad. Today, that belief is fading quickly.

Friday, November 11, 2011

The Naivete at Penn State: An Even Darker Side to the Scandal

When Bruce Pearl was fired from his position as basketball coach at Tennessee, I was devastated. I argued with myself for months that him lying to the NCAA wasn’t an unpardonable offense, comparing him to other coaches with histories of questionable behavior. I got defensive when radio and television personalities took shots at him, and held out hope he would be allowed to stay with the program.

But I was naive. My view of Pearl was emotional, irrational, and skewed. These days in State College, Pennsylvania, an even more extreme naivete is rampant throughout the community.

Years of assuming Penn State football coaches lived with the highest integrity are crashing down on the Nittany Lion faithful, and the university has only seen the beginning of the reckoning it’s about to endure. The outrage is clear, and justifiably so.

But to believe the head football coach, athletic director, university president, multiple administrators, and countless members of the State College community worked together to “sweep this under the rug” is absurd and laughable. It’s difficult enough for a family of four to decide what they want for dinner, much less convince an entire community to keep the lid on heinous crimes against children.

Hard evidence of this has yet to be uncovered, but I would be willing to bet that individuals with money, power, and prestige coerced anyone who knew to keep this information hidden from the light of day. I’d also bet they did this with pressure and threats.

The speculative evidence of abuse of power is widespread throughout this tragedy. Just look at the progression of events.

- Jerry Sandusky retires in 1999 suddenly after a parent of one of his victims finally confronts him the year before.
- District Attorney Ray Gricar choses not to pursue a criminal case against Sandusky regarding the 1998 incident, even though he is known to not be lenient for Penn State football.
- Gricar disappeared in 2005, and phrases like “how to wreck a hard drive” are found are internet searches on his home computer.
- In 2000, a campus janitor saw Sandusky in a sexual act with a boy, told the janitorial staff, but did not report the event to authorities.
- University officials continue to allow Sandusky access to football facilities for his nonprofit organization, The Second Mile, until the shower incident in 2002.
- Coach Joe Paterno denies knowledge of Sandusky’s behavior before the 2002 incident, even though Sandusky worked with Paterno for 30-plus years and Paterno was notorious for knowing everything about his players and program.
- Sandusky was allowed to see boys involved in his nonprofit while they were at school, and even check them out of school at times. School janitors and faculty reported suspicious behavior in the grand jury report, but at the time did not report the incidences. (See Victim One in the Grand Jury Report)

I could easily continue this much longer, but this information alone is reason enough to be suspicious. Why would a janitor fail to report what he saw? Why was Sandusky allowed access to kids at school, a facility that would normally pride itself on its strict guidelines for protecting students? Why did Penn State officials do nothing more than tell Sandusky he could no longer use their facilities for The Second Mile after the 2002 revelation, essentially saying, “Just don’t do it here”?

And why was he on campus just last week, even with this story about to erupt?

I simply cannot accept so many people saw the writing on the wall of what Sandusky was doing and chose to look the other way. Maybe they were naive and couldn’t bring themselves to believe it. Or maybe they were threatened to keep quiet.

I’m no conspiracy theorist, but a simple Google search presents an overwhelming amount of reason for suspicion. And at this point, Penn State should be downright paranoid. A little paranoia in the beginning might have prevented this whole disaster.