Texas and the SEC: some history
posted by LW, Thursday, April 29, 2010
Paul Finebaum is one of the most prominent, controversial figures in Alabama. And that's quite an accomplishment these days for a guy who works at a newspaper.
He can be a real, uh, rear end, and I have the personal experience to verify it.
Quick story:
In December of 2002, Dennis Franchione basically left Alabama in the middle of the night for a job at Texas A&M.
Crimson Tide fans were enraged. And so too, apparently, was the guy who's earned the nickname "F-Bomb." On his radio show, Finebaum basically equated Franchione's departure to someone going into a Waffle House and mowing down a bunch of children.
A bit much, no?
Then a reporter at The Augusta Chronicle, I wrote a quick bit on Finebaum's outrageous statements for the next day's paper.
The next day, a friend from Birmingham called me and said: "Man, what the heck did you do to Paul Finebaum? He's been trashing you for the last two hours on his radio show!"
So he doesn't come off as the nicest or most humble guy in the world.
But...
I'm all for calling a spade a spade, and this column by F-Bomb is a nice piece of journalism.
F-Bomb decided to give former SEC commish Harvey Schiller a call, and Schiller came forth with a few eye-opening revelations from the SEC's expansion in the early 1990s.
Schiller ... said Texas had virtually agreed to become an SEC member. Arkansas and Texas would join the SEC from the Western side and South Carolina and either Florida State, Miami or Virginia Tech would enter from the East.
"The one that made the most sense was Texas," Schiller said. "I spent some time with DeLoss Dodds (the Texas athletic director) and he really wanted to join the conference."
Done deal. Everything agreed to but the name on the dotted line. Then, it all came apart.
"The state legislature (in Texas) somehow got wind of it through Texas A&M and said we had to bring in both schools or we couldn't take Texas," Schiller said.
The SEC didn't want A&M. Ultimately, the two Texas schools would leave the Southwest Conference and join the Big 12.
Schiller goes on to recount Vince Dooley's push for the SEC to go after rival Georgia tech, and Florida officials pushing for Florida State and Miami.
Then there's this gem that describes the NCAA's angry reaction to the SEC's discovery of the loophole in its rule book:
Schiller remembers sitting around one day with one of his assistants, Mark Womack, now the league's executive associate commissioner. He was looking at the NCAA rule book and the idea was born.
"You know, Mark," Schiller said, "we can have a football championship.'" "What you mean?" Womack responded. "I'm looking at a rule book and it says if you have more than 10 institutions, you can effectively have a championship in any sport," Schiller said.
Somehow, Walter Byers, the dogmatic head of the NCAA, caught wind and immediately called Schiller in Birmingham.
"He said, 'what the heck are you doing?'" Schiller said, remembering the fiery conversation. "That (rule) was not meant for you," Byers told Schiller. "It was meant for hockey, volleyball and soccer (and smaller leagues) where they have 12 or 14 or 16 schools."
"But that's not what the rule books says," fired back Schiller, a former combat pilot in Vietnam who later attained the rank in the Air Force of Brigadier General. Schiller once headed the chemistry department at the Air Force Academy and holds a doctorate in the subject.
Schiller said the conversation deteriorated from there, with Byers "calling me an SOB."
"You're not going to do it," Byers demanded.
Oh yes we are, Schiller responded.
In 1992, the SEC made history by holding its inaugural championship game.
"de Tocqueville said the revolution only tells you something that already took place," Schiller said.
Fantastic stuff.
Really good column here from Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz, who says new NCAA prez Mark Emmert is basically a cop without a gun. The real power is in the hands of the NCAA presidents, who don't want to effect any significant changes because of $$$$$$.
And in the following paragraph, truer words have never been typed:
My general problem with the NCAA is that it's a business when it's convenient to pose as a business, and it's a high-minded part of the larger academic mission when that serves its purpose. Emmert said Tuesday he doesn't see that the two goals are mutually exclusive, but when coaches are being paid millions and athletes are being used like so many indentured servants, there's a larger problem.
In The State, SEC coaches brace for expansion while playing golf.
And did anyone happen to catch the photos of Steve Spurrier's shorts?
Between this...
and this...
I'm thinking Spurrier's new name should be the Old Ball Crisis. Gotta be some mid-life issues going on there.
Interesting blog post from Jeremy Fowler, the Orlando Sentinel beat writer who incurred Urban Meyer's wrath a while back by quoting a player who might or might not have dissed Tim Tebow.
According to the most recent national statistics, 16.5 percent of 18-25 year-olds smoked pot within a particular month-long period.
According to a former Florida player, 75 percent of the 2006 BCS title team was sparking up.
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Paul Finebaum is one of the most prominent, controversial figures in Alabama. And that's quite an accomplishment these days for a guy who works at a newspaper.
He can be a real, uh, rear end, and I have the personal experience to verify it.
Quick story:
In December of 2002, Dennis Franchione basically left Alabama in the middle of the night for a job at Texas A&M.
Crimson Tide fans were enraged. And so too, apparently, was the guy who's earned the nickname "F-Bomb." On his radio show, Finebaum basically equated Franchione's departure to someone going into a Waffle House and mowing down a bunch of children.
A bit much, no?
Then a reporter at The Augusta Chronicle, I wrote a quick bit on Finebaum's outrageous statements for the next day's paper.
The next day, a friend from Birmingham called me and said: "Man, what the heck did you do to Paul Finebaum? He's been trashing you for the last two hours on his radio show!"
So he doesn't come off as the nicest or most humble guy in the world.
But...
I'm all for calling a spade a spade, and this column by F-Bomb is a nice piece of journalism.
F-Bomb decided to give former SEC commish Harvey Schiller a call, and Schiller came forth with a few eye-opening revelations from the SEC's expansion in the early 1990s.
Schiller ... said Texas had virtually agreed to become an SEC member. Arkansas and Texas would join the SEC from the Western side and South Carolina and either Florida State, Miami or Virginia Tech would enter from the East.
"The one that made the most sense was Texas," Schiller said. "I spent some time with DeLoss Dodds (the Texas athletic director) and he really wanted to join the conference."
Done deal. Everything agreed to but the name on the dotted line. Then, it all came apart.
"The state legislature (in Texas) somehow got wind of it through Texas A&M and said we had to bring in both schools or we couldn't take Texas," Schiller said.
The SEC didn't want A&M. Ultimately, the two Texas schools would leave the Southwest Conference and join the Big 12.
Schiller goes on to recount Vince Dooley's push for the SEC to go after rival Georgia tech, and Florida officials pushing for Florida State and Miami.
Then there's this gem that describes the NCAA's angry reaction to the SEC's discovery of the loophole in its rule book:
Schiller remembers sitting around one day with one of his assistants, Mark Womack, now the league's executive associate commissioner. He was looking at the NCAA rule book and the idea was born.
"You know, Mark," Schiller said, "we can have a football championship.'" "What you mean?" Womack responded. "I'm looking at a rule book and it says if you have more than 10 institutions, you can effectively have a championship in any sport," Schiller said.
Somehow, Walter Byers, the dogmatic head of the NCAA, caught wind and immediately called Schiller in Birmingham.
"He said, 'what the heck are you doing?'" Schiller said, remembering the fiery conversation. "That (rule) was not meant for you," Byers told Schiller. "It was meant for hockey, volleyball and soccer (and smaller leagues) where they have 12 or 14 or 16 schools."
"But that's not what the rule books says," fired back Schiller, a former combat pilot in Vietnam who later attained the rank in the Air Force of Brigadier General. Schiller once headed the chemistry department at the Air Force Academy and holds a doctorate in the subject.
Schiller said the conversation deteriorated from there, with Byers "calling me an SOB."
"You're not going to do it," Byers demanded.
Oh yes we are, Schiller responded.
In 1992, the SEC made history by holding its inaugural championship game.
"de Tocqueville said the revolution only tells you something that already took place," Schiller said.
Fantastic stuff.
Really good column here from Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz, who says new NCAA prez Mark Emmert is basically a cop without a gun. The real power is in the hands of the NCAA presidents, who don't want to effect any significant changes because of $$$$$$.
And in the following paragraph, truer words have never been typed:
My general problem with the NCAA is that it's a business when it's convenient to pose as a business, and it's a high-minded part of the larger academic mission when that serves its purpose. Emmert said Tuesday he doesn't see that the two goals are mutually exclusive, but when coaches are being paid millions and athletes are being used like so many indentured servants, there's a larger problem.
In The State, SEC coaches brace for expansion while playing golf.
And did anyone happen to catch the photos of Steve Spurrier's shorts?
Between this...
and this...
I'm thinking Spurrier's new name should be the Old Ball Crisis. Gotta be some mid-life issues going on there.
Interesting blog post from Jeremy Fowler, the Orlando Sentinel beat writer who incurred Urban Meyer's wrath a while back by quoting a player who might or might not have dissed Tim Tebow.
According to the most recent national statistics, 16.5 percent of 18-25 year-olds smoked pot within a particular month-long period.
According to a former Florida player, 75 percent of the 2006 BCS title team was sparking up.
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
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Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.