They Can Get Some Respect: Vanderbilt at SEC Media Days

by cocknfire on Jul 23, 2009 3:14 AM EDT in Football Comment 7 comments

Myron Lewis and his team are looking for a little bit of respect. Or another bowl trip.

Bobby Johnson apparently wasn't in the mood to do any impersonations -- at least any beyond Steve Martin, which he masters simply by standing there.

"Well, I could do a Rodney Dangerfield, but I can't," he said. "I'm not very good at his impression."

The question, of course, was about whether Vanderbilt expected to get any more respect at Media Days after last year's 7-6 season that included a Music City Bowl win over ACC -- ahem -- power Boston College. Johnson was quick to recover from his joke and respond in a politically correct but earnest sounding manner.

"We weren't seeking respect," he said. "We were seeking to do as good as we could possibly do in our program. ... I like going back and talking to our team after we win games, talking to our fans when they meet you after an away game, they meet you back at the stadium. Those kind of rewards are a whole lot better than -- excuse me -- the press."

There are a couple of problems with what is likely to become the primary meme for Vanderbilt in the preseason: They went to a bowl game last year! Won't someone give them some respect?!? (Problems that go beyond the fact that the meme contradicts itself by suggesting that they deserve respect, meaning the writer respects them, meaning they're getting respect.)

First: To an extent, the Commodores are already getting some of that hard-earned regard.

According to Stassen's Preseason Consensus, Vanderbilt is chosen to come in fifth in the SEC East -- not an historic high, even for Vanderbilt, but a placing that puts them ahead of an assumed bowl team (Kentucky) and just 3.5 points behind South Carolina for fourth. That's the smallest gap between any two teams in the East. And that springs from prognosticators like Athlon and Football Outsiders, who put Vandy in fourth or tied for third -- almost certainly among the highest projections for the Dores since the beginning of divisional play in 1992.

Of course, there's a difference between those who watch the games and those who play them.

"There are still going to be teams out there that see us as an underdog, that put an asterisk next to us and circle our name as a win," said cornerback Myron Lewis.

The other problem with the meme is one we've covered here before -- without taking away from what Vanderbilt accomplished, the Commodores were incredibly lucky in 2008. And to say that is to insult the word "incredibly."

Is the next step for the 'Dores moving beyond the need for a well-timed "big play" to sway the outcome of games?

"That's probably been the pattern the last three years with us, either heartbreakers won or hearterbakers lost for the other team," Johnson said. "I think it's going to be that way forever. As good as we can get, our program is going to have to perform at a high level every week to have a chance to win consistently in this league."

Which is a fair and level-headed statement. Johnson knows that his team can't win consistently in the SEC if they don't capitalize on every bounce of the ball, even though he also said that "the sky's the limit for Vanderbilt," an assertion for which there is really no recent historical evidence.

Not to be disrespectful, but the Commodores should really spend more than one year out of the cellar before they start aiming for the stars.

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Is this really the best you can do?

“Not to be disrespectful, but the Commodores should really spend more than one year out of the cellar before they start aiming for the stars.”

Or, I suppose, we can just keep beating USC to stay out of the cellar.

What do you suggest they shoot for? Mediocrity? Why do anything at all if you don’t want to be the best at it?

Conquer and Prevail!

by ThePhan on Jul 23, 2009 9:11 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This is an SEC and not S. Carolina blog, but I'll bite

I’m not saying Vanderbilt should shoot for mediocrity. But it’s hard to take the talk of an SEC title seriously when they’ve had one bowl-eligible season in 26 years. You’re right — one good way to stay out of the cellar is to try to beat South Carolina more than twice in the last nine tries. That might be easier said than done, since South Carolina went to more bowl games in either 2001-02 or 2005-06 than Vanderbilt went to in a quarter century.

My point was that it’s going to take a while for Vanderbilt to get there — if they do at all.

Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.

by cocknfire on Jul 23, 2009 9:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I appreciate the reply. I actually thought the blog posting was fairly reasonable overall.

One of the challenges at Vanderbilt, moreso than at almost any other SEC school, is changing the mindset. Johnson has done a lot to change that, not just last year, but for the last four years (when they have probably had better teams in 2 of those 4 years than the one that finally broke through last year). The fact that Johnson, a proven winner at Furman, was even hired in the first place (versus some of the proven losers we’ve previously had, or an unproven assistant) speaks to that. How much abuse would Johnson deservedly receive if he didn’t say the sky was the limit? Most of us thought we’d never see the day when Northwestern played in the Rose Bowl (or see Vandy play in any bowl again, for that matter).

No one is expecting VU to play in the SECG anytime soon. But getting these guys to believe they can play with anybody—as they have in the last four years—is the first step.

And if historical data is the criteria by which we evaluate the likelihood of any team’s chances of winning a title, we can safely eliminate at least a third of the schools in the SEC from consideration.

Conquer and Prevail!

by ThePhan on Jul 23, 2009 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, he's right

Media Days would be much more colorful if Bobby Johnson would stand up at the podium and say, “Look, let’s cut the crap here. We’re aiming for a 6-6 season every few years. And that’s because we’re not going to whore ourselves out and play ball the SEC way. This is a whole multi-billion dollar business built on denial, on willing suspension of disbelief, of pretending this is about educating kids instead of mining them for every dollar we can get from controlling their labor market. Well, I for one am not going to stand up here and play along. Sure, we’ll put forth a championship level effort in every aspect except one, but you and I both know that until we’re willing to whore ourselves out, we’re basically shooting for mediocre every year. Thank you. I’ll take a few questions.”

So yes, I agree with cocknfire that this would make press conferences much more enjoyable. It would certainly be novel, because you’re not going to ever hear it from Bobby Johnson’s lips, even though we all know it’s true.

by PhilipVU94 on Jul 24, 2009 3:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

or, to put it another way, to be taken with the same degree of respect as other teams in the conference includes having your record and prospects evaluated in an objective manner such as we see has been done here.

if incessant back patting for the scrappy little underdog is what you find preferable, patronizing mode isn’t that hard to re-engage.

by kleph on Jul 23, 2009 10:11 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

As soon as other teams’ fans begin hating on us on a regular basis, I’ll know we have accomplished something. As it is, I (and most other Vandy fans) absolutely loathe the “lovable loser” tag.

Conquer and Prevail!

by ThePhan on Jul 23, 2009 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs