Sprints Is Glad the SEC Is Looking Out for Teams Like Alabama // 04.12.10
by cocknfire on Apr 12, 2010 12:32 AM EDT
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SEC official Charles Bloom on "fixing" Alabama's schedule so that the Tide -- who are already starting behind the eight ball -- don't have to play so many teams that coming off byes.
"We would like to have that done by the end of the month if possible," Bloom said. "The schools need to know who they are playing and when."
It is a little known fact that it is, indeed, positive for teams to know whom they are playing and when. Though it could be fun if a team was just given an envelope on Wednesday or Thursday and told where to show up.
In any case, it's great to see that the SEC is media-savvy enough to counter suspicions that it gives special treatment to teams like Alabama by, um, giving special treatment to Alabama.
One fewer player that will need to know where he's going
Robby Green is out for Alabama next season. NCAA reasons. We're sure this is just the latest step in the organization's ongoing plot to do everything it can to destroy the Tide.
The infraction is of an individual nature and not an institutional matter. No penalties have been levied against the UA athletic department or football program over the matter, which ony affects only Green's eligibliity.
"Even though we are very disappointed, we will continue to support Robby in every way possible," Saban said in a written statement. "He'll practice and do all the other things with our team in terms of classes and workouts, but just won't be eligible to play in any games this fall."
So he'll have plenty of idle days.
The Brett Favre of Kentucky basketball says ...
As long as it doesn't become the leading segment on SportsCenter over the next few weeks, this should be easier to watch than the Mississippi Meanderer's annual Hamlet routine, but Patrick Patterson might return to Kentucky after all.
"I'm half in and half out right now," Patterson said in an interview with The Associated Press Saturday while he was watching horse races at Keeneland. ...
Last week, a news release from the university announced Patterson was one of five underclassmen to submit their names for the draft, along with freshman guards John Wall and Eric Bledsoe and freshman centers DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton.
"I want to thank the fans who have supported me all three years," Patterson said in the release. "I also want to thank the coaches for putting me in a position to showcase other parts of my game as well as my versatility. Lexington and UK will always be a special place to me."
Patterson going back to Lexington would mean only 17 Kentucky players will be available in the NBA Draft this year. But someone really should tell him that the NCAA doesn't allow a player to be half eligible.
Can Jonathan Crompton petition the NCAA for a sixth year?
Nick Stephens is out at Tennessee after losing some first-team reps to other quarterbacks. You can understand the decision, but it seems like Stephens never got much of a chance. His only real starting time came in the Year of Infinite Sadness in 2008, when one doubts that Peyton Manning or even Zombie Johnny Unitas could have led the Vols to a bowl. In any case, good luck to Nick Stephens.
You can only expect so much
Vince Dooley visited Tennessee on Thursday and addressed the Vols -- which we can assume would never happen had Derek Dooley not been hired as head coach. Blood being thicker than water only goes so far, though.
"I was a little disappointed he came out here in red but it was checkerboard," Derek said, referring to his father's button-up shirt.
The orange-clad Dooley said UT booster Jim Haslam bought his father a Tennessee hat, but not a UT hat. Haslam figured a red hat with the Tennessee state emblem on it would be compromise enough.
Perhaps, but the elder statesman of Georgia football wasn't wearing it on Thursday.
Baby steps, folks. But, if you can ever get him to sing Rocky Top, you'll have really accomplished something.
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Patterson will graduate in 3 years
If he comes back, he’ll be in graduate school.
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
is just a freight train coming your way.
Does any team in the SEC want the special treatment that is being given UA?
Who wants to play six conference opponents in the SEC whom just enjoyed a bye-week?
Is that somehow good for the conference?
Clerical errors (like this one appears to be) should be corrected when they give an unfair advantage. UA played three conference opponents coming off byes, last year. Six is just insane.
Nobody's saying it is fair
In fact, the SEC is taking steps to fix the issue in future years. The problem is that nobody is sure that it has never happened before — I doubt this is the first time — but it’s now a major issue when it happens to Alabama. Rearranging several teams’ schedules a few months before the season because of a mistake isn’t normal treatment; that’s where it can be considered special treatment.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
"The problem is that nobody is sure that it has never happened before — I doubt this is the first time"
It could not have happened before 2006, as there were only 11 games and the season was a week shorter. It would have been mathematically improbable in such a short window to have the confluence of events necessary to have six opponents with the week off before another team. If you go further back, pre-SEC realignment (early 90s), it would have been even more difficult, as teams often only played 10 games and usually only 6 or 7 SEC teams in a given season.
I think you can rest assured with the basic help of math and logic that this would have been the only possible time that one team has played six SEC opponents with the previous week off. All that being written, I do get your point regarding the politics of the situation.
by Kenny483 on Apr 12, 2010 11:56 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
By your logic, the other teams in the conference should be happy...
…that the SEC is trying to rearrange the schedules.
With UA at the top of the hill right now, they have the best chance of coming through that kind of a schedule without more than a few losses. But what about mid-tier programs? If they faced a similar schedule, they could possibly write-off the going to a bowl game and possibly lose their coach (or a few asst. coaches). With a few more than expected loses recruiting would most likely be affected. That program would feel the affect of the schedule screw-up for (possibly) years.
If there is a “special” consideration given to UA’s request, it benefits the entire conference by setting up a precedent that looks out for the balance of scheduling amongst conference opponents.
The future problem has already been fixed by an agreement to stop this from happening again
The only issue right now is whether the SEC will take action this year on Alabama’s schedule. There’s no precedent to set; Alabama is the only team that will now or ever benefit from this decision.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
funny
alabama just so happens to be the only team to historically be punished by this nonsense.
whatever, we’re going to crush you all no matter when you choose to schedule the games.
Roll 'Bama Roll: The Champagne of 'Bama Blogs.
by kleph on Apr 12, 2010 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
i think thats the underlying point...
they are scared..and are pissed that they no longer get a leg up…
Lane Kiffin took the meaning of "Volunteer" WAY too seriously....
by bammer on Apr 14, 2010 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Well then
How about you tell us about this “other time” where this happened to some SEC school in 6 of 8 games? Particularly in the past few years where schools had less byes than in the past, where such a thing should be near impossible?
It hasn’t. Not anywhere close. Look at the old schedules, particularly in this decade, Alabama has always had to put up with this. Not to this degree, though, typically.
by Bobby Briggs on Apr 14, 2010 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions
It has happened before.
Here’s the stats from a RBR post a while back.
Total opponents coming off non-SEC-game weeks prior to matchup, 2007-2010
Alabama – 24
Auburn – 21
Florida – 16
Tennessee – 14
Georgia – 14
Mississippi – 13
LSU – 13
Vanderbilt – 12
South Carolina – 11
Mississippi State – 9
Kentucky – 8
Arkansas – 6
Percentage of opponents scheduling byes during non-SEC-game weeks prior to matchup, 2007-2010
Alabama – 70.8% – 17out of 24
LSU – 38.5% – 5 out of 13
Tennessee – 28.6% – 4 out of 14
Florida – 25.0% – 4 out of 16
Vanderbilt – 25.0% – 3 out of 12
Kentucky – 25.0% – 2out of 8
Georgia – 21.1% – 3 out of 14
Auburn – 14.3% – 3 out of 21
Mississippi State – 11.1% – 1out of 9
Mississippi – 7.7% – 1 out of 13
Arkansas – 0.0% – 0 out of 6
South Carolina – 0.0% – 0 out of 11
http://www.rollbamaroll.com/2009/11/10/1124068/byes-why-the-huge-discrepancy
Nothing like a non biased SEC BLOG belittling it's most successful member.
8 or 13 It's more than your school. You can call Bama's fans what you want while your thinking of the national title.
i guess there will be no undefeated season next year. probably 9-3 or 10-2 in regular season.
btw. how many of those games are home games? i’m a little busy on my mma blogs at the moment.
I'm all about covering the spread and moneylines. I was building a house, I don't deserve this, deserves have nothing to do with it. Bang. "Unforgiven" I drink your milkshake. I drink it up! "There Will BE Blood"
by wolfmanshowlforever on Apr 13, 2010 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Just like I am anti-Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, etc.
We have a little irreverent fun here at all the league members’ expense. As Kenny said above, the point is mostly about “the politics of the situation.”
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Hold up.
First off, I would like to see where the SEC has given special treatment towards Alabama in the past.
2nd. The SEC are the ones who do all the scheduling for SEC play. After the schools get their SEC schedule the schools fill it in with whatever they want.
It is no wonder why all those teams would make their schedule that way, and nobody is blaming the schools for doing it. The problem is that the SEC obviously made the schedule while leave alot of teams with an open date before the Alabama game, meanwhile other teams got 0 teams coming off bye weeks.
In fact, since Alabama was scheduled to play 6 teams coming off byes, it means that Alabama ALONE was scheduled to play HALF of all such games in the SEC. More than half when you consider that 1 of those games has to be Alabama’s own. That leaves only 6 other such games for the other 11 teams to spread along. Meaning, atleast 5 teams in the SEC have 0 games to play coming off byes.
And Alabama is getting special treatment because the SEC is considering fixing their own stupid mistake from the start? The odds of such happening by default even call the SEC motives into question of Alabama being treated poorly. Just by chance 1 teams gets half the games coming off byes in the entire 12 team conference?
Even just 3 such games is absurd, much less 6. What politics are there to talk about, it’s screwed up no matter what team it’s happening too, and any school in such a situation could make it. The only reason it’s happening to Alabama is because no other team draws that much respect from the schools.
by cal n on Apr 14, 2010 2:06 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
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