Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Golden Eagle fans have my sympathy.

Jeff Bower's firing caught me by surprise, along with many other people. USM's football team had slipped in the last few years but the fact remains that for someone who was not paid much, Jeff Bower had 14 winning seasons, conducted himself with class and ensured that USM never had any NCAA problems. For this he was fired without warnning. At least Callahan was warned by Tom Osborne (a class act) if he had a losing season he would probably be released. Bower wasn't worthy of such treatment. For his service, Bower was publicly backstabbed by Giannini, USM's athletic director.

However, one should not be surprised by Giannini's actions as he has displayed similar incompetence when it comes to running a football program before. Once upon a time there was a school called Northeast Louisiana University. It had one of the top programs in I-AA football. It sent players like Joe Delaney, Stan Humphries, Bubby Brister, and Bobby Hebert to the pros and won a national championship. NLU drew over 20,000 a game.

Then a certain NLU athletic director named Giannini had a bright idea. He decided that NLU needed to be a I-A program. Never mind that NLU has to compete against LSU. Never mind that NLU is stuck in Monroe, hardly a recruiting hotbed of football talent like New Orleans. None of that mattered. Giannini was the prime mover behind NLU's move to I-A. What was the result? NLU went from having one of the top programs in I-AA to being a cellar dwellar in I-AA. As it now had to compete with I-A schools for talent, the pipeline of players going to the NFL through NLU was turned off completely. The attendance plummeted to less than half of what it used to be. In short, Giannini single-handedly destroyed the NLU (now ULM) football program.

If you need further proof of Giannini's ineptitude, read the following quote from yesterday's Clarion-Ledger: Giannini said he would act as a one-man search committee to find the successor for Bower, who was forced to resign Monday morning after posting a 119-82-1 in 17 seasons at his alma mater."

There you have it. Standard procedure at successful schools looking for coaches is for them to form what is called a search committee. That means a group of several people is put together to find a list of candidates. Nebraska, LSU, Alabama, etc, all follow this procedure. Not Giannini. No, this Einstein who leads one of the smaller programs in I-A is such a genius that HE will find a replacement for Coach Bower. Golden Eagle fans should consider themselves lucky to have such a leader. The guy who ruined NLU's program and fired a successful USM coach with no warning is now going to single-handedly lead you to the promised land.

However, didn't the Hebrews have to spend forty years in the wilderness first?

For further proof:
http://starbulletin.com/97/11/21/sports/story1.html
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-19421843.html

Posted by Kingfish at 7:35 AM
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Agreed. I don’t know what the USM fans are expecting. They are a small school in a small state with a miniscule athletic budget and they have to compete with TWO SEC school for talent. They average less than 20,000 per game if I recall correctly. They play in what is arguably the worst football conference in the country. Yet when you talk to folks around town (I live in Hattiesburg) they act like they want the Golden Eagles to be perennial national contenders or something. Then, of course, you hear these same people say – with a straight face – that USM needs to hire the Oak Grove High School or Pearl River Community College head coach because they’ve been so successful. I kid you not.

November 28, 2007 at 11:38 AM
Kingfish said...

and Giannini has completely screwed their progam with all these weeknight games. Totally destroyed the fan base that would attend.

ready for this? He does'nt even have professional fund raisers. Thinks it should be volunteer. at LSU, we have pros on staff JUST for that reason.

November 28, 2007 at 11:40 AM
Anonymous said...

I agree. The Thursday night games are attendance killers. Guess the scheduling is Bower's fault too.

November 30, 2007 at 9:32 AM
Anonymous said...

Btw King, great job exposing Giannini.

November 30, 2007 at 9:33 AM
Kingfish said...

Nope. That is Giannini's. AD's usually do that.

You guys are going to regret having him one day.

November 30, 2007 at 9:33 AM
Kingfish said...

Thanks.

I have to give credit to Scott McKay. He wrote a story about this years ago when he published Purple & Gold. I remember the sheer folly of Giannini's actions which is why it stuck with me for years. I found out he was the AD at USM and thought immediately they were screwed.

November 30, 2007 at 9:35 AM

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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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