Couple of things
- While I agree with the statistical approach taken by Gene Weeks, I think that misses the point. The implication from Scott Berry's comments was that Athens-Clarke County was some sort of crime-ridden hole in the earth, when in actually our crime rates - particularly our murder rate, which is almost nonexistent - are actually quite low in comparison to other cities. While it's true they are higher than our surrounding rual counties, we're not living on Eight Mile Road here.
- I'm all for this if we can somehow relive all of the odd, yet fantastic tragedies that Kelly experienced on the show. Bonus points for the reader who can list, without looking up, some of those instances.
- Yeah, um, how again? Georgia blew a 13-point lead in the closing minutes of the game, scrapped through overtime and relied on a bank shot from an off-balance post player in order to slip past Ole Miss. If you examine the 'totality' of the program, it all points toward the dismissal of Dennis Felton. Of course, he'll be kept around because folks will buy into the false meme that there aren't qualified coaches out there and that it's only five years since Harrick (which is something I look forward to hearing about five years from now ... 'guys, listen, just a decade ago we had those self-imposed sanctions, and you know it's hard to build a program .... what, you mean Tennessee won in three years ... look away young man, look away!').
- There's an interesting element to the survey of homeless in our community that often gets overlooked, and that's the notion that we have 'too many' non-profits or some might duplicate services. While it's important to note that shrinking grant funds and increased competition for a small pool of private donors makes the growing non-profit industry more difficult to manage, the clients that need to be serviced are growing, which is why the duplication of services angle seems rather irrelevant in the course of things. Or perhaps a better way to approach it is funnelling support toward successful and viable non-profits so they can expand their programs and serve their clients more efficiently.
- The other interesting thing to note is that while I agree with Courtney Davis that the homeless count is actually higher than the number indicates, it's still relatively low for our community, yet our poverty rate is astoundingly high. Seeing how close to 70 percent of those living in poverty work either full- or part-time, this underlines the fact that there are so many who are just barely getting by and are literally a paycheck away from joining those on the streets.
- I'm all for this if we can somehow relive all of the odd, yet fantastic tragedies that Kelly experienced on the show. Bonus points for the reader who can list, without looking up, some of those instances.
- Yeah, um, how again? Georgia blew a 13-point lead in the closing minutes of the game, scrapped through overtime and relied on a bank shot from an off-balance post player in order to slip past Ole Miss. If you examine the 'totality' of the program, it all points toward the dismissal of Dennis Felton. Of course, he'll be kept around because folks will buy into the false meme that there aren't qualified coaches out there and that it's only five years since Harrick (which is something I look forward to hearing about five years from now ... 'guys, listen, just a decade ago we had those self-imposed sanctions, and you know it's hard to build a program .... what, you mean Tennessee won in three years ... look away young man, look away!').
- There's an interesting element to the survey of homeless in our community that often gets overlooked, and that's the notion that we have 'too many' non-profits or some might duplicate services. While it's important to note that shrinking grant funds and increased competition for a small pool of private donors makes the growing non-profit industry more difficult to manage, the clients that need to be serviced are growing, which is why the duplication of services angle seems rather irrelevant in the course of things. Or perhaps a better way to approach it is funnelling support toward successful and viable non-profits so they can expand their programs and serve their clients more efficiently.
- The other interesting thing to note is that while I agree with Courtney Davis that the homeless count is actually higher than the number indicates, it's still relatively low for our community, yet our poverty rate is astoundingly high. Seeing how close to 70 percent of those living in poverty work either full- or part-time, this underlines the fact that there are so many who are just barely getting by and are literally a paycheck away from joining those on the streets.
posted by Jmac at 9:27 AM
8 Comments:
"Clients?"
It's not a false meme to say that without a solid go-to hire to step into the vaccuum, that firing Felton is premature. The false meme is this notion that you just have to cut a coach lose b/c he gets 'stale' and 'fresh blood' will stir things up, as though that is always good.
We've got a top notch recruit, for instance, who didn't say he'll leave if Felton is canned but he did say he'll have to re-consider his options. But right now he sounds excited to be coming to Athens. The new facility is now up and running all proper like (as a tool for aweing recruits).
Let me admit some of my bias for Felton. He is obnoxious in his own way, he does pass the buck of responsibility more than I would prefer (but everything is not his fault, either...we need a balance), etc. But I know he's a good coach b/c I followed his program reasonably closely back when I lived in Kentucky (before I moved to Athens for grad school, before I moved back to Kentucky again). His WKY squads were good, he runs a 'clean' program as we all know (and that is not without value...so make sure you add it into the equation when you run the calculus of whether he should be fired or not).
Five years is not an eternity, it only feels that way in our 'tyranny of the urgent' modern world. There are counter examples to quick fires that worked out. In football, for instance, we know how patient VaTech was with Beamer (seven years before he went to a bowl, I think?)
If anyone makes the 'probation' excuse after 10 years, then sure, that's too long. But after 5 years, when we are a behind-the-8-ball program anyway, it does still have an impact. And, again, Felton pretty consistently gets good talent in his recruiting classes. I agree that the biggest frustration is that that talent doesn't gel together as a team the way we'd like, and all the dismissals are getting really old. But, as I argued a few days ago, I think this comes down to luck more than people realize: it takes a special kind of talent for knowing people to be able to predict what kids are going to come into the system with its rules and work ethic and thrive. Not many people have that talent in the general population, and not many coaches have it either. (Which reminds me: have we given Richt a raise yet this week? Do so, pronto!) Is the new guy going to have this magical quality. Or are we just not going to care whether he has it b/c we want fresh blood? IOW, are we going to chuck this coach and head into the void with no particularly mouth-watering prospective hires, and end up settling for a new guy who probably has all the same problems as Felton allegedly has, and then some?
The win over Ole Miss doesn't mean he should stay. Simple patience and long-term thinking means he should stay. Evans needs a slow and steady hand here, not a trigger finger.
I don't think I can be any more "on the fence" about Felton right now...I see both sides to this argument.
On the one hand I feel as if Felton has had long enough to get this program back on track and maybe he just isn't the right fit. After all, if you take a look at any good coach (Pearl, Roy Williams, Donovan, K, Izzo, etc.) all of them had their programs humming along by year 3. And while I think Felton is a dynamite defensive coach we look clueless on offense 60% of the time...there is only so much "OK, Humphrey you stand at the three point line and don't move and Yata - you drive and 'create'" that I can take.
However, on the other hand - I can point to a situation that I know very well - that of the Maryland Terrapins. The Terps were in dissaray after Bob Wade, Len Bias, etc in the late 80s. Got dealt with some pretty harsh sanctions and Gary Williams was given the unenviable job of cleaning it all up. The Terps were pretty lousy for 4 years. Then in year 5 things slowly started turning around and the rest is history. I feel that would have been the case for this year's UGA team absent the dismissals and injuries. And I know the argument that Felton should recruit players that fit the system...but I'm with Xon on this one - that's dang hard to do, especially when you are recruiting for a team like UGA that is SO desparate to win.
Basically, I just don't know where I stand on this. If I had to guess though - I think Felton gets one more year, and I think I'm fine with that. With this Thompkins kid, Billy "The Blade" Humphrey, Price, Woodbury, Swansey...who knows, next year we might actually have a team worth watching come March.
1. Kelly...date-raped, abandoned by father, diet pill addiction, brainwashed by cult, cocaine addiction, shot, went to rehab, mom was a polysubstance addict with multiple episodes of embarassing/criminal behavior. And there were like 20 more -- she was the show's major social issues illustration character.
2. When are you going to become a hockey fan?
In Felton's favor, he has been hamstrung for most of his tenure due to the sanctions and taint of the Harrick scandal. I say give him another year. He's an honorable guy, and UGA basketball has rarely been at the top of the league, anyway.
The cult one! That might have been favorite, and she went there after being trapped in a fire, right?
Yep. I love that show. My college roommate and I used to keep that and "Alf" (both in syndication by then) on in the background while we studied. Donna Martin graduates! Donna Martin graduates!
Donna Martin graduates.
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