'The Mighty Calk' just finished his interview with the 'new AD', Tom Bowen --- with some continued gushing after the interview. Compared the two as 'not being from the South.' Brothers. Said Bowen looks after not only the big guy (see donations) but also the little guy (see the recent free basketball tickets). Sounded impressed with Bowen --- which, considering the distance one had to travel from the "he's an arse" statement of only a year ago, shows a nimble and open mind. Congratulations to Geoff on his conversion. And welcome.

(12-13-2013 11:05 AM)TIGERCITY Wrote:  'The Mighty Calk' just finished his interview with the 'new AD', Tom Bowen --- with some continued gushing after the interview. Compared the two as 'not being from the South.' Brothers. Said Bowen looks after not only the big guy (see donations) but also the little guy (see the recent free basketball tickets). Sounded impressed with Bowen --- which, considering the distance one had to travel from the "he's an arse" statement of only a year ago, shows a nimble and open mind. Congratulations to Geoff on his conversion. And welcome.

If you are going to be a writer you can't play it down the middle...You have to pick an extreme.

From Day 1 Geoff has said Bowen is a better AD than his predecessor. I don't think he has ever changed that tune. Thread Fail.

Geoff's comments that some have taken to mean he doesn't like Bowen were related to one situation and one only: you don't schedule games without talking to your coaches first, especially in basketball which leaves the scheduling to the head coach. He has remained a steadfast supporter of the changes he has seen and written about, with that one exception.

(12-13-2013 01:04 PM)OldManTiger Wrote:  Geoff's comments that some have taken to mean he doesn't like Bowen were related to one situation and one only: you don't schedule games without talking to your coaches first, especially in basketball which leaves the scheduling to the head coach. He has remained a steadfast supporter of the changes he has seen and written about, with that one exception.

Yep.

(12-13-2013 01:39 PM)3601 Wrote:  

(12-13-2013 01:04 PM)OldManTiger Wrote:  Geoff's comments that some have taken to mean he doesn't like Bowen were related to one situation and one only: you don't schedule games without talking to your coaches first, especially in basketball which leaves the scheduling to the head coach. He has remained a steadfast supporter of the changes he has seen and written about, with that one exception.

Yep.

That one issue seemed like honest mistake probably a communication breakdown between him and Josh. With so many things going on that can happen. I see it all the time.... Bowen did what any good manager does which is put in a process to try to prevent that from happening going forward.

(12-13-2013 01:04 PM)OldManTiger Wrote:  Geoff's comments that some have taken to mean he doesn't like Bowen were related to one situation and one only: you don't schedule games without talking to your coaches first, especially in basketball which leaves the scheduling to the head coach. He has remained a steadfast supporter of the changes he has seen and written about, with that one exception.

Could be - but I recall the 'arse statement' as motivated by more than just scheduling -- although it was part of it. As I recall, Calklin's had a problem with Bowen's general demeanor. Don't recall exactly but seemed, maybe, a bit too rough and short -- especially with the media and in comparison with RC.

(12-13-2013 02:20 PM)TIGERCITY Wrote:  

(12-13-2013 01:04 PM)OldManTiger Wrote:  Geoff's comments that some have taken to mean he doesn't like Bowen were related to one situation and one only: you don't schedule games without talking to your coaches first, especially in basketball which leaves the scheduling to the head coach. He has remained a steadfast supporter of the changes he has seen and written about, with that one exception.

Could be - but I recall the 'arse statement' as motivated by more than just scheduling -- although it was part of it. As I recall, Calklin's had a problem with Bowen's general demeanor. Don't recall exactly but seemed, maybe, a bit too rough and short -- especially with the media and in comparison with RC.

That entire situation led people to being a bit "too rough and short". It happens when you get called out for doing something generally considered to be inappropriate.

(12-13-2013 02:35 PM)OldManTiger Wrote:  

(12-13-2013 02:20 PM)TIGERCITY Wrote:  

(12-13-2013 01:04 PM)OldManTiger Wrote:  Geoff's comments that some have taken to mean he doesn't like Bowen were related to one situation and one only: you don't schedule games without talking to your coaches first, especially in basketball which leaves the scheduling to the head coach. He has remained a steadfast supporter of the changes he has seen and written about, with that one exception.

Could be - but I recall the 'arse statement' as motivated by more than just scheduling -- although it was part of it. As I recall, Calklin's had a problem with Bowen's general demeanor. Don't recall exactly but seemed, maybe, a bit too rough and short -- especially with the media and in comparison with RC.

That entire situation led people to being a bit "too rough and short". It happens when you get called out for doing something generally considered to be inappropriate.

You're probably right --- went and checked and it sounds now like it all came out of the scheduling embarrassment >>>

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/201...r-himself/

...So I called Bowen. He, naturally, had associate athletic director Bob Winn call me back. Which raises the questions: Does the man have any idea that he has been hired for a public job in Memphis? Does he understand anything about his new gig?

Bowen publicly embarrasses the highest-paid and most important member of his department — who, by the way, was willing to go on Memphis radio Thursday afternoon and put the best spin on things — and then he dispatches Winn to try and explain it away.

Never mind that Bowen happens to be right about the importance of the Tennessee series. This is not about that. This is about leadership. It's about communication and, yes, common decency...

Bowen pretty well stepped in in over that issue. The guy isn't perfect. So it's not inconsistent to also believe that his taking over the reins in the AD as been beneficial overall.

That whole situation was overblown to begin with, IMO. Bowen was talking to Ole Miss, but the talks were preliminary. Talks like that go on a lot between ADs, especially when the coach is not a well established one.

And more importantly, it had to do with swapping basketball games for football games. A basketball coach can't do that. Plus, Bowen did tell Pastner he was having those conversations, BEFORE that story broke (the night before, actually). What happened was that the Ole Miss AD told the press it was a done deal, just days after Josh said it wasn't happening.

So, the main problem was the Ole Miss AD telling the press it was a done deal, when it was not.

I hope we keep playing cup cakes, so nice to win

(12-13-2013 06:04 PM)memphisike Wrote:  I hope we keep playing cup cakes, so nice to win

Monkey alert.

(12-13-2013 03:38 PM)TripleA Wrote:  That whole situation was overblown to begin with, IMO. Bowen was talking to Ole Miss, but the talks were preliminary. Talks like that go on a lot between ADs, especially when the coach is not a well established one.

And more importantly, it had to do with swapping basketball games for football games. A basketball coach can't do that. Plus, Bowen did tell Pastner he was having those conversations, BEFORE that story broke (the night before, actually). What happened was that the Ole Miss AD told the press it was a done deal, just days after Josh said it wasn't happening.

So, the main problem was the Ole Miss AD telling the press it was a done deal, when it was not.

Was this about Ole Miss or UTK? I thought it was about UTK?

(12-13-2013 06:07 PM)midtowncowboy Wrote:  

(12-13-2013 06:04 PM)memphisike Wrote:  I hope we keep playing cup cakes, so nice to win

Monkey alert.

Got sock?

(12-13-2013 01:55 PM)Tiger_Rob Wrote:  

(12-13-2013 01:39 PM)3601 Wrote:  

(12-13-2013 01:04 PM)OldManTiger Wrote:  Geoff's comments that some have taken to mean he doesn't like Bowen were related to one situation and one only: you don't schedule games without talking to your coaches first, especially in basketball which leaves the scheduling to the head coach. He has remained a steadfast supporter of the changes he has seen and written about, with that one exception.

Yep.

That one issue seemed like honest mistake probably a communication breakdown between him and Josh. With so many things going on that can happen. I see it all the time.... Bowen did what any good manager does which is put in a process to try to prevent that from happening going forward.

No communication problem. He didn't just walk into the program blind. He knew how things were before he took over. It was a move to see just how much personal control he could have over every team and he got put in his place when he over stepped.

a tweet deleted by mr calkins

(12-13-2013 07:08 PM)ncrdbl1 Wrote:  

(12-13-2013 01:55 PM)Tiger_Rob Wrote:  

(12-13-2013 01:39 PM)3601 Wrote:  

(12-13-2013 01:04 PM)OldManTiger Wrote:  Geoff's comments that some have taken to mean he doesn't like Bowen were related to one situation and one only: you don't schedule games without talking to your coaches first, especially in basketball which leaves the scheduling to the head coach. He has remained a steadfast supporter of the changes he has seen and written about, with that one exception.

Yep.

That one issue seemed like honest mistake probably a communication breakdown between him and Josh. With so many things going on that can happen. I see it all the time.... Bowen did what any good manager does which is put in a process to try to prevent that from happening going forward.

No communication problem. He didn't just walk into the program blind. He knew how things were before he took over. It was a move to see just how much personal control he could have over every team and he got put in his place when he over stepped.

God forbid the athletic director have complete and 100% control over the athletic department.

We should probably just let the basketball coach run the whole show, that hasn't been done here before.

We are in MUCH better hands than at any time in a very long time.