I blame RC Johnson for the Calipari to Kentucky fiasco.

The only job we lose Calipari to is to a program like Kentucky. Granted, in 2009, Billy Gillespie had left Kentucky in a mess. Their fans were desperate to start winning again. They wanted a coach that was on a run like Calipari was on during that 4 year stretch.

However, there is no way the Kentucky fans accept Calipari as a candidate for their head coaching job if, early on, it's public knowledge that Memphis was under investigation. The Kentucky administration would not have been able to consider Calipari under that scenario because their fans would not have allowed it. The outcry against Calipari would have been too much for his success at Memphis & UMass to overcome. The Kentucky fans would not have allowed their administration to consider a 2-time cheater.

RC knew about the infractions investigation in January, and kept it quiet. All it would have taken to keep Calipari at Memphis was a leak to the press in January about an NCAA investigation. By the time the general public (and the Kentucky fans) knew about the investigation, it was too late. Calipari was already at Kentucky.

Interesting week with Cal returning to Memphis. Hated his guts for the first several years after leaving for UK. Now, not so much. I'm still never going to pull for them to win, but I'd also never show up at the FEF to heckle him. Wasted energy, in my opinion, and a low class thing to do. But, it is what it is, and the wound is still evident. Calkins says the city is over Cal. Nuh-uh.

(03-24-2017 04:51 PM)MTigerBlue Wrote:  Clean Gene left for a better position after attaining success here. Do you know anybody who thought he was a scumbag? And Bartow took the Tigers on a bigger ride than Cal did just for the fact of who we were playing for a national championship. It wasn't some team that hadn't won one in twenty years. Anybody who can't see the difference in how both coaches were/are perceived by the majority of Memphis fans probably has more in common with Cal than they would like people to know.

revisionist history sure is fun.

I'm glad Cal came our way, exciting times and he's one of a kind, I hated to see him leave. JTIII would be a good fit for us, good Dude who can coach however, the academics at g.t.hurt his recruiting and eligibility

I loved Cal at Memphis. It was so fun with a guy like him as our coach.

I totally agree with the post about RC being an IDIOT to keep the investigation Hush Hush

That only protected Cal and not Memphi who paid RC. RC was loyal to Cal and not the college.

(03-24-2017 06:20 PM)FUT Wrote:  

(03-24-2017 04:51 PM)MTigerBlue Wrote:  Clean Gene left for a better position after attaining success here. Do you know anybody who thought he was a scumbag? And Bartow took the Tigers on a bigger ride than Cal did just for the fact of who we were playing for a national championship. It wasn't some team that hadn't won one in twenty years. Anybody who can't see the difference in how both coaches were/are perceived by the majority of Memphis fans probably has more in common with Cal than they would like people to know.

revisionist history sure is fun.

Revisionist? I'm curious -- which part would that be? The part about calling a 72% winning record and playing for a national championship at Memphis State "attaining success?" Or the part about playing a six-time-in-a-row defending national champion being a bigger deal than playing Kansas? Or are you, perhaps, saying that you think Clean Gene was a scumbag?

(03-24-2017 08:02 PM)MTigerBlue Wrote:  

(03-24-2017 06:20 PM)FUT Wrote:  

(03-24-2017 04:51 PM)MTigerBlue Wrote:  Clean Gene left for a better position after attaining success here. Do you know anybody who thought he was a scumbag? And Bartow took the Tigers on a bigger ride than Cal did just for the fact of who we were playing for a national championship. It wasn't some team that hadn't won one in twenty years. Anybody who can't see the difference in how both coaches were/are perceived by the majority of Memphis fans probably has more in common with Cal than they would like people to know.

revisionist history sure is fun.

Revisionist? I'm curious -- which part would that be? The part about calling a 72% winning record and playing for a national championship at Memphis State "attaining success?" Or the part about playing a six-time-in-a-row defending national champion being a bigger deal than playing Kansas? Or are you, perhaps, saying that you think Clean Gene was a scumbag?

Well, for me it started with the first sentence - Gene Bartow left for Illinois, which was not (in my opinion) a better position than Memphis State. He left MSU because the AD at the time offered him something like a $1000/year raise after taking the team to the championship game. He took the first call that came in and left. The scumbag in that deal was the AD.

Bartow was there what, one year? And then UCLA called him as the successor to John Wooden (recommended by Wooden to UCLA leadership).

That's my recollection of things, but it was a fuzzy time for me.

The rest of what you said I see as more opinion than facts, but that's cool...

(03-24-2017 09:36 PM)former guest Wrote:  

(03-24-2017 08:02 PM)MTigerBlue Wrote:  

(03-24-2017 06:20 PM)FUT Wrote:  

(03-24-2017 04:51 PM)MTigerBlue Wrote:  Clean Gene left for a better position after attaining success here. Do you know anybody who thought he was a scumbag? And Bartow took the Tigers on a bigger ride than Cal did just for the fact of who we were playing for a national championship. It wasn't some team that hadn't won one in twenty years. Anybody who can't see the difference in how both coaches were/are perceived by the majority of Memphis fans probably has more in common with Cal than they would like people to know.

revisionist history sure is fun.

Revisionist? I'm curious -- which part would that be? The part about calling a 72% winning record and playing for a national championship at Memphis State "attaining success?" Or the part about playing a six-time-in-a-row defending national champion being a bigger deal than playing Kansas? Or are you, perhaps, saying that you think Clean Gene was a scumbag?

Well, for me it started with the first sentence - Gene Bartow left for Illinois, which was not (in my opinion) a better position than Memphis State. He left MSU because the AD at the time offered him something like a $1000/year raise after taking the team to the championship game. He took the first call that came in and left. The scumbag in that deal was the AD.

Bartow was there what, one year? And then UCLA called him as the successor to John Wooden (recommended by Wooden to UCLA leadership).

That's my recollection of things, but it was a fuzzy time for me.

The rest of what you said I see as more opinion than facts, but that's cool...

Yeah, I think I remember him saying Illinois paid him $30 grand or we offered him $30 and they offered $60, anyway basically doubled his pay by moving. And you're right, it is my opinion that playing John Wooden's UCLA program at their peak was a bigger deal than playing a Kansas team that hadn't won in 20 years.

But what is fact and not opinion is that, even though Cal won more here than Bartow, fans came close to rioting when Rudd suggested honoring Cal after the fact. That was never the feeling toward Gene, and it had nothing to do with Cal taking another position or which position he took. It had everything to do with the way he chose to leave.

He had every opportunity to leave in the same way Gene did, but he chose, instead, to conceal everything that was going on behind the scenes with his "agonizing over the decision" speil until he could get out of town. He chose the terms of his separation, and, by not giving a rip about him, I'm honoring those terms -- but I'm not trying to persuade anybody else to do the same. That is each fan's own decision.

Oh, no argument over how Cal left. I said in another thread that the cloud he left us under and what felt like "unfinished business" with the NC game tainted him in my eyes.

It was

Along with 1981-86

(03-24-2017 01:19 PM)Smith Wrote:  

(03-23-2017 08:13 PM)k2tigers Wrote:  

(03-23-2017 07:34 PM)21-17 Best Time I Ever Ha Wrote:  We've been nationally relevant before. Screw him.

It's so pathetic what has happened to our "Brand" - Memphis St. / U of Memphis basketball, don't you think?

Our former coach is here with his top ranked team, holds an invitation only party on top of our most famous hotel that hundreds of local Memphis money folks attended....and yet,

Our new multi-million $ staff's lead recruiter has spent the past few days at a national JUCO tournament in rural Kansas, hoping to plug some roster holes. Most likely staying at a Staybridge Inn type of place where he can get a warm breakfast full of donuts, just not as good as Gibsons.

Notice a difference?

He's where he should be. It took Cal several years to get the program rolling. Only someone who is clueless would fault the current coach. The program was in a hole when he took over. Worst off than when Cal took over the program. Johnny Jones had the program trending up. Pastner left at rock bottom.

Great insight as well as excellent post

(03-24-2017 11:30 PM)MTigerBlue Wrote:  

(03-24-2017 09:36 PM)former guest Wrote:  

(03-24-2017 08:02 PM)MTigerBlue Wrote:  

(03-24-2017 06:20 PM)FUT Wrote:  

(03-24-2017 04:51 PM)MTigerBlue Wrote:  Clean Gene left for a better position after attaining success here. Do you know anybody who thought he was a scumbag? And Bartow took the Tigers on a bigger ride than Cal did just for the fact of who we were playing for a national championship. It wasn't some team that hadn't won one in twenty years. Anybody who can't see the difference in how both coaches were/are perceived by the majority of Memphis fans probably has more in common with Cal than they would like people to know.

revisionist history sure is fun.

Revisionist? I'm curious -- which part would that be? The part about calling a 72% winning record and playing for a national championship at Memphis State "attaining success?" Or the part about playing a six-time-in-a-row defending national champion being a bigger deal than playing Kansas? Or are you, perhaps, saying that you think Clean Gene was a scumbag?

Well, for me it started with the first sentence - Gene Bartow left for Illinois, which was not (in my opinion) a better position than Memphis State. He left MSU because the AD at the time offered him something like a $1000/year raise after taking the team to the championship game. He took the first call that came in and left. The scumbag in that deal was the AD.

Bartow was there what, one year? And then UCLA called him as the successor to John Wooden (recommended by Wooden to UCLA leadership).

That's my recollection of things, but it was a fuzzy time for me.

The rest of what you said I see as more opinion than facts, but that's cool...

Yeah, I think I remember him saying Illinois paid him $30 grand or we offered him $30 and they offered $60, anyway basically doubled his pay by moving. And you're right, it is my opinion that playing John Wooden's UCLA program at their peak was a bigger deal than playing a Kansas team that hadn't won in 20 years.

But what is fact and not opinion is that, even though Cal won more here than Bartow, fans came close to rioting when Rudd suggested honoring Cal after the fact. That was never the feeling toward Gene, and it had nothing to do with Cal taking another position or which position he took. It had everything to do with the way he chose to leave.

He had every opportunity to leave in the same way Gene did, but he chose, instead, to conceal everything that was going on behind the scenes with his "agonizing over the decision" speil until he could get out of town. He chose the terms of his separation, and, by not giving a rip about him, I'm honoring those terms -- but I'm not trying to persuade anybody else to do the same. That is each fan's own decision.

The fans that matter wanted Cal to be honored. But just like with the FedEx jerseys the unruly mob won out.