(01-17-2011 11:22 PM)mjs Wrote:   I never believed their was some big conspiracy to keep Mike out of the Hall of Fame. The reality is, that most years (Certainly the past 8 years while at UAM) he has been pretty busy during basketball season. This year he is no longer coaching and is free on a Saturday during basketball season. Pete Myers is also free (supposedly he moved into the Bulls front office after the coaching change after the end of last season). Wonder why he wasn't invited?

I'll never be convinced of that. The lady who was in charge of the Tip In Club several years ago, told me that there were some officialos at UALR that did not want him in the HOF. The reason she told me this, is because the TIC sent out HOF ballots, and I knew of eight or ten people who told me that they had nominated Mike. So, when no one was selected that year, I asked her about that, saying that I knew that Newell got X number of votes. That's when she told me that.

As far as Pete Myers, he should be in the HOF himself. Another UALR ****up.

(01-27-2011 05:55 PM)LRTrojan Wrote:  

(01-17-2011 11:22 PM)mjs Wrote:   I never believed their was some big conspiracy to keep Mike out of the Hall of Fame. The reality is, that most years (Certainly the past 8 years while at UAM) he has been pretty busy during basketball season. This year he is no longer coaching and is free on a Saturday during basketball season. Pete Myers is also free (supposedly he moved into the Bulls front office after the coaching change after the end of last season). Wonder why he wasn't invited?

I'll never be convinced of that. The lady who was in charge of the Tip In Club several years ago, told me that there were some officialos at UALR that did not want him in the HOF. The reason she told me this, is because the TIC sent out HOF ballots, and I knew of eight or ten people who told me that they had nominated Mike. So, when no one was selected that year, I asked her about that, saying that I knew that Newell got X number of votes. That's when she told me that.

As far as Pete Myers, he should be in the HOF himself. Another UALR ****up.

You may be right. I certainly don't know. I just think getting an active coach here, on a Saturday night, during the middle of conference basketball season is not an easy thing to do. Just doesn't seem like its simply a coincidence, that the first year he is out of coaching he gets invited.

I'll never be convinced of that. The lady who was in charge of the Tip In Club several years ago, told me that there were some officialos at UALR that did not want him in the HOF. The reason she told me this, is because the TIC sent out HOF ballots, and I knew of eight or ten people who told me that they had nominated Mike. So, when no one was selected that year, I asked her about that, saying that I knew that Newell got X number of votes. That's when she told me that.

As far as Pete Myers, he should be in the HOF himself. Another UALR ****up.
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Newell burned every bridge he could at UALR. He continues to make off hand remarks about UALR. The story on UALR's web site announcing his induction had a quote from Newell saying "It is easy to recruit to UALR." That was a slap at UALR. The only friends he had in the administration who could protect him, Dr. Wyatt and Dr. Young, left soon after Newell left. Newell alienated academics by spending so much money. He was promised a blank check when he came and eventually that money ran out just like it did at UCA under Hardin. There was a hiring freeze. There was a freeze on wages and spending. UALR lost many good professors during his time here because they were over worked and under paid and went several years without a pay raise.
Although a some left, a some did not leave and they are still at UALR and they still remember how it was. Newell is a four letter word on the academic side of UALR. Newell's selection into the hall not only had to have acceptance from athletics, it had to have acceptance from the school administration.
That said, I believe Newell deserves the honor. I hope some of his team is there to celebrate it.
I also believe he will be booed by ASU fans. Newell would actually like that.

(01-28-2011 12:33 PM)ez272 Wrote:  Newell is a four letter word on the academic side of UALR. Newell's selection into the hall not only had to have acceptance from athletics, it had to have acceptance from the school administration.

So in a sense, Steve Shields is the Anti-Newell?

(01-28-2011 12:33 PM)ez272 Wrote:  Newell saying "It is easy to recruit to UALR."

Here's the actual quote. To me, it is ambiguous as to which school he is referring, because he starts talking about Oklahoma in the middle of the paragraph.

"We had an administration that wanted to have a top notch program, and we worked hard and it was just one of those things where, having come from Oklahoma, where we'd done basically the same thing, the key was recruiting," added Newell. "It was a great university and a great city, so it was easy to recruit."

I assume he is referring to UALR, but is not 100% clear. Any English teachers want to chime in?

(01-28-2011 12:33 PM)ez272 Wrote:  Newell burned every bridge he could at UALR. He continues to make off hand remarks about UALR. The story on UALR's web site announcing his induction had a quote from Newell saying "It is easy to recruit to UALR." That was a slap at UALR That said, I believe Newell deserves the honor. I hope some of his team is there to celebrate it.
I also believe he will be booed by ASU fans. Newell would actually like that.

He did a pretty damn good job of recruiting. And he didn't have a nice arena to recruit to. Just because the coaches who followed him haven't been able to recruit the quality of players he brought in, don't blame Newell for the statement he made.

Other than Platt, and Sidney who did a pretty good job of recruiting in the short time he was here, none of the rest could get it done. Hopefully things are changing now, but it took Shields seven years to recruit a decent bunch.

Everyone knows the league is down this year, so how would this years crop have fared if Western Kentucky, South Alabama, Lafayette, and some of the others were up to their usual par, we'll never know.

Obviously he burned some bridges here, but he damn sure got the job done on the basketball court.

how is saying it's easy to recruit to UALR because it's a great university and a great town a slap against UALR? Am I missing something..?

(01-28-2011 02:22 PM)eh9198 Wrote:  how is saying it's easy to recruit to UALR because it's a great university and a great town a slap against UALR? Am I missing something..?

Fellow Trojan Fans....Greetings from Middle Tennessee! Hope your winter is going well and you have avoided ice storms! We have had it over here and i have traveled in a blizzard in boston, an ice storm in NE PA and 19 inches of snow in NYC this week...glad to be home! Enough...
Congrats to Coach Newell!!!!! Set aside any issues/heart burn/ill feelings you may have and focus on what he did! Looking at the picture on the UALR website took me back in time when all of us were going to the statehouse or barton or pine bluff or where ever Coach Newell had to schedule games. All of us were younger and prettier than we are today......maybe Coach Newell is still pretty:) He did a great job of recruiting and an even better job of floor coaching. SPeaking for myself, I am thrilled that he is going into the Hall of Fame....long overdue---politics be damned-----long overdue!! Congratulations Coach!
Now on to the game.....BEAT ASU! Go TROJANS!

(01-28-2011 02:55 PM)mdtntrojanceo Wrote:  

(01-28-2011 02:22 PM)eh9198 Wrote:  how is saying it's easy to recruit to UALR because it's a great university and a great town a slap against UALR? Am I missing something..?

Fellow Trojan Fans....Greetings from Middle Tennessee! Hope your winter is going well and you have avoided ice storms! We have had it over here and i have traveled in a blizzard in boston, an ice storm in NE PA and 19 inches of snow in NYC this week...glad to be home! Enough...
Congrats to Coach Newell!!!!! Set aside any issues/heart burn/ill feelings you may have and focus on what he did! Looking at the picture on the UALR website took me back in time when all of us were going to the statehouse or barton or pine bluff or where ever Coach Newell had to schedule games. All of us were younger and prettier than we are today......maybe Coach Newell is still pretty:) He did a great job of recruiting and an even better job of floor coaching. SPeaking for myself, I am thrilled that he is going into the Hall of Fame....long overdue---politics be damned-----long overdue!! Congratulations Coach!
Now on to the game.....BEAT ASU! Go TROJANS!

Unfortunately we all look a lot older, including Coach Newell. It should be a great night. Hopefully, a lot of old timers will be there to honor him. Funny that most UALR students weren't even born when he was there.

(01-28-2011 02:22 PM)eh9198 Wrote:  how is saying it's easy to recruit to UALR because it's a great university and a great town a slap against UALR? Am I missing something..?

Folks can interpret things the way they chose to. I guess it could be interpreted as a "slap" to all the coaches that have followed him and been unable to recruit a team that reached the NCAA tournament. Is that why he said it? I have no idea. But at this point I will take the statement at face value and give him the long, loud standing ovation he deserves tomorrow night.

Could be that some current Trojan fans don't remember how Mike Newell promoted his team and the school as well as the city. He would talk to a recruit as though UALR was on par with North Carolina. And he did not apologize for Barton Coliseum. Did he stretch the truth somewhat? Don't most recruiters do the same?

(01-28-2011 04:22 PM)DollarBill Wrote:  Could be that some current Trojan fans don't remember how Mike Newell promoted his team and the school as well as the city. He would talk to a recruit as though UALR was on par with North Carolina. And he did not apologize for Barton Coliseum. Did he stretch the truth somewhat? Don't most recruiters do the same?

Funny. I remember Wimp talking about taking a recruit to Barton and the recruit telling him "It's not as bad as you said coach". I also recall previous coaches who told recruits that they were unable to get into Barton because of a tractor pull (or whatever) and then just showed them pictures of a packed Barton (likely the Baylor NIT game) which didn't look half bad.

(01-28-2011 02:22 PM)eh9198 Wrote:  how is saying it's easy to recruit to UALR because it's a great university and a great town a slap against UALR? Am I missing something..?

Maybe because everyone on this board talks about Shields not being able to recruit. He brings players in and keeps them a year and then cuts them loose.

I dunno, I think that's a little hypersensitive. He didn't recruit Derek Fisher, Muntrelle Dobbins, Malik Dixon, etc. Did he recruit Ryan Moss or Tony Martin? He didn't recruit Chucky Guy, WN (supposedly will be as good or better), Shane Edwards, Brandon Freeman, or John Fowler. So on and so forth. People since him have been able to recruit, so i don't think that thinking of it as a slight holds a lot of water.

(01-28-2011 06:05 PM)ez272 Wrote:  Maybe because everyone on this board talks about Shields not being able to recruit. He brings players in and keeps them a year and then cuts them loose.

Shields has recruited a few good ones, just not enough at one time to put together a team that can win the conference. This year, at least for Shields, I guess you could say that "the cup runneth over." His recruiting hasn't exactly set the world on fire. And now that he has some that can play, he's sort of turned them loose, and it's paid huge dividends. He's let them run some, and shoot from the hip so to speak. They are much more exciting to watch.

(01-28-2011 07:12 PM)LRTrojan Wrote:  

(01-28-2011 06:05 PM)ez272 Wrote:  Maybe because everyone on this board talks about Shields not being able to recruit. He brings players in and keeps them a year and then cuts them loose.

Shields has recruited a few good ones, just not enough at one time to put together a team that can win the conference. This year, at least for Shields, I guess you could say that "the cup runneth over." His recruiting hasn't exactly set the world on fire. And now that he has some that can play, he's sort of turned them loose, and it's paid huge dividends. He's let them run some, and shoot from the hip so to speak. They are much more exciting to watch.

Why the attitude change? You've accused Steve of being "mediocre". Can't get much more mediocre than 10-10 vs. division I foes. He's had 4 Division championships, which I doubt will happen this year, and you've always downplayed that. Are you now accepting mediocrity like me and Mr. M? I'm quite happy with this season so far- I'm just surprised you are.

(01-28-2011 07:44 PM)mjs Wrote:  Why the attitude change? You've accused Steve of being "mediocre". Can't get much more mediocre than 10-10 vs. division I foes. He's had 4 Division championships, which I doubt will happen this year, and you've always downplayed that. Are you now accepting mediocrity like me and Mr. M? I'm quite happy with this season so far- I'm just surprised you are.

I still believe that he's a mediocre coach. I'm pleased that he's at least let the kids play and shoot the ball. Had he not changed, we'd be about 5-15 had he still been coaching grinder ball. No mediocrity for me. I still want a coaching change, but at least while we have to have him as the coach, I'd rather see him give us our best shot at winning. I don't downplay division championships. They're better than finishing second, but I still want to win the tournament, and be the best team in the conference, not third or fourth. I'd better go back to my old self, or you'll be confused and thinking that I want his lifetime contract extended. I'm not the only one who is enjoying the change in Shields' coaching style. Anything we've seen this year is better than grinder ball. Go Trojans, beat the hell out of the Woofs.

(01-28-2011 10:39 PM)LRTrojan Wrote:  

(01-28-2011 07:44 PM)mjs Wrote:  Why the attitude change? You've accused Steve of being "mediocre". Can't get much more mediocre than 10-10 vs. division I foes. He's had 4 Division championships, which I doubt will happen this year, and you've always downplayed that. Are you now accepting mediocrity like me and Mr. M? I'm quite happy with this season so far- I'm just surprised you are.

I still believe that he's a mediocre coach. I'm pleased that he's at least let the kids play and shoot the ball. Had he not changed, we'd be about 5-15 had he still been coaching grinder ball. No mediocrity for me. I still want a coaching change, but at least while we have to have him as the coach, I'd rather see him give us our best shot at winning. I don't downplay division championships. They're better than finishing second, but I still want to win the tournament, and be the best team in the conference, not third or fourth. I'd better go back to my old self, or you'll be confused and thinking that I want his lifetime contract extended. I'm not the only one who is enjoying the change in Shields' coaching style. Anything we've seen this year is better than grinder ball. Go Trojans, beat the hell out of the Woofs.

I know I have enjoyed the change and see some hope which is a big deal. If we win 16 games with grinderball with no end in sight, then I would have no hope for the future. Right now, I see improvement from game to game and that is a big deal.

If Little Rock is easy to recruit to then we should have top notch talent year in and year out and we should be enjoying post season play more frequently the way we did when Newell was the coach. Yes we have had some good players over the years, but when was the last time we had back-to-back post-season tournament appearances?