Dangerous Dave Hart's final day of destruction is Friday. What should we do on Friday's show to commemorate the occasion? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
I also want to say that I greatly appreciate the warm wishes of folks sending support on my time of inventory regarding my future in this market/crazy business.
Some have been wondering my opinion of the Al Roker deal in Neyland Stadium. A couple of readers reached out and asked me to ridicule UT doing this. Well, I hate to disappoint you but what Dr. D and UT are doing in conjunction with NBC and Al Roker doesn't bother me in the least. Now, I'm not going over there for this. Nor do I believe this is any kind of accomplishment or championship. What it is, however, is an opportunity for people to feel a sense of togetherness and fellowship at OUR UT. Nothing in the world could ever be wrong with this. It's far from my cup of tea, but I defend those who choose to find belonging in UT in that event. Have at it. Just don't call it a championship Dr. D.
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The SEC has had a very good run for the second straight NCAA Tournament. Now, this doesn't mean the SEC has arrived as a basketball league. Quite frankly, half of the league plays unwatchable hoops before sparse crowds. The SEC is getting better in hoops but it is far from a top 3 league in America. In fact we all keep waiting for the SEC to arrive. Every coaching hire recently is seemingly an upgrade. Facilities are for the most part updated. So, what's holding the SEC back? I believe it's a cultural thing. It's not just football either. At almost half the schools in the SEC BASEBALL IS MORE APPRECIATED AND LOVED THAN BASKETBALL. When you really stop and think about it, this is fact. Here's how I break down the SEC in terms of whether SEC fan bases care more about hoops or baseball.
SEC Basketball Centric Fan Bases: Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Vandy
SEC Fan Bases That Are Baseball First: Ole Miss, Mississippi State, A&M, LSU
SEC Fan Bases Where Hoops & Baseball Are A Toss Up: Fla, Ga, Aub, Bama, South Carolina
Toss Ups Explained: Georgia: Cares about Baseball kind of. Just like they care about hoops kind of. Georgia fans will show up for a winner but they really don’t care. They will fill it up for a regional.
Florida: They don’t care there about anything other than football when it comes to men’s sports. Florida is spending money on their stadium. They’ve been to the College World Series 5 of the last 6 years and nobody cares.
Bama: Would really care about Baseball if they got good. They have a brand new stadium and monster programs in their region.
South Carolina sells out an 8,200 people stadium each SEC home stand. Only reason they’re in the toss ups is due to Carolina’s run. Otherwise this is a baseball school.
Auburn: Haven’t won in hoops in so long that interest in that sport has waned there. Auburn turns out for a winner in baseball but baseball and basketball will always struggle to gain footing there.
Baseball Centric Fan Bases: Ole Miss drew over 33,000 for an opening weekend series. I’m talking in the middle of February.
Arkansas had over 30,000 people for an opening weekend series. Arkansas might just be.
Auburn swept Florida at home in opening their SEC schedule. Auburn is tied for 1st in the West with Arkansas. They play in a relatively small stadium compared to the big boys in the SEC.
A&M LOVES their Baseball. In fact, they have a second level in their building. Listen to the ‘Ball Four, Ball Five, Ball Six’ chants for more.
Ole Miss has that terrace berm that is students only and when a home run is hit they give each other a beer shower. I’m talking about a special atmosphere.
LSU: Baseball is serious stuff. They are in love with the sport. Those folks have been known to verbally attack umpires. You have to bring it when you play there.
Miss State: Had close to 17 thousand people at a weekend series featuring 0-3 Tennessee versus 0-3 Miss State. That’s some serious dedication right there.
Basketball Schools: Kentucky: See John Higgins’ Facebook account for more. Those people are sick with it.
Vandy: Tim Corbin has turned them into a National baseball power but hoops is still king on that campus. That said, Vandy will still draw a huge crowd at a regional. Book that!
Tennessee: This place liked Wade Houston/Kevin O’Neill Basketball more than Rod Delmonico Baseball if that tells you anything. Tennessee has never really drawn in great numbers. However, one could make the point that those that do show up are long suffering as it's amazing Tennessee draws respectable crowds these days despite being through a decade of torture in baseball.
Mizzou: One of the saddest aspects of Mizzou joining the SEC has been seeing their basketball program fall into disrepair. Even at that Mizzou hoops fans still care even if they didn’t turn out in recent years. And who could blame them for not watching glorified rec league hoops the past couple of seasons?
Arkansas: I have them in both categories if you’re paying attention to this exercise. They LOVE hoops there and they’ve fallen in love with baseball as well in the past couple of decades as their hoops program has slipped. The numbers don’t lie. These days, Arkansas fans value baseball with hoops.
Hatfield's Nine
Tony,
We're in the middle of Final Four week. Plenty of interesting storylines surrounding the teams.
1. Seeing the media come around to Frank Martin has been heartwarming. With the possible exception of Bob Huggins, no coach in college basketball has been portrayed more unfairly.
2. Gonzaga certainly does not seem to be shrinking from the moment. The Zags have the air of a team fully confident they can cut the nets down Monday night.
3. Dana Altman has added the major missing piece to a fantastic resume. A Final Four appearance was the only glaring hole in a fantastic career.
4. North Carolina has to be incredibly concerned about Joel Berry's ankle. He is the engine that drives the Carolina offense.
5. I am torn about the online war against John Higgins by Big Blue Nation. It's probably in poor taste and out of bounds, but Higgins is such an arrogant, biased jerk that it is hard for me to work up much sympathy for him.
6. Duquesne somehow turned a terrible search into a fantastic hire. They could not have hoped to hire a better coach than Keith Dambrot.
7. Jerrod Calhoun gets his first Division I head coaching shot at Youngstown State. My prediction is it will be the first of multiple successful stops.
8. The NIT needs to reexamine how it does business. While it is not a marquee event, it should not be the throwaway event it has become.
9. The Cavaliers have to get their defensive house in order. If they fail to do that, they may not even get out of the East.
Sapphire is Knoxville's premier nightspot. Put their patio to good use and enjoy the good weather with a signature cocktail.
Gus's World Famous Fried is the perfect meal for spring and summer. Stop by 3101 Sutherland Avenue to pick up Knoxville's newest culinary sensation.
The Blankenship Field renovation project is in high gear. Go to blankenshiplegacy.org to donate and be on the lookout for some announcements about exciting events in the coming weeks.
Keith
Former Tennessee Great Rusty Ensor will join us today on the show to discuss my conference baseball/basketball breakdown. Those that know say the SEC is better nationally in baseball than any sport. BTW, Rusty will be calling this weekend’s UT/GA series on SEC Network from LNS.
Get Your Tickets Now:
1-5 Georgia visits 0-6 Tennessee this weekend. Get your tickets now!
Tom Fornelli hopefully joins later today as we discuss Butch Jones' #1 ranking on his pre-season hot seat.
Link
I found it interesting that Butch Jones finds himself on the same Top 5 hot seat as Rich Rodriquez, who started him in big time coaching. Butch also precedes Brian Kelly on Fornelli's list. This is the first time Jones has led Kelly. He followed him at two college stops. If Fornelli is right, Jones could be going out the door with Kelly. Lots of irony in that top 5. How about Kevin Sumlin clocking in at #5? We will no doubt discuss this today with Sinco.
Thursday...The Dave Hart Error Unpacked: Tomorrow we'll go inside the numbers during the Dave Hart Error. And what an Error it was. All time. Dave Hart's athletic department put up #'s that will never be matched in these parts. At least let's hope this is the case.
Also tomorrow Tony Basilio Show Producer Brian Hartman on why it's okay to cheer for South Carolina in the Final Four.
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