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Tuesday hodgepodge of web wackiness

By Glenn Logan

It's Tuesday.  At least it's not Monday.  I feel like mocking some silliness today.

First of all, there is The Loathsome Troll, Jeff Goodman.  As most of you who read this blog know, I have been pounding on this guy at every available opportunity since I have been associated with this blog.  By now, everyone should be well familiar with why, but just in case, I will briefly recap:

  1. In early 2006, Goodman intimated to me, in response to an email challenge to one of his articles that has since been taken down by Fox, that Smith did something wrong (i.e. illegal) in the "immaculate fax" affair involving Randolph Morris.  A copy of the email I sent him can be found here, but I don't have his permission to publish his responses.  However, I don't need his permission to relate the substance of his comments.
  2. I have taken Goodman to task for anti-Kentucky comments here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

It seems that Matt Jones has noticed TLTJG as well, and takes this story of Goodman's to task at Kentucky Sports Radio.  This part was particularly illuminating:

So while there have been a number of overreactions, none can approach the ridiculousness of Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman.

Goodman, who was a former writer for a UNC fan site such as this one, is notorious in his dislike for UK and has been difficult to tolerate for the two years he has been on the Fox payroll. But his latest article takes the cake. Here is his direct quote:

There's a plethora of cliches that can be used, but we still maintain Gillispie wasn't the right man for this job.

Read the whole thing if you haven't.

Well, there is a couple of things I didn't know here.  First thing is that Goodman was a former North Carolina fan site writer.  That goes a very long way toward explaining any number of things.  I am not hating on North Carolina fans or on the state -- I think very highly of both in the aggregate.  But the Carolinas in general and North Carolina in particular seems to have a disproportionate number of pretentious jerks, and as pretentious jerks are wont to do, they seem to find themselves in places where their absurd opinions are loudly amplified and widely distributed.  Don't ask me why or how this happens.

Amazingly (and fortunately), many of the UNC bloggers I have met are just the opposite.  Who can explain these things?  But Goodman is public enemy #1 for the Big Blue Nation in the national sports media, as far as I am concerned.  He puts Katz, Vitale, Packer and all the other media types who have held forth absurdities about Kentucky basketball to shame.

Next, we have this interesting editorial from The Daily Texan hating on ... well, everybody who lost in an upset this week.  Here is the relevant part:
The Wildcats are coached by former Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie. You know, the guy whose biggest claim to fame is audacity, the kind of audacity that leads one to believe it's OK to text your players and tell them you'll be ditching them for a traditional power.

The Wildcats' embarrassing 84-68 loss to Garner-Webb came on Gillispie'sbirthday. Happy birthday coach; you got what you deserved.
What can you say?  Coaches take steps up in the coaching world all the time, and this guy wants to blame Gillispie for taking a career-changing opportunity?  If he got offered a gig with the New York Times or Washington Post, do you suppose this writer would refuse to abandon his fans down in Tejas?  Hypocrite.

Tipserthog at Razorbloggers gives us a taste of the new NCAA rules for decorum.  This time, former UK player and current Arkansas coach John Pelphrey is the object lesson:

So with little fanfare, Pelphrey took off his jacket and handed it to someone on the bench during a stoppage in play.  And that's when referee Mark Whitehead came over and gave him a warning.  The perplexed look on Pelphrey's face was priceless.

Eventually, thinking that the ref was just confused (which they usually are), Pelphrey pointed to a folded sheet of paper that he had removed from his jacket before handing it off.  It was like he was saying, `Look!  I was just getting my notes out!'

A few seconds later, while reacting after Sonny Weems was called for what seemed like the 50th touch foul of the night, Pelphrey was christened by Whitehead with the first technical foul of his Arkansas coaching career.

Fans later found out that Pelphrey was being warned about stomping his foot.  Well, actually, he was being warned about where he was stomping his foot.  Stomping inside the coaching box...fine.  Outside of it...technical foul.

Dear God, no wonder Billie Gillispie looked like he had consumed half a bottle of Valium before the Gardner-Webb game.  Stomp your foot, get a "T".  This whole decorum thing is already out of hand barely one week through the season.  It needs to be substantially revised, or scrapped.

And what would a UK blog be without a little fun at Duke's expense?  March to Madness has a video up where the Blue Devil fans are going nuts after beating hapless North Carolina Central by a tally of 121-56.

Well, we can't make fun of them for losing.

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