re: A&M's Chancellor John Sharp called out ESPN today.

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Either way, I'm happy to have someone who cares about the university as Chancellor as opposed to someone who doesn't give a frick

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I can't fault you there, but you have to concede that his tone was rather unprofessional, given his position as the voice of the university.

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About time someone (semi) official spoke frankly about this (although I'm sure A&M's legal team was all over that before it was disseminated

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Don't get me wrong, it needed to be addressed. My concern would be the way he went about doing it. A university official should be above going full-blown Bammer (or redass) in an official release.

People who do that usually seem to go the way of Gordon Gee.


ETA: Not quite like this, though.



That headline reads like a thread title on the rant.

"GEE GONE!"

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You make very valid points, and after thinking about it you may be right. However, there is a part of me that likes it a lot.

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Yeah, it would tickle my pickle as a fan on one hand, but really deeply concern me as someone who realizes that his university is under a microscope, and is being judged in the court of public opinion. This would be a time when I want my university officials to be really buttoned down and stolid, yet support the university's case with ineluctable logic.

Yes, the tone was very "in your face". He could have been more stoic, I agree. But he basically repeated what we have all knownI to be true about Rovell.

Let's talk about who really IS being unprofessional. Rovell. Either Rovell doesn't know the first thing about journalistic integrity, or he doesn't care. There really isn't another logical explanation for the severe lack of objectivity and obvious personal bias given some twitter comments we have seen.

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es, the tone was very "in your face". He could have been more stoic, I agree. But he basically repeated what we have all knownI to be true about Rovell.

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He said what the core of his constituency wants to hear, yes. He sort of jumped out of his role in the way he did it, though, and I'm not convinced that's going to be a good thing, regardless of what happens to Johnny.

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Let's talk about who really IS being unprofessional. Rovell. Either Rovell doesn't know the first thing about journalistic integrity, or he doesn't care.

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Perhaps he doesn't, and perhaps it's something which needs to be addressed. I just don't think it was the chancellor's place to go there about it.

Bringing up the dealer's criminal background, in my opinion, was folly, though.

Number one, the fact that the guy sold dope doesn't preclude him from buying autographs.

Number two, the fact that he sold dope doesn't hold water as an effective defense for Johnny if it turns out that someone, somewhere can prove that he did.

That, in my opinion, was a Bad Move which could come back to bite him someday. He went way too personal.

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But really, I don't see the point of throwing out another lame, CYA, stuffy soundbite/text that adds nothing of substance to the discussion. Might as well throw the gauntlet down or STFU. Nah, it's not by the book or necessarily cogent to his role, but enough is enough, IMO.

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Oh, we actually agree there. He shouldn't have given "just another soundbite," I just think it was inartfully worded and seemed too personal for his position.

No, he needed a master speechwriter behind it. Someone who could dissect the issues subtly and with infallible logic.

He also needed to address the actual investigations, if only to say, "Nothing we've seen so far blahblahblah," that way it didn't seem quite so much like a deflection. No, it actually felt more like he was sowing the seeds for an appeal to public outrage should the shite hit the fan, but I'll admit that's just a hunch and my hunches are far from dead on a lot of the times. It's why I don't ban bet or talk a lot of shite.










ETA- FULL DISCLOSURE: I'm watching Trailer Park Boys between each of my increasingly pious-sounding posts, so take that for what it's worth.

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ETA- FULL DISCLOSURE: I'm watching Trailer Park Boys between each of my increasingly pious-sounding posts, so take that for what it's worth.

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As a means of damage control should the situation go nuclear, it could end up being more of a gambit than a tactic, because it could easily blow up in the university's face. If it works, though, it works and I'm nothing if not result-oriented.

That will depend a lot on how the pending lawsuits with the NCAA go. If they come out smelling like roses, I doubt A&M will attack them.

They might go after ESPN one way or the other, though.

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Agreed.

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Yeah, basically, and to blow off steam when the flames come a bit too hot and heavy.

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Folks take shite way to personally on here sometimes

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if it's determined that Manziel lied to the A&M compliance office, how could they play it to distance TAMU -- as an institution -- from Manziel's actions?

It sure seems like they've married themselves to his defense. Maybe they could play the victim card. State that they took him at his word and that he lied. The university went all in for him and they're just as harmed by the whole situation as anyone. Aggie code of honor.

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Sounds like a plan. Maybe. Hopefully. Idk

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I can't say that they think they know everything the NCAA knows, because I only know what the public knows, and all of us are sitting around, trying to read the tea leaves.

We don't know shite!

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That's why I've given up worrying about it

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Save you a lot of undue stress... but by the same token, this is a fascinating case and it's happening at a pivotal time in college football history.

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It IS fascinating. Hopefully looking back at it it turns out ok for A&M and some good comes out of this whole mess. Probably wishful thinking on my part, though.

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It just sucks when it has to be your school at the middle of it all.

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Exactly. It's funny, I vividly remember wondering what it'd be like to have another Heisman winner at A&M when I saw the Nissan Heisman House display set up on campus my senior year one time. Never thought it'd be like this, obviously