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M-Borg vs. THE Flavortown U Thread, Orig. by Buckeye Paul, absconded w/by talent.

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  • This is the first time we've seen Rick Pitino unhappy since his team won the national championship two months ago. It wasn't the reality of owning up to a bet and getting a tattoo or even seeing one of his horses run poorly at the Kentucky Derby that prompted public unrest.

    No, it was Ohio State president Gordon Gee who rankled Pitino enough that the Louisville coach publicly called Gee a "pompous ass" on radio late last week. Gee has since apologized for remarks he made back in December (only recently publicized) that were framed as jokes but still cut deep at Catholics, Louisville, Kentucky, new Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema and the SEC as a whole.

    Pitino was asked about Gee's comments on Louisville's academic reputation on WHAS' Terry Meiners Show. The audio is above, near the beginning, but here's a transcription of his comments.

    "We've been the No. 1 grade point average in the Big East the past three years," Pitino said. "Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. ... Ignorance is not just curtailed to coaches or other people; it's curtailed to presidents as well. President Gee is obviously trying to crack jokes and denigrate other people, and in Louisville -- I can't speak for Kentucky; I'll let John [Calipari] speak for them -- we don't take kindly to those comments, and we're very insulted by it. And when people have to make jokes and denigrate others to get laughter, that means they're truly ignorant of the facts, and certainly he is ignorant of the facts. Really bothered by it."

    Pitino isn't the only one, but he's one of the few coaches who has the stature to say something -- and is seldom afraid to do so. Also note this being an uncommon instance in which he and rival Calipari can find common ground and a common enemy of sorts.

    Yet Pitino was able to brush off some of the shots at Louisville and Kentucky. It was the religious potshots that got him hottest.

    "What really gets me boiling," said Pitino, "it's not Louisville or Kentucky. What gets me boiling is the fact he knocks the Catholics at Notre Dame. I don't know what denomination he is or what lord he prays to, but trying to get jokes out of that, it really, really boils me . ... It's a pompous attitude and certainly I have a major problem with him, not with Ohio State, and he's a pompous ass for making those statements."
    Grammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.

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    • He's the voice of the "flagship".
      "in order to lead America you must love America"

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      • Ho-hum.
        Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
        Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.

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        • Louisville and ohio state getting into a pissing match over academics is like watching two retards fling poop at each other.

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          • Boring. "Academic" knocks are just boring. They're so RichGOD era.

            Gee, incidentally, is right -- the B10 would never accept Louisville. Ever. Pitino misses the point, obviously. It's not about his team's GPA. That's like saying just because OSU dominates APR in the B10, along with NW, it's the best school. It's about the overall profile of the school, and there's zero way Louisville (or UK) would get a B10 invite.
            Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
            Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.

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            • Agreed. I still find the lack of support for Gee's comments disturbing. Other than being the Emperor of the Evil Empire, he's done absolutely nothing wrong, IMO. I wish someone, anyone, would say, you know... that old crazy bastard is right. This hyper-PC bullshit society we live in is really getting on my nerves.

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              • Furthermore, it seems to me that universities whose presidents are hands-on with regard to athletics field the best teams. Exhibits A & B are the SEC and ohio, disrespectfully. Most schools still have some sort of separation between the academic and athletic sides in an attempt to spare the ideal of the "student athlete" which, incidentally, are the same schools who aspire to Citrus Bowls. Winning at this level in this day and age takes a nearly maniacal obsession from the top down. It must be ingrained in the culture of the university which Gee has obviously accomplished. Must have been something he learned from his days in the SEC.

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                • People are dying to be offended. The joy of self-righteous indignation long ago passed baseball on the list of national pastimes.

                  Gee has said some stupid things. As I said, nothing gets worse than calling a the 1992 13-13 M game one of OSU's "greatest victories." He can burn for that nonsense. My only problem, and it's not much of one, with his comments is that it gives the national media a chance to sling poop at OSU. I rate that pretty low on my list of concerns, though.

                  Anyway, he's the President of OSU which means he can't speak candidly under any circumstance. A lesson he will probably never learn.

                  I also don't think that he as much to do with OSU Athletics. Your top-down obsession theory works better if you start with the Board of Trustees. They drive the ship and there are a number of BoT members that are fervent in their support of OSU athletics. I mean, setting football aside -- which I know is your point -- OSU has a GINORMOUS AD that fields more teams than anyone else and has tons of nice facilities for their nonrevenue sports. That's a top-down commitment to athletics as a whole. And, obviously, there's a commitment to football.

                  Gee is largely irrelevant to athletics. Frankly, he's only marginally more relevant to academics, as Joe Alutto (Provost) runs shit on that end.
                  Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
                  Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.

                  Comment


                  • Originally posted by iam416 View Post
                    Gee is largely irrelevant to athletics. Frankly, he's only marginally more relevant to academics, as Joe Alutto (Provost) runs shit on that end.
                    Maybe so, but he has overseen a pretty spectacular era in Ohio State sports... at the very least he deserves credit for not getting in the way. The nearly 2 billion he has raised I am sure has not hurt.

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                    • He certainly deserves credit where appropriate, and he has some skills. No doubt.

                      His biggest problem, at the moment, is that he publicly said, without any authorization, that OSU wouldn't raise tuition this year. Under Ohio law, State universities can raise tution a certain percentage each year. And under Ohio politics, funding for State universities is declining. So, when he goes out and says that about tuition, on his own without any BoT authorization (who, apparently, want to keep with SOP and raise tuition), well, now you're F'ing with shit that matters.

                      Needling ND or the SEC is trifling.
                      Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
                      Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.

                      Comment


                      • Gee is a run-of-the-mill liquor stain. Of no serious measure but fun as hell to watch dance with a lamp shade on his block.
                        ?I don?t take vacations. I don?t get sick. I don?t observe major holidays. I?m a jackhammer.?

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                        • Gee Gone!

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                          • Lesson learned. Never, under any circumstance, speak truthfully and candidly if there's a chance someone's little feelings might get hurt.

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                            • Did Tressel come back to fire him?

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                              • Trust me on this, it's the tuition thingy, not the noise.
                                Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
                                Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.

                                Comment

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