USM sour grapes...

[dawgstudent]

http://www.blackandgoldreview.com/2014/09/03/sec-thinking-destroyed-southern-miss-destroy-football

 

[57stratdawg]

I did laugh at "No ****, Nick - that's the point"

 

[MSUDawg25]

Boohoo. The money they will earn from getting their asses kicked by MSU and Alabama is probably like 15% of their total athletic budget for all sports. Alabama is paying them $1.4MM

Disclaimer: I did not read the article

 

[DerHntr]

That is A LOT of grapes

 

[engie]

Most of it is decently thought-provoking, even though there's a ton to disagree with...

Mark Hudspeth is what's killing Southern Miss. And Joey Jones. There are 15 MS kids currently @ ULL and 57 La kids. Players that USM would have cherrypicked in the not-so-distant past that now would rather play in Mobile or Lafayette over Hattiesburg.

USM will never have success on the level they did in the distant past -- but they can be decent down there. They just need a guy like to open the doors to the SEC "leftovers" in a more convincing fashion. If Hud can win at ULL and have them pouring serious money into football(for a midmajor) -- the "right" hire could do the same at USM...

 

[Stoli Dan]

"...and then we’ll put our finger on the faint pulse of an ailing patient. Will there be a sign of returning life? That’s all we’re asking for. Just a sign."

That's the most sad-sack, pathetic thing I've ever heard. Pull the plug.

 

[jakldawg]

Let me 'splain. No. Is too much. Let me sum up:

The SEC is dull on offense or something (despite what some would have you believe) because a few coaches are surly.
The NFL is where all the real innovation happens (after they steal the cool stuff back from obscure colleges)!
Ellis Johnson is still losing football games for USM (he's mentioned an unhealthy amount of times. He's so vain, he probably thinks this article's about him).
And Larry Fedora (and Richard Gianini) gets a pass for giving himself a Hawaiian vacation on his soon-to-be former employer's dime at a bowl game that none of the player's families, band or the travelin' dozen USM fans could easily attend. That Rochambeauing of a "reward" for their great season seems to be okay.
The author just HAS to be one of the e-mailers here. You wanted Johnson gone, well you got it. What are you still complaining about?

But there's some good stuff in there lost in all the circumlocution.

 

[esplanade91]

USM used to OWN MGCCC. Not only has MGCCC somewhat fallen off, the good ones ALL go to USA now. All of them.

 

[uptowndawg]

If I could shorten the whole thing

Into one word. I would pluck the word 'apocalypse' from the 3rd paragraph and have a winner.

Basically just a big whine about how the power 5 colleges write the rules so that poor colleges like them don't have a chance if they can't do things like snap the ball quickly. Supprisingly well written for a soapbox ***** session though.

 

[maroonmadman]

USM shot off their own foot when they got all big headed and thought they could do better and fired Bowers. The man knew the lay of the land here and had good contacts with Mississippi coaches that would steer a few diamond in the rough players that had been passed over by SEC schools toward USM. 17 them. They deserve to suck.

 

[was21]

Yep. Beneath a thin surface, they're basically filled with green envy (or black and gold envy). Things are what they are. Until they face the reality of the situation with ULL and USA etc. they will simply continue to wallow in misery. Truthfully, they should look in the mirror and make some kind of decisions about why they want to be. I hope there's not a glimmer of hope that we extend the series with them beyond next year.

 

[Dawg1976]

Agree. We don't need to help their program by scheduling them anytime soon.

 

[aTotal360]

Buy/Sell: EMCC would beat USM. Buy....

 

[thekimmer]

He lost me at this....

http://www.blackandgoldreview.com/2014/09/03/sec-thinking-destroyed-southern-miss-destroy-football

The author says: "To open this year, Southern Miss lost, 49-0, to Mississippi State, against whom the Golden Eagles have an all-time winning record;"

That is a slightly misleading statement. We are 13-14-1 vs USM only because of a vindictive BS ruling that forced us to forfeit two wins in the 70s. Next year it will be 14-14-1 but in reality, 16-12-1.

 

[Xenomorph]

I had no idea USM is playing again this Saturday...

....I'm really pulling for Alcorn.

 

[patdog]

Ellis Johnson must have omnipotent powers. That's a lot of damage to do to a program in only 12 months. **

 

[Shamoan]

That is one of the most bizarre sports articles I have ever read. Just a bunch of rambling incoherent-ness. Keep Jeff Bowers southern fans and you probably aren't staring down 1-35 or 2-34 over the last 3 seasons.

 

[goindhoo]

So they expect 35k alcorn fans?

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]n Saturday, a crowd of about 36,000 will fill M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg — something close to a sellout, despite Southern Miss’s 1-24 record in the past 25 games. They’ll show up for two reasons: First, the game is against FCS opponent Alcorn State, the first lower-tier team Southern Miss has faced since the onset of dystopia, so we Golden Eagles, despite our shattered confidence, think we’ll probably get to watch our first win at home since November of 2011; second, Alcorn State is a Mississippi team, and Mississippi football teams always produce big crowds when they play other Mississippi football teams.[/FONT]

 

[WayboDawg]

I guess they will blame the SEC when they lose to Alcorn State this weekend as well. For all the misery and woe USM claims the Big 5 have caused the mid-majors, you still see schools like BYU beating Texas, and Boise State playing a competitive game against a top 25 ranked Ole Miss. Not to mention schools like ULM and South Alabama are rising through the ranks each year despite their lack of funds and serious fan interest. Yes the new college football landscape puts schools like USM at a disadvantage when compared to schools like MSU and Ole Miss, but that should be nothing new to a mid-major, because its been that way for the past 50 years. USM has no one to blame for their current mess but themselves. They play a weak enough schedule where they should be able to pick up at least 6 wins every year, but they are just a bad football team right now so they don't.


I honestly believe that with the current culture at USM, you could give them Notre Dame's resources and money and they would still suck. Their heads are rammed too far up their own backsides.

 

[KurtRambis4]

Funny,

I didn't read where he mentioned the lack of fan support as being a reason they sucked. I guess he just forgot to put it in there.****

 

[dawgstudent]

To me - that's the difference. SEC Money doesn't fill our stadium. Our fans fill the stadium. Now SEC money might have helped expand our stadium but don't be all upset when you have a relatively large enrollment and can't fill the stadium.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Indeed. 2 fans shared it on Facebook in the past day.

<nm>

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

CTRL-F
Bower
...

First match found in the comments.

They didn't have to run off Bower.
They didn't have to hire a guy who would bolt at the first BCS job.
They didn't have to hire an assistant who was less qualified to be a head coach than Sylvester Crooms (though he was a much better assistant than Crooms at any coaching level)

The only reason the SEC will have destroyed USM is because USM has always had a chip on its shoulder about the SEC. They've always thought they deserved to be in it that they've missed out on opportunities to move up. Almost all of their original C-USA brethren (and even some of the teams that joined in the 2000's) have moved to the ACC, AAC, and Big 12. Sure, some of this is due to those other teams being located in more attractive or at least much larger cities. USM and UAB are the only original members still in the conference. They're now playing with former Sun Belt teams.

 

[EAVdog]

Pretty simple really. They could be a really good Sunbelt Conference member. Instead they hung their hopes on being invited to the Big East, which was a pipe dream's pipe dream. So now they are stuck in the Conference equivalent of the land of misfit toys. If they were smart they'd do everything they could to get in the Sunbelt.

Of course that also fits in my crazy idea of making the Sunbelt an SEC Junior. Which would work.

Ark State, USM, Tulane, ULL, ULM, Middle Tenn, Troy, UAB, USA, Ga State, UTSA, Appalachian State, Rice, La Tech - Would make a good Conference, there would be some good geographic rivalries in there.

 

[was21]

Rick Cleveland was prophetic. I remember him distinctly stating in an editorial that USM would regret firing his off

 

[was21]

agree. I'm told it would cost them too much money. Hell, they don't have any money to begin with. These schools would provide a natural rivalry for them that should bring fans to games. In time, they would probably come out ahead financially. Right now, they simply don't know who they are in the college football landscape. They apparently have no leadership.

 

[natchezdawg]

You are correct, but he was not exactly going out on a limb...

I think anyone with a football IQ higher than my grandmother's saw that firing Jeff Bower was really dumb...

 

[dawgstudent]

Rick Cleveland has said a lot of times Mississippi universities would regret firing someone.

 

[DerHntr]

They apparently have no leadership.

Issue number 1.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

It's not that they apparently have no leadership. It's that they actually have no leadership.

 

[mparkerfd20]

n Saturday, a crowd of about 36,000 will fill M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg — something close to a sellout, despite Southern Miss’s 1-24 record in the past 25 games. They’ll show up for two reasons: First, the game is against FCS opponent Alcorn State, the first lower-tier team Southern Miss has faced since the onset of dystopia, so we Golden Eagles, despite our shattered confidence, think we’ll probably get to watch our first win at home since November of 2011; second, Alcorn State is a Mississippi team, and Mississippi football teams always produce big crowds when they play other Mississippi football teams.

No they expect 35,990 Alcorn fans to be exact.

 

[was21]

He did. He may have said it about Crooms

 

[Rockydawg]

USM shot off their own foot when they got all big headed and thought they could do better and fired Bowers. The man knew the lay of the land here and had good contacts with Mississippi coaches that would steer a few diamond in the rough players that had been passed over by SEC schools toward USM. 17 them. They deserve to suck.

I have been hearing this ALL DAY. THIS seems to be the concensus opinion.

 

[Maroonandwhite]

That whole article is misguided and frankly pathetic. The author, whoever he is, wants to credit the buzzards with almost making it to the Sugar Bowl in the '11/'12 season??? What a joke. They lost to Marshall and UAB!!! Give me a break. Oh and that 12-win season was capped by a victory over that perrenial powerhouse, UVA. I will grant him that they have enjoyed moderate success over the years as a GDI and now a c-usa member. They have likewise had better seasons than State or OM in many years. But they have never consistently played the level of competition that goes on week after week in the vile, horrible SEC. That article was a waste of anyone's time for having read it. Those people need to get over themselves. What a whiny load of crap.