Updated Sept. 21
Bob Griese hates Florida. John Thompson III is still scraping by. Tennessee football is some kind of mess. And though I've never been to Honduras, two of my favorite shirts now reside there.
How's that for some mailbag material?
Here's the latest Dear Gary (the half basketball/half football edition).
From: Dane
Welcome back, Gary. I would cut Josh Heytvelt for wasting good mushrooms.
That's a fair point, but Heytvelt is really, really good.
From: Bob
Any further word on John Thompson III's contract extension? Isn't he still the 11th or 12th worst paid (coach) in the Big East? Considering they now charge $45,000 a year per student, you would think they would have some money left over.
Far as I know, nothing has changed. And just like I told you before, this is not a smart way for Georgetown to conduct business, but if/when JT3 leaves for another job after this season, at least you'll know why.
From: Carlos
New Mexico getting Phillip McDonald and other Houston-area players with help from hiring (their AAU coach) Chris Walker is not even a story anymore. It's the norm now. This is old news. Kansas hired Ed Manning as director of basketball operations to get Danny Manning. Kansas was rejuvenated ever since. John Calipari hired Milt Wagner as his director of basketball operations to entice Dajuan Wagner. Calipari also offered a scholarship to Arthur Barclay, who was Wagner's best friend. Shall I go on? OK, recently Kentucky hired Tracy Webster from Illinois and Darius Miller verbally committed a day later. Package deals are old news.
Of course they are old news. I could list 10 more similar situations, no problem. But just because package deals are normal now doesn't mean they shouldn't be acknowledged, if for no other reason that it helps put into context why somebody would choose to play basketball at New Mexico instead of Kansas.
From: Jamie
Did you know John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader is stealing your material?
As long as he isn't stealing my luggage out of the overhead compartment on a plane and taking it to Honduras, I don't really care.
(Yes, that really happened to me last weekend. I went to Gainesville, my clothes went to Honduras.)
From: Stuart
I am curious as to what you see as the critical points that are keeping the Clemson basketball team off your radar screen.
Off my radar screen? Seriously? You have to read more, Stuart. I wrote about Clemson as recently as two weeks ago, and I might just be the biggest Tiger optimist in the country. I'm predicting an NCAA Tournament appearance. Anything less, and I'll feel let down.
From: Jason
Since you're a football analyst now, I guess I might as well ask: Are Penn State and Georgia Tech serious BCS Bowl teams this year? And if you answer yes, then why is it soooo bad that Notre Dame lost to two BCS Bowl Teams? Notre Dame is 0-2, but it's not like they lost to nobodies! Am I right or am I right?
In fairness, this was sent before Notre Dame was blanked by Michigan, but I kept it because it was cute -- just a naive and optimistic point of view from a man who wanted so badly to believe the state of his football program isn't awful bordering on sad. Like I said, cute.
From: Pissed
I don't come to your mailbag to read about football.
When I get football emails, I produce football mailbags. That's just the way it is. Nothing I can do about it. I'm at the mercy of my inbox.
(Nice name, by the way).
From: William
Off subject, but the crew that did Florida's game against Tennessee (on CBS) was saying Florida was running up the score (by) keeping Tim Tebow in (late in the fourth quarter). Bob Griese has never liked the Gators and it's not the first time he has shown he doesn't like Florida. Tim Brando, well, he is LSU thru and thru.
Oh William, you should know that Bob Griese works for ABC, not CBS. So he wasn't even calling the Florida-Tennessee game. But still, I get your point, that the people on TV hate your team, which is something all fans should understand. Consider it a secret I'm letting you in on. Us media members? We all hate YOUR team and we all love the OTHER team. Every one of us. We love it when YOUR team loses because we grew up hating YOUR team and have always hated YOUR team. We're biased and jealous. There's no sense in hiding it anymore. We're all rooting against YOUR team. Every single one of us, every single weekend.
From: Earl
I hope Tim Elbow realizes his team only beat Tennessee because UT is afflicted with a coach who has made it his life's mission to drag Volunteer football down into the slough of despond with his fat, doughnut-fueled, moribund ass. Phil Fool-more has lost any ability he ever had to prepare a group of athletes to play football. He's now 0-3 against Urban Meyer. Clearly, the only Meyer Fulmer could mount a successful attack against is Oscar. If UT athletic director Mike Hamilton could latch onto a football coach analogous to Bruce Pearl in the basketball arena, Gators around the world would be trembling in fear at the very thought of taking on the football Volunteers. Instead, absolutely no other team in the conference has any qualms about playing Tennessee. It didn't used to be that way. Thanks to Mike Hamilton's inertia, it looks like we're f----- for life.
Nothing really to add here. I just thought it was a good, spirited email.
From: Daniel
Once again Florida and Urban Meyer showed they have NO CLASS. With 1:09 left in the game, they chose to run up the score on a beaten Vols team.
Try not losing, then you don't have to worry about having the score run up on you.
From: Earl (again)
You think Memphis is one of the four most-talented basketball teams in the country? I still say Tennessee is more talented than Memphis.
Memphis and Tennessee are pretty close in basketball talent, actually. It's a tough call, but one thing I'm certain of is that they are both more talented than the Tennessee football team, you know, that team that was routed by the team Bob Griese hates.
