Fort Finley
Well, that took a turn.
TFC UTC/soccer/all-around ace/ Mean Gene Henley drops what a lot of us old-school newspaper folks like to call an "Extra! Extra!" story. Amid the soccer scuffle and the kickball folks vying for the best deal with Fort Finley, Mean Gene drops this bombshell.
(Side note: Mean Gene, who actually is not mean, will be getting a new 5-at-10 moniker. Out with the Mean Gene. In with the Gene of Many Hats. Dude has his pen in a variety of beats friends.)
So Gene of Many Hats catches up with what we will call an understandably frustrated UTC AD Mark Wharton. The Mocs, at least in Wharton's view, have been taken for granted by the Finley folks, and we certainly can understand that point of view.
Consider the following:
Finley wanted to double UTC's rent; Everyone is going ga-ga over the soccer tug-of-war; high school football even gets preferred treatment over the UTC soccer team.
So Wharton shared with Gene of Many Hats that UTC is looking at the possibility of creating its own stadium - a 12,500-to-15,000-seat facility potentially on the site of Engel Stadium - and skipping the whole Finley experience.
And, while the soccer squabble and the back-and-forth between the Chattanooga FC and the new USL crew (the McKicking McDaniels until we hear otherwise) was part of Tuesday's news too, here's a capper quote from Wharton that tells us a few things:
"Everyone's concerned about soccer and how they're going to put two teams in the stadium," Wharton said. "If we leave, we can have our own facility at 12,500, pack it, create demand and put footings there where if we have the opportunity to go to Conference USA or the Sun Belt, let's play."
That tells me a) UTC is extremely serious about building this stadium, because b) they obviously have explored moving up to a bigger conference and c) if Finley loses UTC, well, the high-cotton times of the last few years will be gone and the future will be a certain unknown.
Especially when you consider that if they are well-funded, you have to believe at least one of the soccer teams would be exploring a true soccer venue with a capacity that is more in line with the average crowds at the matches.
Very interesting.
And very well-done Gene of Many Hats.
Southern California head coach Clay Helton, left, and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer shake hands an pose for photos after a news conference for the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game in Dallas, Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017. (AP Photo/LM Otero)So much college football
Where do we start? OK, we made our national picks earlier this week.
But there's a lot to get to today because we are running out of time. So let's speed through this.
Urban Liar is still lying though his teeth. Here are some texts between Shelley Liar and Courtney Smith, as reported by Barrett Sallee on Twitter.
Here is Liar's text exchange with his agent in which Liar says Zach Smith was fired for "cumulative stuff" with Liar pledging he would "not tell the media." This was reported by Kyle Rowland on Twitter. Also on that text thread is his agent Trace Armstrong saying, "For sure it was the totality of his choices but you had to do it. Only a matter of time before he did something that did substantial harm to you or the program.
WHAT?!?!?! That text was sent before Liar got before the Big Ten media throng (got to be careful with the word the 'r' is quite important) and turned into Pinocchio. So all the thing Zach Smith did before - nine incidents with his former wife that elevated to the place that authorities had to be called, DUI, the dirty pictures, the affair, the sex toys sent to the football offices, and who knows what else - and Armstrong was worried that it was only a matter of time before something happened to hurt Liar's legacy and THE Ohio State program. Seriously?
Uh, Trace, we're already there friend. That's mind-numbing.
As is the kicker on this: Armstrong's final text in the string on Aug. 2 - the day - is "Laura and Colleen would like to be at your place at 11. They anticipate that they will need 4 hours with your phone. As well as some time with you and Shelley."
Friends, it is more clear than ever that Urban and Shelley Liar are in this next deep and how this did not cost him his job is staggering considering the levels and numbers of lies Urban Liar delivered to his 'bosses' and everyone in his professional life on what looks to be a daily basis.
What a hypocrite. What a jack wagon. What a way to start the season.
Staff Photo by Angela Lewis Foster /
UTC players greet fans after defeating Furman at Finley Stadium on Saturday, October 10, 2015.More college football (this time actually about the games)
OK, we have a lot happening.
Tomorrow we'll have our Fab 4 (plus 1) picks. In a change, you will only be able to read those here. They are not being picked up by the sports section.
But we are still committed to trotting them out there. After all we are at right around 60 percent since starting this for the 2011 season, so there's that.
Friday is the mailbag. (And there already a couple of college football questions in there, so we're OK in that direction. And yes, the first one is about Jeremy Pruitt, so relax Johnny Vols Fans, we will get to you and your favorite team.)
That leaves today. Right here and right now for projections about the other teams in and around the area.
As for UTC, other than the big news that they may be as interested in recruiting contractors as much as cornerbacks, well, this is a big season for the program. And for second-year coach Tom Arth. We'll be upfront to everyone: We consider Arth, whose oldest son Tommy is in the same grade at the same school and played on the same all-star baseball team the last two years as the Lil' 5-at-10, a friend.
But that does not downplay the importance of what needs to be a much-better season than last fall. Last fall, about everything that could go wrong went wrong. That happens. The start to this season has been more of the same, considering the loss of your quarterback to academics, the August departure of a coach and the never-well-timed player arrest.
But we think the Mocs are talented, especially on the perimeter. We believe the Mocs are much better on the offensive line from last year, because simply put, there was no way UTC could be much worse on the O-Line than last year. (Visor tip to Stewwie, who nailed glaring hole last year from the start.)
We think this is a team that should expect seven wins in an 11-game schedule that has a couple of swing games in each direction.
We'll go 7-4. Thoughts?
This and that
- We have said on more than one occasion we are on-board with the Tiger-Phil idea. Until the details have come out. First, the decision to make it pay-per-view was curious at best, especially when the original idea was to "build the game of golf." Hogwash. You build the game by putting this thing on TNT or The Golf Channel. The only people who will pay-to-view this golfing gamble-off are already invested in golf. (And gambling.)
- Speaking of that match, did you see it's $24.99. And the money being wagered is almost assuredly from sponsors. Alas, this really feels like a missed chance three months before it's even going to happen.
- Gang, the response for the first annual 5-at-10 Survivor Pool is a go. (It was quite humbling that so many folks wanted to play. We got more than 50 responses about wanting to play before Press Row kicked off Tuesday.) First, we prefer the Survivor name rather than Suicide for obvious reasons. We will have more details, but in a nutshell, you pick one NFL game each week, and if your team wins (no spread, just win) you 'survive' to the next week. The kicker of course is that you can not pick any team more than one time. Giddy-up.
- Braves played. Braves whipped Tampa Bay, 9-5. Ender Inciarte and Ozzie Albies went a combined for 7-for-7 and scored five runs. The Braves have the second-best record in the NL and are quietly 4.5 games clear of Philadelphia, which has lost eight of its last 10, in the NL East.
Today's questions
Lots to get to on a which-way Wednesday.
Which way will UTC go - build a new stadium or work it out with Finley?
Which way do they feel - do the powers that be at THE Ohio State regret not firing Urban Liar?
Which way will you go - will you pay to watch Tiger vs. Phil?
Also, projections for Tom Arth's Mocs? Discuss.
As for today, Aug. 29, wow, lots to get to.
Michael Jackson would have been 60 today. John MCCain would have been 82. Ingrid Bergman was born on this day in 1915 and died on this day in 1982
It has been 13 years since Hurricane Katrina, which hit land for the second time on this day in 2005.
Mary Poppins was released on this day in 1964.
As for the Rushmore, well, Brigham Young was born on this day in 1801. He was a religious fellow and all, and started a school that became pretty salty in the 1980s.
Since we have committed to having college football Rushmores this week, let's go here in honor of Brigham and his BYU: Rushmore of all-time college football programs without a state in their name.
Discuss, and remember the mailbag.