Tuesday, July 24, 2012

MOO U News: Jack Leggett hails Tanner promotion as “big day” for Clemson Baseball!


THIS IS A "FAKE" STORY - DO NOT TAKE IT TOO SERIOUS!


AUTHOR: RUSTY CRANKSHAFT --












Clemson baseball Coach Jack Leggett, who has been consistently whipped by Ray Tanner’s Gamecocks time and time again in recent years, has been on Cloud 9 since Tanner was named the new Athletic Director in Columbia.  Leggett held a press conference to talk about what Tanner leaving means for his future. 

“What a tremendous day for Clemson University and our baseball program.  I have no idea what kind of Coach Chad Holbrook will be in Columbia, but I can tell you that we’ve got nowhere to go but up with Ray gone. “  The Gamecocks have ended Clemson’s postseason runs three notable times of late, including 4 head-to-head devastating whippings in Omaha at the College World Series.    

Leggett had been pushing Texas A & M very hard to hire Eric Hyman as their AD in the hopes that USC would hire Tanner, and actually offered part of his salary to Tanner to make sure the deal got closed.  A spokesman for Texas A & M made special note of Leggett’s involvement when Hyman was hired.  “Yes, we thought it was strange that a Clemson head coach interjected  himself so directly in our AD hiring process here in Texas, but give him credit.  He really helped make it happen.”  

Clemson AD Terry Don Ding A Ling Ping Charles Nelson Reilley Phillps says Leggett’s actions buys him another chance to change his fortunes around.  “I don’t want to get rid of Jack.  He is as insane as Dabo and is a horse’s rear end on top of it.  He’s the perfect Clemson coach.”

Thanks Eric Hyman…now shut up and leave!


The Eric Hyman era in Columbia was nothing else if not interesting, controversial and debated.  It also will not just die.  Under the guise of giving an “exit interview” to the State paper for some reason, Hyman made sure to rehash all the things about him that folks either loved or hated one last time.  Granted, the particular writer at the State who did this “interview” was practically his spin agent for the last few years so who was really surprised but I digress…

So he yearned for and grabbed one more diva-esque moment in the midlands spotlight before going to College Station, sopping up the forum like a biscuit on gravy.  Now I don’t begrudge a man like Hyman his large ego.  He is a successful person and most successful people have one.  So the fact that he talked about himself for a long time to claim that he doesn’t want to talk about himself is not a big deal in and of itself.

What WAS troubling were the lengths at which he went to predict that Ray Tanner would be blaming him for future mistakes like coaching hires.  Get over yourself Eric.  If you’re out there preening like a rooster to make sure you get credit for good things that happened during your era, then you’re going to get the blame for the bad.

So let’s cut through all that nonsense and get right to what are and always have been the fundamental debate points about Hyman:  1. Was he a masterful AD who created Carolina’s 1st consistently successful sports era, or was he just a good accountant who happened to have the title when the fruits of Mike McGee’s era combined with the infusion of SEC revenues; and 2. Was Hyman’s YES program the only way to do what he was trying to do with the ticket priority at football games, or was there another way that wasn’t as punitive against long-term boosters?

As someone whose family was “pinched” in a big way on question 2, let me say that I side with Hyman.  Folks giving Roundhouse dues and getting tons of 50-yard tickets were hurting the program.  That had to end and in my opinion.  So no matter what the “specifics” were within the program, those folks were not going to like it.

But when it comes to the first question, count me among those who believe that Hyman was just the guy there when all the good broke loose.  He clearly has a good business mind and is a great accountant, and no one disagrees with that.  And yes, Spurrier and Tanner both said nice things about him while he was AD.  Well DUH!  He was their boss at the time.  What did anyone expect?  But was there really a bad way to captain the Spurrier/Tanner/SEC money ship ?  I guess a total boob could have messed that up if they worked hard enough at it but come on!!

So hopefully Hyman’s interview with the State and this response are the last we have to say about his era in Columbia.  Let this closing statement be delivered and received in the same tone that Mr. Hyman gave the fans all the years he was here:  Thanks Eric for whatever good things you did (or didn’t mess up) while at USC.   Now shut up and leave!