I Am So Sick Of It

[RollTideNAlbertville]

Everytime you turn on a sports radio show they have something on about Croom. Right now they have Jack Crystal on Finebaum talking about Croom and his first game at Miss State, I know hes one of ours but they are running this in the groud. From the sounds of it, hes the best coach to ever hit the SEC. I hope Auburn brings this talk to a hault.

 

[Alanbama27]

Just a little correction, but his name is CROOM, not

croon.

Expect this to go on throughout this year! When he starts losing it will be "the first Black SEC coach on the hot seat" and when he wins, as he will, "The first Black SEC coach who wins". Etc...

Just get a thick skin because it's going to go on for the entire year.

 

[UA90]

I agree, it will go on the entire year and I'm sick of it too. Don't blame Croom though (not that you did), he can't control the media anymore than Fran can win a football game

 

[mlh]

Yeah, it's pretty tiring. But I still want MSU to beat Awbarn this weekend. :tongue:

 

[MemTide]

And why?

I hope Auburn brings this talk to a hault.

Why would you want Auburn to beat MSU just so people stop talking about Croom? Are you upset because everyone is making a big deal out of Croom being the first African-American coach in the SEC?

NEWSFLASH!!! IT IS A BIG DEAL!!! He didn't get the job because of the color of his skin. The guy can coach and I'm sure he'll prove it while he's there.

It just doesn't make any sense that talk about Croom should be something that you "have to put up with." It's a story at a time in the season where there really isn't much news yet.

Heaven forbid Finebaum or any other sports show discuss anything but the glory of Alabama football.

 

[Kent_Brockman]

Would you rather the media be talking about us? Whether it be good or bad?

Quite frankly, I am glad the media is focused in on something else. They have focused on us in a bad light for the past 5 years (probation, Fran leaving, 2 coaching changes, 4-9 season).

I'd just assume everyone in the media and elsewhere focus on anything but Bama. We got a long way to go. We need to win ball games. Hopefully, we will win them one at a time, and sneak up on everyone including the national media.

As far as I am concerned, let them talk about Croom. All the pressure is now on someone else. And quite frankly, I'd much rather hear about Croom on Finebaum than the countless rants and rumblings about Team Cotrell.

Some people get upset at the most irrelevant things.

Good grief.

 

[BamaSkins]

if anyone thinks Miss St hired Coach Croom because they thought him to be the next coming of Coach Bryant, that just ain't so...he was hired because he can help win a few games but more importantly to get relief from the nazi's...the liberal media will play this to the hilt and continue to throw this in our face...let 'em toss it baby, I'll take Coach Shula any day! Ten years from now, let's see who's still winning...I'll bank on Coach Shula!

...having said all that, I'll still pull for MSU to dump the barn this week! I hate the barn!

 

[bamanut_aj]

I'm wouldn't be so of hearing about Croom if they only talked about "he's a good coach", "this is good for the SEC", etc. But almost 100% of the time, there's a zinger thrown at BAMA for not hiring him, and for hiring CMS instead. They make a point of saying "the less qualified Mike Shula" but the racial undertone is there everytime, and that's what makes me sick.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

One of the ABC...

talking heads jocks said last weekend that Bama's failure to hire Croom signaled the "resegregation of Alabama." How's that for overreach. He obviously knows nothing of our progress in school desegregation, etc., but, hey!, it sounded good...

 

[Redwood Forrest]

I'm wouldn't be so of hearing about Croom if they only talked about "he's a good coach", "this is good for the SEC", etc. But almost 100% of the time, there's a zinger thrown at BAMA for not hiring him, and for hiring CMS instead. They make a point of saying "the less qualified Mike Shula" but the racial undertone is there everytime, and that's what makes me sick.

Exactly! And no one but their AD (or whomever made the decision) knows if they hired him because his is black just like no one but our AD knows if we didn't hire him because he is black. But those who have a voice keep on pretending that they DO KNOW when they DON'T KNOW.

 

[TommyMac]

if anyone thinks Miss St hired Coach Croom because they thought him to be the next coming of Coach Bryant, that just ain't so...he was hired because he can help win a few games but more importantly to get relief from the nazi's...the liberal media will play this to the hilt and continue to throw this in our face...let 'em toss it baby, I'll take Coach Shula any day! Ten years from now, let's see who's still winning...I'll bank on Coach Shula!

...having said all that, I'll still pull for MSU to dump the barn this week! I hate the barn!

That's hardly a fair comparison. Coach Shula has a much better chance for success at BAMA and if you reversed the situation, the same would be true for Coach Croom.

Historically, BAMA is the elite of the SEC and MSU is one of the doormats. Expecting CSC to have as much success as CMS would be like expecting someone at Duke to match or beat someone at FSU or Miami in the ACC.

 

[cooleddie]

As far as this issue goes....I've wondered why the media pounded Bama so much for not hiring Croom? They said that it was Bama's chance to do something "right" for a change and hire the first black coach in the SEC, but I don't recall Florida being slammed when they hired Zook instead of a black coach a couple of years ago. I don't recall LSU being slammed for not hiring a black coach when they hired Saban, and i don't recall Vandy being slammed for not hiring a black coach either. All of those teams could have hired Coach Croom, or any other African-American coach and been the "1st" school in the SEC to do so. Why was it Bama's obligation?? I believe he is a great coach and is going to be a great coach for Miss St, but didn't Bama go further than any of these other institutions and actually made it a decision between Coach Croom and Shula? He was a final candidate for the job for pete's sake. I wonder how many African-American coaches those other universities interviewed? One other thing that i didn't understand was Rev. Jessie Jackson's involvment in the situation. During the time that the hiring process was going on, I listened to him do an interview w/ Finebaum, I believe. When asked what he wanted out of it, he said that he just wanted the University to seriously "consider" a black candidate for the job. He talked about how Ty Willingham (sp?) was successful at ND. Then when Croom wasn't hired, Jackson screamed racism - how childish. Croom was considered so much that it came down to him and one other guy! So in other words, I interpreted Jackson as saying that Bama better hire an African-American coach or else he was going to make a big deal of it.

As for me, I would have been happy with either choice. I know that Croom loved the University and wanted to coach here, but I really don't think that Mal made the choice based on race. I'm sure that he thought of the bad publicity that would be dumped on him and the university if he didn't hire Croom. I believe that he made his choice based on what he thought was best for the future success of the program. In fact, I believe that being highly considered for the Bama job helped increase his bargaining power for other job offers in the NCAA. I really never heard his name come up too much when there were other job openings at other schools. I hope Croom is successful and the media will let the Bama issue die. Some folks just want to make an issue and create an argument when there was never really an issue there at all. Now let's play football.

 

[HITIDE]

UF, LSU, Vandy, etc. didn't consider a black coach....

and that is why there was no fuss made of their hire. Bama seriously considered Croom and were interested enough to give him an interview. Although it opened the door for him at MSU he slapped Bama in the face for picking someone else over him. There is really no way of knowing for sure if color was any kind of motivator but it appears to be a no win situation (PR) to grant consideration if you are not going to make the hire (regardless of how the interview goes). Our AD loves and respects Sly Croom and I am thoroughly convinced he made the decision that he felt was best for the University of Alabama football program. Sly cried because he felt he was passed over because of his color, now let him live with the fact that he WAS HIRED BECAUSE OF HIS COLOR and the strong influence it will have on the ncaa and public opinion concerning MSU penalties. That is a fact that is just as plain as the writing on the wall. Had our admin felt Sly was the best man to coach at Bama I would have loved to have him as HC. I'd have bet that he would stand on his merits and not used his race as a trump......I'd have lost. I just hope for 15 OT's and both teams so tired they BOTH LOSE next week.

 

[TideRollsInVa]

I will admit it is news and will remain no matter if MSU wins or not. I can understand the difficulty many have with the hype but if you are surprised you shouldn't be. Many factors lead to it, the fact that it's the state of Mississippi that breaks new ground, not Ky or Fla but Mississippi. Coach Ty received much the same by going to ND because it was ND, when he went to Stanford it was all under the radar and because he's at ND he's going to be discussed even more so after Mich blows them off the field, my openion.

When we play MSU stand by, it will be a media frenzy, one that has no down side for sports casters. We should already be able to ponder the headlines now, no matter the outcome. Imagine if both teams are in the top 20 and the west hinges on the game, with LSU to follow for BAMA. Do I honestly believe that will be the case? No not in my wildest dreams, not both, but just imagine and would it be a bad thing? Some by what I read here would think so, and thats fine but to me it would be a turn in the west, both teams have been in such positions and a return validates BAMA to their established right. All of this is pie in the sky but isn't every prediction and assumption.
Who could have ever thought a Troy DL would outrun MO safties to the endzone to seal TSU's greatest win.

I choose to let the hype run it's course and trust me it will be a long course thanks to the media and a painfull one for Sly I fear and it very well should begin, not this year in the love fest we should have expected but next year following back to back victories by BAMA. Now, lets go take care of that other Mississippi school. A very good thread, lot's to ponder and wonder.