I’m Just Sayin’

Are YOU ready for some football?

I’m back after a long hiatus, and I am ready for some football! What an interesting year this will be! So many questions, so much to look forward to. A new coach, an expanded and revamped MM Roberts Stadium, returning All-Conference Offensive and Defensive players, the best recruiting class ever! Where will all this lead the The Golden Eagles? Where will they land in December….. A 15th winning season? A Bowl? The C-USA Championship Game? The Liberty Bowl? Will any All-Americans emerge from this team? Will the team learn all these fancy new hand signals in time? Will we sell out The Rock this year? Time will tell!

I must say though, many of the things I have been reading the last few weeks have made me want to vomit, thus causing an end to my summer hiatus. I’ll start by addressing the weak season ticket sales (10,500 thru Friday). A new record should be set by Aug. 30. Which is a good thing. It’s enough to draw praise from many, however some believe we are doing terrible in this department, which brings out the same old, worn out excuses popping up again and again…. I must respond to some of these excuses, it’s becoming a yearly ritual it seems. I’ll try to move past all these negative excuses and stay positive from here forward…

DEMOGRAPHICS!
There are plenty of EAGLES to fill up The Rock in a 100 mile radius of Hattiesburg, hell there are plenty in a 25 mile radius! Wish there were more, but the demographics ain’t changing, we can sit around and point to this and that and cry about it, and use it as an excuse… or we can get off our asses and come up with a solution to this problem. Is there a solution? Somewhere out there as hard as it is for some to believe… yes!

THEY ARE DOING EVERYTHING THEY CAN!
I’ve seen it mentioned that Vogel and Fedora are doing great jobs. Yes they are doing outstanding jobs this year. What exactly are their jobs though? Is it selling tickets? Dick Vogel, Director of the Eagle Club, his main function is to secure EAGLE CLUB memberships and monies. While Larry Fedora’s job as Head Football coach, is to put an outstanding product on the field week in, week out. NEITHER of their jobs are to directly sell tickets. Granted it benefits them both to help out with ticket sales and it is partly their responsibility, but it is NOT their primary job function. The Eagle Club’s job is to be able to cover the costs of scholarships. They do not do that by selling tickets. Fedora can help the most by winning games and hyping up the fan base with his energy. But still it’s not his direct reason for being here. As many have said, it will take so much more than that.

WHAT MORE DO YOU EXPECT?
So what more should we expect some are asking? I expect either someone in the current administration to take the lead in ticket sales AND fund raising or hire someone that knows what is going on. Right now we need some outside help with ticket sales and fund raising. Some new blood, new ideas. Someone that has the experience and know-how to get it done! Not someone to wear multiple hats and beat the same folks over the head for more and more money.

OUR HOME SCHEDULE SUCKS!
Yes the schedule sucks, I have however seen it much, much worse. Every game is on Saturday, when is the last time we could say that? There is an effort to get some better teams in here starting next year. But face it folks, it’s always going to be weak home schedule. It’s never going to have a big SEC school coming to the Rock, never! Much like the demographics, it ain’t going to change. It is what it is. We have to find away around it. Many of us laugh at Miss State and Ole Miss and their inflated attendance figures b/c we all know they draw 10K+ a game from other schools. Now some are saying that is what we need to get our attendance up! Is that really what we want? Do we want to fill up the rock with Lions and Tigers and Bears? OH MY! Shouldn’t we want to fill it up with GOLDEN EAGLES?

“You come to see the Golden Eagles play, not the opposing team,” Fedora said. “It doesn’t matter whether we’re playing the Little Sisters of the Poor, you come out to see our guys perform.”

SOLUTIONS?
First, hire a new energetic, offensive minded coach that will put an entertaining and exciting product on Carlilse-Faulkner Field. That seems to have been accomplished, we will soon know for certain. We need to light up that scoreboard. And I mean LIGHT-IT-UP. 50, 60, 70 points a game! Imagine this… October 11, 2008 - ESPN top plays #4, Hattiesburg, MS. Austin Davis completes the short pass over the middle to Shawn Nelson, he breaks 4 tackles and takes it 88 yards for his 4th Touchdown of the afternoon. He then strolls over to the first row to grab a bite of a fan’s popcorn after the play. He finished the day with 223 yards receiving on 8 catches, and took the 2nd half off!

WHAT ABOUT DEFENSE?
Bring back the NASTY BUNCH. Yes I know, its gone, there is no one to pass the tradition on. Well go find someone from that era and bring them back, let them pass the “nasty”on to Gerald McGrath. Let him lead the revolution of the Nasty Bunch. There have been very few big hits the last few years. Coach Fedora must follow thru on his “promise” when he said: “We’re going to be tough and we’re going to hit you. We’re going to hit you in the mouth where you don’t like to be hit.”

WHAT CAN WE DO?
To quote Coach Fedora again:

“Each of you has a role in this program. We need you to pack the Rock. The Rock can be our fortress. It’ll be our edge. From Friday night at the Fountain, through the Eagle Walk in the District. We need you here early, we need you to be here late, and we need you to be obnoxious and loud.”

All these things can help build one of the greatest atmosphere’s in college football. So Don’t NOT get excited b/c we are playing ULL. Get excited b/c we are going to kick their asses back to Lafayette in grand fashion. Be excited that you are going to see Deandre Brown and Damien Fletcher score TD after TD after TD all night long. Be excited that the new Nasty Bunch pitched a shut out for the first game under Larry Fedora. Be excited when we welcome home the 3-0 Eagles to The Rock on Sept. 20 after a 2-game road trip. And most importantly “let it be known” to everyone, that there is always something to be excited about at The Rock!

Now is not the time for patience, not the time to dream of better days, or how far we have come. It’s not time to wait and see what Fedora can do. Now is the time to seize the opportunities, and take full advantages of the things that are in our control. Its a small window when a team has the energy flowing to create something special. I believe that RIGHT NOW that window of opportunity is wide open, and waiting for USM!

Jason Munz said it well in his column today when talking about the Packer faithful he says:

My bet is that won’t change. Even though the “Golden” boy has left town for the glitz and glamor that comes with playing in New York, the majority of the Green Bay faithful will continue to turn out for Packer games. Packer games that are sometimes played in sub-zero temperatures. Packer games that at times the home team has no hope of winning. Packer games that now will no longer feature old No. 4 under center.

I can think of a team or two that would benefit from having its fan base take a page of the Packer faithful’s book.

I’m Just sayin’!

See you at The Rock!

Strolling around the nets this morning. Waiting on the selection show to see where The Eagles will land in regional play. Hopefully they threw the choke torch in Ponchartrain on the way out of NOLA!

Lots of the usual, lots defending Corky, some calling for change. “We are all doom and gloom,” “We should be happy with,” bla bla bla. “2 seed ain’t no different than a 3 seed”. “We want to fire all the coaches that build winners,” “everyone wants to throw corky under the bus,” bla bla bla. Now I understand these folks love Southern Miss. Some fans just cant see things clearly, I’ve been there. Hell I was that guy for a few innings on Saturday as I sat in the sauna they call Turchin. and Thursday or Friday I’ll forget all the previous “could be” and might have beens,” and watch USM try to win a regional.

But I couldn’t help but laugh when i saw this post..

I’m sure the committee keeps travel costs in mind, but I also have to believe they look at the previous year (or two) of pairings so as not to make it so similar. Otherwise things could really get boring and predictable. I like the idea of changing it up, and hopefully they see the benefit of it too. With that in mind, Southern Miss to Michigan would be cool.

There is nothing really to add here, and I’m not pointing to this post to rag on anyone, I just thought it was a prime example of how some fans (not just ours) just don’t get what right there in front of them! We held out own destiny in our gloves, just 2 weeks ago. We could have decided our fate, its not the NCAAs committee’s to keep things not boring and unpredictable.

It’s ours! Open your eyes and JUST GET IT!

I’m Just Sayin’

Yes its Derby week, the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby will take place this Saturday May 3rd .

The odds?

Big Brown 3-1
Colonel John 5-1
Pyro 7-1

Could we break down C-USA the same?

Rice 3-1
Tulane 5-1
USM 7-1

Yes, the Eagles after a great week of baseball, (sweeping 2 from Miss. State and 3 Houston) have climbed back into thick of the C-USA race. More importantly, they are steadily climbing back into possibly earning a coveted host spot for regional play. USM has the easiest remaining schedule of the teams left in the hunt, though 2 of the series are on the road and Tulane holds the tiebreaker with USM. None the less, things have definitely heated up and it should be interesting as we head into May.

Patience, I’ve been told that all year while often criticizing this team. I think it still holds. . .

. . .Patience Eagle Fans

I’m Just Sayin’

Been taking a break from all the internet, yes for me the last few weeks have been a break.

So What has I’m Just Sayin’ been up to?

Happy Birthday to Me! I turned 30 earlier this month. All down hill from here, right?

Tested my skills at the IP Poker Classic, you win some and lose some.

Caught a couple of Eagle baseball games, and no I was not one the 8, not this time. I am still very upset that we honored Ron Polk, it just wasn’t the right time! At least we sent him back to Starkville with two losses.

Be sure to check out all the new pictures that have been posted in the Pictures Section.

The Fedora Challenge didn’t quite work out, but anyone in attendance, had to be very impressed by what they saw, both in the stands and on the field. Yes, football, at The Rock, on Saturday’s, is going to be interesting again!

Very pleased with the New Orleans Saints Draft this weekend. I think all these guys could come in and contribute in some form. Surely the defense will improve.

I guess nothing has really excited me enough to prompt a blog, but the next few weeks should be very interesting as baseball enters the home stretch. . .

I’m Just Sayin’

Not too long ago on my drive in to the office, I was treated with an interview of our new football coach on the radio. During that interview it was said that he didn’t see why we couldn’t put over 30,000 in The Rock the annual spring game to be held on Saturday, April 12th at 6PM.

Since then, Coach Fedora has been questioned and laughed at for that bold statement. He recently spoke to Eagle fans at halftime of the Memphis basketball game and issued a challenge. “I want to thank you for your support,” Fedora said. “We have the greatest fans in the country, and I’ve got a challenge for you. People say it can’t be done, but we need 30,000 people in the stands for our spring game.”

When Larry Fedora was hired as USM’s head football coach, he accepted our challenge of taking USM Football to the next level. He responded and assembled a great staff of assistants. They responded, and assembled a great recruiting class. Now its time for US to respond, and assemble in masses on April 12th!

A lot of people that I have talked to think Larry Fedora belongs in the Loony Bin (and I don’t mean LE’s in RGC). Well I think Larry Fedora is dead on! I think it’s a reachable goal. Everyone should be making arrangements to be there! From surfing around the web there look to be a few hotel rooms still available, but I’d imagine they are filling up fast. Larry Fedora, when hired, said that USM Football was ready to explode. Now is the time Golden Eagles, young and old, to step up to this challenge and blow the roof off Golden Eagle Football!

Who do we think we are? Yep, that same mindset is coming back from the ones who doubt what USM football is. Remember how it felt as those like Mark May questioned our decisions? They tried to tell us who we were, and where we belonged, that we are delusional to want more, to feel that we deserved more! It’s often said that winning is the best revenge. April 12th won’t show up in the Southern Miss win/loss column this fall, but filling up The Rock will be a victory for USM Football. 30,000 in The Rock for a spring game, will not only make a huge statement to the college football world, but will also serve as a little revenge to those who have been asking, just who do we think we are!

Brett Favre retired this week, the voice of the Golden Eagles, John Cox said . . .

It was a career at Southern Miss that included wins over Alabama, Auburn, Florida State and many others, but also a career in which many times, he would find a way to lead the Golden Eagles back to victory when it appeared that it wasn’t possible. Tell him he couldn’t do it, tell him it couldn’t be done and Brett Favre was his most dangerous.

That is a not just a Brett Favre trait, its the USM way! Lets embrace it on April 12th!

I’m Just Sayin’, 30,000 for the spring game!

It was senior night in the RGC for Gjio Bain and Demar Dotson. Disappointing crowd, but I’m sure they are used to it right? It was a great night for the Golden Eagles, who knocked down 9 of 14 3-pointers and shot over 85% from the charity line en route to a 96-70 win over the Miners. They seem to be getting better and better, unfortunately for Dotson and Bain time has run its course. We wish you much success in the future, where ever that leads you! I can only wonder where the other 7,000 “fans” that were in attendance Saturday, were tonight. The student section shrunk back down to its regular size of 25!

The game was boring at times b/c of all the fouls called. That gave some fans, time to physically count the number of fans on the other side of the court from the “suites” to behind the basket…

231 per the text message I got from across the coliseum. Very shameful IMHO.

Larry Eustachy bought the ever-shrinking student secition pizza again, as he did last year. I wonder though, what LE would have done had the last home game had been Saturday against Memphis? Regardless, they seemed to enjoy it, some MUCH more than others…

Demar managed to snag one for himself before he headed up the bleachers, one final time…

Hopefully that is the last time a player has to run bleachers after playing a game in the Green House!

———

FAVRE hangin’ em up! I was looking forward to seeing him play one more time as the Packers visit the Saints in 08. Oh well, I feel privileged to have seen him play countless times on TV and once live (although against the Saints). He was something to watch, the most entertaining QB ever seen with these eyes! Enjoy retirement Brett, you have definitely earned it. And if you need something to keep you busy, we will gladly let you use your tractor to push some dirt around the land for our new indoor practice facility (hint, hint).

Hey, I’m Just Sayin’ -

Welcome to my blog! I have never blogged before. Frankly I hate the term blogger, now here I am, a blogger, trying to figure out just what I need to blog about. I’m Just Sayin’ all started back during recruiting season when I was privileged enough to have source or 2 close enough scoop me on a certain recruit or two. And of course I had to share, nothing is ever in stone with recruits, so really i was “just sayin’” you know! Like a friend of mine is always sayin’ maybe, maybe not? Well I figured you should know, if you did not already, where I’m Just Sayin’ came from, so there. And I hope y’all enjoy my blog on Southern Miss Athletics (and maybe a few other topics here and there)

Please join him regularly here at I’m Just Sayin’.