General Posts

Saturday Night Ramblings

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Fans disgust me most times.  I’m as big of a sports enthusiast as you will find, but the way fans turn on players and coaches during adversity illuminates the worst of humanity.  Today, Tennessee had a terrible game.  The offense looked pathetic; the defense played okay but let a WR run a spread option offense for too many yards; and the special teams was anything but special.  The two most disappointing aspects of this loss were that it was against Kentucky and a win would have made the Vols bowl eligible.  Losing was pretty disappointing and put an ellipse on an overall bad year.

But–and this is a big but–the way so many so-called fans turned on Derek Dooley after the game is ridiculous.  First and foremost, Dooley inherited a mess, one of the biggest messes in college football history.  Coach Fulmer had already let the program’s quality slip below elite SEC standards, and then, Lane Kiffin, who doesn’t deserve the title coach, betrayed the university in the most despicable manner possible, bolting for USC with less than a month left for recruiting.  By the time Dooley was hired, he literally had less than two weeks to salvage the recruiting class.

Since taking over as head coach, Dooley has worked to return pride to the program and has implemented policies that hold players accountable for their actions on and off the field.  At the beginning of this season, he stood behind his principles and kicked his best player off the team for misconduct.  At the time, most of these same fans now calling for his head lauded him for his scruples, praised him for putting the program ahead of the individual.

During this year, the Vols lost their best offensive weapon early in the season and then their highly talented quarterback for nearly half  of it.  Their offensive line is extremely young , with only one junior in the lineup, and the starting tailback, the lone senior starting on the offense, would probably be the third-string runner for Alabama, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina, and Arkansas.  The team lacks depth, experience, and explosiveness on the offensive side.  Today, the starting quarterback, his throwing hand obviously bothering him, was ineffective.  However, despite these facts, I repeatedly heard fans lambasting Dooley for the play-calling during the game.  Well, when you have no running game and your passer is struggling because of injury, what plays do you call?  Do you pull the starter for a true freshman?

My Alma Mater, the University of Memphis, has been on the coaching carousel for decades.  A few years back, they hired Tommy West, and he got the school into back-to-back bowl games for the first time in school history.  Then, he had a couple of mediocre seasons, so the “fans” turned on him and got him fired.  Now, the team is back to the old losing ways.  How many coaches have Vandy and Kentucky tried in the last 30 years?

If Tennessee fires Dooley now under these circumstances, it will be a worse mistake than keeping Fulmer around after his fire had dimmed and much worse than hiring Kiffin.  Tennessee will be on the same mouse wheel as all of the other mediocre teams chasing a return to glory.  The high profile coaches will shy away because the AD bows to pressure from the fans, and every young coach who jumps in will be chased away in 2-3 years.  I’ve witnessed it firsthand with Memphis.  And it’s not fun.

http://www.facebook.com/firefairweatheredfans

General Posts

Saturday Morning Ramblings

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We live in strange times.  There’s no denying it.  Our economy is struggling to get back on track, and the leaders we’ve elected seem more interested in bickering over ideology than in fixing the underlying root causes.  Many of us feel frustrated and powerless to change things.  But there are ways we can have a positive impact on our economy and improve some of the fundamental problems with our systems.  First, if you haven’t done so already, you can move your money to a credit union and stop dealing with behemoth banks.  And we can all spend more money at small, locally owned businesses.

Today is Small Business Saturday, a day in which you’re encouraged to make purchases at mom and pop stores, instead of a corporate chain.  Small, independent businesses are what made this country and this economy so diverse and vibrant in the first place.  When you shop at a small business you guarantee that your money stays in your local economy, instead of flowing to some far away home office, where the money more than likely will be transferred to an offshore account to avoid taxation.  You also help keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive.  If you are frustrated by the current state of our country, make the one change that’s guaranteed to have an impact.  Vote with your pocket book.

Today, if you are looking for a Christmas present for the reader in your family, please take a look at Seventh Star Press and their lineup of outstanding authors.   Seventh Star is a small, independent publisher that produces high quality speculative fiction at competitive prices.  They also pay their authors one of the highest royalty percentages in the industry, so you are helping the authors earn more of a living from their craft.

Another alternative is to shop The Literary Underworld, a cooperative of independent publishers.  They carry a wide array of titles, from romantic horror to high fantasy, and everything in between.

If you really want to make a change in this country, start spending more money with small businesses and help rekindle local economies.  Vote with your wallet!

General Posts

Birthday Ramblings

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Today, I turn 39, and let me tell you, it’s been a wild ride.  For me, getting older doesn’t bother me because I recognize that it beats the alternative.  When I was 16, I nearly died, and while it took a few years to learn the lesson and embrace the gift I’d been granted, today I recognize that every moment of the last 22 years has been “bonus” time that I shouldn’t have had.  I won’t lie and say my life has been easy or I’ve reached the level of success I expect for myself, but I am proud of the things I have accomplished.

Nothing in this life is promised.  Nothing is guaranteed.  On this day, I’m merely grateful for another day to speak to my children,  another day to write on this blog, another day to enjoy the sun.  I don’t mind the gray in my beard or the weakening of my muscles or the little aches from old wounds.  To me, those are merely reminders of that day in 1989 when I nearly lost it all.  I’m grateful for all I’ve experienced in the last 22 years, the good and bad, because each moment has given me fuel for my creative fire.

I hope to live at least another 39 years.  I hope to write more books and more blog entries.  I hope to grow old and watch my sons become men.  I hope to grow as a person, gain more wisdom, learn to forgive, and let go of the past.  I hope to retain my kindness and compassion, because no matter what the selfish and greedy may believe, being kind and compassionate to those in need are the paths to happiness and self-contentment.  I’m still a work in progress and don’t claim to be perfect.  There are many lessons left for me to learn.  If I’m lucky, I’ll learn to be more patient with people, learn to show my love more fully, learn to be kinder to myself, and learn to forgive others.

My only selfish wish for my birthday is to sell a few books today.  So if you want to do something for my birthday, the greatest gift you could give me is to spread the word about my series and the newest release.  That’s all for now.  Hope everyone has a wonderful day.