Friday, April 10, 2009

What is "creme" anyway?

The Darrin Horn flirtation with Xavier that shook up my day yesterday appears to have officially come to a close. You never know for sure until the job is filled - after all, Sean Miller turned down Arizona and then took the job half a day later. Horn apparently didn't expect word of his Xavier visit to get out and is now claiming he wasn't involved with the search, which is an insult to everyone's intelligence. It was funny though, taking calls on my show from people who were stunned and offended at the idea Horn might look to leave South Carolina for another gig. This is a guy who left his alma mater to come to Columbia because he had the chance to make more money and potentially advance his career. Why wouldn't he look at Xavier if he thought it gave him an even better chance to do those two things? Anyone expecting loyalty from coaches when they're seeing Billy Gillispie get canned after two years in Lexington and Phillip Fulmer out at Tennessee four months after signing a seven year contract is deluding themselves. If you want loyalty, get a dog. If you want your coach to stick around, you'd better be proactive about keeping his pay at market level.

Florida has done just that for Billy Donovan, which is why he's stayed in Gainesville all these years. They can't pay Nick Calathes though, which is why UF still doesn't appear in Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com's early basketball top 25 for next season. They are on the ten to watch list, which is probably about right until we know what Calathes does and see whether UF signs a point guard to either reduce his minutes or fill his shoes. I think they'll do that regardless of what move he makes. I've got a lot of respect for Gary, but I do disagree with him on Clemson at number nine. Incoming high school star Milton Jennings is overhyped for his level of performance, and that team does not have a reliable point guard. They're a good team and I can buy them as a top 25 squad but not top ten.

I meant to write about this yesterday and didn't remember to with the Horn stuff going on. Pro Football Talk reports Rex Grossman has switched agents from Eugene Parker to Drew Rosenhaus. This is a pretty smart move by Rex at this stage of his career. Rosenhaus's persona may grate on people, but the guy has shown an ability to get deals done that other agents have not. One time while working in Jacksonville I called his office at around 7 AM because of a breaking story involving one of his clients who played for the Jaguars. Drew answered the phone himself. I've learned over the years not to even bother calling Parker's office, because they have never been helpful in dealing with any client. Grossman can help a team - I wouldn't mind seeing him sign with Tampa Bay at all - and Rosenhaus will find him a deal and location that makes sense.

Fifteen days before the draft, Rosenhaus and other agents with prospects for this year have something else to worry about besides workouts and Wonderlic scores. Some NFL teams have aparently been using fake online personas to get players to approve them as friends so they can check out their Facebook and Myspace pages. You'd think kids would be smart enough not to put anything up there which could be damaging, but lots of them just don't get it. On his Facebook page one current Gamecock wide receiver lists his favorite book as "Harry Pothead", among other drug references. There's no way that's going to help him, but he'll likely have to learn that the hard way at some point.

According to Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of South Park, they were given an autographed picture of Saddam Hussein by the Army's 4th Infantry Division. Marines who guarded Hussein during his time in captivity apparently forced him to watch the South Park movie portray him as Satan's gay boyfriend. Personally, my favorite South Park moment remains Cartman introducing Colorado's starting lineups on offense and defense during the Nebraska game in 2007. Have a good weekend, go easy on the Cadbury Creme Eggs, and I'll see you back here Monday.

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