Save the Shield! A Vanderbilt sports blog

It’s not a huge deal but this quote caught my attention in the transcript of this week’s teleconference from Stallings and Donovan:

Can you talk about VU’s offensive production lately?
I think at least what happened to us Tuesday night was we just missed some at the beginning, missed some layups and some open jumpers, [...]

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And for all the lessons, there will be no official reflection of the game. No comments from the coaches or players. No game reports. No spectators. No souvenirs. Only private scorebooks, individual instruction, the re-evaluation of untested egos, and the memories of the coaches, players, referees and ball boys. The revolution will not be televised.

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No better way to kick off basketball season than to celebrate the fact that the NCAA has absolutely no problem with Billy Gillispie paying a recruit’s dad to speak at a basketball camp.
Why again do I waste time following this farce called college sports?
(Thanks to GoDores2005 for the link.)

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I’m doing a lot of thinking about Stallings’ radio comments, discussed here. As I suggested on elsewhere on VS , I think you can make a reasonable argument that beating Tennessee was the worst thing to happen to us, and that beating Memphis was the worst thing to happen to them. [...]

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Well, that was a punch in the gut.
I’m trying to learn to be a more mature fan, as I conceive of that notion. That means enjoying the game, including the fun of winning or the disappointment of losing, and moving on. When VU wins a big one I spend hours perusing [...]

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I’ve always found chess a funny metaphor for key coaching decisions in sports events — I’d use poker, but then everything reminds me of poker.� � Regardless of your game of choice, it seems Kevin Stallings won at it on the last play yesterday in Columbia.
I thought this when reading this morning’s game wrap-up [...]

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No April Fool’s here.� � � Free Press: U-M offers Beilein coaching job.� � Found on the mlive Michigan blog.

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I have very little of interest to say about VUMBB right now.� � For the umpteenth time i hope Coach Stallings stays, but i suspect his flirtation with Michigan is at the least pretty serious.� � Maize ‘n’ Brew like everyone else says it’s probably Beilein.� I sure hope they’re right. [...]

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This isn’t going to be a very dense liveblog, but i tuned to Detroit’s main sports station while working. Earlier today they talked about everything under the sun but the U-M coaching search, but when the topic comes up i’ll try to summarize it here.
17:50 ET: I don’t think they have any inside [...]

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A UTK fan asked about expectations for our program.� � I replied with the following benchmarks:

“Real” graduation rate (i.e., not the one that screws over programs with transfers): >= 90%
NCAA appearances earned* or offered: >= 40% of seasons. Maybe this is too low, I’ll have to think about it.
NCAA top-4 seed or [...]

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