Fired Bill Carmody: Yes, I know the season has started

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Yes, I know the season has started

The Wildcats are 1-0 and John Shurna looked good in the first game. Well, not exactly "looked" good, considering the game wasn't televised. Next up is another road game, tomorrow night at UT Pan Am. Obviously a loss there would be unexpected and very disappointing, but considering how close to the border Edinburg is, I think another goal of this trip should be to avoid getting kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel. Jershon didn't play last Friday, and I won't get a really good look at this squad until the Georgia Tech game after Thanksgiving, so I'll withhold my thoughts on the team until then.

As part of ESPN's 24-hour college hoops marathon, St. Mary's played at 2am ET this morning. I recorded the game and watched it this morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of our old friend Kyle Rowley. Although SMC had at least a half dozen guys in street clothes at the end of the bench, there was no sign of Snoop's buddy. I did some digging, and it turns out that Rowley will not be attending SMC until the second semester. This fall he is enrolled, although not playing, at the College of Southern Idaho. This article discusses in WAY too much length how he ended up there, but the startling revelation is this:

[Rowley] needed a semester of junior college to get things lined up academically for his transfer to St. Mary’s

I'm certainly not an expert on NCAA eligibility issues, but I find this remarkable. After two years at a top-tier institution, he apparently didn't have enough transferable credits. While I certainly was not sad to see Kyle leave the team, he is depriving himself of a very special Northwestern opportunity. No, not making the NCAA tournament for the first time. If he'd stuck it out for two more years, then perhaps a "Kyle Rowley Experience" could have been auctioned off at the 2012 Fast Break Club Tip-Off Dinner.


Back in October I'd planned to do a whole post about this event but just didn't get to it. There were some cool ideas available (attend a practice, ball boy for a game, sit in press row) but they seemed hell-bent on including NU basketball personalities with many of the items...

  • Cubs game with Jim Phillips - it would be interesting to talk to the AD about the challenges facing NU athletics/marketing/etc.
  • Bulls game with Tavaras Hardy - an opportunity to get an inside look at the world of recruiting; also, I would ask him about that time he fouled out with zero points and zero rebounds
  • Golf with Mitch Henderson - not terribly exciting, but hopefully you could get some good stories about Pete Carril
OK, those are fine. But some of the others are a stretch...

  • "wings & brews" with Tim Doyle and Joe Kennedy- I love how they say "brews" to make it sound hip and fun. This would be worth it ONLY if Kennedy was allowed to tell any and every story from his time in the White House.
  • Away game experience with Jason Okrzesik - I love the road trip idea. Travel with the team, sit behind the bench, it's great. Plus it's a road game that NU should win and you're not dealing with a loud or hostile crowd. But why drag Jason Okrzesik into this? If I was the winning bidder, I think I'd have to pull someone aside and ask that Jason be left at home. If I get to travel with the team, the last thing I want to do is hang out with this guy, especially since he'll probably spend the entire flight trying to sell me Milwaukee Bucks season tickets.
  • Home game experience with Jason Burke - what??? Jason Burke is among the most forgettable Wildcats of the Carmody era. I have no idea why he's even involved or what the EXPERIENCE could possibly entail.

And of course, the grand prize is cocktails and refreshments with head coach Bill Carmody in Evanston. Obviously there is no question about BC's cocktail of choice, but I do have to admit this would be a unique opportunity. I can't imagine there are many BCS coaches out there who would volunteer their time to be auctioned off to any random fan. Maybe next year I should attend this dinner hosted by the Fast Break Club (= FBC = Fire Bill Carmody) just to find out the winning bidders. Some of these items/trips raise so many questions that I really need to find out what they're like.

1 Comments:

Blogger Loretta8 said...

that really is bizarre about Okrzezik and Jason Burke.

and I was going to make basically that exact same Mexican drug cartel joke at some point on SoP, and you beat me to the punch. Rigged.

11/16/10, 4:43 PM  

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