Here are some goddamn facts

the Bill Carmody chatter cranked up this week to levels I've never seen before, not even after 3-34 in conference. the buzz of "HE SHOULD BE FIRED!" was exceeded only by those chastising others for suggesting that he should be fired. some people think FBC is nothing more than a rabble-rouser, but let's be honest: FireBillCarmody has always been more of a brand/nickname than anything else. I like to think that I've offered perspective more balanced than the name of this site would suggest. and now, thanks to today's Wall Street Journal, here are some facts with a side of context:

Since the 1996-1997 season, here are the major conference college basketball teams with the worst 50-game spans of conference play.

TEAM/CONFERENCE/YEARS	RECORD
DePaul Big East, 2008-present	2-48
Washington St. Pac-10, 2001-2003	6-44
Penn State Big Ten , 2002-06	6-44
Oregon State Pac-10, 2006-2009	6-44
Rutgers Big East, 2007-10	6-44
South Florida Big East, 2006-09	7-43
Northwestern Big Ten, 2006-09	7-43

and guess how many coaches have survived those stretches: exactly 1. check it out:

DePaul - hired Oliver Purnell on April 6, 2010
Washington State - hired Dick Bennett on March 29, 2003
Penn State - hired Ed DeChellis in April 2003
Oregon State - hired Craig Robinson on April 7, 2008
Rutgers - hired Mike Rice on May 6, 2010
South Florida - hired Stan Heath on April 2, 2007


from that list only Heath and DeChellis were around for significant stretches, and the other four schools made changes at or near the end of the down years. and yet our boy BC keeps chugging along. unbelievable.