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Sunday, February 27, 2011
Leadership
Last week, I killed a few electrons discussing a caller on a local sports show who stated that maybe Bruce Pearl should be let go as Tennessee's basketball coach. At the time, I was quick to dismiss the guy and say that while the Vols aren't living up to their potential this year, the team has a pretty solid record over the past couple of seasons and that we are in the midst of a great run of men's basketball at the University of Tennessee.

Tuesday night, we beat Vandy at Vandy and all seemed right with the world.

Then the NCAA delivered the letter. And then I watched the Vols implode once again on their home floor against an inferior team yesterday. On national television no less. With a whole lot to play for--including seeding for the SEC tourney and seeding for the NCAA tourney, assuming we get an invitation to the Big Dance.

In the heat of the moment, I was upset and shaking my fist at the skies, figuring the basketball officials had met with the football officials to find creative new ways to get my blood pressure up and to arrange certain expletives in interesting new ways. After a few minutes, I was able to let that pain go and remind myself that it's just a game and that watching the Vols play is supposed to be how I unwind, relax and enjoy myself...not get into such a fit.

And I was doing OK with all of it until I saw the story in this morning's News-Sentinel with Pearl questioning the leadership of his team. Here's what he said:

There was plenty of blame to go around in UT’s loss, and Bruce Pearl was as pointed in his criticism of his team as he’s been at any time in his five-plus years as the men’s basketball coach.

“We are not getting good leadership within the team,’’ Pearl said. “We have some competitors, but we have no leaders.

“Defensively, we played pretty well . . . we held them to 40 percent (39.7 shooting), out-rebounded them (48-40), we didn’t turn them over enough (seven), and I didn’t think our energy or our passion was what it needed to be,” he said. “The team does not play well together offensively.

“We haven’t all year, it’s been a struggle . . . I don’t see that effort on the offensive end; we slop through things.’’


Really, Bruce? Really?

I understand you want some leadership out there on the floor. And there are times its been blindingly evident that there isn't any out there (see much of the second half of yesterday's game in which the team would grab the ball, run down court and toss up a three-point shot in the hope that maybe the basketball gods would smile upon us and it would happen to go in). But leadership starts at the top Bruce and I hate to say this but the seeds sewn are beginning to bear fruit. Specifically, I mean that the lack of leadership could be that your team is worried or distracted or confused or discombulated by the off-court stuff going on around our program this year. Off-the-court issues that you created by breaking the NCAA rules and then lying about it to the NCAA. Yes, you came out and cried for us and accepted responsibility. But then we've got the question of whether this season will count or not...will we be eligible for the post-season or not? Will you still even be the coach next year, the year after that or when whatever class of recruits you're working on now get there.

It's probably not helped by on the day after the Vols should have been walking on cloud nine, the letter arrived. But still, I can't help but think that without these distractions and off-the-court issues going on that my team might be working their way toward a first-round SEC tournament bye and a strong seed for the Big Dance. Instead now we've got a great RPI, a strong strength of schedule and a team that is Jekyll and Hyde not only just game to game but possession to possession.

So while I agree that the leadership on the floor has been an issue, I still think it goes higher than that. It goes to the man I love to see wearing the orange sport coat when we play Vandy and Kentucky. It goes to the guy whose disregard for the rules and even telling the truth created this whole circus that has been going on this past year and may go on for another year or two before its all over. This program rose when Bruce Pearl stepped into the building. And now it seems to be stumbling as Bruce Pearl has stumbled.

Leadership starts at the top, coach. Show some and let's get this thing going in the right direction.

Labels:



posted by Michael Hickerson at 2/27/2011 04:54:00 PM | |
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
When Mascots Attack
In between breaking down last night's loss (and season sweep!) to the Big Orange, a lot of local callers were upset that ESPN has making a lot of hay with footage of the Vanderbilt mascot punching one of his own fans.

Here's a story with video from WSMV.

As I've said elsewhere, it appears the mascot was doing this guy a favor. He missed Vandy collapsing down the stretch and the Big Orange getting a much needed win.

Or could there be a greater conspiracy at work here? Could this fan have secretly been a UT fan who infiltrated the Vandy faithful (all four of them) and Mr. C had to come up and take care of some business?

Whatever the reason, you have to admit it's kind of funny.....

Labels:



posted by Michael Hickerson at 2/23/2011 12:08:00 PM | |
Monday, February 21, 2011
The Fringes of Fandom
Driving to church yesterday, I tuned in for a local call-in show that dissects all things UT sports. Yesterday, the discussion centered a bit on the men's basketball team and their current slump (hopefully broken tomorrow night here in Nashville).

As I was heading into church, a caller suggested that it was time for a chance at men's basketball coach. His logic (such as it was) was that Bruce Pearl is 4-8 in his last 12 games and it's time for him to go.

I couldn't hear the response, but I was left shaking my head. Once again, you have the "what have you done for me lately" fandom coming out of the woodwork. How easily we forget that this is the same coach who has taken the UT basketball program to new heights, made a lot of hay last year with a team that got rid of several star players and has posted 20-win seasons in his first few years as coach. Yes, he's done some really dumb things that have brought the NCAA down on the Vols' doorstep (I'd still argue that in the long run whatever he's done will be far less damning that Lane Kiffin's year in Knoxville), but I still don't think it's necessary to make a chance at the top just yet.

That call, coupled with the incident in Alabama, has got me thinking about fans--of any team or program. For the most part, we're all relatively well adjusted and outside of a few hours each weekend, we resemble most sane, ordinary people. Then you've got the outer fringes that all programs have. I've seen numerous examples of fringe fans for the Georgia Bulldogs (though I'd argue their fringe is far larger than most) and I've seen it for my team. And now we've got this fringe fan calling in, demanding a change. And then you've got some fringe fan in Alabama who loves his team so much that he'll go out and poison trees and potentially human beings because he's unhappy about their big rival winning.

A lot of times, it's easy to feel better about my level of fandom because I can point at people on the fringes and say--well, I'm not as bad as they are. But hearing the caller and about the guy in Alabama makes me wonder--are there people those fans point to and say, "well, I'm not as bad as that person." Or do they just figure the rest of us just don't love our team enough to call for a firing or to go to jail in support of the team.

posted by Michael Hickerson at 2/21/2011 12:56:00 PM | |
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Retro TV Round-Up: Star Trek
"The Man Trap"
After spending last summer enjoying the re-discovery of classic Star Trek's third season on DVD, I'd intended to circle back to where it all began and look at seasons one and two of one of my favorite shows of all time this coming summer. But then, a friend showed me the new Blu-Ray transfers of the episodes and I knew my life wouldn't be complete until I, once again, threw down a large sum of cash to own the original series (yet again). Thanks to the generosity of family, I have upgraded my viewing experience with a new HD set, a Blu-Ray player and the first two seasons of classic Trek on Blu-Ray.

But while I'd skimmed through the discs, changing between original effects and the remastered effects, I still hadn't necessarily intended to jump back into the Retro TV Round-Ups just yet. But then a stomach bug attacked me over the weekend and instead of checking out the multitude of new shows I had saved on the DVR, I decided to go for my comfort show. And so, I decided I'd start my look back at classic Trek, starting with the first season and the very first episode to ever air, "The Man Trap."

After going through the third season of the show last summer, I have to admit part of me was really looking forward to getting back into the show when it's humming along and clicking on all cylinders. And while classic Trek is pretty good out of the gate, it's still not until about the sixth or seventh episode produced that things really get kicked up a notch and start humming. It's about the time that Gene Coon shows up and really takes things to another level.

Before that, there are a half dozen or so good stories. One of those is "The Man Trap."

Now, I'll admit that when it comes to classic Trek, I've tended to watch the episodes in syndication order. For those of you who don't spend your life following these things, that was the production order of the stories and not the original air order. So this is the first time I've cycled back from "Turnabout Intruder" to "The Man Trap" in watching the original series. And watching the episodes in that order this time around something struck me--in many ways "The Man Trap" feels a bit more like it would be at home in season three than it does in season one.

It's an interesting choice for a first episode to air. As I said back in my review of "Spock's Brain" I often wonder how audiences greeted the start of season three. With "The Man Trap" I often wonder if I'd tuned in for the first time in September of 1966 how I might have reacted. Would I have been hooked right away? Would the series become appointment TV for me? Looking at "The Man Trap" again, I can't necessarily say whether I would or not. It's not a bad episode, but it's just very different from much of the original series canon.

As an introductory episode, I suppose it works well. There's not a lot of heavy backstory and we meet just about all of the main characters. It's not like a modern Trek pilot where we throw in a scene or two for every main character and give them a moment to shine. This one clearly focuses on Kirk and Spock with McCoy thrown in to a lesser extent.

The Enterprise arrives at planet M-113 so McCoy can give yearly physicals to Professor Robert Crater and his wife Nancy. Nancy is the woman who got away in McCoy's past and he's a bit nervous about seeing her again. Rushing the landing party down ten minutes early, Kirk, McCoy and crewman (aka red-shirt) Darnell, all see a different woman. For Kirk and McCoy it's different versions of Nancy and for Darnell it's a woman he met on Wrigley's Pleasure Planet.

Turns out that they're all right--they're all seeing a different person. They just don't know it yet. Darnell is killed, allegedly by ingesting a poisoned plant. However, medical tests say otherwise and show that all the salt has been removed from the dead crewman (who if you watch closely you can see breathing under the sheet at certain points). Nancy and Crater both made overtures about needing more salt and Kirk becomes suspicious.

He heads back down with a new landing party and two more crewmen are killed by the creature. But the creature quickly changes into one of them and is beamed on board the ship. Crater goes off searching for the creature and Kirk decides to beam back to the ship and use the sensors to find Nancy and Crater and demand some answers.

On the ship, the creature wanders the ship, interacting with various crew members as it searches for salt. It eventually finds McCoy's quarters and after drugging him with a sleeping pill, takes on his identity and begins to stalk the ship. Kirk and Spock find Crater as the only human life form in the radius and beam down for answer. After stunning Crater, they learn that the creature killed Nancy a year ago and is the last of its kind. It needs salt to survive and feeds off the memories and thoughts of those around it. The stronger the memories and thoughts you feel, the more likely you'll see the creature as that person. It uses this and a bit of hypnosis to lure in its prey and feed.

Beamed back to the ship, Crater reveals he can recognize the creature (with the fake McCoy in the room) but refuses to do so. Kirk recommends truth serum and sends McCoy off to administer it. The creature kills Crater, attacks Spock and then heads back to McCoy's quarters. Appearing again as Nancy, the creature tries to get McCoy to protect it as Kirk comes in with a phaser. Kirk is attacked and McCoy eventually forced to shoot and kill the creature to save Kirk.

There's a lot to enjoy about the episode and you can see the building blocks for what will eventually become Star Trek all in play here. The interaction of Kirk, Spock and McCoy works well, with a lot of jabbing and verbal barring between Kirk and McCoy. We see very early the concern Kirk has for the safety of his ship and crew and how he won't let anything else come before that. We also get mention of Spock's alien nature and his planet of Vulcan (in a scene I'm pretty sure set up all of the Spock/Uhura romance in the latest Trek film). We also get some of the philosophical questions that make Trek unique, including whether the creature is really evil or just trying to survive. It's being the last of its kind also add a bit to the final decision of whether or not it has to be killed in order to stop its killing rampage.

The concept of a creature that feeds on salt isn't nearly as intriguing as the concept that it needs love and memories to sustain itself. Whether this is a defensive mechanism or something deeper isn't delved into as much as it could be and the question of just why it let Crater live for so long (even as it seems to be hungry from lack of salt due to a lower stock of it) isn't really addressed. The concept of creating a fantasy for yourself while in isolation on a seemingly deserted world is one that Trek will come back to an examine again a couple of times in season one (most notably "What Are Little Girls Made Of?").

But for all that, the episode still feels different from a lot of other Trek. For one thing, there are long stretches that seem to be little more than looking at life on the Enterprise. There's the old question of just where does Captain Kirk go to the bathroom and while it's not answered here, we do spend a lot of time examining various characters going about daily routines as part of their shipboard duties. Janice Rand is seen wandering the halls with her dinner tray and we see Kirk eating dinner at one point while on bridge duty. McCoy is advised to take sleeping pills by Kirk in order to rest and we hear how McCoy gave them to Kirk last week. (The fact that McCoy has a full bottle of them in his quarters is only a bit eyebrow raising). We see Sulu working in the botany section and we've got a conversation between Spock and Uhura about the moon on Vulcan and Kirk possibly being the closest thing Spock has to a friend. The last scene feels like one jammed in for the first episode of a new show, really.

And yet there's a slower pace to things as they develop on screen. Once the audience is tipped into the creature and that it can change shapes, the tension comes more from seeing the regular crew in peril at it stalks the halls. Interestingly, the creature gets a large chunk of screen time in the second and third acts as it stalks the ships. Again, it all leads to the questions in the end and the somber note on which this one ends.

It's not a terrible episode. It's not a great one. It's a solid enough one. It just feels different from a lot of other Trek episodes.

Labels: ,



posted by Michael Hickerson at 2/08/2011 01:20:00 AM | |
Monday, February 07, 2011
Let's Just Hope They Remember This
Overall, the Super Bowl commercials were a bit of a disappointment last night. The only really great one was the Volkswagen one with the kid in the Darth Vader suit.

A pretty good one was the NFL's tribute to its fans using footage from classic television series.



Watching it, I was struck by two things. One is how hard you had to look to find representation by the Redskins and Titans.

The other was that I hope when all of those involved with the upcoming negotiations on whether we get a season next year will remember the sentiments behind this commercial and work to make sure that the fans, the ones who make all of this possible with our hard earned money, get a season next year.

posted by Michael Hickerson at 2/07/2011 11:53:00 AM | |


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