Green Tinted Glasses

GTG.net presents – “Why We Hate…” – Fordham

J Felt — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:17:57 +0000

Beginning today, a day you’ll never remember, GreenTintedGlasses.net is launching our brand new all important “off season” series…

“Why We Hate…”

Every Wednesday (or Thursday if we’re lazy) we’ll be bringing you another chapter in the series, starting with the teams of the A14. And since we tend to hate the best teams more (fancy that), we’ll be going in the order they finished conference play in the 2009-2010 season. In all honesty we could be kicking off with “Why We Hate Memories from the 2009-2010 Season”, but who wants to re-live the pain and anguish from the season that ended with six men on the floor? Not us, that’s for sure. That would be like forcing everyone to watch Titanic but deleting out the Propeller Guy scene, and we’re not that evil. With that said, let’s get things started with the team that everyone loves to… be ambivalent about…

“Why We Hate…the Fordham Rams”

School: Fordham University
Mascot: Rams
Founded: 1841
Location: New York City, NY
Colors: Maroon and White
2009-2010 record: 2-26 (0-16 conference)

J Felt: Ah yes, the Rams of Fordham. Look at that record, you read it right, they only won 2 games last season, none of them in conference. As such, I’m finding it hard to hate on them. How can you put down that fan base when they only had two games to celebrate last year? That’s like losing your virginity at age 28, have a dry spell until 34, and then never sealing the deal again, I can only feel sympathy.

You know you suck when your banner is larger than your crowd.

According to Wiki, their motto is Sapientia et Doctrina, which can only mean “be terrible at basketball”. Their gym is so old it originally had actual peach baskets and predates true Canadian independence. Their student section is asked not to jump for fear of game delays due to falling roof debris. I know, I know, it’s a historic place to play, but when your locker rooms likely resemble those from Hoosiers it’s time for an update.

As for the moment in Charlotte vs. Fordham history that could spark the most hatred… it would have to be last season for sure. When their crappy program with one good player almost beat us. And then their coach tried to get in a fight with Shamari Spears. Doesn’t he realize that Spears is made from 90% BadAss and is basically impossible to beat up? (The other 10% is mostly cheeseburgers and pizza, from what I understand)

On the 49erFanatics.com HateMeter, I’m giving them a 3 out of 10. While I tend to dislike almost all basketball programs but our own, I have too much sympathy for their fanbase to hate them anymore.

NLP: I can hate anything. For instance, I hate J Felt for referencing Canadia. Who does that? Only a Canadian.

But on to Fordham. I hate them because they were the game that showed the wheels were starting to come off the Niners season last year. Chris Gaston absolutely destroyed us inside and out, and be it not for the heroics of Derrio Green we would have been their lone victory of conference play.

They’re also a crappy program playing in a crappy gym. Their administration is also craptastic and worthy of my glorious hatred, investing absolutely no resources into their program for decades. You know you’re loathsome when you have to send an open letter to your fan base purporting to still have a pulse and denying the transfer of one of your players (Jio Fontan). I also have plenty of hatred for their attitude towards us when joining the A10 over concerns about the university’s academics. Sorry Rams, the only anvil in the A10(14) are you. Go join the Patriot League and get whooped on by Lehigh instead of pulling the rest of us down. Oh, and EAD.

So on to the 49erfanatics.com HateMeter: 4 These guys suck and I hate them, but we’re talking a daxified level of hatred. They annoy the shiitake mushrooms out of me, but not enough to really bring on the hatred. Like J Felt said, it’s more apathy and a hatred of their failure.

GreenTintedGlasses.net Hate Meter Score: 3.5

Put your votes in the poll and in the comments!

Summer break is over

J Felt — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 20:16:07 +0000

Summer’s not quite over yet, but it has been ages since any of the contributors to this site decided something was noteworthy enough to post.

Just wanted to take a few moments to update everyone on what is happening in our lives so maybe our reader will understand why we haven’t updated in a few days (months).

I (J Felt) got married, went to Jamaica.
JRitchie got married, went to the beach and then back to Canada.
NLP got locked in his lab and didn’t get out until yesterday, is also rumored to be involved with the disappearance of some young ladies.
D-Fo got a new job and introduced me to the world of Bowman Gray racing.
HP continued to be HP, but he forgot how to use computers.

So there you have it.

We’ll be back with the required preseason reading soon.

Major Overhaul

jritchie — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:45:15 +0000

So the search has finally wrapped up and we’ve got ourselves a new leader! Congrats Alan Major! We look forward to you outperforming your fellow Thad Matta-assists turned HC, like Sean Miller and Brad Stevens. Let’s go after Marcus Thornton who’s trying to get out of Clemson.

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Alan Major put on a demonstration a few years back of how other A10 coaches will look like when they are losing to us by 50

Coaching Update – Pat Kelsey, come on down!

J Felt — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:09:00 +0000

Our next head coach?

Jeff Goodman is the man. He was up all on the Charlotte 49ers coaching scoop at the Final Four. Here’s his twitter feed in case you want to follow him: @goodmanonfox

Some highlights about what we know (a.k.a. rumors that could be true):

Our main target was probably Mike Hopkins of Syracuse, but he has withdrawn his name and never interviewed with the Chancellor. There’s a good chance ‘Cuse made his deal a little sweeter about being the next head coach
Pat Kelsey is now reportedly in the driver’s seat and it is his decision to make, there was a rumor that he was visiting campus yesterday, but who knows how reliable comments in Utter’s blog are
Still in the mix: Alan Major of Ohio State, Joe Dooley of Kansas, and Russell Springmann of Texas

Most of us at GTG are hoping for Kelsey at this point. He knows the A14 and he knows this state. It’s a good match.

Plus, he actually wears a tie that matches the color of his team. I swear Bobby was campaigning for that UT gig even into his last season.

Either way, an announcement could be made this week, let’s hope for the best!

100th Post – Full of good news!

J Felt — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 02:57:33 +0000

This is our 100th post. What a momentous occasion. There’s an after party shortly after publication. It’ll be in my living room, call me if you can make it. I hear Traci might show up.

Three big news bits to celebrate this great moment in GTG.net history…

1. Dayton beat Chapel Hill tonight, thank Flying Spaghetti Monster. The last thing we needed in this world was those Tarholes beating the A14′s Winner of the “Most Disappointing 2010 Season” Award in the NIT Finals. How much vomit can the world handle? It would’ve never been able to contain the amount generated by the phrase “National Champions in both the NIT and NCAA!” However, it was the NIT, so most of us don’t care. But, A14 represent! We won one tournament! We’re #66! We’re #66!

2. The rumor mill that was buzzing so much about Mr. Peterson is done. Buzz Peterson (do you know who he roomed with in college?!?!) is NOT going to be our head coach next season. Thank you to Jim Utter, http://gmine.blogspot.com, for this wonderful, wonderful update.

3. We’ve launched our facebook fan page, because social media is the key to any successful business model. Here’s the thing, if we get 400 fans by April 30th, we will send a GTG.net delegate out to interview a GoldDuster. Here’s the link.

Thanks for reading all 100 posts!

Coaching Rumors Abound

J Felt — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:05:10 +0000

Where's Mike Rice?

Listen, man, I’m sorry. We’re all sorry. We haven’t been updating at all. Mostly because there isn’t anything concrete on the coaching search to provide you. Look at Utter, he’s all like, “Dooley, no, Kelsey, no, Hopkins, no, Shyatt, no, Peterson, no, Kelsey for real, no, kidding, Dooley, oh shit, just go read the board.”

So, that’s how life has been for us. One day we’re in the dumps and calling Judy Rose an idiot for considering retreads like Peterson, Shyatt, and Odom. Then the next day we’re chomping at the bit because Hopkins from ‘Cuse and Kelsey from X are the main candidates. But now Dooley is interviewing at the Final Four. And then some asshole comes along and says that Buzz Peterson is still in the running. Did you know who he was roommates with in college?

One question though. Why no Mike Rice from Robert Morris? His name hasn’t come up at all, and we’re beginning to wonder why not. He really should’ve been a top candidate right away. He’s done a great job at RMU and is probably interested in stepping up another rung on the coaching ladder.

But here’s what we DO know for sure: Joe Dooley, assistant at Kansas, and Pat Kelsey, associate head coach at Xavier, will be interviewing for the position at the Final Four.

Either one is a good candidate, but Dooley may get the nod because of his prior head coaching experience at ECU. Though, I love Kelsey’s marketing background and he has spent years in North Carolina at Wake Forest, so he knows both the area and the A14. A win win.

Either way, please, Judy and Phil, NO BUZZ PETERSON.

If you agree, leave it in the comments.

Dave Odom, Dave Odom….DAVE ODOM?!

J Felt — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:37:51 +0000

Dave Odom, circa 2010.

What are we doing? This was Worry #1 going into this whole ordeal. We would pick up some has been coach that will only cement our place in peoples’ minds as a “second rate program”. The Observer is reporting that Dave Odom is a candidate for the position. Let’s take South Carolina and Wake’s cast off. Please.

Judy, I am going to go ahead and say this just one of your funny jokes. Or maybe it isn’t. But it is, right? Right?

Odom did fairly well in the late 90s, but his time at USC is less than stellar. But you can’t say he doesn’t win in the post season, he has two NIT championships!

Utter says he’ll have more tomorrow. Let’s hope it’s a name that will get us excited.

Coaching Buzz

J Felt — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:01:18 +0000

3/4ths of Niner Nation just puked. The rest died.

GreenTintedGlasses.net doesn’t have any “insiders”, in fact, we’re mostly in the dark. It’s fitting, because that’s how our women prefer to spend time with us.

But, that means we have to rely mostly on heresay and other people who are in fact connected on the inside. That being said, here’s what we’ve been hearing/seeing/reading on message boards (if Utter can do it, we can too!)…

Buzz Peterson, current App coach and former UTenn coach, has surfaced as a top contender for the position. Not because he’s a young and energetic guy that can bring life into our program, but because the big money guys in town, possibly J. Harris, are pushing for him. So, he’s got the “Good Ol’ Boys” pushing for him. This would be an incredibly polarizing decision. Yes, it has the potential to bring some big money folks into Halton, but we’d be making a lateral move in terms of coaching, Buzz has only been to one NCAA as a coach, and he’s coached 400 programs in the past 12 months.

A group of our more elder alumni are pushing for Coach K 2.0, a.k.a. Wojorooski (yes, that’s what I’d call him if he came, it’s easier to spell). Not a bad choice if he could be as good as Coach K at actual coaching. Plus, the last Duke guy we brought in was fairly good at injecting life into the program. You might remember him, his name was Mullins. Either way, we can’t confirm that he’s even interested in the job. Actually we can’t confirm anything.

Another rumor is that Brad Brownell of Wright State and UNCG experience, has expressed in the position. Personally, I think this is full of win. He’s done a good job at Wright State and Charlotte is a step up, giving him more resources to really succeed. But rumor has it that Auburn’s going after him. I doubt we can compete with BCS money.

Other rumors? Well, we’ve heard that there is greater interest in the position than one would expect. Lots of viable candidates. Dalonte is out. So is Moxley.

If you want to become our “unnamed source” just send us an email at greentintedglassesblog@gmail.com. For real, we’ll leave you unnamed.

Post-shock Discussion – Lutz, the future, and NLP as John Mayer

J Felt — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:08:59 +0000

After Lutz was released on Monday form his position as Head Coach of our beloved Charlotte 49ers, the contributors of GreenTintedGlasses.net was too shocked to share our thoughts. In all honesty, we knew Judy and Phil weren’t happy about the way the season ended, but 19 wins is an improvement over 11, and it looked like our team was set up for a good ’10-’11 season. Plus, word was the program was strapped for cash and couldn’t afford to pay the final 4 years of Lutz’ contract in addition to a new coach’s salary.

That said, NLP and I managed to come together through the magical power of GMail and share our thoughts, so here it goes…

NLP: We’re gonna have a new coach. How do you feel about it? Personally while I wish it would have worked out for Bobby,

gonna miss that 'stache

it’s pretty obvious I was ready for a change. That doesn’t mean I don’t like Bobby -it’s certainly not personal, but the formula was broken. Mostly I’m surprised Judy and Phil had the stones to pull the trigger after the passive-aggressive episode that went down after the Wabash Experiment.

J Felt: I really wanted Bobby to be able to stay here and build our program to be something special. Kind of like Beamer at Virginia Tech, it took him awhile, but now they’re nationally relevant every season. Unfortunately, the landscape of college basketball is different and things had really gone stale in the past half decade. I’m still torn about this decision, because I’m partially on the side of “college athletics is out of control” people. Bobby’s teams were usually competitive, finishing above .500, the players loved him, he graduated a great percentage of them, and for the most part we stayed out of trouble as a program. It all came down to winning in the end, despite popular culture stipulating that “it’s not about winning, it’s about how you play the game.” But even if that’s the case, playing the game with 6 guys on the floor is not going to save your career.

N: True, but Bobby did want the UT job. Very much so. It’s a two-way street in that regard. Hopefully people can look past the 6 guys play and say “He went out 19-12, that’s not bad.” I don’t want to be bitter. I’m actually past that now. I can focus on the good times and let go of the rough times. I mean, he is one of us. Always was, always will be.

Here’s something that’s gonna bother people but I want to know how you feel: If our next coach gets us back to the tournament, he’s more likely or not gonna move on to a Big 6 conference. How do you fell about knowing our next coach anticipates using use as a ‘stepping stone’ to bigger and (in theory) better?

J: Nothing is wrong with being a stepping stone. Not at all. Xavier has been a stepping stone, and they’re quite fine. If a coach wants to use our program as a stepping stone, he’ll have to come in and WIN some games, something we all want. Very few schools are safe from losing top coaches, even Kansas lost Roy Williams when Chapel Hill called for help. While it would stink to have our awesome new coach (who he ends up being) leave after a deep run in the NCAAs, would we really be pissed? He did get us back to the tournament.

...better than tofu

What we should fear is a coach that continues the current trend of our stale bread program, one that does “just enough” to prevent being fired but not get major interest from Big 6 programs. Then we’re left with the awkward decision to fire a coach that once again, isn’t doing a TERRIBLE job, but just isn’t excelling. It’s like being forced to eat grilled chicken prepared the same way every night, it’s not bad, you could be having tofu cakes, but what if you could get prime rib instead?

N: Good analogy. It’s just too bad there’s not a Fran Dunphy out there locally so we can just call up a school and say “I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE.” That’d be fun to do to a Gardner-Webb.

I really don’t want to guess names of potential HCs but are there any particular attributes that scream either “DO WANT!” or “DO NOT WANT!” ? For me, I want to avoid re-treads. I do want youth and ambition. I want the coach that wants to take us deep and move on unless suddenly the money turns fabulous.

I can’t help though to notice what Tom Penders has done at Houston. Full turnaround. Definitely lived up this his billing as Turnaround Tom. But with the re-treads the risk is like you described earlier. Year-after-year of grilled chicken.

J: I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with grilled chicken. It’s a good staple to any man’s diet, but it doesn’t make for a good coach. As for the list of coaches that has been speculated on? I don’t want anyone that has been unceremoniously fired and or involved with a scandal. We don’t need to become “that” program. The one name really splitting the ranks is Dalonte Hill, of Michael Beasley fame. He’s apparently interested in the position, and now everyone is really torn up about it. Do we hire the guy that basically led to the Carlos Williams season?

N: No, because of the manner in which he burned his bridge (the voice mail resignation). I just don’t see how Judy and Phil can let that slide. Plus he’s got a pair of DUIs. I’m not saying he’s a bad person, but it’s probably enough to keep him from THIS particular position. Beyond that, I don’t even know if he’s qualified from a coaching standpoint. All I’ve ever known him as is a recruiter. He is the Associate HC at KSU, but that was more a ceremoniously title given to retain him after Huggins left, but I just don’t know how much he’s developed as a coach.

Really I’m not too worried about the process. It’s Judy Rose’s job to keep up on the potential candidates and to hire one, not mine. She’s done a good job with hires historically, whether people want to admit it or not.

One thing I will say though which I’m kind of disappointed in is the statement regarding transfers. I don’t think it’s right to compel a player to complete a season with the new coach before transferring. That might be to stem inquiries from other programs (it’s not allowed, but you know it happens) or keep the player from bolting before even meeting the new coach. I hope it is. I just don’t want to see us go down the road Fordham did with Jio Fontan. It’s simply wrong, especially given there wasn’t even a coaching change in his case.

NLP's future if J Felt doesn't intervene

J: Don’t fret too much about the no transfer clause. It is probably in place to prevent a mass exodus of players before they even meet their new coach. Think about it this way. Your wife leaves you because you spend too much time on a stupid message board and seem to be more emotionally invested in college basketball than your relationship. Your first instinct, of course, is to call up some past fling or floozy and try and mend your sorry excuse for a broken heart.

Enter J Felt. I let you know that I’m going to find you a girl, but you have to sit still and wait it out first. While you’ll probably feel like I’m preventing you from your true destiny as John Mayer 2.0, I’m making sure stupid decisions aren’t made. Chances are, I’ll bring you AlphaDuster and you’ll be glad you stuck around.

In basketball terms, this is just preventing the team from running towards the coaches they almost committed to. I’d be willing to bet that if a player wants to leave after we get a new coach, the new coach will encourage the AD to let him go. We’re not Fordham, and I really don’t think we’re going to be.

(NLP paused here to recollect his thoughts after being called John Mayer 2.0, he continues…)

N: Any thoughts on if we’ll ultimately lose any players to transfer once SEKRET NEW COACH is selected? And how awesome is it that people want to put something together for Lutz at Wild Wing Cafe? We have some amazing fellow fans.

J: I do think we’ll lose one but manage to retain the two major young talents: Braswell and Green. I worry about Sirin and K.J., but I wouldn’t be surprised if the new coach loves their work ethic and they end up being major players, and they show lots and lots of potential. Spears will be back by default (already lost a year to transfer), but it will be really interesting to see if the new coach continues to use him as the focal point and how he’ll be utilized. Either way, I’m starting to get excited about this.

I will be attending the Lutz send-off at Wild Wing, so we’ll get some high quality Green Tinted Glasses coverage. I wonder if Lutz will be open enough to share some inside information. Chances are we don’t want to know half the stuff anyway. I will really miss Lutz and his passion for the program is a big reason I’m as much of a fan as I am. He could also have been announced as the head coach at ECU by that point, so things could be really interesting.

NLP, bring us home. We have no coach and our program has been sliding for awhile. In 3 years from now, where do we stand? Are we competing for an At-Large? Is our program relavant? Be realistic, but we won’t be mad about green tinted predictions.

N: Judy has her detractors. I’m not one of them. She has a unique ability to find quality coaches and get them in place. In the case of women’s basketball, she’s found 3 excellent ones consecutively since Ed Baldwin was replaced.

That means I’m settings us up for being a tournament team again. It could be as soon as next year so long as we retain key players. I’m also worried about Briscoe but mostly because I don’t know how the NCAA treats walk-ons who have transferred. Technically he hasn’t played for us, hasn’t been on scholarship, so since he’s a walk-on, is he effectively free to go where he pleases after this year? I just don’t know. If any of our astute readers care to clear it up, please do so in the

Us Niners can relate to Jesse Spano right now

comments.

But three years is enough time for the new coach to have established players in place that fit his vision for the team. He even gets to come in immediately with three open scholarships to fill with players. That comes in handy, especially since there will be other coaching changes and the associated de-commitments, not to mention transfers.

I’m excited. I’ll miss Lutz as a person and I’ll admire his legacy, but this is the right time for change.

Holy shit.

J Felt — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:34:02 +0000

Bobby Lutz was fired today. I found out this morning and I’m still reeling 6 hours later. Never would’ve thought it’d be like this, especially after a 19 win season. Wish he could have gone out on his own terms, but this program has been falling downhill since March 2005. Needs new life.

Hopefully the players will stick around and buy into the new coach and his philosophy. I’d hate to see a talent like Braswell leave campus, he could be a truly special Charlotte 49er before it’s all done.

Regardless, thank you Bobby Lutz for 12 years as coach. Your passion for your alma mater never went unnoticed and you ran a good, clean program. Best of luck from here on out.

We’ll get more up here when we stop reeling from the announcement…