Monday, April 09, 2007

Message Board Thread of the Day

Something I spend way too much time doing is reading internet message boards. The Internet has produced a new type of armchair fan. The Web has provided a place where people can go, anonymously, and post their feelings (and schtick) among people of like mind (or of unlike mind). Anybody with a screen name and a password can say whatever they want to, whether it makes sense or not, and whether it makes them look smart or not. Some people look really wise on the Internet. Others look really foolish.

I am entertained by reading the message boards of different universities. I read them more than I should. I get a lot of information from them, as do legitimate journalists. A lot of what is said in these forums turns out to be true. Just like you can't believe everything you hear, you can't believe everything you read on the Internet. However, many of these Internet communities do a good job of keeping fellow posters accountable for truth.

From time to time, I am going to post a thread from an Internet message board that I find interesting. Sometimes, it will be informative. Other times, it will be entertaining. Coaches hate message boards, and the rumors that they can sometimes produce, as well as the pressure they can create. I like them. I enjoy reading them.

Billy Gillispie left Texas A&M for Kentucky last week. According to some, he was looking for a place to go as early as last year. Some are saying that he had agreed to take the Arkansas job, before he decided to wait on Kentucky. There are those that are saying that Frank Broyles was so sure Gillispie was going to Arkansas, that he had made plans in February to fire coach Stan Heath at the end of the season. Once Billy G turned down Arkansas, the Hogs were looking bad. According to others, Gillispie was playing Arkansas and Texas A&M off of each other, while pushing for the Kentucky job all along.

There are two threads from Texags.com that are enlightening. One discusses a blog entry from this morning by the Houston Chronicle's John P. Lopez. Lopez takes the side of Gillispie in this mess.

Texags on Lopez Blog

Another Texags thread is by a poster with the handle of "Ball Gravy". He throws Gillispie under the bus over the weekend with some of the first information on Gillispie's flirtation with Arkansas. Apparently, Ball Gravy has a source in the athletic department. The thread was locked for a time, then was reopened as the allegations appeared more true.

Ball Gravy on Gillispie and Arkansas

Where there's a soap opera, there you will find Arkansas in the middle of it. Actually, this one belongs more to the Aggies.

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