The University of Tennessee has made a very bad decision. Now granted, I personally hate Tennessee and everything that is associated with them. Yet when I heard that UT had fired Bruce Pearl, instead of throwing a party and laughing at the inevitable downfall of UT basketball, I felt bad for UT fans. I have, in my entire life, never felt any remorse for “the school that shall not be named” yet there it was—sadness. Sadness! This coming from a guy who refused to buy his brother a Christmas present, just because he went to UT. When I’m depressed instead of taking a antidepressant, I just watch a video of UT losing to Florida, and poof! Instant happy. I could go on and on, but the point is I hate UT, yet feel bad for the fans.
The reason I feel so bad for them? Simple, they have no say in this. The fans of UT bleed orange, they cry when their team loses to Florida and they will skip work just to watch the spring football game. That’s what real fans do, and I am glad that I know some TRUE Tennessee fans. Why do I feel bad for them? It’s because the school has doomed their fans to watch mediocre basketball, while teams like Vandy, Florida, and Kentucky will continue to get better. The whole reason they brought in Pearl in the first place was to increase attendance at the basketball games, and Pearl did just that. He increased attendance by 80% during his tenure. Not only that, he is the only coach at UT to take the team to 6 straight NCAA tournament appearances. Oh, and did I mention his record at UT is 145-61(70.4%). Frankly put, what the crap are you thinking Tennessee? You have a coach who loves coaching there, and he wins! Just to add insult to injury, it is being reported that the interim coach will be Houston Francher, the coordinator of video scouting. Yeah, that’s right. Instead of putting a coach in that spot, they’re going to let a guy who watches scouting videos coach the team. Granted, he was a head coach at Appalachian State, where he went 137-136. So in other words, UT traded in Pearl, a 70% winner, for a guy who is 1 game over .500. Yeah, that sounds like a good deal
Fans, you better get ready to watch your team fall from the top of the SEC to the bottom. Even worse, Arkansas needs a coach, and they have the money to spend. Watch out, come next year. You may all be seeing Bruce Pearl wearing a red jacket during the SEC Tourney.
