Since Wardlaw took it down...

dawgstudent · Dec 18, 2008

here is this week's General Conensus...

<h1>Send off in style</h1> By Brian Hadad, The Voice of the Fan
Posted Dec 18, 2008
Copyright © 2008 BullDawgJunction.com 
 After taking a week off to absorb all that has transpired with Mississippi State football, Brian Hadad is back with the General Consensus. As always, he says what many people are thinking and that may...will rub some the wrong way. While BDJ.com may not agree with everything said...he does have a valid point in many regards. So, I caution you to read at your own risk, Brian's farewell to Coach Croom. Hope you guys didn't miss me that much last week, but I knew anything I wrote would get buried under the wall to wall coverage BulldawgJunction.com provided last Thursday, so Michael and I agreed we'd take a hiatus to allow for all the interviews, recaps, and summaries that come with the hiring of a new head coach. So to that end, I'd like to offer my own belated welcome to Coach Dan Mullen and now to Coach Mark Hudspeth. For the first time that I can remember, I am legitimately excited about watching the Bulldog offense take the field. I'd also like to congratulate Greg Byrne for the professionialism he displayed throughout the search. After watching how badly Auburn bungled things, it gives me a great deal of confidence in our leadership structure going forward. Also, kudos must be given to the consummate Bulldog, Rockey Felker. If nothing else, he is loyal to his university and deserves all of our respect. And you know, I was going to take the high road, and just offer thanks and congratulations……BUT I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY TO YOU CROOM. Finally! Finally you are no longer the protected head coach here at MSU. Finally I can let you know exactly how I, and thousands of other Bulldog fans, really felt about you from the beginning. Finally you are fired. Oh happy day! The fact is this Croom….YOU ARE AN IDIOT. You had exactly zero business being the head coach of a football team. For all the cries of racism that befell Alabama in 2003, the fact remains that hiring Mike Shula was by far the best decision. How incredibly humiliating must that be, that the worst coach Alabama has had in 20 years is still a far sight better than you? Alabama knew then what we should have known a year later, that you had no plan, you had no clue, and you had no idea what the hell you were doing. Oh, it sounded good. The idea of character and doing things the "right way" was music to the ears of fans who had seen the inmates take over the asylum in the last days of Jackie's time. We wanted to believe that we could have a good football team full of good people. We wanted to buy into what Croom sold us, but it was a bill of goods. We didn't have good football players, and they got arrested and disciplined just as much as Jackie's players did. Croom just said what we wanted to hear, and we lapped it up like mother's milk. And when he took that bow at midfield after the Tulane game, we cheered and believed that the glory days were coming back. And then we played Maine. That game will forever remain in my mind. It is the reason I never take any game as a gimme. Anytime Mississippi State took the field in the remainder of the Croom era, I thought we would lose. It's not like Maine was even any good. There were a terrible Division I-AA team. They only won 4 more games that year. And they came down to Starkville and beat an SEC team on their own field. That is the epitome of embarrassment. As bad as it got for the next 56 games, that was the low point. Unfortunately, we barely crested above that. That's not to say there weren't some good times, it's just that they were sandwiched in between blowout losses and Conference USA teams beating us. For every Florida 2004, there's a UAB 2004, Houston 2005, and Tulane 2006. For every Alabama 2007, there's Auburn 2006, Arkansas 2005, and LSU 2004-2007. There really is no spot where you can look back and remember only the good times. The results are just one thing. It's when you look deeper, and actually look at the games and the decisions made within them that you have to wonder how Croom ever became a football coach. I have never seen more burned time outs, more third and shorts stuffed in the backfield, more four yard routes on third and seven, more terrible special teams play, more overall stupidity than I witnessed over the last five years. Croom made so many bad calls that it is almost impossible to pick the worst. If you made me choose, it's the go for it from the 47 punt from the 30 sequence. But it gets a run for its money from about ten different challengers. And then you delve even further in, and you have to ask why Croom was so stubborn with his offense? When he arrived, we had a quarterback and a running back that begged to be put in an option offense, but instead we pounded that square peg as far as we could into the round hole. The West Coast offense, thanks for playing. There's a reason that offense is so popular in the pros, it's because it takes someone practicing, studying film, and working with coaches 10-12 hours a day for it to be effective. No college, not USC, not Texas, not Florida, no one could have run the offense Croom installed, let alone one that will never consistently attract the top flight talent. But he persisted, and in doing so he wrote his own epitaph. Here lies Sly Croom, where the offense stayed below 100 every year he coached. I mean, is there any doubt we'll be better on offense this season? That we'll average at least 350 yards a game next year? Any whatsoever? And 350 still isn't great, but it's a decent first year benchmark. Now, if we had kept Croom, who'd be willing to think that? The answer is no one who has any rationality about the situation. We were never going to turn the corner with Croom as head coach. From the day he took over here, he talked down to the MSU fanbase. He constantly reminded us of how he didn't care what we thought, how he was going to do things his way, results be damned. This season, he told us he didn't care about what happened five years from now when he burned Arceto Clark's redshirt for those critical 6 touches he got. Then days after his resignation (cough cough), he talks about how he believed his commitment would last seven years. So which was it? That's right, it was both, it was whatever he wanted it to be at the time. There is a veritable list of examples of Croom doublespeak. He promised us we never would be embarrassed again, I assure it wasn't pleasure I was feeling in Oxford three weeks ago. He said it was be good or be gone, but plenty of Bulldogs ran afoul of the law and remain in maroon. He said the players in his first class would compete for a national title, the six that made it four years at MSU finished light years away. Croom set his own goals prior to this past season, he failed to accomplish a single one of them. Of course, we would be remiss if we didn't talk about the back-breaking sanctions we endured during Croom's tenure. My goodness, if only we could have used those eight scholarships, lord only knows how many more projects, children of Croom's friends, and total busts we could have signed! Yes, those eight players we were unable to sign were the downfall of Mississippi State football. That one year bowl ban really crushed any chance we had of being successful in 2008. Go talk to Tommy Tuberville about sanctions, Croom. What Ole Miss had done to them prior to his arrival makes the small tribulations Croom got look like cotton candy. Tuberville won five more games in four years than Croom won in five. Another joke of an excuse by the master of them. And then there's the final untruth, the idea that we are somehow better today than when Croom arrived in 2004. Look at that team. There are six Bulldogs from that team in the NFL today. In five years, only two Croom recruits are currently in the NFL. Is there a player on the 2009 roster that has the talent of a Jerious Norwood? A lineman that could match David Stewart? A defensive jack of all trades like Quentin Culberson? There's not a single player that I look at on next year's team and think, for sure pro. There's some talent, there's some guys who can play at this level, but all in all, the talent level was higher then. From an aesthetic standpoint, you'd be right, our facilities are better, but any coach would have gotten those improvements. Did MSU make a mistake? I don't know, how quickly did another school scoop him up? Croom will never be a head coach again. No school will look at his resume and think, man that's our guy (well, maybe Auburn). Croom's time on the sideline is done. You would think a guy one year removed from SEC Coach of the Year would have gotten an interview somewhere. But the world now knows what we knew years ago, Croom is no coach. He got a free pass because he preached the right things, but didn't practice them. People believed in him, and those who did look like fools today. So goodbye, Croom. Goodbye and good riddance. And when we turn it around quicker than anyone believes we can, you can tape those games and watch the way the right way should have been.

dawgstudent · Dec 18, 2008

here is this week's General Conensus...

<h1>Send off in style</h1> By Brian Hadad, The Voice of the Fan
Posted Dec 18, 2008
Copyright © 2008 BullDawgJunction.com 
 After taking a week off to absorb all that has transpired with Mississippi State football, Brian Hadad is back with the General Consensus. As always, he says what many people are thinking and that may...will rub some the wrong way. While BDJ.com may not agree with everything said...he does have a valid point in many regards. So, I caution you to read at your own risk, Brian's farewell to Coach Croom. Hope you guys didn't miss me that much last week, but I knew anything I wrote would get buried under the wall to wall coverage BulldawgJunction.com provided last Thursday, so Michael and I agreed we'd take a hiatus to allow for all the interviews, recaps, and summaries that come with the hiring of a new head coach. So to that end, I'd like to offer my own belated welcome to Coach Dan Mullen and now to Coach Mark Hudspeth. For the first time that I can remember, I am legitimately excited about watching the Bulldog offense take the field. I'd also like to congratulate Greg Byrne for the professionialism he displayed throughout the search. After watching how badly Auburn bungled things, it gives me a great deal of confidence in our leadership structure going forward. Also, kudos must be given to the consummate Bulldog, Rockey Felker. If nothing else, he is loyal to his university and deserves all of our respect. And you know, I was going to take the high road, and just offer thanks and congratulations……BUT I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY TO YOU CROOM. Finally! Finally you are no longer the protected head coach here at MSU. Finally I can let you know exactly how I, and thousands of other Bulldog fans, really felt about you from the beginning. Finally you are fired. Oh happy day! The fact is this Croom….YOU ARE AN IDIOT. You had exactly zero business being the head coach of a football team. For all the cries of racism that befell Alabama in 2003, the fact remains that hiring Mike Shula was by far the best decision. How incredibly humiliating must that be, that the worst coach Alabama has had in 20 years is still a far sight better than you? Alabama knew then what we should have known a year later, that you had no plan, you had no clue, and you had no idea what the hell you were doing. Oh, it sounded good. The idea of character and doing things the "right way" was music to the ears of fans who had seen the inmates take over the asylum in the last days of Jackie's time. We wanted to believe that we could have a good football team full of good people. We wanted to buy into what Croom sold us, but it was a bill of goods. We didn't have good football players, and they got arrested and disciplined just as much as Jackie's players did. Croom just said what we wanted to hear, and we lapped it up like mother's milk. And when he took that bow at midfield after the Tulane game, we cheered and believed that the glory days were coming back. And then we played Maine. That game will forever remain in my mind. It is the reason I never take any game as a gimme. Anytime Mississippi State took the field in the remainder of the Croom era, I thought we would lose. It's not like Maine was even any good. There were a terrible Division I-AA team. They only won 4 more games that year. And they came down to Starkville and beat an SEC team on their own field. That is the epitome of embarrassment. As bad as it got for the next 56 games, that was the low point. Unfortunately, we barely crested above that. That's not to say there weren't some good times, it's just that they were sandwiched in between blowout losses and Conference USA teams beating us. For every Florida 2004, there's a UAB 2004, Houston 2005, and Tulane 2006. For every Alabama 2007, there's Auburn 2006, Arkansas 2005, and LSU 2004-2007. There really is no spot where you can look back and remember only the good times. The results are just one thing. It's when you look deeper, and actually look at the games and the decisions made within them that you have to wonder how Croom ever became a football coach. I have never seen more burned time outs, more third and shorts stuffed in the backfield, more four yard routes on third and seven, more terrible special teams play, more overall stupidity than I witnessed over the last five years. Croom made so many bad calls that it is almost impossible to pick the worst. If you made me choose, it's the go for it from the 47 punt from the 30 sequence. But it gets a run for its money from about ten different challengers. And then you delve even further in, and you have to ask why Croom was so stubborn with his offense? When he arrived, we had a quarterback and a running back that begged to be put in an option offense, but instead we pounded that square peg as far as we could into the round hole. The West Coast offense, thanks for playing. There's a reason that offense is so popular in the pros, it's because it takes someone practicing, studying film, and working with coaches 10-12 hours a day for it to be effective. No college, not USC, not Texas, not Florida, no one could have run the offense Croom installed, let alone one that will never consistently attract the top flight talent. But he persisted, and in doing so he wrote his own epitaph. Here lies Sly Croom, where the offense stayed below 100 every year he coached. I mean, is there any doubt we'll be better on offense this season? That we'll average at least 350 yards a game next year? Any whatsoever? And 350 still isn't great, but it's a decent first year benchmark. Now, if we had kept Croom, who'd be willing to think that? The answer is no one who has any rationality about the situation. We were never going to turn the corner with Croom as head coach. From the day he took over here, he talked down to the MSU fanbase. He constantly reminded us of how he didn't care what we thought, how he was going to do things his way, results be damned. This season, he told us he didn't care about what happened five years from now when he burned Arceto Clark's redshirt for those critical 6 touches he got. Then days after his resignation (cough cough), he talks about how he believed his commitment would last seven years. So which was it? That's right, it was both, it was whatever he wanted it to be at the time. There is a veritable list of examples of Croom doublespeak. He promised us we never would be embarrassed again, I assure it wasn't pleasure I was feeling in Oxford three weeks ago. He said it was be good or be gone, but plenty of Bulldogs ran afoul of the law and remain in maroon. He said the players in his first class would compete for a national title, the six that made it four years at MSU finished light years away. Croom set his own goals prior to this past season, he failed to accomplish a single one of them. Of course, we would be remiss if we didn't talk about the back-breaking sanctions we endured during Croom's tenure. My goodness, if only we could have used those eight scholarships, lord only knows how many more projects, children of Croom's friends, and total busts we could have signed! Yes, those eight players we were unable to sign were the downfall of Mississippi State football. That one year bowl ban really crushed any chance we had of being successful in 2008. Go talk to Tommy Tuberville about sanctions, Croom. What Ole Miss had done to them prior to his arrival makes the small tribulations Croom got look like cotton candy. Tuberville won five more games in four years than Croom won in five. Another joke of an excuse by the master of them. And then there's the final untruth, the idea that we are somehow better today than when Croom arrived in 2004. Look at that team. There are six Bulldogs from that team in the NFL today. In five years, only two Croom recruits are currently in the NFL. Is there a player on the 2009 roster that has the talent of a Jerious Norwood? A lineman that could match David Stewart? A defensive jack of all trades like Quentin Culberson? There's not a single player that I look at on next year's team and think, for sure pro. There's some talent, there's some guys who can play at this level, but all in all, the talent level was higher then. From an aesthetic standpoint, you'd be right, our facilities are better, but any coach would have gotten those improvements. Did MSU make a mistake? I don't know, how quickly did another school scoop him up? Croom will never be a head coach again. No school will look at his resume and think, man that's our guy (well, maybe Auburn). Croom's time on the sideline is done. You would think a guy one year removed from SEC Coach of the Year would have gotten an interview somewhere. But the world now knows what we knew years ago, Croom is no coach. He got a free pass because he preached the right things, but didn't practice them. People believed in him, and those who did look like fools today. So goodbye, Croom. Goodbye and good riddance. And when we turn it around quicker than anyone believes we can, you can tape those games and watch the way the right way should have been.

BigMotherTucker · Dec 18, 2008

Brian is getting lambasted over at BDJ. I saw nothing wrong with the article myself. It is exactly how I feel towards Crooms.

tossedoff · Dec 18, 2008

I have lost some respect for Wardlaw. There was NOTHING wrong with that OPINION piece. Sweet Jeebus...

dawgphd · Dec 18, 2008

AD's office all him? Oh well thanks DS for posting here.

DerHntr · Dec 18, 2008

damn.

Hugo Sanchez.sixpack · Dec 18, 2008

Its an opinion piece and you have to subscribe to read it so its not out there for the general public. This is Genespagesque, bush league.

cowbell9 · Dec 18, 2008

HD has penned some fine material. But that one was over the top and cruel. No need for it. Bad move to put it up, in my OPINION>

Xartox · Dec 18, 2008

[No message]

DowntownDawg · Dec 18, 2008

...that was getting close to being crossed. Wardlaw's product is access. That's all he has to sell. Nobody should or will pay for opinion pieces. If that access gets compromised, he has nothing. That's the line Gene walks and that's the line Wardlaw has to walk. You don't have to be a nazi, but at the same time, it's stupid to compromise your product.

That's why I like the sixpack. There's nothing to protect, no motives to watch out for.

thatsbaseball · Dec 18, 2008

his are all on me.

tossedoff · Dec 18, 2008

nm

Jackdragbean · Dec 18, 2008

Michael supported the article and stated that HD6 based it on fact. I think he had a lot of emails and possibly some folks were pulling their money. It's still a business. I'm sure it was a bit hard to swallow for some of the Croom supporters that still exist and some think it, but felt it was in bad taste to say it publicly. I think that many have forgotten that Croom pretty much threw MSU under the bus when he "resigned."

Henry Kissinger · Dec 18, 2008

saddawg · Dec 18, 2008

because I thought he had the balls to put stuff like that on there.

I wrote basically the same thing on Nov. 30 and my hits went up.

Read here

Heydog, you have a place to write what ever you want to on my blog any ime. Just send it on.

DerHntr · Dec 18, 2008

ZING!

thelaw · Dec 18, 2008

of something I would see on here: repetitive, a little over the top, etc... but when you are trying to write a piece on Sly Croom's years at state you realize that Crxxms was repeatedly terrible- so before people say it was harsh, I think you have to realize that Croom destroyed our football program and he deserves harshness for the absolutely piss poor coaching job he did.

Wardlaw probably took it down because he felt is was too colloquial. But honestly, for Croom, I believe it deserves to sound like a SPS rant as Croom doesn't merit anything more.

But that one was over the top and cruel.

It would be cruel to gloss over Maine, LaTech, the WCO, wasting of talent, not meeting goals that were promised, not giving a **** what the fans think/want at all, etc... Two weeks ago I think all of us were depressed because Crxxms was still around- at least I was. It seems like HD6 wrote from the cuff, which probably isn't appreciated on a subscription based sports news site- but for the rest of us, thats what we were thinking and thats what the article is supposed to be: the General Consensus.

birdZdawg · Dec 18, 2008

And thanks for posting it here, DS. I'm just tired of reading all the Croom bashing. Not to the -ku point yet, but I had hoped everyone had moved on, despite 5 long, frustrating years of Croom.

Buford T. Justice · Dec 18, 2008

Brian calls himself "The Voice of the Fan". I definitely think that he spoke for tons of MSU fans. I certainly agree with everything he wrote. I really love this part:

Oh, it sounded good. The idea of character and doing things the "right way" was music to the ears of fans who had seen the inmates take over the asylum in the last days of Jackie's time. We wanted to believe that we could have a good football team full of good people. We wanted to buy into what Croom sold us, but it was a bill of goods. We didn't have good football players, and they got arrested and disciplined just as much as Jackie's players did. Croom just said what we wanted to hear, and we lapped it up like mother's milk.

thatsbaseball · Dec 18, 2008

Sylvester Croom fleeced our university like we`ve never been fleeced. He is truly THE BIGGEST ******** artist I`ve ever seen. The truth will come out as the months and years go by.

DowntownDawg · Dec 18, 2008

...the man did a sorry job as a football coach. He had his flaws. He failed. We all acknowledge it. He's gone. He's not some kind of con artist or crook. Leave the dead horse alone.

davatron · Dec 18, 2008

Although I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not...

It's one thing to write an article with underlying tones that make it obvious you disapproved of Croom; it's a whole new ball game when you straight call someone an idiot. I share the same opinions as HD, just not sure I could be as forward as he was.

Aside: I think 'Ole Lar should have been mentioned in that article .. after all, this was his baby.

RonnyAtmosphere · Dec 18, 2008

I mean, is there any doubt we'll be better on offense this season? That we'll average at least 350 yards a game next year? Any whatsoever? And 350 still isn't great, but it's a decent first year benchmark.

The 2009 squad will be improved on offense, but they will not come close to averaging 350 yds. a game.

TheOutlaw · Dec 18, 2008

Wardlaw has sold the site. Maybe the new owner has a different opinion.

thatsbaseball · Dec 18, 2008

and blamed every one of them on somebody else (most of the time his own players) is at least attempting to CON people into believing something that`s not true. Anybody that accepts the kind of money he was making from a trusting employer and goes about his work as lazily as he did is a CROOK. I don`t care to get into semantics with you but it is what it is.

MaxwellSmart · Dec 18, 2008

While I haven't read all of his articles, that one was as close to how I felt as he could put it.

SLUdog · Dec 18, 2008

it was untrue. This article was spot on, but it did read more like a late night post on sixpack.

ExtremeDog · Dec 18, 2008

I do not feel sorry for someone who got fired and made $3 million for getting fired.

DowntownDawg · Dec 18, 2008

...incompetence and intending to con somebody. You apparently don't understand that.

vicious · Dec 18, 2008

the Andrews thing. That man lossed games just because he didn't recruit Andrews. He sat an All-SEC kicker on the bench! This article was soft. Wardlaw should have hit Croom harder. There are so many other blunders he could have mentioned. ZEEZ! I got thrown off of Genespage because of the kicker thing. I just couldn't let it go...and I still can't today.

Stormrider81 · Dec 18, 2008

Any time you have a site that is subscription based you are not going to get the uncensored truth. People talked up Wardlaw, but he is running a business in like manner to Gene. Now, he's far more competent than Gene and not as much of a nazi in running his site, but the fact remains that when he is threatened by subscribers he will give in. It's a shame because that article is spot on. Really, he glossed over some things that could have been explored to a further extent because of space, so it could have been much harsher.

HD6, great article. It's a pity that Wardlaw took it down.

Coach34 · Dec 18, 2008

shame Wardlaw had to take it down...that article needs to be in the Remembers portion...great stuff. Nail on Head

gtowndawg · Dec 18, 2008

I for one enjoyed reading it.

Agentdog · Dec 18, 2008

I agree Downtown. However, there were times during his stint I wondered if winning at MSU was his top priority. For instance, in signing the players he did. There were some, even in his last class, that had no business being scholarship players in the SEC. Was he doing favors for others and putting their interest and his ahead of MSU? I would not call that a con but it sure seems to be a conflict of interest.

The bottom line was he was totally incompetent in reguards to recruiting and hard headed in reguards to his "scheme" and managing assistants.

Low Down Dirty Dog · Dec 18, 2008

Very good article, not necessarily the right forum. My opinion is that Croom was not a crook or sinister evil doer.....he simply isn't smart enough to orchestrate devious intentions at the level that some posters have expressed their venom. In my opinion, the man was basically a good guy with good intentions, but without the tools to be effective. Most of the points HD6 made in the article were spot on, empty promises, poor decisions, stubborness, etc. but that doesn't mean the man is evil. He just sucked as a head football coach. I frankly wish him well and think he would have made a nice administrative assistant for student-athlete well being. The $$$$ is not his fault. Are you saying you would walk away from a contract increase or you would leave bank on the table in his situation? I'm call BS on that. None of us would. The article was a little too abrasive, truthful, but abrasive. It shouldn't have been posted. Once posted, they should have had the stones to leave it up. They obviously read it before posting so there's really no excuse for pulling it. It's all business and $$$ talks.

Let's focus on the future. We have a new coach, looks to be a good choice by most accounts. We have a good AD, looks to be making more adult decisions than preceding administrations. The future looks bright if we can close out our recruits and pick up some of Auburns after their debacle. No need to dwell on what might have been. My $0.02

Todd4State · Dec 18, 2008

and this really bothered me- he cared more about beating Bama than Ole Miss.

You can say I'm obsessed, or whatever, but the fact remains that you have to make it a priority that the #1 team to beat is YOUR rival. It doesn't matter what Bama, LSU, or Kentucky did to you, or mave done to you in the past. If you're the HC at MSU, if there's one team you have to want to beat the most, it's Ole Miss.

And it's like that at all other schools to- if you're the coach at Bama, you have to want to beat Auburn, etc.

Croom always seemed obsessed with the Bama game, and every Egg Bowl, we came out flat under his regime.

UpTheMiddlex3Punt · Dec 18, 2008

I'm pretty sure drinking is against Islam

Since Wardlaw took it down...

Heisman

Heisman

Sophomore

Redshirt

Sophomore

All-Conference

Redshirt

Redshirt

Redshirt

Redshirt

All-American

Redshirt

Redshirt

Redshirt

Redshirt

All-Conference

Redshirt

Redshirt

Redshirt

All-American

Redshirt

Redshirt

Redshirt

Redshirt

All-American

Senior

Redshirt

Sophomore

Redshirt

Redshirt

Redshirt

Redshirt

Senior

Redshirt

Redshirt

Redshirt

All-Conference