Calkins rightly smacks Raines & Johnson about the head and shoulders

Geoff Calkins stepped up to the plate today to ask just what RC Johnson and the University of Memphis have in mind to fix their beleaguered football program, and it appears that the answer is NOTHING.

Here's an excerpt:

I'm not changing coaches," Johnson said.

Hmmm. Not even if Memphis loses the rest of its games?

"Tommy West will be our coach next year," Johnson said. "I guarantee it."

Well. That settles that, then. The athletic director guarantees Memphis isn't making a coaching change.

So go ahead and get all outraged if you like, Memphis fans. Call the talk-in shows and flood the message boards and send off angry E-mails.

But Johnson is right about one thing: The head coach is not the only problem with Memphis football.

The problem is also Johnson. And president Shirley Raines. And a university that says it wants a first-class football program but doesn't have the ambition or the vision to get it done.

Ok then. Regardless of whether you support an On-Campus Stadium for the U of M or not, you have to agree that the football program is wandering aimlessly, as we have gone from a coach who could recruit but couldn't coach his players (Rip Scherer) to a coach who could coach the hell out of his players but couldn't recruit good ones (West). The University does not appear to give two hoots in hell about the program, so if you're not going to commit to it, why keep it?

Read the rest of Calkins' column; as always, it's well worth your time.

Hat tip to Julie for the link!

Have you seen this Party?

It has been missing since July 26, and that was its only known appearance since the 2007 Convention. If anyone knows the whereabouts of the Shelby County Democratic Party, please comment below.

Thank you.

UPDATE: Vibinc talks more about this at length, it's a good take.

I am hitting another block period

Where I really can't get cranked up enough to write. This, even though Pesky and Jeff are doing a tag-team beatdown on the wingnut local bloggers, Rick and Sharon did yeoman work trying to prevent an execution that should NOT take place, and Jon starts up the much-anticipated Abdullah Watch.

I was on vacation last week, and, other than a drive to my parents' and grandparents graves in Weiner, Arkansas, I did nothing. Oh, I went to the ExecCom and DL, but that's it. I can't get excited about the Mayor's race, because I am getting more worried by the day that we will be stuck with Herenton for four more years, and I seriously doubt that the city can survive his incompetence.

I don't know what's causing this lack of energy, unless it's that my outrage level, on full alert since January 20, 2001, has drained me to the point where I wonder if I can get ready for the fall elections.

I hope to snap out of it soon, we'll see what happens....