KFDM COOP

Behind the scenes of A&M basketball & BCG's leaving...very interesting April 08, 2007 Behind the scenes of A&M's basketball soap opera: The past two weeks of the A&M basketball saga has proved one thing more than anything else. Aggies athletic director Bill Byrne is either hard-headed, self-serving, brilliant, or a little bit of all three. Several sources who have been tack-on with all the information they have offered me over the past two weeks broke down the A&M basketball coaching saga as follows. Here's how the puzzle pieces fit: As the Aggie basketball season was winding down, former University of Houston coach Pat Foster, a close friend of Gillispie's worked as an intermediary between the University of Arkansas and Gillispie. The Hogs were working behind the scenes as far back as early-February, with an eye on Gillispie as Stan Heath's replacement. Heath knew of his ouster long before it came and tried to force Razorbacks AD Frank Broyles' hand, by asking for assurances that he would stay. He didn't get them. Meanwhile, Gillispie tried to stay out of the fray as he tried to win a Big 12 title and take this team to the Final Four. He spoke with Foster only occasionally, telling his friend he was happy at A&M, but come the end of the season they would talk seriously about it again. Gillispie's thoughts were, he didn't want to be put into a position where he would have to lie either in public or to his players. Broyles continued to talk with Foster and felt confident they would get Gillispie, to the point that he didn't even compile a second list of potential candidates. Gillispie spoke with Foster after the Aggies were eliminated in the Sweet 16. What he didn't realize was Byrne, aware of Arkansas' interest, refused to take calls from anyone associated with Arkansas. He was buying time in an effort to put pressure on the A&M Board of Regents to get Gillispie a new contract and begin construction in earnest on a new state of the art basketball facility. Byrne's biggest mistake: He never told Gillispie any of this. Instead, he kept Gillispie in the dark. Gillispie learned about the details of the new contract and the Board's moves to keep him from a member of the media. Understandably, he was upset with Byrne. When the contract was ironed out and Byrne flew to the Final Four to get Gillispie to sign the deal, Gillispie told him he planned on being the Aggies coach. At the same time, Foster was getting calls from Kentucky about that job. Gillispie began having doubts about just how much he could trust Byrne. He planned to sign the contract even after getting a firm offer from Kentucky while on the west coast attending an awards ceremony involving point guard Acie Law. While contemplating the offer, Gillispie called several close friends in basketball to ask about the Kentucky job. He hedged when one trusted friend in professional basketball told him, "The best day of your life at Kentucky will be the day you're announced as head coach. The rest are going to be hell." Gillispie went back and forth until deciding it would be stupid to tell the Wildcats no and Byrne already had made contact with a representative for Turgeon, tossing out contract numbers close to those offered to Gillispie. Also, a source within the A&M department told Gillispie that Byrne had made contact with a member of the Board of Regents, in an attempt to protect his own hide, making Gillispie look like he was pouting and being difficult. In fact, the exact opposite was true. All along, Gillispie was looking for a lifetime commitment, letting the thing play out. Once Gillispie took the job, Byrne alienated several trusted sources in basketball -- the same ones who raved about Gillispie three years ago -- by keeping them out of the loop on this coaching search. Byrne decided all of a sudden he knew more about basketball than the same people who handed him Gillispie on a silver platter. Most interesting: Longtime coach Rick Majerus contacted a pair of basketball people close to the A&M program, expressing great interest in the job. But when these sources tried to contact Byrne to endorse Majerus, Byrne refused to return their calls. UNLV coach Lon Kruger, through another A&M basketball source, also tried to contact Byrne. The A&M AD didn't want to hear any of that, either. Make no mistake. The Aggies could have had Majerus or Kruger. No doubt about it. Instead, Byrne made every call on the future of A&M basketball on his own, start-to-finish. He allowed Gillispie to leave on bad terms and refused to consult with some of the finest basketball minds in the game. Mark Turgeon may be perfect for the Aggies. Maybe not. Either way, it's on Byrne. Posted by John P. Lopez at April 8, 2007 11:26 PM

I WON'T LEAVE YA'LL LIKE bg DID!!!!!!!!!

Power overpowers field in Vegas in Champ Car LAS VEGAS — Will Power's first Champ Car victory was almost too easy. The first Australian ever to win a race in the Champ Car World Series or its predecessor, CART, Power led 38 of the 68 laps in the season-opening Vegas Grand Prix and won by about a half-mile on the 2.44-mile, 12-turn temporary circuit. "It was a pretty cruisy race, really," Power said, grinning. "I was saving fuel and saving brakes because the brake pedal was really getting pretty long. And, with no one pressing you, no one to attack, I was just hoping nothing went wrong." Last year's top rookie said he was "relieved" when the 1-hour, 45-minute timed event snaking through the streets of downtown Las Vegas ended. "When I heard there were about three laps to go, I figured we probably had it, but I still just wanted to get it done before something happened," said Power, who won from the pole. While three-time defending series champion Sebastien Bourdais and heralded rookies Graham Rahal and Simon Pagenaud all failed to finish the season-opening race, the only problem Power had to contend with all day was his brakes going away. On his final pit stop, he slid through his pit and struck one of his crewmen, sending him tumbling. Power said the crewman wasn't injured, but the car was parked at an angle and it took about 10 extra seconds to finish the stop. By that time, though, it really didn't matter. Power's pit strategy was right on target and he wound up leading the final 13 laps. "Really, everything else all day was smooth," he said. "It's a great feeling." At the finish, it wasn't even close with Power beating rookie Robert Doornbos of Holland by 16.787 seconds. It appeared for a while that the race would be a battle between Power and 2003 series champion Paul Tracy, who started side-by-side on the front row. But Tracy had an early problem in the pits and wound up third. "Obviously, Will was quick and I was quick. We were pulling away from everybody," said Tracy, getting a good start on what he hopes will be a comeback year after finishing seventh in the points in 2006. "But, on my first pit stop, we spent about 15 seconds and the car got about four laps (of fuel). I had to come back in. "That took a lot of the pressure off Will. If you want to win championships, you've got to get the pit stops right at this level." Walker's first win in eight years The win was a great birthday present for Team Australia co-owner Derrick Walker, who last celebrated a Champ Car victory in 1999 when Gil de Ferran won at Portland. With everyone driving the new Panoz DP01 cars in their first racing test, some drivers had problems with fuel couplers, fuel bladders and gearboxes. With different pit strategies by several of the lead-lap cars, Tracy found himself in front late in the race. But Power, who lost the lead when he made his final stop on lap 46, was easily the fastest driver on track at that point and likely would have passed Tracy even if the oldest and winningest driver in the series hadn't given up the lead on his pit stop on lap 56. Bourdais, who had won the previous five inaugural races in Champ Car, was never a factor in this one. He started 16th after a crash in qualifying on Saturday, overcame three flat tires in the first 24 laps to reach third place and then hit a concrete barrier on lap 30 and ended up 13th. "It's probably the worst race I've ever had by far, actually," Bourdais said. Justin Wilson, who was last year's series runner-up, finished just behind Bourdais in 14th after suffering a broken transmission. Rahal, the 18-year-old son of three-time CART champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, watched his father win a Vintage Car race on the same track Sunday morning, then crashed on the first lap in the Champ Car event and finished last. Short circuit Pagenaud, a 22-year-old Frenchman who beat out Rahal for last year's Atlantics championship by 16 points, ran with the leaders most of the way, but went out with an electrical problem and finished 12th. Promoters took a chance by scheduling this inaugural event on Easter weekend and the gamble appeared to pay off. The grandstand seats were about half full on a warm, sunny afternoon, but there were thousands more walking around the circuit, watching from high-rise casino hotels and standing in designated viewing areas.

Pelphrey to leave South Alabama after five years Arkansas' search for a new head basketball coach appears to finally be over. The Razorbacks are set to hire South Alabama's John Pelphrey, a source close to the situation told ESPN.com's Andy Katz. Pelphrey, 38 accepted the position Sunday and informed his players at South Alabama of his decision. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that the official announcement is expected Monday afternoon. Pelphrey will take over for Stan Heath, who was fired in March after five seasons at the helm. Heath led Arkansas to the NCAA Tournament this season, where it bowed out in the first round for the second straight year. Last week, the Razorbacks thought they had their man. Creighton coach Dana Altman took the position, but then changed his mind and returned to Creighton. Now they turn to Pelphrey. In five seasons, Pelphrey led South Alabama to an 80-67 record. Pelphrey took the Jaguars to the 2006 NCAA Tournament, their first appearance since 1998. Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com

It will be interesting come February.

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It was a mistake. He mentioned it on the air. The guy in the back typing it made a mistake.

8)

UUM i'll have to check on that!! Thanks

As long as he doesn't do this one morning....

3-2 Boston wins.

Here are the cutoff numbers from last realignment...... 2006-2007 & 2007-2008 5A: 1,985+ 4A: 950-1,984 3A: 415-949 2A: 195-414 1A: 194 & under

;D Huffman is still growing right?

3-1 Boston in the 8th.

The game will take place Friday April 13th at the Carl Parker Center at 8 PM. James Gamble All Stars vs. The Houston Area All Stars J'Covan Brown, Memorial Jr. Ryan Donahoe, Hardin Jefferson Sr. Cameron Powell, Kountze Sr. Kris Richard, Ozen Sr. Roman Antoine, West Brook Sr. Clayton Busby, Kountze Sr. Jacoby Joseph, Ozen Jr. Terrance Jones, Silsbee Sr. Richard netherly, WOS Sr. Jeremy Pitre, West Brook Sr.

3-1 Boston in the 4th.

Polish power Ivan Putski was his name.

Ivan Putski?

I heard today yes.

10-1 Cards win.

They did score a run. It's 10-1 in the 9th.

Sad sad. >

10-0 Cards in the 9th. Lidge gives up a ton.