as captain of the ship where you are measured by wins and losses in the end, he has to have the foresight to know this is could have been a detriment to the team at the very least. i think this little trip says more about our good ole boy network in charge once again and even moreso about 'their' hire. i think this bothers me more than anything else thus far. i got a bad feeling. maybe its time for a shakeup in that AD dept.
It might have went down like this: Coach Miles: Well,...uhm....Skip. I am excited that you have invited me on this trip. I am enthused that you have achieved such....uhm.....an exceptional meeting with the represenatives. It....uhm....excites me and I am...uhm.....overwhelmingly...uhm...enthused to be afforded the opportunity to accompany you to meet these....uhm.....illustrious bowl representatives. I would...uhm...like to say that..... Skip: Shut up Les and get on the plane Coach Miles: Most defiantly Sir. J/K. You guys know I like Miles
Sounds all to true..... Auburn Pres. Walker---Hey David, see if Lowder's plane is available for a trip to Louisville. AD David Housel--Yes sir boss. What are we gonna do? Walker--Talk to our old friend Bobby Petrino. And as they say "the rest is history."
Funny. But, you forgot one thing, Salty. According to the article, Miles said he "knew" the guys on the Cotton Bowl Committee. Maybe he thought he had clout? Or maybe I mean doubt, I forget!
If you are going to try and do something like this, you had better make sure that you will succeed. If not, pick up the phone, plead your case, and be done with it. I don't like it, not one bit. Even if we would have won the game, I would still feel uncomfortable about this. It was not worth the bad press.
Just another opinion... and this is based on what transpired and what I was told by a friend in the SEC office. First of all, and I'm sure you don't like the comparison, but the ideal situation would have been to follow the examples set by both Auburn and Alabama in this situation. Weeks before the SECCG both schools began petitioning different bowls for invitations. The Auburn Admin. centered on the Capital One Bowl while Alabama centered on Cotton. Those talks with the Cotton started before the Auburn game, right after our loss to LSU. A psuedo agreement was reached that week that Alabama would be invited to the Cotton to face the winner of the OU - Tx Tech game. On the other hand, Skip Bertman didn't began to talk to the SEC office until the week before the SECCG when he called and said he didn't think that the loser should fall to a bowl like the Indy bowl. (rightfully so, I might add) The point is Bertman should have began making contacts with different bowl selection officials a long time before that weekend. After his contact with the SEC office they began making calls to different bowls. The Outback said they wouldn't change their mind. Not couldn't, wouldn't. They were going to invite a team from the East just like they have every year since '98. The Capital One said, Auburn. The Cotton said...we'll suspend ticket sales at this point...but we are going to take Alabama. As you see, all fell into place with the exception of one scenario. The SEC office managed to put enough pressure on the Outback to invite UF instead of USC (who they originally wanted and had talks with about an invitation) and the Gamecocks were invited to the Indy Bowl. I understand the frustration with Miles making the trip. However, I would be more frustrated in the fact that those contacts weren't made weeks before the SECCG instead of the week of. Quite frankly, from my personal view, the fault lies more at the feet of Bertman for moving to slowly than it does at Miles' feet for the trip Thursday night. As they say, lessons learned. I doubt he'll wait that long if this scenario ever presents itself again in the future.
There's a perfectly good explanation for this ... And it's not ... Skip Bertman is a friggin' idiot and Miles is just a gutless, kiss-ass flunky with a choker and loser's mentality. I went ****ing berserk when I heard this crap and threw an empty coffee mug into a large bevelled mirror sending shards of glass everywhere ... well, 7 years for me, lol. Miles is a gutless poser without enough guts to tell Skip ... GFY, I'm coaching this team to win! If I read in the Morning Advocate tomorrow that both of these bastids were found dead and hanging from a tree in the Quad disemboweled ... I would rejoice! Like I said ... there's a perfectly good explanation for this ... Skip led the charge and Miles was the "pivot man" ... Hey, Less ... you got a little mayo left on your upper lip :shock:
Would Saban really have told Skip to stick it? He didn't seem to have any problems meeting with Wayne during the week we were supposed to be preparing for Iowa.
