Comments on: Dooley Denies Buyout Claim; “I’d Be A Real Dumbass To Do That”

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:27:29 +0000

@Non_Partisan

All I’ll say is “walk a mile in my shoes.” I’d written from 8am to 9pm on that day. Got a number of responses, but only got particularly nasty with one guy who consistently writes garbage under every single Tennessee piece I post. Moment of weakness. Already admitted that.

Plus, that wasn’t so much bragging — I wouldn’t be doing ANY of that stuff if the folks who read/watch/listen to my work chose to stop — as it was a way to backhand someone who’d taken a BS shot at a tired man (for the thousandth time).

And if you read the initial story, I wrote that Dooley and UT would no doubt deny the story. As you say, how could they not?

As for the “never heard of it/him” comment, that’s a little dig. I said it’s no biggie, but yes, that’s a little backhand to me because I don’t attend his pressers (kind of hard to attend 14 across the SEC every week!).

Some people apparently read the above story and thought I was writing angrily. I was not. I was rather light-hearted with it, but tone and inflection aren’t often conveyed in the written media. I’ve had people think I was being honest when I’ve been sarcastic and vice-versa.

Personally, I have nothing against Dooley and if the story one person told me and two others confirmed for me is true, it actually makes me feel more sympathy for a man who’s clearly feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders now and has been since his loss to Kentucky last year.

But the guy I smacked down for his shots… that was someone who’s made himself an enemy of this site and every other thing I do. It was personal and I slapped him back. Bad move.

Thanks for reading,
John

By: Non_Partisan

Non_Partisan — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 13:44:02 +0000

Non-Partisan: I don’t think you need to defend your website to anyone. I personally like it, however I don’t like what, IMO, appears to be you bragging, i.e. watch me in 14 states, radion stations across the country, etc.. Does that even really need to be said? I don’t think you need to outwardly defend yourself, save your time and energy. I do not believe that Dooley has never heard of you, somewhere along the lines he must have heard. I wouldn’t take it as a dig, but as a political answer. Imagine if he did confirm that he asked for a buyout. The ramifications for both UT and him would be huge. Who wouldn’t deny that report??? I’m not a big fan of lying, but good grief, what’s he supposed to say? “uhmm, yeah that’s true, any other questions?” I crack up thinking about it. You could wash the rest of the season down the drain. On a personal note Mr. Pennington, I enjoy what you do. The Round Table on 990AM is one of my favorite radio segments of the week. You, jimmy, john, and bob hodge crack me up. Just my thoughts. Thanks for “listening”.

By: All_Vol_Yall

All_Vol_Yall — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:28:01 +0000

@John at MrSEC @All_Vol_Yall
i hear you. i’m actually a fairly well known blogger / writer in a totally different, non-sports-related field. i, too, have monetized a blog before and b/c of that, i now get paid to write for sites w/ huge FB / twitter followings — one of them, over 1.2 million FB. b/c of all that, i, too, get HAMMERED from time to time. and you’re right. it’s no fun at all. but from one guy on a smaller scale to you, the guy on a bigger scale, i guess i’m just saying what you already know: you talk back to those fools and you’ve already given them too much power. anyway, keep up the great work, John. i’m a longtime reader. what a great thing you have going on here.

(FWIW, my freelance gigs prohibit me from using my real name on the sports blog i just started — which is why you don’t see my real name here — as i don’t want what i’m doing there to conflict w/ the “brand” behind my paid writing since the new blog sometimes skews a bit profane…i only say that b/c i didn’t want you to think i was just another anonymous internet tough guy over here…)

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:31:20 +0000

@All_Vol_Yall

It’s a Catch-22. I wrote on the site from 8am til after 9pm yesterday. Do that and get grief… well, it wears on you. I’ve done less responding to comments and emails the last couple of weeks and I’ve been met with “I guess you told him”s. When I do respond — in a way designed to tick off the person who’s knocking me when I KNOW their comments are nonsense — I’m the bad guy who’s an egomaniac.

Can’t win. I responded after a long day to a few over the top comments. Most I did not respond to.

But I should just stay out of the comment boxes altogether and not respond one way or another to anything. That’d be the safest bet.

Thanks for reading the site,
John

By: All_Vol_Yall

All_Vol_Yall — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:11:54 +0000

and, YES, by the way. i’m totally w/ Elvis on this one. it’s so utterly believable it’s a joke. in fact, just the way Dooley reacted made me believe it all the more. he sounded hurt when he asked “who are the sources?” so i believe that (a) it happened (b) the school understood at that time he was, in all likelihood, not our guy and (c) this guy’s a dead-man walking. he’s most def in way, way, way over his head. i genuinely believe that coach is too petty of an individual to negotiate the type of dynamics one must negotiate to have success in coaching. at any size school…

By: All_Vol_Yall

All_Vol_Yall — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:04:20 +0000

two things — first, i def thought he was taking a shot at you. in fact, i thought it was weird that he claimed he’d never heard of you. it’d seem to me that you’d def be someone he’d know. but second, why do you come back against the haters? no question you’re good at what you do. no question you’re all over the place — TV, radio, etc… but why rattle off these facts? because when you do, it’s like you’re kinda wearing your accomplishments like a cheap cologne, which, paradoxically, gives the folks who think you’re arrogant, more ammo. if i were you, i’d just move on. just my two cents.

By: Elvis Aaron Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 10:20:31 +0000

I don’t understand why people have so much trouble believing this story. Sounds par for the course when you look at the way Dooley has approached everything else in his tenure as coach. He’s a joke IMO. Good work Pennington, ill keep reading and watching every Sunday.
Thankyou, thankyouverymuch

By: Elvis Aaron Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 10:12:27 +0000

What is the twitter feed address?

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 04:42:33 +0000

@BobSmit09057222

Actually, there’s a long string of reasons why Tennessee might keep or dismiss Dooley listed in the original story. In a piece showing just how murky the waters are in Knoxville, the fact that I had a source very close to things at UT tell me that story, then got a second person to confirm it and then had a third do likewise is almost like the icing on the fruitcake. It’s odd, which is why I included it — in fact, I was shocked to hear it, more shocked to have it confirmed — but the next paragraph in the original story went in the opposite direction. It stated that someone in the UT administration asked me on Monday morning how long it took Steve Spurrier to rebuild South Carolina… in an effort to suggest Dooley would get more time.

In my view the story — the original story when it was actually read start to finish — simply showed the bizarre back-and-forth nature of the situation.

So, no, I don’t know why that paragraph — out of all the paragraphs written — made anyone mad. In fact, I think it makes Derek Dooley appear more human. If he actually did that, the man clearly was hurting after the Kentucky loss rather than disappearing somewhere because he didn’t care (as so many speculated at the time).

And for those who’ve said I was trying to get Dooley fired, I’ve said that I think coaches deserve four years. So there’s no reason to get mad in that direction either. Why would I try to get someone fired while I’ve also stated I think four years would be more fair?

Most of those who have gotten mad — and there have been very few — have taken what was written out of context or misrepresented what was written. And if there’s anything frustrating about this website it’s that very thing. And it happens every single day.

But again, no, I don’t get all the hubbub. It’s a wild story — if true — but it’s just another example of what kind of bizarro Catch-22 situation Tennessee, Dooley, and AD Dave Hart are in. Which is the point of the original piece.

Thanks for reading, though.
John

By: BobSmit09057222

BobSmit09057222 — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 04:04:00 +0000

@John at MrSEC
Really. You don’t understand the hubbub. That’s why you said he’d never survive in Knoxville if it were true.

This whole situation screams BS at me.

By: deanna_johnson3

deanna_johnson3 — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 04:01:16 +0000

@John at MrSEC

Really. You don’t understand the hubbub. That’s why you said he wouldn’t survive in Knoxville if it was true.

This whole situation screams BS at me.

By: deanna_johnson3

deanna_johnson3 — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 03:58:55 +0000

Really. You don’t understand the hubbub. That’s why you said that you don’t see him surviving if it’s true.

This whole situation screams BS at me.

By: 10Vol85

10Vol85 — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 02:12:47 +0000

If your sources are correct, I would want both Dooley and Hart gone – Dooley for making the offer (unless there’s some other very good reason that we couldn’t know about) and Hart for not accepting it and then putting the program in further peril by pulling the stuff with the assistants.

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 01:00:31 +0000

@TMarc01

And I enjoy every little dollar that this little website puts in my pocket via advertising and payment from CSS, national radio, etc.

Oops, hope that wasn’t arrogant.

John

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 00:58:39 +0000

@Dennyzzzzz

I’m just glad you read the site.

Many thanks,
John

By: TMarc01

TMarc01 — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 23:25:36 +0000

Just another arrogant comment from John Pennington, to assume that Coach Dooley would even know that this little web site exist.

By: Dennyzzzzz

Dennyzzzzz — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 22:59:53 +0000

John, you must think that Dooley actually reads this site. Otherwise he would be just telling the truth instead of “taking a shot.”

Also, your sources would not be “wrong in their claims.” They would be lying to you. The Washington Post went with Watergate with just two sources. I think you can stand up and call Dooley a liar based on three sources. Unless, of course, you think your sources really are lying to you.

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:59:47 +0000

@kdlewis04

In coachspeak, that’s a little dig. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s a little dig at the site or the TV station or the radio station to say, “I never read, watch, listen, etc.”

And I’ve been on the record as saying it would only be fair for Tennessee to give Derek Dooley another year based on what he inherited upon arrival.

Personally, I don’t understand the hubbub surrounding this piece. If anything it’s just one more weird element — if true — that could factor into Dooley’s status (and that was the point of the entire story). Some people have gotten angry that Dooley supposedly offered his resignation while depressed after a loss. If anything, that would make me empathize with a coach a bit more.

John

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:54:44 +0000

@southtexasvol

You consistently write nonsense under every Tennessee story that’s posted and never even read what’s written. You know like this line:

“And for the record, we’ve written before that “in a perfect world,” Dooley would get a fourth year at Tennessee to prove his worth.”

That’s hardly trying to get someone fired. Not to mention the fact that if you read the initial piece, you’ll see that it lists several reasons why he might or might not be fired.

But, yes, this “pathetic little website” needs all the help it can get. Of course, you can tune in tonight to CSS and see me in 14 states or listen as I’ve been invited to talk SEC football Saturday morning on CBS Radio. I also do about 10-15 radio shows across the country each week. And Maxim and Athlon Sports have both listed our Twitter feed as a must follow.

But whatever gets you through the night.

John

By: southtexasvol

southtexasvol — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 19:43:55 +0000

Some people will do ANYTHING to get someone fired, and this is a sad and pathetic case of that. Don’t act like you didn’t tell Jimmy Hyams, someone who has had a relationship with this site, to ask Dooley that question to, A. get your pathetic little website in the news and, B. to get a response like this. It’s so blatantly obvious you want to get this coach fired and will do just about anything to get to that point. It’s just sad. And when he goes and tells the truth about not knowing about your sorry little conglomerate of message board rumors, you go and take cheap shots at him on your way out the door. So he doesn’t read the site, how is that taking a shot at it? Not everybody in the world reads your website… SHOCKING!

Here’s hoping that if you do get your wish and Dooley gets the axe, he does everything in his power to get your sorry excuse of a webpage shut down forever.

By: BoroMarkH

BoroMarkH — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 18:03:39 +0000

Dooley is as good as gone.

By: kdlewis04

kdlewis04 — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 18:01:02 +0000

How is saying he didn’t read Mr.Sec taking a shot at you? I admire the fact that he doesn’t read the vitriol from the fans and media. It’s too easy to kick a man when he’s down. It’s hard to stand by a man who’s doing everything within his coaching ability to make this team a success.