A Sea Of Red

I have been absent lately and this will be my final post.

Are some of you guys serious?? dox? lureal? The reason I joined this board initially was to support LU basketball. After reading most of the comments on this board I have come to realize one thing. 99% of the people on this board either ignore or don't care about the fact that this is LIBERTY UNIVERSITY. Some of you (due to ignorance I am assuming) talk about players and coaches in ways that make me sick. I worked with LU basketball for several years, some of which were with Dunton. I have worked at other schools across the US but LU is my home. Maybe I have said some things about Dunton or certain players that you found offensive or even hard to believe, but know this, I won't say 10% of what I have seen or heard while here at LU. Because of course you would call it a personal attack. ...(if I said you wife was cheating on you would you ignore it and critcize me for making a personal attack???).....hmmm. If you want to sit here and talk about Dunton or the players or the school or anything associated with LU basketball and think that you have the slightest idea what you are talking about go ahead, but I am not going to sit here and argue about things that I know are ridiculous. And you can tell me that some of this stuff happens in every program across America, but this isn't every program!!! It's LU!!!

So without further eloquence I will leave you to your fantasy world that you believe is Liberty Basketball, but I wonder if you knew what I know......

Now I escape this mental circus and join the ranks of Risher, Monceaux, Dees, Rose, Stewart, Blair.....(oh wait his grades weren't good enough to leave lool)...

LUzer out...

I love over generalizations...it so cool

am I missing something....why is there a poll at the top? I'm not even worried about the post

i don't know but i like carrie underwood. she's a good singer and she's hot

I voted for Clarkson....

Well, I still agree with some of the things he said....

I like the country chick...I think she was able to shed her American Idol link faster than Clarkson was.

none of this makes any sense so I'm moving it

LUzer wrote:I have been absent lately and this will be my final post.

Are some of you guys serious?? dox? lureal? The reason I joined this board initially was to support LU basketball. After reading most of the comments on this board I have come to realize one thing. 99% of the people on this board either ignore or don't care about the fact that this is LIBERTY UNIVERSITY. Some of you (due to ignorance I am assuming) talk about players and coaches in ways that make me sick. I worked with LU basketball for several years, some of which were with Dunton. I have worked at other schools across the US but LU is my home. Maybe I have said some things about Dunton or certain players that you found offensive or even hard to believe, but know this, I won't say 10% of what I have seen or heard while here at LU. Because of course you would call it a personal attack. ...(if I said you wife was cheating on you would you ignore it and critcize me for making a personal attack???).....hmmm. If you want to sit here and talk about Dunton or the players or the school or anything associated with LU basketball and think that you have the slightest idea what you are talking about go ahead, but I am not going to sit here and argue about things that I know are ridiculous. And you can tell me that some of this stuff happens in every program across America, but this isn't every program!!! It's LU!!!

So without further eloquence I will leave you to your fantasy world that you believe is Liberty Basketball, but I wonder if you knew what I know......

Now I escape this mental circus and join the ranks of Risher, Monceaux, Dees, Rose, Stewart, Blair.....(oh wait his grades weren't good enough to leave lool)...

LUzer out...

First of all, this is the strangest post yet.

Secondly, forget about idol, my vote is for Beyonce.

Next, LUzer, life is short, so try to not take your yourself so seriously. It may feel empowering to argue from some false sense of authority, but the fact that you set yourself up as such, only indicates at least a little embellishment on your part.

We see the world in different ways. You impress me as the overly-idealistic Catcher in the Rye type. I see the world as a Shakespearian tradgedy, filled with vices and contradictions, with man finding his redemption in the mercies of Christ alone. I've certainly had my share of failures and inconsistancies. Therefore, if I heard some of the things that you say you heard, I would have an entirely different perspective on it. And I'm sure many others would as well.

Lastly, I'm not going to go after Dunton's throat for cleaning house. In order to get better, LU needed to acquire better talent and players that fit more effectively into Dunton's strategy. It's not a personal thing, it's just the reality of the world we live in. Someday, you'll get a job and your employer may ask you to do things or take a position that you don't want. They'll tell you that it's best for the company, and you'll have to decide whether you want to stay and commit to it, or walk away and find another job. You'll also have to decide whether you're going to be resentfull or you're going to move on with your life and learn from the experience. If you're not careful, the resentment can take over your life and the devastation will greatly exceed the loss of a mere job. So, for what it's worth, try to let it go.

nice philosophical lecture

paradox wrote: Lastly, I'm not going to go after Dunton's throat for cleaning house. In order to get better, LU needed to acquire better talent and players that fit more effectively into Dunton's strategy.

Nice strategy. It certainly worked for Sherman and his march through Georgia. Let's recap Dunton's strategy, shall we?
1. Jeff Meyer's sudden resignation/dismissal or whatever you want to call it.
2. Keeping his foot in the door and showing up on campus all during Mel's tenure.
3. The systematic elimination of all who openly opposed him or were to have perceived to be threats to his agenda.
4. Almost a total team, coaching, and support staff overhaul from a 2-1-2 team (and LUzer is right about LB. Better grades and he's gone like everyone else).
5. Oh, who recruited the talent in the first place that didn't fit effectively into Dunton's strategy.

Yes indeed. Nice strategy. I hope the team does well, but I want a coach in here who walks the walk that RD talks. Give me General Lee, not William T. Sherman.

A.G. wrote:

paradox wrote: Lastly, I'm not going to go after Dunton's throat for cleaning house. In order to get better, LU needed to acquire better talent and players that fit more effectively into Dunton's strategy.

Nice strategy. It certainly worked for Sherman and his march through Georgia. Let's recap Dunton's strategy, shall we?
1. Jeff Meyer's sudden resignation/dismissal or whatever you want to call it.
2. Keeping his foot in the door and showing up on campus all during Mel's tenure.
3. The systematic elimination of all who openly opposed him or were to have perceived to be threats to his agenda.
4. Almost a total team, coaching, and support staff overhaul from a 2-1-2 team (and LUzer is right about LB. Better grades and he's gone like everyone else).
5. Oh, who recruited the talent in the first place that didn't fit effectively into Dunton's strategy.

Yes indeed. Nice strategy. I hope the team does well, but I want a coach in here who walks the walk that RD talks. Give me General Lee, not William T. Sherman.

Give me General Grant.

I agree with AG...
...give me General Lee anyday.

I agree about recruiting....if Dunton had to clean house, he never should have recruited those guys


Brew, Ace, BJ, TJ were all recruits of alexis.....umm...yeah that means the real talent is b/c of an assistant

last time i checked we weren't in mafacking russia......

A.G. wrote:

paradox wrote: Lastly, I'm not going to go after Dunton's throat for cleaning house. In order to get better, LU needed to acquire better talent and players that fit more effectively into Dunton's strategy.

Nice strategy. It certainly worked for Sherman and his march through Georgia. Let's recap Dunton's strategy, shall we?
1. Jeff Meyer's sudden resignation/dismissal or whatever you want to call it.
2. Keeping his foot in the door and showing up on campus all during Mel's tenure.
3. The systematic elimination of all who openly opposed him or were to have perceived to be threats to his agenda.
4. Almost a total team, coaching, and support staff overhaul from a 2-1-2 team (and LUzer is right about LB. Better grades and he's gone like everyone else).
5. Oh, who recruited the talent in the first place that didn't fit effectively into Dunton's strategy.

Yes indeed. Nice strategy. I hope the team does well, but I want a coach in here who walks the walk that RD talks. Give me General Lee, not William T. Sherman.

Wow, sounds like a vast conspiracy of some kind.

Man, this is some deep stuff for some of you guys.

Have any of you ever stopped to think that most of these whispers, rumors, and slanderous things that you hear about Dunton, may not even be true at all. They just may possibly be mere resentments and embellishments from people who struggle at getting over things and also struggle getting over themselves?

Don't be so quick to believe what you hear. Whether it be flames of eagles or rumors about the coach.

jmdickens wrote:I agree about recruiting....if Dunton had to clean house, he never should have recruited those guys


Brew, Ace, BJ, TJ were all recruits of alexis.....umm...yeah that means the real talent is b/c of an assistant

Sherrard is doing an excellent job, but keep in mind he is a Dunton guy, and their relationship extends at least as far back as Binghamton. So, give RD some credit for recognizing the man's worth and bringing him on staff and elevating him into the top assistant role.

Secondly, if you are going to recognize the talents and value of an Alexis Sherrard, then you're going to have to back off a little from saying that you'd prefer Martin and the other assistants that moved on.

Lastly, what if all of the underachieving players stayed on? There would be no room for Brew, Ace, BJ, TJ, Winters, ect., ect., ect. For sake of argument, let's try to leave DS out of this one because as you've stated many times, this is a deeply personal thing for you since the two of you have been close friends since childhood. And you have every right to be partisan over the matter. Having said that, the coaching staff seems to have achieved what will be best in the long run for the program.

What about Rueben or Hicks?? They are "my" kind of people!!!

AG does make a nice list of points. While it can be argued about the first one the rest of his points are out there in the open for anyone to see. Not a big conspiracy, just facts open to the public. Now I am not sure you can go into anyone's grades unless that person is the student or the teacher so we should keep that out of any debate.
I am happy to see some English Lit 101 references here, although i was suprised there was no The Sound and The Fury thrown in, but you can't beat a good Catcher in the Rye referenced.
Now as for the Civil War generals, Grant might be a good analalogy because his war strategy was to keep feeding "meat into the grinder" because he knew he could out bleed the South. Total war and total destruction was what he knew would win the war. Lee was BY FAR a better tactician, better leader, and a MUCH better post war personality. But USG was able to take the tools he had and devise a "fool proof" strategy to victory. Costly to be sure and other strategies MIGHT have worked, but his did.
And one last thing. Life is NOT short, PAMEDIC is.

I'm starting to get a little concerned with all of these civil war references, and favoring the confederate side nonetheless! Apparently, these resentments extend beyond sports.

One final word on the Civil War: As a Virginian, I'm clearly on the side of Lincoln and Grant.

Are we being even remotely realistic when we talk about people moving on who oppose RD's agenda? Wouldn't Gregg Marshall or any other successful head coach do the same?

It's true, RD had to overhaul his staff. So what? It's usually something that you do when things aren't working out. The real question should be: Did he upgrade or downgrade his staff?

Personally, I view Alexis Sherard, Zack Jones, and Dominic Okon as huge upgrades over the former and the fact that LU is prospering from better recruiting classes and moving forward under the leadership of this staff, even in the face of adversity, is a tribute to RD and this staff.



Someone said something about sound and fury. If I start quoting Shakespeare around here, you all are gonna really hate me.

"It is a tale told by a fool, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
-Shakespeare

Brokeback - I don't think you want to start with your revisionist Southern-influenced views of Grant v. Lee. You'll have a hard time showing me how Grant was not master tactician second to none. Ulysses heaped nothing but praise on Lee and and even though the Southern gentleman chose to side with neighbors who were exploiting slaves, I agree that he was a magnificent leader. But to dismiss Grant's leadership as meat into the grinder is unfair and now in standing with history.

Thankfully this AI to Civil War discussion is located int he Courtyard where it actually seems to fit in just fine.

paradox wrote:

jmdickens wrote:I agree about recruiting....if Dunton had to clean house, he never should have recruited those guys


Brew, Ace, BJ, TJ were all recruits of alexis.....umm...yeah that means the real talent is b/c of an assistant

Sherrard is doing an excellent job, but keep in mind he is a Dunton guy, and their relationship extends at least as far back as Binghamton. So, give RD some credit for recognizing the man's worth and bringing him on staff and elevating him into the top assistant role.

Secondly, if you are going to recognize the talents and value of an Alexis Sherrard, then you're going to have to back off a little from saying that you'd prefer Martin and the other assistants that moved on.

Lastly, what if all of the underachieving players stayed on? There would be no room for Brew, Ace, BJ, TJ, Winters, ect., ect., ect. For sake of argument, let's try to leave DS out of this one because as you've stated many times, this is a deeply personal thing for you since the two of you have been close friends since childhood. And you have every right to be partisan over the matter. Having said that, the coaching staff seems to have achieved what will be best in the long run for the program.

Thanks for avoiding the whole issue....I asked why Dunton had to get rid of players HE recruited....Forget DS for 5 minutes OX.

The others assistants brought in some good talent as well.....why were they given better jobs??

Dickens:

I think that I made of all this very clear. Basic common sense says that if something or someone isn't working out, move on, better yourself, try something new. Sometimes you need to make changes in order to grow, get stronger, take it to the next level.

Unfortunetly, LU lost three key players last year in Dees, Miller, and Robinson. The season turned out to be a huge disapointment. However, RD and his staff have picked up the peices and put the thing back together. The Flames seem poised to make a serious run at the conference tourney. Why are still upset? Sit back and enjoy the ride.

I don't know what else to tell ya. No matter what anyone says, you'll react with some kind of sanctimonious nonsense about RD's methods or some vindictive rant declaring RD a heretic, while relishing in your fantasy that he'll be gone soon. Does it ever end?

paradox wrote:"It is a tale told by a fool, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
-Shakespeare

Come-on...
..get the entire quote right, for it certainly applies here...

"It is a tale told by and IDIOT, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Right on!

jmdickens wrote:

paradox wrote:

jmdickens wrote:
The others assistants .....why were they given better jobs??

I have a great deal of respect for many of the former assistants, especially Martin. When you say that they moved on to "better jobs," you may be correct in that they moved up in terms of position, however, each of them took a major step down in terms of competition level. Therefore, you can justifiably say that the former staff was not a true D1 staff, but rather a makeshift staff that was put together in the early part of the Hankinson-Dunton transition.

Clearly, RD has assembled a top notch D-1 staff: Sherard is big time. He's coached in both the ACC and the Big East. Jones has experience either coaching or playing at every level of competition, inluding the NBA. And finally, Okon, who has tremendous recruiting potential on the international level, may be on the verge of landing a big-time Nigerian center.

The former assistants, like them or not, undoubtedly pale in comparison.

It's time to move on.