joannes3000

Beast mode for the Hawks right now.

With the impending drop of UGA in Rockne, I'm going to have a little more time to blog about Duke. Every good story starts with an attention-grabber, so let's go with this: From: John Baxter To: Coach joannes3000 Subject: Congratulations, Coach! Sent: 8/16/08 2:52PM I just got off the phone with the organizers of the WIS Championship Game and I've accepted their invitation. Great job this year, Coach. I think the exposure we will get playing in this game will really help out the program, not to mention recruiting next season. Keep up the good work! John Baxter Athletic Director Duke University -------- New blog can be found here.

Quick update. After working hard to build a contender at Temple and then promptly leaving it for the UGA position, I have decided to drop the Rockne world altogether. I thought at first that the new recruiting schedule would help me - a Saturday start rather than a midweek one. I quickly realized going into my 2nd season that it just wasn't going to work, however. Too much stuff going on at home with my family to recruit and keep up with my dream school, so I made the easy choice in dropping it.

After some research, I did a little editing in the registry and I think I've solved the problem. Increased the TCP window size and that seems to have done the trick for now.

Agreed. I got so incredibly bored with the movie that I turned it off halfway through.

Imagine that. :Thinking: Comcrap was decent for the first month of service, but for the past month I've had intermittent signal - at best. At first I thought it was my router causing issues for some crazy reason but running a direct connection from the modem (freebie from Comcrap) to my tower makes no difference. My ethernet port is the stock one that came with my motherboard. I'm tempted to go ahead and buy a new modem to see if that will remedy the problem. I was going to do this any way, since I've burned through my fair share of Comcrap-provided modems in the past. I'm looking at getting a Motorola SB5101, but wanted to pose the question here first. Comcrap says everything is coming up fine on their end so I'm assuming it's something on my end, although they've said everything is "fine" as I've run a latency test while on the phone with them and seen otherwise. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It's like pulling teeth waiting for pages to load, and more importantly I'm unable to pull the necessary data for my GD world previews because it keeps timing out. :banghead:

The Mullet - business in the front, party in the back.

I thought Kung Fu Hustle was hilarious. And if you haven't watched The Protector, it's completely worth it just to witness the absolute beatdown that Jaa administers toward the end of the movie.

Quote: Has any of you gotten your wisdom teeth removed? I am 22 and I never had a problem with mine. My doctor wants me to remove mine because they are impacted. I have plenty of room in my mouth for my wisdom teeth, and I can brush them, and my guns are not vulnerable at all. I think they are trying to scam me. I am pretty sure some of yall still have your wisdom teeth and are fine right? I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed when I was 18. I remember staggering out of the office and then spending the first few hours at home trying to play video games while in a complete haze. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, so I was actually eating semi-solid food (advice be damned) that night. And despite the amount of blood that I was spitting out during the process, I managed to smoke a cigarette after I was able to stand myself up. I didn't have any major swelling, and had pain meds if needed. I think the most important thing to do is keep the area clean to prevent dry socket.

Quote: Well that sucks I enjoyed reading your write ups Joannes I'm pretty sure I'll start up a blog somewhere. If/when I do, I'll post a link here for those that are interested.

Well, I lost my bowl game; a triple-OT affair against Minnesota which was one of the teams that I didn't like my chances against. I waited two days until I got the dreaded email from my AD. But rather than saying to have my things packed, it was a congratulatory one! Apparently I had defied the odds (or I helped CS see the error in their ways) and didn't have what the sim typically views as a down season. It didn't matter, however. With my job security having been bumped up a notch to "little or no jeopardy", Temple was set to continue their ascent in the Big East. I, however, had my heart set elsewhere. The UGA job opened up after they fired their coach and there was no way I wasn't going to apply. I got the following email about half a day later: From: Bruno Hood To: Coach joannes3000 Subject: Congratulations, Coach! Sent: 6/26/08 5:31AM Welcome to Georgia, Coach! We are thrilled to have you leading our program and we are sure that you can lead us to great success. Bruno Hood President University of Georgia Martin English Athletic Director University of Georgia ---------- When the home team finally opened up and I was finally qualified, I more than willingly jumped ship from a top 25 team in terms of talent in order to take a job that is in possibly the most brutal conference in all of GD. Florida and Tennessee are both elites and share our division. Alabama is an elite in the other division, bringing the total to three elites within the conference. So while I had to face UConn, Syracuse, and Pitt within my division in the Big East, they didn't have the inherent elite recruiting advantage that FLA and TENN have over me. Plus, one of the game's best coaches ever is at the helm of Alabama and one of the games elite coaches is at Florida. On top of that, there is a perennial DIAA winner at Tennessee. Yeah, we have our work cut out for us in between the hedges all right. But you know what? We had the same problem at Temple and we did ok there. -------- This is going to be my last post here on the squawk. I'm thinking of setting up a blogspace for my adventures as the UGA head coach, but I'm not sure yet.

All I've been hearing the past few days is that the Blazers are interested in TJ Ford and David Lee. With Ford off the market, makes me wonder who else they are targeting at PG. They have a dearth of draft picks so it's not like they won't have a lot of options. I'm still holding out and hoping that we're one of them.

He looks like a guy that could pull down 20/10 in the NBA back in the day. He was working out for a good hour before he left later in the morning.

10

Is working out in our hotel fitness room right now. He's here with about 20 other sports celebs for a charity golf event. Other guys in-house: [*]Grant Fuhr [*]Ozzie Smith [*]Sterling Sharpe [*]Shannon Sharpe [*]Steve Bartkowski [*]Tommy Maddox [*]Jerome Bettis [*]Marshall Faulk [*]Kordell Stewart [*]June Jones Got to meet everyone on the list except for Faulk. From what I've heard from our bellmen and the guys that golfed with him, he's pretty grouchy any way.

Late update. Again... ---------- Interdivsional play: Cincy came into town with a lofty #7 ranking. They left battered, bruised, and put in their place. Our offense rolled in the first half, giving us a 27-7 lead that was just too much to overcome. We ran for 381/5 and passed for 231/1/0, totaling 612 yards while our defense allowed 274 yards. 17-40 W Sim-coached Colorado State was next and the game was closer than our home crowd, and the coaching staff, expected. We ran for 285/4 and passed for 140/1/0, totaling 425 yards while our defense allowed 350 yards. 20-38 W Our final interdivisional game had us on the road to face sim-coached Louisville. We decided to take the 1st quarter off before getting in gear. We ran for 318/2 and passed for 247/4/0, totaling 565 yards while our defense allowed 311 yards. 42-10 W Stage two of the "put up or shut up" was successful as we posted a 3-0 record with a quality win against a top 10 team in Cincinnati. Our undefeated record at this point pushed us into the #9 WIS ranking with divisional play around the corner. ---------- Divisional play (aka, The Gauntlet): Rutgers is being led by a fellow MAC grad - jbrehm - and he's doing a fantastic job in year one of his rebuild. The game wasn't decided until late in the 4th, where we scored a TD for the nail in the coffin. We ran for 300/5 and passed for 206/0/0, totaling 506 yards while our defense allowed 329 yards. 24-35 W Syracuse was having an uncharacteristically down season when they came to visit, so I liked our chances at the upset. We took a slim 24-21 lead at the half and a 31-28 lead into the 4th to set up an instant classic. We opened the 4th by finishing a 3rd quarter drive for a TD, giving us a 38-28 lead with 13:30 to play. Syracuse answered with a well-executed TD drive of their own, getting within 3 points with 6:30 on the clock. Our next drive had just crossed midfield when the tides turned. We hadn't thrown an INT all season, so naturally we throw a pick. All of a sudden, Syracuse has the ball at their 42 with 4:40 to go. We got Syracuse to a 3rd and 3 with 3:17 to go, but they powered through on the ground and eeked out a 1st down. A 14 yard pass was negated by a penalty and after three solid defensive stands, we had Syracuse facing 4th and ballgame at our 41. We jumped offsides and giftwrapped a conversion for them. Our defense was only able to redeem themselves by limiting Syracuse to a FG that forced OT. Syracuse elected to start on defense, and our offense went to work. 3 plays, TD. Not to be outdone, Syracuse's offense took 3 plays to hit the endzone. Off to OT2. After getting Syracuse to 3rd and 6, our defense hung tough and forced a FG. What happened next was vintage joannes3000 offense - 5 plays, all out of Pro set. 7 yard run. 11 yard pass. 4 yard run. Incomplete pass. 3 yard run - TD. Upset city, baby! The 'Cuse goes down. We ran for 207/4 and passed for 274/3/1, totaling 481 yards while our defense allowed 452 yards. 48-52 (2OT) W No time to party, as Pitt's bus seemed to show up at the stadium minutes after Syracuse's left. After burying ourselves into a 10-24 halftime deficit, we managed to get the score to 24-31 going into the 4th. Pitt scored to open the quarter, putting the pressure on us, and we had a punt blocked and returned for a TD to ice the game. We scored a meaningless TD late in the game to make the scoreboard look respectable, but we got handled. We were forced into 3 punts while forcing none of our own. You can't beat sim teams if you play like that. We ran for 193/3 and passed for 205/1/0, totaling 398 yards while our defense allowed 412 yards. 45-31 L Remember that 3 point loss we had against UConn last season? Going into the 4th quarter, neither team had punted. We opened the 4th with a TD that got us within 3 points, and our defense stepped up big time by forcing a punt. We had a 22 yard pass erased by a costly holding penalty that had us looking at 1st and forever. We scratched back to 3rd and 10, but couldn't get the job done and punted for the first time during the game. Our offense didn't see the field afterwards. We ran for 160/2 and passed for 234/2/0, totaling 394 yards while our defense allowed 377 yards. They did it to us again this season. 28-31 L Our regular season finale had us on the road to face West Virginia. We had a 17-14 lead at halftime and West Virginia pulled within 3 points after scoring a TD early in the 4th. We rattled off two consecutive TDs to put the game away, however, before giving up a late TD during garbage time. We ran for 291/4 and passed for 209/2/0, totaling 500 yards while our defense allowed 465. 44-34 W Stage 3 of the "put up or shut up" tour went amazingly well, although that UConn loss still stings. Pulling the upset against Syracuse was fantastic, and it killed me to lose by 3 to UConn for a 2nd consecutive season. They know we mean business, however, and I hope I'm around to renew the rivalry next season. A 3-2 mark within our division is plenty good and we were 3 points from being great. ---------- Now the wait begins. With the CCs starting tonight, we have the #22 WIS ranking to go along with our 11-2 mark. That should be more than enough for a level 3 bowl, although I don't think we'll get into a level 4 bowl unless we remain in the top 25 after CCs are crowned. At this point, all that's left to wonder is who we'll be matched up with in our bowl game and if we have to win in order for me to keep my job. The most likely scenario will be a level 3 bid. There's a lot of landmines in that area with teams like Florida, FSU, Minnesota, Cal, and Arizona looking like the types of teams to wind up in a level 3 bowl. Any of these teams will have significant advantages over me and I must admit I won't like my chances against them. We'll find out how things turn out soon enough.

The "put up or shut up" tour starts with us on the road in Bloomington to face sim-coached Indiana. The point spread was our biggest hurdle, and had Indiana as a modest 10.5 home dog. We cleared that hurdle in 11 minutes. We ran for 284/5 and passed for 353/5/0, totaling 637 yards while our defense allowed 309. 72-10 W We went further south for game 2; down to NOLA to face sim-coached Tulane, who were 19.5 home dogs. We ran for 317/4 and passed for 214/2/0, totaling 531 yards while our defense allowed 276. 40-3 W We didn't travel far for our next game, heading to Lafayette to face sim-coached Louisiana Lafayette. I felt kind of bad about picking on a team like this. We ran for 394/5 and passed for 220/4/0, totaling 614 yards while our defense allowed 275. 62-10 W Staying in the south, we headed off to SEC country to face Kentucky - the first human-coached team we've faced all season. No matter. We ran for 355/2 and passed for 211/3/0, totaling 566 yards while our defense allowed 228 yards. We had the ball for 40+ minutes! 37-0 W Our final OOC game has us in the middle of nowhere (Moscow) to face Idaho. Maybe it was jet lag or our team being a little road-weary, but we played a relatively uninspiring game. We still won, but it wasn't a very solid effort. We ran for 328/3 and passed for 214/4/0, totaling 542 yards while our defense allowed 336. We had two sloppy turnovers (both fumbles) that negated scoring drives, which always bothers me. 48-32 W --------- Stage one of the "put up or shut up" tour was successful as we went 5-0 as expected. None of the teams were close in terms of talent and we played to our ability for every game except against Idaho. Maybe it was the sleepy stadium environment that threw us off. Our offense is rolling along, showing signs of a passing attack that should give our conference foes plenty to worry about. Stage two features only one human-coached team to start conference play, and once again I expect us to go undefeated. We go into conference play ranked #15 and our first game is against #7 ranked Cincinnati. I think even their head coach will admit that they are overhyped at this point, and that works in my favor. It's a game against a top 25 team that I can win, which will help when it's time for the post-season. At this point I like my chances of locking up a top 25 ranking and at least a level 3 bowl game. If I can combine those things with a 10 win regular season, I'd like to think that I will retain my job even if I lose my bowl game. Hell, if we can win one game against Syracuse, Pitt, or UConn, we could be looking at a top 15 bid and a level 4 bowl. --------- 6/12/08 #7 Cincinnati 6/13/08 Colorado State 6/14/08 at Louisville

Quote: does this cost money? If so CS is dumb as hell to risk alienating someone who has paid for 39 seasons thus far when there are sim coached teams out there. It costs ~$10.95 a month, although I haven't paid for a season in a few months due to getting reward points for my bowl appearances/victories. And unfortunately, AHF has it right - the game isn't designed very well at the DIA level. At the top (elite schools) you have the highest standards to meet, but if you're at an elite you should be held to such standards. At the bottom (non-BCS conferences) you can stink up the joint for 5+ seasons before getting fired, which makes sense. It's the middle ground (BCS, non-elite) that my schools are in that gets shafted. The standards aren't as high as at the elite programs, but it's a little too high IMO. I mentioned to CS that while I'm not in favor of lowering the bar at DIA BCS non-elites across the board (UConn and Syracuse in my conference should be held to near-elite standards, for example), they really need to look at creating a sliding scale that correlates to a school's win/loss record over x number of seasons. There simply is no reason that I should be held to the same standards as UConn and Syracuse - perennial powerhouses that have been human-coached for ages - when my Temple team had been driven into the ground by seasons of being sim-coached. Temple and Duke were complete rebuild jobs, which I knowingly chose to inherit. And while I have turned Duke around (and have no complaints), I'm on the verge of getting fired at Temple where my track record should have me nowhere near being "in jeopardy". I knew the rules coming in, so I'm not complaining. I am wishing for change, however.

Quote: There's plenty of oil of the coast of Florida. They're actually holding things up in the name of tourism, even though you won't be able to see an oil platform from land. Isn't China drilling/exploring out past Key West?

Bump. 32 days and counting.

Sorry for a very outdated preseason analysis. Calculus is winding down and I have a final next week that I'm not looking forward to at all. -------- Another top 20 recruiting class has Temple's roster brimming with talent. We'll need every last bit of it this season, as I have my back against the wall with my job security "in jeopardy". Our OOC schedule was designed to keep my job. 5 very winnable games on tap, with none of them against teams that should pose a realistic threat. If we don't go 5-0 early, this could turn into my farewell tour. Conference play will be where the rubber meets the road. Our 3 interdivisional games should be wins. We lead off with a home game against Cincy before playing 2 straight sim teams. We need to win all 3 games at this junction. Divisional play will likely be a rollercoaster ride that will determine whether or not I'm fired. Our first and last games are in the must-win category. If we win both, that will put us at 10 regular season wins and we won't have to sweat the games in the middle of divisional play against Syracuse, Pitt, and UConn. I'd rather do that, instead of hoping to upset one of the three powerhouses no matter how close we played them last season. -------- The only verification I've gotten from CS regarding my job security is that a bowl win will guarantee that I don't get fired. Coaches have told me that 10 wins should guarantee that I don't get fired also, but that hasn't been confirmed by CS. Best-case scenario? I win 10 regular season games, get a level 3 bid and a favorable bowl draw, win my bowl, and keep my job. -------- 6/7/08 at Indiana 6/8/08 at Tulane 6/9/08 at Louisiana Lafayette 6/10/08 at Kentucky 6/11/08 at Idaho

Quote: what's the weather like in Vancouver? Would love to have some relief from our heat and it's only June. It's freezing up here. Very unseasonably cold, even for the NW. Temps dip into the low 50s at night and it's windy. You'd think we canceled summer up here and went straight to fall...

Toledo got the ball to start the Emerald Bowl. They got off to a quick start, but our defense stepped up just outside the redzone and limited them to a FG. Our first possession had it's share of big plays also, and our offense rolled into the endzone to take an early 7-3 lead. Our defense was up to the task on Toledo's next possession as we forced them into a three and out, giving us the ball at the end of the quarter. At the start of the second quarter, we were sitting just short of midfield when we broke off a huge 48 yard run that set up another TD. At this point, I knew we were on our way. Toledo was defending both of our offensive sets heavily with a 4-3 which meant that while we were rotating fresh bodies in and out, they were wearing down the same defensive players. The 48 yard scamper was on a defense that was either getting winded or 2nd string players. Toledo had a sustained drive on their next possession, but missed a 47 yard FG attempt. Our offense answered by going 70 yards on 8 plays for another TD to make the score 21-3. Toledo's offense came out firing in retaliation; but facing 1st and goal from the 1, our defense forced two incomplete passes, sacked the qb and forced a fumble, then stopped their drive dead on 4th down from our 3 to end the half. We started the 3rd quarter with the ball and the game in our hands. Our offense came out strong on our opening drive, going 68 yard in 4 minutes for a TD and a 28-3 lead. Toledo wasn't going to just roll over, however, as their offense answered with a TD of their own. We rolled for another TD in response, and the quarter came to a close with Toledo driving into our redzone with us holding a commanding 35-10 lead. It looked like we had the game in the bag to start the 4th quarter when Toledo got whistled for a 15 yard chop block, but on 3rd and 23 they connected on a 25 yard pass. Two plays later Toledo was in the endzone. Our offense took the field and managed to drain over 7 minutes off the clock before kicking a FG, leaving Toledo with 5 minutes to overcome a 21 point deficit. Our defense held Toledo to a FG on their next drive, giving us the ball back with just over 2 minutes to go and the game in the bag. We caught a little flack on our next drive, because with just over 1:30 to go, we connected on a 66 yard pass for a TD. I addressed this issue at the post-game press conference by simply pointing out that the DB fell down on the play and my guys simply did what they are coached to do - play to win. Toledo tried to get a little revenge by scoring a meaningless TD at the end of the game, but we batted down a last-second attempt at the endzone. -------- As I had hoped, our offense was able to get on track early which kept it rolling throughout the game. Our defense had it's hands full, though, because our offense kept putting them on the field. And while we gave up nearly 500 yards, we only allowed 20 points. We ran for 266/5 and passed for 231/1/0, totaling 497 yards while our defense allowed 472. We had zero turnovers (+1 overall) and didn't punt once. That led to a win that we expected. 20-45 W -------- Mission accomplished this season. Our Emerald Bowl victory caps off a 12-2 campaign which is our 3rd straight season of 10+ wins and our 4th consecutive bowl win. The final polls haven't been released yet, but we were #23 going into our bowl game and I think we have an outside shot at getting into the top 20 for a 2nd straight year.

Quote: Local news station reported tonight that the Blazers will be bringing Rudy Fernandez over. They still need a vet PG, so let's make a deal with them! Here's the article from this morning's Oregonian: clicky