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A press conference to announce a VOLUNTEER assistant? That's gotta be a first. I bet Polk's ego will like that. I also bet the paid assistants didn't have press conferences.
And while I wouldn't have been opposed to him being a volunteer assistant at State with Cohen's approval, it certainly may be for the best that Polk leave, at least for the time being. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to come back to State in the same capacity as a volunteer assistant once he figures out that UAB baseball is lame. I wonder if Shoop will let him coach third base, because if he does, he is going to have to deal with those horrible USM fans that heckled him back into the dugout like a coward since UAB is in C-USA. (sarcasm for you USM fan)
He will give UAB baseball some much desperately needed publicity, which will be good for them in the short term. I also have to wonder if Shoop was hired as the HC at MSU if he would have kept Polk along for the ride.
And while I wouldn't have been opposed to him being a volunteer assistant at State with Cohen's approval, it certainly may be for the best that Polk leave, at least for the time being. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to come back to State in the same capacity as a volunteer assistant once he figures out that UAB baseball is lame. I wonder if Shoop will let him coach third base, because if he does, he is going to have to deal with those horrible USM fans that heckled him back into the dugout like a coward since UAB is in C-USA. (sarcasm for you USM fan)
He will give UAB baseball some much desperately needed publicity, which will be good for them in the short term. I also have to wonder if Shoop was hired as the HC at MSU if he would have kept Polk along for the ride.
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No, he has just found another school that will provide him a forum to ***** about the NCAA.
Polk doesn't give 2 ***** about UAB baseball.
You just wants to use their baseball program as a launching pad for his anti-NCAA tirades.
At this juncture, Polk's hatred for the NCAA far out-weights his love of baseball (and he used the 2007 baseball season @ MSU as a petri dish for this experiment).
Anyway, the thing I like about this: Polk has finally found a school that is willing to pay him what he's worth.
<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;">Anyway, the thing I like about this: Polk has finally found a school that is willing to pay him what he's worth.
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Put out the cat, shut the door, turn off the lights and grab the woman....here kitty kitty. Nothing more can be said.
Pulitzer Prize material right there.
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Put out the cat, shut the door, turn off the lights and grab the woman....here kitty kitty. Nothing more can be said.
Pulitzer Prize material right there.
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And now, whether a volunteer or a hired hand, I say this:
If he retires and sort of rides away into the sunset, fine. We put his name on the stadium. He was highly regarded. He was good for MSU baseball. Keep the name on the stadium.
But, going somewhere else and helping out -- that's an act of treason. He might have not pledged his allegiance to our University. But, when we put his name on the stadium, I think that's what most people assumed. And if that assumption is incorrect, I say give him what he wanted when he was going berserk on us -- take his damned name off the stadium.
If he retires and sort of rides away into the sunset, fine. We put his name on the stadium. He was highly regarded. He was good for MSU baseball. Keep the name on the stadium.
But, going somewhere else and helping out -- that's an act of treason. He might have not pledged his allegiance to our University. But, when we put his name on the stadium, I think that's what most people assumed. And if that assumption is incorrect, I say give him what he wanted when he was going berserk on us -- take his damned name off the stadium.
The time for Polk to leave was 1997. Better him go to Georgia than try to come back to MSU. Of course, we know in hindsight that he did both. But in this case, he's actually doing us a huge favor by not being around to be a distraction during baseball season. I'd rather he'd gone further than Birmingham, but 2-1/2 hours away is much better than staying in town.
Edited to add: The moral to this story is don't go around naming stadiums after people who are still alive.
Edited to add: The moral to this story is don't go around naming stadiums after people who are still alive.
And I don't disagree with all the "doing us a favor" sentiment. We put his name on the stadium too soon. It should have been a parting nod to someone who spent his lifetime supporting our University. When we put his name on the stadium so early, we sort of set ourselves up for all this.
Of course, I think he could live in Starkville and not be a distraction. What if he showed up for games, sat in the booth and talked about what a wonderful job Cohen was doing, etc. What if he appeared at alumni functions and everyone patted him on the back and told him how much the University appreciates him. What if...................I mean it is just horrible that it has gone this way. But, if the son of a ***** wants to retire and go help another school rather that support the school 100% that named a damned baseball stadium after him (support, not distract or continue to help coach) then I say give the man a crowbar and group of workers to help him along with his parting wish.
Of course, I think he could live in Starkville and not be a distraction. What if he showed up for games, sat in the booth and talked about what a wonderful job Cohen was doing, etc. What if he appeared at alumni functions and everyone patted him on the back and told him how much the University appreciates him. What if...................I mean it is just horrible that it has gone this way. But, if the son of a ***** wants to retire and go help another school rather that support the school 100% that named a damned baseball stadium after him (support, not distract or continue to help coach) then I say give the man a crowbar and group of workers to help him along with his parting wish.
And despite being given repeated chances to back off of that statement, he's only reiterated it each time. It just amazes me that relatively rational people can sit there and say he wouldn't be a distraction. The man is a cancer on our entire athletic department and needs to be dealt with the way cancer is dealt with.
I will say that even if you do name a stadium after someone still alive, there needs to be at the very least a 5-year waiting period after they retire. Which in Polk's case would have meant the earliest date possible to name the stadium would have been June of 2013.
I will say that even if you do name a stadium after someone still alive, there needs to be at the very least a 5-year waiting period after they retire. Which in Polk's case would have meant the earliest date possible to name the stadium would have been June of 2013.
I agree Pat, rule #1 of hiring coaches is NEVER HIRE SOMEONE THAT IS REGARDED AS A LEGEND AT SAID SCHOOL. LT violated this rule, for whatever reason, and for most of seven years, the baseball program suffered. It would have been SO much better for MSU baseball and Polk to have left after leading us to Omaha in 97.
I disagree with Porkchop about this being an act of treason. While it seems that he has mended fences with Cohen, he is obviously still bitter towards Byrne. It may be hard for Polk to stay because of that bitterness, and who knows? Maybe he asked Cohen to be a volunteer and Cohen said no. That probably didn't happen, but if it did, I can't blame Cohen for not wanting to babysit Polk, especially with the mess that he already has to clean up. At any rate, Polk either chose not to come back or wasn't allowed, but he still wants to be involved in baseball- which I can understand since he practically has no family- and if he wants a place to be sounding board for the NCAA, I would much rather it be UAB as opposed to us. Plus, it doesn't seem very fair to Polk to not want him around for his behavior- even as a fan, and then call him a traitor when he goes and finds another team. And I'll be honest, I don't know if you were one of the people that wanted him to leave totally, but I'm just making a point in general.
I disagree with Porkchop about this being an act of treason. While it seems that he has mended fences with Cohen, he is obviously still bitter towards Byrne. It may be hard for Polk to stay because of that bitterness, and who knows? Maybe he asked Cohen to be a volunteer and Cohen said no. That probably didn't happen, but if it did, I can't blame Cohen for not wanting to babysit Polk, especially with the mess that he already has to clean up. At any rate, Polk either chose not to come back or wasn't allowed, but he still wants to be involved in baseball- which I can understand since he practically has no family- and if he wants a place to be sounding board for the NCAA, I would much rather it be UAB as opposed to us. Plus, it doesn't seem very fair to Polk to not want him around for his behavior- even as a fan, and then call him a traitor when he goes and finds another team. And I'll be honest, I don't know if you were one of the people that wanted him to leave totally, but I'm just making a point in general.
and then he has another set of crazy comments to a reporter about the Byrne/Cohen situation? What if he decides to set up his typewriter and start bombarding the NCAA with MSU letterhead?
The man is a ticking time bomb. I am glad he left and would rather he just go quietly than give him the honor of screaming foul when his name is taken off of the stadium since so many people <span style="text-decoration: underline;">begged</span> him to leave it on there. We should just kick the crap out of the beggers and let Polk ride off into the sunset thinking he has won the little battle he waged here. That way he may consider keeping his mouth shut...but unfortunately I doubt it.
The man is a ticking time bomb. I am glad he left and would rather he just go quietly than give him the honor of screaming foul when his name is taken off of the stadium since so many people <span style="text-decoration: underline;">begged</span> him to leave it on there. We should just kick the crap out of the beggers and let Polk ride off into the sunset thinking he has won the little battle he waged here. That way he may consider keeping his mouth shut...but unfortunately I doubt it.
But, if he wants to go coach somewhere else, I can be glad he is somewhere else and I can pry his damned name off the stadium.
While I again agree with Pat about the name on the stadium thing, Polk might be an exception because wasn't naming the stadium after Polk a request in the will of Mr. DeMent?
that he never goes to a doctor seems to add a little fuel to the fire of the theory that he has some health problem.
The other side to this is if he goes to UAB and behaves (wishful thinking) it open the possibility that he MIGHT be able to come back to MSU maybe as a fundraiser or a volunteer coach in a few years.
Again, I would leave that up to the discretion of Cohen and also Byrne should have a say in this as well.
Again, I would leave that up to the discretion of Cohen and also Byrne should have a say in this as well.
RON POLK IS TRANSFERRED, ASSIGNED, SET OVER AND DEMISED TO YOU AS IS, WHERE IS, WITH ALL FAULTS. GREG BYRNE AND MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY HEREBY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, EVEN THAT OF TITLE. SPECIFICALLY, TRANSFERORS DISCLAIM THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE, COURSE OF DEALING AND USAGE OF TRADE. <p class="next">Transferee and successors of Transferee shall have no remedies for any nonconformity in the chattel transferred hereby.</p> <p class="next">No receipt required.</p> <p class="next">Absolutely NO RETURN nor exchange.</p> <p class="next">
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on SPS. Ron Polk, the guy everyone loves to hate, has taken a "volunteer" job at UAB. One of the many things this means is that ole Ron will not be around to meddle with Cohen or the baseball program. Which I thought was one of the primary concerns of those skiddish of him hanging around Starkville. The only way I can see someone taking this negatively is if they wished he was still here in some capacity.
Porkchop said:
and I think that may be one reason why he is leaving.
One thing about Cohen- he has proven that he will stand up to Polk.</p>
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