The Google News Test: Why I Love Lane Kiffin

by kidbourbon on May 26, 2009 4:41 PM EDT Comment 11 comments

NOTE: I initially began writing this FanPost about two months ago. I stopped in the middle for reasons I can't remember, and then just forgot about it. Then I read Joel's "Talking Points: Lane Kiffin a Material Mill for National Media" post from earlier today, and I decided to pull up the unfinished draft and post 'er up. So, thanks for the inspiration, Joel. And I hope you don't mind me posting this variation on your earlier theme.

The late Rick James famously said "Cocaine is a helluva drug."

As a professional argument-maker who spends a substantial majority of his waking hours in front of a computer with a working broadband connection, I can confidently state that "the Internet is also a helluva drug." Perhaps it is a generational thing, a bad habit, or a bad habit caused and fueled by generational things. Either way, it is an undeniable addiction. Do a little work, check a couple sites. Do some more work, check some different sites. Rinse, lather, repeat. These are the days of my life.

I'm not complaining. I have always been a huge sports fan, and the internet lets me follow sports more closely: read mainstream media articles, read blogs (RTT being blog #1, of course), post on message boards, get analysis and predictions from 360 different angles. I eat it all up.

The internet has let me down before. Specifically, it lets me down most every baseball seasons. I don't follow baseball. I don’t like anything about baseball (exception: going to the games). I definitely don't want to read about baseball. So I don't. One could argue that this is a good thing. One could definitely make that argument if one was my boss. But now that Lane Kiffin has arrived on the scene, such an argument is academic.

With Lane Kiffin around, I will *never* reach the end of the internet. Don't believe me? Try it yourself. Do a google news search on "Lane Kiffin" one a day. See how many articles pop up. You will be astounded. Actually, do it tomorrow because I did it for you today. So, just in case you wanted to do some light reading from any of a variety of sources -- national media, local media (Knoxville and elsewhere in these United States), blogs, scout, rivals -- take your pick from the following. All of these are within the last five or six days. And this isn’t an outlier week. This is pretty much the norm.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4195828
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/sec/2009-05-20-lane-kiffin_N.htm
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4181532
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/24552/does_lane_kiffin_understand_sec_football?_hes_about_to,_according_to_todd_helton
http://today.sportingnews.com/sportingnewstoday/20090526/?pg=1
http://www.cbssports.com/spin/story/11772824
http://cfn.scout.com/2/867506.html
http://www.dothaneagle.com/dea/sports/columnists/article/kiffin_has_ut_in_spotlight/73752/
http://blogs.ajc.com/barnhart-college-football/2009/05/26/sec-commish-to-coaches-knock-it-off/?cxntfid=blogs_barnhart_college_football
http://www.al.com/sports/press-register/thicks.ssf?/base/sports/1243242946226050.xml&coll=3
http://blogs.ajc.com/barnhart-college-football/2009/05/21/the-lessons-to-be-learned-from-pahokee-gate/?cxntfid=blogs_barnhart_college_football
http://www.freep.com/article/20090524/SPORTS18/905240488/1053/SPORTS/This+week+s+awards++Niklas+Kronwall++Lane+Kiffin++Michael+Vick+and+more
http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/sports_blog_post.asp?pID=4534
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/183099-lane-kiffins-keys-to-success
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/182879-did-lane-kiffin-collude-with-michael-lombardi-in-the-randy-moss-trade
http://mrsec.com/story/kiffin-and-saban-talk-trash-talk-in-the-sporting-news-today
http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2009/5/21/881777/lane-kiffin-doesnt-like-your
http://tennessee.scout.com/2/866886.html
http://alabama.scout.com/a.z?s=14&p=2&c=867016&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http%3a%2f%2falabama.scout.com%2fa.z%3fs%3d14%26p%3d2%26c%3d867016
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090525/COLUMNIST0202/905250324/1002/SPORTS
http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2009/may/20/ut-report-violation-over-twitter-note/

I'm stopping. I could keep going, but there are just so many -- I don't know when the list would end. From this litany of articles it is quite apparent that some writers like to portray Kiffin in a negative manner, while other writers like to give him a positive spin. But they all LOVE to write about him.

In sum, thank you Lane Kiffin for graciously giving me so much reading material when I would otherwise have very little to peruse. For this reason alone, I like you. My boss, on the other hand.....

FanPosts are most often submitted by users. The views and opinions expressed in FanPosts do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions held by the editorial staff of Rocky Top Talk or SB Nation.

0 recs | Comment 11 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Lane Kiffin = Baseball Season Therapy!

And here I was afraid of having to, you know, talk to real people or something…

Nice observation, by the way.

by Hooper on May 26, 2009 6:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I can't even watch baseball

I’m certain that there’s a bunch of strategy playing into the whole thing that’s just completely going over my head, but it just seems so boring.

Somebody’s already found the end of the internet, by the way. Not quite what I thought it would look like.

Rocky Top Talk

by Joel on May 26, 2009 8:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Here's the strategy:

A bunch of old guys pining about how great the game was when Babe Ruth played defy all statistical evidence and pay the clean-cut All-American Boy looking guy millions of bucks while the dumpy .600 slugger gets minimum salary. They then insist that they can’t close down the Kansas City Royals because they’re part of the tradition despite one of the most laughable subsidies in the country.

Seriously, I remember when McGuire hit #62 (back before all the scandal finally broke through), and the best ESPN could do was drag out a bunch of 80ish year old baseball types who were prattling on about how baseball was now “right back on top” of the sports world – back to stay.

Riiiight….

by Hooper on May 26, 2009 8:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Playing every day is a huge draw for me with baseball

I need to be able to care about Kris Medlen v. Tim Lincecum, I need the Braves to keep me up late tonight with their 10:15 EDT start, I need the daily dose of sports…and if they lose, there’s always tomorrow. I like that.

But it’s the opposite that makes college football the best sport in the world – you only get 12 opportunities to experience it every season, 13-14 if you’re lucky. I like baseball for its consistency…I love college football because every single game is life or death.

Will - Rocky Top Talk

by Will on May 26, 2009 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I love minor league baseball - about 2 tiers below the majors.

At that point, it’s really good ball played by a bunch of really young guys who are trying to live a dream and are genuinely going for a chance at the big time.

More importantly, it’s a great family environment where you can go for a really cheap ticket and a deliciously nasty hot dog and have a great three hours away from the world. It’s fun and totally silly, especially when they run the little kids around the bases while riding barrel horses. Or have mascot dance-offs. And when you can hear every heckle made against the visiting third baseman.

But I’ve been to MLB games and they bore me in person as much as on TV. It’s just me and I don’t begrudge anybody for a difference of opinion, but there it is. I find an evening at a coffeehouse far more entertaining.

by Hooper on May 26, 2009 9:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's such an awesome thing about football.

You spend a whole week analyzing the matchup to death, and every weekend there are games decided by a ball bouncing off an upright or a fumble magically ending up in some guy’s hands. Like you say, each game has so much riding on it. Yet there is such a wildness behind it all.

by Hooper on May 26, 2009 9:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

To hammer your point home

Coach Spurrier said that this weeks’ SEC coaches meeting was “The Lane Kiffin Show.” He was right.

UT/Lane Kiffin is on the frontpage (or at least of the college football section) of SI.com, ESPN.com, and CBSSports.com. We also have a nice writeup on gatorsports.com

It’s great to be a Tennessee Vol!

by rblakeh on May 27, 2009 12:46 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

My brother used to work at the Orlando News Sentinel

I talked with him on the phone last night about this very subject. I’ve been sending him article after article about Kiffin from the Sentinel’s webpage….usually just to ask him if he knows the author (invariably he does…and he tells me whether or not they are cool). I made the bold statement to him last night that I think the sentinel has probably written more words about Kiffin than Tebow and Meyer combined in the last three months. Surprisingly, his response did not include the word “moron.” He didn’t think it was a sure thing — and neither do I — but agreed that it was probably a pretty close call.

by kidbourbon on May 27, 2009 12:53 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs