http://collegebaseball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=815403

Quote :

"Former Mississippi State coach Ron Polk blasted the school's new athletic director Friday as "utterly cruel" for hiring Kentucky's John Cohen and vowed to remove his name from the stadium and the school from his will. Polk campaigned for assistant coach Tommy Raffo, a former player who was college teammates with Cohen, since he announced his retirement in March. The outspoken 64-year-old said he warned athletic director Greg Byrne of the consequences if he did not promote Raffo. Ron Polk vowed to remove his name from Mississippi State's stadium. "Now he's got me on the war path and all I can do is hurt him," Polk said of Byrne in a phone interview with The Associated Press from Athens, Ga., where he is watching Georgia play North Carolina State in an NCAA super regional. "I'm going to do everything I can to make his life miserable." The 41-year-old Cohen will be introduced Saturday at news conferences in Starkville and Jackson. He resigned from his job at Kentucky on Friday morning. Wildcats athletic director Mitch Barnhart immediately promoted associate head coach Gary Henderson. Byrne won't replace Larry Templeton until July. But interim president Vance Watson charged Byrne with hiring a new baseball coach since he would have to live with the decision far longer than Templeton. Byrne, 36, is the son of Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne. He was the associate athletic director for external affairs at Mississippi State for two years before being promoted by president Robert Foglesong. After Foglesong abruptly resigned this spring, many speculated there would be a power struggle between supporters of Byrne and Templeton, whose 20-year tenure as athletic director ended when Foglesong forced him out. But Byrne's hiring had already been approved by the state's College Board and he will take over the department in July. Cohen and Byrne are familiar with each other from their days together at Florida where Cohen was an assistant coach. Byrne was traveling home from Lexington, Ky., on Friday and a spokesman said he would not be available for comment. Cohen did not return messages left on his cell phone. Polk, 64, said he was disappointed that Cohen went against his wishes, but put the blame on Byrne. "Now our new athletic director throws me under the bus, slaps me in the face, punches me in the stomach," Polk "Technically, he did the same thing with Tommy Raffo and all our coaches, all our signees, returning players and their parents who wanted Tommy all the way." In addition to taking his name off the stadium, Polk said he will personally take down the banners that display his name and number. He also will use his influence to scuttle a number of support programs, such as the foster parent program and the Dugout Club. And he's taking Mississippi State athletics out of his will. "That's coming out," Polk said. "I'm going to go up to Tupelo and design the first 'Until Greg Byrne is Gone' clause." If Byrne resigns or is fired at some point, Polk said the school is welcome to return his name to the stadium and can expect his support again. Polk has told Cohen he won't have his support until then. He believes Cohen will eventually build a winner, but it will take longer with no smooth transition. "The only reason why I'm supporting Tommy is John's got a job," Polk said. "He's got a job. Tommy doesn't got a job. John got a break.""

2 days after our Pack is eliminated from the Super Regionals, my new alma mater is making baseball headlines of their own. Albeit in dramatic fashion as the Ron Polk is on the field, but headlines none-the-less.

This will fire up a lot of Bulldawg supporters. I believe that this will create nothing good for the baseball program. Seeing as having such a division from your Hall of Fame head coach just forget all about the team because of a new hire, only creates questions about the new leadership and makes it hard to recruit. He will draw a lot of support from donors and Mississippi State does not need that when football, basketball, and baseball are all on the cusp of really bringing it home for the University.

However that being said, maybe all the anti-Fowler crowd really need a symbol like Polk at NC State. And thus you can be jealous

6/10/2008 9:30:45 AM

Yeah, we need a former coach to act like an 8 year old.

6/10/2008 10:00:34 AM

what we NEED is more facilities.

6/10/2008 10:50:10 AM

what we NEED is live wolves.

6/10/2008 10:57:35 AM

^i tend to agree

Live wolves set free in Fowler's Office

6/10/2008 11:46:56 AM

saw Lee in the Western Wendy's today.......sorry i couldn't get the job done fellas

6/10/2008 2:08:30 PM

what we NEED is more clown shoes and sunglasses

6/10/2008 2:12:27 PM

Quote :

"what we NEED is live wolves."

6/11/2008 4:39:03 PM

What we NEED are wins in something other than bass fishing.

6/11/2008 4:46:44 PM

Yeah a group of like 3 wolves to run across the football field in unison before our first home game would be FUCKING SWEET!! From endzone to endzone...I think teh fans would love that tradition!

6/12/2008 1:57:42 PM

Quote :

"what we NEED is live wolves."

6/12/2008 2:11:02 PM

Quote :

"what we NEED is live wolves!"

6/15/2008 9:02:59 AM