Over the last week, we have challenged our readers to let the NCAA Mens Tennis Selection Committee members (namely one Ms. Sybil Blalock) know how frustrated, confused, and angered we are by their decision to deny the #2 men's tennis team in the nation the honor of hosting their own regional. What follows after the jump are excerpts from a few of these interactions which you readers shared with us.
Reader ColRebsLastBreath attacked first, using good diction, an expanded vernacular, and more complex syntax to scare, confuse, and humiliate the selection committee:
I am writing you to express the outrage of the Ole Miss community and to inform you that even though the NCAA has the reputation for unfair, brainless, laughable and senseless decisions, your decision and treatment of the Ole Miss and Baylor Tennis Teams is one of the most ludicrous, deficient, nonsensical and out of touch decisions in the history of the NCAA.I ask you one question to begin with: Had it been Mercer who was the #2 overall seed and undefeated in their conference, would you have allowed them to travel to a regional hosted by another university in the Atlantic Sun, to a regional of Mercer's arch-rival OR allow SIX lesser ranked teams in the Atlantic Sun to host regionals while Mercer was forced to travel? The simple answer to that question is no, and no rational person would have made the decision that you did.(...)Quite frankly, the obtuse, simple-minded and short sighted reasoning of the NCAA selection committee is appalling, and the lack of respect for the players, coaches, students, administration and fans of the University of Mississippi and Baylor University is nothing short of a direct insult to all that they have worked for and accomplished during their seasons.(...)
Every single senior, who worked their entire academic and athletic career to pursue a national championship in tennis deserves your personal apology for not being able to play the last regional of their entire lives at their university on their home court in front of the largest home crowds that attend tennis matches in the country. You and the other committee members personally robbed them of that. You robbed them of a joy that they rightfully earned and deserved as the #2 team in the country, and did it for a reason that can't and will never be able bring any comfort to them. For that they deserve your a public personal apology.
No doubt you are a genius (how else would you have this job?) but even someone as brilliant as yourself might not literally know everything there is to know in the world. That being said let me clue you in on something you may have overlooked, Ole Miss has the highest attendance of any tennis program in the NCAA. Yet in spite of these facts you, in your infinite wisdom, decided the fair thing to do would be to send Ole Miss to a regional at LSU, our biggest rival.(...)I cannot come up with a logical explanation for this other than 1) You are totally and completely incompetent (despite being a genius) or 2) You are a bureaucratic hack with an agenda against the state of Mississippi for some historical grievance, the state flag, or whatever p.c. bullshit excuse you could come up with.(...)You have taught [the tennis team] a great lesson: even in America hard work and success can still be punished, rather than rewarded, on the whim of an incompetent hack with too much power and not enough common sense.
The argument of "geographic proximity" seems to be the primary defense for this absurd action, but I bet someone failed to run the numbers to see the actual net cost of this ignorant decision. Flying 10 people from Houston to Memphis would cost a maximum of $9,600, whereas driving would likely cost around $1,000. The net is $8,600. Let's now make the fair assumption that Ole Miss will likely have 500 more fans for the two host team matches than LSU. After all, the Rebels did lead the nation in attendance for 2009 and it is graduation weekend on campus where there will be thousands of alumni looking for something to take part in. At $7 a ticket (another assumption), suddenly the numbers aren't that unfavorable for the NCAA. The extra $1,600 is well worth it to allow Rice, Alcorn St. & LSU the privilege of playing in front of the best collegiate tennis atmosphere in the nation.
Ole Miss is a thriving program that is easily among the nation’s elite and only getting better, but yet you decide to cushion the pockets of the NCAA by saving a measly $1,600-$2,000 maximum. But it's not like Ole Miss ever generates money for the NCAA. No, never. We've only outbid every school in the country for the last half decade in order to host a regional tournament in baseball. I bet the NCAA didn't think about demoting us then.
(...)Your atrocity of a mistake has been recounted on national television, all across the internet and in the conversations of anyone who cares about this sport, and there is no one who believes this was the "right decision" or that this was "unavoidable." Backwards, inbred swamp monsters a.k.a. LSU fans aren't even feeling good about this. You blew it, and I hope that when Ole Miss blasts through the Baton Rouge regional, hammers Texas A&M (sidebar: You deprive Ole Miss a chance to host a regional and then pair them with the host team of the Sweet 16? Are you F***ing serious? What 11 idiots made that decision...oh, wait), makes their way into the Final Four and eventually wins the whole thing, I hope they raise their trophy along with a big middle finger to you, the NCAA and anyone else associated with this decision.
The term "swamp monsters" made me chuckle. The 2nd letter, which is signed by "A pissed off Rebel Tennis fan," generally avoids the strategy of "presenting an argument" in favor of just cutting it short and calling names:
You are all foolish boneheads who need to be removed from the tennis
selection committee.(...)
Morons.
Fools.
(...)
I hope you all are enjoying these e-mails. They won't stop anytime
soon. The Rebel Nation is speaking loud and proud.
Oh, and not to mention, our boy Shepard Smith even called ya'll out on
NATIONAL TELEVISION!!!! I hope the rest of the country sees how
ignorant you "fine" leaders are proving to be.
Grow some fortitude, some respect, and some dignity and correct your
errors. Or else, the Rebel Nation led by Shepard Smith will eat you.
Letter number three is from ARRebel himself and, after presenting the facts in easy-to-read bullets (these people obviously need it), he takes a very diplomatic approach to his grievances:
With all of those facts presented, I would like to make the following statement:
You (The Selection Committee) messed up and made a large mistake.
First, you send us to LSU, our most hated rival; (and I guarantee you, the hate mail you’re getting is nothing compared to the animosity shared between these two schools on a Saturday in the Fall.) I don’t understand why we would have to travel to a team we have already beaten. Twice. By the way, did I mention that we won the SEC? Twice?
Second, how could anyone ignore the numbers we put up? Also, not having the school that is leading the nation in average attendance host, is NOT the way to grow the sport in this country.
As I’m sure you know by now, we had a graduation planned for our seniors who surely thought they would host a regional. I’m sure that their parents, who had to cancel their transatlantic flights, will understand your decision.
I also would like to show how disappointed I am in not having the #6 seed Baylor University host their own regional. If memory serves me right, Baylor hosted the "Final Four" in 2004-05 season (in which Ole Miss lost in a close match to UCLA.)
I did not intend for this email to offend anyone, just bring attention to a glaring mistake.
With all of this being said, I would like to see the rules revised to truly place emphasis on winning in the regular season and being rewarded in kind.
Again, thank you for your time.
Hotty Toddy, AR Rebel P.S. Go to Hell LSU
And finally, if you missed it, Hunter C. shared a fanshot with us recently which has Ms. Blaylock saying things like "the NCAA hates you" and "just wait, the worst is yet to come, Weebals."
Big-time thanks are in order for all of you. If anyone else would like to share their correspondence with these stooges, create a fanpost (the button is on the left) and share it with everyone here (it'll then show up on the right). As for me, I'm going to forward them some cool emails we have been getting at our old RSC address. If she thinks travel expenses are a bitch, I've got some friends in Cameroon who have apparently got some legit cash flow and an abnormally strong urge to share it!
P.S. - You're still a stupid bitch, Blalock. If you or any of your cronies pull this shit on us again, we'll sic RebMIK, Yancy Porter, and GonzoHog on you.