re: SEC teleconference: Q&A with Les Miles

Hey, Carl--Thanks for posting all this.

Certainly, I can tell you first off we enjoy the opportunity to read your very capable and competitive stories and posts. We celebrate them, our members celebrate them, they understand that, I'm quite certain of that. All of Tiger Rant looks forward to that and is well-prepared each week, irregardless of the challenges ahead that we will face, to read the very best and to enjoy that challenge to be the best in doing that. I'm certain about it. We may not be exactly where we'd like to be right now, but TR Nation is a very capable and quality group of men that takes pride in improving, getting better and being remembered and known as being quite capable of competing and meeting that opportunity to move forward to meet that standard. They're enjoying working hard, week in and week out, and I'm quite certain they take great pride doing that, along with everything that is concerned with the long-term goal that comes with that standard. This week, with your two highly capable articles so far, I'd say we're focused on those, and looking ahead to competing with them and with each other, and we place a lot of emphasis on that. We want that. I want that. As a Ranter, you come to this board to celebrate and enjoy that. That's part of the culture here, the character and trust we have here, one that looks to strongly consider where we've been as readers and what we can do to continue that dedication and the high work ethic of our posters as the season and the competition progresses. I'd say overall that we've had a good go, and we are digesting where we need to be in recognizing what has been written and certainly we strive to keep that tradition and reputation in all that we do as a team for all of our overall preparation, and for also your next contributions that we could encounter, and to make the necessary adjustments that they know will need to made. That's the key. I like where we are. I enjoy where we are.

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Lester in the Sky with Diamonds ...

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perfect

tremendous post.

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ever heard of paragraphs?
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Ever interviewed Coach Miles?

That's the way he talks. Not just here the last five seasons, but also when he was at Okla. St. Trust me, he knows--and loves--exactly what he's doing.

A successful head coach knows how to be the face of the program, keep the focus on himself when it's necessary and how to "become the story," which takes pressure off his players and staff.

Prior to last season, I asked him if he "enjoyed 'working the media.'" He smiled and said, "it's one of my favorite parts of my job."

I think he's a great coach and LSU is fortunate to have him. He's secure in his own skin while not being too aloof and arrogant (a rare combination, now and "back in the day"). He also takes criticism better than any top-level coach I've encountered in any major sport.

I was lucky to choose one of the easiest professions of all time (except for the thousands of journalists who were actually really good at it). I "worked" as a sportswriter, editor and sports information director for 27 yrs. at four JCs and three D-1 schools. So yeah, I do know a little bit about freaking paragraphs.

I hope you didn't believe that anything in my post was real. You didn't, right?

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And not just any paragraphs, but the kind of lean paragraphs a newspaper or SID person would write.

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Master's in Journalism, USC Sports Ed. & writer for many newspapers, SID for 25 yrs. at Div. 1 & JC levels

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.

Les' biggest problem with the way he talks is that we were listening to Saban before him.

Saban was intelligently articulate and to the point and gave a real sense that he knew exactly what he was talking about...Where miles is funny and amusing at times, but often leaves you wondering if he really knows what he is talking about. More importantly miles teams play like they dont know what they are doing more often than sabans.

I think if Saban never existed at LSU and miles came here and had the level of success he has he may have a near mythic folk hero status by now (assuming this year is great allowing everyone to give him a pass for last year)...

That would be hard to do, especially because he posted some of his credentials just above my comment.

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Les' biggest problem with the way he talks is that we were listening to Saban before him.

Saban was intelligently articulate and to the point and gave a real sense that he knew exactly what he was talking about...Where miles is funny and amusing at times, but often leaves you wondering if he really knows what he is talking about. More importantly miles teams play like they dont know what they are doing more often than sabans.

I think if Saban never existed at LSU and miles came here and had the level of success he has he may have a near mythic folk hero status by now (assuming this year is great allowing everyone to give him a pass for last year)...

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Seems like 1984 and revisionist history to me. While Saban has a different style of talking - it was not that he was "intelligently articulate". He used to scowl a lot more and act pissed off and ireful - this by itself would have just annoyed folks/media. Since he raised the program to an NC level they equated that effort with intelligence and articulation.
He used to prevaricate and equivocate on every answer (of any substance) as well as any existing coach.

We examine Les under a microscope and amplify these trivial issues because we are insecure bastards in love with a Dominatrix for an ex-girlfriend (who is now going out with a rival)

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Saban (Aight?) was intelligently articulate (aight) and to the point (aight) and gave a real sense that he knew exactly what he was talking about (when he described that brook trout look, aight).

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Fixed, aight?