Bobby Johnson's Sudden Retirement Sends Shock Waves Through SEC

You never know exactly where a day is going to take you. On Wednesday morning, I scheduled this posting to appear on Wednesday afternoon. In the interim, Bobby Johnson abruptly resigned as the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores. Be forewarned, therefore, that this posting is going to be all over the place.

Beyond sharing Dr. Saturday’s hope that Coach Johnson’s decision was not the result of a health issue, I am at a loss. In an offseason chock-full of unexpected twists, this was among the most completely out of left field. How do you come to grips with the fact that Bobby Petrino did not leave before Bobby Johnson did? All I know to say is that I wish Coach Johnson well.

Past that point, though, I have a couple of questions. First of all, Is this an ominous sign for Mark Richt? I suspect that Paul Finebaum thinks so, although the talk-radio gadfly’s position on Coach Richt appears to justify faith in Indian rain dances. After all, every Indian rain dance in history has, at some point in the future, been followed by rain. Finebaum should try Googling "post hoc ergo propter hoc."

Secondly, Tony Barnhart echoed the sentiment expressed by Potter Stewart upon the latter’s retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court. On that occasion, Justice Stewart remarked: "I'm a firm believer that it's better to go too soon than stay too long." Barnhart suggests that this may have been the crux of Coach Johnson’s reasoning, and Team Speed Kills agrees.

Accordingly, I have to wonder about the timing. When not writing haiku about the retirement, Dr. Saturday wisely observed: "That's a December decision." I admire Bobby Johnson and what he accomplished in Nashville, but, if this was a decision having nothing to do with private health concerns or a hidden scandal (as appears absolutely to be the case), did he leave his team in the lurch by quitting on the eve of the season? (In the interests of equal time, I should add that at least some Vanderbilt fans believe July is the correct time for such an announcement.)

These next three items are completely unrelated, but I didn’t know where else to put them, so here they are: I found this picture strangely appropriate, I found this website and the results it produced to be way off base, and I found this Twitter update to be conclusive proof that its author has absolutely no knowledge of the Georgia Bulldogs’ recent scheduling practices.

All in all, it’s been another baffling day in the SEC.

Go ‘Dawgs!