O'Liar makes fun of Southerners....

[CyberBull]

Shazam!, I'm not ashamed of my Southern accent

Posted 7/24/2008 3:12 PM CDT on hattiesburgamerican.com

If you’ve read my blog in the last week, you may remember me writing Sunday about how Central Florida football coach George O’Leary “politely informed me that I sound like Gomer Pyle†during that day’s Conference USA Media Day in Memphis.

The truth is that there wasn’t a polite thing about it.

At first, I wasn’t going to write about what happened that day because I can take a bad joke just like the anybody else. But I came to realize that it’s probably part of a larger problem that O’Leary has with the media.

He has refused to talk with the Orlando Sentinel newspaper after demanding that it correct what he perceives as errors in its coverage of player Ereck Plancher’s death this summer. The newspaper has asked UCF officials to outline the mistakes, but the school has declined to discuss the errors in detail.

I don’t pretend to understand the whole story behind that situation, but if you want to read about it further click here.

On C-USA Media Day, each team had its own table where players and coaches were situated. After I was done interviewing Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora and his players, I headed over to O’Leary’s table.

“Hey Coach O’Leary, I’m Patrick Magee from the Hattiesburg American.â€Â

O’Leary quickly responded, “From where?â€Â

I said “I’m from Mississippi.â€Â

He instantly got a strange look in his eye and said in a weak attempt at a Southern accent, “Oh, hey y’aaaalll.â€Â

At first, I was a little confused. But I responded with a laugh when I realized he was teasing me about my accent. I told him, “That’s funny, people back in Mississippi tell me I don’t have that thick of an accent.â€Â

I’ll leave a little bit of the salty language out, but he basically said, “I believe you do. You sound like Gomer Pyle.â€Â

For the younger generation that may not know who Gomer Pyle is, he was a character on the Andy Griffith Show and later had his own show called “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.†He had a thick and dopy accent and was basically a naive country bumpkin.

I laughed it off again and started my questions, which went well. He took his time and answered each one.

So I didn’t think anything of it when I thanked O’Leary, who was born in New York City, for taking the time to talk to me.

He then responded with the same poor attempt at a Southern accent, saying “See y’aaaalll later.†Then he announced to his table and anybody in the vicinity, “Hey everybody, it’s Gomer Pyle!â€Â

At that point, he must have noticed that I was pretty annoyed. He then said, “Come talk to us when you come down to Orlando."

I responded, “Don’t worry, I’ll find ya.â€Â

I went back to the Southern Miss table where I brought up my discussion with O'Leary as I was chatting with USM linebacker Gerald McRath, who told me he also heard the UCF coach's antics.

I can understand where O’Leary’s dispute with the Orlando Sentinel has to be an emotional and contentious matter that may be the root of all of this.

But I don’t think anybody that was there that day could argue against the fact that he was very unprofessional in our encounter.

Comments (4) | Permanent Link

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[crambone]

He's more of a schmuck with everything I read about him...

[flsportsfan83]

The media in Mississippi is just out to get GOL and UCF. They have a bias.

[Bullpride08]

cyber beat me to it...but I think the funnier thing is reading the Sentinel blog, and then Iliana Lemon finally responded to the callous, and rude tactics of the UCF internet cyber bullies from Brandon's 'pumpmefullofnuttinbutagoodtime' site.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_ucf/2008/07/mississippi-rep.html

I've got to hand it to Lemon, she handled herself with a certain level of class despite being severely personally attacked by ignorant UCF fans that can't stand one negative piece posted about them.  As I've outlined in another thread, if the Sentinel has even some things right, then UCF deserves every shred of negative press.

Oh, and I know more than a few people that have met O'Leary before and that Mississippi reporter is spot on.  Leavitt's not a big fan either.

[USF Bulls Football]

So the fat bastard has lied about his resume, perhaps had a hand in the death of a player, and is now in a all out war with the media. He is truly a real classy act, and one hell of a role model. Wow. And whats wrong with a southern accent? As much as I hate the media sometimes, he is in for a real awakening if he thinks he can win this one. If he is upset with them now, he aint seen nothing yet. They will make his life a living hell. I hope the OS gives him shat 'till the day UCF kicks his fat arse out of Orlando.

[Matt]

if UCF wants to move on...they are gonna have to ditch this guy.  he is an over-hyped moron.

[CyberBull]

they cannot afford to fire him. If they did, it would cost them a fortune and leave very little money to hire a decent coach and staff. Unless he quits, they are stuck with him for a few more years, until the buyout is more reasonable or he quits over health reasons as has been rumored.

BTW....if you think that this guy is going to walk away from all that dough, ask Georgia TEch about the $1.1 million he owes them.

[CyberBull]

cyber beat me to it...but I think the funnier thing is reading the Sentinel blog, and then Iliana Lemon finally responded to the callous, and rude tactics of the UCF internet cyber bullies from Brandon's 'pumpmefullofnuttinbutagoodtime' site.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_ucf/2008/07/mississippi-rep.html

I've got to hand it to Lemon, she handled herself with a certain level of class despite being severely personally attacked by ignorant UCF fans that can't stand one negative piece posted about them.  As I've outlined in another thread, if the Sentinel has even some things right, then UCF deserves every shred of negative press.

Oh, and I know more than a few people that have met O'Leary before and that Mississippi reporter is spot on.  Leavitt's not a big fan either.

Just to save her comments for posterity:

Patient No Longer,

I agree that you do deserve a response to your question. I will do my best to respond to all questions posed in the comments section of this blog as long as they are not personal attacks.

I believe that this blog should be a place to post news, notes and analysis about UCF athletics programs and Conference USA. I don’t eliminate items because they might be viewed by UCF fans as positive or negative commentary about the university. That means you will see posts about some things that might cast the university in a bad light alongside numerous other posts that might cast the university in a positive light. I think it’s important to show both sides.

I don’t think the blog post I linked to by a Southern Miss beat writer was defamatory or intended to attack UCF Coach George O’Leary. The reporter simply documented his experience interviewing O’Leary at Conference USA media day. The reporter obviously did not appreciate being called Golmer Pyle, but I don’t think that necessarily is an attack of O’Leary. It’s one reporter’s point of view on his blog. As a reader, you can choose to agree or disagree with his viewpoint.

I don’t make decisions about the way space is allocated in our sports section or which colleges receive the most prominent coverage. You certainly aren’t the first person to complain about heavy University of Florida coverage in the newspaper. I think Florida coverage has surged during the past few years with the team contending for national championships. While UCF has a strong fan base, Florida also has a very strong and vocal following. If you’d like a more detailed response about coverage, you can e-mail Lynn Hoppes at lhoppes@orlandosentinel.com or Tim Stephens at tstephens@orlandosentinel.com. The people who refrain from personal attacks are most likely to get responses from them as well.

I don’t expect you to agree with anything I have written. Your passion and defense of UCF is admirable. I know this is a difficult time, but I ask you to stick with this blog until mid-September. At that point, classes will be back in session at UCF and I’ll have a chance to post more items about all UCF sports. I think you would get a much better sample of what this blog could offer you as a UCF fan.

Thanks for reading and posting your question,

Iliana Limón

[BullGate]

O'Leary is a jerk**f, this is not news.

[nukebull]

GOL has always been known as a guy with a problem. That problem causes his face to look sunburned and him to be a jerk a lot of times.

He has tried to be a football version of Bobby Knight; but without the resume to back it up. Even Knights time has passed him by. Modern day players and boosters do not take to being bullied. I know for a fact that some decent boosters at UCif have been treated poorly by GOL. None of those people post on the other board as most are successful business men and have limited time. They find the free board too juvenile and the private board too pie in the sky BS.

We at USF are very lucky to have decent people involved in the Athletics program; I say this based on meeting them and speaking with them at different events. I can not recall ever being treated with anything but respect. That goes all the way to the ticket sales people IMO. Some errors are made and will be when a program grows at the rate that USF is; we have no blueprint to follow. But I have never had a bad interchange with anyone related to USF athletics; my friends at UCif have a different story to tell since GOL and Tribble came in.