El Hadj Umar Tall

On today's date in 1861, El Hadj Umar Tall captured the city of Segou. Sadly, this morning fans of Tulane know how the Bambara Empire felt- like we were out of our league.

Yesterday, I knew nothing really about Marshall. But I had seen Memphis a few times on tv- so I was a little bemused by any talk that if Tulane did this or tried that, they could hang in this. No way. We aren't in the Tigers orbit. Not even close.

To me, all of these trials and travails simply add to the luster of what Perry Clark achieved here. Doesn't the picture I've selected make the blog seem arty and smart? Now, Clarke never had a team as good as this Memphis one. But he had multiple teams, pretty consistently, that could play with that group.

I wonder how all those people feel now- the ones that rejoiced at his departure? Mind you, I am agreeable to the idea that Clarke's time had run its course here. And that some later teams underachieved (but some early ones overachieved). And that he wanted to escape as badly as Tulane wanted to push him out the door.

But I was never sold Coach Clarke's departure was a good thing for Tulane basketball; I always thought it was more like a divorce: no winners, only losers on both sides. Do not denigrate what that guy achieved- the body of work was very solid. And as the Wave struggles to approach even relevance again & again, Clarke looks better and better.