Are Chairs Next for Bobby Knight 2.0?
Bobby knight 2.0
Residing in Louisville, Kentucky, the epicenter of three historic college basketball programs, Kentucky, Louisville & Indiana, I’ve watched the likes of Crum, Knight, Hall, Pitino (UK & UofL), Calipari & now Chris Mack, lead their teams on the hardwood in their unique fashion. Being in the middle of all things college basketball, I know this to be true, things change. The game changes, players change, and if coaches don’t change, they get left behind and unemployed. I’ve witnessed first hand what the “One and Done” philosophy has done for college basketball and I’ve seen the toughest of coaches adapt and cater to the AAU superstar, stomaching an incoming freshman to run free and create a masterpiece embraced by the talk radio and social media society. However, have we turned a corner with a one way ticket to Snowflake town? Are coaches shunned for their passion and persecuted if they yell at their players in any manner other than what would be acceptable at a Starbucks?
The NCAA March Madness is in overdrive and while driving my son to practice this morning, I was listening to the local ESPN channel, 93.9 The Ville, and I learned about the interaction Tom Izzo had with one of his Spartan players, Aaron Henry, during their game against Bradley. I didn’t see this live, so I had to play catch up and find the video of what was perpetrated by the radio announcer, an accosting worthy of jail time. Upon seeing the video, I saw a coach yelling at a player. SO WHAT! There was no disrespect, he didn’t physically abuse him, he yelled at him. Coaches yell, get over it. So, to the talk radio host who grew up in the ‘everyone should get trophies’ era, the world isn’t a Starbucks. Yes, there have been coaches like Bobby Knight, who crossed the line and that isn’t condoned, however, if what Tom Izzo did last night is construed as “toeing the line” as the coddled talk show host put it, between disrespecting someone and coaching, remind me to never hire you for a job. And even better, I think you should send your boss a note to only speak in calm tones when addressing you because I’m fearful you may implode, sue your employer and/or call in sick due to mental anguish.
Lastly, I was a bit taken back by how players came to the rescue of their teammate, physically pushing Coach Izzo back and restraining him from getting in Aaron Henry’s face. How have we gotten to the point where an 18 to
We need to be harder on our kids because guess what, life’s hard.
