One of my favorite times of year if wrapping up. March Madness which starts with the conference basketball tournaments and extends through the NCAA and NIT tournaments offers some of the best entertainment and stories for the money of any sporting event. This year's tournament has as usual been no exception.
However, I must say that I disagree with SEC Commissioner Mark Slive and the Selection Committee by not including more teams from the non major, or non-BCS, conferences. This is unfair and politics at it's worst.
The argument goes like this: Schools like Creighton, St. Mary's, etc. who have excellent teams, but play in conferences that are not as good overall as the ACC, Big East, Big 12, SEC, Big Ten, or the Pac Ten, need to have tougher non-conference schedules in order to increase their strength of schedule and RPI which play into the tourney selection committee's decisions.
The reality is that for mid-major schools, who do not have the budget of the schools in BCS conferences cannot afford to simply schedule who they want to play. Furthermore, a school like Syracuse knows that it's suicide to go play at Creighton before Christmas. Syracuse has a long and tough Big East Conference schedule awaiting them upon their return from the Christmas break. Regardless of how good they are, at that point in the season, Creighton has a good chance of beating them, or any other team from a power conference on their home floor. Jim Boheim is smarter than that. Hence until conference play starts he rarely plays outside the state of New York before January. He knows that the key for a school like Syracuse to go to the tournament EVERY year is to schedule 10-12 virtually guaranteed wins at home before the conference schedule starts. This is done by paying schools more money than they can turn down to travel to Syracuse and play on Syracuse's home court. These are typically lower level DI schools and mid majors. This ensures Syracuse 10-12 wins before conference play, in order to go to the NCAA Tournament, they simply then have to go about .500 in the Big East. They do this by winning all or most of their home games and trying to merely steal 1 or 2 games on the road. At the end of the season they have 25 wins, a high RPI, perhaps an upset against a number 1 such as UCONN as they did this year, and they are without question a tourney team.
A Creighton type team on the other hand has played half of their non-conference games on the road, sometimes at schools who are tournament quality teams, and then turn around and play in very underestimated conferences in which they have to win outright in order to go to the tournament. UNC, Duke, UCLA, Kentucky, Villanova, UCONN, Michigan St. and other schools from those prgrams don't schedule teams like Creighton in fear of losing a game that could significantly hurt their RPI. It's easier to schedule games they are all but guaranteed to win. And Creighton simply cannot afford to buy a game from UNC, UCLA, Duke, Louisville, etc. who have virtually unlimited budgets to come play them.
Yet, the committee suggest that scheduling is Creighton's problem. Shame on you Mike Slive and the rest of the Tournament Committee! I know your job is tough. But the best tournament in recent memory, and one that will be talked about forever was a few years ago when George Mason made it's amazing march to the Final Four by knocking out Goliath after Goliath with big plays and buzzer beaters. It won't happen every year, but it's watching small schools and those communities behind them that make the NCAA tournament one of if not the greatest sporting event on earth, and 100 times better and more exciting than the NCAA's coveted "Bowl Championship Series!"
Give the mid majors who have had great seasons the benefit of the doubt! Also, give the teams that will go and play those mid majors from the power conferences extra consideration as well. We don't want the Tournament to become a joke like the BCS is!
I would like to also give a big round of applause to the Athletic Director and fans of North Carolina State University! You are the biggest idiots in collegiate basketball and I wish nothing but mediocrity for you for the next 25 years!
Herb Sendek took over the N.C. State basketball program 12 years ago. He propmptly lost 2 years in a row in the NIT to the venerable Pete Carril and his Princeton Tigers. Sendek took stock of himself and his program and changed the way he approached coaching. For the next 8 years Sendek was constantly in the hunt for the ACC regular season Championship & went to 5 consecutive NCAA Tournaments tying the record set by the wildly popular Jim Valvano. He was also named coach of the year in a conference with coaches who had won a half dozen national championships among them.
This was not good enough for N.C. State fans however who are not aware of the fact that they are not Duke and they are not UNC, BUT that Sendek had N.C. State competing with those teams annually. The fans voiced their opinion, and N.C. State athletic director Lee Fowler allowed them to run him out of town to Arizona State because he either felt the same way or didn't have the back bone to stand up to them.
Regardless, Sendek has turned the program at Arizona State around by finishing 4th in the Pac Ten, making it to the conference tournament finals and making yet another trip to the NCAA tournament. N.C.State meanwhile sat at home as they were ACC cellar dwellers for the last 2 years. Good job!
For any A.D.'s wanting to make a really smart move for their school, Sendek is one of the very best coaches in the country! And you won't learn that from Jay Bilas or Dick Vitale!
Oh yeah, Mitch Barnhart the athletic director at Kentucky who fired Tubby Smith just a few days ago fired the guy HE hired to replace him, Bill Gillespie. Why isn't Barnhart held accountable as Gillespie has been? He made the bad hire!
Tubby Smith has resurrected a Minnesota program and took them back to the NCAA tournament and is being mentioned for the job in Arizona. Nice job Barnhart. You and Gillespie should have to share moving expenses!
Congratulations to Tyler Hansborough. He is the ACC's all-time leading scorer and is making his second trip to the Final Four. Tyler has played all 4 years at UNC and is one of the toughest competitors I have ever seen. I know because I was a tough competitor and I don't see many that impress me, and he does. A kid like Hansborough is what makes NCAA sports the best there is. Here's wishing him the best this week. And any NBA GM thinking this guy can't help you win, you're an idiot! He's not a 20-10 guy for the next 12 years, but he will be an asset for someone.
Congratulations to Coach Scott Drew and his Baylor Bears for making the NIT final four in Madison Square Garden. Drew took over a program coming off of massive NCAA violations and the murder of one of it's players. Drew who came to Baylor from Valparaiso has made consistent improvements ever since arriving in Waco. His brother Bryce made one of the most memorable shots in NCAA tourney history over 10 years ago against Ole Miss, look for Scott Drew's team (wherever he may be coaching) in future NCAA tournaments.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Eagles management & misplaced priorities......
ESPN has reported (here) the Philadelphia Eagles fired Dan Leone today. You may not know Dan Leone, he wasn't a linebacker, wide receiver, or coach. Dan was a part time Stadium Operations employee who has been fired by the organization. The reason for which he was fired is somewhat bizarre, raises questions about the organization, and creates a slippery slope for employees with any degree of online visibility or personality.
Mr. Leone was unhappy that the Eagles did not sign Brian Dawkins, who signed a free agent contract with the Denver Broncos. On his personal Facebook page, as a status update, Mr. Leone posted: "Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver ... Dam Eagles R Retarted!!"[sic]
For that post, Mr. Leone was terminated via a phone call early this morning. This raises an slew of questions concerning freedom of speech, professionalism, hypocrisy, and perhaps could set precedence of how companies deal with online visibility in the new virtual world in which we live in.
1) My biggest question is perhaps the most insignificant, but one that which boggles me..... How did the Eagles front office know what Mr. Leone posted on Facebook? Do they have someone assigned to Internet surfing to find out what all of their employees may be saying in online forums, on Facebook, on Myspace, on Twitter, or in their personal blogs? Or did the Eagles have an employee who wasn't even supposed to be surfing Facebook find it and tattle to front office management that Mr. Leone called them "retards"? On a sports discussion forum, Mr. Leone could have signed up anonymously and raked the Eagles through the mud with them never being able to find out, with no repercussions to himself.
2) When Terrell Owens played for the Eagles he regularly did and said things on the side lines and in press conferences, that while perhaps not as permanent as a Facebook post, certainly indicated that he thought coaches, teammates and front office management were viewed in his eyes as "mentally incapable." T.O. wasn't fired, immediately. Nor do other professional sports teams fire employees (who happen to play on the field or court) for voicing disagreements with management. Therefore, to fire an employee over such a Facebook comment is actually unprecedented, and could possibly set forth a landmark decision if it were to go to court with regards to grounds upon which a sports team can fire an employee.
3) I cannot discount the fact that Mr. Leone's comments were inappropriate and as he has admitted he should not have posted them. However, it was a personal web page, and he was voicing his personal opinion. How many employees have voiced similar disagreements with company management over new policies, procedures, etc. standing around the water cooler or too each other over lunch? Do American companies now rule with a Marxist Iron fist in that whether you like something or not you had better like it?
4) Assuming the Eagles feel the post was defaming, a stretch at best, how much discontent could a part time Stadium Operations Chief cause? Would everyone at gate 4 suddenly feel that Dawkins should have been signed? The repercussions must have been horrific to the Eagles front office.
5) However appropriate or inappropriate you feel the post on FaceBook was, Mr. Leone was simply being Dan the Fan! He loved the Eagles, he was a Brian Dawkins fan. The Eagles have not been immune to making some bone head personnel moves over the years. Why is a fan, who is still going to be a fan, voicing his disagreement with a personnel move so cataclysmic? The fallout is certainly less than when players do it in the locker room causing discontent, resentment, and strife within a group of players who have to be on the same page on the field. And it is certainly often less when they do it in public!
6) If Mr. Leone takes this to court (I selfishly hope that he does), I don't know that it will hold up as a lawful termination of an employee. The First Amendment right to free speech certainly must be considered. Mr. Leone's comments were on a personal website that is mostly used as a method to stay in contact with close acquaintances. There is certainly a business/professional networking use for Facebook, but less than 20% of it's users use it in that manner. Furthermore, Mr. Leone made no pretensions of making any sort of an official statement for the Eagles, only a handful of people who potentially saw it likely new that Leone also worked for the Eagles, and what's more is, what was the repercussional impact from his statement? That four of his friends agreed with him? Four friends that are likely Eagles fan as well, and will probably save money to pay $150 bucks next year to sit in the cold in December and watch the game through binoculars while drinking a $10 beer that is half foam along with a cold hot dog on stale bread that cost another $8 bucks? All while wearing an $80 McNabb jersey, a $120 Eagles Jacket, and a $30 Eagles hat? Those were the type guys the Eagles front office were afraid Leone may influence? OK!
If any rational thought and prudence had been used in this situation, it should have unfolded as follows"
Front office is informed of Leon's post to Facebook, they question the informant if and if so why they were on Facebook while on the clock working for the Eagles! Upon seeing and disapproving of Leone's comments, call his immediate supervisor in, discuss the matter with him. Bring Leone in, inform him you disapprove, perhaps even suspend him for a game, get his assurance that it will not happen again, discuss the concept of professionalism, shake hands and in that way you wouldn't look like an idiot in the press.
But no! The Eagles had to make yet another poor personnel decision, yet this time it didn't even involve a player!
Mr. Leone was unhappy that the Eagles did not sign Brian Dawkins, who signed a free agent contract with the Denver Broncos. On his personal Facebook page, as a status update, Mr. Leone posted: "Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver ... Dam Eagles R Retarted!!"[sic]
For that post, Mr. Leone was terminated via a phone call early this morning. This raises an slew of questions concerning freedom of speech, professionalism, hypocrisy, and perhaps could set precedence of how companies deal with online visibility in the new virtual world in which we live in.
1) My biggest question is perhaps the most insignificant, but one that which boggles me..... How did the Eagles front office know what Mr. Leone posted on Facebook? Do they have someone assigned to Internet surfing to find out what all of their employees may be saying in online forums, on Facebook, on Myspace, on Twitter, or in their personal blogs? Or did the Eagles have an employee who wasn't even supposed to be surfing Facebook find it and tattle to front office management that Mr. Leone called them "retards"? On a sports discussion forum, Mr. Leone could have signed up anonymously and raked the Eagles through the mud with them never being able to find out, with no repercussions to himself.
2) When Terrell Owens played for the Eagles he regularly did and said things on the side lines and in press conferences, that while perhaps not as permanent as a Facebook post, certainly indicated that he thought coaches, teammates and front office management were viewed in his eyes as "mentally incapable." T.O. wasn't fired, immediately. Nor do other professional sports teams fire employees (who happen to play on the field or court) for voicing disagreements with management. Therefore, to fire an employee over such a Facebook comment is actually unprecedented, and could possibly set forth a landmark decision if it were to go to court with regards to grounds upon which a sports team can fire an employee.
3) I cannot discount the fact that Mr. Leone's comments were inappropriate and as he has admitted he should not have posted them. However, it was a personal web page, and he was voicing his personal opinion. How many employees have voiced similar disagreements with company management over new policies, procedures, etc. standing around the water cooler or too each other over lunch? Do American companies now rule with a Marxist Iron fist in that whether you like something or not you had better like it?
4) Assuming the Eagles feel the post was defaming, a stretch at best, how much discontent could a part time Stadium Operations Chief cause? Would everyone at gate 4 suddenly feel that Dawkins should have been signed? The repercussions must have been horrific to the Eagles front office.
5) However appropriate or inappropriate you feel the post on FaceBook was, Mr. Leone was simply being Dan the Fan! He loved the Eagles, he was a Brian Dawkins fan. The Eagles have not been immune to making some bone head personnel moves over the years. Why is a fan, who is still going to be a fan, voicing his disagreement with a personnel move so cataclysmic? The fallout is certainly less than when players do it in the locker room causing discontent, resentment, and strife within a group of players who have to be on the same page on the field. And it is certainly often less when they do it in public!
6) If Mr. Leone takes this to court (I selfishly hope that he does), I don't know that it will hold up as a lawful termination of an employee. The First Amendment right to free speech certainly must be considered. Mr. Leone's comments were on a personal website that is mostly used as a method to stay in contact with close acquaintances. There is certainly a business/professional networking use for Facebook, but less than 20% of it's users use it in that manner. Furthermore, Mr. Leone made no pretensions of making any sort of an official statement for the Eagles, only a handful of people who potentially saw it likely new that Leone also worked for the Eagles, and what's more is, what was the repercussional impact from his statement? That four of his friends agreed with him? Four friends that are likely Eagles fan as well, and will probably save money to pay $150 bucks next year to sit in the cold in December and watch the game through binoculars while drinking a $10 beer that is half foam along with a cold hot dog on stale bread that cost another $8 bucks? All while wearing an $80 McNabb jersey, a $120 Eagles Jacket, and a $30 Eagles hat? Those were the type guys the Eagles front office were afraid Leone may influence? OK!
If any rational thought and prudence had been used in this situation, it should have unfolded as follows"
Front office is informed of Leon's post to Facebook, they question the informant if and if so why they were on Facebook while on the clock working for the Eagles! Upon seeing and disapproving of Leone's comments, call his immediate supervisor in, discuss the matter with him. Bring Leone in, inform him you disapprove, perhaps even suspend him for a game, get his assurance that it will not happen again, discuss the concept of professionalism, shake hands and in that way you wouldn't look like an idiot in the press.
But no! The Eagles had to make yet another poor personnel decision, yet this time it didn't even involve a player!
Monday, February 16, 2009
More coaching insanity.....
The Phoenix Suns fired Terry Porter today after speculation that it was coming all weekend. Porter replaced the embattled Mike D'Antoni who despite not taking the Suns to the finals, did have them perennially competing as one of the best teams in the league and has done wonders in New York! D'Antoni may have won back to back titles had it not been for an injury to Amare Stoudamire during the playoffs one season and questionable suspensions the next during the Western Conference Finals.
However, Steve Kerr the General Manager in Phoenix decided he wasn't getting the job done, so he fired D'Antoni and hired Terry Porter. We'll never know if Porter could get the job done or not. He was head coach for 4 months with a largely revamped roster. As I have stated in my previous blog on this topic, firing a coach mid-season is ALWAYS a mistake!
Now, I will say, that combined with Kerr's personnel moves, I don't think Porter was the answer at head coach in Phoenix. However, despite that, he at least deserves a season to try, we still have half a season to play. The Celtics won 20 games in a row. Shaquille O'Neal is in the best shape he has been in in 5 seasons. Regardless of the possibilities, they could realistically hit a big winning streak and do well in the post-season. Furthermore, what is Kerr doing? How much thought and consideration went into hiring Porter if you had so little confidence in him that you fire him 4 months into the job. If he was that incapable, then Kerr shoulder even more blame for making the hire in the first place.
It is my recommendation to the Sun's that Kerr has until the Finals to right the ship, if it isn't done by then, then he needs to go! With 3 of your 4 best players in their mid thirties, the Sun's only have a 2 year window left, and that's assuming they acquire some younger, better players and stay healthy.
On to stupid college coaches......
Lane Kiffin!!!!! Come on down! You're the next contestant on idiot of the week!
Coach Kiffin is the new coach at Tennessee. Tennessee fans were upset that they had not competed for a national championship in a few years and therefore fired coach Phillip Fulmer who had led them to their last national championship.
In some of his first statements as head coach Kiffin criticized Urban Meyer, head coach of the current national champion Florida Gators, and former Gator and current South Carolina head coach Stever Spurrier. However much you like or dislike Meyer or Spurrier there two things that both have in common: 1) Both are winners, and 2) both run clean programs. Now, after starting a fire no new coach needs, he has committed 3 recruiting violations in a 14 day span. This is a classic case of being young and dumb (Kiffin is 33)!
The NCAA has a massive rule book, and each coach at each school in the country is issued an updated copy every year, and must complete a rules test. No coach has read every word in this book, it is a reference guide. The test is not comprehensive, but if you pass it, you have shown a workable knowledge of the most important infringements possible and it's then your fault if you commit any further infringements. What's more, is every school pays a compliance person, and often an entire staff to be on campus and on call 24/7 for coaches in case they have a question.
As an NCAA head or assistant coach, this person is on your speed dial list, because if you're not 100% positive and can give the reasoning why something falls within the confines of NCAA regulations, you call this person. They can either tell you, or tell you to wait while they check with other compliance directors at other schools, conference and NCAA officials in order to get an official ruling. Therefore, there is rarely an acceptable excuse for blatant rules violations.
Kiffin however has had three in his ridiculously short tenure at UT! He set up a mock press conference for recruits while visiting. Yeah, it's silly, but it's against the rules, and regardless of what it outlaws the NCAA rules are for the most part set up with very concise guidelines so that coaches cannot use a slippery slope to gain unfair advantages in recruiting. The next was using a fog machine and letting recruits run out onto the field, and finally he mentioned a recruits name in an interview and said he was a great player when anyone who has even been around college athletics for more than 10 minutes knows that you cannot talk about specific recruits, and certainly cannot name them.
These were minor infractions, and won't result in any sanctions from the NCAA, but if you're gonna be a cocky know it all coaching at Tennessee you need to have your i's dotted and t's crossed. My prediction is Kiffin might make it 3 years unless he begins to violate more serious NCAA regulations, he obviously has a lack of respect for them.
However, my contention is not with Kiffin... in my opinion he wasn't a good hire, but he's a product of the ass kissing coaches society today prevalent in big time college football. My contention is with Athletics Director Mike Hamilton. If Kiffin does not fulfill expectations, Hamliton and Kiffin should have to pack together as they are ushered out of Knoxville. It was his hire! If it does not work out, HE should be held responsible for it.
UT fans, do not let him feed you some BS excuse. You are UT, one of the best coaching jobs in the country! You can have your pick of all but a handful of competent coaches in the country, Kiffin is who he picked. If Kiffin is not all you think he should be, hold Mike Hamilton responsible. I frankly predict that Kiffin will simply be in over his head, but again, that's the AD's fault!
Hold athletic directors and general managers responsible for teams failures! There are times when they make bad personnel decisions and times when they don't provide coaches the tools they need to win, if they are not going to be held to the same level accountability, then what are they being paid for?
However, Steve Kerr the General Manager in Phoenix decided he wasn't getting the job done, so he fired D'Antoni and hired Terry Porter. We'll never know if Porter could get the job done or not. He was head coach for 4 months with a largely revamped roster. As I have stated in my previous blog on this topic, firing a coach mid-season is ALWAYS a mistake!
Now, I will say, that combined with Kerr's personnel moves, I don't think Porter was the answer at head coach in Phoenix. However, despite that, he at least deserves a season to try, we still have half a season to play. The Celtics won 20 games in a row. Shaquille O'Neal is in the best shape he has been in in 5 seasons. Regardless of the possibilities, they could realistically hit a big winning streak and do well in the post-season. Furthermore, what is Kerr doing? How much thought and consideration went into hiring Porter if you had so little confidence in him that you fire him 4 months into the job. If he was that incapable, then Kerr shoulder even more blame for making the hire in the first place.
It is my recommendation to the Sun's that Kerr has until the Finals to right the ship, if it isn't done by then, then he needs to go! With 3 of your 4 best players in their mid thirties, the Sun's only have a 2 year window left, and that's assuming they acquire some younger, better players and stay healthy.
On to stupid college coaches......
Lane Kiffin!!!!! Come on down! You're the next contestant on idiot of the week!
Coach Kiffin is the new coach at Tennessee. Tennessee fans were upset that they had not competed for a national championship in a few years and therefore fired coach Phillip Fulmer who had led them to their last national championship.
In some of his first statements as head coach Kiffin criticized Urban Meyer, head coach of the current national champion Florida Gators, and former Gator and current South Carolina head coach Stever Spurrier. However much you like or dislike Meyer or Spurrier there two things that both have in common: 1) Both are winners, and 2) both run clean programs. Now, after starting a fire no new coach needs, he has committed 3 recruiting violations in a 14 day span. This is a classic case of being young and dumb (Kiffin is 33)!
The NCAA has a massive rule book, and each coach at each school in the country is issued an updated copy every year, and must complete a rules test. No coach has read every word in this book, it is a reference guide. The test is not comprehensive, but if you pass it, you have shown a workable knowledge of the most important infringements possible and it's then your fault if you commit any further infringements. What's more, is every school pays a compliance person, and often an entire staff to be on campus and on call 24/7 for coaches in case they have a question.
As an NCAA head or assistant coach, this person is on your speed dial list, because if you're not 100% positive and can give the reasoning why something falls within the confines of NCAA regulations, you call this person. They can either tell you, or tell you to wait while they check with other compliance directors at other schools, conference and NCAA officials in order to get an official ruling. Therefore, there is rarely an acceptable excuse for blatant rules violations.
Kiffin however has had three in his ridiculously short tenure at UT! He set up a mock press conference for recruits while visiting. Yeah, it's silly, but it's against the rules, and regardless of what it outlaws the NCAA rules are for the most part set up with very concise guidelines so that coaches cannot use a slippery slope to gain unfair advantages in recruiting. The next was using a fog machine and letting recruits run out onto the field, and finally he mentioned a recruits name in an interview and said he was a great player when anyone who has even been around college athletics for more than 10 minutes knows that you cannot talk about specific recruits, and certainly cannot name them.
These were minor infractions, and won't result in any sanctions from the NCAA, but if you're gonna be a cocky know it all coaching at Tennessee you need to have your i's dotted and t's crossed. My prediction is Kiffin might make it 3 years unless he begins to violate more serious NCAA regulations, he obviously has a lack of respect for them.
However, my contention is not with Kiffin... in my opinion he wasn't a good hire, but he's a product of the ass kissing coaches society today prevalent in big time college football. My contention is with Athletics Director Mike Hamilton. If Kiffin does not fulfill expectations, Hamliton and Kiffin should have to pack together as they are ushered out of Knoxville. It was his hire! If it does not work out, HE should be held responsible for it.
UT fans, do not let him feed you some BS excuse. You are UT, one of the best coaching jobs in the country! You can have your pick of all but a handful of competent coaches in the country, Kiffin is who he picked. If Kiffin is not all you think he should be, hold Mike Hamilton responsible. I frankly predict that Kiffin will simply be in over his head, but again, that's the AD's fault!
Hold athletic directors and general managers responsible for teams failures! There are times when they make bad personnel decisions and times when they don't provide coaches the tools they need to win, if they are not going to be held to the same level accountability, then what are they being paid for?
Saturday, February 7, 2009
The state of NCAA sports.
College sports are big time business! If you question that, consider yourself uninformed! Colleges are chartering jets around the country, building new and always bigger stadiums, athletic centers, dormitories, student centers etc. with the guise used being that it will benefit, "not only" the student athlete, but the entire student body and community as well. Along with the underlying philosophy from Field of Dreams of "If you build it, they will come."
And people clap and cheer and like a goof ball at a political campaign rally while believing what they're told. The real reason is winning. Everyone wants to win! Winning is fun. Winning begets winning. Winner's are cool. Winner's are what everyone wants to be!
Why?
Because winning is like life and death, it's like being pregnant or not.....
You are either a WINNER! Or you are a loser! There's no in between.
However, besides the fun that is winning, there's something else winning brings.... money! For NCAA teams playoffs, or in the case of football the BCS means money for the school. The bigger the bowl game, the bigger the money; the bigger the money, the bigger the city, the nicer the hotel, the nicer the restaurants, the bigger the payday, for the winner and the loser. Also, the more exposure. Free advertisement for the universities.
Every year, NCAA champions in basketball and football show an increase in enrollment the following fall semester. Everyone likes to be a winner.
But at what cost?
Student athletes all over the country every year are handed useless degrees. Schools all over the country are building facilities they cannot afford or fill with fans. Schools all over the country are not being held accountable for their actions.
What's more, many schools are holding coaches accountable for things in which they have no control over.
A few weeks ago, Dennis Felton was fired as the head coach of the University of Georgia Men's Basketball program. Felton was a very successful coach at the University of Western Kentucky. He took the Hilltoppers to multiple NCAA tournaments by winning regular season and tournament championships in the Sun Belt conference. He was hired at Georgia after Jim Harrick was found to be in violation of numerous NCAA regulations.
Felton had been successful, and had run a clean program. However, he faced a steep uphill battle at a school with very little previous basketball success, even during the days of it's best player, Dominique Wilkins. But despite scholarship restrictions, Felton began the arduous task of rebuilding the program. Having coached against Felton, I could think of few better choices.
Facedwith limited scholarships, old facilities that were not very appealing to new recruits, and a perennially tough SEC conference schedule, Felton made strides. Putting in an entirely new system, playing sometimes no more than 7 players, and last season winning 4 games in 3 days (not a typo they played twice one day) to win the SEC tournament championship advancing to the NCAA tournament.
It appeared as Felton had the program headed the right way. What's more, it looked as if the University was finally making a commitment to the program buy building a new $30 Million dollar practice facility. However, beginning this season Felton had 6 freshmen and 3 more sophomores. That is incredibly young. On top of that, they only had a single 4th year senior. Now, some will argue that because of players leaving for the NBA, the NCAA is younger, and players like Derrick Rose have taken teams to the NCAA Final Four as freshmen.
Well, Georgia doesn't have any recruits like Derrick Rose, the stellar guard from Memphis last season. One reason they don't is they don't have the basketball history or facilities that Memphis does. However, what some of the experts won't realize is that despite the young and gifted Rose, Memphis had a veteran ball club that provided them the necessary leadership to get to the Final Four. When a team has 9 first and second year players, that indicates a lack of leadership unless they have a very good upper class, which Georgia does not. The reason they don't can be traced back to the Harrick caused NCAA sanctions.
Because of their youth, Georgia was struggling this year. At 9-11 and 0-5 in the SEC, Georgia athletic administration decided to terminate Dennis Felton mid season. That was a terrible mistake that was based more on the emotions of a small, but financially generous fan base, and not on someone knowledgeable about the collegiate sport environment. Coach Felton was not given the opportunity to make this team better over the course of the season and defend his SEC tournament championship. Last year, they got better over the course of the year, and ended up being winners. They were not given the chance this year, and that makes no sense.
Firing an NCAA coach in the middle of the season is indefensible unless the coach is found guilty of breaking NCAA rules of a serious nature or he is guilty of behavior unbecoming to the University. Otherwise terminating a coach before the end of the season only serves to hurt the program and more importantly the players. One of the assistants obviously has to take over. An assistant who's input and ideas was used in the program that was deemed not adequate by the administration. Therefore, when the Athletic Director states that they are moving the program in the right direction, be clear that that is a nonsensical stereotypical catchphrase they are using because they are not articulate enough to explain or defend their decision, which again is really made by a handful of financially influential boosters.
Firing Felton before he had a chance to significantly improve the program was a terrible mistake, firing him or any other coach mid-season is inexcusable! Mike Gottfried Of the University of Alabama was fired a few weeks ago as well. He had been at Alabama 11 years, and frankly, the program was not improving. I don't have a problem with Alabama's decision to fire him as, but again, doing it mid-season does not accomplish any significant objective that will improve the program.
Despite the timing of the termination however, a greater number of schools are making coaching changes with very little in the way of prudent decision making. Athletic directors, who are rarely held accountable are making decisions that coaches cannot control, and often disagree with, put the specific programs into difficult situations with regards to being consistently competitive.
The University of Southern Mississippi fired Jeff Bower after last season. Bower had been the most successful coach at a single school, over the same period of time, for longer than any football coach in the NCAA other than Joe Pa and Bobby Bowden. Yet despite poor facilities, low budget, and a non-BCS conference, Bower was apparently suppose to compete annually for a BCS bowl. The ignorance of fans and administration combined with expectations based on that ignorance has gotten out of hand. It's more out of hand than the spending. In fact, it's partially driving the spending.
I predict that in collegiate football, after Joe Pa, and Bobby Bowden retire (or die as the case may be) there will be major reform in the NCAA before we see another coach at a school for 20+ years. In basketball it's not much better, coaches are no longer expected to build a winning program that graduates players and is competitive. They are required to get to post season play every season. And the NIT is only acceptable between NCAA trips. Billy Donovan may be at Florida for the rest of his career, Coach K, Gary Williams, and Roy Williams will be at their respective schools until they retire. Jim Calhoun and of course the venerable Jim Boheim of UCONN and Syracuse out of the Big East, possibly John Thompson III at Georgetown will finish their careers at their current schools. Then you have a handful of lower level division I programs that because they can't afford better coaches, are not committed to the basketball program, or perhaps the AD and coach are close friends have a few coaches that aren't in danger of losing jobs. Those are becoming fewer and fewer every year though. However, for the other 300 Div. I schools in the country, unrealistic expectations and a lack of proper commitment to the program will cause a lot of coaches to have 3-6 year jobs, again until there is reform in the NCAA.
Fans watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament every year and cheer for the yearly Cinderella. It's one of the greatest things annually in sport. We can always count on a Cinderella! And they start wondering why their team can't be one. Well, perhaps they can, but understand, many of those schools are Cinderella after that coach has done a great job at that school for 4-8 years! And that's the best they can be, is a Cinderella. However, after two years of rebuilding from a typically senior laden team that was the Cinderella and not becoming a perennial NCAA team (turning the corner is the catch phrasing often used) over the next two years, that successful coach will typically find himself looking for a job within 2-3 years.
Unreasonable expectations based upon ignorance of reality.
That's the state of the NCAA today, driven by money, and fueled by people in power who have never been on a sideline. Without NCAA reform this trend will continue, student athletes will be the victims, rivalries will fail, and the quality of the product, in football and basketball will continue to deteriorate to the point not being worth the money that revolves around it.
And people clap and cheer and like a goof ball at a political campaign rally while believing what they're told. The real reason is winning. Everyone wants to win! Winning is fun. Winning begets winning. Winner's are cool. Winner's are what everyone wants to be!
Why?
Because winning is like life and death, it's like being pregnant or not.....
You are either a WINNER! Or you are a loser! There's no in between.
However, besides the fun that is winning, there's something else winning brings.... money! For NCAA teams playoffs, or in the case of football the BCS means money for the school. The bigger the bowl game, the bigger the money; the bigger the money, the bigger the city, the nicer the hotel, the nicer the restaurants, the bigger the payday, for the winner and the loser. Also, the more exposure. Free advertisement for the universities.
Every year, NCAA champions in basketball and football show an increase in enrollment the following fall semester. Everyone likes to be a winner.
But at what cost?
Student athletes all over the country every year are handed useless degrees. Schools all over the country are building facilities they cannot afford or fill with fans. Schools all over the country are not being held accountable for their actions.
What's more, many schools are holding coaches accountable for things in which they have no control over.
A few weeks ago, Dennis Felton was fired as the head coach of the University of Georgia Men's Basketball program. Felton was a very successful coach at the University of Western Kentucky. He took the Hilltoppers to multiple NCAA tournaments by winning regular season and tournament championships in the Sun Belt conference. He was hired at Georgia after Jim Harrick was found to be in violation of numerous NCAA regulations.
Felton had been successful, and had run a clean program. However, he faced a steep uphill battle at a school with very little previous basketball success, even during the days of it's best player, Dominique Wilkins. But despite scholarship restrictions, Felton began the arduous task of rebuilding the program. Having coached against Felton, I could think of few better choices.
Facedwith limited scholarships, old facilities that were not very appealing to new recruits, and a perennially tough SEC conference schedule, Felton made strides. Putting in an entirely new system, playing sometimes no more than 7 players, and last season winning 4 games in 3 days (not a typo they played twice one day) to win the SEC tournament championship advancing to the NCAA tournament.
It appeared as Felton had the program headed the right way. What's more, it looked as if the University was finally making a commitment to the program buy building a new $30 Million dollar practice facility. However, beginning this season Felton had 6 freshmen and 3 more sophomores. That is incredibly young. On top of that, they only had a single 4th year senior. Now, some will argue that because of players leaving for the NBA, the NCAA is younger, and players like Derrick Rose have taken teams to the NCAA Final Four as freshmen.
Well, Georgia doesn't have any recruits like Derrick Rose, the stellar guard from Memphis last season. One reason they don't is they don't have the basketball history or facilities that Memphis does. However, what some of the experts won't realize is that despite the young and gifted Rose, Memphis had a veteran ball club that provided them the necessary leadership to get to the Final Four. When a team has 9 first and second year players, that indicates a lack of leadership unless they have a very good upper class, which Georgia does not. The reason they don't can be traced back to the Harrick caused NCAA sanctions.
Because of their youth, Georgia was struggling this year. At 9-11 and 0-5 in the SEC, Georgia athletic administration decided to terminate Dennis Felton mid season. That was a terrible mistake that was based more on the emotions of a small, but financially generous fan base, and not on someone knowledgeable about the collegiate sport environment. Coach Felton was not given the opportunity to make this team better over the course of the season and defend his SEC tournament championship. Last year, they got better over the course of the year, and ended up being winners. They were not given the chance this year, and that makes no sense.
Firing an NCAA coach in the middle of the season is indefensible unless the coach is found guilty of breaking NCAA rules of a serious nature or he is guilty of behavior unbecoming to the University. Otherwise terminating a coach before the end of the season only serves to hurt the program and more importantly the players. One of the assistants obviously has to take over. An assistant who's input and ideas was used in the program that was deemed not adequate by the administration. Therefore, when the Athletic Director states that they are moving the program in the right direction, be clear that that is a nonsensical stereotypical catchphrase they are using because they are not articulate enough to explain or defend their decision, which again is really made by a handful of financially influential boosters.
Firing Felton before he had a chance to significantly improve the program was a terrible mistake, firing him or any other coach mid-season is inexcusable! Mike Gottfried Of the University of Alabama was fired a few weeks ago as well. He had been at Alabama 11 years, and frankly, the program was not improving. I don't have a problem with Alabama's decision to fire him as, but again, doing it mid-season does not accomplish any significant objective that will improve the program.
Despite the timing of the termination however, a greater number of schools are making coaching changes with very little in the way of prudent decision making. Athletic directors, who are rarely held accountable are making decisions that coaches cannot control, and often disagree with, put the specific programs into difficult situations with regards to being consistently competitive.
The University of Southern Mississippi fired Jeff Bower after last season. Bower had been the most successful coach at a single school, over the same period of time, for longer than any football coach in the NCAA other than Joe Pa and Bobby Bowden. Yet despite poor facilities, low budget, and a non-BCS conference, Bower was apparently suppose to compete annually for a BCS bowl. The ignorance of fans and administration combined with expectations based on that ignorance has gotten out of hand. It's more out of hand than the spending. In fact, it's partially driving the spending.
I predict that in collegiate football, after Joe Pa, and Bobby Bowden retire (or die as the case may be) there will be major reform in the NCAA before we see another coach at a school for 20+ years. In basketball it's not much better, coaches are no longer expected to build a winning program that graduates players and is competitive. They are required to get to post season play every season. And the NIT is only acceptable between NCAA trips. Billy Donovan may be at Florida for the rest of his career, Coach K, Gary Williams, and Roy Williams will be at their respective schools until they retire. Jim Calhoun and of course the venerable Jim Boheim of UCONN and Syracuse out of the Big East, possibly John Thompson III at Georgetown will finish their careers at their current schools. Then you have a handful of lower level division I programs that because they can't afford better coaches, are not committed to the basketball program, or perhaps the AD and coach are close friends have a few coaches that aren't in danger of losing jobs. Those are becoming fewer and fewer every year though. However, for the other 300 Div. I schools in the country, unrealistic expectations and a lack of proper commitment to the program will cause a lot of coaches to have 3-6 year jobs, again until there is reform in the NCAA.
Fans watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament every year and cheer for the yearly Cinderella. It's one of the greatest things annually in sport. We can always count on a Cinderella! And they start wondering why their team can't be one. Well, perhaps they can, but understand, many of those schools are Cinderella after that coach has done a great job at that school for 4-8 years! And that's the best they can be, is a Cinderella. However, after two years of rebuilding from a typically senior laden team that was the Cinderella and not becoming a perennial NCAA team (turning the corner is the catch phrasing often used) over the next two years, that successful coach will typically find himself looking for a job within 2-3 years.
Unreasonable expectations based upon ignorance of reality.
That's the state of the NCAA today, driven by money, and fueled by people in power who have never been on a sideline. Without NCAA reform this trend will continue, student athletes will be the victims, rivalries will fail, and the quality of the product, in football and basketball will continue to deteriorate to the point not being worth the money that revolves around it.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Attention waitresses!!!
The number one profession of single mothers in this country is, has been, and will continue to be waiting tables in restaurants. They are not paid minimum wage as it is assumed and expected that the tipping for their performance by their clientele will supplement their wages sufficiently. I have eaten in restaurants all over the country, I eat in restaurants regularly, therefore I feel qualified to say.... Most waitresses (or waiters) suck! And if you're a waitress reading this, then I'm glad you're offended! I want you to prove me wrong. I enjoy tipping generously for good service, but I honestly can't remember the last time I had exceptional service in any restaurant.
This is a typical interaction with the waitress (or waiter) in a typical restaurant:
1) Welcome, blah blah blah, can I take your drink orders while you decide what you would like? They take the drink orders, and leave to retrieve them.
2) Here's your drinks, have you decided? They take your order.
3) They brings rolls, salads, appetizers, etc., and perhaps refill someone's tea, water, or other beverage. These first three interactions happen generally in about 10-15 minutes.
4) Brings food..... at this point, most people have been in the establishment for at least 20 minutes, perhaps 45 minutes, yet waitresses regularly bring the food, and do not even look at beverage glasses to see if a refill is needed. If they do and retrieve more water or whatever, they will immediately return, before the potatoes have even been buttered and ask how everything is! Don't you have to cut into a steak before you know if it taste good?
5) More and more often, the next time the waitress returns, she asks if you would like desert, and if not, then she has the check ready to hand to you, if you want a refill you have to tell her, and if your food wasn't cooked properly, then you either ate it or went hungry.
FIVE interactions, all of which were necessary in the exchange of information or purchased product. That's poor training from management, poor waiting by the waitress, and just dumb and illogical if you are working for tips!
I would actually argue for an additional 5 interactions in which the waitress simply checked to see if things were ok, and if she could refill any beverages. I might drop a $50-$100 tip if any waitress ever annoys me with checking to see if things are ok, just because!
Nothing detest or annoys me more as a restaurant patron than to be eating, needing a drink of water or tea and nothing but ice is in my glass! What annoys me even more is when I have eaten most of my ice, and the waitress comes with warm tea, and fills my glass up, and walks away as it melts my THREE remaining ice cubes! I mean, should I consider her blind, stupid, merely incompetent, or what?
Another thing I detest is when another waitress or especially a manager gives me an EXCUSE! I hate frickin' excuses! I have more respect for heroin addicts than I do people who have excuses! I don't care if she's new! Give her one table and make sure she can handle it before you give her an entire section you idiot! How piss poor is your training program? Nor do I want to hear that you are short handed tonight. Because if you are fearless leader, get you an apron and get back there and cook, or put on a smile and you wait some tables! But don't give me poor service and an excuse.
Here are 3 tips for waitresses that will dramatically improve the tips you get, especially from someone like me:
1) Do whatever is takes to keep my tea glass filled! If you have to kill innocent women and children KEEP MY FRICKIN' TEA GLASS FILLED! That will almost double your tip right there!
2) Check back regularly! Not only to see if I need more tea, but to see if the food was cooked well (believe it or not, we can't tell until we have a chance to eat some of it), if we need more rolls, napkins, etc. Annoy me by checking on me!
3) Take a lesson from Carnegie's, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Smile! Everyone likes a smile! We came out to eat to forget our problems and the bad day we had, we definitely don't give a shit about yours! Act like you are genuinely interested in whatever goofy story or dumb joke we have to tell you, you don't have to like it, just act like you do. It will make me like you, and it's hard to stiff someone you like on a tip.
And that's it! Sure there are other specific nuances of the profession I have not touched on, and some things are beyond your control, but all of the things I have mentioned are well within your control, but the three things I mentioned are rarely executed by waitresses these days, therefore don't whine when your tip reflects it!
This is a typical interaction with the waitress (or waiter) in a typical restaurant:
1) Welcome, blah blah blah, can I take your drink orders while you decide what you would like? They take the drink orders, and leave to retrieve them.
2) Here's your drinks, have you decided? They take your order.
3) They brings rolls, salads, appetizers, etc., and perhaps refill someone's tea, water, or other beverage. These first three interactions happen generally in about 10-15 minutes.
4) Brings food..... at this point, most people have been in the establishment for at least 20 minutes, perhaps 45 minutes, yet waitresses regularly bring the food, and do not even look at beverage glasses to see if a refill is needed. If they do and retrieve more water or whatever, they will immediately return, before the potatoes have even been buttered and ask how everything is! Don't you have to cut into a steak before you know if it taste good?
5) More and more often, the next time the waitress returns, she asks if you would like desert, and if not, then she has the check ready to hand to you, if you want a refill you have to tell her, and if your food wasn't cooked properly, then you either ate it or went hungry.
FIVE interactions, all of which were necessary in the exchange of information or purchased product. That's poor training from management, poor waiting by the waitress, and just dumb and illogical if you are working for tips!
I would actually argue for an additional 5 interactions in which the waitress simply checked to see if things were ok, and if she could refill any beverages. I might drop a $50-$100 tip if any waitress ever annoys me with checking to see if things are ok, just because!
Nothing detest or annoys me more as a restaurant patron than to be eating, needing a drink of water or tea and nothing but ice is in my glass! What annoys me even more is when I have eaten most of my ice, and the waitress comes with warm tea, and fills my glass up, and walks away as it melts my THREE remaining ice cubes! I mean, should I consider her blind, stupid, merely incompetent, or what?
Another thing I detest is when another waitress or especially a manager gives me an EXCUSE! I hate frickin' excuses! I have more respect for heroin addicts than I do people who have excuses! I don't care if she's new! Give her one table and make sure she can handle it before you give her an entire section you idiot! How piss poor is your training program? Nor do I want to hear that you are short handed tonight. Because if you are fearless leader, get you an apron and get back there and cook, or put on a smile and you wait some tables! But don't give me poor service and an excuse.
Here are 3 tips for waitresses that will dramatically improve the tips you get, especially from someone like me:
1) Do whatever is takes to keep my tea glass filled! If you have to kill innocent women and children KEEP MY FRICKIN' TEA GLASS FILLED! That will almost double your tip right there!
2) Check back regularly! Not only to see if I need more tea, but to see if the food was cooked well (believe it or not, we can't tell until we have a chance to eat some of it), if we need more rolls, napkins, etc. Annoy me by checking on me!
3) Take a lesson from Carnegie's, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Smile! Everyone likes a smile! We came out to eat to forget our problems and the bad day we had, we definitely don't give a shit about yours! Act like you are genuinely interested in whatever goofy story or dumb joke we have to tell you, you don't have to like it, just act like you do. It will make me like you, and it's hard to stiff someone you like on a tip.
And that's it! Sure there are other specific nuances of the profession I have not touched on, and some things are beyond your control, but all of the things I have mentioned are well within your control, but the three things I mentioned are rarely executed by waitresses these days, therefore don't whine when your tip reflects it!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Ineptness in modern journalism....
I am currently watching CNN coverage of hurricane Ike as it is threatening one of the largest cities in the United States. I have family and friends in Houston that are staying, and I am hoping for the best.
However.....journalism in this country is reaching an all time low in competence. There are 22 men trapped on a freighter, literally right in the middle of the storm. I hope they survive! Rescue efforts have been unsuccessful as the conditions are simply too dangerous for rescue attempts.
CNN however, made contact with the crew. I didn't catch the name of the reporter interviewing the captain but, I wish to God I had, and if I can find it I will post it in an attempt to humiliate her in all of her glorious stupidity. One of the first questions this GOOBER asked these poor men trapped on this freighter was:
"Is there much wind or waves?"
You idiot! They are in a boat in the middle of a hurricane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What are you possibly expecting as a reply? 'Naaahh....It's pretty calm out here. '
She then asked them if they still had power. 'Nah, that's why we're using the tin can to talk to you with.'
I would really like to tell her, that no, they don't have power, the waves pulled out their extension cord!
Did she ever think to deduce, based on the conditions at hand that yes, there were indeed wind and waves. And yes the ship had power as ships run on GENERATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then, when they switched back to the lead reporter on the ground in Galveston bay, he cut off an emergency management official mid-sentence in order to cut to another "update" on Sarah Palin, that despite being old news was simply pointless!
Yes, CNN I know that you and NBC are the Democratic party's OFFICIAL non-official PR representatives, and I know the democrats still have not developed a strategy on how do deal with Sarah Palin, but cutting in on an emergency management official in order to run a news "update" that has been talked about for 3 days is dumb! Perhaps I need to look up the producer's name as well.
So, If you did not evacuate, and are near Galveston, and need info from your local officials please tune into CNN.....that way you will know exactly what Sarah Palin had for lunch, and if her 17 year old daughter is having morning sickness or not.
Thank you CNN for excellence in journalism!
However.....journalism in this country is reaching an all time low in competence. There are 22 men trapped on a freighter, literally right in the middle of the storm. I hope they survive! Rescue efforts have been unsuccessful as the conditions are simply too dangerous for rescue attempts.
CNN however, made contact with the crew. I didn't catch the name of the reporter interviewing the captain but, I wish to God I had, and if I can find it I will post it in an attempt to humiliate her in all of her glorious stupidity. One of the first questions this GOOBER asked these poor men trapped on this freighter was:
"Is there much wind or waves?"
You idiot! They are in a boat in the middle of a hurricane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What are you possibly expecting as a reply? 'Naaahh....It's pretty calm out here. '
She then asked them if they still had power. 'Nah, that's why we're using the tin can to talk to you with.'
I would really like to tell her, that no, they don't have power, the waves pulled out their extension cord!
Did she ever think to deduce, based on the conditions at hand that yes, there were indeed wind and waves. And yes the ship had power as ships run on GENERATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then, when they switched back to the lead reporter on the ground in Galveston bay, he cut off an emergency management official mid-sentence in order to cut to another "update" on Sarah Palin, that despite being old news was simply pointless!
Yes, CNN I know that you and NBC are the Democratic party's OFFICIAL non-official PR representatives, and I know the democrats still have not developed a strategy on how do deal with Sarah Palin, but cutting in on an emergency management official in order to run a news "update" that has been talked about for 3 days is dumb! Perhaps I need to look up the producer's name as well.
So, If you did not evacuate, and are near Galveston, and need info from your local officials please tune into CNN.....that way you will know exactly what Sarah Palin had for lunch, and if her 17 year old daughter is having morning sickness or not.
Thank you CNN for excellence in journalism!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
911
It's been 7 years today.
I was coaching basketball at the University of Southern Mississippi. We practiced at 6:00A.M. every morning. We had just finished the day's practice and I was leaving the coliseum to head to my apartment to get cleaned up in order to go to an athletic department meeting.
I got in my car, and turned on the Steve and DC morning show out of St. Louis. They were just getting reports of it, trying to confirm the reports, etc.
I got to my apartment, turned on CNN and was watching the coverage. At that time no one was sure that it was a terrorist attack. Some were speculating, but it was pure speculation.
Then, a reporter on top of an adjacent building with the Twin Towers in the background was reporting the known facts at the time. He broke the news as it was coming into his ear piece that another plane had indeed been hijacked. About the time he got the words out of his mouth you could see behind him the plane flying into the other tower. Then he turned around and realized what happened.
I quickly showered and returned to the basketball offices. No one there had heard anything about it yet, so we turned on all the TVs and radios available, and like much of the world watched the rest of the day in complete and utter non-belief.
One of my colleagues who coached women's basketball had a sister that worked at the Pentagon. Thankfully she was safe.
That's where I was. Please feel free to comment about where you were and what you were doing that day.
I was coaching basketball at the University of Southern Mississippi. We practiced at 6:00A.M. every morning. We had just finished the day's practice and I was leaving the coliseum to head to my apartment to get cleaned up in order to go to an athletic department meeting.
I got in my car, and turned on the Steve and DC morning show out of St. Louis. They were just getting reports of it, trying to confirm the reports, etc.
I got to my apartment, turned on CNN and was watching the coverage. At that time no one was sure that it was a terrorist attack. Some were speculating, but it was pure speculation.
Then, a reporter on top of an adjacent building with the Twin Towers in the background was reporting the known facts at the time. He broke the news as it was coming into his ear piece that another plane had indeed been hijacked. About the time he got the words out of his mouth you could see behind him the plane flying into the other tower. Then he turned around and realized what happened.
I quickly showered and returned to the basketball offices. No one there had heard anything about it yet, so we turned on all the TVs and radios available, and like much of the world watched the rest of the day in complete and utter non-belief.
One of my colleagues who coached women's basketball had a sister that worked at the Pentagon. Thankfully she was safe.
That's where I was. Please feel free to comment about where you were and what you were doing that day.
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