Do the Selfless Act and Stay

Posted By: gasman  Published in College Hoops

9

Apr

Ah. Another NCAA tournament final and yet another brewing situation about the departure of a championship coach. The nation’s best sports spectacle wouldn’t feel right if there wasn’t the extra drama, so it seems.

What happened to the days where coaches were, well, just coaches: the generals guiding their athletic children to prominence? No longer. The Final Four is a coach’s networking dream. And Monday’s announcement of Bill Self being offered an extremely higher paying position at Oklahoma State is not only a disgraceful act (almost comparable to A-Rod announcing he won’t be back with the Yankees during the World Series), but it puts a damper on the championship game.Florida’s Billy Donovan became a personal media circus when he was offered the Kentucky job prior to his second consecutive title win last year. Monday, Self had his turn, offered a reported lucrative deal in the hours culminating into his first title tip-off. The report turned out to be false, though the intrigue (and the pending offer coming later this week) certainly remains.

Here’s one recommendation: don’t go Bill. You just coached your team to the national championship. No, you coached your Jayhawks through the best title run in history. When all four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four (for the first time in history), the so-called experts discounted you like a Britney Spears album. No one believed in your defense and you put on a stunning exhibition. You’re a champion now, something few thought you could do when the Final Four matchups were finalized.

There’s no reason for Self to leave. He just witnessed the best rally in championship game history, thanks to Mario Chalmers 3-pointer during the waning seconds of regulation. Then, his coaching experience pierced his team, leading to an overtime win that put Kansas atop the NCAA pedestal for the first time in 20 years. Anywhere on campus, he will be recognized as a prominent figure, a true champion walking among the crowd. Recruiting will come easier, but at Oklahoma State, he’ll never be the same.

At Oklahoma State, Self can only find a school with lofty championship dreams, and a school waiting to be smacked with reality. OK State is nowhere close to winning a championship, let alone making the Final Four. Cowboy nation has as much intrigue as the XFL and the “Boys” haven’t made the tournament since 2004-05.

In all, Self shouldn’t lower his standards, not even if a billionaire, who seems to run OK State’s athletic department these days, shells out more than Eliot Spitzer exchanges for prostitutes. So, please Bill, enjoy the crown and use it to continue the defensive dominance at KU. Rock, Chalk, Jayhwak.

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4 Responses To This Post
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mygif_alt
Cletus Says, in 4-10-2008 at 14:26:20 from 69.114.42.21    

Where to begin. A-rod did not opt out of his contract during the World Series. His agent did. A-rod then fired his agent and made amends almost the next day.

You failed to mention coaches like Greg Shiano or even Hofstra’s own Tom Pecora who turned down huge money to stay right where they are to hopefully elevate mid-level program to the elite level. Or other big time coaches who turned down opportunities and stay with their schools for decades - but we never hear about those offers which we are sure have been made but did not make the papers.

Once you understand that this is a business and - especially in college where the success or failure of sports teams are huge drawing and recruiting factors - where huge money is out there for the successful programs - who need big-named coaches to attract big time talent, so the school can make even more money to keep for themselves since the athletes are treated like third world Nike sneaker stitchers - you will see how it all works. Besides, generally people’s salaries are a ratio of what they bring back to whatever team they are with and deservedly so.

Besides, who would leave millions on the table when after a bad season or two you could be out on your ass just like that. Loyalty works both ways.

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mygif
gasman Says, in 4-10-2008 at 19:33:58 from 24.190.17.103    

Cletus,
Thanks for the comment. You have the honor of being the first poster on this website. Congrats. But you didn’t get the gist of the story.
First off, Scott Boras did opt out of A-Rod’s contract without his knowing. And as you say, it’s a business. Boras represented A-Rod whether he liked it or not. Therefore, A-Rod did (in fact) opt out of his contract during Game 4 of the World Series. It’s sad an agent would do that to a client and Boras certainly took the grunt.
As for the story, it was about championship coaches being offered contracts from competing schools prior to the title game. If I were to write about mid-major coaches being offered contracts, the story wouldn’t end. It happens all the time, and I was a personal witness to it after Delaware State coach Greg Jackson won the school’s first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference crown and later held its own against Duke in the tournament. Jackson stayed put, though, and won the following two MEAC regular season titles, appearing in the NIT both times.
The point is that OK State’s supposed contract and the rumor is a disgrace to the title game. It’s like your boss bugging you with a crisis on your wedding day. It’s almost a form of tampering. And you can’t say that being a Division I champion isn’t the greatest recruiting tool out there. That’s proposterous.
Yes, it is a business, but these days (I hope), ethics are involved. Self didn’t need the distraction, neither did the Jayhawks. Perhaps that’s why they were so sluggish for the first half? Anyway, good posting and keep the commenting Cletus. It’s much appreciated.
Gasman

[Reply]

mygif_alt
esa tikkanen Says, in 4-11-2008 at 22:01:13 from 70.20.188.225    

Rangers will have us going back to work on Monday up 3-0 in series.

[Reply]

mygif
gasman Says, in 4-12-2008 at 11:01:21 from 24.190.17.103    

Esa,
Does the “us” in your comment mean that you have signed with the Rangers? Will you play Monday and lead NY to the Cup like you did in 1994. That season, you were one of my favorite players to watch. So, hopefully, with your new contract you can still play.

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