Coach K vs. The Econ Major

Non-story. My main thought is that I hope someone tells the kid he didn't do anything wrong, he didn't get "roasted" (that's an exchange within the boundaries) and he should not give the matter another thought. Keep asking questions. Don't let cranky coaches bother you.

 

What's sad is, in basketball, you barely get to know the players any more; half of them are gone in a year or two.

So you're left more with the preening, smug coaches. And, because of social media, even worse - their agents.

 

I am surprised no one pointed out in here how flimsy K's hypothetical was.

Coach K seriously said it would be like this student just bombed an econ test and someone came up to him after the test and asked where he goes from there. Yeah, and...? Like, that's kinda the exact point of a postgame press conference after a loss. Not only did his hypothetical not provide any insight into how Coach K feels fielding a question like that, it also just doesn't make any sense.

Anyway, if someone asked me that question after I bombed a test, I'd probably give them a straight up answer, even if that answer is "Guess I fucked up." Coach K could have done the same here without acting like a dick

 

Maybe I'm wired differently, but I never, ever understood why people feel the need to be an asshole to people who aren't being an asshole to them.

Coach K could've easily just said calmly, "We're not really thinking about what's next. We're just going to take some time to digest and break down this loss. Thank you."

Instead, he felt like he had to be a condescending dick.

All of this, IMO, is a by-product of these coaches for years and years being treated like kings. And the media, sorry to say, has a lot to do with it. How many times have I read about how Coach K is a great leader of young men, just fawning pieces over what a deity he is? How many media people in places like Durham treat coaches with a type of reverence that they haven't really earned, apart from any other important pillar of the community?

Go to your local elementary or high school. You'll find dozens of heroic people there and leaders of young minds that don't need their egos stroked all day.

I'm not saying Coach K hasn't done great things for young men, or that a lot of coaches aren't great people. But I, for one, can use a break from all the crowning life achievements. They coach sports. That's it. The more they get treated like immortals, the more they act like them.

Bobby Knight was a "leader of young men" who got deferential treatment for years when he was winning basketball games. And now what is he? A miserable asshole who everyone hates. Guess what? That's what he always was. He should've always been treated as such.

 

Did the econ major land an internship somewhere because of this fiasco yet?

 

I never understood why the goddamn football coach needs a State Trooper (or four) to escort him across the field after the game. Because some bonehead grabbed Bear Bryant's hat? PULLEEEZZZEE.

 

Correct, I agree. Fair points.

My point is Bobby Knight shouldn’t have gotten deferential treatment because he’s an asshole and a horrible person who deserved little respect. He’s a bully.

Maybe I’m going through a phase right now, but I just don’t feel like basketball coaches are all that important. Lots of people are successful at what they do.

 

To protect him from a psycho fan or hater from shooting him.

 

The thing that has always driven me nuts about Knight and his disdain for the press was his infamous comment, "most of us learn to write in the fourth grade, then we move on to other things." Well, most of us learn to play basketball in gym class at about that age too, Bob. You get paid to teach damn near adults how to play a child's game.

 

Yes indeed,

Or when he said journalism was a career that's one level above prostitution. Then what are you? A pimp?

Don't get me wrong, coaching is a wonderful profession, and I'm sure we all know many coaches that are wonderful people. I've been blessed to work with dozens and dozens of great ones in my career. Have had very few bad experiences.

But coaching is a job. Like anything else. I'll preserve my reverence for surgeons or something.