Thursday, February 11, 2010

Greg Washington, Tonight's Feature Contest and Roy Williams Inserts Foot Into Mouth

I left out a very important fact in last night's Drexel vs. Hofstra game. With his five blocks last night, Hofstra junior forward Greg Washington now has the all time career blocks record at Hofstra with 180. The previous record was set by David Taylor at 178. Washington also broke the season record for blocks yesterday with 69. The previous record was 68 set by Washington last season.

In a little while, because I am at that age in life (nearly 44), I will be taking a nap. That's because tonight's feature game is St Mary's at Gonzaga on ESPN2 at 11:00 PM. It's basically for all the marbles in the WCC. More importantly, it's absolutely vital that St Mary's beats Gonzaga in Spokane. If the Gaels prevail, it will be the signature win they need on their at large resume. I really like both teams and I normally do not overtly root for a team on my blog. But for once, I will make an exception. May Omar Samhan put up a 40 spot on the Zags and go Gaels!

Finally, it's not been a good last several weeks for the North Carolina Tar Heels. First, the Tar Heels have lost seven of their last eight games. Only NC State with one more conference loss is keeping North Carolina from being dead last in the ACC. Second, the Tar Heels lost at home to their archrival Blue Devils last night. Never a good thing. Third, a SportsCenter anchor described the game as Duke holding off "pesky" North Carolina. The term "pesky" is usually associated with overachieving mid major teams, not a defending NCAA champion that has seven McDonald's All Americans on it.

Then finally a friend sent me a link today to an article posted yesterday by Stuart Mandel of Sports Illustrated. In the middle of this article is a gem of a quote by Carolina coach Roy Williams. I just have to post it here.
"Our massage therapist told me, 'You know, coach, what happened in Haiti is a catastrophe. What you're having is a disappointment,' " said Williams. "I told her that depends on what chair you're sitting in. It does feel like a catastrophe to me, because it is my life."
That belongs in the "Holy Crap, you did not just say that!" category. First, you should never mention your massage therapist in a quote. Us commoner basketball fans tend not to have massage therapists, let alone quote them. Second, has the Tar Heel basketball been so bad that it has wiped away any filter Williams had in his head?? Third, no matter how bad a season has been to you personally, you can't in any way shape or form think it's a comparable catastrophe to Haiti, no matter what "chair you're sitting in".

Finally, if this is a catastrophe for a man who just ten months ago coached his team to a national championship, has two national championships in total and arguably has the best recruit in the country in Harrison Barnes joining the Tar Heels in 2010, he really needs time to chill. Your teams can't be final four material every year. Hell, Mike Krzyzewski had a horrible season few years back and he survived just fine.

My friend described the quote as "narcissistic". I can't agree with him more. I often don't give advice here, but here's a thought. Roy, you need to get out of the "chair you're sitting in" and go look at the two national championships you have won. Then go on CNN, Fox News, whatever news site and watch some video from Haiti. Gain some perspective, Roy. You really need to.

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