RE: Frustration and Communication

[dfairchild]

Regarding the booing of Nancy Z.  I cannot see how it is inappropriate given
the context.  The Big East Conference is an athletic association.  Those who
care anything about this affiliation are primarily fans of UC athletics.
Granted there will be benefits to the university in general (additional
exposure, increase in student applications and attendance, increased $$).
In the context of athletics - booing is a regular, accepted behavior.
Sitting close to the exit at the Shoe (5/3 arena) for opposing players and
the officials - booing is polite.  A lot worst gets said and screamed.
Huggins and company have experienced a lot worst on the road.

To Nancy and co. - welcome to the realities of big time athletics.

I support Bob Huggins!
DF

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Marshall [mailto:address@hidden
Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2005 5:57 PM
To: address@hidden
Subject: RE: [UC Basketball] Frustration and Communication


I admire huggins for staying.

His loyalty to his players is what it's all about.

I Put no blame on him, he's really done nothing but won. His only issue was
his DUI, and he paid his price for it.  But beyond that he has done FAR more
good than bad.  And to not let him go out on his ownterms is an injustice.
Also the way it's been handled is only an example of things to come...
Obviously this admin doesn't know how to handle things... And that is a
bigger concern for the university than Huggins issues.

-----Original Message-----
From: juckerrules [mailto:address@hidden
Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2005 4:37 PM
To: address@hidden
Subject: Re: [UC Basketball] Frustration and Communication

I'm thinking it's a "nobody blinked" kind of thing.
Huggins can't seriously want to just finish out his contract - he'll only
succeed in assuring the program is down for some time to come - he's already
losing out on quality recruits because of his two years and out contract
(see Jason Bennett).  Do you think he'll attract quality recruits during his
last season?

I still think Huggins' position is untenable - if he really cares about the
team, he'll leave.  Nancy Zimpher cares about the University as a whole -
she's willing to let the B-ball program suffer for a while to  establish a
new order that meshes with the image she wants the University to project as
a whole.  She is not going to cave and extend Huggins' contract.  If nobody
blinks, the team suffers more than if Huggins leaves sooner - he'll lose
potential players and he'll still be gone anyway in two years - I've always
preferred that my pain and suffering be short; I'd rather cut my hand off
with a sharp cleaver than have it gnawed off by rats - Huggins will be
gnawed to the bone before this is over.

--- address@hidden wrote:

> My second day on the forum and I'm back again, encouraged by the
> responses from Adam and Myles and Bearcat Tom and Dan and Brent.  And,
> yes, I do remember that UC-UNC game, Adam, and I was rooting for the
> Bearcats all the way!
>
> I totally agree with the frustration and understand that booing is a
> response to it.  And certainly I wish someone would tell us what's
> going on (although I'm not sure I agree that we have a right to know
> -- just a strong desire).  I don't know whether we would agree or
> disagree, but at least we'd be making our points based on information,
> not rumors and stereotypes.
>
> When I got to thinking about my impression that almost no information
> has been shared, I went back to previous postings and also did a
> Google News search to find out what has been reported publicly either
> from President Zimpher or Coach Huggins.  And I didn't find much
> except speculation.  The university has said almost nothing, and all
> we know publicly from Coach Huggins is what he said at his press
> conference.
>
> To summarize:  Coach H had a 4-year contract with a rollover clause
> that he lost as a result of his DUI last year.  That made the length
> of his contract 3 years in '04-05.  President Z said she wouldn't
> discuss H's contract until after the recruiting season was over (which
> seems like bad timing, but maybe that's something they agreed to when
> H came back from his suspension?)  When they did talk, at least
> according to the press, Z chose not to extend the contract beyond the
> two years left on it.  She also chose not to hold a press conference
> about it.
> At the same time, H chose not to take the buyout in his contract,
> decided to stay, and decided to announce it in a press conference.
>
> I can make all kinds of assumptions about the reasons Z and H made the
> decisions they did, but the only published statements I can find
> suggest that Z didn't extend the contract because (a) she wasn't
> satisfied that there was enough improvement in behavior/image this
> year to justify doing so and/or
> (b) she didn't want to tie the hands of a new AD and wasn't extending
> any coach's contracts.  And H announced that he intended to stay
> because he felt a strong sense of loyalty to his players, coaches, the
> university, and the city.
>
> Have I missed something that one of them said?  Have others on the
> board heard what he's telling recruits about his expectations?  Has
> either one spoken in interviews with the press or in meetings with
> alumni or UCATS or someone else about what's going on?
>
> The next question:  If President Zimpher, the Trustees, the Athletic
> Director, Coach Huggins, and his agent aren't talking, why might that
> be?  (I assume that the correct answer isn't that they all enjoy
> frustrating us!)  All of them are pretty smart people and politically
> savvy or they wouldn't have gotten where they are; so I assume that
> they think the frustration this has caused is preferable to speaking
> out - even though we know the situation has to be a distraction for
> President Z in her focus on improving the university and its image and
> we know the situation deosn't help Coach Huggins with his recruiting.
>
> So I'm stumped.  What do other Forum members know or think are the
> possible reasons that no one is talking?  (I'm not looking for a David
> Letterman list here, although that might be fun, but instead I wonder
> if they're still negotiating, or if it's a matter of personnel law, or
> if it's wait for a new Ad, or ????)


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