The sleaziest coach in a sleazy game
 

Kentucky's John Calipari is the sleaziest coach in a sleazy game. - By Charles P. Pierce - Slate Magazine

Nothing really new there....

Calipari is one of the Big Three along with Bobby Huggins and Bobby Gonzalez......

It's sad what some schools will do to come up with a winning team. And it's amazing that Seton Hall puts up with Gonzalez when he doesn't really win that much either.

+1 with JR. That about sums it up IMO.

Did Gonzalez surge past Pitino to garner a place in the JR Big 3 with his performance last night protesting the ejection of his player who was guilty of the punch to the balls?

Geeze, boinking the wife of one of your assistant coachs on a restaurant table doesn't make him that big of a scumbag, does it? At least he waited until she finished eating. :D

Calipari, Huggins and Gonzalez are all eligible for the coveted Scumbag Lifetime Achievement Award. Pitino still has a ways to go yet.

Of course, we can't confuse this with the equally prestigious Whiny Coach Of The Year Award, also known as the Coach K Trophy. They are completely different categories.

Taking Nominations?
 

For the annual Sweater of the Year (SOY) or Going Balistic and Turning Red Until the Veins Popout on Your Neck (GBTRUVPYN) I nominate Gary Williams, Univ of Md.

He's gonna have a coronary right on the sideline one day........

It's a toss up with Calipari and Rick "table for two" Pitino.

Had a brief exchange of words with Pitino that did not go well years ago in a men's clothing store.

He is fun to watch though.

But the leader in the "fun to watch" category has to be Tom Crean of Indiana. It's absolutely hilarious to watch him patrolling the sideline.

Yes it is.............fanboy alert, daughter is at IU

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So you disagree with the author's superlative?

Not before K State's Frank Martin.
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DLH - you beat me by a few sec.......Frank Martin, Kansas State ranks up there for Most Intense!

FM is so fun to watch. I tried to find some pix of his now famous "glare"....dude is scary.

Let's not forget this tool

http://www.idsnews.com/news/mfiles/p...2276912407.jpg

Texas Tech head basketball coach Pat Knight was informed by the Big 12 that he was to dress a little more becoming of a division one basketball coach. Knight, who was wearing his signature Red Raider polo when the number one Kansas Jayhawks dispatched Tech in the Big 12 tournament Thursday afternoon.


Kansas coach Bill Self agreed with the Big 12's decision.


"He came up and shook my hand after the game and I thought it was an athletic trainer," Self explained. "Seriously, I was wondering why an athletic trainer was coming up to me. I was wondering if he was going to tape my ankles or something. The only way I found out he was a coach is because he wasn't wearing a fanny pack."


The statement from the Big 12 used language ranging from unbecoming to schleppy when describing Knight's sideline attire.


"We want our head coaches to look the part during the games," a Big 12 compliance official stated. "And a polo is not going to get that done. If he thinks a sweater vest is going to work, he's wrong on that as well. This isn't football and only Jim Tressel can wear something so gay looking. Basketball coaches wear suits on the sidelines, leave the polos for trainers, equipment managers, and cheer coaches."


The Big 12 official offered suggestions for Knight to emulate.
"Rick Pitino is a good model, minus the seedy Italian-ness. I would stay away from the Bruce Pearl look, I don't understand why he wears that orange blazer, his face is orange enough from mystic tans," the official explained.

His tirade during the B12 tournament that earned him a TF was rather entertaining. :D

The a&*hole doesn't fall very far from the "tree"

Hoosier Alert!

Does the General have some black marks on his record? Yes. Does he have questionable programs like those ran by Pitino, Calipari, Frank Martin and others? No. Did he have an injury like Coach K and Roy Williams when his team wasn't doing well? No. Does he have more championships than many other coaches while doing it with far lesser talent? Absolutely!

Back in the day, if I had a kid with marginal talent and discipline - which I would have taken care of at home - I would send him to IU in a heartbeat. The only exception that comes to mind is if he was a big man (John Thompson II/Georgetown).

That concludes my Hoosier rant for today.

He didn't like the black & white suit you selected for him?:D

Yup
 

A howler monkey....

Probably not.

But......

You gotta remember that "sleazy scumbag" and "whiny crybaby" are completely different categories. Calipari might be the King of the sleazy scumbags but Huggins has to be the leader of the goofs that are both scumbags and crybabies. Gonzalez is one of those too. Iow Huggins has to be close in the Lifetime Achievement Award.

nice call. . Report: Seton Hall Pirates fire Bobby Gonzalez as coach - ESPN

If standards are going to be consistent there are a few more coaches that should be included.

It is not hard to find equivalent incidents where the treatment is not equivalent.

Coach K had exactly the the same thing happen @ Duke with Corey Magette as happened with Calipari and Camby....yet Duke/K went untouched. Hmmm.

Another program would also be minus 10 championships if there was any consistency. Look up Sam Gilbert. He was part of the biggest racket in all of college basketball and they're always left out of the discussion. And Sam Gilbert's was blatant and widely known, even to the coach. Hmmm.

I think I have a new man crush!!

What exactly was Pitino accused of doing (in the context of basketball, not his affair)? The only thing I can think of is that Pitino took over a UK program already on probation as a result of Eddie Sutton's actions.

Sure, he job hopped a bit, but that hardly translates into questionable programs.

As for Calipari, there has never been any link between him and any wrongdoing. If you're going to tag him with the actions of others, you're probably going to have to toss out half the D1 coaches out there and 10-20 championships (or more)...unless you're going to tell me no other D1 player ever took money from an agent or booster or ever cheated on their SAT....ever.

Disagree completely with the bold text. UCLA, Kentucky, Duke, UNC, Kansas and Indiana are the premier basketball programs and Bob Knight had his share of talent. IU has been down in talent lately because Henderson wasnt very good, Sampson was better "is" a cheat and a fraud. Crean is a good hire I think but needs time to shake the stink off what Sampson left behind. In time, because hoops is a religion in Indiana, they will have their share of talent as well.

The rest is debateable...

Martin runs a questionable program at KSU? Just askin'.

That can't be a legitimate article, can it? Sure, the really bad stuff was apparently said off the record, but even Self's comments make him sound worse than almost everyone else mentioned in this thread.

Reads like satire to me.

Nobody has mention Steve Lavin or Blias or any of the nice people at ESPN......Since we are giving out scumbag rewards

Apparently it is satire. It's off a blog and his his other blogs are out there. The self comments are the giveaway. That said, 'truth in humor' applies here.

What color is satire supposed to be in? Navy blue?

Two of Our Nominees in One Article!
 

After Huggins left, Kansas State hit the jackpot with fiery Martin - USATODAY.com

Excerpt -

"So he signed Huggins, who had a Final Four appearance on his résumé at Cincinnati but also low player graduation rates, a spate of off-the-court issues and his own drunken-driving arrest. Cincinnati bought out his contract." :rolleyes:

I'm going to have to work on my lists because this is a debate I get into often. Could you name 10 players that Bobby Knight had on his three championship teams? I will give you a head start:

I. Thomas
S. Alford
K. Smart

If you can name 7 more (some are obvious from his first one), you are either from Indiana or a hoops junkie.

On the other hand, Roy Williams won two championships with like 9 first-round draft choices and Dean Smith had about the same. I mention those two coaches because the media loves them so much.

Have you ever met and talked to Michael Beasley?
Are you aware of the contract one of the KSU assistants received?

No it isn't real. No professional organization would put something like that in print.

Scott May & Kent Benson

87 Dean Garret Daryl Thomas Joe Hillman Ricky Calloway (who transfered to Kansas) Todd Meier Steve Eyl Brian (?) Sloan
81 Randy Whitman Ted Kitchel Landon Turner Ray Tolbert Eric Kirchner

But those are just off the top of my head!

A day doesn't go by that I don't mention Quinn Buckner and Bobby Wilkerson

Hey, you need to wait for the annual baseball thread just like the rest of us.

slow on uptake..........?????


In Chicago area he's called the mighty Quinn

Did Martin recruit Beasely? And, I would expect all NCAA coaches sign contracts...not just one per staff.

Are you from Indiana?

At any rate, I think most would agree it is easier to remember: James Worthy, Michael Jordan, Brad Dougherty, Eric Montross, George Lynch, etc.

Obviously, you are more worried about being a smart a$$ than understanding what I'm saying.

1. Beasley suited up during Martin's watch. If I need to slow down for you I will. :D
2. Yes, all assistants sign contracts, but not like this.

I'll agreet he contract looks fishy, but you didn't answer his question about who recruited Beasley. I'm assuming, based on timing, that Beasley was recruited and signed under Huggins. When was Hill's contract signed? Seems to me that falls on the AD, assuming the deal was done before Martin arrived.

There are hundreds of players that play for a new coach who were recruited by a former coach. Was this the case with Beasely?

As far as Hill's contract is concerned, I didn't read anything in that article that overtly stated KSU's AD did anything unethical. Is Hill overpaid? The argument can easily be made. In the end, it looks like Hill brokered a heckuva deal for himself. If that is all this is, then it's nothing more than sour grapes. If there is inproprieties involved with the recruiting of Beasely on the part of Hill and KSU, then there is a problem.

Beasley was delivered to KSU in exchange for that contract.
I'm not saying there were improprieties involved with Beasley's recruiting, I'm saying he actually got on the floor during Martin's watch. Are you understanding yet? I met Beasley, I officiated him during his sophomore and junior seasons - he went to four different schools in high school or maybe I should say he was schooled four different ways - and I know about his history. Basically, I would say testing isn't his thing.

Are you suggesting a more scrupulous coach would have turned away a player that was recruited by his predecessor? What should trigger that decision?

You put Martin in the category of sleazy coaches. I'm not challenging that assertion per se; I'm just questioning your supporting evidence. If you've got other reasons for believing that, that's cool; I just don't see how the contract signed by his assistant (presumably before he got there) or playing time for a player whom he did not recruit. If there's some reason he should have benched or dismissed Beasley, then that's different.

Wow, you really don't understand what I'm saying? I met him, I know of his history and I don't think test taking is his thing. Martin may not have recruited him, but he put him on the floor. His talent is obvious. So, for the NCAA what else is there? You can't understand that?

No, tom, I don't understand. You presented Beasley as exhibit A in the case against Martin. If I read that wrong, I'm sorry. If not, I'm trying to figure out what it is you think a more scrupulous coach would have done with him.

Let's assume he took crap classes and barely passed that first semester of his freshman year. Calling Martin a sleaze implies he should have done things differently; I'm trying to figure out what you think he should have done differently with regard to Beasley and Hill.

I'm trying to get it, but I don't understand how Beasley's test taking abilities translate to "Martin is a sleazeball."

Doesn't he have to take a test to become eligible?

So, what is the problem? And, if there was a problem with his recruitment/academic handling, I'd be interested in reading some type of legitimate, validating information....which I've yet to see.

Yeah, and he would have taken that test long before Martin took the job; if you're taking about the SAT. If you're talking about the tests in his classes at KSU, I'm willing to grant that he took crap classes just to get by for a semester. Anyone can do that, the classes are there. I just don't see how it reflects on the coach's character.

The three you mentioned, plus:
Quinn Buckner
Uwe Blab
Kent Benson
Scott May
Tom Abernathy
Darryl (somebody)

OK, that's 9. If I thought more about it, I could probably come up with at least one more.

I can't name ANY of the players on either of Kentucky's recent championships. I can only name one off the Florida champions.

How many can you name off ANY of the Duke championship teams? How about more than half a dozen off the Wooden UCLA teams other than Kareem and Walton?

My point is this is nonsense. A casual fan being able to name players off a winning team doesn't prove or disprove the talent level at that team.

Snaqs is simply refering to the famous 1st baseman of the Red Sox with the same last name who happened to have a large space between his legs during one fateful World Series game against the Mets.

If you think it is nonsense then what does that say about you since you just participated? The point is it is easy to name players from UNC's championship teams because they are NBA players and in many cases stars.

I would guess that there are some circumstances surrounding the fact that you can remember Uwe Blab, but nobody from the other teams you mentioned.

Uwe!!
 

Now there is a name from the past that I haven't heard in a while. He attended the same HS that I did only years later in his case.

That is where I grew up yes.
I prefer to remind my wife of King Rice, Ranzeno Smith, Pete Chilcutt, Herb (?)Zwicker, JR Reid, Rick Fox Jeff Lebo Makhtar Ndjiay(SP) Kevin Slavadori but by then she has usually made the sofa up for me to sleep on!!

UWE was not on a national championship team. And the Daryl was Daryl Thomas. Yeah, I can go way back! (My favorite being Purdue post players!)

Since it was thrown out there:
Off the top of my head
Duke: Boozer Reggie Love J. Williams Dahntey (inferno) Jones Dunleavy Jr Battier Laetner Hill Hill (There were two) hurley Dawkins, Sneider Greg Koubek Billy Mcaffery Cherokee Parks
UCLA Gail Goodrich Walt Hazard Henry Bibby Swen Nater Jamall (Keith Wilkes) Marquess Johnson
Kentucky Tony Delk Jamaal Mashburn Walter Mcarth Jeff Pope Nazir Muhammed Jeff PRICKard Kyle (The Traitor) Macy Antoin Walker Dered Anderson

This just proves that I have waaayyy too much time during the 1/16 match up!!

But, some of those players were not even on championship teams. Plus, your spelling of the names is abysmal (even accounting for the deliberate misspelling of Jeff Sheppard.

Ok, the spelling on some was a little "off" except for that one guy from Kentucky. But they were all members of championship teams. I have a vast repository of useless knowledge like that

My point is that your point is wrong. The only UNC player I remember from last year was Tyler Hansbrough (sp??), and the only one from the '93 team I remember was Eric Montross. So, no, it isn't easy to remember who was on these teams, and I follow college basketball (or did, until just a few years ago) about as close as anyone (correctly predicted 32 or 33 of 34 at large NCAA tournament bids from 2003-07). I can name Kentucky players, but I don't remember if they won a championship. I can name other Indiana players who I know didn't -- Allen Henderson for one -- that still played for Knight.

Your lack of response to the questions I posed shows that you can't name a lot of players from championship teams, but that doesn't mean they had no talent. One thing has nothing to do with the other. I don't follow the NBA much, but I know the Maverick's roster. I couldn't tell you where many of those guys went to college. Plus, you have many headliners in the NBA -- Kobe, Labron, and Garnett -- who didn't even go to college.

Then there was that guy from their 1982 championship team, Michael something or other. :cool:

http://www.wizardzofwealth.com/image...an-cartoon.jpg

Actually, no, at least one of them didn't play on a championship team. His "team" won a championship but he was 3 years seperated from the team winning it. :rolleyes:

Ok, now I am intrigued and must update my Useless Knowledge storage base. Which one?

UK Career Statistics for Jamal Mashburn

Played 90-93....UKs recent championships were 96 and 98.

I guess I was projecting his expected graduation rate. As someone who is not a fan of UK at all, I'll refile that!!

He only left 1 year early...would have graduated in 94...still 2 years off.

Perhaps you were thinking off Jamaal Magloire? He was on the 98 team.

My opinion has always been this: coaches win with talent, BUT to be considered a great coach you either have to win more (championships) or win (a lot of games) without necessarily having the best talent. For these reasons, I don't like it when I hear Dean Smith, Coach K and Roy Williams mentioned as great coaches. Yes, I'm a IU fanboy when it comes to college hoops, but Jim Calhoun has two championships and although he had some talent it hasn't been as much as Duke or UNC. Also, I would say UNC and Duke constantly have their rankings inflated because they are UNC and Duke. I say no team has had as much talent as UNC...ever, to include UCLA. Here is why:

<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 102pt;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="136"><col style="width: 102pt;" width="136"> <tbody><tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt; width: 102pt;" height="20" width="136">Vince Carter</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Hubert Davis</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Walter Davis</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Wayne Ellington</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Raymond Felton</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Phil Ford</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Joe Forte</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Rick Fox</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Danny Green</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Tyler Hansbrough</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Brendan Haywood</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Antawn Jamison</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Bobby Jones</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Michael Jordan</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">George Karl</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Mitch Kupchak</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Ty Lawson</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">George Lynch</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Sean May</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Bob McAdoo</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Rashad McCants</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Jeff McInnis</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Doug Moe</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">David Noel</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Sam Perkins</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">J. R. Reid</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Kenny Smith</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Jerry Stackhouse</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Rasheed Wallace</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Marvin Williams</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Scott Williams</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Shammond Williams</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Joe Wolf</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">James Worthy</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"> <td style="height: 15pt;" height="20">Brandan Wright</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

Ohio State offsets all these guys with just one - DA DIEB!!! http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...es/2thumbs.gif

I heard he was the man yesterday.

HEY! I went to Ohio State!
 

http://theblackcordelias.files.wordp...bby-knight.jpg

feeling constipated, coach? :o

And today, Memphis' record in 2007-08 went from 38-2 to 0-40.

If Kentucky wins the National Championship this year, that means that they should eventually have a shot at going 0-40 also. Ya gotta say that Calipari is consistent. A consistent scumbag.

And exactly what has he done in any of the situations? You do know that the NCAA cleared him of any wrongdoing. Or are you claiming to know more than they do?

If we're going to judge by guilt by association, that should put Wooden's championship count at 0.

C'mon, really? You're unwilling to distinguish between what probably happened and what the NCAA can prove?

I appreciate your charity, if that's what it is, and there's nothing wrong with giving people the benefit of the doubt. But do you have to be able to prove that somebody's rotten to have a poor opinion of that person? I suspect that, like most people, JR does not.

That is exactly my point. The NCAA has actually declared Calipari was not involved and was not under investigation. They didn't say or even suggest that he probably was involved but they couldn't prove it.



Take the two situations...

1. How easy would it be for an agent (or a booster) to give Camby money without Calipari knowing it? Probably a lot easier than Calipari actually knowing about it.
2. How easy would it be for Rose to cheat on his test well before being admitted to Memphis without Calapari knowing about it? Do note that the NCAA ruled as they did because Rose didn't respond to a letter they sent to him....and sent to an address where he didn't live. Did rose cheat? I'd say it is probable. But does that mean Calipari had anything to do with it? No. (Possible, but there has been ZERO evidence to even suggest he might be...aside from association).

You can assume the worst (and less likely) conclusions or you can give people the benefit of doubt until there is anything remotely connecting them to the actions.

JR thinks everyone is rotten. He questioned the programs run by others too who have NEVER been connected, even remotely, in any such actions (Pitino, e.g.). Pitino my have a personality that rubs people the wrong way and may be overly egotistical, but it in no way correlates to cheating or running questionable programs.

By the standards being applied here, every NBA ref that worked with Donaghy would be suspect....but we know that is silly.

I'm sure you realize that NCAA couldn't possibly suggest any involvement without being able to prove it, at the risk of a rather large libel or slander judgment. So this fact doesn't count for much.

As you might know, big-time college athletes are heavily managed and supervised by their athletic departments, 24/7, in and out of season. They're too valuable to be left to their own devices. Many schools have special "academic" programs for the athletes so that they don't have to be troubled about going to actual classes with other students. The staff know exactly what's going on, often in pornographic detail.

Calipari might have achieved plausible deniability, but if he didn't actually know what his players were doing he could have found out with a phone call. And, as head coach, he's responsible (ethically if not under NCAA regs) for his team and the behavior of his team's "boosters." Plenty of head coaches manage to keep the "boosters" at bay -- why not Calipari, at multiple programs? Coincidence?

You're determined to extend the benefit of the doubt, Camron, and I admire your charity in doing so. And perhaps you'll think me as cynical as you seem to consider JR. But I know from personal experience the corrupting effects of money from big-time college athletics. The dollar amounts are just so staggeringly vast that it's easy to see how people grab it.

Well thought out analysis imo. The people in Memphis seem to agree also. They have the same opinion of Calipari that I have...and we're hardly alone.

Geoff Calkins: University of Memphis' appeal of NCAA sanctions was doomed from start The Commercial Appeal

Further to this...and something that I wasn't aware of until this morning....Martin was fired in 1988 from being the head coach of Miami Senior High as a result of recruiting and inducement scandal. He was eventually cleared but the firing stood. He was then hired as a recruiting co-ordinator at Northeastern before joining Huggins at both Cincy and KSU doing the same thing.

Y'all know my opinion of Huggins.

Certainly does make you say "hmmmmmmmm".