He’s going home to coach North Carolina. He didn’t kill your dog.
9 out of 10 of you would do the same thing. No, he didn’t do it for the dough.
He could have gone anyplace on God’s earth 15 years ago, but decided to plunk himself in the middle of nowhere and coach in Kansas.
A few players may leave K.U.? Let 'em go if this upsets them.
You should name your kids after him, not burn him at the stake.
The next guy will do fine. Lighten up.
I’m more concerned about the continued “jockification” of American culture which gives the news about a freaking college basketball coach leaving for another job such overblown importance that the news of his “impending press conference!” scrolls across 4, 5, 9, 29, 38, 41, AND freaking 62 for two hours last night.
And “middle of nowhere”? You’d only say that if you were French.
I’m not a Kansas fan, I’m a Texas fan. And I’ve always liked Roy Williams. Moreover, I don’t blame the guy for taking his dream job at his alma mater. In fact, I give him credit for the loyalty he showed to his players last time the Tar Heels job came open.
I’m still very unhappy about the way he handled things, on several fronts.
On a minor note, since he DID plan to go to North Carolina, he should have shown more class and more honesty when reporters aked him legitimate questions about that. He had no business cursing at Bonnie Bernstein on live TV.
More importantly, I’m appalled at the way he screwed over his Athletic Director. There’s no doubt that Bohl was fired because Roy Williams didn’t like him and wanted him out. Now, I don’t know either man, so I can’t judge who’s right or wrong in this case… but I DO think that it was petty and mean for ROy Williams to encourage the firing of the A.D. when he knew he wasn’t going to be at Kansas next year anyway.
Once he knew that Bohl’s job was in jeopardy, Williams SHOULD have told the university administration, “Look, I admit, I’ve never liked the guy… but he’s not the reason I’m leaving. I’m a Carolina alum, I love the school, and this is the dream of a lifetime for me.” Instead, he either GOT Bohl fired or simply stood by and let it happen.
Once Bohl was fired, I think Williams had an obligation to stay at Kansas. Otherwise, it looks as if he simply got the man fired out of meanness and spite.
Marine_One, I completely agree with you.
Ray Williams did an outstanding job at Kansas. It would have been nice if he’d been able to being a national championship, but he got KU into the NCAA tourney, what, 14 straight years or something? A great record.
Anyway, Roy earned his money at Kansas. Now he gets his dream job at UNC, and I’m glad for him. It’ll be fun to watch him there.
As for any whiney kids in his program - shut the fuck up, you overindulging, spoiled little children. You boys are getting a free fuckin’ ride through college, and a very pampered one at that. You get to play basketball at KU, and if you really are good enough, you’ll maybe get a crack at the pros (with or without Roy as your coach). As far as I’m concerned, that’s more than enough of an advantage to make a good go in life.
The one thing that pisses me off about these sorts of coaching changes is that the players get screwed. One father talked about Williams sitting in his living room last year promising that he would be there to coach his son for 4 years. I’m sorry, you make a promise to someone, you keep that promise. He is free to make his career choices, but he shouldn’t make commitments he has no intention of keeping.
I’d be right there with you, booka, on the whiney kids, but only if they weren’t hamstrung by the NCAA about transfers. Thanks to the NCAA, these players cannot transfer without penalties, they just have to live with whatever coach KU manages to hire. The coach is a big part of the recruitment process, decisions are made based on the coach as much as the program.
Astorian, I heard on the radio that Bohl’s job was already in jeopardy, other coaches wanted him out too. Not sure how big a factor Williams was, but it wasn’t him alone.
But he DIDN’T plan to go to North Carolina until very recently (i.e. last 3-4 days). When he said he hadn’t thought about the UNC job during the Final Four, I believe him. He’s a smart man - and more than capable to know a distraction when he sees one.
Bohl should have been fired 2 years ago. Sure, trying to keep Roy at KU was certainly part of the motivation of his firing, but the school is better off without him. You have absolutely no evidence that Roy “encourange[d] the firing of the A.D.”, and even less evidence that “he knew he wasn’t going to be at Kansas next year anyway.”
Tough decisions take time - and that’s what Roy took. KU is in for some rough times in the next 2-3 years, but vilifying Williams isn’t going to help.
Ya’ know, I’m really of two minds on this one. With the one partially decomposed mind that Igor dragged home for me, yeah, I agree with you that a lot of the time the news attaches waaaaay too much attention on sports and sports figures (not to mention those silly local “feel good” stories they give as much time as world or national news; or even those lackluster “health reports” they try shoving down your throat). I played soccer throughout high school and even played a year or two of baseball when I was even younger than that, so I’m not against sports or sports coverage; it’s just that, as you mentioned, two hours of coverage was too much. YMM, of course, V.
On the other mind (carelessly thrown in that dusty corner), Roy Williams and his Jayhawks have proven to be fairly popular in the KC metro area. I mean, when I was growing up in Prairie Village and Overland Park, I was surrounded by Jayhawk fans–most of whom really, really celebrated the basketball season. Sure, some of that was due to Larry Brown’s championship team, but the support seemed to grow once Roy stepped in and proved he was a class act as a coach. You don’t often get that in coaching at the high school level and above. Especially above.
So yeah, while I don’t think it was egregious that they showed the coverage live (although, I also had to wonder why 62 was mixing in), they could have shortened it. Slow news night, I suppose.
And while KU is a great university for an education, having a winning basketball team that helps attract tourists and fee-paying students doesn’t hurt. Besides, I think KU usually does a pretty good job in separating the importance of sports and education.
And Marine_One, the next coach may not do fine. Some coaches just plain suck; for all we know, the next one may end up tearing down the basketball program Larry Brown and Roy Williams built.
…won’t anyone think of Coach Doherty?
I don’t follow UNC hoops closely, but IMO, he got the shaft. He was a good coach at Notre Dame, and was hired to replace a legend. Anybody who took that job was bound not to last long. Dean Smith raised the bar too high for a young guy to come in and maintain. Three years was just not enough time to make the program “his”, and I don’t think he was given the chance. UNC wanted Williams 3 years ago, and they finally got him. Doherty was just a “rebound” (excuse me) coach, and it seems like UNC was just biding it’s time until they got who they really wanted.
Nothing against Roy Williams, he’s a fine coach. Here’s hoping Coach Doherty hooks on with a school who will appreciate him and give him a fair opportunity, as well as the time to build a program.
Now I’m getting worried about the “TV-ification” of Kansas. You’ve got seven local channels? Aiyee.
Sure, I agree. And don’t get me wrong - the Jayhawks are my School Team, after all. I even changed the UnaBoard graphics in their honor on the Final’s night (and then to an orange the next night…bah).
I think it was seeing on the news last night the lead story being the coverage of Roy Williams leaving pushing aside such items as a few murders, the War, etc.
Then again, we have the same problem with the weather on many nights. Nothing really happens in Kansas City - which, IMO, is good. It’s a great place to live, but you wouldn’t want to visit there.
Nope, 9. I left out 19 (PBS) and 50 (PAX/Religious), as I didn’t flip to them last night. Also, we can get Channel 11 too most nights.
Doherty is a poster child for manic depression. He wasn’t good at Notre Dame, Troy Murphy was. Doherty’s got a lot of spirit, and it was great to see the JACC filled for a change, but he’s WAY too tied to his emotions. And he wasn’t exactly shafted at UNC. Sure, it’s pretty embarrassing to basically have your players’ parents kick you out of the head coach office, but if you can’t garner respect from your basketball players at University of friggin’ North Carolina, you don’t deserve to own a whistle.
The guy managed to screw himself over in three short years at one of the most acclaimed basketball schools in the country. The only head job he’ll get in the near future is at one of those NAIA schools that sound good, but really aren’t, like Georgetown (Ky.).
Agreed, but she seems to have calmed down a lot since her 90210 days. 
I saw the KU homage on the UnaBoard! That’s when I sang my little ditty, “I love Anthracite!” (I tried to come up with a good rhyme for your name at the time, but I couldn’t think of a snazzy one at that moment. I remember a girl from high school, Mikhail–or Micala; I can’t remember right now–with whose name I had a similar problem. I wish I could remember her name, damnit! I do remember that she would draw a lot of roses in our art class (a beginner’s class in which neither of us belonged, but had to take if we wanted the advanced drawing courses), and that she said she had lived all over the world with her much, much older father. But, huh, now I’m really digressing…)
Anyway, not to add to too much of a hijack (sorry, Marine_One!), but the weather coverage annoys me, too. Especially since they manage to cover most of the screen of whatever show you’re watching (Buffy) with warnings of possible unhappy weather patterns. Tornadoes are important, sure, but Buffy is a force unto her own. 
And I agree: they shouldn’t have made Roy their lead story.
SkipMagic , I agree with you.
(Can I hijack my own thread??)
I love the way they cover 87% of the screen with a 30 county weather map!
And the extreme closeups of actual ice on roads!
See, this is the kind of thing that I’m talking about. This is the kind of thing that prompted me to start boycotting the local TV news.
That’s just ridiculous. The TV news in some cities and towns are just too sports-obsessed. I seriously do not believe that any sports fan, no matter how devoted, really feels it’s necessary for the local news to do such an overkill in news coverage. It’s absolutely absurd. Why do some local news stations do this?
Stations around large, sucessful universities are one thing. If you want to see it at it’s worst, you should have seen the Scranton media (one local TV sportscaster in particular) gushing all over Gerry McNamara during the days leading up to and after the NCAA Final Four. Gerry McNamara is a freshman point guard for the Syracuse Orangemen. You’d think he was the second coming of Christ, the way the local media in general (local sportscaster in particular—we’ll call him “Ping” )carried on. He’s only a FRESHMAN!!! Yes, he has talent, but he’s 19 years old.
It’s just a game, people…
I think this is a condemnation of the University, not the coach. Dean Smith never would have allowed this. IMHO, fire the coach, don’t fire the coach, whatever, but do it on his merits. UNC is in deep trouble if they run their athletic program based on this from parents.
I prefered to spend my time listening to the Royals on Gamecast on MLB. I could have seen it on TV if Comcast and the Royals could agree on a deal.
Geez… I hope a 10-1 team can get a good deal now.
Roy leaving = good. Because KU could win a national title soon and because KU will be crushed for the next few years (one of the two)
Why did freaking WB62 cover Roy? they don’t even have a news show. They’re located in some office barely in Kansas.
At least 38 carries the dress rehersal for the 41 news at 9. Or some news show, I forget. I think 38 is located in Lawrence anyways.
If you had a giant satelite, you could get 2 in St. Joe or the Topeka stations, and even more stations
Actually, I specifically remember seeing a stat (sorry, don’t have a cite - I’ll look tomorrow) that showed local sports coverage to be in serious decline, directly due to a correlation in cable subscriptions. Why watch poorly covered sports reporting when ESPN and FOX Sports do an infinitely more adequate job?
The problem is, though, that I believe the parents (to an extent). Doherty is a nut case who seems emotionally unstable who can’t handle the pressure of being a Division I basketball coach - especially at one of the top 4 coaching positions in that sport. I have no doubt that 90% of the coaches out there wouldn’t have failed the way that Doherty did. It certainly wasn’t forseeable, and his hiring was a good decision (as 5th choice coaches go), but it ended up collapsing in his lap.