Coach K angry at ribbon controversy

[cspan37421]

he did deliberately decide not to wear one

Do you have evidence for this claim?

[Troublemaker]

he did deliberately decide not to wear one and it should have been abundantly obviously that he was going get slammed for it. shortly after the game was over, the subject came up on the chat and everyone was like "what was he thinking because he is going to get killed for it?" i don't care that he didn't wear one but i don't want to see him get slammed for it. that wasn't one of k's brighter moves.

I disagree completely. You're basically saying he should live life appeasing the fringe idiots and nutjobs, that he should be constantly aware of what fringe idiots and nutjobs might think about every one of his actions. Nobody reasonable could possibly turn the Eve Carson tragedy into criticism of Coach K, especially since he helped organize a touching tribute to her in the first place. It's absurd and disgusting that the fringe idiots and nutjobs would even bring it up; all it takes is a moment's thought to discount what they were suggesting. We shouldn't appease fringe idiots and nutjobs. We should search and destroy them.

[cspan37421]

I can't help but wonder if K, who has made a point of reaching out to the media more this year, feels his hand has been bitten.

[BobbyFan]

I think whats angering K the most is they are taking a gesture to honor someone who lost their life as yet another tit for tat in a college basketball rivalry. "our coach is better cause he wore a ribbon, K didn't, he's such a jerk" Give me a break.

Absolutely.

It's not about K having to defend himself despite using appropriate measures. It's about people selfishly using a tragedy to further their anti-Duke sentiment. Sick...

[dukie8]

I disagree completely. You're basically saying he should live life appeasing the fringe idiots and nutjobs, that he should be constantly aware of what fringe idiots and nutjobs might think about every one of his actions. Nobody reasonable could possibly turn the Eve Carson tragedy into criticism of Coach K, especially since he helped organize a touching tribute to her in the first place. It's absurd and disgusting that the fringe idiots and nutjobs would even bring it up; all it takes is a moment's thought to discount what they were suggesting. We shouldn't appease fringe idiots and nutjobs. We should search and destroy them.

well he already does have to cater to the "fringe idiots and nutjobs" all the time. do you think he always says what he actually thinks in interviews? if he did, he would get slammed by those same people. other than bobby knight, i can't think of another coach who basically lets it fly in interviews.

nobody is turning the eve carson tragedy into a criticism of k. they are, however, criticizing his lack of a ribbon. like i said earlier, it didn't bother me, but it was abundantly obvious to the people in the chat room that it was going to bother a lot of other people and that it was very misguided on his part not to have popped one on.

[Troublemaker]

well he already does have to cater to the "fringe idiots and nutjobs" all the time. do you think he always says what he actually thinks in interviews? if he did, he would get slammed by those same people. other than bobby knight, i can't think of another coach who basically lets it fly in interviews.

nobody is turning the eve carson tragedy into a criticism of k. they are, however, criticizing his lack of a ribbon. like i said earlier, it didn't bother me, but it was abundantly obvious to the people in the chat room that it was going to bother a lot of other people and that it was very misguided on his part not to have popped one on.

What is this hair-splitting? They are criticizing K because of a lack of a ribbon. Okay? The point is, the criticism is absurd and disgusting, and it's not right to expect Coach K to anticipate what ridiculous and disgusting criticism might come his way and how to avoid it. I would rather expect people to act like human beings instead. I don't think your interview analogy works here and I don't care what the chat room thought. You are all wrong if you all think this way.

[RelativeWays]

Someone break out the "Jump to Conclusions" mat from Office Space, apparently its a Tar Heel fans favorite board game.

[RepoMan]

he did deliberately decide not to wear one

How do you know this? And, assuming it is true, what do you surmise was his intent? He wanted to slight the deceased in some way? An attempt to tweak Carolina fans? He just hates ribbons? Seriously, what could possibly be the reason.

[dukemsu]

well he already does have to cater to the "fringe idiots and nutjobs" all the time. do you think he always says what he actually thinks in interviews? if he did, he would get slammed by those same people. other than bobby knight, i can't think of another coach who basically lets it fly in interviews.

nobody is turning the eve carson tragedy into a criticism of k. they are, however, criticizing his lack of a ribbon. like i said earlier, it didn't bother me, but it was abundantly obvious to the people in the chat room that it was going to bother a lot of other people and that it was very misguided on his part not to have popped one on.

An example of a coach who does let it fly is Pearl from Tennessee, and that will last until the media tires of him and he overcorrects.

This whole thing is just pure nonsense, an example of everyone missing the big picture that Duke went above and beyond the call on this tragedy in favor of complaining about a ribbon.

Why Roy gets a pass (taping over the Duke on the chair, his petty sniping, his childish feuds with other coaches such as Donovan), I have no idea. I honestly think a big part of it is the specter of Jordan-I get the impression that national media do not like criticizing UNC due to Jordan's presence around the program.

That's just an aside, and just my opinion. But this short-sightedness to simply amp their hatred for K is infantile.

[dukie8]

What is this hair-splitting? They are criticizing K because of a lack of a ribbon. Okay? The point is, the criticism is absurd and disgusting, and it's not right to expect Coach K to anticipate what ridiculous and disgusting criticism might come his way and how to avoid it. I would rather expect people to act like human beings instead. I don't think your interview analogy works here and I don't care what the chat room thought. You are all wrong if you all think this way.

thanks for telling me that i am wrong on a purely subjective matter with absolutely no support. it's just what the boards strive for. why is it not right to expect k to realize that if he and his staff are the only ones in the building who are on tv not wearing a ribbon it is going to cause some waves? you might not agree with the criticism, and i certainly don't, but your choice of calling it "disgusting" certainly is odd. i can think of a lot of things that are digusting and this isn't one of them.

[dukie8]

How do you know this? And, assuming it is true, what do you surmise was his intent? He wanted to slight the deceased in some way? An attempt to tweak Carolina fans? He just hates ribbons? Seriously, what could possibly be the reason.

he either accidently didn't wear one or he deliberatively didn't wear one. if he accidently didn't wear one, once he walked onto the floor and saw everyone in the place with one on, he then deliberatively didn't put one on because he very easily could have had the water boy grab one for him.

i, as well as the other people on the chat, were perplexed why he didn't have one on because it was obvious he was going to get slammed for it. my guess would be that he felt he already had honored eve carson and that the ribbons were for the students. as i repeatedly have stated, it didn't bother me in the least that he didn't have one on.

[RepoMan]

but your choice of calling it "disgusting" certainly is odd. i can think of a lot of things that are digusting and this isn't one of them.

It is disgusting because the only way that the story is of any interest and the only reason that anyone would comment upon the lack of ribbon is to suggest that K had some sort of bad motive. Surely its not just a question of fashion sense. So, to implicitly suggest that the man deliberately failed to wear a commemorative ribbon with the intent of screwing with people in the context of a memorial to a murdered UNC student--a memorial that he himself organized--is disgusting and irresponsible. It's really not debatable.

[Troublemaker]

thanks for telling me that i am wrong on a purely subjective matter with absolutely no support. it's just what the boards strive for. why is it not right to expect k to realize that if he and his staff are the only ones in the building who are on tv not wearing a ribbon it is going to cause some waves? you might not agree with the criticism, and i certainly don't, but your choice of calling it "disgusting" certainly is odd. i can think of a lot of things that are digusting and this isn't one of them.

I'm not the only one calling it disgusting. To use this tragedy to score a point in the rivalry by leveling an absurd charge at K is disgusting. I don't know what else to call it. Also, no, you can't expect people to account for absurd reactions. K was dismayed in his press conference that anyone would even suggest what they suggested. It certainly did not cross his mind and unlike you, I don't EXPECT it to have crossed his mind. So, yes, you are wrong. And yes, that is my opinion, but I didn't think I had to sprinkle IMOs all over the place for you to realize that I am stating opinion.

[RepoMan]

he either accidently didn't wear one or he deliberatively didn't wear one. if he accidently didn't wear one, once he walked onto the floor and saw everyone in the place with one on, he then deliberatively didn't put one on because he very easily could have had the water boy grab one for him.

Or, maybe he never gave a moment's thought to wearing a ribbon or not, and he certainly never dreamed that anyone would suggest he had some evil motive by his failure to do so.

[gep]

I didn't know how to link 2 threads... so I copied from the "Ribbons" thread... this post from Dukefencer...

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"Krzyzewski Addresses Duke's Honoring of Slain UNC Student"

http://www.wral.com/sports/story/2550702/

Quote: "Asked by WRAL about that Monday, Krzyzewski responded: “With the ribbons, the students wore those. That’s something the students were doing. We were going to honor [Carson] with what we were doing before the game. I thought overall everybody there, Duke, North Carolina, everyone was on the same page.”

Krzyzewski said the idea of ribbons came up when he talked to the Duke students the night before the game.

“I said that’s something that’s great. They did everything well. It shows what student to student would do…,” he said. “It wasn’t something we as a staff did. I thought it was appropriate to have that distinction.” (End Quote)
*****************

This seems like Coach K and the staff did not wear the ribbon for a reason... that he thought what the staff did and what the students did were both appropriate and distinctive.

I'm amazed that this came up again after the above quote...

[cspan37421]

he either accidently didn't wear one or he deliberatively didn't wear one. if he accidently didn't wear one, once he walked onto the floor and saw everyone in the place with one on, he then deliberatively didn't put one on because he very easily could have had the water boy grab one for him.

with reasoning like this, who needs trolls?

[Edouble]

he either accidently didn't wear one or he deliberatively didn't wear one. if he accidently didn't wear one, once he walked onto the floor and saw everyone in the place with one on, he then deliberatively didn't put one on because he very easily could have had the water boy grab one for him.

No he couldn't have easily had the waterboy grab one! When he walked onto the floor, I would argue, he didn't see "everyone in place with one on." When he walked out onto the Cameron floor, I doubt he even noticed that everyone had a ribbon on. Coach K has a level of focus on game day that none of us here have probably ever experienced. I'm sure it's something akin to a Zen-like trance. In any event, this is a man that (I am proud to say) won't do those stupid half-time interviews for a game in December against, say, San Diego State, because he is 100% invested in only the present game at hand. So think about the way that his brain must filter out all the noise and pandemonium of Cameron in order to focus on playing our archrival, the #1 team in the country, for a regular season ACC Championship. I'm sure a million different plays, scenarios, etc. were all simultaneously running through his head when he walked out onto the floor. He'd spent a good deal of time already planning for a moment of silence, so when it was game time, he had no need to, nor is it in his nature to invest even a shred of his attention in something as trivial as a dinky ribbon! I seriously doubt that his attention and focus on the game and his team even allows for something like people wearing tiny 2" ribbons to enter his head.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

he either accidently didn't wear one or he deliberatively didn't wear one. if he accidently didn't wear one, once he walked onto the floor and saw everyone in the place with one on, he then deliberatively didn't put one on because he very easily could have had the water boy grab one for him.

i, as well as the other people on the chat, were perplexed why he didn't have one on because it was obvious he was going to get slammed for it. my guess would be that he felt he already had honored eve carson and that the ribbons were for the students. as i repeatedly have stated, it didn't bother me in the least that he didn't have one on.

I was at the game in Cameron Saturday night. The words in bold are an overstatement of what actually took place. There were many people who did not have on ribbons. The ribbons were not even being handed out at each entrance. Some chose not to wear one, others didn't wear one because the ribbons ran out. The students bought and prepared the ribbons themselves, no one else.

The way the moment of silence was observed was very moving to all but the most cynical. In his post game comments Coach Williams praised all the things Duke did to honor Eve. Coach K was asked to comment in his post game remarks. He explained that the team's way of honoring Eve was in the moment of silence. He said that the ribbons were a student to student effort. Somehow trying to project what Coach K was thinking or feeling beyond what he said seems to be conjecture, not fact.

[OldPhiKap]

No good deed goes unpunished.

[DukeFencer]

I can't help but wonder if K, who has made a point of reaching out to the media more this year, feels his hand has been bitten.

Was just thinking this. I wasn't paying much attention whenever it was that K made the step back from the media, but I did read about it in articles every year (about how inaccessible he was, etc.) This, the whole injury report, everything, really do just seem like distractions to me. Would not blame him if he backed away again and left the responsibility of interviews with the assistants.