chippy K?

[gumbomoop]

Help: in looking at GoDuke, I see and have now read an article giving Krzyzewski an "F" for diplomacy, in reference to his apparently irritated response to a question a few days ago regarding excessive show-off dunks by US, I think against China. The writer takes K to task, mostly though not entirely fairly in my judgment, for said irritation, offering alternate, lighter responses as more appropriate.

I do understand the incredible pressure K's under, more intense precisely because of the amazing Duke-hatred that seems omnipresent and omnivorous (but not, as we know, omniscient). Further, I grant that a chip-on-shoulder attitude may be an essential, though hardly sufficient, element on the road to redemption.

Still, I do miss the Krzyzewski of those hilarious, tongue-in-cheek commercials he did back in the (early?) '90s, some in the back of a limo, with Micki, if I recall. (I'd guess that twinkle in K's eye really ticked off Carolina folks.) What were those commercials about--anyone remember? More important, anyone also miss that lighter K? I assume he's still a genuinely funny and playful guy, so his pissed-off responses are sometimes painful to see.

Moreover, insipid questions on unimportant subjects merit humorous, not angry, treatment. Stupid sports writers, after all, don't generally deal with truly significant issues, such as countries invading other countries, concerning which several examples come to mind.

[gumbomoop]

My bad: I meant DukeUpdate.com, not GoDuke, as source for the link to the article critical of K.

And as for other My bads in the "chippy K?" post, I'm confident several of you will let me know....

[Coballs]

The limo thing wasn't a commercial. It was a promo in 1994 for the Road to the Final Four on CBS. I think it was played before the Purdue game and then before the Florida Final Four game. It featured that little guy from the Bud Light "Yes I Am" commercials. In the promo he was driving Coach K in a limo to the Final Four. I think the little guy asks K "First time in a limo, coach?" and K responds "First time without my good friend Bobby Knight" or something like that. At the end of the promo, the little guy (who may have pretended that he was Coach K earlier on) realizes that he's driving Coach K and says "Hey, aren't you Coach Kroojawooski" and, in his most nasal voice, K responds "You mean Krzyzewski? Yes I am" At the time, my friends and I thought it was hilarious.

[roywhite]

The article in question was fairly weak when it first came out, and that was nearly a week ago.

I'm proud of the way Coach K and his team have conducted themselves, both on court and off. Their high degree of popularity with other Olympic athletes and the Chinese public seems evidence that they are displaying good sportsmanship.

[Kdogg]

The limo thing wasn't a commercial. It was a promo in 1994 for the Road to the Final Four on CBS. I think it was played before the Purdue game and then before the Florida Final Four game. It featured that little guy from the Bud Light "Yes I Am" commercials. In the promo he was driving Coach K in a limo to the Final Four. I think the little guy asks K "First time in a limo, coach?" and K responds "First time without my good friend Bobby Knight" or something like that. At the end of the promo, the little guy (who may have pretended that he was Coach K earlier on) realizes that he's driving Coach K and says "Hey, aren't you Coach Kroojawooski" and, in his most nasal voice, K responds "You mean Krzyzewski? Yes I am" At the time, my friends and I thought it was hilarious.

I remember Coach K as the driver and the Bud light guy as the passenger.

[sagegrouse]

I remember Coach K as the driver and the Bud light guy as the passenger.

IIRC, the little guy came up to the limo driver with "Krzyzewski" sign, saying haltingly, "I am Mr. Kroo-zho-ski." When he reached the limo, the driver turned around to face the passenger, and it was Coach K.

sagegrouse

[Edouble]

The original post seems like trolling.

No link to the article?

[Bob Green]

The original post seems like trolling.

No link to the article?

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/742543.html

[PSurprise]

Looking at the comments from the article, you can pretty much tell what the rest of the world thinks. Just another article trying to bash Coach K. Nothing more.

[Got_Duke]

I decided to write Mr. Posnanski regarding the article because as someone has already said, it was pretty weak. Here goes:

Mr. Posnanski:

There must not be much going on in Kansas City at the moment from a sports standpoint. Or perhaps you're aiming to gain a wider readership with your recent piece on Coach K and his "belittling" of a foreign reporter. I understand your concerns in matters of diplomacy. May I simply remind you that Coach K is no politician, no foreign service officer, no ambassador for the United States in the formal sense. Your grumbling over one particular answer he gave in an interview suggests an air of desperation. Desperate for readers, desperate for attention, desperate for acknowledgment.

Moreover, I think you misunderstand the point of the USA Men's Olympic basketball team -- to win the gold medal. Sports reporters the world over, after the failures of the men's team in 2004, constantly question the abilities of these NBA players to come together as a cohesive unit and set aside their individual egos for a common goal. More specifically, sports reporters and writers in the U.S. question whether or not we still reign supreme in the basketball world and they have questioned whether or not Coach K or the team itself have the drive and determination to win the gold. You all have asked that Team USA spark a fire under their rears.

And now we have you, Mr. Posnanski, complaining about Team USA dunking in international competition while in the lead. You are complaining, also, about Coach K's particular response to a question asked by a foreign reporter. It's jest was "We are not showing off, we are showing heart. I don't know what showing off means in your language." His concerns about differences in language were no slight to the foreign reporter. Words can mean vastly different things in other languages. Furthermore, just because these USA players dunk does NOT mean they are showing off.

Mr. Posnanski, Team USA failed to win the gold in 2004 and are not about to fail in 2008. Dunking is NOT against the rules. Playing hard and with heart is NOT against the rules. Dunking while winning comfortably is NOT against the rules. If we are to claim the top spot in the world in the sport of basketball, let's do it and do it convincingly. Your grumbling reeks of a "that's not fair" mentality, almost like the little brother who lost in arm wrestling to his older brother. Were you on the Chinese team perhaps and are just a poor sport about having your rear handed to you handedly? Are you not holding, to this team, gold medal expectations? Then just sit back, watch Team USA, and enjoy the fact that we are once again on our way to claiming the world basketball throne.

You WANT a Team USA win, but then you sit back and complain about how we are winning (within the rules mind you)?

Football season needs to hurry up and get here for Kansas City. That should take care of the desperation and should give you material enough to write about.

You now have reached your goal -- attention. It is now your responsibility to learn from the attention you have received from me and find something worthwhile to report on. Your article's argument and supporting evidence are weak at best.

P.S. Are there any openings at the Kansas City Star?

[gumbomoop]

to Edouble: "trolling"? Well, I'm still new to this message stuff, so I probably don't understand your meaning, but yes, I was "trolling"..... for responses to what I intended to be substantive points, either raised in the Posnanski piece or as related points about Duke/K-hatred.

to PSurprise: just another K- bashing and nothing more? OK, you're right, it is a K-bash, but it raised a good point or 2, in my (but perhaps no one else's) judgment. I admit I do prefer Kobe's response to K's (low-key as opposed to p-o), but perhaps Posnanski took everything out of context.

to Got Duke: good observations re likely hypocrisy by Duke/K-bashers. Ditto on your point that dunking certainly does not = showing off.

Still, the P article led me to think again about what Duke/K-hating has forced (?) K to hide: his playful intelligence, dry tongue-in-cheek wit, etc. Remember when K joked that he liked Dunleavy because D got K's jokes? There's a substantive point there: K's wit is often sharp and subtle, and you maybe gotta be quick-witted to catch his jabs. Several on the Redeem Team, btw, have remarked that they've been really surprised at how funny K is.

Wasn't it just last season when we were told by various bball commentators that K had begun to worry, I guess even publicly, that he needed to repair his image because even he was dismayed by all the Duke-hatred?

But maybe others of you disagree with my nostalgia about K's sprightly humor because you either (a) don't remember it, (b) don't miss it, or (c) do still regularly see it (and I simply don't see it, not living in the Triangle with access to local tv clips, whatever).

And finally, to the larger point: maybe others of you disagree with K (!!) and his own concern about the depth of Duke-hatred and K's thoughts about image-repair. Maybe the only thing to care about is whether K can bring home another NC, soon. Yes, sad to admit it, I confess that missing K's intelligent wit pales in comparison to missing the Final 4.

[slower]

Kudos for an excellent post

[Coballs]

IIRC, the little guy came up to the limo driver with "Krzyzewski" sign, saying haltingly, "I am Mr. Kroo-zho-ski." When he reached the limo, the driver turned around to face the passenger, and it was Coach K.

sagegrouse

Oh yeah, that's right. It's been a while. So funny at the time. I'd love to see it again. I think K was wearing a limo drivers outfit and cap.

[weezie]

The original post seems like trolling.



Right on.

I'm guessing the press attention in Beijing is insufferable, with every single blink monitored and comment on. K can take it but that doesn't mean he has to kiss the press behinds.

[mo.st.dukie]

I think the comment was blown out of proportion by the KC writer. I haven't seen any other writer, or anybody other than Carolina fans and a few UK fans, say anything about what Coach K said. You can't convey tone or body language or facial expressions through a news article. For all we know Coach K said it in a non-confrontational tone, I don't think that we, or anybody else, should assume that Coach K was pissed off.

[devilirium]

You're thinking of the spot where K and Mickie were watching the Laettner shot "at the drive in", and K saying "I love this movie". Then, the camera panned to Rick Pitino who said, "I really hate this movie".

[jv001]

I decided to write Mr. Posnanski regarding the article because as someone has already said, it was pretty weak. Here goes:

Mr. Posnanski:

There must not be much going on in Kansas City at the moment from a sports standpoint. Or perhaps you're aiming to gain a wider readership with your recent piece on Coach K and his "belittling" of a foreign reporter. I understand your concerns in matters of diplomacy. May I simply remind you that Coach K is no politician, no foreign service officer, no ambassador for the United States in the formal sense. Your grumbling over one particular answer he gave in an interview suggests an air of desperation. Desperate for readers, desperate for attention, desperate for acknowledgment.

Moreover, I think you misunderstand the point of the USA Men's Olympic basketball team -- to win the gold medal. Sports reporters the world over, after the failures of the men's team in 2004, constantly question the abilities of these NBA players to come together as a cohesive unit and set aside their individual egos for a common goal. More specifically, sports reporters and writers in the U.S. question whether or not we still reign supreme in the basketball world and they have questioned whether or not Coach K or the team itself have the drive and determination to win the gold. You all have asked that Team USA spark a fire under their rears.

And now we have you, Mr. Posnanski, complaining about Team USA dunking in international competition while in the lead. You are complaining, also, about Coach K's particular response to a question asked by a foreign reporter. It's jest was "We are not showing off, we are showing heart. I don't know what showing off means in your language." His concerns about differences in language were no slight to the foreign reporter. Words can mean vastly different things in other languages. Furthermore, just because these USA players dunk does NOT mean they are showing off.

Mr. Posnanski, Team USA failed to win the gold in 2004 and are not about to fail in 2008. Dunking is NOT against the rules. Playing hard and with heart is NOT against the rules. Dunking while winning comfortably is NOT against the rules. If we are to claim the top spot in the world in the sport of basketball, let's do it and do it convincingly. Your grumbling reeks of a "that's not fair" mentality, almost like the little brother who lost in arm wrestling to his older brother. Were you on the Chinese team perhaps and are just a poor sport about having your rear handed to you handedly? Are you not holding, to this team, gold medal expectations? Then just sit back, watch Team USA, and enjoy the fact that we are once again on our way to claiming the world basketball throne.

You WANT a Team USA win, but then you sit back and complain about how we are winning (within the rules mind you)?

Football season needs to hurry up and get here for Kansas City. That should take care of the desperation and should give you material enough to write about.

You now have reached your goal -- attention. It is now your responsibility to learn from the attention you have received from me and find something worthwhile to report on. Your article's argument and supporting evidence are weak at best.

P.S. Are there any openings at the Kansas City Star?

You forgot to ask him if he was a graduate of unc chapel hell?

[Edouble]

to Edouble: "trolling"? Well, I'm still new to this message stuff, so I probably don't understand your meaning, but yes, I was "trolling"..... for responses to what I intended to be substantive points, either raised in the Posnanski piece or as related points about Duke/K-hatred.

to PSurprise: just another K- bashing and nothing more? OK, you're right, it is a K-bash, but it raised a good point or 2, in my (but perhaps no one else's) judgment. I admit I do prefer Kobe's response to K's (low-key as opposed to p-o), but perhaps Posnanski took everything out of context.

to Got Duke: good observations re likely hypocrisy by Duke/K-bashers. Ditto on your point that dunking certainly does not = showing off.

Still, the P article led me to think again about what Duke/K-hating has forced (?) K to hide: his playful intelligence, dry tongue-in-cheek wit, etc. Remember when K joked that he liked Dunleavy because D got K's jokes? There's a substantive point there: K's wit is often sharp and subtle, and you maybe gotta be quick-witted to catch his jabs. Several on the Redeem Team, btw, have remarked that they've been really surprised at how funny K is.

Wasn't it just last season when we were told by various bball commentators that K had begun to worry, I guess even publicly, that he needed to repair his image because even he was dismayed by all the Duke-hatred?

But maybe others of you disagree with my nostalgia about K's sprightly humor because you either (a) don't remember it, (b) don't miss it, or (c) do still regularly see it (and I simply don't see it, not living in the Triangle with access to local tv clips, whatever).

And finally, to the larger point: maybe others of you disagree with K (!!) and his own concern about the depth of Duke-hatred and K's thoughts about image-repair. Maybe the only thing to care about is whether K can bring home another NC, soon. Yes, sad to admit it, I confess that missing K's intelligent wit pales in comparison to missing the Final 4.

"Trolling" is when someone (usually someone with a very new account with few posts) comes on and starts bashing on Duke in an under/backhanded manner.

Your post was a great example of trolling.

Trolling is like saying to someone "I don't see why everyone's talking behind your back and saying that your girlfriend is fat and ugly. I think she's super nice!"

Trolling is like Iago type stuff.

Your post is pretty silly b/c you're taking one commercial that Coach K was in 15 years ago and saying that's what Coach K's personality used to be like, and that you miss the old Coach K. One commercial is not enough to form an opinion about a guy's personality. That was just the way he acted for 10 seconds in a television ad--he was acting. You're nitpicking one tiny thing that a guy did and generalizing about his whole personality.

You could go back even further to the 1980s and use an example of when Coach K said their was a double standard in the ACC for Deano and UNC, and say "Boy Coach K isn't as chippy as he used to be, the young Coach K used to rip people's heads off". That would be equally silly.

I think you're picking one random example of something Coach K did that even at the time was not really a great example of a typical Coach K moment, then saying "What happened to the old, lovable Coach K?"

It's very suggestive of trolling to me.

[gumbomoop]

Edouble - Thanks for the definition of trolling; it seems plausible to me. I don't, however, agree with the substance of your critique.

You say that K was merely acting in those promos. He was, but I think those promos built on an essential, not ephemeral, element in his personality then -- and now. It's the playful, twinkle-in-the-eye sarcasm that the Olympic guys, but maybe not you, have noticed.

Nor can I agree that my original and subsequent posts on this issue are examples of Duke-bashing. Indeed, your (and possibly K's, though I'm almost persuaded that the Posnanski piece, which got me to thinking about this in the first place, was overwrought) reaction to even the slightest hint that Duke and K aren't perfect is itself a sad commentary on how Duke/K-hating has led to equally overwrought reactions.

To be as clear as I can be, I am a bit nostalgic, not for the "old lovable K," but for his great humor, which has not disappeared in private and which I trust will show itself yet again, and quite soon.

I trust, too, that people (you) who call others (me) "silly trollers", and other people (me) who call yet others (you) "overwrought" -- that all such passionate Duke fanatics (both of us and countless DBR posters) will soon be in more cheerful spirits as the '08-09 run to the Final Four (Duke, Pitt, Oklahoma, and, what the hell, Carolina) commences.

Go K. May fall practice include fierce defense, a little bit of cussing, and lots of laughs.

P.S. - Does the mere speculation that this particular Carolina team might be Final Four material constitute Duke-bashing? Even though I got Duke and Jason Capel in there, too? Jeez......

[RPS]

Does the mere speculation that this particular Carolina team might be Final Four material constitute Duke-bashing? Even though I got Duke and Jason Capel in there, too? Jeez......

I'm basically in agreement with you, but it's Jeff Capel that coaches the Sooners. Jason Capel wore the wrong color blue (or did you know that and simply want to stir the pot a bit more?).

[gumbomoop]

RPS - No more pot-stirring for me right now, seriously. I was laughing to myself when I was thinking who might be a plausible Final Four. I think on paper Carolina is obvious (if painful for us to contemplate), and after that it's the field. I'm impressed with Pitt's several strong veterans, and as this summer's posts have gone on, I've convinced myself that on paper Duke is a legit top 7-8, maybe even top 3-4 (!). Among the field, lots of reasonable guesses, including the Sooners.

So, as I was sitting there, twinkle in eye, I decided not to put in Gonzaga or Miami or Tennessee as a dark, dark horse, but to pick a "Duke school." And I says to myself, "Don't be a dolt and type in the wrong Capel!" That I proceeded to do exactly that merits me a big-time dope slap. OR..... It was a very telling Freudian slip, indicating my "underhanded Duke-bashing." Either way, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

[Atlanta Duke]

Well this is chippy:)

UPON BEHOLDING the Great Wall of China last week, U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski and his son-in-law Chris Spatola reacted much the same way. "Chris is a West Point guy like me," Krzyzewski says, "and we both thought, 'Tactically, this is stupid. You don't build a wall in the mountains.' We decided some guy must have really liked walls."

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1144300/index.htm

[EarlJam]

While I think the article was pretty much "needless" and useless, am I the only one here who agrees with him to a point?

I think the players WERE showing off, however, I have no problem with it.

The U.S. Team needs a bit of a chip on the shoulder, an edge to reclaim the gold and to (my god I'm going to use a cliche' I hate) "make a statement."

But K's line about having to dunk over the taller players? That's not what most of those dunks were about. The players were having a blast, demonstrating some 'tude (again, no problem with that). And the "your language" comment was a bit condescending, bordering "you people."

I love Coach K and usually defend him when "bashed," but I agree largely with the writer here. And I agree that Kobe did a much better job of answering the question (or at least think it was more honest).

Anyway, my two cents.

-EarlJam

[monkey]

I still like the original bud light commercials:

I'm Mr. Gal-ee-week-itz

you mean Doctor Galackawitz?

Yes I am.

Tried finding this on youtube for a while without much success. Anybody got a clip for the original and the K version?

[ACCBBallFan]

Not sure how much he had to do with it, but Jeff Capel is going to have his hands full in P-NIT regional vs Davidson Nov 18 9:30 PM ESPN2 to even get to MSG on Nov 26-28.

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nit/sports/m-pnit/auto_pdf/08-tipoff-bracket-1.pdf

If the home team does not advance, it will not be like Gardner-Webb upending UK as Davidson will have a good club even without last year'PG who IMO was very under rated, but Curry will need some help from his teammates.