Class of '94
10-26-2015, 01:45 PM
I've been off the grid the last few days and saw the article on the first page concerning Rasheed's mom lashing out at Coach K. I went ahead and read the article at CBS sports as well as the original Baltimore Sun article. Needless to say after reading both articles, I came away disappointed in Rasheed's mom, Angela. I get it that she's upset and wants to stand up for her son; and to a much lesser extent feels that her son was wronged by Duke and Coach K. That being said, as a parent, I'm disappointed in her failure to acknowledge her son's miscues and mistakes. I love my kids and I think the world of them; but at the same time I know they are not perfect and I refuse to enable them by ignoring their mistakes and allowing them to ignore those mistakes as if nothing was wrong and they didn't make any. I teach my kids to own-up to their mistakes, learn from them, grow as people and try not to make the same mistakes again. And this philosophy has applied to academic and sports careers. I'll back my kids if I believe they've been wronged by a teacher or a coach while at the same time acknowledging the mistakes they have made to their teaches and coaches.
IMO, I didn't hear enough of Angela Suliamon acknowledging the mistakes that Rasheed had made at Duke. I'm glad to hear and read that Rasheed has taken ownership and responsibility of the mistakes he's made; but it bothered me that his mother didn't. More specifically, I found it ridiculous to accuse K of making a Rasheed a sacrificial lamb because he didn't want to deal with the rape allegations during the season and just focus on the team. That's just not who K is. Secondly, I thought it was a big stretch to suggest that Rasheed is afraid to say anything out of fear of retaliation from K because he has this huge influence with the NBA. That's completely ludicrous. If that was true, we'd have more Duke players drafter over the last 8 years than what we had. I hope Rasheed doesn't believe this; and he's choosing to do the mature thing by moving on and taking the high ground (not out of fear but rather to own his part in the actions that were taken to just move on and focus forward).
Lastly, I was really disappointed at her comments about K infuriating her and her husband by saying that going at Duke was a privilege. K didn't say that. He said "representing Duke University is a privilege"; and imo K's correct. It is a privilege and not a birthright. Its great that Sheed had a good GPA; but it insinuate that GPA directly correlates to character is again ridiculous. Lastly, for me, the most disappointing statement that Angela Suliamon said was that it was a privilege for Duke to have Rasheed. That statement right there may be a main reason as to why Rasheed had the problems at Duke that he experienced; and at times was a headache for the coaches imo. its okay to teach your kids to question, have a voice and not back down; but there's a time and place for all of that; but there's also a time and place for "trust" and to follow without questioning when you have complete trust in a leader, mentor or coach. Without understanding that, a person can become a headache for a coach; and Rasheed doesn't have the talent level for coaches at the professional level to tolerate that for too long. I think Rasheed gets that; and I am hoping at some point his mother does too.
Sorry the long rant and I'm intending this post to be a "how to" on parenting. Rather, it just saddens me that a fellow parent would blast a coach without acknowledging the faults and the poor actions of her son that played a major part in his dismissal. Maybe I'm missing the boat on this and would love to get some feedback on what any of you think in regards to comments made by Rasheed's mother.
IMO, I didn't hear enough of Angela Suliamon acknowledging the mistakes that Rasheed had made at Duke. I'm glad to hear and read that Rasheed has taken ownership and responsibility of the mistakes he's made; but it bothered me that his mother didn't. More specifically, I found it ridiculous to accuse K of making a Rasheed a sacrificial lamb because he didn't want to deal with the rape allegations during the season and just focus on the team. That's just not who K is. Secondly, I thought it was a big stretch to suggest that Rasheed is afraid to say anything out of fear of retaliation from K because he has this huge influence with the NBA. That's completely ludicrous. If that was true, we'd have more Duke players drafter over the last 8 years than what we had. I hope Rasheed doesn't believe this; and he's choosing to do the mature thing by moving on and taking the high ground (not out of fear but rather to own his part in the actions that were taken to just move on and focus forward).
Lastly, I was really disappointed at her comments about K infuriating her and her husband by saying that going at Duke was a privilege. K didn't say that. He said "representing Duke University is a privilege"; and imo K's correct. It is a privilege and not a birthright. Its great that Sheed had a good GPA; but it insinuate that GPA directly correlates to character is again ridiculous. Lastly, for me, the most disappointing statement that Angela Suliamon said was that it was a privilege for Duke to have Rasheed. That statement right there may be a main reason as to why Rasheed had the problems at Duke that he experienced; and at times was a headache for the coaches imo. its okay to teach your kids to question, have a voice and not back down; but there's a time and place for all of that; but there's also a time and place for "trust" and to follow without questioning when you have complete trust in a leader, mentor or coach. Without understanding that, a person can become a headache for a coach; and Rasheed doesn't have the talent level for coaches at the professional level to tolerate that for too long. I think Rasheed gets that; and I am hoping at some point his mother does too.
Sorry the long rant and I'm intending this post to be a "how to" on parenting. Rather, it just saddens me that a fellow parent would blast a coach without acknowledging the faults and the poor actions of her son that played a major part in his dismissal. Maybe I'm missing the boat on this and would love to get some feedback on what any of you think in regards to comments made by Rasheed's mother.