April 2, 2007
The end of each season brings a new
beginning and a difficult goodbye. We look
forward to next season, but it was not
easy to say goodbye to three outstanding
young men who meant so much to our
program.
Morris Almond, Greg Killings and Lorenzo
Williams are outstanding players and their
contributions on the court will certainly
be missed, but we'll miss the character
and integrity that they brought to
everything they did here at Rice.
It was a tumultuous season for Lorenzo. He
was sidelined with a foot problem as a
junior and had surgery last July. He
worked hard through rehab, but he was
still not able to comeback right away. It
was a frustrating twelve months for
Lorenzo and a difficult way to begin his
senior season, but he persevered. He led
C-USA in assists and had the best
assist-to-turnover ration in the
conference.
Greg's start to the season was the exact
opposite to Lorenzo's. Greg had a nice
beginning to the season, starting with a
career high in points against Gonzaga.
Greg was a big part of our success,
through the early stages of conference
play. We were near the top of the
standings until he got hurt down the
stretch. His loss was tough for us to
bounce back from as a team. By season's
end he was not able to play at all, but he
put off surgery so that he could put on
his uniform and sit on the bench with his
teammates. He was our third leading scorer
and our top rebounder.
And then there is Morris. At the end of
his junior season he was named to
CollegeInsider.com's All-America team.
Otherwise he didn't receive a lot of
national media attention. That changed at
the beginning of this season as he was
named to numerous preseason All-America
teams and he finished his career as the
Player of the Year in Conference USA.
I could fill pages with thoughts on
Morris, Greg and Lorenzo. They are special
kids who represent all that is great about
college athletics. They will each go onto
to become successes in life and I feel
very fortunate to have been able to coach
them.
Nov. 17, 2006
FAN ACCOUNTABILITY
In
the last issue of
"Time Out," Virginia
Tech head coach Seth Greenberg made some
excellent points on the subject of fan
behavior. One quote from Seth really sums
up the current state of behavior at
sporting events.
Seth said, "Some think that because they
are a fan that somehow gives them the
right to cross the line. It doesn't."
Unfortunately Seth is correct.
How bad have things gotten when Houston
Rockets' veteran Dikembe Mutombo has to be
restrained from going into the stands
after a fan, during an exhibition game at
Orlando? A fan was removed by arena
officials after repeatedly attacking Mutmobo verbally, calling him a monkey.
In the aftermath Mutmobo wondered aloud
what was going to be done by the NBA. He
actually called out commissioner David
Stern, making the point that something
needs to be done by association to make
fans accountable.
Mutmobo was eloquent with his words,
despite being pushed to the limits of what
is acceptable. His reaction brought a lot
of attention to this particular fan, but
how about all of the fans that verbally
assault players and coaches without a
response? This incident may not be the
rule, but we have learned that it
certainly is not the exception in today's
sports arenas.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s,
public schools stopped teaching ethics as
part of the curriculum. Once there was a
time that, not only was ethics taught but
it was also enforced in school. When the
teaching stopped, there were no boundaries
to enforce.
Generally speaking, people will try to get
away with as much as they possibly can,
and sports fans are no exception. They
know exactly where the line between right
and wrong lies, but do as they choose just
the same. Then there is another group of
fans that really have no idea how to
behave at a sporting event because they
simply have never been coached on what is
acceptable behavior.
That passage was not meant to be
sarcastic. It's unfortunate, but there are
many fans that really do not know where
the boundaries of acceptable behavior end
and where rude behavior and criminal
actions begin.
If someone verbally assaulted another in a
restaurant, the possibility of criminal or
civil actions would be very real. No one
has the right to walk around town verbally
chastising their fellow man, so why then
is it tolerated at sporting events every
day?
Fans should consider the fact that
physical abuse on the playing field has
been dealt with in courtrooms. Until about
fifteen or twenty years ago these
incidents were addressed by the
participating franchises or institutions
and the sport's governing body. That is no
longer the case in every instance.
The next step may be litigating against
verbal assault at sporting events, which I
don't believe should be the case.
Those of us in collegiate athletics know
that the NCAA truly wants to eliminate
this type of behavior. They have taken a
strong stand on this subject, but it's not
enough. The institutions that make up
college athletics must take a stand as
well.
Maybe it is a good idea for a code of
conduct to be published in media guides
and school newspapers, as well as being
very visible at arenas and stadiums across
the country. Furthermore, game or event
management officials must monitor and
remove unruly fans before the person being
pointed out feels a need to respond. Will
that keep all fans from stepping out of
line? No, but any grassroots effort must
begin somewhere.
In the final analysis it simply should not
come down to a coach or player against the
fans or vice-versa. In any incident in a
sport's arena, everybody loses.
Not all fans are bad. In fact, the great
majority of fans enjoy the experience of
the event without incident. However there
are too many situations that ruin the
experience for fans and the participants
on the playing field. |