HHC Posters, raise your hands if...

[jimmykc]

...your dad (or mom) coached basketball at a high school or higher level. I would guess most of us played the sport at some level, and many of us have coached elementary or junior high kids , but I am guessing only a dozen or so have experienced the tremendous strain on the individual and the family of those who try to succeed at the higher levels of the sport on a long term basis. Few of us hold jobs in which everyone they meet thinks they could do as well or better themselves. As the season progresses I think the criticism of our present regime will become more strident so I am just asking for some forethought before unleashing the pejoratives online. If anyone is curious, my dad coached for high school teams for a decade. He was fired from his first job, successful at his second one, and burnt out by his third when he went into administration. Along the way he had Dean Smith's dad as his own high school coach, coached against Eddie Sutton (when he was a high school player), and once had tea with James Naismith, so got to experience all the highs and lows of the profession. So let's try to continue to keep our comments as classy as HHC usually does as the season wears on. 

[demone]

Well said. My father coached high school basketball in this state for 30 of his 40+ years of teaching. Emotions can sometimes get the best of all of us but in the end, we all want the same thing - for Nebraska basketball to succeed. We can engage in healthy debate and critique without becoming petty or personal. Always good to have a little perspective.

[ladyhusker]

...your dad (or mom) coached basketball at a high school or higher level. I would guess most of us played the sport at some level, and many of us have coached elementary or junior high kids , but I am guessing only a dozen or so have experienced the tremendous strain on the individual and the family of those who try to succeed at the higher levels of the sport on a long term basis. Few of us hold jobs in which everyone they meet thinks they could do as well or better themselves. As the season progresses I think the criticism of our present regime will become more strident so I am just asking for some forethought before unleashing the pejoratives online. If anyone is curious, my dad coached for high school teams for a decade. He was fired from his first job, successful at his second one, and burnt out by his third when he went into administration. Along the way he had Dean Smith's dad as his own high school coach, coached against Eddie Sutton (when he was a high school player), and once had tea with James Naismith, so got to experience all the highs and lows of the profession. So let's try to continue to keep our comments as classy as HHC usually does as the season wears on. 

I can't upvote this enough. Thank you for your perspective.

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[HB]

This is actually looking to be easier than it could have been.  The most personal, vitriolic comments typically happen when it's a close call or a lot of difference of opinion.   This is playing out to be obvious.    Like the end of the of the  Mike  Riley days.   No reason for anyone to tap dance on anyone's grave at this point. 

 

My guess is that the most "spirited" posts will involve thoughts on the successor.  There will be those who think if we just throw enough money at it Jay Wright is walking through that door.  And those who think we actually have a chance at hiring Hoiberg, Lue and Altman.  And those who fervently think that is unrealistic.   It won't be like the last football hire where there was consensus on who the next coach could and should be.  

 

Strong post by Jimmy.  

[pmd9]

Thank you, Jimmy!  I have coaches in my family and have gone through the agony of firings.  One relative was a H.S. football coach who was working with kickers on the field when a fight broke out in the locker room.  He was fired without even being there.  Hard on families. I’d like to see us continue to support Tim and the team.  We all know the outcome if the results aren’t what Moos expects.  I just hate every 6-7 years starting over, yet I understand the need for results.  There is still time this season.  I think the team needs to watch some previous games where they dominated—-they’ve forgotten how good they can be.  All in their head. GBR

[Handy Johnson]

My Dad was the Boxing Coach in Superior for 20 years, & won three State Titles in a row against Lincoln/Omaha all comers... what you say rings true. This will all sort itself out one way or another.

[Navin R. Johnson]

I will never forget a coach talking about the expectations of a coach. A coach is asked to take young, sometimes immature boys and get them to execute under pressure situations in front of large crowds meshing five individuals into one and win against a knowledgeable coach trying to do the same thing, weekend after weekend, and you can't even get your kid to take out the trash on a regular basis.  Puts the profession into perspective.

[AuroranHusker]

14 hours ago, jimmykc said:

...your dad (or mom) coached basketball at a high school or higher level. I would guess most of us played the sport at some level, and many of us have coached elementary or junior high kids , but I am guessing only a dozen or so have experienced the tremendous strain on the individual and the family of those who try to succeed at the higher levels of the sport on a long term basis. Few of us hold jobs in which everyone they meet thinks they could do as well or better themselves. As the season progresses I think the criticism of our present regime will become more strident so I am just asking for some forethought before unleashing the pejoratives online. If anyone is curious, my dad coached for high school teams for a decade. He was fired from his first job, successful at his second one, and burnt out by his third when he went into administration. Along the way he had Dean Smith's dad as his own high school coach, coached against Eddie Sutton (when he was a high school player), and once had tea with James Naismith, so got to experience all the highs and lows of the profession. So let's try to continue to keep our comments as classy as HHC usually does as the season wears on. 

 

Great story of your pops, jimmykc !

[AuroranHusker]

12 hours ago, pmd9 said:

Thank you, Jimmy!  I have coaches in my family and have gone through the agony of firings.  One relative was a H.S. football coach who was working with kickers on the field when a fight broke out in the locker room.  He was fired without even being there.  Hard on families. I’d like to see us continue to support Tim and the team.  We all know the outcome if the results aren’t what Moos expects.  I just hate every 6-7 years starting over, yet I understand the need for results.  There is still time this season.  I think the team needs to watch some previous games where they dominated—-they’ve forgotten how good they can be.  All in their head. GBR

 

As Yogi Berra said, the game is "90% half-mental."

[Coaches kid]

Well said. My dad coached high school basketball for nearly 30 years. This vocation is tough on families. While it's fair to critique the job done by the coach, in the end, they are human beings (with families) who deserve to be treated with some dignity and respect. The prospect of knowing that your livelihood may be gone in a matter of two months cannot be easy to deal with. 

[tcp]

This is the curse of cash, however, so comparing a small town high school coach who's egging on Jimmy Chitwood to a dude making 2-3 million a year isn't exactly apples to apples. 

 

As fans have to pay more, they have higher expectations for winning (for those whose psyches need that vicarious glory for whatever reason), and that leads to higher emotional investment in outcomes. People get mean when their expectations are thwarted. Repeatedly. So many of them lash out. 

 

Coaches made this trade a long time ago. They're not innocent victims here. 

 

This is why I want collegiate sports to return to true amateurism again. So we can be humane and caring about people who teach for a living. 

 

 

[ladyhusker]

This is the curse of cash, however, so comparing a small town high school coach who's egging on Jimmy Chitwood to a dude making 2-3 million a year isn't exactly apples to apples. 
 
As fans have to pay more, they have higher expectations for winning (for those whose psyches need that vicarious glory for whatever reason), and that leads to higher emotional investment in outcomes. People get mean when their expectations are thwarted. Repeatedly. So many of them lash out. 
 
Coaches made this trade a long time ago. They're not innocent victims here. 

I don't disagree with wanting college sports to get back to amateurism, but there is one person on the staff of most high-major college programs making 7 figures, usually 3 making 6, and a handful probably making less than most of us on the board. Most have families who support their coach, but that doesn't make it any easier to be told at work or at school or at the grocery store that your dad/mom/husband/wife doesn't deserve a job (especially without understanding the sacrifices the whole family makes for it...birthday parties, holidays, long nights, no weekends, going to events by yourself, counting pennies because you dream of an HC salary but you've got a whole bunch of years until you get there, wondering if you'll have health insurance or how you'll pay for COBRA...) Of course this is a choice, and we would back our family members (and their coaching dreams) 100% of the time, but that shouldn't excuse insensitivity from people who aren't publicly scrutinized in every aspect of their professional lives. At the risk of sounding elitist, it's something you can never really understand until you live it, and there are some really high highs, but it can also be really rough and "well, you chose it" should never be an excuse for unkindness.

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[tcp]

That's an argument for a more civil society in general, which of course I would support. But the original argument was that "coaches are just like us", which isn't true in Div 1 college ball. I'm not saying that's a license to be a prick--that's why I took the time to spell out what I thought was the dynamics of this sort of impersonal cruelty--but it's not something that coaches at this level haven't had a hand in. 

 

 

[AuroranHusker]

2 hours ago, tcp said:

This is the curse of cash, however, so comparing a small town high school coach who's egging on Jimmy Chitwood to a dude making 2-3 million a year isn't exactly apples to apples. 

 

As fans have to pay more, they have higher expectations for winning (for those whose psyches need that vicarious glory for whatever reason), and that leads to higher emotional investment in outcomes. People get mean when their expectations are thwarted. Repeatedly. So many of them lash out. 

 

Coaches made this trade a long time ago. They're not innocent victims here. 

 

This is why I want collegiate sports to return to true amateurism again. So we can be humane and caring about people who teach for a living. 

 

 

 

It is likely why some smart dudes go ball in the Ivy League, thinking of Patrick Witt, who left Nebraska after a relatively thwarted stint in Lincoln. Methinks Witt wanted the academic challenge, of course, but I also think it was an intellectual pursuit on a number of levels beyond strictly hitting the "books," as it were. Interesting point-of-view on the nature of college sports..... one that amateurism will not return to in D-1 ball, in any legitimate sense.

 

That's why AAU intrusion into H.S. athletics bothers so many, it's really the last vestige of 'true' amateurism in America.

Edited January 28, 2019 by AuroranHusker