Wooo, pig. Sue me!
Sure, I know that most of the Texans checking out this site likely couldn’t care less about the state of affairs of the University of Arkansas, but former Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson’s federal discrimination trial in Little Rock has really turned into a three-ring circus that is divisive not only to the university and its supporters but to college athletics throughout the Midwest.
Richardson is suing the university saying that he was fired because he was black and outspoken, while the university contends that the former coach his public comments and activities show he wasn’t committed to the program.
So far, the trial has brought the usual suspects from the UofA administration – chancellors, regents, and AD Frank Broyles. But other notables providing testimony or depositions include former U.S. Rep. Jay Dickey, Nebraska AD Steve Pederson, Arkansas football coach Houston Nutt, legendary track and field coach John McDonnell, ESPN analyst Chris Mortenson, and now Oklahoma State basketball coach Eddie Sutton.
Smearing other university coaches and administrators to try and prove his points is self-defeating. Sutton certainly is no saint, but he clearly is not racist. His track record with developing minority assistant coaches should not be doubted.
Richardson’s defense team – much like Richardson himself – is trying to find conspiracies where there are none. AD Frank Broyles may be insufferable. He may be insane. He has long outlived his usefulness in the day-to-day operations of Arkansas athletics. But he had good reason to fire Richardson.
The basis for Richardson’s dismissal was established long before he was fired: his teams were no longer competitive in the SEC; his graduation rate was an embarrassment; his tirades against the media, the administration, and the world in general grew increasingly bitter and sowed the seeds of division within the state. The final straw came during his meltdown after a loss at Kentucky where he made comments drawing a parallel between his situation and “coming over on a slave ship.”
I’m not sure how many slaves made $1 million+ annually. I’ll try to get back to you on that.
He then publicly offered to have the university buy out his contract. Does that sound like someone committed to the future of the program?
Richardson says he has become a “tainted” commodity among the basketball community because of his lawsuit against his former employer and his general outspokenness. Gee? You think so?
He has since turned down interviews and coaching opportunities with schools like Oregon State and UTEP, where he is particularly revered because of his past connections there. He said they didn’t pay enough.
I guess some might admire his stance that he won’t lower his standards to accept a lower-paying job. But, I think he has to take a hard look in the mirror and realize that he is, indeed, damaged goods. If he truly wants to coach and positively impact the lives of young men via the basketball arena, he will have to come off his high horse and the accept the reality that he is a bitter man with a huge chip on his shoulder. Those aren’t particularly strong qualities for the public relations component of a head coach’s job description.
Posted by David Hamby @ 05/28/04 13:17 | Sports | Technorati
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Comments
One lesson to be learned is that highly-paid individuals working for "big 'education'" who spend much of their lives in the public eye tend to develop over-large egos and perhaps think far more highly of themselves than they should. This goes for coaches as well as administrators, from what I can tell. I hope you folks are having a smashing time on the rivahh.
R
Posted by R. Bryan @ 14:29 on 05/29/04
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