I forgot to mention another part of the Louisville Bats game yesterday was that it was one of the first AAA games to use electronic calls for balls and strikes. I have to say that you'd never know the difference, it's completely seamless.
While I realize that Louisville isn't part of the TML's coverage area, a man/coach that was always a true role model passed away yesterday. Denny Crum left John Wooden's side for what was supposed to be a quick head coaching stop and then return to replace Wooden at UCLA. Instead Denny fell in love with the city and the city with him. He stood by the University raising millions of dollars even after they had pushed him out to usher Tricky Rick in. He always had a smile for everyone he met. A Hall of Fame coach, a Hall of Fame man.
The real story is that UCLA did not want Denny when Wooden retired because he was “rough around the edges” and not UCLA image worthy. Likely because he was divorced. When Bartow resigned, they called him first but only offered him $40K which was half of what UL was paying him without factoring in cost of living difference. Wooden only made $32.5 his last year.
Great run between 1972 and 1986. He recruited and coached some great college players.
I was at yesterday's Bats game and De La Cruiz was amazing. Three 116+ mph hits have never been recorded in any minor or major league game before, let alone by the same hitter!
I'm not surprised by WV's lack of any real punishment for Huggins, all that matters are W's. Huggins is a bully, so nobody should be surprised that he'd say what he did.
As for the Reds PR team, I'm really not sure they have one, the just run the same promotions and ads year after year. Too bad they don't see (or care) how soccer handles their fans. The soccer has made it's fans feel that they are family and part of the team.
Funny thing about the game is that the Bats tied the game up with two in the bottom of the 9th, then De La Cruiz came to bat with two outs and the bases loaded. Elly was walked on four pitches!
I cringe when I see a Reds player rising, knowing he will probably be one of the first on the chopping/trade block next season for 2 players "to be named later". Just another pawn rising. I'm becoming a cynic and I hate that. It's so not me. God save us all with a good Football Season....
Love the tune...how did I miss that one in the past? Brought my blood pressure down where it needs to be. Thanks for the moments by the sea where dreams abound in technicolor.
Man does thing. Men tell man not to do that thing. Man does thing. Other men tell man not to do thing. Man does thing. Woman tells man he’s out of chances. Men hate woman. Man does thing. Men tell man not to do thing. Man’s does thing. Men tell man not to do thing. Wonder what comes next?
I was not at all surprised at Huggin’s comments and that’s what’s sad about. My only thought here is that tons of young gay people commit suicide everyday because they are bullied. People say ‘oh just get over it…it’s only locker room talk’. But I’m telling you there are plenty of locker rooms filled with closeted gay boys and girls, who hear this derogatory comment and hear all the Huggin’s defenders, and are saying ‘what about me?’ and ‘does anyone care how this makes me feel?’ People will defend others who say hurtful things unless the hurtful thing said hits home. If you had a gay son or daughter, a sister or brother etc, it may cut deeper. I’m sorry but he’s in a leadership role. Whether he likes it or not, he IS a role model.
little surprise given it's Huggins and 'the bar was open'...your parallel to 'off-color banter in a lockerroom' and Huggins's highly crude (baseless and idiotic) drunk rantings over WLW's 50,000 watt radio station simply doesn't compare.
little surprise given it's Huggins and 'the bar was open'...your parallel to 'off-color banter in a lockerroom' and Huggins's highly crude (baseless and idiotic) drunk rantings over WLW's 50,000 watt radio station simply doesn't compare.
Another thought-provoking piece. My view is that nobody should be a role model. We need to do a better job of encouraging folks to be critical thinkers and to make independent choices. That said, athletes don't really have a choice. Kids and even a lot of adults Choose to follow them. Charles Barkley once announced he was no role model. But people followed him just the same.
As for Bill Madlock, did you have more than one interaction with him? Maybe you caught him on a bad day. Paraphrasing an old saying: Once is happenstance; twice could be a coincidence; but three times is a pattern. Keep doing what you do Butterball. Keeps me on my toes.
I don't mean this to be pejorative, even though it is, but Huggins is just a dumb jock. By that, I mean that's his mind set. He acts the way he does. Bill Cunningham, on the other hand, is not. He can play dumb but he isn't (he's a a F_ _ king lawyer, right?). I feel that he set up ol' Huggs and is getting away with it while Huggins is taking the (undeserved) heat.
Undeserved? If I or anyone I know that works in corporate America had said these things, we would’ve been fired by the end of the week. Most universities would have fired him. He got off easy.
Similar to your Jr. Sportswriter story, I covered the Reds for WKRC-TV in '90 and '91. You will remember me as the skinny forearm holding the mic as Lou Piniella peeled my scalp back roasting me over a normal question...it just so happened that they had lost. He was a tough interview to say the least. Flash forward to 2016 and I'm sitting next to him on a plane from Tampa to Cincy; he was the Grand Marshall of the Reds Opening Day Parade that year. Sweet Lou couldn't of been any nicer! I thanked him for bringing the City another World Championship and we had some laughs about reporters. As you say often Doc, perspective brings clarity. I think Lou is seeing things a bit different now that he doesn't have the pressures of the game.
I wasn’t there but trust the guy who told me this one. PGA at Valhalla in Louisville probably 15 years ago or so. A volunteer working one of the fairways to follow wayward tee shots, doing his duty marks a Davis Love drive that winds up buried in the rough. As Love and his caddie approach the area of the ball the guy comments, “you’re not going to like it.” Davis’ reply, “you’re not supposed to talk to the golfers M….Fer!” This from a man who went on to captain two Ryder Cup teams for the U.S.!
Yep, admire them for their play but beware the individual that may lie beneath.
Beautiful photo. A scene like that makes being at work at 6 a.m. worthwhile.
It had been gnawing at me who Elly De La Cruz reminded me of since his arrival in the Reds farm system. Last nights explosion of offensive talent finally made it clear -- he's the next Eric Davis for this generation of Reds fans and, eerily, also currently plays shortstop, like Davis started out as in the minors. I look quite forward to seeing him at GASP in the future, and hope his future doesn't involve as many injuries as Davis had. Eric the Red would have been a HOFer if not for the injuries.
Anybody who is relying on the athletes they follow to be a role model for them, and how to conduct their lives -- excluding the rare few you listed -- is in dire need of a reality check, and some true role models to step into their lives. And, any of us who are relying on athletes to be role models for our children is being flat-out negligent. Just my thoughts.
I think part of truly maturing into healthy adulthood is recognizing that these "heroes" (whether they be athletes, movie stars, musicians, etc) are really just people, susceptible to the same flaws as you and I. Why grown adults would EVER buy something, vote a certain way, think a certain way, dress a certain way, believe a certain way, etc because their favorite athlete or celebrity told them to is beyond me. While it's ok for my 11 year old to be in utter awe when he meets his favorite ball player, I think it's important that he sees his father, while appreciative and respectful, is not paralyzed with the same level of shock or excitement.
There is one earthly role model that goes so far above trumping any and all other role models that it makes all others irrelevant: Dad. Having a good, or even just adequate, father is the only role model that really counts. Countless studies over decades of research across the social sciences all point to this fact. Many of us already know this, yet we still don't emphasize this enough as a society. I am quite convinced that we would be cured of nearly all that ails us as a society if everyone had just an average, adequate father involved in their childhood lives.
If you're an LGBTQ+ student at WVU today, athlete or otherwise, how should you feel?
(And as an interesting coincidence, yesterday we lost Denny Crum, who managed to have even more success than Huggs without, best as I can tell, the same kind of baggage.)
This kind of question is sort of problematic. It suggests that, if you identify with an enormously diverse and loosely organized group, that you "should" feel a certain way. Moreover, if you do not feel a certain way, or maybe your feelings aren't as strong, are you wrong? Furthermore, if you are not part of that group, I don't see how it's remotely possible to play this hypothetical game...? We need to get away from this "group identity" way of thinking.
And yes, Denny Crum is criminally underrated in the pantheon of collegiate hoops coaches.
My use of "should" in my original comment was perhaps somewhat inapt. You are correct that there cannot be a single correct response or feeling about this.
That said, now that I've seen what the university's actions were (and were not), I cannot help but feel like WVU's priorities are completely understandable from a business perspective, but otherwise ... I don't think pity, as Doc suggested, suffices. I would add "betrayal".
(And of course it bears mentioning that Huggs' comments were also an attack on Catholics, as represented by XU, and specifically used a slur intended to commingle the two groups.)
I read an article by Dana O'Neil in The Athletic this morning. These last paragraphs sum it up very well for me.
"Words hurt, and they hurt even more when uttered by people in power, people whose prestige, popularity and success offer the chance to normalize them. It’s taken a long time for our society to reconcile that simple fact, but at last, we’re coming around to it.
That such words bounced through Huggins’ ears is hard enough to comprehend, but it is his personal choice. If he chose to share them privately among his good-old-boy buddies, that also is his right. But as he said them on AM radio in Cincinnati, to the delight of his hosts, he no longer was speaking as Huggs. He was Bob Huggins, head basketball coach at West Virginia University.
It is now left to West Virginia University, therefore, to deal with it. How hard a line does it want to take against a man who has violated the very values it states as central to its entire mission?"
We all have feet of clay,some have just never escaped the sewer ( Pete) some were never in it ( Musial,Seaver,)& some rose out of it ( Teddy,)
I forgot to mention another part of the Louisville Bats game yesterday was that it was one of the first AAA games to use electronic calls for balls and strikes. I have to say that you'd never know the difference, it's completely seamless.
While I realize that Louisville isn't part of the TML's coverage area, a man/coach that was always a true role model passed away yesterday. Denny Crum left John Wooden's side for what was supposed to be a quick head coaching stop and then return to replace Wooden at UCLA. Instead Denny fell in love with the city and the city with him. He stood by the University raising millions of dollars even after they had pushed him out to usher Tricky Rick in. He always had a smile for everyone he met. A Hall of Fame coach, a Hall of Fame man.
The real story is that UCLA did not want Denny when Wooden retired because he was “rough around the edges” and not UCLA image worthy. Likely because he was divorced. When Bartow resigned, they called him first but only offered him $40K which was half of what UL was paying him without factoring in cost of living difference. Wooden only made $32.5 his last year.
Great run between 1972 and 1986. He recruited and coached some great college players.
I was at yesterday's Bats game and De La Cruiz was amazing. Three 116+ mph hits have never been recorded in any minor or major league game before, let alone by the same hitter!
I'm not surprised by WV's lack of any real punishment for Huggins, all that matters are W's. Huggins is a bully, so nobody should be surprised that he'd say what he did.
As for the Reds PR team, I'm really not sure they have one, the just run the same promotions and ads year after year. Too bad they don't see (or care) how soccer handles their fans. The soccer has made it's fans feel that they are family and part of the team.
Funny thing about the game is that the Bats tied the game up with two in the bottom of the 9th, then De La Cruiz came to bat with two outs and the bases loaded. Elly was walked on four pitches!
I cringe when I see a Reds player rising, knowing he will probably be one of the first on the chopping/trade block next season for 2 players "to be named later". Just another pawn rising. I'm becoming a cynic and I hate that. It's so not me. God save us all with a good Football Season....
Love the tune...how did I miss that one in the past? Brought my blood pressure down where it needs to be. Thanks for the moments by the sea where dreams abound in technicolor.
Man does thing. Men tell man not to do that thing. Man does thing. Other men tell man not to do thing. Man does thing. Woman tells man he’s out of chances. Men hate woman. Man does thing. Men tell man not to do thing. Man’s does thing. Men tell man not to do thing. Wonder what comes next?
Those of you with children, find the role model…
I was not at all surprised at Huggin’s comments and that’s what’s sad about. My only thought here is that tons of young gay people commit suicide everyday because they are bullied. People say ‘oh just get over it…it’s only locker room talk’. But I’m telling you there are plenty of locker rooms filled with closeted gay boys and girls, who hear this derogatory comment and hear all the Huggin’s defenders, and are saying ‘what about me?’ and ‘does anyone care how this makes me feel?’ People will defend others who say hurtful things unless the hurtful thing said hits home. If you had a gay son or daughter, a sister or brother etc, it may cut deeper. I’m sorry but he’s in a leadership role. Whether he likes it or not, he IS a role model.
little surprise given it's Huggins and 'the bar was open'...your parallel to 'off-color banter in a lockerroom' and Huggins's highly crude (baseless and idiotic) drunk rantings over WLW's 50,000 watt radio station simply doesn't compare.
little surprise given it's Huggins and 'the bar was open'...your parallel to 'off-color banter in a lockerroom' and Huggins's highly crude (baseless and idiotic) drunk rantings over WLW's 50,000 watt radio station simply doesn't compare.
Another thought-provoking piece. My view is that nobody should be a role model. We need to do a better job of encouraging folks to be critical thinkers and to make independent choices. That said, athletes don't really have a choice. Kids and even a lot of adults Choose to follow them. Charles Barkley once announced he was no role model. But people followed him just the same.
As for Bill Madlock, did you have more than one interaction with him? Maybe you caught him on a bad day. Paraphrasing an old saying: Once is happenstance; twice could be a coincidence; but three times is a pattern. Keep doing what you do Butterball. Keeps me on my toes.
I don't mean this to be pejorative, even though it is, but Huggins is just a dumb jock. By that, I mean that's his mind set. He acts the way he does. Bill Cunningham, on the other hand, is not. He can play dumb but he isn't (he's a a F_ _ king lawyer, right?). I feel that he set up ol' Huggs and is getting away with it while Huggins is taking the (undeserved) heat.
Undeserved? If I or anyone I know that works in corporate America had said these things, we would’ve been fired by the end of the week. Most universities would have fired him. He got off easy.
Similar to your Jr. Sportswriter story, I covered the Reds for WKRC-TV in '90 and '91. You will remember me as the skinny forearm holding the mic as Lou Piniella peeled my scalp back roasting me over a normal question...it just so happened that they had lost. He was a tough interview to say the least. Flash forward to 2016 and I'm sitting next to him on a plane from Tampa to Cincy; he was the Grand Marshall of the Reds Opening Day Parade that year. Sweet Lou couldn't of been any nicer! I thanked him for bringing the City another World Championship and we had some laughs about reporters. As you say often Doc, perspective brings clarity. I think Lou is seeing things a bit different now that he doesn't have the pressures of the game.
I wasn’t there but trust the guy who told me this one. PGA at Valhalla in Louisville probably 15 years ago or so. A volunteer working one of the fairways to follow wayward tee shots, doing his duty marks a Davis Love drive that winds up buried in the rough. As Love and his caddie approach the area of the ball the guy comments, “you’re not going to like it.” Davis’ reply, “you’re not supposed to talk to the golfers M….Fer!” This from a man who went on to captain two Ryder Cup teams for the U.S.!
Yep, admire them for their play but beware the individual that may lie beneath.
Beautiful photo. A scene like that makes being at work at 6 a.m. worthwhile.
It had been gnawing at me who Elly De La Cruz reminded me of since his arrival in the Reds farm system. Last nights explosion of offensive talent finally made it clear -- he's the next Eric Davis for this generation of Reds fans and, eerily, also currently plays shortstop, like Davis started out as in the minors. I look quite forward to seeing him at GASP in the future, and hope his future doesn't involve as many injuries as Davis had. Eric the Red would have been a HOFer if not for the injuries.
Anybody who is relying on the athletes they follow to be a role model for them, and how to conduct their lives -- excluding the rare few you listed -- is in dire need of a reality check, and some true role models to step into their lives. And, any of us who are relying on athletes to be role models for our children is being flat-out negligent. Just my thoughts.
For exit velocity, I'll go with George Foster.
or Dave Parker !!!
I think part of truly maturing into healthy adulthood is recognizing that these "heroes" (whether they be athletes, movie stars, musicians, etc) are really just people, susceptible to the same flaws as you and I. Why grown adults would EVER buy something, vote a certain way, think a certain way, dress a certain way, believe a certain way, etc because their favorite athlete or celebrity told them to is beyond me. While it's ok for my 11 year old to be in utter awe when he meets his favorite ball player, I think it's important that he sees his father, while appreciative and respectful, is not paralyzed with the same level of shock or excitement.
There is one earthly role model that goes so far above trumping any and all other role models that it makes all others irrelevant: Dad. Having a good, or even just adequate, father is the only role model that really counts. Countless studies over decades of research across the social sciences all point to this fact. Many of us already know this, yet we still don't emphasize this enough as a society. I am quite convinced that we would be cured of nearly all that ails us as a society if everyone had just an average, adequate father involved in their childhood lives.
100% yes on dad as a hero. Thankfully, I was able to tell my dad that he was the only hero I ever had, or would have, before he died in 1999.
Lemme ask you this, Doc.
If you're an LGBTQ+ student at WVU today, athlete or otherwise, how should you feel?
(And as an interesting coincidence, yesterday we lost Denny Crum, who managed to have even more success than Huggs without, best as I can tell, the same kind of baggage.)
This kind of question is sort of problematic. It suggests that, if you identify with an enormously diverse and loosely organized group, that you "should" feel a certain way. Moreover, if you do not feel a certain way, or maybe your feelings aren't as strong, are you wrong? Furthermore, if you are not part of that group, I don't see how it's remotely possible to play this hypothetical game...? We need to get away from this "group identity" way of thinking.
And yes, Denny Crum is criminally underrated in the pantheon of collegiate hoops coaches.
My use of "should" in my original comment was perhaps somewhat inapt. You are correct that there cannot be a single correct response or feeling about this.
That said, now that I've seen what the university's actions were (and were not), I cannot help but feel like WVU's priorities are completely understandable from a business perspective, but otherwise ... I don't think pity, as Doc suggested, suffices. I would add "betrayal".
(And of course it bears mentioning that Huggs' comments were also an attack on Catholics, as represented by XU, and specifically used a slur intended to commingle the two groups.)
I read an article by Dana O'Neil in The Athletic this morning. These last paragraphs sum it up very well for me.
"Words hurt, and they hurt even more when uttered by people in power, people whose prestige, popularity and success offer the chance to normalize them. It’s taken a long time for our society to reconcile that simple fact, but at last, we’re coming around to it.
That such words bounced through Huggins’ ears is hard enough to comprehend, but it is his personal choice. If he chose to share them privately among his good-old-boy buddies, that also is his right. But as he said them on AM radio in Cincinnati, to the delight of his hosts, he no longer was speaking as Huggs. He was Bob Huggins, head basketball coach at West Virginia University.
It is now left to West Virginia University, therefore, to deal with it. How hard a line does it want to take against a man who has violated the very values it states as central to its entire mission?"
https://theathletic.com/4503070/2023/05/09/bob-huggins-west-virginia-homophobic-slur/
I’d feel pity for Huggins and the admin that retained him