Lefty Driesell, when college basketball was great.
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Among my favorite podcasts now is the one offered by Tony Kornheiser. Tony began his career as a brilliant sports feature writer in New York, took a column job at the Washington Post, then left newspapers for the easy money of TV. You have to be old to remember Kornheiser when he wasn’t co-hosting ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption with Michael Wilbon.
Tony’s a rarity, a pod host who doesn’t dwell in hot-take hell. He’s smart, civil, curious and reasoned. He doesn’t pretend to know everything, he’s easy on the ears. He makes me laugh.
The other day, Tony had Wilbon and Jay Bilas on the pod, to talk about the career and legacy of Lefty Driesell, who passed last weekend. We of a Certain Age recall Lefty as an Almost Great Coach, who spent much of his career at the University of Maryland, laboring ‘neath the hot sun of Dean Smith.
Lefty had almost great teams, with almost great players — John Lucas, Len Elmore, Tom McMillen, Buck Williams, to name a few — and one or two who actually were great. Len Bias comes to mind. Fair or not, Driesell was better known for his candor and wry-ness than his coaching ability.
The essay today is not about Lefty Driesell. Lefty-talk just makes the point. It’s about the decline in the appeal of college basketball. It’s about Lefty’s college basketball and the game we watch today.
They’re nothing alike. That ain’t good.
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