[NU Sports] basketball

Sat Feb 25 10:02:14 CST 2006

  Touche, Alan! 

  As usual, you always make sense.

  I sure do agree with you about the basketball program. There’s something amiss. I don’t know what, but you’re right, it’s not the coach. Carmondy is a fit. 

  There’s also something wrong with our football program. But it is the coach. His methods beg excellence and consistency.  At times, he’s just plain inept. Knocking off biggies now and then and having three six-win seasons in a row do not pass muster. His-seven-year-losing record palpably and conclusively reflects that with him, at best we’re going to border 500.

  That’s not good enough. Northwestern should demand excellence, if not in results, in effort. We’re not getting that with Walker. I could go on and on detailing shortcomings. But I won’t bother. We all know them.

  Most of us opt to overlook them, because after all we’re Northwestern. "Geez, be happy with 500.  For us, that's winning the national championship!  We can't expect excellence in our coaching. That only applies to our academics. There we demand it and get it." 

  But we did get it in lacrosse coaching. Was that just luck? Could have been, but nonetheless, it shows that coaching excellence is obtainable for us. But like we do with academics, we have to demand and assiduously pursue it. 

  So, to put our football program where it belongs, we need an Amonte-Hiller (spelling?) type football coach. 

  Or putting it another way, we got coaching excellence for lacrosse, so, why not demand and work our butts off to get it for football as well?

  Finally: Alan, we’re so proud of you and your reporting from Italy. I keep pointing at the TV and saying: "Alan is a Northwestern grad!" 

  Frank Loomis 

"Abrahamson, Alan" <Alan.Abrahamson at latimes.com> wrote:  If I may take a moment away from the 2006 Olympics and weigh in here from far-away Italy on the matter of the Northwestern men's basketball team:
Seems to me the reason there's so little traffic on our list is because the team is not good, they haven't ever been good, it's not clear when they're going to be good ... so why get excited over what seems like a fluke win over a quality opponent?
Each of the past few years has seen the men's basketball team deliver one win, maybe two wins, maybe even a couple more, over a ranked opponent. It's not that I don't appreciate such wins. But so what?
It's consistent winning that counts. And the men's basketball team has a history of horridness. I say again: it is straight-out unacceptable that the Northwestern men's basketball team has never made the NCAA tournament.
For those who may be wondering: I am not ragging on Carmody. I still believe he's the right fit for the university. 
After all these years together on the same list, I hope, too, that everyone realizes my underlying expectation. I expect the men's basketball team -- like every other sport at Northwestern and just like the academic programs -- can and will demonstrate sustained excellence.
Go Cats - Alan

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