[NU Sports] Carmody

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

I'm not trying to trash Carmody - I do think he is
both a class act and a quality coach and I have faith
that he will get NU into the NCAAs, but that it's a
massive task to build a hoops program in Evanston from
scratch - curses or whatever it is.

I am, however, intrigued by the difference in
attitudes of list members toward our two "money sport"
coaches. We fall all over ourselves to praise Carmody
and yet some can't even resist taking a swipe at
Walker in a basketball post. Why is this?

Walker's finished 3rd and 4th in the Big Ten the past
two seasons, taken the Cats to three bowl games and
accomplished three straight 6-win seasons. Carmody, by
contrast, has never finished in the upper division of
the Big Ten, taken us to one (is it one or am I
including the snub?) postseason appearance and hasn't
reached 17-18 wins in Evanston, I believe.

Yet we can't wait to trash Walker while praising
Carmody. Both seem to be honest, good individuals who
run solid programs and graduate their players. They're
clearly innovators who are trying anything they can
think of -- new offensive schemes or recruiting
worldwide -- to try and win at a school with no
history of winning, so the effort and drive are there.
And they're not using NU as a stepping stone either to
gaze at greener grass and bigger paydays.

Is it because Walker won't kiss the butt of some
alumni and isn't as engaging of a speaker? Or is it
something I'm missing. Because really, folks, if we're
judging a football or basketball coach by how many
schmoozefests they hold with alumni and how
charismatically they tell a story instead of coaching,
then that's pretty sad.

As for the Carmody love, I think it comes from the
recognition that he is tackling a monumental task by
trying to do something never done before. We've had
some pretty good coaches on the sidelines at
Welsh-Ryan who have made names for themselves in
college and pros and coached in NCAA final fours and
NBA finals. So this is a big job. And Carmody's class
and personality (especially coming after, and
contrasting to, Kevin O'Neill) have probably won him
some bonus points, too.

That being said, when VV and Hachad are gone next
year, things could get rough and it could be a cold,
long winter in Welsh-Ryan. So if those fans on the
anti-Walker kick put their pigskin hatchets in
hibernation and look toward the basketball court, they
may find more fuel for their fire and make Bill's seat
truly a hot one. Again, not that I want this to
happen, just that I'm kind of surprised it hasn't
already. Maybe Carmody should send Walker a thank-you
note for keeping the heat off for so long.:)

As for the NIT this year, we obviously must beat Minny
at home and if we can beat OSU -- certainly within
reach -- at home, we make a good case. If not, it's
off to the tourney and while the Big Ten is plenty
deep this year, there is no true powerhouse and it
will probably be the most wide open Big Ten tournament
yet, so who knows what could happen if we can just
avoid those darn Illini on our side of the bracket!:)

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com