Kentucky Basketball: Bryant Gumbel, Clumsy Oaf
by Glenn Logan on Aug 26, 2010 10:16 PM EDT
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PrintIn otherwise appropriate and sincere commentary on Real Sports about the great North Carolina Tar Heels coach Dean Smith, who has recently developed problems with his memory because of some kind of neurological disorder, Bryant Gumbel closed with this:
"Unlike some of his peers, Dean Smith never embarrassed his family like Rick Pitino or his program like John Calipari or himself and his school like Bob Knight. Instead he showed as much self-discipline as he asked of his players. And in the process, he gave them an example on which to model their lives. Too often we all wait until good people die to give them the praise that they’re due. Dean Smith's not dead. Not by a long shot. But having waited too long to do his story justice, this abbreviated version is the best I can do."
First, I have to ask this question -- why is it necessary to tear others down like this? Dean Smith doesn't need a comparison with Pitino, Knight or Calipari to be a great basketball coach worthy of respect and admiration. I personally believe that Dean Smith would not approve of this embellishment. It was unnecessary and unworthy of a professional like Gumbel.
Second, it is sadly axiomatic that Pitino embarrassed his family. It is also regrettably a matter of record that Bob Knight embarrassed his school with his bizarre antics. These two things are facts known and agreed upon everyone, even the men in question, but is a comparison with them really necessary to illustrate who Dean Smith was not? He was also not like John Wooden or Adolph Rupp. So what?
But how, prithee, has Calipari "embarrassed his program?" This is an absurd polemic having no basis in reality. So why did Gumbel have to represent such a facile urban myth as an offhand fact? Calipari has never done anything to embarrass his program -- yet, at least. Maybe Gumbel is taking up the tarot like me.
Gumbel's apparent ignorance (or outright malice, who really knows?) stands in stark, ironic contrast to the class and grace of the man his words were intended to honor.
It is in situations like these when the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln is so valuable: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
Gumbel removed all doubt. More's the pity.
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Bryant Gumball is an idiot. He knows about as much basketball as his brother does reporting the slanted news. I can’t say anymore because I’m sick of these biased and
racist people like Gumball always proving how dumb they are by opening their big mouths.
The man is dumber than a bag of rocks!
Happy days are here again,
The skies are Wildcat Blue again,
We've got the best recruits again,
Happy days are here again.
...or a box of hammers .... fell out of the top of a "stupid tree" and hit every limb on the way down ... :)
I guess there’s no reason why the facts should stand in the way of “good journalism” …
ukcris
Ha! Ha! I like that. +1
Happy days are here again,
The skies are Wildcat Blue again,
We've got the best recruits again,
Happy days are here again.
I'll say it again,
this is yet another example of the “national media-types” playing fast and loose with the facts. Usually, though, it’s pulp fiction.
Gumbel, who I use to like a lot, shows how classless, and either uninformed or misinformed he is.
LOL
Sort of going after Wooden the day after he was buried wouldn’t you say?
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
LOL! You are truly priceless
Guess you didn’t read this.
Besides, comparing what I wrote about Wooden and what Gumbel said about Cal is facile … at best.
still is right to go after someone and then bash someone for writing their opinion. No, i didn’t read it. And it still didn’t make it the correct thing to do.
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
sorry ‘isnt right’
guess as long as its done by others its wrong
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
from your comment it appears that I wasn’t the only one who thought it was out of line.
It was wrong. Was then and would be today. When we, the Wildcats, clean up their house, then we can go after others. Until then its a joke to go after anyone.
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
thank you
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
welcome back Paris
Glad to see all is well and exactly the same
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel, is just a freight train coming your way...
@btcoop71
You mean questioning why some can go after writers but certainly don’t want their posts to have anything but agreement?
Yep, I’ll question what write and actually have thick enough skin the recieve negative comments on what I write.
How about you?
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
Good, thanks for asking!
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel, is just a freight train coming your way...
@btcoop71
Why don't you read the thread
To a man the comments said my “apology” post was not necessary. So, I have no idea what you mean when you write, “from your comment it appears that I wasn’t the only one who thought it was out of line.” As usual, the opposite of what you write/think is the truth.
And I wrote my second post on the issue because I felt if even a small portion of our readers were offended by my initial post, then an apology was necessary.
But, I don’t expect people like you to understand.
I'm so glad
Paris is back. I really, really, really missed him. ;)
I woke up feeling BLUE this morning. It's gonna be a great day.
thank you. what ever your meaning is to that statement
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
Sarcasm.
You, of all, should be familiar with it.
I woke up feeling BLUE this morning. It's gonna be a great day.
thank you.
Sorry that I’m not here for the pep rally and will actually question others.
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
All you do is question.
And you never come to the pep rallies. You would complain about a wet dream.
But it is nice to have your negative attitude back here for balance and to write 60% of the posts.
Well. Jack
it gets a ;little boring around here wnen everyone one just lines up for their daily dose of koolaid don’t you think?
I see all the back slappin’, glad handin’, dittos and wonder if anyone actually has a thought of their own.
If you wish I can go back to just reading the posts and not comment. I did that for a few months and it was the same thing everyday. The ‘your so right’ comments and “I thought the same thing”.
Someone else will need to grow some hangerdowns and question the garbage that is shoveled out every once in a while.
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
ParisGuy
Wow! You didn’t get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. You must have fell out of it. LOL
Happy days are here again,
The skies are Wildcat Blue again,
We've got the best recruits again,
Happy days are here again.
One has to question
how many thoughts of your own you have since all of your posts follow a formula. You take whatever subject is being discussed and put a negative slant on it. That eventually causes everyone to disregard what you write, no matter its potential value.
I woke up feeling BLUE this morning. It's gonna be a great day.
How come you’re responding to what I wrote then?
Seems you would have looked at my post to respond doesn’t it?
I seem to get responses so they must be reading what I write. The responses at least caused some thought. Instead of butt kissing try to figure out if there is actually another side to what the writer is posting.
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
l said disregard, not overlook or ignore.
We respond because we have our own opinions which most often run contrary to yours. I guess what I am saying is your message gets lost in the delivery. You really tend to dismiss people and talk down to them. I can disagree with you and not automatically be classified as stupid or a butt kisser.
I woke up feeling BLUE this morning. It's gonna be a great day.
paris
I’m sorry if I offended you by my sarcasm below—I figured you of all people had a very high tolerance for it ;) But what I meant to do was not to insult you, but to let you know—in case you didn’t already— that for some of us, perhaps many of us, it DOES NOT “get a little boring around here” to participate in amicable conversation about what is, after all, a just a topic for enjoyment and amusement. That, in fact, it is more boring by far—and makes the blog downright tedious to visit—when it devolves into everyone bitching at each other over a bunch of petty nothing. Sports is, for many of us, for fun. That’s it. We’re not curing cancer or hammering out health care policy—we’re talking about a pleasant diversion. What’s so horrible about cheerful agreement about a hobby? What’s so bad about genial discussion about a GAME? Seriously, I’m curious why you seem to have such scorn for those of us who participate in the “pep rally.”
by blue kentucky girl on Aug 28, 2010 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
It seems an educated, knowledgable woman such as yourself might find a contrary statement enlighting on these pages.
Look at the number of posts this page has already, 59 I believe, and compare it to others.
I give all the ‘glad handers’ something to scorn, batter, bash and ridicule. You can let out your flustrations on me, tell me what a terrible life I must live and question my loyality to the Wildcats.
Ain’t it fun?
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
blue kentucky girl
Thats’s a really good way to put it. +1
Happy days are here again,
The skies are Wildcat Blue again,
We've got the best recruits again,
Happy days are here again.
There is plenty of discussion of certain issues here Paris.
I can think of several debated topics here in which fans disagree – e.g., should PPat have gone through Senior day ceremonies (most said yes, but some including me said no); can UK win it all with primarily one and done talent (I think most optimistically say yes, but I think many have doubts and have said so here); is Joker the man (most are hope he is and are willing to give him the opportunity, but not all agree he is).
You see a uniform voice b/c folks don’t say it in the downright negative, almost anti-UK way you do. But there is debate and disagreement, but we are all fans of the same team, we all hope for the best and have a tendancy to defend our team/coach/players/history/tradition, etc., and we follow a code of conduct here that is not followed on ESPN posts, or in the posts to the articles of the LHL and CJ. So it looks more like agreement than disagreement, even when it is not.
You call it boring kool aid drinking. I call it refreshing and thirst quenching.
JackBluto
Jack, do you still have those? LOL
Happy days are here again,
The skies are Wildcat Blue again,
We've got the best recruits again,
Happy days are here again.
your right. I see all the large numbers on the posts and it appears everyone is agreeing with everyone. No one wants to question anyone.
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
oh yeah
Friendly and convivial conversation about an unserious entertainment like following a college sports team?? It’s soooooo annoying. I’d much rather be fractious and snip at each other all the time, that’s ever so much more fun and productive!
/end sarcasm
by blue kentucky girl on Aug 27, 2010 10:50 PM EDT up reply actions
nice to hear from you
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
ParisGuy
Or be contentious?
Happy days are here again,
The skies are Wildcat Blue again,
We've got the best recruits again,
Happy days are here again.
How come you can go after writers and voice an opinion on their articles but when I questioned the timing of going after Coach Wooden the day after he was buried I was wrong?
I don’t believe the others posting in that situation were ‘to a man’ said your post was approiate.
I can’t read the comments on the post.
The idea that anyone who said something negative about the Widcats are Kentucky Haters is foolish.
I like the statement of ‘people like you’. So questioning your justifcation for going after some is out of bounds when you are doing it as in this article is the same thing.
Me people’ have opinions and aren’t going to ‘yes’ men just becaue you or someone else have a different one.
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
I have never read a positive comment from you.
Funny how after a while “hater” seems to just be the only conclusion the evidence provides.
I have never heard-
Of any program that expressed embarrassment over the fact that John Calipari was their coach…
"You are what you are and you ain't what you ain't"
I'll say it again......
Keep saying it, Ken. Because you are right on the “schnazola.”
Happy days are here again,
The skies are Wildcat Blue again,
We've got the best recruits again,
Happy days are here again.
I'll say one thing
“Four Corner Defense”. A cowardly tactic. Other teams could have done the same, but didn’t. It showed no respect for the other team. Some call it “making the best out of a situation”, but it honestly made basketball less enjoyable and less exciting. He may have been a great coach, but that was unacceptable.
by BlowOutYourBlood on Aug 27, 2010 12:18 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Actually ...
… the Four Corners was an offense — the idea was to hold the ball as long as possible once you got a lead.
It was a good strategy given his personnel, but it forced the advent of the shot clock. To be fair, if it hadn’t been Smith, it would have been someone else who used the tactic. The rules of basketball at the time made it inevitable.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
Shot clock ....
The NBA was already using the shot clock since the 50’s …. NCAA instituted the “five seconds closely guarded rule” to keep teams from stalling … ACC used instituted the shot clock as a pilot progrma before the rest of the NCAA adopted it in 1985 ….
Sorry to hear Smith is in poor health now … I was really no big fan of his in the 80’s
Yeah, me too.
Smith was a good coach and still is a fine, generous man, by all accounts.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
He will always be known as an innovator in this sport.
And a really decent person as well.
I Shall Always Be The Cat......In The Hat!!! The Artist Formerly Known As ABC!
by Greg Alan Edwards on Aug 27, 2010 8:28 AM EDT up reply actions
My Late Uncle Played USAF Basketball With Him In Early 1950's
Coach Smith still called him by his first name more than 50 years later, despite only seeing him every few years at USAF B-ball reunions.
by FortyYearCatFan on Aug 27, 2010 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Dean Smith
He finially did win a championship years after he was anointed a great coach. But for Gumball to criticize 3 good coaches is classless and unnecessary. Why did he not mention Tark the Shark, The guy fr om USC and many others who have embarrased their university. What has Cal done to embarras UK.?
Dean Smith
One little tidbit on Dean Smith. I was on a plane one time sitting across the aisle from Dean Smith and his assistant, Eddie Fogler. When the hostess came down the aisle to take drink orders, Dean Smith told the lady he didn’t want anything. However, Eddie Fogler ordered two drinks, so I watched. Yep, Dean drank both of them. Does that make him a bad guy? No, but why the deception? What else could behind the smoke and mirrors?
Tru, your premise is wrong....
It was unnecessary and unworthy of a professional like Gumbel.(emphasis added)
also, i consider it the height of hypocrisy – gumbel has embarassed his family, his network and himself…..
only one rule in my house - uk has to be your favorite college bball team
by memphis wildcat on Aug 27, 2010 12:49 PM EDT reply actions
GOOD NEWS!!! VARGAS CLEARED TO PLAY!!!!
Eloy Vargas, a 6-foot-11, 225-pound junior forward from Plantation, Fla., has been cleared to play at UK, the team announced Friday.
Vargas successfully completed required work on his degree at Miami-Dade Community College, enabling him to gain academic eligibility at UK.
YES!!! Now they need to clear Davis.
Do You Mean Kanter?
Wasn’t aware that Anthony Davis had eligibility concerns.
"People unfit for freedom -- who cannot do much with it -- are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a 'have' type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a 'have not' type of self." — Eric Hoffer
The Cats just got a little tougher. Man all we need now is Enes. Bet Jorts is a little happier now that he and Darius won’t have to carry the load in the pivot. Actually both are PF but can play the post. A little something extra.
Happy days are here again,
The skies are Wildcat Blue again,
We've got the best recruits again,
Happy days are here again.
Kanter, Barton & Selby Not Abnormal
Andy Katz has commentary on complicated eligibility process.
NCAA’s Chuck Wynne:
He noted that one in four of the 90,000 or so applicants the NCAA is processing for the upcoming school year did not submit all of the needed information (test scores, high school transcripts, completed questionnaire, etc.). Most of these cases are routinely solved once the proper documentation is received, Wynne said. But the remaining certifications “can be a bit more complicated.”
"People unfit for freedom -- who cannot do much with it -- are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a 'have' type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a 'have not' type of self." — Eric Hoffer
Cats Offer 2012 PG
6-6 NJ 5* Kyle Anderson #1 in his class at the 1.
"People unfit for freedom -- who cannot do much with it -- are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a 'have' type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a 'have not' type of self." — Eric Hoffer
gumbel
Gumbels an ass and a hater. Who really gives a rats ass about his opinion on anything?
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
H.L.Mencken
Cool avatar Bob ... Dusty Rhodes .... The American Dream ....
Agree …. Gumbels an ass …. at some point, you’d think people would figure that out … guess it’s name recognition
That’ll make your back crack, your liver quiver and your knees freeze." – Dusty Rhodes
Gumbel and others . . .
remind me of the Sports Illustrated crew that persisted in brandishing Coach Rupp as a racist. That took innuendo and uncorrelated facts to reach their conclusions, then spouted them as fact all over the national press until they got everyone to believe them. I call this the “art of telling the first lie.”
Coach Cal now has his turn in the box from journalists too lazy to do their fact checking.
jdogblue
Not criticizing you, ‘blue. But man this is one subject that really gets my blood boiling. I’m 69 and have been following the ’Cats since 1948. It was a lie in the ’60s and still is. Had to get that off my chest.
Happy days are here again,
The skies are Wildcat Blue again,
We've got the best recruits again,
Happy days are here again.
Gumbel has always been a condescending snob...
…so full of his self importance, and perception that he is doing important work. Little will make me change the channel faster than seeing Bryant Gumbel.
A few things.......
First…..several folks have changed their avatar’s…..like the changes and missed you guys and gals!!
Second…..Paris might be a contrarian but he’s usually fun to argue with and it sounds like he had a good off season and I can hardly wait until football really starts to see what he thinks!!!;-)
Finally…..Gumbel obviously used Ricky P and Cal because they are the “current” bad boys in college b-ball. Most tv watchers today have the attention span of an Alabama basketball fan which is why all the “reality” shows exist on tv…..after all you don’t really want to engage your brain. We may love Cal but unfortunately the rest of the b-ball world hates him as well as UK so as Tru always points out…..learn to embrace the hate!!!
You can't fix "stupid"!
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