Hey Coach, Worry about Binghamton and not the President

Mar 18th, 2009 at 6:34 pm by robmurray 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

Home » NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament » 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament » Hey Coach, Worry about Binghamton and not the President

Update can be found here.

Today, Coach K decided to go into douche bag mode and comment on President Obama’s Final Four Prediction.

“Somebody said that we’re not in President Obama’s Final Four, and as much as I respect what he’s doing, really, the economy is something that he should focus on, probably more than the brackets,” Krzyzewski told a reporter from the Associated Press on Wednesday.

Listen up, Coach. I have some advice for you…as much as I respect what you’re doing, really, the game against Binghamton is something that YOU should focus on, probably more than who the hell the President Obama has in his Final Four.

Everyone knows that Coach K is a conservative (hey, no one is perfect), but seriously, is he really that hurt by Obama’s predictions? I don’t know about you, but I like having a President who seems to like the sport of college basketball as much as I do. If Coach K is really this hurt about Obama’s picks, let’s hope he hasn’t had a chance to read CNNSI, CBS Sports and USA TODAY. Hell, Obama put Duke in the Elite Eight; pretty kind compared to what the experts (see below) are saying. Next time, instead of pulling your best Jim Calhoun impersonation, just say, “Well, hopefully we can prove him (Obama) wrong.”

At least he didn’t curse when he said it.

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE, EXPERT’S PREDICTING DUKE’S DEMISE:
- Luke Winn (CNNSI) – Sweet Sixteen, losing to Villanova
- Seth Davis (CNNSI) – Sweet Sixteen, losing to Villanova
- Tim Layden (CNNSI) – Elite Eight, losing to Pittsburgh
- Andy Glocker (CNNSI) – Sweet Sixteen, losing to Villanova
- Andy Staples (CNNSI) – Sweet Sixteen, losing to Villanona
- Gary Parrish (CBS SPORTS) – Final Four, losing to North Carolina
- Greg Doyel (CBS SPORTS) – Sweet Sixteen, losing to Villanova
- Brian De Los Santos (CBS SPORTS) – Elite Eight, losing to Pittsburgh
- Michael Freeman (CBS SPORTS) – Sweet Sixteen, losing to Villanova
- Tim Gardner (USA TODAY) – Second Round, losing to Texas
- Jeff Zillgitt (USA TODAY) – Sweet Sixteen, losing to Villanova

Topics: Coach Krzyzewski, President Obama

Ty

I think you are overly critical of Coach K. He has never been ill-prepared for a game and never will be. He was probably commenting more out of hoping that people in public office use their time more wisely than doing brackets… especially when the economy is in shambles. If Obama could get the economy to the level Duke is playing at I wouldn’t care, but it is functioning at the level of Georgia Tech at the moment.

Coach K has the right to say this because he isn’t in public office and he got the US back to being the best in the world under his watch. Barrack Obama still has work to do.
robioland

Ty-

You can’t be serious? First, no one is questioning Coach K’s right to say it. He can say whatever he wants, but it doesn’t make what he said any less stupid. If Coach Jim Calhoun had said this, we’d all be ripping him.

Second, Coach K has never been ill-prepared for a game? Again, are you serious? I’ve a dedicated Duke fan since I was 10 years old and I’ve been a Coach K backer since 1982, and no matter how many stupid things he says, I’ll still be his fan, but to pretend he’s done no wrong or hasn’t properly prepared for a game once, that’s just being ignorant. Did you not see Duke/UNLV in the 1990 title game? This year, coach himself said he failed to prepare his club prior to the Clemson game.

Lastly, you said, Coach K is hoping “the people in public office use their time more wisely than doing brackets.” Again, you can’t be serious? I don’t feel like explaining to you how the economy works, but let me use your example. If Obama is the head coach and the economy was a team, then he’s a head coach who just inherited a losing team and two games into the season, you’re blaming him for the team’s past and current failure, because the Coach took his family to dinner one night. It took years for the economy to collapse, it’s going to take years to fix, so do you really believe Obama taking 15 minutes to fill out a bracket is the difference between economic recovery and the next great depression?

Some reason, I don’t recall Coach K complaining about President Bush watching the Texas Longhorns Rose bowl win for three hours, right when the U.S. was in the middle of two wars. Of course Bush was a President who spent 40% of his days in office on vacation.

The reporter’s question was a silly question, all it needed was a silly answer. There’s nothing wrong with the President of the United States enjoying the greatness of college basketball.
Ty

I just don’t think it is a correct response for a public official to be wasting time on the news talking about basketball when AIG has just been revealed to have been run by the government since the 90′s. The contracts that guaranteed the bonuses were approved by the government. It just isn’t very professional and in that office professionalism is definitely needed. Likeability isn’t something I care about in my President. I could care less about who I could have a beer with (as so many irrational voters use as criteria) because the fact is I don’t want to drink with politicians.

Coach K prepared for UNLV, it didn’t turn out well, but hey it happens. As for Clemson he probably prepared better than he let on. Execution is another animal entirely. The players didn’t come back to the ball to alleviate the press.

You can disagree with the preparedness of the teams, but I stand by my statement that politicians need to worry less about being liked for their personality and try to lead with their unequaled effort put into this country. A bracket is something that he can do in privacy and without PR (we knew he liked college sports already from hearing him talk BCS and seeing him play with Carolina). The election is over and he won, the campaign needs to be postponed until a later date.
Drew

Look, Obama made a simple comment about tournament games, not abdicate the Presidency for God’s sake. Sheesh you guys, since when did becoming President and managing crises mean you quit doing ANYTHING else a human being does?

Pssst, you may not have heard about this, but President Bush publicly stated who he wanted to win the ’06 World Series … AND THERE WAS A WAR GOING ON! Treason, right Ty?
robioland

Again, seriously? I can’t believe I actually found someone who is willing to debate this. According to you, a President can’t do anything remotely fun (even if its just for PR purposes) while something, somewhere is going wrong? Is he allowed to tuck his kids into bed, or is it AIG 24/7? If ESPN wants to spend 15 minutes doing a bracket with the President of the United States, he can. There’s nothing not professional about it. Jesus, lighten up.

Wow. Do me a favor, next time before you post, be sure to link to your past comments ripping Bush for going to the Olympics during the beginning of this crisis. Also be sure to include the ones ripping Clinton for attending the Razorbacks title game in ’94. I’ll also be expecting your links to when the first Bush threw out the first pitch, while our troops were building up in Kuwait. How dare he take time out of his war planning to do a P.R. stunt (like we didn’t know he liked baseball already)?

Using your logic, maybe you should spend less time commenting on blogs and go out there and do what needs to be done to save America. Go now, there’s not a second to spare. I’m sure there’s something a smart fellow like yourself could be doing right now. Go now, stop wasting time defending a man who doesn’t need you to defend him.

In your world, Coach K can’t do any wrong, can he? You’re more forgiving than his wife, Mickie. Tell me, Ty…has Coach ever done anything wrong? Has he ever made a bad decision? Has he ever said something he probably shouldn’t have said? When I wrote that Coach K should focus on the Bisons, did you not notice I used the exact same words he did? Did you really think I was suggesting Coach K wasn’t preparing for his next opponent? It’s called ‘mocking’, Ty. Mocking is to imitate closely, to mimic in sport, to be sarcastic.

Listen up, get over it…it was a ‘dick’ response to a silly question, it’s just that simple.
Ty

Sorry to anybody who is a fan or alumni, but Binghamton’s chances are slim to none.

Coach K answered a question he was asked by a reporter on press day for the tournament. Keep it in context, that is what he is supposed to do and I am happy he did it in a forthright way. He didn’t curse or get out of line, he just said what he thought when a question was given to him.

While saving the country would be a novel thing to do, I am not in public office. I don’t want one of those jobs (I am still in school). Barrack accepted and ran for the position.

George Bush is a terrible example for a President. He is the reason the whole country hates Republicans today. He was not active when he needed to be and Barrack is starting off the same way. He has implimented the same strategies in Iraq, but changed the title of the force who will stay. He has said he would get rid of pork and then signs a bill with billions in pork through. He promised “this will be the last.” In Barrack you get someone who loves the PR of change but doesn’t really know/want to do it. He is doing what Republicans have been doing for a long time by using the “trickle down effect” where by giving more money to the rich the poor will benefit. The entire bailout is a Republican idea being used by a Democrat. Take that statement about me defending Coach K and consider your flippant attitude towards our country’s most important man.

Now I am over it.
robioland

Jesus Ty, please tell me you don’t attend Duke. If so, you’re giving a Duke education a bad name. Where do f-ing begin with you?

- Bush didn’t fail because he wasn’t “active” enough, he failed because Conservative policies fail. Republicans believe government is the problem. You can’t have people run an institution that they don’t believe in. It would be like having a head coach of a basketball team, who has contempt for basketball.
- Obama is NOT implementing the same strategy as Bush in Iraq. He has a set timeline to remove almost all troops. Bush had none. He left his mess for someone else to clean up. Will the pull out take longer than he originally promised? Yes. Last time I checked though, having a President that adjusts his thinking based on the FACTS, is a good quality in a President.
- He never said he would get rid of ‘pork’. He said he would change the way it is done, to separated the good pork from the bad. He’s been in office for two months and has done one budget…I think we can be a little patient on this one. Besides, pork is less than 2% of the budget. If that’s your biggest concerns, you got bigger issues.
- Sorry, but if you’re accusing Obama of doing ‘trickle-down’ politics, you’re insane. His first budget eliminates the Bush taxs cuts.
- As for bailing out AIG, it’s not some stupid Republican conspiracy. Do some research next time. In the most simplest terms, the crises we are in is because of deregulation of the industry starting in 1996. No one’s hands are clean of this; not Republicans, not Democrats, not Bush and not even Bill Clinton. The deregulation allowed these companies to become too big, and allowed them to do things that were once prohibited (short-selling). All of this was exposed when the housing bubble burst.

The consequences of all this are simple, the companies are too big to fail. If Obama (as well as Congress) is doing anything wrong, they should have just Nationalized AIG, instead of buying 80% and having no say in it. The problem is, then the Republicans come out and scream “socialism” and people freak.

Yet, in your silly mind, you believe Obama’s 15-minute bracket is the issue. Listen up, when you get in the real world you’ll learn this. P.R. is half the battle with any sitting President. Popularity is how you get your policies through. If Obama wants to succeed, he needs to keep the backing of the people and to help achieve that, while you’re working day in and day out on Policy, there’s nothing wrong with him doing freaking bracket. Somehow, I think Obama can manage to do his job and fill out a bracket with ESPN.

It amazes me you can accuse me of having a “flippant attitude towards our country’s most important man.” I know I keep asking you this but, are you f-ing serious? I think the Dude should be able to fill out a bracket for 15 and somehow run the country!

Of course, using your pathetic logic, it doesn’t really matter, right? Obama’s no different than Republicans; he doesn’t really want to get out of Iraq, he doesn’t want to really change pork spending, he wants to funnel all money to rich people…if that’s the case, then how Obama spends his time, doesn’t really matter and Coach K should be happy…because he’s a f-ing Republican!

After all this B.S., the point of this is not politics. If you want to debate politics, go to the Daily Kos. It is simple, Coach K was being a dick. It happens. Remember when he bitched out the student newspaper? That was a dick move too…and that’s okay. We’re all dicks sometimes. He’s still a great coach.

Here’s a question for you, Ty. If Obama had made Duke his national championship in his bracket, do you think Coach K would have said what he said? If you say yes to this, you’re f-ing delusional.

You said you are “over it.” Dear God, let that be true.
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http://getalife.com Shawn

Everyone who has put so much effort and thought into this subject is an idiot. In coach K’s typical dry sense of humor, he tried to get a few laughs(which I’m sure people with any common sense did have a chuckle). If you really think he’s upset with people not picking him to go far into the tournament, your also an idiot. Just get a life people.