OT- Bob Huggins moment with Da'Sean Butler
With all of the bad press coaches have got for the way they treat their players lately, it was great to see what Huggins just did. In case anyone missed it, Butler's career is now in jeopardy when his knee buckled. Huggins then came out and essentially hugged him and said some things to him about 2 inches away from his face. People may not like his attitude sometimes with the media and such but you can't question how much he cares about his players.
Agreed. If that didn't touch you, you have no soul. Or you are Coach K (same difference).
We get it. You hate Krzyzewski. I bet K is the type of guy that cheers for the fire when watching Bambi and bets on the Don't Pass line in craps. That asshole.
Correct on all counts.
Isn't it fun to slam people we've never met?
Your wit is just too sharp.
I kind of thought it was a little too much touch. Seemed more like an awkward embrace, but that might be the PDA-phobic me coming out.
BTW anyone see Huggin's daughters? Yeah...
The kid just had a multi-million dollar pro career put in jeapordy, was in severe pain, and was about to leave early from the biggest game he ever participated in. He was visibly crushed, and was clearly sobbing. What Huggins did, if it helped, was appropriate.
Fair enough. I guess I should have made my point clearer.
I'm just a touchaphobe and I shutter at any contact. I feel bad for the kid and he deserves all the commemoration needed in any form necessary, but if I were him I would've just preferred a handshake. But I'm just a dude writing on a blog so why does it matter what I think?
I appreciate the fact that he clearly cares for his players. That doesn't mean I didn't think it was super awkward though.
Yeah! anytime a guy touches another one, it's sort of gay, right?
Who the fuck cares?
Wha? I didn't say it was gay or that I cared, it was just a little awkward.
And why is it awkward for a guy to hug another one who just had his body, future, and emotions crushed? What, precisely, makes that "awkward"?
I don't understand why what I've said has angered you, and I apologize for whatever it was, but he was almost laying on top of him, rubbing his face, etc. It looked awkward.
I think it's awesome that he's willing to do whatever it takes to comfort his player. I think it shows that he's deeply invested in their well-being. I don't think the situation looked gay. It was appropriate and caring.
That doesn't change the fact that I thought it looked awkward.
was wondering why exactly that's awkward. It was appropriate, caring and... it made you feel uncomfortable? You can't see why someone might be confused? How would you have felt if it was his mother? Just fine? The only thing I can guess is that it was a little out of place for your impression of Bob Huggins, but that seems like a stretch given we're talking about a gut reaction.
I understand where he's coming from, just not why he's all worked up about it. I wasn't uncomfortable with the situation... it just looked awkward. Not awkward in a homosexual way or PDA way, just plain awkward. The screenshot someone's posted appeared awkward to me. If it was his mother, it would have been just as appropriate and caring, but it still would have looked awkward on national television in the middle of a basketball court. (Record for using awkward most times in a post?)
Come on everyone, lets stop fighting and hug it out...oh wait
This was great stuff...
BlockM felt the moment was awkward between Huggins and Butler. There is no logic behind it, nor does there have to be. It just made him feel awkward, that's fine.
Chitownblue is angered by the fact that BlockM felt awkward about the moment between Huggins and Butler.
BlockM's had a gut reaction to what he was seeing and shared it.
Chitown then had a gut reaction to BlockM's gut reaction upon viewing the event.
This leads to a completely hilarious and manufactured argument where each person is trying to tell the other that their gut reaction was wrong.
Gotta love MGoBoard...
Are you stalking me today?
It just happens that you have been involved in the two most interesting discussions on the board today.
Everything else is:
A-Team,
"My brother's friend's uncle saw X player wearing a cast/boot, injuriezz?"
and
East Lansing isn't rioting, lolz, rofls
Not my fault you happen to partake in discussions about far most substantive topics.
This is incredibly accurate.
Sounds like we all agree I was right from the beginning...
think that the zoomed in camera shot of Huggins stroking Butler's face was a bit awkward. Certainly wish Butler the best, he's the only part of their program I like.
I'm assuming that you hadn't seen the moment in question when you made that post.
It was awkward because they were lying on the court, together, in front of 70,000 people. Huggins then proceeds to put his mouth about an inch from another mans mouth. For a moment I thought they were going to lock lips. So yeah, it was a bit awkward.
of The Marriage Ref to be weirded out by that scene.
John U Bacon awarded Huggins his "LOSER", this morning on his radio show for the obsequious behavior exhibited toward the injured player.
becomes a second father to many of his players. I don't have any children, but I can just imagine my reaction if my son had something similar happen. I would be the same way.
Yeah, my husband was skeeved about that scene, and we had a debate not unlike the one going on in this thread.
But I do have a son, and if he played basketball at that level and was lying out there in agony, it would bring me great comfort to see his coach offering him that depth of caring and compassion. It looked like an intimate moment, sure, but I don't find it surprising in that kind of intense coaching relationship.
Say what you want about Huggins (and some of it has merit) but that was a classy move.
Correction--you can't question that he appears to care about his players when he is on national TV.
Somebody is a little jaded.
It would be hard for him to get his players to buy in to a word he says if he didn't care about them.
I think Huggins is a dirty recruiter, but it's impossible to be a successful coach and not give a shit about your players.
I did not make any kind of conclusion about how he actually feels about his players.
and seeing anyone go through that is hard to watch. Huggins looked like a father to me, trying to calm him and help Butler cope with the pain. He is lucky that because of modern technology, he can play again in the future. Destroying your knee used to be a career ender.
Butler was a Beilein recruit and had great things to say about his offense. He seems like a class guy and I wish him all the best for a full and speedy recovery.
Best wishes to Butler... Hope he heals up fast, you hate to see that happen to anyone, but esp. to someone that by all accounts is a really good kid, and as a senior in his last game.
Respect to Huggins for how he consoled his player in that situation.
I really don't like him, but that was a extremely classy move. What a shame Da'Sean got injured like that. Just makes me hate Duke more.
i thought it was a nice displayI see many a tasteless photoshop coming from this image.
and?
Just let it be chitown.
i got the image from ESPN front page. i posted it in case anyone didn't watch the game.
FTR, I didn't watch the game and this was the first time I saw what everyone was talking about. So it was worth it to post.
Seeing it out of context, I could see why people think it looks a little awkward. Huggins looks like he's sheltering a grown man from being attacked. In reality he's just comforting him given the immense pain and potentially life altering injury he just sustained. Is there anything wrong with that? No. If anything, I'd say it's an awkward pose in this particular still frame due to Butler being flat on the ground. Normally you see someone sitting up when embraced in a similar situation, and I will include the general caveat that you still don't normally see a coach do that with a player in any sport. I'm sure the whole clip would look a bit more normal and understanding.
It didn't
Is because Bob Huggins has perpetual evil face, and looks like he might steal Butler's soul. Still, very touching, emotional moment, almost like the post BCS title game interview with Colt McCoy where you could see him tear up saying "I've taken that hit a thousand times before, and this time it just hit wrong, and now I just can't feel my arm, it doesn't hurt, I just.......I can't feel it."
It's awkward to us as fans because these men are really nothing but players to us. 99% of the people watching that game have never met Da'Shaun Butler or Bob Huggins, they aren't anything but names and numbers. To see that level of humanity out of them, that sort of raw, spur of the moment emotionality, it doesn't fit with how we watch the game. Yeah, theres the high's and low's you see because of wins and losses, but to see a kid in that kind of pain, the oh god I'm not sure I can ever play basketball again kind of pain, and then to see his coach, who most people view as a soulless, win at all cost, pure evil son of a bitch, go over and comfort him as if they were family, it's just strange to a lot of people.
I'll need a replay to determine if this is true, but I coulda sworn Huggins eskimo-kissed him.
PeteThamel of the NYT said
WVU spokesman told me Da'Sean Butler's injury is a sprained left knee. Further testing later this week.
So not quite career ending, but still nice to see a coach care for his players
If he cared so much about his players...why doesn't he care more if they graduate or not? Just sayin'. Potential Pro career isn't everything. Or even likely for most. He'd do them a better service to get so emotional when transcripts are issued with grades.
Who's to say he does not care? The 6 year graduation rate at Cincinnati is only 46%. That is LOW. There are certain institutionalized disadvantages to graduation at a place like Cincinnati -- be it social, economics, or educational -- that are much less of a barrier at a place like Duke. Huggins may have a sleazy history, but I suspect he's always cared.
Wasn't it 0% for a couple years though?
....there are family values at WVU!