Arizona Basketball Dedicated Its Win Over Michigan To Rich Rodriguez

Submitted by Cold War on

Of course, Arizona head football coach Rich Rodriguez was previously the head man at Michigan, and it didn’t work out so well — he finished with a 15-22 record in Ann Arbor. There’s nothing like rubbing the salt in some old wounds of Michigan fans — I’m sure that many Wolverines fans just want to forget their own Rich-Rod era.

 

http://collegespun.com/big-ten/michigan-big-ten/arizona-basketball-dedicated-its-win-over-michigan-today-to-rich-rodriguez

 

The basketball team recognized the moment by announcing on Twitter it was giving its official game ball to Rodriguez.

“That was a really proud moment for me,” he said.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/wildcatreport/2013/12/16/yeah-richrod-enjoyed-arizona-basketballs-win-at-michigan/

ST3

December 16th, 2013 at 7:21 PM ^

Don't forget, MSU is an agricultural college. If there's one thing they know, it's cheese.

Seriously, though, they've got a dairy right on campus that makes delicious ice cream. I think they have a flavor for every B1G team, like blueberry for Michigan. I wonder what they'll do for Maryland and Rutgers.

The Crootin' Crouton

December 16th, 2013 at 4:23 PM ^

I was forced to think about Dave Brandon's unfair decision to force Coach Rodriguez out the entire game. With the projectory the team is on now vs. where it was when Coach Rodriguez was forced out, it's inversed.

GoWings2008

December 16th, 2013 at 2:16 PM ^

lemme get this straight...they wanted to honor Coach Rodriguez's time at Michigan, some of the worst teams in program history, by presenting him a game ball, over a school who's football team he coached to an average of 5 wins per season? 

Is that what just happened?

If this helps his situation at Arizona, then all the power to him.  But geez, that ranks right up there with Tressel being carried around on his former players' shoulders...

America

December 16th, 2013 at 3:16 PM ^

Fine, here it is less subtly unless you are just trolling me with the inability to read between the lines. 

"We know you think Michigan did you wrong so we beat them down for you as you haven't had the opportunity yet.  We got your back.  F those guys"

Whether we did him wrong or not doesn't matter here.  Only matter what he thinks from his perspective.

GoWings2008

December 16th, 2013 at 3:23 PM ^

just didn't want to get into a war of specific words over it.  I just think that the whole thing is just...dumb. 

If it were me, I'd say...hey thanks guys. But you should have beat them more for yourselves than for me, which is sort of what he did say but with a "grin" if I read that correctly. 

Its whatever now. 

America

December 16th, 2013 at 3:44 PM ^

Yea that is a good characterization in your last paragraph of what he did.  It might be whatever from our perspective but not from his I think is the overall point I'm trying to make.  Maybe I just relate because I am built more like Rodriguez. 

Specifically but without being specific (yup), in my profession I interviewed with a bunch of employers who all turned me down, but 1.  Every time I go up against ANY of them I inevitably think about sticking it to them and it makes for very strong motivation.  I wouldn't even consider any of them to have done me wrong necessarily, but thinking about how I am not "good enough" for them is inevitable.

Maybe it is not the best thing focus on, but it is inevitable, an in my case very helpful.  So if I was Rodriguez there is no doubt that I would appreciate it and it would mean something and fire me up about being at Arizona and make me work harder as a coach.

EDIT:  And I know I had a similar upbringing with Rodriguez, coming from modest blue collar family and  fighting for every little thing I wanted to achieve, so that might be why.

GoWings2008

December 16th, 2013 at 3:48 PM ^

except one part.  The fact that you wouldn't have been good enough for any of those other companies that didn't hire you, honestly, had yet to be seen.  You didn't actually work for them, so they don't really KNOW you weren't the right fit.  RRod was given a chance, and it didn't work out.  The proof is in his three year record at Michigan.

Hey, I read the book...I like the guy.  I really do.  He just wasn't the right fit for Michigan.  The fact that he was a successful coach before and after prove that he does know what he's doing, but it didn't work for us or the B1G. 

America

December 16th, 2013 at 4:07 PM ^

I think we are on the same page and just do not realize it haha.  Everything after you wrote "except one part" I'm not even including in my argument you can make all inferences against Rodriguez.  Only thing that matters is what is in his specific mind and how he personally feels about it.  Whether he was or was not the right fit or we did him wrong does not matter.  Whether he should have been fired/retained does not matter.  Objective facts do not matter.

RickAndScott

December 16th, 2013 at 3:51 PM ^

They wanted to honor his time at the school that let him fall on the PR sword for the buyout, with the president and AD concealing the real story.

The one that did not defend him when he made fair claims about the team's GPA because they were scared of more Freep's FOIA requests.

The one that employed a former coach at more than $400,000 a year who refused to give Rodriguez a word of public support when he needed it, but still stayed on for more time and more paychecks.

The one that made up their minds about firing him and pretended they needed until January 5 to determine his job status so he would have to wait a year to coach somewhere else.

The one where the pompous athletic director just took a totally unnecessary shot at him in his defense of his own hire's back-to-back five loss seasons in the face of fairly high expectations.

gbdub

December 16th, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^

See that's the stuff that bugs me. He didn't work out here, we fired him. He coaches somewhere else now. I have zero problem with that.

But I have no reason to believe that Rich Rodriguez was anything other than 100% dedicated to succeeding at Michigan while he was here, and I believe he worked his ass off (albeit unsuccessfully) to achieve that.

I cannot say the same thing for Michigan. Well before his ultimate failure became inevitable, they did not seem fully invested in his (and the team's) success, and the only reason seems to be that he came from the wrong clique. Furthermore Michigan has done some petty stuff to Rodriguez during and after his firing that just seems bush league and unnecessary. That says some less than positive things about the AD at my alma mater, and I'm not proud of that.

RickAndScott

December 16th, 2013 at 5:12 PM ^

Well said.

I forgot at least one. After the GPA fiasco in which they did not support him, they wrote a statement on his behalf, showed it to him, he said he did not agree with the message, and then they sent it out anyway. Unbelievable how many assholes worked in the AD at that time. Thankfully, most of them are gone now. But the Big Kahuna remains.

ijohnb

December 16th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^

I wish that Arizona had suffered some really humilating moment in the last few years that I could fire back about but they are incredibly uneventful.

I'll just go with, "how about I dedicate your Mom" and be done with this.

Blerg

December 16th, 2013 at 2:22 PM ^

Soo they "honored" him by reminding him about his worst time as a coach?  He would have never been "honored" had he not been horrible/been fired. Is that what I'm getting? I'm kinda lost.