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3/31/01- The Amaker Era: The Media Love fest Begins Have you heard? Michigan has landed the second coming of Duke Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski. How do we know? Just read any Michigan based newspaper. The guy was recommended by Dick Vitale- that assures success doesn't it? Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin hired former Seaton Hall Coach Tommy Amaker to take over the Michigan hoops team. Good choice right? Let's hope so. But as the local newspapers continue to fall over themselves anointing Tommy Amaker as the answer to all Michigan's basketball problems I still have unanswered questions about our new coach:
But the local media is on board wearing their rose-colored glasses! Check out what Geoff Larcom, official lapdog of the University of Michigan Athletic Department, had to say about the hiring: "...With on stroke, U-M has tried to distance itself from the growing sense of stagnation that 30 years of hiring from within can bring in college basketball..." Let's review that statement for a minute. You can't count Brian Ellerbe as a true internal hire. He had only been with the program for a few months when previous Athletic Director Tom Goss mistakenly elevated him to head coach. So let's talk about the record of true internal hires during the last 30 odd years at Michigan. What do we find? That three coaches with the most wins in Michigan history all worked during that time.
Yeah and along the a way this group won 4 Big Ten titles, won the NIT tournament twice, made the NCAA tournament 11 times, made it to the National Championship game 3 times, and won the only Basketball National Championship in school history. This group averaged 20 wins a season against 9 losses. That kind of stagnation would look real nice right around now...Of course Larcom was a big supporter of Tom Goss so we shouldn't be surprised that he's now a big supporter of current Athletic Director Bill Martin. Speaking of the fondly departed Tom Goss doesn't it worry anyone that he wanted to hire Tommy Amaker, too? How does the media explain the new savior's failure to make the NCAA tournament his last year at Seton Hall? Well, his team had too many young players...Hmmmm... sounds a lot like Michigan the last two seasons. It will be interesting to see how long they'll give Amaker before that excuse doesn't cut it anymore. They stopped letting Ellerbe use that one earlier this season. You have to wonder about the media bias in this state. Consider the following three events:
Rank these events in order of severity. Now ask yourself- what did you hear more about? Number 1, 2, or 3? #1 Resulted in the player (James Whitley) being kicked off the football team but still being allowed to travel to the bowl game. Did anyone ask Lloyd why decided this? I didn't read about it. #2 Resulted in a basketball player missing an away game. Serious? More stupid than anything else but the media loved to pile on Brian Ellerbe about discipline problems with his team. #3 Involved a Senior (Josh Langfeld) from the hockey team. Was he suspended? No. He'll be playing in the Frozen Four next week. The team's excuse? The police are still investigating the incident. I guess there aren't any team rules covering stupidity on the hockey team. Why does the media refuse to ask the tough questions to the coaches of other sports? Because the sports journalism is more about promotion then the truth. Reporters who ask tough questions have their access to coaches and athletes restricted which makes their jobs difficult or impossible to do. Reporters also have personal relationships with their subjects which taints their objectivity. Ellerbe was vulnerable and media piled on. Many reporters claim that Amaker did answer many difficult questions in his press conference. It would be interesting to go back and find out what he said when he became Head Coach at Seaton Hall. I have a feeling that he's still reading from the same script... Despite my reservations I WILL support the new basketball coach. I hope he's everything that he says that he is. I hope the reporters are right...For once. Go Blue! |
