Hey coaches, wanna example of how not to conduct a post game interview with dignity and class, or need to show your players what a sore loser looks like…watch this video.
The Wisconsin Badgers left the Final Four for the second straight year without a championship. Just getting there and losing once is tough…two years in a row can be devastating. I expect young college students to react to a loss like last night’s with saltiness. I expect them to complain about officiating or even mumble obscenities under their breath like Andrew Harrison did after losing Saturday…
But I hold coaches to a higher standard. I hold men to a higher standard. And I definitely hold a 67-year-old, grown a** man to a higher standard.
Bo Ryan’s post game hissy fit didn’t end with the comments above. In the press conference following, he went on to insult the entire Duke team, Coach K, Kentucky and any other program who has a player good enough to go to the NBA after one year in college.
“Every player that’s played through the program, okay, we don’t do a rent-a-player,” Ryan said. “You know what I mean? Try to take a fifth-year guy. That’s okay. If other people do that, that’s okay.
“I like trying to build from within. It’s just the way I am. And to see these guys grow over the years and to be here last year and lose a tough game, boom, they came back. They said what they wanted to do, they put themselves into that position, and they won’t forget this for a long time. I told them that’s life. Wait till you get a job. Wait till you start the next 60 or 70 years of your life. It’s not always going to work out the way you would like it to. But you measure a person by what it takes to discourage them.”
The unfortunate thing is that Wisconsin has a talented team with great players and comments like these will overshadow what they’ve done.
This isn’t a complete bash Bo session. I concur with him on one thing. Everything ain’t for everybody and I agree that the one-year college requirement is dumb. Students should either be able to jump straight to the NBA or be required to stay in school for 2 years. But don’t knock those who have a different recruiting philosophy than yours, OR who are smart enough to know that you have to adapt with changing times.
Coach K responded to Ryan’s “Rent-A-Player” comment on the CBS morning show.
That’s how you handle an interview. Coach K could’ve slammed Bo for his insulting comment, but he took the high road. Maybe that’s why he just added another National Championship ring to his collection and Ryan is looking like this.
