Section B·Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, March 17, 1999
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Commentary
Loyalty doesn't require hero worship
"And our next caller is Bob from Chanute, Kansas ... Go ahead with your question, Bob."
"Hello? Uh, yeah, Coach Williams, I just wanted to tell you that I think you're a fantastic coach, and we all really love you out here in Chanute. We hope you never leave ... and well, we just really like ya."
"Okay, did you have a question for Coach Williams?" "Nope."
"Nope."
... All right. Thanks, caller."
This is the typical call to the Hawkstall show that gives Kansas basketball fans a chance to pose questions to Coach Roy Williams.
**Hope.**
"...All right, Thanks, caller."
The problem with this show is that rarely is Coach Williams asked any questions. The callers just tell him how great they think he is.
And my question is why.
I would think people would have plenty of questions the day after Kansas loses a barn-burner game to Kentucky.
salad dressing?"
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And mv question is why?
"Coach, can you tell us about the difference in your team yesterday to the first time they played Kentucky this year?"
"Coach, what are you going to concentrate on this off season?"
"Coach, what's your favorite
In defense of Monday night's show, there were two good questions. One caller asked Coach Williams about his decision not to call a time-out for the final play of regulation; the other asked about Kansas' seeding in this year's tournament.
But why can't Kansas basketball fans be both Roy Williams fans and critical, independently thinking basketball viewers?
Fans who are even slightly critical of Williams are accosted by their friends. Questioning a Williams move aloud around campus is like talking to people about the benefits of communism in the 1950s.
It seems each year after a heart-breaking loss in the tournament, Coach Williams makes an appearance on camera with his eyes all puffy, his head down, looking as if he just aged 10 more years. He talks about the "youngsters" and how sorry he is for them. He questions his own coaching ability. He says "doggone" several times. He is so hard on himself that you want to reach into your television screen and give him a hug.
I think it's the people who want to give him a hug who are
the people who call this show. They want him to forget about another tragic loss and think of the positives.
"Just remember Coach Williams, we think there isn't
I wonder if C o a c h William s rolls his eyes every time a
an other classier coach in all of college basketball. I would take a bullet for you, man."
Seth Jones
sethjones@hotmail.com
Kansas fans are loyal, and that is great. But loyalty doesn't have to go so far as hero worship.
caller forgets he wanted to ask Williams something and instead goes off on how wonderful of a person he is.
Giving Coach Williams an occasional tough question isn't an insult to his coaching ability, it's a compliment.
Judge wants another chance to score match
Jones is an Mulvane junior in journalism.
The Associated Press
LONDON — The judge who became the most unpopular man in British sports by scoring the Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis fight a draw would like to handle the rematch.
But he's not counting on it.
"Yes, I'd definitely do it," Larry O'Connell said yesterday. "But I don't think they'd want me."
O'Connell admits being surprised that his scorecard showed a draw for Saturday night's heavyweight title bout at Madison Square Garden fight. However, he ruled out any error in judgement.
In a result widely condemned on both sides of the Atlantic, another judge called the fight for Lewis, the WBC champion, and the other gave it to Holfield, WBA-1BF champion. The draw meant both fighters lent their belts.
O'Connell, a 60-year-old British judge, has faced heavy criticism since returning from New York. He says he understands the response but insists he did nothing wrong.
"It was a lot closer than it might have appeared," he said by telephone. "I've been answering questions since the fight ended, and I've been taken out of context and misquoted about making mistakes. But I've also had a lot of support from friends and people who've reviewed the fight."
O'Connell says such issues as nationalism do not affect his judgment.
"When I go to judge a fight, I only see two pairs of shorts, not a British boxer and an American," he said. "People maybe expected me to favor Lewis because I'm British, but you can't play it like that."
"OK, you might get a gut feeling about how the fight is going, but you have to ignore it. What you see, round by round, ends up on the
scorecard. You just have to focus.
— that's unethical — so I didn't know what my final score was until I heard it read out."
"You keep your score for each round. You can't add up the totals
Based on Saturday's fight, O'Connell said he thought Lewis would win a rematch.
"If Holyfield doesn't want a rematch, then he should retire," O'Connell said. "He's got nothing else to fight for."
O'Connell, who has spent 23 years as a judge or referee, was appointed by the WBC for the bout.
("WBC) appointed me, so they obviously think I must have something going for me," he said. "It just happened to be the biggest fight in years, and I happen to be caught in the middle."
Jose Sulaiiman the head of the WBC, called O'Connell a man of unquestionable integrity and competence and a proven impartiality.
However, Sulaiman said yesterday from the organization's headquarters in Mexico City that Lewis was "robed" and was the deserving champion.
"We would like to think that image of impartiality was unconsciously assumed by Mr. O'Connell, but he definitely exceeded it." Sulaiman said.
O'Connell said he didn't think the bout was "the greatest fight on God's earth."
"Unfortunately, I think Lennox could have avoided all this controversy for us if he'd boxed for an opportunity instead of waiting for a break," he said.
("Lewis) could have done it in the fifth round, but he waited for about 20 seconds when maybe he should have been more positive."
O'Connell added that he felt sorry for both Lewis and the fans.
"Lennox has done nothing wrong.
He's never missed a challenge."
He called Lewis an example of "what is right about sport."
Ratings rise for women in NCAAs
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The men's tournament may not be keeping up with last year's pace, but the women are doing just fine.
While CBS' men's ratings are down 4 percent through the first two rounds, ESPN's coverage of the women's tournament is up on both of its channels.
ESPN2 posted a.44 for the eight games broadcast during the initial two rounds, a 10 percent increase from a.40 last year.
The two games on ESPN have shown a 6 percent increase, from a .89 last season to a .92.
"Women's basketball is a continuing success story," said Len DeLuca, senior vice president of program development. "It is gaining depth, which is driving competition, interest and ratings."
Even with several blowouts, the men's tournament posted a 5.4 overnight rating and a 12 share through the first two rounds of action — down just 4 percent from last year's 5.6 overnight rating and a 13 share.
Last year, there were about a dozen games that were decided in the game's final moments.
"We had a couple of incompetitive windows, which can happen," said Mike Aresco, CBS' vice president of programming. "We can't control what happens on the court. We've had a lot of good games, but what we haven't had was games coming down to the wire."
The rating is the percentage of TV households in the nation tuned to a program, and each point represents 994,000 homes. The share is the percentage tuned to a program among those televisions on at the time.
Only one man could turn a week of betrayal, intrigue and murder into the most holy week of the year.
Thursday, April 1
Friday, April 2
Monday, March 29
Tuesday, March 30
Wednesday, March 31
Saturday, April 3
Sunday, April 4
1999 HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE
7:00pm Holy Thursday Mass
8:00am Morning Prayer
12:30pm Mass, Danforth Chapel
4:30pm Mass, St. Lawrence
7:00pm Communal Penance
4:30pm Mass, St. Lawrence
12:30pm Mass, Danforth Chapel
4:30pm Mass, St. Lawrence
8:00am Morning Prayer
7:00pm Celebration of the
8:00am Morning Prayer
4:00am Easter Vigil
9:00am Easter Mass
11:00am Easter Mass
3:00pm Celebration of the Passion
7:00pm Holy Thursday Mass
FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT THE ST. LAWRENCE CATHOLIC CAMPUS CENTER AT 843-0357, 15TH AND ENGEL ROAD