Vote on Tuesday.
Do the right thing.
Posted on 11/03/2002 8:56:41 PM PST by AlwaysLurking
Krzyzewski Is Burned for Showing a Political Bent By SELENA ROBERTS
It wasn't as if the coach whose reputation could pass a white-glove test threw a campus keg party, but Mike Krzyzewski's campaign bash on Duke grounds left him scolded just the same.
It wasn't as if the coach who rinses Cascade clean raised money to buy off recruits, but his fund-raiser for the Republican Elizabeth Dole was turned into an ethical violation in the Tar Heel State.
It wasn't as if the coach with the nasally voice of a man in need of Nyquil shouted "Blue Devils for Dole!" in his locker room, but Krzyzewski's public politics have left his character tobacco-stained in North Carolina.
Somehow, Saint Mike became the target of language reserved for attack ads after he dared to throw his Dookie-ness behind Dole in a tighter-than-expected United States Senate race.
He wasn't skewered for his political leaning, but for a reception he and his wife, Mickie, held for Dole at the university-owned Washington Duke Inn a month ago, inviting deep-pocket types from an undisclosed mailing list. Had Coach K dipped into a private university list? Had he created a tacit university endorsement by his association?
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The issue caused a stir from Asheville to Kitty Hawk. Even the Duke newspaper, The Chronicle, criticized the unsavory appearance of Krzyzewski's role in the reception. It was like being heckled by his own Cameron Crazies.
Suddenly, Coach Klean had been sullied, as if his halo had been made of nothing more than tinfoil and pipe cleaners. For some reason, the meticulous coach who had always kept a lid on his politics in the past hadn't anticipated a game plan for the outrage.
"It was a firestorm," Mike Munger, chairman of the political science department at Duke, said. "He was probably appalled by the attention. If asked about it, he'll probably stare at you solemnly."
Who can ask if he won't return a call on the subject of politics? "He's really busy, very busy," the Duke P.R. man said. (Code for he's ducking like a man running from a helicopter.)
Too bad he's snakebitten. With so many sports figures scared out of their Nikes to take a stand, reduced to being apolitical in an effort to keep the endorsement cash flowing, Krzyzewski was doing more good than harm in his political stand.
When so many young people are feeling disenfranchised, Duke players pondering whether to register for their first punch of a chad could look at their coach and say, "At least the man votes."
Besides, coaches are never basted for the political undertones woven into their motivational philosophies. How many lead their teams in pregame prayers? How many use war references for motivation? Coaches dig General Patton books.
By all accounts, Krzyzewski has not proselytized to his players in Dole-isms (thou shall set screens and be a moderate conservative) or turned to subliminal campaign messages (placing cans of pineapple on the training table).
•
The Duke roster isn't exactly filled with North Carolina residents. And if Krzyzewski isn't welcomed into a recruit's home that happens to be filled with card-holding liberals, it won't be the first kid he loses to the University of North Carolina.
The only error in Krzyzewski's activism was naïveté. The genesis of the mailing list should have been disclosed, and the event should not have been called "Blue Devils for Dole."
And one more thing: he should have known the consequences of stepping into Dean Smith's sandbox.
Krzyzewski is a Durham legend, but Smith is a Carolina icon. And in a state where basketball and politics commingle as religions, Smith owns both pulpits.
Some suspect that Krzyzewski came to Dole's side after Smith attached his name to Erskine Bowles, the Democrat in the Senate race. But if Smith can support Ichabod Crane in pinstripes, why can't Krzyzewski aid Scarlett in a power suit?
The good folks from the University of North Carolina — home of the Dean Dome — point out a major difference: Smith retired from coaching five years ago.
"I don't want to say anything about Krzyzewski," said Thad Beyle, a political science professor at North Carolina since 1967, trying his best at diplomacy. "But, I think Dean Smith was savvy enough to realize you don't mix basketball and politics."
Valid point, one made in Dookie Land, too. But Smith's name is still as much a part of U.N.C. as blue is to the Carolina sky. Forever linked. In fact, Smith was the host of an August event for Bowles at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, according to The News & Observer of Raleigh.
And the co-host? U.N.C. Coach Matt Doherty. But he escaped the same grilling as Krzyzewski, safe and snug in Smith's reflective glory. From the moment Krzyzewski's name appeared on the Dole invitations, there were whispers of impropriety, many emanating from Duke.
"I really think a lot of the talk is partisan," said Munger, who, in full disclosure, admitted he was a Republican but also has (gasp) a Dean Smith-autographed basketball in his Duke office. "Not as much as many might think, but universities tend to be on the left.
"I think the criticism was overblown. I'm sure Mike Krzyzewski was surprised by all the attention."
Krzyzewski was caught off guard being right. Out of his own naïveté — and a Tobacco Road double standard — the untainted coach found himself tangled up in blue.
Do the right thing.
What? Thousands of professors all across the land participate in Democrat politics in every possible way, from fundraisers, to writing issue pieces, to letters to the editor, to direct involvement with party activities, to, above all, the incessant indoctrination of their students.
But if a coach wants to participate, somehow that is wrong? Somehow THAT creates a tacit university endorsement? A basketball coach speaks more authoritatively for a university than its faculty?
What a hypocritical double standard!
In any case, I just found my favorite new college basketball team. Go Blue Devils!
I wonder what Dukie Vitale will have to say about this?
Holy cow...is this carpola New York Times-worthy nowadays? This is "news fit to print"?
Is Ms. Roberts a news reporter, or a Maureen Dowd-wannabe?
PROOFREADER!
LOL. You wouldn't want to say that around these parts (Maryland Terrapins country) or in my hometown (Lexington, KY)!!
| "Some suspect that Krzyzewski came to Dole's side after Smith attached his name to Erskine Bowles, the Democrat in the Senate race." |
And still stickin' it to that left-wing wacko Dean Smith, 'cause I suspect that's exactly why he did it.
Nah! Ya think?
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