Dale Brown Reconsidering---May Run Against Byron Dorgan (U.S. Senate Seat from North Dakota)

Grand Forks Herald ^ | August 19, 2003 | Associated Press

[AuH2ORepublican]

POLITICS: Dale Brown reconsiders running for U.S. Senate

N.D. native, former basketball coach says he will decide within a few weeks

Associated Press

Former basketball coach Dale Brown says he is reconsidering whether to run for office in North Dakota next year.

The Minot native and former longtime Louisiana State men's basketball coach earlier this year decided against running for Congress against Democrat Byron Dorgan in 2004.

Brown said Monday that because former Republican Gov. Ed Schafer is not interested in making a U.S. Senate run, Republicans from across the country are urging him to run against Dorgan.

Brown said he expects to make a decision within a few weeks. "I owe them not to prolong this," he said of fellow Republicans.

Vern Thompson, state Democratic Party director, said it's probably tough for Brown to decide whether to relocate to North Dakota after living in Louisiana for 30 years. He wouldn't comment on what the Senate race would be like.

"As soon as he decides again ... then we can speculate about a race," Thompson said. "He's said he was going to run for Congress, and he decided against it. He said he was going to run for Senate, and he decided against it. Who knows what he'll decide to do."

Brown lives in Baton Rouge, La., but has kept ties to North Dakota. He owns a farm near Columbus, in the northwestern part of the state.

[AuH2ORepublican]

If Coach Brown takes on Senator Dorgan and State Tax Commissioner Rick Clayburgh runs against Congressman Pomeroy, we could reduce the ND congressional delegation from 3 RATs and 0 Republicans to 2 Republicans and just 1 RAT.

[ken5050]

Will Tom Osborne campaing for him?

[GraniteStateConservative]

Coaches in Politics for Coaches in Politics PAC?

[dfwgator]

Geaux Brown!

[Coop]

LOL! Good one.

[dfwgator]

Although of course I am a loyal Gator, I always liked Coach Brown when he was at LSU, he was always a class act.

[Last Dakotan]

Think of all the political capital that was wasted on Ed (Junkyard Wars)Schaefer.

[Pubbie]

What do you know about Dale Brown as a potential Political candidate?

Is Brown Popular and well known in ND?

I know he is a major philantropist in ND, but I don't know much else about him.

:(

[Pubbie]

What do you know about Dale Brown as a potential Political candidate?

Is Brown Popular and well known in ND?

I know he is a major philantropist in ND, but I don't know much else about him.

:(

[AuH2ORepublican]

"What do you know about Dale Brown as a potential Political candidate?"

---

Brown is a famous basketball coach, and is well known in ND. I have no reason to believe that he's a budding Jack Kemp or anything, but in a very Republican state, with Bush atop the ballot, and with his name ID, celebrity and ability to raise cash, he could well take out Byron Dorgan.

[Pubbie]

"Brown is a famous basketball coach, and is well known in ND."

That is Awesome!

[Pubbie]

I didn't know NDers were big College Basketball fans!

[churchillbuff]

Do the Redheads still play women's basketball in the Dakotas and elsewhere in the plains states?

[Theodore R.]

The problem is that Byron Dorgan has long convinced the citizens of ND that they owe their prosperity to him and their lack of prosperity to "greedy" Republicans.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"I didn't know NDers were big College Basketball fans!"

---

Well, Pubbie, I don't know if North Dakotans are bigger basketball fans than average, but Dale Brown is a local boy who made it huge, and still maintains close ties with the state. He's got celebrity, money connections, and the Republican nature of the state going for him. And a possible endorsement for his old coach by former LSU Tiger Shaquille O'Neal wouldn't hurt, either.

If Brown beats Dorgan, his biggest problem may be facing fellow North Dakotan Phil Jackson (coach of the Lakers, a rabid liberal Democrat and former Bill Bradley fundraiser) in 2010. It would be interesting to see who Shaq endorsed in such a race. : )

[Pubbie]

"North Dakotan Phil Jackson"

Phil Jackson is a North Dakotan?!

I thought he was a Budhist!

:)

[Coop]

And a possible endorsement for his old coach by former LSU Tiger Shaquille O'Neal wouldn't hurt, either.

It would darned sure hurt in my book! (Fortunately for Dale, I'm not a ND voter.)

[AuH2ORepublican]

"It would darned sure hurt in my book!"

---

Oh, come on! Can't you just picture Shaq mumbling how much he learned from Coach Brown, and that Coach Brown could teach those politicians in Washington a thing or two? And then end the spot with a big smile and a drink from a bottle of Pepsi? You're telling me that wouldn't make it more likely for you to vote for Brown? I mean, Shaq's a nice guy, in the Magic Johnson/Larry Bird/Karl Malone/Tim Duncan mode---it's not like he's a pompous jerk like Michael Jordan (who could convince me to vote for Ted Kennedy by endorsing his opponent).

[Coop]

You're telling me that wouldn't make it more likely for you to vote for Brown?

That's what I'm sayin'!

O'Neal is the most overrated thing to "grace" an NBA court in a long time.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"O'Neal is the most overrated thing to "grace" an NBA court in a long time."

---

Oh really? Check out his stats:

YEAR TEAM G MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
92-93 ORL 81 37.9 .562 .592 13.90 1.9 .74 3.53 3.79 23.4
93-94 ORL 81 39.8 .599 .554 13.20 2.4 .94 2.85 2.74 29.3
94-95 ORL 79 37.0 .583 .533 11.40 2.7 .92 2.43 2.58 29.3
95-96 ORL 54 36.0 .573 .487 11.00 2.9 .63 2.13 2.87 26.6
96-97 LAL 51 38.1 .557 .484 12.50 3.1 .90 2.88 2.86 26.2
97-98 LAL 60 36.3 .584 .527 11.40 2.4 .65 2.40 2.92 28.3
98-99 LAL 49 34.8 .576 .540 10.70 2.3 .73 1.67 2.49 26.3
99-00 LAL 79 40.0 .574 .524 13.60 3.8 .46 3.03 2.82 29.7
00-01 LAL 74 39.5 .572 .513 12.70 3.7 .64 2.76 2.95 28.7
01-02 LAL 67 36.1 .579 .555 10.70 3.0 .61 2.04 2.55 27.2
02-03 LAL 67 37.8 .574 .622 11.10 3.1 .57 2.37 2.93 27.5

Career 742 37.8 .577 .542 12.10 2.8 .71 2.61 2.88 27.6
Playoff 136 40.2 .558 .531 12.90 3.2 .63 2.30 3.09 28.1

Other than for his free-thow shooting (which is better than Wilt Chamberlain's but is admittedly atrocious), Shaquille O'Neal is just about the perfect NBA center. By my estimation, he has already surpassed Moses Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon in career value and is now the 4th greatest NBA center of all time, trailing just Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I would also rank him as the 13th greatest player of all time, after the three aforementioned centers and Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, John Stockton, Michael Jordan, Jerry West, Larry Bird, Elgin Baylor, Karl Malone and Bob Pettit. So if anything, Shaquille O'Neal has been *underrated* during his NBA career. Shaq was robbed of the MVP in 2001 (Allen Iverson must have given the sportswriters some of his wacky tabacky to convince them to vote for him, and he became the MVP with the lowest FG percentage since Bob Cousy back in the low-FG% days of the 1950s), as well as several All-NBA First and Second Team selections. So don't dis the Shaq Daddy.

Boy, has this thread changed course. I started off posting a story about a possible challenge to Byron Dorgan, and ended up talking about Elgin Baylor and Bob Pettit. : )