My take on Nolan Richardson

Here is my take on him:

1. When he came to Arkansas, he was a great coach who was treated rather poorly by many fans here in Arkansas, to the state's shame, especially during his daughter's illness.

2. As he built a winning team, many people grew up and put away the bigotry. Arkansas moved on. Nolan didn't. He never got over the early years.

3. When Nolan won a National Championship in 1994, he was revered by the State. Many people put him way up on a pedastal and almost worshiped him as a god (which is frankly wrong, sinful, etc..., but also a far cry from being mistreated).

4. The last few years Nolan was here, he was the HIGHEST PAID coach at the University. In return for that, he constantly bad-mouthed the University and the State. He also stopped recruiting and coaching. By the time he left, the team was among the worst in the nation as it is in the process of being rebuilt from today.

5. Nolan is suing the University for one reason and one reason only: He hates with a vengence Frank Broyles and wants to get even with him.

6. Nolan was not fired because he was black. He was fired because he stopped recruiting, stopped coaching, and stopped winning. Just the same as Bobby Knight wasn't really fired from Indiana because of his temper. He was fired because he wasn't winning as many games as he used to. Therefore, he will lose his lawsuit and hopefully leave the State in disgrace afterwards.

The truth be told, he would have still been head coach today had he A.) Kept winning or B.) Kept his mouth shut in public. There would still be a majority of Arkansas' who would have revered him as a great coach (myself included). I now have no respect for the man.

Joseph Botwinick

 

I think if you know anything about Coach Knight, you know that he did this kinda thing for about 20 years. Not much was said about it when he was winning national championship. There is only one variable that was added to the equation that got him fired. He wasn't winning as much. When you are winning, whether you be black or white, you can get away with a lot of things, like shooting off your mouth and kicking chairs across the court as Coach Richardson and Coach Knight did respectively for many years. But when your team is losing, it is probably not a good time to smart off on National TV and tell people to pay you your money and you will be gone. They are more likely to take you up on your offer.

Nolan Richardson is right to point out the racism that existed in Arkansas and continues to exist in the universities of this country. Your remedy of keeping his job was to simply shut-up and win, whatever you do don't rock the boat! You see that's the problem for too long good people have simply choosen not to do anything and keep their jobs. Today he continues to champion good qualified black coaches for Division 1 jobs and has found a role as a mentor to these young coaches. I hope he wins and sends shock waves through the secertly racist attitudes that still exist in too many colleges. [/QUOTE]

Nolan was right about one thing: He was treated differently than the other coaches. He was the highest paid coach at the university. If you want to compare performance, btw, take a look at the number of national championships the track coach has won and then compare his salary to that of what Nolan used to make here. He was allowed to mouth off about the University and the state as long as he was winning. There was even talk at one time about him possibly becoming AD after Broyles left. The only racist in this whole thing is Nolan and hopefully he will soon leave the state in disgrace and make it a better place in which to live.

Joseph Botwinick

 

When Nolan was a coach here, who do you think made more money? Nutt or Richardson? Also ask yourself this: Which sport do you think brought in more money in ticket sales? Football or basketball. Nolan is right. He was treated unfairly. Unfairly good.

Joseph Botwinick

 

I believe he also called Frank Broyles "that white devil".

Now, that is racism in the same league as Louis Farakahn and Al Sharpton.

Joseph Botwinick

 

"Nutt also testified about apparent rancor Richardson expressed toward Broyles long before he was fired. Nutt said in April 1999, he, Richardson, and two other coaches were flying to Pine Bluff for a Razorback Club event when the basketball coach went on a 40-minute tirade and referred to Broyles as "a white-haired devil."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=1800991

 

"LITTLE ROCK -- Arkansas football coach Houston Nutt, testifying in the federal trial of Nolan Richardson's discrimination lawsuit Thursday, agreed with the fired coach's statements that the playing field at the university was uneven -- he said it slanted toward the basketball coach.

Richardson's lawyers have sought to show that athletic director Frank Broyles showed favoritism toward the football coach. Nutt said the opposite was true.

As an example, he said Richardson's contract offered flexibility his doesn't -- an automatic annual one-year rollover, freedom to leave without financial penalties and, in case of termination, a buyout of $500,000 per year for the contract duration as opposed to the $116,615 per year in his own agreement."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=1800991

 

You know, Poor little Nolan is probably the most mistreated millionaire in the history of Arkansas.



Joseph Botwinick

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=1797138

 

I think the point is that Nutt was not treated better than Richardson. As a matter of fact, this past season, when the team lost like 3 in a row, there was a website begun called www.firehoustonnutt.com. I don't remember ever seeing anything like that for Richardson (somebody please correct me if I am wrong). It doesn't matter what race you are, if you start losing the fans are going to give you a hard time. But, if you start losing and then mouth off about the school (In Nolan's case) or lose control of your temper (as in Knight's case), you will more than likely be fired. This is why Nolan doesn't have a leg to stand on when he claims racism. It is not about race. It is about a coach who stopped recruiting good players, stopped coaching, stopped winning, and continued to bad mouth the university, his boss, and the state. Only this time, to make things worse, he did it on national tv. These are the reasons he was fired. Now, Nutt may not have been as successful as Richardson YET, but what he has offered the university and the state that Nolan failed to do was some dignity and class in the way he has handled himself even through adverse times. Sometimes, that is worth more than a national championship. I still believe had Richardson done this, he would still be head coach today even if he was losing.

Joseph Botwinick