tweeterhawk
Well-Known Member
The controversy over what Dan Jockitch and other ESPN morons have said about Woody's eye pokes, and the terse response Fran gave Iowa media after the Maryland game, have accomplished several things in my opinion:
1) Deflected some of the attention from his player. Now the talking head idiots on ESPN and their blogs, and even Jon Miller, are spending as much time criticizing Fran for the way he handled two questions in his post-game news conference as they are addressing the issue of Woody's hand-to-eye contact. (Unfortunately, this also has detracted some from the way Iowa has played the past two weeks, but there's plenty of time to remedy that.)
2) Gotten the Iowa program some badly needed attention. All of it may not be positive, but publicity is publicity. More people know the terms "Iowa Hawkeyes," "Adam Woodbury" and "Fran McMcaffery" better than they did one week ago. Fran and Adam will make out just fine. And potential recruits saw a coach who'll stand up for his players.
3) Fran exhibited a mental toughness that he has been trying to instill in his players. While some in the media were aghast that Fran basically flipped his middle finger at them by curtly avoiding the question and then, when asked why it wasn't an "intelligent question," responded "Because I said so," Fran's players saw their coach refuse to throw one of their teammates under the bus and to tell the ink-stained wretches to go pound sand. I have to think in their hearts they applauded.
4) Fran has succeeded in turning this into "Fran And The Iowa Hawkeyes Versus The World." They now feel under fire, under assault. I fully expect the team to come out with a chip on its shoulder the rest of the way. They'll be mad. They've discovered a shooting touch and that they can play good, hard defense, a powerful combination. And they're driven, perhaps more than they have been all season. I wouldn't bet against Iowa in its remaining games.
1) Deflected some of the attention from his player. Now the talking head idiots on ESPN and their blogs, and even Jon Miller, are spending as much time criticizing Fran for the way he handled two questions in his post-game news conference as they are addressing the issue of Woody's hand-to-eye contact. (Unfortunately, this also has detracted some from the way Iowa has played the past two weeks, but there's plenty of time to remedy that.)
2) Gotten the Iowa program some badly needed attention. All of it may not be positive, but publicity is publicity. More people know the terms "Iowa Hawkeyes," "Adam Woodbury" and "Fran McMcaffery" better than they did one week ago. Fran and Adam will make out just fine. And potential recruits saw a coach who'll stand up for his players.
3) Fran exhibited a mental toughness that he has been trying to instill in his players. While some in the media were aghast that Fran basically flipped his middle finger at them by curtly avoiding the question and then, when asked why it wasn't an "intelligent question," responded "Because I said so," Fran's players saw their coach refuse to throw one of their teammates under the bus and to tell the ink-stained wretches to go pound sand. I have to think in their hearts they applauded.
4) Fran has succeeded in turning this into "Fran And The Iowa Hawkeyes Versus The World." They now feel under fire, under assault. I fully expect the team to come out with a chip on its shoulder the rest of the way. They'll be mad. They've discovered a shooting touch and that they can play good, hard defense, a powerful combination. And they're driven, perhaps more than they have been all season. I wouldn't bet against Iowa in its remaining games.
