The Unofficial "Buzz to ______" Archive

[DJO's Pump Fake]

Still liking the idea of outsourcing the blog to Paint Touches.

Why? So they can continue to ask stupid post game questions (see Blue, Vander) and repeat ones Buzz won't answer.  They are a joke.

[Groin_pull]

Boy oh boy, the Urinal/Sentinel just couldn't wait to jump on this silly rumor. Worthless rag.

[NickelDimer]

My biggest complain about Hunt is he clearly takes little to no pride in his work, and that's flat out inexcusable.  He routinely gets information wrong, etc because it's simply not important to him to get it right.

This article is further evidence of that.  Shame on you Mike Hunt

[Tugg Speedman]

I always wonder why Buzz is mentioned on these lists.  I know it's because he is a great coach, but so is Billy Donovan, Bo Ryan, Steve Fisher, Mike Brey, etc.

Is it because he's only been here 5 years, while the abovementioned guys have been at their respective schools so long that speculating about them leaving has ended/is futile?

Conversely, I NEVER hear about Few being on these lists.  Is it because he basically said 'Im not going anywhere' and he's been there since 99 (00?), so people now believe him?  Anyone remember if Few was always being speculated for blue-blood/higher profile schools in, say, 2004/05?

Bolded is your answer.  Until he's been around long enough, or if he passed on Texas, this will continue.

[GGGG]

Why? So they can continue to ask stupid post game questions (see Blue, Vander) and repeat ones Buzz won't answer.  They are a joke.

Are you serious?  They have a lot of great stuff in their blog.  (Frankly it is better than Cracked Sidewalks is now.)

And as far as the question thing, that is their job.  Good thing Woodward and Bernstein didn't stop at the first "no."

[MJS_Says]

Buzz Williams-to-UCLA chatter has begun
               



All it took was the first prominent job to come open to get Buzz Williams' name out there again.

               

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/199846231.html
               

[Blackhat]

And if he does go, then MU will hire someone very good.  Whether it's a Shaka Smart or a Gregg Marshall or whomever, the resources are there.

Or Keno Davis, Rob Lowery, or Brad Brownell.

Oviuosly we'll move forward and make the best of it but a coaching search is not as easy and certain as u make it out Chicos.  Xavier, nc state, wake forest, Georgia tech know too well. I don't take for granted our success/ successful coaches.

And Shaka Smart?  Highly unlikely

[GGGG]

He took his opinion out of this piece....

[jficke13]

Are you serious?  They have a lot of great stuff in their blog.  (Frankly it is better than Cracked Sidewalks is now.)

And as far as the question thing, that is their job.  Good thing Woodward and Bernstein didn't stop at the first "no."

I've been a student reporter in those press conferences. Because I wasn't trying to pursue a career in journalism, I felt a little more freedom to ask "hard" questions. Sometimes that led to great answers, sometimes it led to getting chewed out by a coach.

The whole press conference being a watchable thing is sort of a recent development.  It may be just a Buzz-thing, because he has such a reputation for fascinating press conferences. Usually there are lots of boring questions by writers who are fishing for the quote they need to fill out their story before filing it. Occasionally there are real gems that give insight in to the game. Occasionally there are hard questions that get snubbed.

I'm glad someone's doing more than just tossing some "tough" questions out there. Maybe they'll strike gold.

[Chicos' Buzz Scandal Countdown]

This is worth repeating twice in a thread

"There's a fragile line in our industry, too, and that fragile line is how hard it is to get a job, how hard it is to get a good job and of the small collection of good jobs, how hard it is to have a good job and make it a great job.  The hardest thing in life to get is momentum and the hardest thing in life to keep is momentum" - Buzz Williams at Post-Butler presser

The amount of disruption and effort and time and risk it requires to get started anywhere else (including Texas or UCLA) is significant.

Couple that with there really not being many good reasons to leave MU? (pay, resources, media, student support, etc)

it just doesn't make sense unless he really is unhappy here, and if he is, it's not something the administration can change.

I also don't buy that the ceiling at MU will not be as high as the blue bloods within the next 10 years. Only difference is if Buzz wants to recruit exclusively one-and-done guys. I don't see it.

Chicos keeps bringing "I will be at MU as long as they'll have me" up and I think its important. It means Buzz sees himself as a loyal guy... he wants to be loyal. That doesn't mean there wouldn't be a situation that he'd leave, but I think he wants to find the reasons to stay, not reasons to go.... also that he entered this job intending to stay. I don't think anyone can say TC entered the MU job intending to stay "as long as we'd have him" with a straight face (nothing wrong with that, but I think it's important).

[Tums Festival]

One thing that seems to be mentioned in connection with the UCLA job is how they don't (nor will they) pay top dollar for a coach. Why would someone with no ties to an area of the country make a lateral move (pay-wise) to a more stressful version of their current job?

At the same time, having a successful coach will bring speculation whenever there's a high-profile job opening.

[mu03eng]

The "best" part of the blog is Hunt throwing out the "if UCLA offers, Buzz will go".  Based on what, the rumbling in your stomach, cause that is probably just some bad moonshine you had in Lexington.  This is trolling on the worst level and to give him page views for it is reprehensible.

And whoever impugned Paint Touches is insane, Paint Touches, Anonymous Eagle, Cracked Sidewalks, and this forum are the only decent locations for providing great content on MU basketball.  What are you looking for exactly?

[warriorchick]

Ah, times change and people change with it. There's a major difference in how they live their lives now as opposed to five years ago. Can't unequivocally state change like that just stops, especially knowing with the money he has and will get that he and family can live a life most everyone dreams about.

For someone like you, a prototypical suburban Chicagoland proselytizer, it's impossible to imagine UCLA mostly out of blindness but more out of not accepting what drives every coach these days: ego. There have been stranger pairings in the past and as long as Buzz feels he can win under their conditions, the other life details can be sorted out in time. 

Buzz is already making the money most everyone dreams about.  After that, I think it is the quality of life issue.  And from what I know about him, I don't think he would find the Southern California culture an upgrade in that area.

I also disagree that every coach is driven by ego, especially Buzz.  Maybe he is the greatest actor in the world with his "Aw shucks, I am just a country boy from Texas who is doesn't deserve the blessings God has already given me."  If so, he has gotten me hook. line, and sinker.

[CAGASS24]

If I'm buzz I'm looking at ucla as not very attractive.  Howland had so much success there it's ridiculous, and he got canned after winning the conf .  Though there was some displeasure with his control of the team, and this is firing was apparently not 100 percent predicated on on-court success; that kind of championship pressure and expectation might burn a buzz out even faster than normal. 

[MUfan12]

Scrambling to fabricate a distraction before the Sweet 16. Unfortunately, the jaywalking ticket that Don Walker has been investigating turned out to be nothing.

[Benny B]

This is worth repeating twice in a thread

"There's a fragile line in our industry, too, and that fragile line is how hard it is to get a job, how hard it is to get a good job and of the small collection of good jobs, how hard it is to have a good job and make it a great job.  The hardest thing in life to get is momentum and the hardest thing in life to keep is momentum" - Buzz Williams at Post-Butler presser

There was a much more obvious tell in his press conference indicating the likelihood of him going anywhere is zilch... but no one else has picked up on it?  Geez... I want to play no-limit poker with all of you guys.

[Blackhat]

Don't put too much emphasis into coach speak.  Anyone who follows sports know coaches frequently tell untruths/straight up lies that are opposed to their actions in regards to jobs they take.

Things have also changed since buzz uttered those words. He said"I'll be here as long as mu will have me" when Steve Cottingham and Father Wild were his bosses.  Don't hear him saying that these days.

[Niv Berkowitz]

Boy oh boy, the Urinal/Sentinel just couldn't wait to jump on this silly rumor. Worthless rag.

Remember, this is the same Mike Hunt that couldn't get the facts of Saturday's game right in his post-game article.

You remember? The part where he said that Butler's 50% free-throw shooter intentionally missed with 20 seconds left, which resulted in Marquette knocking the ball out of bounds with Butler only down 2?

Jame Gumb is really annoying a lot of the time.

[ATWizJr]

Don't put too much emphasis into coach speak.  Anyone who follows sports know coaches frequently tell untruths/straight up lies that are opposed to their actions in regards to jobs they take.

Things have also changed since buzz uttered those words.  Don't hear him saying that these days.

Really?  Didn't he say it Saturday after the Butler game in the presser?

[GGGG]

This is worth repeating twice in a thread

"There's a fragile line in our industry, too, and that fragile line is how hard it is to get a job, how hard it is to get a good job and of the small collection of good jobs, how hard it is to have a good job and make it a great job.  The hardest thing in life to get is momentum and the hardest thing in life to keep is momentum" - Buzz Williams at Post-Butler presser

The amount of disruption and effort and time and risk it requires to get started anywhere else (including Texas or UCLA) is significant.

Couple that with there really not being many good reasons to leave MU? (pay, resources, media, student support, etc)

it just doesn't make sense unless he really is unhappy here, and if he is, it's not something the administration can change.

I also don't buy that the ceiling at MU will not be as high as the blue bloods within the next 10 years. Only difference is if Buzz wants to recruit exclusively one-and-done guys. I don't see it.

Chicos keeps bringing "I will be at MU as long as they'll have me" up and I think its important. It means Buzz sees himself as a loyal guy... he wants to be loyal. That doesn't mean there wouldn't be a situation that he'd leave, but I think he wants to find the reasons to stay, not reasons to go.... also that he entered this job intending to stay. I don't think anyone can say TC entered the MU job intending to stay "as long as we'd have him" with a straight face (nothing wrong with that, but I think it's important).

Loyalty is a two way street though.  Yeah MU pays him a lot of money, and gave him the resources to outbid Illinois for a top-notch assistant.  That's good.  

Now MU changes some academic policies for the entire University, and it impacts the basketball team.  MU now requires its athletes as freshmen to live in a regular dorm.  The University fired one of his best friends.  (I'm not bringing any of these things up to debate them, just pointing out how Buzz might feel peeved at his current bosses.)

Look, I have heard enough speculation and rumors and honestly I have no idea how Buzz feels.  I have decided this year to just let it roll.  What happens, happens and there isn't really anything I can do about it.

[KenoshaWarrior]

Vegas is setting the line of the amount of pages this thread has at 
15.5 pages

 Give me $10 on the over

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I doubt he'll end up at UCLA, but if he does they'll become my second favorite team.

[Niv Berkowitz]

Scrambling to fabricate a distraction before the Sweet 16. Unfortunately, the jaywalking ticket that Don Walker has been investigating turned out to be nothing.

The fascinating thing about this story is that it's MU's beat-writer is the one pushing it. "I heard from this guy who knows this girl who knows this thing that Ferris passed out at 31 Flavors last night..". And...we all know how Buzz never reads articles or things said/written by the Journal Sentinel.

Should make for more great MJS/MU-Buzz relations.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Vegas is setting the line of the amount of pages this thread has at 
15.5 pages

 Give me $10 on the over

Where's UCLA18?

[mu_hilltopper]

I don't know what you guys are whining about.  Hunt is reporting on something that interests a lot of MU fans, whether you personally like the story or not.  

Newspaper articles?  Way different.  His blog on MU stuff?  About the same as a thread on MUScoop.   Yeah, it's gossipy.   Sometimes that's gonna happen.