Article In Times West Virginian

[bradforster]

Anyone read this article today? 


COLUMN: Next meeting has potential for fireworks

By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian

MORGANTOWN — I don't know when it is going to come, but make certain of one thing — I want to be there.

It may be in New York in the Big East Tournament, which would be the proper stage for it, but who knows if the draw there will rematch West Virginia University and Marquette.

It could come in the NCAA Tournament, if that works out right, or it might not come this year at all, for the two teams are scheduled only for that one Big East meeting that occurred on Saturday in Milwaukee.

But if it takes waiting until next year for the rematch, so be it.

I'll be there and, if you like fireworks, you'll be there, too.

See, Bob Huggins wants a piece of Marquette.

Badly.

It grows out of the final moments of Saturday's one-sided, 75-53 Marquette victory on its home court.

"At the end, they were having fun," Huggins noted on his postgame radio show.

There was a lot of chirping and chest thumping and frolicking and laughing from the Marquette side, but don't get the idea that Huggins was commenting on it because he was happy for them.

"They'll have a lot of fun the next time we play," he added, the comment sounding far more like a warning than a white flag of surrender.

Losing was never one of Bob Huggins' favorite activities.

That's probably why he experiences it so seldom.

But he can take a loss. He's had to 226 times in his career.

What's more, he takes it better now than he ever did.

"I've matured," he admitted.

All you have to do is win with class.

"When people are laughing at you, I take offense to that," Huggins said. "What goes around, comes around. We have to remember that."

And so when WVU and Marquette meet next, be it this year or next, Huggins and his team are sure to take it as more than a game, something on the order of a crusade.

It would be unfortunate to have it come next year, for this is a senior-laden Marquette team that schooled his freshmen on a cold January day in the city made famous by Henry Aaron, Miller Beer, and Laverne and Shirley.

Huggins would prefer to get his revenge at the hands of Gerald McNeal, who put 27 points up on the board while pouring it on late, and Dominic James and Wesley Matthews, the three senior leaders of the team.

See, Huggins is a creature of a different era.

He comes out of a time when you were taught to respect your opponent. It was a time of sportsmanship, a time when you didn't thump your chest or leap in the air shooting a fist through the air, when you didn't talk trash. You took it out.

Players like Bill Russell and Jerry West and Oscar Robertson were heroes, modest men who spoke little and said a lot.

It began changing, you know, with Muhammad Ali, but even he could never have imagined the likes of Terrell Owens or "Ocho Cinco" or Deion Sanders, a time when the only thing more inflated than athlete's paychecks was their egos.

The dancing in the gym went on after the game was over, not during it.

You bet Huggins will remember and make sure his team remembers the feelings they had watching Marquette pull away, scoring at will.

If Huggins has his way, there will be a reckoning.

But first he knows that he has to do something to make his team capable of gaining that pound of flesh. They cannot play the way they played on Saturday, grabbing and clawing for foul after foul, missing shots, being outrebounded.

His freshmen, most notably being the heretofore surprisingly mature point guard Truck Bryant, were schooled by James and the Golden Eagles.

Bryant had a trying afternoon, glued to the bench when he needed to spend an afternoon trying. He picked up two fouls faster than you can say "Man, West Virginia misses Joe Mazzulla today." He couldn't defend, couldn't pass, couldn't shoot, couldn't dribble.

His line in the box score read: 0 points, 0-4 shooting, 0-2 from 3, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 4 turnovers.

Match it up with his counterpart, James' line, which read: 17 points, 8 for 18 shooting, 7 assists and 1 turnover.

James played 40 minutes, Bryant 13.

If nothing else, that alone gave Marquette reason to celebrate.


Here is what I wrote in reply to Mr. Hertzel:

Hi Bob, I just read your article about Bob Huggins taking umbrage to Marquette's so called derisive antics during and after the game yesterday in Milwaukee.  I am an ardent Marquette basketball supporter and I can assure you this team thoroughly enjoys playing the game and has always exhibited class both in victory and defeat.  The three seniors have been together seemingly forever, and simply like to have fun on the court.  They had the same demeanor in Nashville a few weeks ago in a LOSS to Tennessee.   I remember many games both in Cincinnati and at the Bradley Center when Bob Huggins Bearcat teams acted far more superciliously than yesterday's so called egregious frivolity from the Golden Eagles.  For years, Huggins has been coaching immature thugs who don't graduate and find ways to create trouble off the court.  Marquette players earn their college degrees and display tremendous sportsmanship.  Furthermore, head coach Buzz Williams is a man of estimable character and would never allow his team to rub victory in the face of an opponent.  It seems to me you needed a story on a slow sports day and haphazardly slapped a commentary together about a frustrated coach whose team got lambasted in a tough environment on the road.  West Virginia did the same to Marquette the last time the two schools met in Morgantown.  Perhaps Huggins should focus his energy on instructing Alex Ruoff not to hoist up hasty three pointers during future three on one breaks as he did earlier in the week against UCONN.  Oh, and the name is Jerel McNeal, not Gerald, as you referred to him in your piece.  He's one of the best players in the conference.

Sincerely,

Brad Forster
MU Grad

[reinko]

This guy is a douche.

[TallTitan34]

Haha what a joke.  This guy must not have seen the last two MU games in Morgantown.  

Gerald McNeal better look out though. Huggins is pissed.

[79Warrior]

Haha what a joke.  This guy must not have seen the last two MU games in Morgantown.  

Gerald McNeal better look out though. Huggins is pissed.

Huggins is trying anything to help motivate his team. While I do not think MU was in any way laughing at WVU, when you are down by 20 it sure looks that way. The amigos are having a great senior year and cleary having a good time.

On the other hand, we all remember how we felt when Pitino put a shellacking on us a few year ago at UL.

We can win, win big, but win with class. I am not saying we did not show class, but I do think the chest bumping when you have a team on the mat may be going a bit to far. no need to give any team locker room material.

[reinko]

If you would like to let Mr. Hertzel your thoughts, here is his email

bhertzel@hotmail.com

[Thomas' Danish Delight]

It would be unfortunate to have it come next year, for this is a senior-laden Marquette team that schooled his freshmen on a cold January day in the city made famous by Henry Aaron, Miller Beer, and Laverne and Shirley.

I mean, Hank Aaron = baseball legend; Miller Beer = More Taste, Less Filling; and Laverne and Shirley = American TV classic.

What's Morgantown got?  West Virginia isn't even the REAL Virginia.  I would know, I lived in Real Virginia.

Well written reply, Mr. Forster.

[JSwarriors08]

Brad, your response says everything that I could possibly have conceived of saying myself.  Excellent job.

[NotAnAlum]

"He comes out of a time when you were taught to respect your opponent. It was a time of sportsmanship, a time when you didn't thump your chest or leap in the air shooting a fist through the air, when you didn't talk trash. You took it out."
WHAT?????  Are these UWV Writers in this much denial.  Huggins teams at Cinc where built around chest thumping, fist in the air, trash talking.  This is like saying Ali was the great example of the "humble prize fighter".  Say want you want about MU (Although typically our problem is not enough swagger), say what you want about West Virginia Basketball but PLEASE don't try to tell us about Mr Huggins, we've known him a lot longer than you have.

[MarquetteDano]

It took two years for our good relations with West Virginia to go down the drain with Huggins as coach.  If Belein was still coach, there wouldn't have been any problems.  You can't blame the Mountaineer fans listening/siding with Huggins... he is a home town boy, coaches their second favorite team... he can do no wrong.

For the REST OF THE COUNTRY (perhaps sans Cincinnati) everyone knows who Huggins is.  If this article was a national article, the writer would have been a laughing stock.

I love the hypocrisy of Bobby Huggins.  Drunk driving, 20% graduation rates, players as rapists, felons, thieves.  But let's write an article on how Huggy Bear, as college basketball's moral exemplar, will deliver justice on a wronged blow-out win.

Please.

[romey]

Not an Alum - my sentiments exactly - Huggins players "don't thump their chests"??????  Who was the guard he had a few years ago thug that played at Dominican in Milwaukee?  Nick.......???

[Pardner]

This is such a homer job--and so hypocritical if you know anything about Huggie--it is hilarious.  But, I kinda like these new regional rivalries evolving, though.  Pitt and MU seemed to go at it right from the start, now the carryover from CUSA with Thuggins.  Good to get some East Coast pub.  Our main rivals are old CUSA teams and ND....good to see the old guard BE (Hurley Mafia and such) establishment noticing--and learning to hate our success or underestimating us.  Look at Zagsblog or EPSN and you'll see that old bias...but it is changing.  While many BE teams are all on the same East Coast talent, Buzz is going national.  

[muhoops1]

Can they even read in West Virginia?  Or does this guy go on the radio and read his article out loud?  If he's is angry about something it should be Huggins' middle part.  Hello...1982 called and it wants its hair helmet back.

[Knight Commission]

Not only did West Virginia hire the least respected basketball coach in NCAA history, they embraced him.

[reinko]

So I wrote Mr. Hertzel about his clear mistake of Gerald/Jerel.  I wrote "Who is this Gerald McNeal you wrote about?  I wonder if he is related to to Jerel McNeal.

He responded to me.

"Just wanted to make sure you were paying attention."

[ecompt]

Here is the letter I just openned to Mr. Hertzel:


Dear Bob:
I had to respond to your "Bob Huggins as Mother Teresa" column of Sunday's paper. As a former sportswriter and journalist with 40 years of experience, I know you what you were trying to do in your piece: sell a few papers with a little controversy while playing up the local angle of your team. I;'m sorry to tell you this, Bob, but it didn't work.
First off, you lose whatever credibility you night have had when you can't even identify Jerel McNeal, a player rated as top shooting guard by Yahoo Sports, properly. The guy had 26 points against your team Saturday and you don't even know his name? Sad.
But you totally lose your argument when you talk in reverent tones about Bob Huggins growing up in the age of sportsmanship, when teams didn't laugh or taunt. Are we talking about these years, Bob?
The nine years when Huggins failed to graduate any of his players?
The year when one of his players punched a horse?
The years when his players were arrested on various charges 15 times?
The years when his players routinely were among the drtiest in the country, both in their play and with their words?
The year when Huggins got into his car and drove while intoxicated?
Please, Bob, if you want to say Marquette celebrated too much and Huggins took it personally, fine. But please don't hold him up as an example of what used to be good in college sports. Huggins is a fine basketball coach. As an educator, as an example to youth and as a person he is a total creep, and you should know better.
Respectfully,
Eric Compton
MU Journalism Class of 1972

[Rollout-the-Barrel]

Pleas post any more replies from this journalist!
What a joke!

[Badgerhater920]

How bout when Cincy was put on probation in 1998 for a lack of institutional control?

[rocky_warrior]

Looks like Huggy has learned more about PR in his time coaching - great job with spinning his story.

[Thomas' Danish Delight]

Here is the letter I just openned to Mr. Hertzel:


Dear Bob:
I had to respond to your "Bob Huggins as Mother Teresa" column of Sunday's paper. As a former sportswriter and journalist with 40 years of experience, I know you what you were trying to do in your piece: sell a few papers with a little controversy while playing up the local angle of your team. I;'m sorry to tell you this, Bob, but it didn't work.
First off, you lose whatever credibility you night have had when you can't even identify Jerel McNeal, a player rated as top shooting guard by Yahoo Sports, properly. The guy had 26 points against your team Saturday and you don't even know his name? Sad.
But you totally lose your argument when you talk in reverent tones about Bob Huggins growing up in the age of sportsmanship, when teams didn't laugh or taunt. Are we talking about these years, Bob?
The nine years when Huggins failed to graduate any of his players?
The year when one of his players punched a horse?
The years when his players were arrested on various charges 15 times?
The years when his players routinely were among the drtiest in the country, both in their play and with their words?
The year when Huggins got into his car and drove while intoxicated?
Please, Bob, if you want to say Marquette celebrated too much and Huggins took it personally, fine. But please don't hold him up as an example of what used to be good in college sports. Huggins is a fine basketball coach. As an educator, as an example to youth and as a person he is a total creep, and you should know better.
Respectfully,
Eric Compton
MU Journalism Class of 1972

[Pardner]

Hey now--let's lay off Mr. Hertzel as he is an impeccable judge of character.  He penned Pete Rose's biography so he knows character when he sees it.

http://www.bookfinder.com/author/bob-hertzel/

[Daniel]

I just fired off a note to Hertzel too - thanks for the email address!  I hope he gets deluged.

[MUFan71]

Not an Alum - my sentiments exactly - Huggins players "don't thump their chests"??????  Who was the guard he had a few years ago thug that played at Dominican in Milwaukee?  Nick.......???

Nick Van Excel

[Desert_warrior]

Someone might want to show him the play-by-play from last year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/playbyplay?gameId=280060277

West Virginia had their starters in until the very end.

[77ncaachamps]

What comes around goes around...Interesting for Huggy Bear to say that.

Consider this season the "go around" for MU basketball on his a$$.
Moreover, if he's implying karma's a biotch, then he should be getting something for signing with K-State for only a year...and leaving them cold for WVU.

[muhoops1]

Or just watch this.  It reeks of class....

http://www.wlwt.com/video/4889137/index.html