ESPN 540 Interview with Rosiak

[DJAMES1]

http://www.espnmilwaukee.com/audio/

A nice 20 minute interview with Rosiak about Crean, The Big 3's legacy, etc.

[ChicosBailBonds]

http://www.espnmilwaukee.com/audio/

A nice 20 minute interview with Rosiak about Crean, The Big 3's legacy, etc.

Great interview.  Hard to disagree with anything that Rosiak said.

[TallTitan34]

Good stuff from Rosiak.

I hate the D list though but sadly it's one of the better shows on Milwaukee sports radio.  Luckily I can get Chicago sports radio 670 The Score up here in Milwaukee.

[Blackhat]

Rosiak basically called Crean a dick.  I had heard things about him but this just confirms the stories I heard.   Surprising, he must be two faced and change his tune around his "big time friends".   Don't know if my respect for him as a person and how he treats other humans is as high. 

[4everwarriors]

Surprise, surprise. Some of us have known that for a long time.

[Norm]

Rosiak basically called Crean a dick.  I had heard things about him but this just confirms the stories I heard.   Surprising, he must be two faced and change his tune around his "big time friends".   Don't know if my respect for him as a person and how he treats other humans is as high. 

Care to elaborate on what he said about Crean?

[tower912]

A successful 'dick' who graduated all of his players (except DWade), never had a whiff of scandal, promoted the hell out of the team and university (and himself in the process) shepherded us into the BEast.    Nine years and 190 wins.  Couldn't recruit bigs at MU.  (my one complaint and all of his other coaching deficiencies stem from this)   And some people hated him because of a personality conflict.   Bleepin absurd. 

[Skatastrophy]

A successful 'dick' who graduated all of his players (except DWade), never had a whiff of scandal, promoted the hell out of the team and university (and himself in the process) shepherded us into the BEast.    Nine years and 190 wins.  Couldn't recruit bigs at MU.  (my one complaint and all of his other coaching deficiencies stem from this)   And some people hated him because of a personality conflict.   Bleepin absurd. 

Truth.

I'm often considered a dick... well, because I am.  But being a dick doesn't preclude me from being really good at what I do. 

[4everwarriors]

Some like the chicken, some like the feathers. I don't care for his personality or the manner in which he went about doing things. I think he's classless, arrogant, and overpaid. From a coaching viewpoint, he's not nearly as good as he'd like people to think he is, both as a tactian and a recruiter. First priority for Tommy was and will always be Tommy. Didn't fool everyone, though.

[Shack]

Care to elaborate on what he said about Crean?

The statements about Crean were really more about comparing the two styles of Buzz and Crean.  Not really a total knock, gave an honest answer about both coaches stating what they brought to the program (both positives and negatives). 


On Crean:
He said Crean was more involved with the PR of the program and would call or text Rosiak the next day about every story/blog that he printed.  Said he had an arrogance about him -- that he was the Top Dog at MU and he let everyone know it.  Used the PR that he generated about Marquette to make Marquette successful and parlay that into another gig.   

On Buzz:
Said Buzz was more about the players from day one and they appreciate it.   You could basically roll the ball out on the court and let this team play and anyone would have the same success.   BUT in the same regard he said Buzz is very underrated as a coach and he's done a good job by playing to this team's strengths.  It will take him about 3 years to really judge him if he's successful or not. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Surprise, surprise. Some of us have known that for a long time.

I think all of us have known that, but as Todd and others on the radio program also said....he had wild success as well.

That part of the equation never seems to register with you guys.  It's only the part that he was an a-hole.

Give me an a-hole who will take us to the Final Four every decade every day of the week, unless you can find a nice guy that can do it...then I'm sold.

[ChicosBailBonds]

A successful 'dick' who graduated all of his players (except DWade), never had a whiff of scandal, promoted the hell out of the team and university (and himself in the process) shepherded us into the BEast.    Nine years and 190 wins.  Couldn't recruit bigs at MU.  (my one complaint and all of his other coaching deficiencies stem from this)   And some people hated him because of a personality conflict.   Bleepin absurd. 

Tower hits a long, deep drive into McCovey Cove.  Well done

[4everwarriors]

Chicos, that's where we differ. Most didn't think he was an ass until he bolted. Crean could have accomplished the same things without the character flaws. But, that's not part of his personality or make-up.

[Blackhat]

I had always heard stories but never cared because he's a coach not the pope.   I don't know about wild success either outside of the Final Four year and Crean hitting the jackpot with Wade we won one NCAA game.   He still proved to be a good coach though.   

As far as being a dick, that's fine but if you need to be a dick to be self satisfied than you have a pretty big personality flaw and that's where I would lose respect for Crean. 

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Chicos, that's where we differ. Most didn't think he was an ass until he bolted. Crean could have accomplished the same things without the character flaws. But, that's not part of his personality or make-up.

Well, I think if you had the option of having a "dick" who won, vs. a "Nice guy" who lost, then the decision is easy, take the winner.

I'm happy with MU's current coach and his general attitude/style.

HOWEVER, if MU turns into DePaul, I won't care how much of a "good guy" Buzz is... I'll want him gone.


Winning a lot of games + Graduating players + Arrogant Coach = a lot of fun and pride in MU (see: Crean, Tom)

Not winning as much + nice guy coach = Not as much fun, less school pride, and less $$ coming into the school (see: Raymonds, Hank)


How do you do the math 4ever?

[murambler]

Give me an a-hole who will take us to the Final Four every decade every day of the week, unless you can find a nice guy that can do it...then I'm sold.

I think that's the problem... Crean took MU to one Final Four - not one every decade.  One final four does not "allow" him to be the a-hole that he was.  If he won 8 or 9 championships in a decade like John Wooden, then by all means, he could be the biggest pric% in the world if he wanted to.

[MR.HAYWARD]

What is being lost on the Crean apologists is that you do not have to be an A-hole.  Those that love Tommy NAismith apparently think you have to be a dick to win.  Fortunately that is not the case.  Buzz proves nice guys can win too and the college landscape is littered with them.  Chicos throws names out there and attempts to make it seem like only jackasses win.  You dont have to to win and Crean was an F'ing dick. 

The interview was kind of funny and telling, you could tell Rosiak was trying not to say "listen the guy was a freaking jag bag, which would have been easier but he kept the interviewer at bay pretty well."  They did say Buzz is a "whole other kettle of fish"  and kind of left it at that.

Good guys do win and him winning does not excuse him for being an absolute prick.  It seems alot of people were so enamored with Crean that they could never have imagined the rumors of his behavior.  This is a result of the fact that some people feel MU could never be successful with anyone other than Crean.  Seems the Cream Marketing Machine was very successful in that aspect.
Rosiak did also say the players were very happy the program was now about them and not the former coach.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Chicos, that's where we differ. Most didn't think he was an ass until he bolted. Crean could have accomplished the same things without the character flaws. But, that's not part of his personality or make-up.

Well, I think plenty of us said he was a difficult as hell to work for, was a hard ass, tough to cozy up to and like....those asertions were around for a long time.  I'm sure some didn't think that way, but the point still remains....the guy had the 2nd best run in MU history and that is all thrown out the window by some people here just because they didn't like him.

Honestly, I don't get it.   If the guy cheated, I'd get it.  If the guy didn't graduate players, I'd get it.  If the guy said his contract wasn't worth the paper it was printed on and wouldn't wipe his nose with it (aka K.O.), I'd get it.

I prefer to look at it from the perspective that he took us places we haven't been in decades and for all we know, maybe never again.  I hope not, but we don't know.  He brought top flight players to MU that are representing MU nightly in the NBA, he didn't cheat, our kids graduated, we were in HUGE games for many years, fans came out in droves....we were relevant again.

So he was dick in the process.....I don't give a crap, I like what he did for MU hoops and MU....make it relevant again, especially out here 2000 miles away and not in the cocoon that is Milwaukee or the Great Lakes region.

[RawdogDX]

+1 chico, or as the folks of Team America would say:

Crean's a dick! A reckless, arrogant, stupid dick! And the Crean attackers!.. are hairy wet cats. And The Big East!.. is an A-hole.
hairy wet cats don't like dicks!.. because hairy wet cats get f'ed by dicks. But dicks also f A-holes. A-holes who just want to $h!t on everything.
hairy wet cats may think they can deal with A-holes their way, but the only thing that can f an A-hole... is a dick... with some balls.
The problem with dicks is that sometimes they f too much, or f when it isn't appropriate, and it takes a kitten to show 'em that.
But sometimes hairy wet cats get so full of crap that they become A-holes themselves. Because hairy wet cats are only an inch and a half away from A-holes.
I don't know much in this crazy, crazy world, but I do know that if we didn't let that dick f that A-hole we all would have had our dicks and hairy wet cats all coverd in $h!t.

[mugrack]

classy

[79Warrior]

Well, I think plenty of us said he was a difficult as hell to work for, was a hard ass, tough to cozy up to and like....those asertions were around for a long time.  I'm sure some didn't think that way, but the point still remains....the guy had the 2nd best run in MU history and that is all thrown out the window by some people here just because they didn't like him.

Honestly, I don't get it.   If the guy cheated, I'd get it.  If the guy didn't graduate players, I'd get it.  If the guy said his contract wasn't worth the paper it was printed on and wouldn't wipe his nose with it (aka K.O.), I'd get it.

I prefer to look at it from the perspective that he took us places we haven't been in decades and for all we know, maybe never again.  I hope not, but we don't know.  He brought top flight players to MU that are representing MU nightly in the NBA, he didn't cheat, our kids graduated, we were in HUGE games for many years, fans came out in droves....we were relevant again.

So he was dick in the process.....I don't give a crap, I like what he did for MU hoops and MU....make it relevant again, especially out here 2000 miles away and not in the cocoon that is Milwaukee or the Great Lakes region.

totally agree. Most successful coach at MU since Al. People are just pissed he left. I was at MU when Al was coach. I was on the Athletic Board at the time. Al was just as arrogant and had a much bigger ego.

Crean did a great job at MU. He was a terrific with the press and drumming up support for the program. I could give a rats ass that he was whatever. Coaches are paid to win.

[Marquette84]

What is being lost on the Crean apologists is that you do not have to be an A-hole. 

The irony of this comment is likely lost on its maker.


Here's my view.  Crean being a dick is forgivable, becuase apparently, he was only a dick in private, to people who apparently deserved it, plus paired it with signficant contributions to MU, such as getting to the final four, graduating his players, keeping us free from NCAA violations, keeping MU in the news media, etc. etc. etc.  

You being a dick is not forgivable, because you haven't made anywhere near the contribution to MU that Crean has, plus you're a dick to everyone, right out in public.

BTW, you mentioned the "rumors" of what Crean has done to earn being called a dick.  Can you provide specifics?  Are you ever going to put up or shut up?  


 

[romey]

I have rarely thrown my hat into this ring, but I finally decided I'd speak up.  I grew up the child of an alum with season tickets.  Attended 90% of the home games from '71 or '72 until I became a student in '78 and of course attended all of the home games while enrolled.  graduated and moved out of state in '83.  So, I experienced the AL era - the greatest time to be a Warrior fan - ever.  Hank was there when I was - lots of talent (thanks to Al) but disappointing results.  When I moved away, the program was practically invisible on the national scene for years. Yes, O'Neill's teams got them a little exposure, but living in the Southeast, not much chance of me seeing too many games in the heart of ACC/SEC hoops territory.

Enter Tom Crean (and DWade of course) and suddenly, my Alma Mater is relevent again.  My friends and co-workers actually knew what I was talking about when I talked MU basketball.  Of course I was oblivious to Crean's off court persona with no local media dissection of his every move, and no blogs to follow (I just didn't do it back then).  So, did I care?  No.  we were a top 25 program again.  That's the bottom line - that and at least for MU, a clean program and graduating players.  He did those things as well.  So,  I have no problem with Crean and what he did at Marquette.  All I have to say, is "Thank you, Tom Crean, and good luck."  I'm not happy you left the way you did, but we'll be just fine,.

[ChicosBailBonds]

You being a dick is not forgivable, because you haven't made anywhere near the contribution to MU that Crean has, plus you're a dick to everyone, right out in public.

[tower912]

I live in Michigan.   After graduating in 88, when I would tell someone that I went to Marquette, they would invariably say "way up there?"....meaning Marquette, Michigan in the upper peninsula.    These days, when I say I went to Marquette, most people, especially men, say "Nice basketball team.  Man, the Big East is tough."     
       Think of TC as a CEO.   He took a decent company and took it up the ladder.   His management style irked some people, because he was a type A personality who sometimes treated his underlings poorly, but he made the company more successful.   Then, he took a job at a company that (in his estimation, flawed in my opinion) had more upside.   His manner of leaving offended many people, but there was an able replacement waiting in the wings.   Did the CEO make the right decision to jump?   Is the new CEO going to be able to sustain the success.    Take the emotion out of it, and it is a fairly common story.   
      If Buzz can continue to win 20+ a year, continue to graduate all of his players, continue to keep the MU brand on the upswing, all while being a nice guy, GREAT, we got the better of the deal.    If Buzz is a nice guy, and we win 17-18 a year, go 8-10 or 7-11 every year and are consistently in the NIT, the same guys are going to want to run him out of town.