When I heard the news that Dana had changed his mind and was returning to Creighton as the head coach, two thoughts came to mind:
1) THANK GOD
2) He is going to be ripped to shreds by the national media
After hearing him at his press conference on Wednesday, and later on Matt Perrault's show on 590, the Arkansas story began to crystallize. He put money and prestige above being loved and appreciated. He rushed into a decision to take a high-profile job, letting his ego overrule his heart. Then just hours after accepting the job, he realized he'd made a horrible mistake.
So he reconsidered his decision and decided he had to take a mulligan. Knowing full well he was trashing his reputation, at least short-term, and prepared for the inevitable media assault, he fixed his mistake.
While personally I think he should be praised for this -- who hasn't had a moment where they make a bad decision, later regretting it, but not having the stones to rectify it -- I knew he'd be ripped. He knew it too. But he did it anyway.
He got selfish, jumped at what he thought was a better job, and when he got to the other side of the fence, he realized his old yard wasn't so bad after all.
Here's the funny thing: outside of ESPN's Skip Bayless, who is an enormous ass and frankly should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell, Dana has been PRAISED for doing this. How shocking is that?
AOL's The Fanhouse said, "he looked back to Creighton, where he spent 13 years building a more-than-respectable program, he looked at moving his family, he looked at what his heart and his sense of loyalty told him. And with all of that, he decided to own up to a mistake and go back to Creighton, where he knows he has to rebuild some relationships. That's commendable. Every program should be as lucky as Creighton, to have a coach with that kind of loyalty and commitment."
Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon on PTI actually ripped Arkansas. They said, among other things, that Creighton is a better school, this is a good move, and Arkansas brought this on themselves. Then they ripped on Fayetteville. "Omaha has great indie bands! They have Conor Oberst, Bright Eyes, Warren Buffet! Fayetteville doesn't!"
I'd say this is crazy, but nothing about this saga is truly crazy anymore. Its all just completely ludicrous, insane, and I love every minute of it.
You bet.
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