Years ago, I had a list of college hoops personalities who had, at one point or another, said or done something to piss me off. Some of them were TV analysts, some were writers, some were coaches, and well, you get the idea. The inaugural class included five members and one alternate:
Digger Phelps was the inaugural member. The best thing you could say about Digger, and it holds true today so at least he's consistent, is that he doesn't even pretend to hide his disdain for mid-major teams. He's said so many anti-Creighton and anti-Valley things over the years that I lost track somewhere around 53. At one point, I considered designing a playing card set: 52 Funniest "Digger Hates Mid-Major" Moments. Each set would come with a complimentary chameleon highlighter that would magically change color to match your wardrobe each day. Sadly, such a marker does not exist, which made the fun of the potential card set about 90% less so.
Tom Penders, the coach of the Houston Cougars, told his team's beat writer in 2006 that he would be surprised if any Missouri Valley team could even get the ball across half-court against his team. He was flabbergasted the the MVC took four teams to the NCAA Tourney that year, and based on his quote, apparently believed the MVC was a league of D-III players. At the time, I promised $100 of my own cash if I couldn't get the ball across half court against his team. I'd still make that bet. Making a basket would be another story entirely, but he didn't say they couldn't score -- he said they couldn't even get it across halfcourt. Needless to say, when Houston got pistol whipped by Creighton in Hawaii the next year and fans chanted "Half-Court! Half-Court" all night, I found it marvelously amusing. What a douchebag.
Gary Williams, the coach of the Maryland Terrapins, claimed in a Washington Post article in 2006 that his team deserved bid more than Wichita State or Bradley because they'd played tougher teams. Fair enough; I might not agree, but I can peacefully coexist with an informed debater. However, Williams then ruined any chance we had of coexisting by claiming he'd play any Valley school anywhere, if only they'd ask -- but that none of them had ever asked. This played well on the East Coast ("See, those Valley teams are afraid to play the ACC!"). Everywhere else, it played as the sad musings of a world-class douchebag. The fact of the matter was, many MVC coaches had called Maryland to schedule a game, and Williams ignored all of them. Then he lied about it when it was convenient to make the MVC look like wimps.
Jay Bilas is like the Jim Rice of this list -- the guy who I was on the fence about forever, going back and forth as to his merits much like Hall of Fame voters did with Rice for over a decade. He writes and speaks plenty of Big Conference Bias material, but does so in a quasi-informed manner AND does just enough positive press on lesser-covered teams to make him a borderline candidate.
Jim Nantz, despite opening each telecast by saying, "Hello friends," is no friend of mine. A gifted orator unless you actually listen to what he's saying, Nantz is, I suppose, a pleasant enough play-by-play caller. When he gets into analysis, however, a disturbing trend of hating non-ACC schools begins to surface. The sight of him ripping "these Valley schools" on national TV during the 2006 Selection Sunday show would have made him lead gangsta in college hoops' Public Enemy if not for...
Billy Packer. Curmudgeon. Grumpy. Old-Fashioned. Elitist. For years, Packer managed to do the impossible: take all of the fun out of the greatest event in American team sports. Nearly every team not in the ACC or SEC had a bone to pick with the man over something he'd said. In 1979, he famously spent the entire Final Four telecast of Indiana State-Michigan State -- what should have been a celebration -- bitching and whining about how Indiana State didn't belong on the floor with the Spartans. He even claimed Larry Bird would be, at best, a sixth-man in the NBA. Oops. He villified Villanova for having the audacity to upset vaunted Georgetown. He ripped St. Joseph's Coach Phil Martelli TO HIS FACE for, in his mind, not deserving a #1 seed because they came from the (gasp!) A10. He refused to scout George Mason until they reached the Final Four, telling anyone who would listen that he wasn't going to bother because they wouldn't keep winning. Oops.
And that's without even mentioning a certain duo on a certain four-number-frequency AM station right here in Omaha who wear their hatred of the MVC and Creighton on their sleeve.
Anyway, I feel like I owe it to my readers to point out -- and give props to -- a commentator who, while I don't always agree with him, is always thoroughly prepared and makes rational arguments for/against mid-major teams.
I'm talking about ESPN's Doug Gottlieb. He respects quality teams from lesser-known conferences, and is not afraid to call B.S. on ESPN's multitude of analysts who spew the company line that "Team X plays in the Big Ten so clearly they're better than Team Y from the MVC."
On Monday night's "College Gameday Final", he mentioned Creighton not once but TWICE, on a day when they didn't even play. When Tom Brennan essentially gave St. Mary's a "free pass" for losing to Gonzaga by 25, Gottlieb, out of left field, says this:
"Well then Creighton should get a pass for the Illinois State game. They'd won 11 in a row before that."
Brennan had no reply. Later they showed Joe Lunardi's latest bracket actually moved Creighton up a spot, ahead of St. Mary's but still in the "Last Four Out" group. He applauded this, and then hammered Brennan for saying Davidson deserves an at-large -- claiming Creighton has a superior resume and is a far superior team. By the time he finished, Brennan was apologetic and stunned.
Tuesday morning, Gottlieb asked the question, "What's more important: winning 11 of your last 12 games or losing your last game by 24?" Essentially the same thing I asked yesterday. An intelligent, reasoned thought from someone on ESPN? Surely you jest!
Gottlieb is going out of his way to keep Creighton's name front-and-center this week, going to bat for them and sticking his neck out a little bit. He's been equally brutal to them in years where they struggled (see: last year) so that says to me he calls 'em like he sees 'em, and not like what his bosses suggest he call. I respect that. Having him in Creighton's corner is just the icing on the cake.
Gottlieb earns an official apology from me for booing him mercilessly in Omaha in 1999 when his Oklahoma State team played Creighton at the old Civic. He also earns the title of "Official Hoops Analyst of Polyfro.com."
You bet.
