So, apparently Kenneth Kenny "Doc" Sadler is taking some heat over his comments about how playing Creighton does them no good. No less a source than Kenneth himself told the media that he's received emails and calls from "tons of folks" upset at both his tone and his words. He sat down with KETV to elaborate, and presumably, have the chance to backtrack.
But this being Kenneth, he offered no apologies, instead expanding his comments and digging an even deeper hole for himself with both Bluejay fans and, apparently, level-headed Huskers too.
You can watch the interview here, and you should, because the circuitous route he takes in explaining himself is fascinating. I'm not sure what he means by saying the Huskers would be better off playing Duke than Creighton, because that's a horrible analogy. Given their pedigree, pretty much everyone would be better off playing Duke. But Duke isn't gonna play Nebraska any more than they're going to play Creighton -- or pretty much any team is either of their conferences, for that matter.
Be sure not to miss his little white lie at the very beginning where he changes his story to claim the entire conversation started after a question about playing TWICE A YEAR. If that's actually true, than either the reporter (and every media outlet in Nebraska) is lying, or Kenneth has changed his story to paint himself in a better light. I don't know which and I won't speculate. But someone is not being truthful here.
Oh, and I've heard Dana Altman say on multiple occasions, both in person and in print, that he'd like to play twice, so for Kenneth to claim Dana has told him otherwise in private is insulting, disingenuous and wrong.
I did have a good laugh towards the end, though, as he tries so valiantly to pitch himself as a philanthropist, playing Creighton out of the kindness of his heart. That's gold.
I'm disappointed in the usually solid John Schuetz for not asking the questions on everyone's mind while he had the chance. Namely, how is playing a Top 50 team bad? As Tom Shatel wrote in his pointed criticism of Sadler in yesterday's paper, "Has Doc looked at his nonconference schedule lately?...Even with the quality he faces in the Big 12, Sadler should be thankful that a top 50 opportunity lies just down the road. Husker fans should be thankful. How many Maryland-Baltimore Counties are there anyway?"
Why does your athletic department charge a higher ticket price for the Creighton game if its a "bad" game? Why was it one of the only games to sell out all season? Clearly its a revenue boost to play Creighton, which should make it a good game for your program, right?
Is it so hard to ask those questions? I think a lot of people on both sides of this argument would be interested to hear his answers. There is a "full-length" version of this interview that will air Sunday night, and until then, I'll give KETV the benefit of the doubt. But I hope the full interview comes off better, and comes off less as a press release written by the NU Athletic Department.
And lets hope it puts this story to rest, because I'm as tired of writing about Kenneth as you are reading about him. This is Inside Creighton Hoops, after all, and there are way more important things to be discussing.
You bet.
