Jeff Jacobs Editorial On CD and HOF | The Boneyard

Jeff Jacobs Editorial On CD and HOF

RockyMTblue2

RockyMTblue2

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I find it a powerful essay.

"Dailey has dedicated her entire being to the game. No cheating her, no cheating yourself. She changes players on the court for four years. She changes players off the court forever.

The voting for the Basketball Hall of Fame remains an uncomfortable, secret process. As a member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, I have a Hall of Fame vote. I make my ballot for Cooperstown public. As painful as the criticism can be, there is something therapeutic in the transparency. In basketball, the voters and their ballots are unknown. This much should be known.

At a time when the Basketball Hall of Fame has a chance to publicly regain a moral ballast and give assistant coaches their overdue due, Dailey is the perfect candidate in an imperfect system."

Jeff Jacobs: UConn’s Chris Dailey deserves to be in Hall of Fame

I'll never forget Dee on CD: "D tie your laces. D do this. D don't do that. D D D For 4 years I hated her. Now I love her."

Dee's funny little quote notwithstanding, CD's coaching presence is very real and impactful and Geno has reminded us time and time again that he could never have been Geno if CD wasn't CD. She deserves the recognition. I'll fall over if it happens.
 
sounds like Jacobs is mixing a couple of issues: transparency of voting and whether an associate coach merits HoF status.

Voting transparency cuts both ways, of course, as it can be a chilling effect on voting your principles, instead of what might make you acceptable to others. That's why as a country we believe in the secret ballot.

As to whether CD deserves to be in the HoF, of course, to UConn fans it's a no-brainer. But she's chosen to be a lifetime assoc. coach, rather than be a head coach somewhere else. So, we can't assess her won/lost record fairly. And that opens up the category to all other assoc. coaches at all levels of the sport. And how do we judge someone who was (say) an amazing assoc. coach for 20 years but turns out to be a mediocre head coach? Personally, I still believe there's room for CD in the Hall, for the good she's done the sport (which IS a criterion for election). But I understand the other side of the argument.
 
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bags27 said:
sounds like Jacobs is mixing a couple of issues: transparency of voting and whether an associate coach merits HoF status.

Voting transparency cuts both ways, of course, as it can be a chilling effect on voting your principles, instead of what might make you acceptable to others. That's why as a country we believe in the secret ballot.

As to whether CD deserves to be in the HoF, of course, to UConn fans it's a no-brainer. But she's chosen to be a lifetime assoc. coach, rather than be a head coach somewhere else. So, we can't assess her won/lost record fairly. And that opens up the category to all other assoc. coaches at all levels of the sport. And how do we judge someone who was (say) an amazing assoc. coach for 20 years but turns out to be a mediocre head coach? Personally, I still believe there's room for CD in the Hall, for the good she's done the sport (which IS a criterion for election). But I understand the other side of the argument.
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Hello everyone I am brand new to this forum. It would be nice to add that besides her 11 championships as a coach CD also won a national title as a player at Rutgers.
 
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Bascomfan said:
Hello everyone I am brand new to this forum. It would be nice to add that besides her 11 championships as a coach CD also won a national title as a player at Rutgers.
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So @Bascomfan - do you live in St. Croix now? Trying to get a straight answer from a hotel we stayed at in St. Thomas about their (and the island’s) anticipated preparedness for tourists for the Paradise Jam tournament this coming Thanksgiving. “We hope....” is the best I can get out of them. What say you?
 
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Bascomfan said:
Hello everyone I am brand new to this forum. It would be nice to add that besides her 11 championships as a coach CD also won a national title as a player at Rutgers.
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Welcome.

I got a chance to have a nice chat with Kerry recently, so appreciate your name.
 
CD is great but no HOFer. Being a longtime assistant means you didn't take a chance, played it safe. That's not a HOF characteristic in my book.
 
j66kicker said:
So @Bascomfan - do you live in St. Croix now? Trying to get a straight answer from a hotel we stayed at in St. Thomas about their (and the island’s) anticipated preparedness for tourists for the Paradise Jam tournament this coming Thanksgiving. “We hope....” is the best I can get out of them. What say you?
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Yes I do live in St. Croix right now and we are still recovering from hurricane Maria but I would like to go to St. Thomas for the Paradise jam . I am only a ferry ride or seaplane flight away. Hopefully it is still on.
 
Waquoit said:
CD is great but no HOFer. Being a longtime assistant means you didn't take a chance, played it safe. That's not a HOF characteristic in my book.
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How in the world would you know why CD decided to remain as the assistant and now associate head coach? Playing it safe? Can you quote where you read this? Otherwise this comment doesn’t belong here.
 
JFC613 said:
How in the world would you know why CD decided to remain as the assistant and now associate head coach? Playing it safe? Can you quote where you read this? Otherwise this comment doesn’t belong here.
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He doesn't know. He's expressing an opinion, which is what we all do here. His comment
belongs here no less than yours. (IMO)
 
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JFC613 said:
How in the world would you know why CD decided to remain as the assistant and now associate head coach? Playing it safe? Can you quote where you read this? Otherwise this comment doesn’t belong here.
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I don't understand why I need a "quote" to make my opinion more or less salient. It doesn't matter why she made the decisions she did. Isn't keeping with the status quo a definition of playing it safe? I'm not saying the choices CD made were wrong or bad, they were the right choices for her. She's great at what she does and probably would have been a success if she chose to go out on her own. But she didn't. If she takes over for Geno and wins a title as the HC and you roll that up with the rest of her resume, now we can talk HOF.
 
Waquoit said:
I don't understand why I need a "quote" to make my opinion more or less salient. It doesn't matter why she made the decisions she did. Isn't keeping with the status quo a definition of playing it safe? I'm not saying the choices CD made were wrong or bad, they were the right choices for her. She's great at what she does and probably would have been a success if she chose to go out on her own. But she didn't. If she takes over for Geno and wins a title as the HC and you roll that up with the rest of her resume, now we can talk HOF.
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I'll just note in passing that CD wanted the RU head job and would have taken it. Didn't happen. Yes, she's had other offers and turned them down. Think about it: you are treated as and act as an equal by and with the Coach and everyone else in WCBB's non-pareil program. You make more than about a dozen coaches in your game. You do this in the women's basketball capital of the world. Maybe no inference of you played it safe should be drawn?

But you are entirely entitled to your voice, with or without foot note @Waquoit I just chose to disagree as it pertains to CD.
 
20 years ago, there was similar sentiment that Leo Mazzone, as a pitching coach of the Braves should also be given his due and that the Baseball HOF should think about its criteria to enshrine pitching coaches. That debate died down due to the fact that Leo was not the most qualified (anyone remember their bullpens???) and fizzled in Baltimore when he took over. My point its, it is tough to properly grade any assistant coach on what they accomplish vs. what the HC/Manager does. The NBA talks about it regularly as contributors-Tex Winter comes to mind. CD absolutely deserves strong consideration, but once that door is open, how do you qualify an assistant. Holly Warlick was part of all 8 titles at Tennessee-would she be considered? I honestly don't know if Holly is qualifed as an assistant or not, I do know as a HC, I am not in favor.

We, here on the board, have an admiration, respect and awe of what CD brings every day to all 12-14 women and the support staff. But how would the voters know? So, maybe, the qualification could be as a contributor as I am sure she was part of all the USA basketball titles as well by being behind the scenes. Either way, we here, know what she brings and yes, the way DT gave that interview was priceless on CD!!!
 
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Just to pick a nit, it was not an editorial, as the headline suggested, but an opinion column. Editorials are expressions of the opinion of the news organization. Commonly misused word.
 
Andy Landers commented about CD that, “She’s best known for holding Geno back.” He then went on to compliment CD more sincerely for all her contributions to UConn WBB.
 
Waquoit said:
I don't understand why I need a "quote" to make my opinion more or less salient. It doesn't matter why she made the decisions she did. Isn't keeping with the status quo a definition of playing it safe? I'm not saying the choices CD made were wrong or bad, they were the right choices for her. She's great at what she does and probably would have been a success if she chose to go out on her own. But she didn't. If she takes over for Geno and wins a title as the HC and you roll that up with the rest of her resume, now we can talk HOF.
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He doesn’t do any of it without her, and he absolutely knows and has expressed that.
 
RockyMTblue2 said:
I'll just note in passing that CD wanted the RU head job and would have taken it.
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uconnfan68 said:
He doesn’t do any of it without her, and he absolutely knows and has expressed that.
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So if CD got the Rutgers job, UConn would not have gone on winning titles? Not sure I buy that.
 
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Waquoit said:
So if CD got the Rutgers job, UConn would not have gone on winning titles? Not sure I buy that.
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My only point was CD isn't hiding at UConn. She's in a pressure packed job. Sure, she makes over 300 grand in the premier #2 job in her sport, wins championships and is popular with an adoring fan base. So, she's said, I'm not leaving until something better comes along. Now, late in a terrific career, she's happy where she is doing what she's doing and it is very hard to argue with that.
 
I think this obviously is thinking outside the box, in that we generally don't recognize the #2 person in many things. But this is not the usual situation. This is someone who has been with Geno through it all. So being the assistant / associate head coach to maybe the greatest sports coach ever in any sport is not something that will easily ever be repeated. They are clearly a team and balance and compliment one another extremely well.
I think one needs to consider both Genos and their former players input in her influence on many of their successes in basketball and life.
In most successful businesses there's a person in charge and then their 2nd in command. However they play it, each handles different aspects of what must be done. In sports and basketball in particular the best analogy or comparison as it comes to players is Michael Jordan (probably the consensus greatest player ever) and his sidekick Scottie Pippen. Jordan was GREAT but I doubt he would have won as many championships without Pippen.
Just as not everyone is cut out to play at U Conn on the women's side, some are better at being that complimentary part to the star. I think this is so rare and special that I truly hope she is inducted. It would give hope and import to succeeding which speaks to so much of what this twosome and team are about.
Bronx 23
 
Waquoit said:
So if CD got the Rutgers job, UConn would not have gone on winning titles? Not sure I buy that.
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Maybe not. When was she supposed to get that? Don’t remember exactly.
 
uconnfan68 said:
Maybe not. When was she supposed to get that? Don’t remember exactly.
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When Vivian did. 1996. I've heard a number of different stories about it.

CD was very popular with the RU crowd that was (sadly, a lot of them no longer with us 20+ years later) and Vivian wasn't. But Viv's resume - in 1996 - was excellent moving from a successful stint at Iowa to her east coast roots. And I don't think RU has any complaints.

Who knows - CD might have won a natty - or not. Geno might have won just as many without her - or more - or less. We'll never know, because it didn't happen.

As to the original premise - she is something of a unique case and correctly deserves HOF consideration. Should the HOF be open to assistants and associates - I would think as contributors, at least, the answer may be yes.
 
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