KO Speech today

[Huskymaniac]

You were one of the posters I was referring to(along with Ruff Ruff), and nope, I still don't hear these poor speaking skills that you guys were referring to. Then again, the both of you have been the most vocal of Ollie critics so its not surprising to hear this coming from you when its invalid.

Some of you guys are just hopeless. Really? You didn't hear poor grammar? I never said it was a major problem or anything even close. In fact, I said it can be worked on. Many professional athletes have been coached on this. To ignore a weakness is foolish and, luckily, Ollie is not a fool. I'm sure he will work on it and we will see the results of that work. And I never said it matters to the players or recruits. I never got that specific so people really need to stop being so damned hypersensitive and quick triggered in their defense of the coach. It matters to the media and how they will view and treat him. It matters in fund raising. It matters to the board of trustees who are focused on the academic image of the university. I hate to point this out, as I know how rabid some of you are, but it could very well impact whether or not he gets a contract extension. And, NO, I am not saying it is THE factor or even a MAJOR factor. I am just saying it is one of many factors which will influence the decision. Assuming he turns out to be a great coach, I would hate for this to be one of the things that keeps him from getting the job long term.

Just for the record, the arguments over who should be coach and for how long has made some of you down right paranoid. I am not a "critic" of Ollie. He is our coach and I want him to be wildly successful. But, in the end, I want what is best for the university and, by extension, the program.

 

[jibsey]

I honestly think he has been working on the grammar because he sounded better than maybe a year ago. In the grand scheme of things its minor stuff and this is a guy who is driven to get better at everything so no worries. There is also no question that through his agent and advisers he has been aware of improving speaking as he approached this position. Public speaking is an art form and is as difficult as anything in it's own way.

 

[Excalibur]

He appears to be a good mtivator and leader. But he needs to work on his speaking and grammar. You guys can gloss over it all you want but it matters and he needs to work on it. It can be done. It just takes a little work.

I met and spoke with Kevin a few times the year after he left (I think he was back on campus taking some classes to finish his degree). The difference in how he speaks and presents himself now vs. then is incredible. He makes his point a lot better than plenty of people that have "proper" grammar. His speaking don't worry me none

 

[Huskymaniac]

I met and spoke with Kevin a few times the year after he left (I think he was back on campus taking some classes to finish his degree). The difference in how he speaks and presents himself now vs. then is incredible. He makes his point a lot better than plenty of people that have "proper" grammar. His speaking don't worry me none

Thanks. I assumed he was working on it and maybe it will just take a little more time. I'm sure he will continue to get better at this as time goes on.

 

[johnhuskies95]

You were one of the posters I was referring to(along with Ruff Ruff), and nope, I still don't hear these poor speaking skills that you guys were referring to. Then again, the both of you have been the most vocal of Ollie critics so its not surprising to hear this coming from you when its invalid.

If you don't think that saying "you was" and "they was" is indicative of poor public speaking skills, I don't know what to tell you.

He is a very good public speaker overall, but you have your head in the sand if you don't think he needs to improve on certain things.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

If you don't think that saying "you was" and "they was" is indicative of poor public speaking skills, I don't know what to tell you.

He is a very good public speaker overall, but you have your head in the sand if you don't think he needs to improve on certain things.

I think what some of us are saying is, if he consistently gets his point across with as much poise and passion as he did yesterday, the people hearing him speak aren't going to be thinking about an occassional grammar mistake.

 

[aceboon]

If you don't think that saying "you was" and "they was" is indicative of poor public speaking skills, I don't know what to tell you.

He is a very good public speaker overall, but you have your head in the sand if you don't think he needs to improve on certain things.

The irony of you talking about someone having their head in the sand...

 

[aceboon]

I think what some of us are saying is, if he consistently gets his point across with as much poise and passion as he did yesterday, the people hearing him speak aren't going to be thinking about an occassional grammar mistake.

Pretty much, the consensus from bball writers on twitter who were in attendance was that KO knocked it out the park yesterday. That's effective public speaking.

 

[Scot-e]

This is some pretty stupid knit picking KO's diction. He is a smart- super nice- down to earth person who has overachieved his whole life and you are going to focus on a few grammatical slips here and there- wow- tough crowd.

I think the Cal said it best. When JC was speaking I could not even tell if he was talking about basketball or his meal half the time. KO is like Winston Churchill compared to JC.

 

[CTHUSKY74]

The post that indicated that Kevin had already worked to improve his speaking skills should tell everyone all they need to know. Yes, speaking well is important and Kevin thinks it is important enough to try and improve. This is someone who works hard to conquer any challenge set before him. I have no doubt he will master this as well. But he has so many things he needs to be good at to do the job well. Let's not expect the fully finished version so quickly. He's a work in progress. For now, the attributes he has that I love -- toughness, persistence, loyalty, love of hard work, all-in bunker mentality. He apparently is able to convince recruits and players that he can help them be great and has a few great players giving testimonials to the ways he has helped them. These things are ultimately so much more important to him succeeding in this role. But let's not say there is no issue because he is a passionate and even motivating speaker. JC was a maddening speaker to listen to as well. Kevin will get his point across well and he will get better at using language to get his point across. It will be progress just like in other areas where he doesn't have a lot of experience but with practice he will continue to improve. I don't believe he will ever need to be a polished public speaker to perform in this role at a high level but it never hurts when you can be very articulate in the many interviews you will have with the media in a high profile position like this.

 

[Rico444]

Yes, because not only are those mistakes perfectly equivalent (basic grammar vs. style), but a random poster is not allowed to point out a public figures' mistakes.

Honestly, KO changed my mind about his speaking since all I ever saw was his words in writing. He's a good public speaker, which is also what the speaker you're picking on was also saying.

What, is this guy your kid brother? Relax, I was having a little bit of fun with his post, no ill will intended.

 

[Rico444]

To ignore a weakness is foolish and, luckily, Ollie is not a fool.

I agree, and hopefully you will take your own advice and tackle your own weakness: the obsession with John Calipari. You can start by changing your avatar.

 

[tzznandrew]

What, is this guy your kid brother? Relax, I was having a little bit of fun with his post, no ill will intended.

Your response felt like an annoying non sequitor said merely to change the subject and make those who think Ollie has work to do on public speaking (which, of course, is definitionally different than how he would speak to recruits in private) look stupid.

I was perhaps a bit overannoyed, though.

 

[Huskymaniac]

I agree, and hopefully you will take your own advice and tackle your own weakness: the obsession with John Calipari. You can start by changing your avatar.

Do you see the irony in being obsessed with someone else's avatar? This bothers you, why exactly? Here's a hint, the more people it bugs, the more likely it is that I will keep it. I find it funny that I can go weeks, if not months, without mentioning the greasy bastard but, when I do, it really gets SOME people's undies in a bunch. And then there are days like this when I don't even have to mention him but someone HAS to bring him up anyways. Don't worry, I won't hack into the website and change YOUR avatar to the squid. Not sure why you care so much it is my avatar. It isn't pornographic, violent, sacrilegious, un-patriotic, political, racist, homophobic or sexist. People can be such weenies through the comfort of the internet. Relax. It is just a tiny little image and no one will hate you, UConn or the board because of my awful little avatar. Sheesh.......

 

[Taco]

KO sounded great - much, much better than JC did when he started here - and he had been a HC for yrs. If think he (JC) talks fast (and is prone to rambling) now - you should see his interviews from 20+ yrs ago - it was like he was speaking another language.

 

[aceboon]

This doesn't happen tho...

Do you see the irony in being obsessed with someone else's avatar? This bothers you, why exactly? Here's a hint, the more people it bugs, the more likely it is that I will keep it. I find it funny that I can go weeks, if not months, without mentioning the greasy bastard but, when I do, it really gets SOME people's undies in a bunch. And then there are days like this when I don't even have to mention him but someone HAS to bring him up anyways. Don't worry, I won't hack into the website and change YOUR avatar to the squid. Not sure why you care so much it is my avatar. It isn't pornographic, violent, sacrilegious, un-patriotic, political, racist, homophobic or sexist. People can be such weenies through the comfort of the internet. Relax. It is just a tiny little image and no one will hate you, UConn or the board because of my awful little avatar. Sheesh.......

 

[8893]

KO sounded great - much, much better than JC did when he started here - and he had been a HC for yrs. If think he (JC) talks fast (and is prone to rambling) now - you should see his interviews from 20+ yrs ago - it was like he was speaking another language.

A propos of this, a friend just forwarded this tweet a minute ago:

Eric Ferreri (@EricFerreri)
9/14/12 12:00 PM
@NeillOstrout - Coach was my high school graduation speaker. Couldn't understand a word. Whole auditorium baffled. #calhounmemories

 

[Rico444]

Your response felt like an annoying non sequitor said merely to change the subject and make those who think Ollie has work to do on public speaking (which, of course, is definitionally different than how he would speak to recruits in private) look stupid.

I was perhaps a bit overannoyed, though.

I found it funny that he made a grammatical error in his post in which he critiqued Ollie's grammatical error. It was a joke, wasn't meant to make the guy feel like crap, or meant to piss you off, so I'm sorry if any of that happened, because it wasn't my intention. I understand tone and inflection is damn near impossible to pick up on when reading a comment as opposed to hearing somebody say it out loud, so I'm sure had I made my comment in real life, it would have come across better. Not to mention I'm pretty charismatic in real life, you guys would all love me.

 

[Rico444]

Do you see the irony in being obsessed with someone else's avatar? This bothers you, why exactly? Here's a hint, the more people it bugs, the more likely it is that I will keep it. I find it funny that I can go weeks, if not months, without mentioning the greasy bastard but, when I do, it really gets SOME people's undies in a bunch. And then there are days like this when I don't even have to mention him but someone HAS to bring him up anyways. Don't worry, I won't hack into the website and change YOUR avatar to the squid. Not sure why you care so much it is my avatar. It isn't pornographic, violent, sacrilegious, un-patriotic, political, racist, homophobic or sexist. People can be such weenies through the comfort of the internet. Relax. It is just a tiny little image and no one will hate you, UConn or the board because of my awful little avatar. Sheesh.......

Just pointing out some hypocrisy. I actually appreciate the image, as it reminds me very quickly that I should probably ignore whatever post appears to the right of it.

 

[Huskymaniac]

This doesn't happen tho...

Yeah, it does. You guys are just so obsessed with the obsession that you don't notice. And why would you? You would have to be keep track to know if someone didn't post something. You can't know something didn't happen unless you are waiting for it and didn't see it. Think about that.

Ron Artest: "Nope, thinkin' hurts...gonna shoot."

 

[Huskymaniac]

Just pointing out some hypocrisy. I actually appreciate the image, as it reminds me very quickly that I should probably ignore whatever post appears to the right of it.

Your're absolutely right on two accounts. You should ignore what I say. You probably wouldn't be able to understand it anyways. And my Avatar is my biggest weakness.

 

[johnhuskies95]

I found it funny that he made a grammatical error in his post in which he critiqued Ollie's grammatical error. It was a joke, wasn't meant to make the guy feel like crap, or meant to piss you off, so I'm sorry if any of that happened, because it wasn't my intention. I understand tone and inflection is damn near impossible to pick up on when reading a comment as opposed to hearing somebody say it out loud, so I'm sure had I made my comment in real life, it would have come across better. Not to mention I'm pretty charismatic in real life, you guys would all love me.

I made one typo on my post. That's a little different than numerous grammatical errors in Ollie's speech. But I'm sure you already knew that.

 

[johnhuskies95]

I think what some of us are saying is, if he consistently gets his point across with as much poise and passion as he did yesterday, the people hearing him speak aren't going to be thinking about an occassional grammar mistake.

I understand that, but he said "public speaking skills". Clearly, Ollie has some port public speaking skills. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

 

[johnhuskies95]

The irony of you talking about someone having their head in the sand...

LOL, what? Care to explain that one further? I don't think pointing out Ollie's grammatical mistakes that were clearly evident means that I have my head in the sand.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I understand that, but he said "public speaking skills". Clearly, Ollie has some port public speaking skills. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

We may be arguing semantics at this point, but I would disagree with this. What's the purpose of the speech? If the purpose of yesterday's was to get people excited and give a great first impression, wouldn't just about everyone agree that he passed with flying colors?

After hearing him speak yesterday, I'm supremely confident that he'll be able to, at the very least, motivate players and convince recruits that Uconn's a great place. A poor public speaker wouldn't be able to do that.

 

[johnhuskies95]

We may be arguing semantics at this point, but I would disagree with this. What's the purpose of the speech? If the purpose of yesterday's was to get people excited and give a great first impression, wouldn't just about everyone agree that he passed with flying colors?

After hearing him speak yesterday, I'm supremely confident that he'll be able to, at the very least, motivate players and convince recruits that Uconn's a great place. A poor public speaker wouldn't be able to do that.

I think we're just arguing about different things. Obviously he did as well as anyone could expect yesterday, but he does have certain public speakings skills that are poor right now.