Lack of Hubris by established programs

[DefenseBB]

With Mulkey's pathetic comments yesterday and then her doubling down in her press conference later in the day, it got me thinking about the arrogance that many coaches who have succeeded so successful in their careers have exhibited when their program or their school comes under scrutiny. Here's the abbreviated list:
Pitino at Louisville who refuses to take blame for his current scandal with assistant coach providing "fringe benefits" and is filing an appeal of program sanctions...really?
Coach K in denial on Grayson Allen's behavior and that "he would handle it" when the press had the audacity to point out it was his 3rd offense, so how did Master Mike handle it- only a 1 game suspension....really?
UNC scam African-Americans study program in which the majority of attendees were Mens's and Women's basketball players (and football) yet Williams and Hatchell were angry either of them were asked why they did allow this and that a scam was perpetrated. They both refused any accountability of oversight and the Univ has been vigorously working to protect the Men's hoop team from sanctions...really?
Now Mulkey is denying her beloved school has done anything different than other schools and people should just move on...really?

To borrow Harry Truman's quote-"The buck stops here" points out ultimately Truman would be accountable for failures. Wher is any accountability and acknowledgement that major errors in judgement and behavior occurred AND that they recognize they and the school must do better and improve controls and oversight with appropriate consequences on behavior, not only from students but also from faculty and administrators. After all isn't this supposedly our higher education process?

Thoughts?

 

[JellyBean]

Well said. I think a lot of times there is the issue of fear that comes into play. Many of these people, like all of us, are fearful of looking weak and unprepared. We do not want to look like we don't know what is happening in our house. Even though we know we got a hot mess going on. The second part, complacent. Like our friend from Syracuse, Coach Jim Boeheim and how cocky he was a few years back. These guys feel that they are untouchable and shake off negative comments based on the level of success they have achieved. So I look at being fearful and complacent.

 

[Oldbones]

Well said. I think a lot of times there is the issue of fear that comes into play. Many of these people, like all of us, are fearful of looking weak and unprepared. We do not want to look like we don't know what is happening in our house. Even though we know we got a hot mess going on. The second part, complacent. Like our friend from Syracuse, Coach Jim Boeheim and how cocky he was a few years back. These guys feel that they are untouchable and shake off negative comments based on the level of success they have achieved. So I look at being fearful and complacent.

And, they are tenaciously supported by fans and boosters, who don't want the status quo/success to change. Remember how the PSU students virtually rioted when Paterno was fired?

 

[pinotbear]

To expand on JB's comments; there seem to be two trends in contemporary society that underlie this sort of behavior, both in big situations and small. First, our society seems to find admission of fallibility a sign of weakness. Somehow, we are expected to be right 100% of the time, to never err, to never falter. This is crazy. This is incredibly self-destructive. And, since we all know, deep inside, just how imperfect we all are, when somebody claims otherwise, we learn to not trust them. Our default judgement of somebody's profession of success is skepticism. As I've aged, I've learned just how powerful - and, liberating - it is to say "I don't know, please tell me" when I am indeed ignorant, and how accepting and forgiving most folks are when you apologize for your mistakes.

The other malignant aspect we have, that feeds the above tendency, is, in the words of Robert Reich (I think), we have become the land of "gotcha"! Nothing seems to delight folks, be it mainstream media or just the daily Facebook or tweet crowd, like catching somebody with their pants allegedly down. As a reaction to the denial of perfection, when we do find somebody falling short, it's (for at least a news cycle or two), Mardi Gras, Fourth of July and Christmas, all rolled into one. The "gotcha!" is more important than the transgression or the resolution.

Basically, the dynamics of a 6th-grade recess has become our national playbook.

 

[AdamOwe]

<snip>

To borrow Harry Truman's quote-"The buck stops here" points out ultimately Truman would be accountable for failures. Wher is any accountability and acknowledgement that major errors in judgement and behavior occurred AND that they recognize they and the school must do better and improve controls and oversight with appropriate consequences on behavior, not only from students but also from faculty and administrators. After all isn't this supposedly our higher education process?

Thoughts?

College sports isn't the only place where dollars overrides sense. I thought that the 30 for 30 "Requiem for the Big East" did a good job of covering the impact of money on sports. Boeheim's<sp> comments were particularly telling. My 2c.

I would add the recent "flat planet" remarks. How do you get into an acclaimed academic institution with that level of understanding notwithstanding Newton's penchant for alchemy? There are a lot of core questions being answered in unusual ways presently.

 

[tomcat]

Public Relations 101 -- not "spinning" or flackery, just common sense for what an institution must do if an image disaster happens:
1. Acknowledge the problem and its extent. Be as accurate as possible. In the process, get rid of the possibility of "gotcha."
2. If appropriate, apologize, both in general and if needed, to specific people.
3. If at all possible, give specific examples that show you are fixing the problem. It goes without saying that those examples must be real and effective.
4. Keep the public up to date on the progress of the investigation/remediation.

So many people, some in high leadership positions, think they can short-circuit some of this, but that almost never works. Most often, they only succeed in making things worse. Baylor is an ongoing example of that. In the case of North Carolina, they actually may get away with it, because the NCAA seems to want to be complicit and they may be able to delay the findings over and over and over. That, however, is the exception.

 

[BigBird]

A nasty side effect of doing the right thing and admitting error is that the admission can then be used against you in a civil suit. Top administrators admit nothing today, partly because of their bloated egos, and partly on advice of legal counsel.

 

[Fightin Choke]

Those coaches don't lack hubris but rather possess it in spades. Hubris is excessive pride, believing that you are god-like. It always pissed off the Greek gods, and the perps always got their due.

 

[veryolddog]

What's "hubris"? We simple 23 year veterans of the Marines Corps don't know such language. Never heard anyone, here in New Mexico use such a word. Had to look it up on google to know what it means.

 

[FanHam]

If there's one thing the top NCAA basketball programs have in spades, it's hubris. Humility? No. Accountability? No. Integrity? Not much. But hubris? There's plenty to go around...

 

[Kibitzer]

What's "hubris"? We simple 23 year veterans of the Marines Corps don't know such language. Never heard anyone, here in New Mexico use such a word. Had to look it up on google to know what it means.

The Yiddish expression for hubris (or gall, brass, or effrontery) is "chutzpah."

Legend has it that the ultimate level of chutzpah occurred when a young man assassinated his parents, then asked for mercy from the court by arguing that he was now a bereaved orphan.

 

[veryolddog]

The Yiddish expression for hubris (or gall, brass, or effrontery) is "chutzpah."

Legend has it that the ultimate level of chutzpah occurred when a young man assassinated his parents, then asked for mercy from the court by arguing that he was now a bereaved orphan.

Chutzpah, I do understand. My father was Italian Catholic and my Mom was of Eastern European descent and I was Bar Mitzvahed in an Orthodox Synagogue. I was also confirmed in a Catholic Church to satisfy both families. Because I can speak Hebrew, I was sent TAD to Israel for a period of time.

I was going to say "Big Balls" but that would be inappropriate for a Women's basketball team.

 

[pinotbear]

Chutzpah, I do understand. My father was Italian Catholic and my Mom was of Eastern European descent and I was Bar Mitzvahed in an Orthodox Synagogue. I was also confirmed in a Catholic Church to satisfy both families. Because I can speak Hebrew, I was sent TAD to Israel for a period of time.

I was going to say "Big Balls" but that would be inappropriate for a Women's basketball team.

yeah, the balls that the women use are a little smaller....

 

[1-of-the-6]

Those coaches don't lack hubris but rather possess it in spades. Hubris is excessive pride, believing that you are god-like. It always pissed off the Greek gods, and the perps always got their due.

Yes. The title of this thread should be "Lack of Humility by Established Programs", not hubris.

 

[HuskyNan]

What's "hubris"? We simple 23 year veterans of the Marines Corps don't know such language. Never heard anyone, here in New Mexico use such a word. Had to look it up on google to know what it means.

Hubris is overweening pride, which means excessive to the point of arrogance, the obnoxious kind. Arrogance is bad, mostly, but hubris is Bad.

 

[UpstateNY]

Hubris is a word strongly associated with Washington, DC