Ollie has the makings of a media darling

[dogpause]

He's got everything going for him. He's humble. He follows a guy who was not well like by many in the media. Manuel has made him a an underdog, and in some ways a sympathetic figure, with a temp's contract. He's got a team who can't play in the post season, through no fault of his (or the players, of course). And he's been a classic over-achiever with an NBA resume that reads like a 13-year temp.

Normally, it's really tough to follow a legend. I have strong sense that he'll have a new contract before the late signing period.

 

[Dan87]

If you like what KO stands for, take the stairs, NOT the escalator, to Twitter and follow him. You'll see how he works hard every day, from 5am workouts to hitting the recruiting trail. Boneyard, how fast can we get him to 10,000 followers???

 

[huskiesnyc]

If you like what KO stands for, take the stairs, NOT the escalator, to Twitter and follow him. You'll see how he works hard every day, from 5am workouts to hitting the recruiting trail. Boneyard, how fast can we get him to 10,000 followers???

The escalator's for cowards!!

 

[DogMania]

He's a high character guy. The only thing he might want to work on is to say something different than yall over and over again. I love the guy but a little polish applied to his public speaking would help. Just replace Yall with All of you or some other form of that idea would work.

We've gone from Bostonian to Deep South...but KO is from LA. He was born in TX though. I don't know how long he lived there.

Don't get me wrong. I mean not to judge him. I'm over the top impressed with the content of what he says and the way he conducts himself, which is what a person should be measured by.

 

[uconnfan68]

He's a high character guy. The only thing he might want to work on is to say something different than yall over and over again. I love the guy but a little polish applied to his public speaking would help. Just replace Yall with All of you or some other form of that idea would work.

We've gone from Bostonian to Deep South...but KO is from LA. He was born in TX though. I don't know how long he lived there.

Don't get me wrong. I mean not to judge him. I'm over the top impressed with the content of what he says and the way he conducts himself, which is what a person should be measured by.

Anyone that gets JC and Howie to gush over them is probably a pretty special person. He relates to the kids, he relates to the parents, he relates to the HS coaches, and to everyone else that will listen to the words first.

 

[CAHUSKY]

He's a high character guy. The only thing he might want to work on is to say something different than yall over and over again. I love the guy but a little polish applied to his public speaking would help. Just replace Yall with All of you or some other form of that idea would work.

We've gone from Bostonian to Deep South...but KO is from LA. He was born in TX though. I don't know how long he lived there.

Don't get me wrong. I mean not to judge him. I'm over the top impressed with the content of what he says and the way he conducts himself, which is what a person should be measured by.

If you didn't mean to judge him you wouldn't have said it. Calhoun hasn't spoken a legible sentence in 26 years and no one seemed to mind, nor did it effect our success. I think we will be ok without a spellbinding orator leading the charge.

 

[mauconnfan]

He's a high character guy. The only thing he might want to work on is to say something different than yall over and over again. I love the guy but a little polish applied to his public speaking would help. Just replace Yall with All of you or some other form of that idea would work.

We've gone from Bostonian to Deep South...but KO is from LA. He was born in TX though. I don't know how long he lived there.

Don't get me wrong. I mean not to judge him. I'm over the top impressed with the content of what he says and the way he conducts himself, which is what a person should be measured by.

Actually DM I'm thinking to the contrary on this....starting to believe with him speaking his natural "twangs" that his obvious honesty and passion may be of a higher impact out there, especially when visiting parents and kids.....he is who he is, an educated man who still has some of his upbringing in his everyday language.....I don't think this is a bad thing at all!!

 

[dapriest]

If you didn't mean to judge him you wouldn't have said it.

Bullsh-t. He's right. The "y'all" sounds clownish. Sorry to any of you rubes from the South. The fact that he used "y'all" 50 times in his first public speech just made it worse. Even the guy from N. Carolina doesn't use it every 10th word, and he sounds hick enough as it is.

Saying, "don't judge somebody by the way they speak," is ridiculous. If somebody is sitting in front of you for a job interview and he hasn't mastered basic English usage, it is and it should be viewed as a negative.

Other than regional accents, we choose how we speak.

It's a concern. Ollie's speech had several blatant grammatical "we ain't got no" type of gaffes as well.

If we wants to be a head coach at a major college, he'd do better to work on his speech.

Name me 5 top coaches who speak as if they're a 17 year old black male dropout from an inner city?

There's a reason for that. It's all well and good to fart out rainbows and pretend that it's not an issue, but it is.

Saying "Calhoun speaks poorly" or "Ollie is a great recruiter" or "Ollie will connect with the players" are red herrings. Calhoun had a decade of experience when he came to UConn, and his speech pattern is an inability to form sentences correctly on the spot, not using "ain't" and "y'all" and other correctable mistakes.

Let's post some videos. I'll post videos of other black coaches who speak well. You post videos of other coaches who don't.

SMART
THOMPSON
CHANEY
HAMILTON
PURNELL

Sure. I'm being judgmental. If you want to swim in the deep waters of big time college sports, learn how to speak English like everybody else, and leave the southern/ghetto enunciations at home, or at least relegate them to use recruiting kids who will connect with it.

It's bad for his career to speak as he does. If you don't agree with that, I'm amazed and good luck.

The world is a way. There's nothing Ollie can do to change it.

IF he wants to be a successful head coach, THEN he should stop making public G-d references and he should immediately start taking speaking classes. If he wants to be his own man, he's going to have to find another place or he's going to have to win big and often. His manner of speech is not going to be viewed proudly by most UConn supporters.

Reminds me of a woman who used to work with me. She asked me if I was attending the "writing workshop." I said no. She told me that it was her understanding that all of the new hires had to take it. I said no, I had not been told to take it. She said that they told her that the class was to get her "to the next level." I told her that that was code, and nicey-nice, and that the next level of her writing was "acceptable."

 

[8893]

His manner of speech is not going to be viewed proudly by most UConn supporters.

I think that your view of both the world that is relevant to Kevin and the prevalence of your opinion in it are off-base. Not saying that there aren't many who feel the same, or that it goes unnoticed by those who don't; I am usually much more of a stickler for such things than anyone I encounter. If it doesn't bother me--and it doesn't, in the slightest--I don't think you are correct in your belief that it will bother most UConn supporters. Just my guess though. We'll see soon enough.

 

[uconnforlife]

If Ollie is recruiting stars and winning games he could be speaking portuguese for all I care.

 

[Chin Diesel]

If you didn't mean to judge him you wouldn't have said it. Calhoun hasn't spoken a legible sentence in 26 years and no one seemed to mind, nor did it effect our success. I think we will be ok without a spellbinding orator leading the charge.

Absolutely right about that.

JC has his own malpropisms and that was part of his "character". If the worst thing Ollie does is thrown in some "y'alls" and double negatives or uses "ain't" while at press conferences, I'm perfectly fine.

Much of this is generational. I'm 41 and I've learned to process the intent and clarity of the verbal word much moreso than the proper use of English. I get much more ticked off when people can't construct a sentence or two in an email or a formal report. The written word is much more telling of a person's knowledge and use of the English language than the verbal.

 

[phillionaire]

There are some words that are perfect to use. Ya'll is one of them. You can't remove ya'll from someone's vocabulary.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Bullsh-t. He's right. The "y'all" sounds clownish. Sorry to any of you rubes from the South. The fact that he used "y'all" 50 times in his first public speech just made it worse. Even the guy from N. Carolina doesn't use it every 10th word, and he sounds hick enough as it is.

Saying, "don't judge somebody by the way they speak," is ridiculous. If somebody is sitting in front of you for a job interview and he hasn't mastered basic English usage, it is and it should be viewed as a negative.

Other than regional accents, we choose how we speak.

It's a concern. Ollie's speech had several blatant grammatical "we ain't got no" type of gaffes as well.

If we wants to be a head coach at a major college, he'd do better to work on his speech.

Name me 5 top coaches who speak as if they're a 17 year old black male dropout from an inner city?

There's a reason for that. It's all well and good to fart out rainbows and pretend that it's not an issue, but it is.

Saying "Calhoun speaks poorly" or "Ollie is a great recruiter" or "Ollie will connect with the players" are red herrings. Calhoun had a decade of experience when he came to UConn, and his speech pattern is an inability to form sentences correctly on the spot, not using "ain't" and "y'all" and other correctable mistakes.

Let's post some videos. I'll post videos of other black coaches who speak well. You post videos of other coaches who don't.

SMART
THOMPSON
CHANEY
HAMILTON
PURNELL

Sure. I'm being judgmental. If you want to swim in the deep waters of big time college sports, learn how to speak English like everybody else, and leave the southern/ghetto enunciations at home, or at least relegate them to use recruiting kids who will connect with it.

It's bad for his career to speak as he does. If you don't agree with that, I'm amazed and good luck.

The world is a way. There's nothing Ollie can do to change it.

IF he wants to be a successful head coach, THEN he should stop making public G-d references and he should immediately start taking speaking classes. If he wants to be his own man, he's going to have to find another place or he's going to have to win big and often. His manner of speech is not going to be viewed proudly by most UConn supporters.

Reminds me of a woman who used to work with me. She asked me if I was attending the "writing workshop." I said no. She told me that it was her understanding that all of the new hires had to take it. I said no, I had not been told to take it. She said that they told her that the class was to get her "to the next level." I told her that that was code, and nicey-nice, and that the next level of her writing was "acceptable."

I'll give you this. Being able to consistently use correct grammar while speaking is definitely a bonus, but a few misuses rarely kill you.

And you are definitely correct about the written language. Few things kill your powerbase in a group more than misspellings and incorrect grammar on power points, emails, and other mass media presentations.

Verbal communication gives the sender and receiver easy, real-time feedback to include context, wheareas written comms often leave the receiver guessing intentions of the sender and doesn't include a real-time feedback.

 

[huskiesnyc]

Let's cut the guy some slack. He stood up live on national television and gave an emotional speech from the heart with no notes. People don't realize how hard it is to speak in public, and this is an area one can easily improve in. For example, lot of very articulate people say "ummm" a lot when speaking in front of an audience. That is something that will be ironed out through practice and our PR people. I attribute the number of "yalls" to nerves more than anything else, and it can easily be fixed. What you can't teach however is the content and passion he has for UConn, the student athletes, and the fan base. He is also a very likable guy, and will build relationships with the media. Trust me I love Coach Calhoun but he drew a lot of negative publicity, because 90% of the national media despised him.

 

[8893]

For example, lot of very articulate people say "ummm" a lot when speaking in front of an audience.

Our current Governor, for one. He also suffers from dyslexia.

 

[CL82]

If you didn't mean to judge him you wouldn't have said it. Calhoun hasn't spoken a legible sentence in 26 years and no one seemed to mind, nor did it effect our success. I think we will be ok without a spellbinding orator leading the charge.

I understand your point but think you are mistaken in think Ollie isn't a spellbinding orator. He had some real moments up there and he'll only get better with time. I think we have something special in him. Who says that lightning doesn't strike twice?

 

[Husky68]

Bullsh-t. He's right. The "y'all" sounds clownish. Sorry to any of you rubes from the South. The fact that he used "y'all" 50 times in his first public speech just made it worse. Even the guy from N. Carolina doesn't use it every 10th word, and he sounds hick enough as it is.

Saying, "don't judge somebody by the way they speak," is ridiculous. If somebody is sitting in front of you for a job interview and he hasn't mastered basic English usage, it is and it should be viewed as a negative.

Other than regional accents, we choose how we speak.

It's a concern. Ollie's speech had several blatant grammatical "we ain't got no" type of gaffes as well.

If we wants to be a head coach at a major college, he'd do better to work on his speech.

Name me 5 top coaches who speak as if they're a 17 year old black male dropout from an inner city?

There's a reason for that. It's all well and good to fart out rainbows and pretend that it's not an issue, but it is.

Saying "Calhoun speaks poorly" or "Ollie is a great recruiter" or "Ollie will connect with the players" are red herrings. Calhoun had a decade of experience when he came to UConn, and his speech pattern is an inability to form sentences correctly on the spot, not using "ain't" and "y'all" and other correctable mistakes.

Let's post some videos. I'll post videos of other black coaches who speak well. You post videos of other coaches who don't.

SMART
THOMPSON
CHANEY
HAMILTON
PURNELL

Sure. I'm being judgmental. If you want to swim in the deep waters of big time college sports, learn how to speak English like everybody else, and leave the southern/ghetto enunciations at home, or at least relegate them to use recruiting kids who will connect with it.

It's bad for his career to speak as he does. If you don't agree with that, I'm amazed and good luck.

The world is a way. There's nothing Ollie can do to change it.

IF he wants to be a successful head coach, THEN he should stop making public G-d references and he should immediately start taking speaking classes. If he wants to be his own man, he's going to have to find another place or he's going to have to win big and often. His manner of speech is not going to be viewed proudly by most UConn supporters.

Reminds me of a woman who used to work with me. She asked me if I was attending the "writing workshop." I said no. She told me that it was her understanding that all of the new hires had to take it. I said no, I had not been told to take it. She said that they told her that the class was to get her "to the next level." I told her that that was code, and nicey-nice, and that the next level of her writing was "acceptable."

I guess you and Dingy Harry would find a light skinned negro without a negro dialect acceptable.

 

[dapriest]

Just to be clear - I'm 100% behind Ollie. I hope he has a great career as a coach, whether or not he's able to make it happen in the small window of time they allotted him. I like him as a basketball player, a person, a coach, and a mentor of others. My assessment is simply my view based on what I've observed in the world.

While it is true that winning is the ultimate panacea, you can ask Bobby Knight if it solves all other issues.

There's a reason that virtually all head coaches in prominent positions speak fairly well. If you believe the reason is only because Kevin Ollie is a once in a thousand opportunity to hire a diamond, then we'll have to disagree. Surely Ollie's not the first guy with his manner of speech who is dedicated and knowledgeable about the game who wanted to coach at a Michigan State, Syracuse, Virginia, Gonzaga, and so on. Surely you'll yield that point. So why weren't they hired?

My answer would be - prejudice or bias against a person based on their manner of speech. The people hiring head coaches know that this person will be standing in front of microphones making national news at times.

Who do you want representing y'all? Kevin Ollie or Shaka Smart? Smart gets hired, all else being equal.

If Ollie comes out of the gate storming and finishes in the top third of the conference and lands a recruit or two, he may get another contract.

If the team struggles and finishes in the bottom half of the conference, he's done. Stevens or Smart or some other guy can finish in the bottom half of the conference and sound a lot better doing it.

It's the Kiner effect - Ralph Kiner led the league in homers and was making 35,000 a year, or something like that. He went to the office to renegotiate his contract. The Pirates had finished in last place. They told him no raise and "we can finish in last place without you."

 

[Walker11]

I'm not sure if dapriest is a homeless man's version of Frank Ivy or if the original's writing has slipped.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

You can't remove ya'll from someone's vocabulary.

Just as with JC's vocabulary, most UConn fans will overlook a few y'alls in exchange for UConn's success on and off the court. Some people will worry about a few y'alls far more than most of us, but it is factually incorrect to suggest people cannot remove y'all from their vocabulary. More importantly, best of luck to KO and his Huskies.

 

[bobbygt]

Bullsh-t. He's right. The "y'all" sounds clownish. Sorry to any of you rubes from the South. The fact that he used "y'all" 50 times in his first public speech just made it worse. Even the guy from N. Carolina doesn't use it every 10th word, and he sounds hick enough as it is.

Saying, "don't judge somebody by the way they speak," is ridiculous. If somebody is sitting in front of you for a job interview and he hasn't mastered basic English usage, it is and it should be viewed as a negative.

Other than regional accents, we choose how we speak.

It's a concern. Ollie's speech had several blatant grammatical "we ain't got no" type of gaffes as well.

If we wants to be a head coach at a major college, he'd do better to work on his speech.

Name me 5 top coaches who speak as if they're a 17 year old black male dropout from an inner city?

There's a reason for that. It's all well and good to fart out rainbows and pretend that it's not an issue, but it is.

Saying "Calhoun speaks poorly" or "Ollie is a great recruiter" or "Ollie will connect with the players" are red herrings. Calhoun had a decade of experience when he came to UConn, and his speech pattern is an inability to form sentences correctly on the spot, not using "ain't" and "y'all" and other correctable mistakes.

Let's post some videos. I'll post videos of other black coaches who speak well. You post videos of other coaches who don't.

SMART
THOMPSON
CHANEY
HAMILTON
PURNELL

Sure. I'm being judgmental. If you want to swim in the deep waters of big time college sports, learn how to speak English like everybody else, and leave the southern/ghetto enunciations at home, or at least relegate them to use recruiting kids who will connect with it.

It's bad for his career to speak as he does. If you don't agree with that, I'm amazed and good luck.

The world is a way. There's nothing Ollie can do to change it.

IF he wants to be a successful head coach, THEN he should stop making public G-d references and he should immediately start taking speaking classes. If he wants to be his own man, he's going to have to find another place or he's going to have to win big and often. His manner of speech is not going to be viewed proudly by most UConn supporters.

Reminds me of a woman who used to work with me. She asked me if I was attending the "writing workshop." I said no. She told me that it was her understanding that all of the new hires had to take it. I said no, I had not been told to take it. She said that they told her that the class was to get her "to the next level." I told her that that was code, and nicey-nice, and that the next level of her writing was "acceptable."

Worry about his career??? Ollie's career was 13 years in the nba and he is now the head coach of THE UCONN HUSKIES. The only thing Ollie has to work on his is legacy and retirement!

I also don't agree about everyone 'choosing' how they speak. Do I think most people are capable of speaking well with practice and hard work? Absolutely. But it can take many, many years with patience, commitment and practice.

Ollie just came from a profession in which he was surrounded by people who focused on the game, not public speaking.

I do think you make some good points, though.

 

[alexrgct]

Someone on this thread is a gigantic blowhard with laughable regional prejudices and a shockingly profound case of judge-a-book-by-its-cover-itis. And if y'all can't figure out who it is, it's probably because reading a 500 word diatribe that can only be described as a "mountain made of a molehill" didn't seem appealing.

 

[James]

Da priest is a lunatic. It was his first time speaking on such a level

 

[8893]

I give dapriest credit for calling it as he sees it. I don't see it the same as he does here, but I understand exactly what he is saying and I am sure there are many who do agree with him. I think many of his points are legitimate and not intended to be racist or otherwise offending. People should be capable of having these conversations without assuming that those who see it differently are necessarily motivated by bad intentions. Assuming arguendo that his is a mindset formed by regional prejudices (which I have no basis to do), do you think that mindset is more likely to change when people call each other inflammatory names, or when one side simply observes that the thing they thought mattered doesn't seem to bother others whose opinions they respect?

 

[msgordon]

well dapriest has of the year locked up