CamrnCrz1974
Good Guy for a Dookie
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2011
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As an aside, my post in the main "Geno being sued" thread (about the waiters and the better restaurants) was designed to bring a little humor to a very serious situation (for those of you who remembe the buildup to the 2003 game between Duke and UConn).
If all of the allegations against Geno Auriemma are true, then his conduct is deplorable and he needs to be held accountable.
If the allegations against Geno Auriemma are not true or have no basis in fact, then the claimant's actions are deplorable in bringing the lawsuit (and she and her lawyers needs to be held accountable under the state law equivalent of Rule 11, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure).
If Geno Auriemma is dismissed as an individual Defendant on a jurisdictional basis or for the inability to state a claim, or even if the entire case is dismissed on a summary judgment motion at the end of discovery, then the damage has still been done. His critics/detractors will still claim that he "got out on a technicality" or that he "used his lawyers to get him out of it," even though there was no finding of liability and the claims against him were dismissed.
If the case is settled to avoid having a very public distraction for Geno Auriemma, UConn (by virtue of Geno's involvement in the litigation), USA Basketball, the Olympics, etc., then Geno's critics/detractors will still claim that Geno "bought her off" even though Geno likely will not be paying for any settlement and the fact that the overwhelming of majority of cases settle due to the expense (not just money, but time, resources, etc., not to mention things like litigation holds and preservation of electronic discovery) of litigation (and generally, in settlements, the defendants still deny any liability and have made no admissions of liability).
I started posting on basketball message boards in 2002. I posted on Duke boards, but also the Boneyard (then on the Rivals site), the Summitt, Hornsfans (Texas), Stanford's board (when it was free), etc. Initially, I loathed UConn, Diana Taurasi, Geno, and UConn's fans. When Phoenix drafted Taurasi (and I had several meetings with Seth Sulka, then-Mercury GM, where we watched tape of Taurasi and Alana Beard), things started to change. I grew to not just like her, but to be amazed by her and what she could do on the court (most notably, her court vision and her ability to think/see a play develop three passes before it happens). And when UConn took a step back (relatively speaking) in 2005 and 2006 while Duke reloaded (and went to the championship game, something Beard did not do), many Boneyard posters began to respect Gail Goestenkors as a coach and, by extenion, me as a poster (though a lot of that had already started to change when I began posting my game observations/analysis about Taurasi in Phoenix).
In 2005 or 2006, I was hanging out with Seth Sulka and Bill Laimbeer before a Mercury-Shock game. Seth was telling us stories about hanging out with Geno at Mohegan Sun. Seth explained Geno's sense of humor, but also reiterated how there is never any malice behind it. His point was that Geno ripped on everyone, including (and in some cases, especially), himself.
Around the same time (it was actually during the 2006-2007 college season), Rob Clough (who writes for DWHoops and who is a very well-respected journalist) made the comment that the players on Duke really liked Gail Goestenkors but that Geno's players truly loved him. People who play for him truly believe he is their surrogate father/older sibling/harshest critic/best friend all in one.
Over the years, I have grown to not just respect Geno for his accomplishments, but to admire him for the way he achieved them. He has taken teenagers and turned them into successful adults, both on the court and off. And I have a much better appreciation for his sense of humor now than I did eight years ago. In many ways, I have realized how very similar my sense of humor is to his!
As I said earlier, if all of the allegations against Geno Auriemma are true, then his conduct is deplorable and he needs to be held accountable. But if they are not true or if there is no finding of liability, then I truly feel sorry for Geno. His critics/detractors will always "proclaim his guilt" (to take a criminal law term out of context), irrespective of the lack of finding of liability.
Having lived through the Duke lacrosse scandal and saw how Mike Nifong (the disgraced former District Attorney), fans on message boards, certain members of the media (Nancy Grace, I am looking at you), several professors at Duke, etc. rushed to judgment and convicted and condemned the entire Duke lacrosse team for allegations that were not just false but that were part of a cover-up by the District Attorney in spite of the player's innocence (the state Attorney General declared the players "innocent"), I have a tremendous amount of sympathy for Geno Auriemma should the allegations prove to be not true or if there is no finding of liability. In some ways, the damage has already been done.
If all of the allegations against Geno Auriemma are true, then his conduct is deplorable and he needs to be held accountable.
If the allegations against Geno Auriemma are not true or have no basis in fact, then the claimant's actions are deplorable in bringing the lawsuit (and she and her lawyers needs to be held accountable under the state law equivalent of Rule 11, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure).
If Geno Auriemma is dismissed as an individual Defendant on a jurisdictional basis or for the inability to state a claim, or even if the entire case is dismissed on a summary judgment motion at the end of discovery, then the damage has still been done. His critics/detractors will still claim that he "got out on a technicality" or that he "used his lawyers to get him out of it," even though there was no finding of liability and the claims against him were dismissed.
If the case is settled to avoid having a very public distraction for Geno Auriemma, UConn (by virtue of Geno's involvement in the litigation), USA Basketball, the Olympics, etc., then Geno's critics/detractors will still claim that Geno "bought her off" even though Geno likely will not be paying for any settlement and the fact that the overwhelming of majority of cases settle due to the expense (not just money, but time, resources, etc., not to mention things like litigation holds and preservation of electronic discovery) of litigation (and generally, in settlements, the defendants still deny any liability and have made no admissions of liability).
I started posting on basketball message boards in 2002. I posted on Duke boards, but also the Boneyard (then on the Rivals site), the Summitt, Hornsfans (Texas), Stanford's board (when it was free), etc. Initially, I loathed UConn, Diana Taurasi, Geno, and UConn's fans. When Phoenix drafted Taurasi (and I had several meetings with Seth Sulka, then-Mercury GM, where we watched tape of Taurasi and Alana Beard), things started to change. I grew to not just like her, but to be amazed by her and what she could do on the court (most notably, her court vision and her ability to think/see a play develop three passes before it happens). And when UConn took a step back (relatively speaking) in 2005 and 2006 while Duke reloaded (and went to the championship game, something Beard did not do), many Boneyard posters began to respect Gail Goestenkors as a coach and, by extenion, me as a poster (though a lot of that had already started to change when I began posting my game observations/analysis about Taurasi in Phoenix).
In 2005 or 2006, I was hanging out with Seth Sulka and Bill Laimbeer before a Mercury-Shock game. Seth was telling us stories about hanging out with Geno at Mohegan Sun. Seth explained Geno's sense of humor, but also reiterated how there is never any malice behind it. His point was that Geno ripped on everyone, including (and in some cases, especially), himself.
Around the same time (it was actually during the 2006-2007 college season), Rob Clough (who writes for DWHoops and who is a very well-respected journalist) made the comment that the players on Duke really liked Gail Goestenkors but that Geno's players truly loved him. People who play for him truly believe he is their surrogate father/older sibling/harshest critic/best friend all in one.
Over the years, I have grown to not just respect Geno for his accomplishments, but to admire him for the way he achieved them. He has taken teenagers and turned them into successful adults, both on the court and off. And I have a much better appreciation for his sense of humor now than I did eight years ago. In many ways, I have realized how very similar my sense of humor is to his!
As I said earlier, if all of the allegations against Geno Auriemma are true, then his conduct is deplorable and he needs to be held accountable. But if they are not true or if there is no finding of liability, then I truly feel sorry for Geno. His critics/detractors will always "proclaim his guilt" (to take a criminal law term out of context), irrespective of the lack of finding of liability.
Having lived through the Duke lacrosse scandal and saw how Mike Nifong (the disgraced former District Attorney), fans on message boards, certain members of the media (Nancy Grace, I am looking at you), several professors at Duke, etc. rushed to judgment and convicted and condemned the entire Duke lacrosse team for allegations that were not just false but that were part of a cover-up by the District Attorney in spite of the player's innocence (the state Attorney General declared the players "innocent"), I have a tremendous amount of sympathy for Geno Auriemma should the allegations prove to be not true or if there is no finding of liability. In some ways, the damage has already been done.
might not (fully) get (all of) that. Maybe it's worth some expansion.
), would quite often greet each other saying something like "hey balloon knot... what's up"... or maybe: "hey fatso... what's up?" to someone who'd been putting on some pounds over the preceding months. Guys don't take such comments personally at all. It's actually an endearing form of communication.
