Obama, filling out last year's bracket with Andy Katz, likes Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. Gary Williams? Who knows.
If you know Gary Williams, you know the 21st-year Terps’ coach loves when people pick against his team. Williams excels at playing up that “we were backed into a corner, everybody was against us” card and will happily let you know it afterward, sometimes way afterward.
Take two weeks ago, after the Terps’ win against Duke. When asked how fulfilling the team’s then-six game winning streak was, Williams said his three seniors “stuck it to some people who had a little too much to say last year.” He was of course referring to the mounting criticism he faced from the fans, the media and even the administration during the rocky 2008-2009 season.
That’s why it should be interesting to see what Williams says about President Obama’s apparent diss during his annual bracket segment with ESPN’s Andy Katz:
“I like Michigan State here,” Obama said while picking the Spartans to beat the Terps in the second round. “Maryland’s got a great player, but Michigan State’s got a great coach, and I think that makes the difference.”
Wait, what?
Tom Izzo has a much-talked about reputation for preparing his team for tournament time. Michigan State has been to five Final Fours under his stewardship. It’s likely Obama was simply emphasizing that quality instead of hurling an intentional insult Williams’ way.
Who can blame him? I’ve lost count of how many ESPN analysts have lauded Izzo’s tournament coaching ability since Sunday night. At this point, a casual fan might not even know the names of any of the Spartans’ players. Apparently, some opposing players don’t even know.
New Mexico State guard Jahmar Young, who will face the Spartans in Friday’s first round, said this week he actually doesn’t know who Kalin Lucas is. Lucas is Michigan State’s two-time All-Big Ten point guard and helped lead the team to the title game just last April.
So Obama gets a pass. Plus, he’s a busy guy. It’s not his job to know Williams is also generally regarded as a great on-court coach and strategist, or that Williams is 2-1 in his career against Izzo.
Still, the statement sounds strange, and it comes on the heels of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s surprisingly controversial attempt to honor Williams, Greivis Vasquez and the team with a resolution in Congress this week.
There’s also this from Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Duncan is proposing that teams with graduation rates of less than 40 percent be banned from postseason play. The Terps had an eight percent graduation rate between 1999 and 2002, according to a recently released study from the University of Central Florida.
(More on that more important issue later.)
For now, I’ll be waiting to hear Williams’ rebuttal from Spokane if both Maryland and Michigan State handle their business on Friday.
Aaron Kraut is The Diamondback’s sports editor. He can be reached at akrautdbk@gmail.com.
Obama used to be so fantastic, he was the chosen one. After episodes such as these and the continuation of our economic crisis, i’m not sure this liberal wasteland known as the U.S. has any idea what is good for them. Why is he focused on brackets instead of why Sven is homeless? Not a champion…
Oh – come on! An 8% granduation rate between 1999 and 2002? It’s 2010. Can’t someone come up with recent stats. I know that all three seniors graduated in 2008 and Dave Neal graduated last year so that’s 100 % in the last 2 years. Doesn’t that count for something?