In Defense of Buzz

I am copying and pasting a reply that I wrote on Dodds' site in response to various individuals who have been blaming/pointing fingers at him over various incidents the past couple of years. I want to post it here as well since some members may not read JD's site. Here goes:



Let's look at the past two years or so rationally.

1. Allegations of sexual assault against X number of basketball players. Should never happen. I agree absolutely.

However, why blame Buzz for that? First of all, the problem with the university's response was not Buzz's fault. It was with the Department of Safety or Security or whatever it's called. They did not follow the law. Buzz had nothing to do with that response.

Second, no charges were ever filed. Was there a sexual assault? I hope not, but I don't know. Neither does anyone else. Think back to the Duke lacrosse team incident. The players were crucified for months, both by the university and in the media. It turned out they were incredibly stupid, but what they did was not illegal.

Perhaps most importantly, how can people hold Buzz responsible for whatever happened that night? If you've seen any of the clips from last year's program on MU basketball, you know that Buzz is trying his hardest to not only make these kids the best basketball players they can be, but also the best people. That comes through over and over and over again.

He can't follow his players around 24/7. He did everything he could to mentor his players. What else was he supposed to do?

2. The underage drinking incident in a bar. Again, just what is Buzz supposed to do? Call each kid every hour to check up on him? These are college kids, and like all college kids, they are going to do some things like go to a bar, even if they have been counseled not to do things like that.

Hell, I had a fake i.d. my senior year in high school. My son had one at UW his sophomore year. I didn't find out about it until after he turned 21. He went to clubs when he was 19 and 20, as did all his friends. Was I supposed to stop him? How? Was I a bad father? Did I not meet my responsibilities? Were my parents bad parents when I went to Weilers' or Zipcoes' when I was 17? They didn't have a clue.

3. The Vander fight incident. Stupid. Absolutely. He should have had thicker skin perhaps. Again, lay the blame on Buzz for that? Seriously? Some idiot taunts him and insults him and challenges him. Should he have stepped away? No question. Vander let the team down, his coach down, the university down, and his family down, as well as himself.

4. What does that leave? The West Virginia two-step? Seriously. LW reprimands Buzz in public after Buzz already had apologized if he'd offended anyone? Buzz menat no offense. Hell, it was harmless. LW blew it up into something bigger.

5. The assistant coach scandal. The recruiting violation should never occurred. Absolutely. Stupid and indefensible. Does anyone really think Buzz told him to break the rules? As for lying, that goes beyond stupid. But again, does anyone really believe Buzz in any way encouraged the lies?

Yes, all of these things did occur on Buzz's watch. And no, no one wants to see headlines in the Milwaukee J/S rag or a Chicago paper. And no one wants to see this stuff on t.v.

But all these people lambasting Buzz saying things like "The program was out of control," and Buzz had "free reign and needed to be reeled in," you tell me - exactly what could have Buzz, what should have Buzz, done differently? How could he have prevented any of these from happening?

And if some of those out there defending LW and pointing fingers at Buzz are parents, who are you going to blame when one or more of your kids do something stupid and get in trouble? They're going to do things you don't even know about and can't possibly know about, and even if you find out later, there is nothing you could have done to prevent it.

And if you are not yet a parent, and you're pointing fingers, look in the frickin' mirror and ask yourself what have you done in your life that was dumb and should never have happened? And then ask yourself if your parents were to blame? What could they have done differently to change or prevent what you did?

Sorry, people. Until someone can tell me exactly what Buzz should have/could have done to prevent any of these incidents from occurring, until they can justify pointing their finger at him, I think they are way off base.

We are lucky to have Buzz, not just as a coach but as a person. If Pilarz and LW don't see that, then they are blind.

It's kind of under the "Buck stops here" thing. I've posted this before, but the players profess great love and respect for Buzz and I don't doubt that. The best way to show him, in addition to working their butts off, is to be over the top model students and citizens. IMO, not all have.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CaribouJim

It's kind of under the "Buck stops here" thing. I've posted this before, but the players profess great love and respect for Buzz and I don't doubt that. The best way to show him, in addition to working their butts off, is to be over the top model students and citizens. IMO, not all have.

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And I kinda agree with you here. But Jim- lets be real- there are many student athletes around the country who have done A LOT worse than this, A LOT. It can be argued that all of the things on this list either didnt happen at all, or were almost instigated by someone other than the player. We arent talking major issues here. Just molehills that have been made into mountains by milwaukee media and Larry Williams

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ydouask23

And I kinda agree with you here. But Jim- lets be real- there are many student athletes around the country who have done A LOT worse than this, A LOT. It can be argued that all of the things on this list either didnt happen at all, or were almost instigated by someone other than the player. We arent talking major issues here. Just molehills that have been made into mountains by milwaukee media and Larry Williams

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Maybe, maybe not. In any event they are and should be held to a higher standard - comes with the territory. Again, IMO.

Some of that stuff (fights - drinking) happen on every campus on Thurs - Sat night. Doesn't mean it is right, but doesn't mean it is a program with issues either. Yes, MU players and D1 athletes in general at all schools are under a microscope and need to be careful. But to think anyone needs to get control of the program, man - lucky MU's board, pres and AD don't have to deal with 100 football players.

UWM players busted for underage drinking this year. The Badger beat writer for JS referencing Wisconsin players drinking underage and it's no secret which bars many go to on the Badger board. Ball and other Wisconsin football players get into fights and in the past year. Ball was arrested too, didn't see him sit out a game on suspension.


Buzz's two step - AWESOME in my book. Somewhere Al was smiliing on that one.
Assistant Coach - I'm not troubled by the minor infraction, but you just can't lie.

By the way, no wonder we can't get top 10 talent. We offer a t-shirt and a ride and the coach gets canned. Kentucky offers $100 grand and the coaches get props and raises and they end up hanging a banner on the wall and loading up with more top talent.

Phantom-I think you need to let this go for now. Defending LW or critiquing Buzz do not need to be mutually exclusive. List Crean's 5 biggest issues also if you can during his tenure.

Buzz is a great coach and I hope he is here long term. I think MU and him can flourish together. Let's hope we get the chance to see it.