CSNbbs

There's lots of action this week in court for Ohio College basketball coaches.

The Buckeye fans are taking great delight in Bob Huggins recent run in with the Cops. Found this on the Buckeye Rivals board -

Comedy from the X Board:
"Fortunately for Huggins, the UC cell was vacant that night so at least he was able to spend his time in comfortable surroundings.

When Huggins was brought to the jail, several UC players thought he was conducting a bed-check.

Huggins faces a minimum 3-day jail sentence. The good news is that he can get in 2 shoot-arounds and 3 full squad practices.

Thankfully, due to his basketball background Huggins is not intimidated by the thought of showering with other men.

How many recruits will Huggins be able to pick up during his time in the lock-up? Does it count as a home visit?

Does Huggins' failing grade on the sobriety test count against his graduation rate?

You would think that he could have passed the sobriety test; it's the same entrance exam that his players have to take to get into the school.

When asked to comment about the arrest, Bearcats radio announcer Chuck Machock replied, "That's the worst call I've ever seen!"

Current and former Bearcat players are banding together to help raise funds for Huggins' legal defense fund. The Art Long suggested "team pot sale" is gaining a lot of support.

It didn't make it into the police report, but sources say that Huggins was overheard saying, "I was just driving Larry Eustachy home."

The following statement was released by the UC athletic Department: "While we do not condone what Coach Huggins did, at least he didn't tie someone to a chair and hit him over the head with a whisky bottle, hurl a bottle at a woman in a bar, push a pregnant woman into a bathtub, shoplift, assault police officers, beat up his girlfriend, or punch a police horse."

Huggins told the officer he had spent the day drinking beer and talking to recruits. When Huggins was asked what time he stopped drinking, the coach replied, "No, sir." - There's no joke here. There's nothing else I can possibly say.

The arresting officer was rather surprised when Huggins recited the Miranda phrase from memory. Huggins replied, "No big deal. It's on the cover of our team media guide."

Huggins reportedly spent the day "with recruits and drinking beer." Unfortunately the recruiting coordinator was attending a seminar at the University of Colorado and was unable to arrange for the strippers.

Huggins was stopped by police at 11:35 p.m. and said that he had last eaten at lunch. Given the recent photos of Huggins, does anyone believe that this man could go 11 1/2 hours without eating?"

.

<a href='http://ohiostate.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=1014&tid=36027822&sid=&style=2' target='_blank'>BuckeyeSpoerts.com</a>

And just to be fair - here's a sobering and less comical look at Bob Huggins from Dan Wetzel at Yahoo Sports


[QUOTE]I know Huggins pretty well. I have for years. And like anyone who knows him on a personal level, the news that he had been pulled over wasn't some thunderbolt shock. This was coming. There is no excuse for what he did. There is no rational explanation – especially considering he has money for cabs, not to mention a fleet of managers who would chauffeur him around.

It isn't excusable in Midvale. It isn't excusable in Cincinnati.

But post-work drinking is what Huggins does. He just loves being out on the town, out with people. I have long contended that if you got to know the man, you probably would like him. He isn't what you see on TV. He is funny, friendly and down to earth. He prefers dive bars to the country club. He still is that guy from Eastern Ohio.

And he isn't a phony. He isn't going to act morally superior and then get caught paying recruits $6,000.

This has cemented his public image, of course. He says what he thinks. And he doesn't think like the NCAA would like. The academic performance of his players – while far, far better than the often misreported zero percent graduation rate – also is far, far from perfect. Huggins will argue, passionately, that considering the backgrounds of his players, what UC has done is both impressive and important.

He loves recruiting guys with an attitude – tough kids, second-chance players. He almost never gives up on them. His roster is a revolving door of the suspended and the reinstated, and that is why his former players have incredible loyalty.

And of course he never dresses the part of coach, preferring a black pullover to a suit and tie. A few years back he tried to repair his image by dressing in fancy clothes, but when everyone called him a jerk anyway, he gave up.

"At least this way I am a comfortable jerk," he reasoned.

This has made Cincinnati a polarizing program. It's both a scourge to the NCAA elite and an entry point for working-class fans. Your opinion of the Bearcats often says as much about you as them.

This is Huggins. A blue-collar guy. A beer drinker. A bit of a hell-raiser. A grown man still attached to his old coal-mining town, even though most would have (and maybe should have) let go.

Clearly it's time to stop being the life of every party. He already has had a major heart attack. He already almost has lost his job. He has an opportunity to take some time off without financial worry, a luxury the guys back home never have.

"This will permit him the opportunity to reflect, re-energize and update his life's priorities," Cincinnati athletic director Bob Goin said. "It will also let him address any personal matters which he has ignored."

He is at the crossroads of his life.

<a href='http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpN3NjcG9mBF9TAzk1ODYyMjM4BHNlYwN0bQ--?slug=dw-hugginscrossroads&prov=yhoo&type=lgns' target='_blank'>Crossroads</a>

I am of two minds on the Huggins situation.

One one hand, Huggins made a mistake. If he gets help and returns to be a productive citizen, we are all better off. Most of us have benefitted from second chances from someone in our lives.

The counter point is the long list of problems in the Cincy basketball program. I am sick of the excuses made for this program matched by the whining every March about their dance seed. Consider this line from ESPN:

Quote:Huggins' arrest was the latest black mark on a program with a history of players getting arrested or suspended for various infractions, ranging from domestic violence to punching a police horse. Several have been acquitted or had the charges dropped.

The NCAA put the basketball program on two years' probation in 1998 for various rules violations, and stripped the university of scholarships

One embarrassment may be bad luck that could happen to any program. There is just too long a list of infractions at Cincy for this to be case. The AD may have just blown the chance for a fresh start.

As for the recruiting violations at tOAMu...the line from Casablanca says it for me:

Quote:I'm shocked! Gambling in the casino!

Quote:misreported zero percent graduation rate

OK. I'll bite. Aren't graduation rates based on information the schools themselves submit to the NCAA?