Last Edited: 12/10/2011 6:00:59 PM by Brian Smith (No, not that one)

Last Edited: 12/10/2011 11:44:56 PM by cc-cat

There is a lot of blame to go around in this situation.  To me it starts first with referees, who if they truly did go into that locker room at halftime to warn players, and then did nothing, they have to accept blame for not doing nearly enough.  The game was chippy by halftime, and the talking didn't stop from there.  The next blame has to go with both coaching staffs.  I'm not a basketball coach of young men, so I don't know the dynamics, but why in the hell would Mack have kept Wells, Lyons, or Holloway in the game with 1-2 minutes to go?  He could see what was going on, and they had a 20 point lead.  Then I was shocked he allowed the kids to speak in the press conference to begin with.  They should have been kept from the press for this one.  In some ways, the same could be said for Mick - why leave the kids in that are trash talking at that point in the game?  It was over and there was no need.

I'm a Bobcat first, Bearcat second, and Flyer fan third.  So my family doesn't particularly care for XU.  But I think I can look at this objectively enough to have the opinion that the X players really represented their school much worse than I expected.  I would expect behavior like we saw from Yancy.  I really didn't expect the low class, stupid comments to come from Lyons and Holloway.  From my view, it goes without saying that coming into the game I respected, but disliked Xavier.  I always didn't like them because they're the rival, the other team in town, and they also have what was a respected program.   I know blame for the fight goes both ways, but the tape of that post game presser isn't going away for either of those players, or Xavier University, for a long time.  I also no longer have respect for them, and won't root for them any longer, no matter who they're playing. 

Finally, I admire the stance Mick took in the press conference.  I agree he kind of painted himself into a corner, but he at least took a stance.  Now for him, he has to follow through.  Yancy needs to be out for a long time.  Some of the alumni I was around yesterday said they should just remove him from the team. I don't know the answer, but I hope the schools send the right message to the players involved.
 

Last Edited: 12/11/2011 12:03:51 PM by bornacatfan