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Look Back, but Don’t Forget About Moving Forward
By Jonathan | February 26, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Tonight the University of Cincinnati Bearcats will be taking on the Mountaineers of West Virginia in a college basketball game that will no doubt receive a little extra attention on ESPN. You see, West Virginia’s coach Bob Huggins was once the head coach of UC. Surprised? I didn’t think so. It’s clear that as a whole, the City of Cincinnati has not forgotten about the era that once was full of Bob Huggins. What UC fan could forget? He led UC to 14 straight post-season NCAA Tournament appearances (including one Final Four), coached five All-Americans, and really pissed off one University President.
I’m not expecting fans to ignore these feats. I won’t do it myself. I went to a number of UC games as an undergrad and was treated to some of the best basketball games I have ever seen. No, don’t forget about those. What we need to do however, is keep moving forward.
I understand that there is a big game on campus tonight. It’s a big game for both teams. UC and WV are both middle-of-the-road teams in the Big East, both fighting for that first (and second) round bye in the Big East Tournament. What’s not a big deal is the relationship of Huggs and Cincinnati for ANY player on EITHER team. Huggins’ last season with UC was in 2005. It is now 2009. No player on Cincinnati’s roster in 2008-09 was on the roster in 2004-05. Zero. There’s a chance that most of the players on WV’s team don’t even know where Cincinnati is. These players don’t care about the drama; all they want to do is win a basketball game tonight and move up in the Big East standings.
Most current students at UC weren’t around in 2004-05 either. All they want to do is watch the Bearcats win a basketball game tonight and move up in the Big East standings.
The UC athletic department decided that tonight would provide a great opportunity to recognize Bob Huggins for his exceptional efforts from 1989 to 2005. There will be a short video before the game tonight highlighting some of the great years Huggins had at UC. I feel that doing something like that TONIGHT is probably dumber than hiring Nancy Zimpher to begin with! In case you missed the first paragraph, Huggins is the opposing coach! He is coming to the Shoemaker Center tonight with plans on BEATING Cincinnati! We’re not friends tonight! Tonight we’re enemies! Why are Earth would UC take time out of pregame to say, “Huggs, you’re okay! Let’s be friends! Thanks for everything you’ve done for this program even though we suck right now thanks to controversy from your days of coaching!”
I am a Bob Huggins fan. I liked the guy from 2001-2005 when we were both at UC, and I like the guy today at West Virgina. It’s weird for me to see Huggs on the sideline at a different school, but I still want to see him get smoked by the ‘Cats tonight. Today is not the day to praise Bob Huggins and thank him for what he once did for the basketball program. That day will come…like, say, on another day when West Virginia isn’t in town? Or maybe after Huggins retires from coaching college basketball?
Come on, UC. I know ticket sales are down, but it’s a really shady thing to use controversy to sell tickets. Use excitement! Use pride! Use lower prices!
I will be watching the game tonight, cheering for the Bearcats. I am, and forever shall be, a Bearcat.
C—I—N—C—I—N N-A-T-I!!! (N-A-T-IIIIIIII!!!)
Jonathan Lepolt
College of Engineering ‘06
RallyCats ‘02-06
Topics: UC, cincinnati, current events, opinion, sports | 3 Comments »
February 26th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Amen! Go Cats!
February 27th, 2009 at 9:39 am
The timing really is unfortunate, but it’s probably linked to Zimpher finally getting the hell out of town. She’s a lame duck now, so this is probably the first chance that the University as a whole can get away with recognizing Hugs’ achievements.
That being said, Gates sure took care of business didn’t he? Go ‘Cats!
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Do you remember Tony Yates? Huggins single handling brought them back. No ncaa tournament appearances since Bob left. It’s not about UC vs Bob, it’s about the people in charge who fired him are still there. Nancy leaving is the first step, next are the board members and then I’ll think about coming back.
- Tim
CST ‘05