So he thinks that whether it's "down there" or "up here," the officials are
out to get him and his players? You're right...hating on the officials is not a good look, especially when using that to try to justify inexcusable behavior.
What Auriemma did was something that would have gotten any spectator immediately tossed from the gym. When I first saw the replay, I thought he was gesturing wildly and that the water bottle slipped out of his hand. But as soon as he acknowledged that he deliberately, consciously threw the bottle, I found this to be pretty alarming, especially coming on the heels of his Knoxville meltdown. It's the sort of escalating bad behavior that we got from Mr. Knight, another tunnel-visioned egomaniac who let his worst impulses overshadow his attributes. It's the reason fans could support VanDerveer without reservation when she surpassed Summitt in wins but can't admire Auriemma beyond his Xs and Os.
It has nothing to do with wins/losses. It really wouldn't take long for Tenn to catch and surpass conn in championships. There are coaches who haven't won any championships whose behavior rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Same with objectionable players (Reese) vs. classy players (Boston).
Just over the past week, I've read about several incidents involving spectators at middle school and high school games losing control and getting involved in brawls and violent acts during games. Coaches physically attacking opposing coaches (and players). An adult spectator coming out of the stands to punch several female players (and then getting a shotgun out of his vehicle and aiming it at several girls in the parking lot). A huge brawl involving players and adults that resulted in the death of one spectator. That's in one week.
Do we really need the spectacle of highly influential coaches throwing things onto the court? The in-game, nationally-televised accusation of cheating that he leveled toward the officials (and, by extension, toward UT) was bad enough. But this latest act, for which he offered no apology (indeed, he just issued excuses), is just encouraging dangerous behavior from fans. All it would take would be one overzealous fan imitating Auriemma's behavior (after all, he was "justified" by Senechal's "bruises"
) to injure a player(s). Want to see Fudd slip and tear up her knee again, maybe permanently, after slipping on water from a bottle thrown from the stands that bursts? Well, that's what can happen when someone acts childishly and irresponsibly, even dangerously.
We've always rolled our eyes at and mocked the little play-acting "Hold Me Back" drama between him and his assistant (s) over the years, but maybe we're not really thinking about the message it sends to fans, players, and coaches at all levels. You know, some peopke actually believe that WWW is "real." How should people interpret the spectacle of assistants "holding back" coaches (and there are other coaches who do this) from...doing what? What would the coach do if not restrained? Physically attack the refs? Curse at them and be ejected? Pull a Woody Hayes or do a Bobby Knight throatgrab?
Getting tecnicals and then doing the Mulkey wink at the camera is a tactic. Throwing objects onto the court,
especially while play is going on, is not. That is inexcusable. There should have been an immediate ejection, and the conference should have issued a strong statement condemning the act. The school should have issued an apology for the behavior, at least to the players if not to South Carolina, even if they can't bring themselves to reprimand their star problem child. Actually, that's the problem right there. Connecticut fans and administrators don't see this behavior as problematic as long as their team continues to be successful in terms of wins. 11 championships means that unacceptable, rule-violating behavior gets overlooked if not outright applauded. After all, winning covers a multitude of sins.
Sports building character? Bah! That's for losers.
