Although the timid may not fail, rarely do they triumph.
By: Kyle Gose
Unfortunately, the storyline that received the most attention this weekend had nothing to do with what occurred in-between the lines. Instead it focused on an altercation that took place between Michigan State Head Coach, Tom Izzo and Freshman Forward, Aaron Henry. After a 10-0 run early in the second half by Michigan State, Bradley called a timeout to stop the Spartans momentum. What ensued in the following two minutes would soon take center stage in the media room and sports world alike for the remainder of the weekend. As Henry approached his bench, Coach Izzo began yelling obscenities in the face of his Freshman forward. The heated encounter between the two did not stop there. Upon sitting down for the timeout, Izzo had to be restrained by fellow players Cassius Winston and senior guard Matt Mcquaid. The altercation had to do with Henry’s lack of effort on the defensive end of the floor and his inability to get back in transition. Following this string of events, Coach Izzo received a great deal of backlash and criticism that had to do with the manner in which he confronted his player.
ESPN anchor, Scott Van Pelt, put it best in reference to the altercation when he stated the following: “Stop being offended by things that don’t concern you.” The only problem I had with the situation is the people who had a problem with it. In basketball, along with a great deal of times in life, emotions run high, as they should. After all, nothing great was ever accomplished without a little bit of enthusiasm. What the people who had negative things to say about Tom Izzo don’t understand, is the kind of relationship he has cultivated with each individual on his team behind closed doors. If you take a step back and look at it from a player’s perspective you have to realize that the root of the validation behind this kind of coaching goes all the way back to the recruiting process. When you are being recruited by Tom Izzo as a player and he walks into your living room, sits down amongst you and your family, and proceeds to offer you a once in a lifetime opportunity to play basketball at Michigan State University, you know damn well what type of coaching style he employs and the kind of consequences that will entail when a mistake is made. However, as Coach Izzo sits in that recruits living room and offers him a full ride scholarship, he makes a promise to the recruit and his family. That promise ensures the recruit and his family or whoever else may be sitting in the room, that he will do everything in his power to make sure their son become the absolute best player and person he can be. It just so happened that this type of action that was displayed by Coach Izzo in Michigan State’s first round game against Bradley, was part of that promise in ensuring that Aaron Henry become the caliber of player that he is capable of becoming.
When it comes down to it, and one asks themselves if they should be shocked by the kind of reaction this kind of event generated amongst the younger generation, the answer is not a chance. In a world where students ask university faculty to refrain from using the phrase “Christmas Vacation” because it “minimizes non-Christian spiritual rituals”, to administration asking their faculty to not invite fellow staff members on golf outings because it assumes “that everyone has the financial resources to a fairly expensive and accessible sport” (Athey,2017). One would be lying to themselves if they did not believe that the outrage this event perpetrated was more than predictable. The bottom line is that for sports fans who value winning at all costs, it’s difficult to see a coach whose job is to put his players in the position to win and compete at the highest level possible, be criticized for displaying the kind of passion that seems to be dissipating amongst our society today. It’s a shame that the intuitive reaction amongst a great deal of the twitter world was to label this situation as too harsh or ‘out of line’. For those of you reading this article who may be in disagreement with my thoughts and opinions, I leave you with one final word of advice: although the timid may not fail, rarely do they triumph.
Yours Truly,
KG
Works Cited:
partiallybiased.com 