Unabated Sports

Andy Kennedy seems to have a good grasp on his status as Interim Head Basketball Coach at the University of Cincinnati: "I've got the job today." That's good. If I were him, I wouldn't sign any long-term leases in the near future. Because there's one thing that stands out to me from the press conference back in the summer announcing his new position: No Nancy Zimpher. When the decision to remove Bob Huggins reached it's climax, she found the time to address the media on a number of occassions. When the school announced the coach's replacement, though, both the school's president and athletic director were not present. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. According to rumor, she'll be addressing the crowd during halftime of the football game this Saturday. Should be interesting to see the reception she'll get.

Maybe I'm looking at this wrong. Maybe Dr. Zimpher felt her presence at that press conference would distract from Kennedy's promotion. After all, it's been a goal of his to become a head coach and it would be rude to take the spotlight from an already-mixed blessing. Maybe her schedule was so packed that there was no time for her to attend such a conference. But following a week of PR blunders, this could have been a good chance for her to show the fans that she is invested in the basketball team's current fate and future.

It would have been a nice olive branch to fans who are still angry over Huggins's dismissal. A vocal group believe she has no interest in maintaining the on-the-court success of a team that has become a big part of people's lives. In many fans' eyes, she has done everything in her power to dismantle the basketball program and nothing to build it up. Some are angry that she dismissed improving academic numbers and dropped the axe to get rid of a national perception stigma that hangs over the college.

The healing process, barring a national championship in April, is going to take a good amount of time. Some gestures as this stage could go a long way to speeding up recovery time. Instead, all the fans have been hearing is corportate lingo from an academic who just doesn't get why fans would be so loyal to a problem child/golden boy like Bob Huggins.