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| East Coast Bias = Refs steal the game & then the media puts Tierney on trial |
From: Baltimore Sun
By Mike Preston
Denver's Bill Tierney is arguably the best coach in college lacrosse history, but he should be careful not to tarnish his legacy. Tierney, who won six national championships at Princeton, has done a great job of turning around Denver's program in recent years, but a lot of fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday weren't applauding him. Rather, they were criticizing him for his behavior during the game.
On almost every whistle, Tierney seemed to be ranting and criticizing the officials in Denver's game against Loyola. A lot of the calls were obvious, some downright blatant, but that didn't stop Tierney from running up and down the sidelines screaming at officials. In the press box, members of the media became more entertained watching Tierney than the game. That should cause him to pause, and change his behavior.
Tierney has always been a mad man on the sidelines, and his behavior was acceptable when he was younger. But he's way too old for this stuff now. The temper tantrums are taking away from what he has done at Denver, and are becoming an embarrassment to the game. There are some opposing coaches who chide officials when they play against Denver because they don't want them to become overwhelmed or intimidated by Tierney, so they play the same game by riding the officials constantly.
Tierney is a good, polite, honest, modest Christian man. Off the field, you wouldn't be able to tell he is the same man that appears out of control on Saturday afternoons. Tierney has been great for the game of lacrosse because of his innovations and style. But at this point, he needs to modify his behavior on the sidelines. It's to the point where it might start to overshadow everything he has accomplished, and what he still might achieve.
And that would be a shame.
And that would be a shame.
25 comments:
F*** the Baltimore Sun.
my thoughts exactly!!!
I'm a DU and Tierney fan, but I agree with the article. It's time for coach to chill out. He looks horrible on TV, and it's only a matter of time before he's going to butt heads with the DU admin over his behavior on the sidelines. He's channeling his emotions in a totally wacked out manner, and it's reflecting negatively on him and the university. Even if his ranting is effective to gain an extra call or two a game, it's not worth the price of his integrity and reputation. The effectiveness of his rants are debatable, too: he actually COST the team this weekend, by getting the equivalent of a technical foul. He needs to read his son's article, get some perspective, and realize that the strength of his coaching is in teaching his players, not berating referees.
I love these old school coaches - they way they bring fire to the job and motivate kids to be the best they can be. But like many aspects of society, most coaches evolve and advance.
Tierney grew up coaching in a era where lacrosse was usually by viewed by live crowds of a few thousand people. Today, Lacrosse is becoming a TV sport, and sideline outbursts are captured in glorious HD for all to consume.
I'd like to see Tierney calm down a little - it's in everyone's best interest. There is diffrence between "working the officials" and "berating them".
Tierney should be smart enough to find the middle ground.
Remember "Gwoz's March" at North Dakota? Suspension by the University. It paled in comparison to Tierney's antics. His yelling and screaming cost his team in the closing minutes. I suspect that because of his behavior, he never gets the benefit of the doubt from refs. The coach's demeanor is embarrassing to DU.
Ooops, forgot to sign my name. Ref to Gwoz written by...
Tim in Los Angeles
Gwozdecky wasn't suspended by DU or the WCHA for the "walk on the ice."
He was suspended for one game by the WCHA for wearing headphones and communicating with the assistant coaches from the Press Box after walking on the ice.
Gwozdecky didn't know the rule.
Tierney outbursts are great for ESPN ratings and LetsGoDU Blog readership numbers.
So you know on what side of the fence I'm sitting. :-)
Now that is funny Gwozgate
Did Princeton ever muzzle Tierney for the 22 year he coached there?
Doubtful.
Don't see Du doing that either.
Here's how the Tierney sit-down would likely go..
DU AD PBD: Er, Bill we need to talk about last Satur...
BTierney: How's the contract extension coming along?
PBD: We're working on it.
BT: When is the new 7,000 seat grandstand going to be built?
PBD: We're trying to figure out where to house the students, after we knock down the dormitory.
BT: Great. I've got get to Charlotte to appear on the ESPN Lacrosse Studio Show.
PBD: I'm glad we had this chat. Have a safe flight.
Ha ha, too funny. While DU has got to be concerned with his ranting, I don't think that the main impetus for changing his behavior will come DU. I think it will come from himself, and maybe from his family. I honestly don't see how someone that appears to be so thoughtful and smart as Tierney, isn't embarassed when he sees tape of himself on the sideline. It's just wasted energy--bad for him, bad for DU, bad for his team, and bad for the sport. He's got to be smart enough to realize that.
Looks like alot of crimson colored glasses are being worn around here....... you DU fans are bunch of f##king cry babies. Furthermore, who gives a s##t about lacrosse.
Nice contribution by DU hockey in this years NHL post season.
I'm wondering if Anonymous (11:48) who claims to be a DU fan is the same jerkwad who posted last week with a list of the all time great coaches, including Pat Freakin' Summit, but managed to overlook Murray Armstrong and Willy Schaeffler. This week he's back with the obligatory "I'm a DU and Tierney fan" lies, followed by about a hundred words about what a jerk Tierney is and how the administration's gonna have to take him to the woodshed. Please spare me any more "DU fans" like this. If your default position is to agree with some asshat in Baltimore, then you aren't much of a DU fan, if at all. Are you, bunky?
Is that Old Pio's imposter, or is it the actual old dude crapping his "Chief-Illini-whatever-the-****-his-name-is" underwear again? In case you're the real deal, please regale us with more long-winded tales of about your old fraternity buddies, and tell us more about the Native American mascots that you'd like to cuddle with!
No, dude. I never posted about Pat Summit. And for you to carry a grudge against someone who did...wow. Put down the bottle, and get some anger management. You'd be comical, if you weren't so sad, my friend.
A lot of people (especially outside of North Dakota) do give a shit about Lacrosse. It's played at more schools than college hockey (more name brands and high level academic places, too), it's on EPSN more than college hockey and has it's championship game played in front of 45,000 people routinely. It is the fastest growing sport in the country...
Hey 3:42 WFT?
Do you see any Denver fans coming on to your school's blog and leaving nasty comments? Of course not.
Yet you feel free come into our house(a DU blog), pull down your pants and leave your turd-like insulting comments on our carpet?
Go shit on your own blog...not ours.
Lacrosse is no hockey. But it's a good sport that DU is good at. That's enough for me. I'm not going to go to every game. But I'll go to a few games, and watch all the playoff games. So I love to see it covered here on the blog. It's awesome to have more than one DU sport to follow, and great to see the national exposure that it gives DU.
4:13, OP might attack a little too strong, but his point is valid. You start with "I'm a DU and Tierney fan", but then spend the rest of the post bashing him. Your post makes it seem like you are not a fan of Tierney at all. I think it's a reasonable question.
Praise be to Gwoz that Tierney is our lax coach.
Let's get serious, the man is who he has always been. He has elevated our program not just by his recruiting and coaching but with his intensity. The fact that he has DU in the same sentence with Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Virginia says a lot more than anything he could say--whispering or yelling.
I'll leave it to him to decide if he needs to dial it back. I'm with DG, have a nice flight coach!
6:55: there is a big difference between bashing and criticizing one aspect of a coach's personality. I think if you re read my post you'll agree there is no bashing of tierney. I am a fan of tierney--his pre game and post game demeanor, his coaching, the results he gets on the field, and the apparent good influence he has on the players. It doesn't mean that I have to.be blind to the fact that his sideline behavior is a big flaw. It got swept under the rug at princeton because of his success, but I think it will have to change at DU. It runs counter to a lot of the things that our athletics program is supposed to represent. No bashing, just a reality check.
DU knew what they were getting with Tierney. He told them he didn't want the band anywhere near him because it drowns out his "conversations" with the refs.
The refs sucked on Saturday. Here's two quotes from reporters.
Quote one:
Matt Kinnear
"The refs - That Loyola-Denver game was abysmal. At this level, the games shouldn't come down to that. It did make for some interesting TV though. The on-field mics were in earshot of Denver coach Bill Tierney all day, and his yelling eventually just turned to sarcastic mockery of the refs. But it's more than just that game: I still don't understand the criteria for a stall warning, and the flags on late/high hits never seem to be consistent. Now this is a very, very difficult job. It's a fast game. Refs have bad days, as do players and coaches. But at this level, everyone needs their A game."
Quote two:
Danielle Bernstein
"Officiating - Taking a step away from women’s for a second here to agree with Matt and go with refs. I stopped at Navy after covering the Loyola-Maryland women’s game to see the Loyola-Denver game. I can’t comment as much toward the TV or anything said in the press box because I just kinda parked myself on one end of the stands and watched this one as a fan, and it was the most frustrating game I’ve seen in a really long time. Some of that was because Denver couldn’t buy a face-off win, but the other part was because they were playing a man down almost the whole game, or that’s at least how it felt. I know plenty has already been said about the officiating. It was atrocious. I’ll leave it at that."
"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past"....
North Dakota fans REALLY need to get a hobby and get out of the house.
Wow, I feel sad to have been published in this disgusting publication.
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