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Feb. 2,
2005
OUT OF
TOUCH WITH REALITY
 Stop
me when this sounds familiar…
Four seasons ago you were in the NCAA tournament
and the following season you were in the NIT. But
last season was a struggle and this season -- to
date -- has been a repeat. Your team has been
devastated by injury in 2004-05, but that’s no
excuse.
Can you guess what’s coming next?
That’s right, it’s not official but you are
basically out of a job. Such is the predicament
facing Siena head coach Rob Lanier as he prepares
for the stretch run in the Metro Atlantic Athletic
Conference.
Everybody knows that the coaching profession can
be as unforgiving as it is rewarding. You can
graduate your players, play by the rules and be a
person of high character, but if you don’t win you
are out. But apparently the people in Albany have
developed a case of amnesia, which has been fueled
by a continual barrage of negative print.
In Tuesday’s Albany Times Union, Lanier all but
acknowledged that he would probably not be back
next season. He showed a lot of class in saying
all the right things. But then again he has
nothing to apologize for. Such forgiving remarks
should come from the patrons who boo him
constantly and the media that has called for his
removal all season long.
The newspaper has actually been printing ‘letters
to the editor’ from Siena fans calling for his
firing. Of course equal time has not been given.
All of the letters have been of the negative
variety. Seems there is no voice of reason
resonating from the Albany area. For that matter,
a voice of reality is lacking as well.
Those that have lost touch with reality point to
numbers like 4-17 (current record) and 17-33 (last
two seasons combined). Alone they tell a bad tale,
but you can’t just highlight the bad numbers. But
separating the good from the bad is an art-from in
Albany.
Perhaps the records have been lost or misplaced
and nobody seems to be digging through archives.
Remember, you are two years removed from winning
two games in the NIT.
Of course the argument is that the NIT isn’t the
NCAA. And when the Saints did go the big dance a
year earlier, it’s quickly pointed out that they
struggled all season and just got hot in the MAAC
tournament.
Are you kidding?
Isn’t getting into postseason what it’s all about
at the mid-major level. Oh pardon me. I forgot.
Siena isn’t a mid-major. It’s the UCLA or Duke of
the east and that is where the problem lies.
The atmosphere of the Pepsi Center is like Cameron
Indoor, minus the McDonald’s All-Americans.
Boosters seem to think they are at cocktail hour
on the upper east side of Manhattan and the media
believe the college basketball establishment will
come tumbling down if they don’t get their
opinions into the morning paper.
It’s absurd.
It’s so out of touch that you actually find
yourself looking around for that little guy in the
white suit. When is he going to ring the bell to
announce the arrival of the plane?
It’s a joke!
The one stat that has been conveniently overlooked
-- by those greeting new arrivals at the dock --
is Lanier’s record in March. In fifteen postseason
games, which include MAAC tournament, NIT and NCAA
games, Lanier is 11-4.
Digest that for a moment...
In three-and-half seasons he has had one ticket
punched to the NCAA tourney, one invite to the NIT
and he is 11-4 in March. And a little over a month
from now he will be searching for a job.
A lot of good guys have been fired because they
didn’t win. That is the reality of the business.
But in upstate New York, reality is hard to find. |