There was Buzz Williams on Saturday afternoon, clad in the dark suit of a coach and the bright sneakers of a kid, standing before Marquette’s legendary student section. And with those fans awash in Marquette’s 94-82 victory over Georgetown, the latest statement in a 19-2 record that’s the program’s best start in three decades, Williams soaked it all in.
The first-year head coach waved his appreciation, taking care to hit every corner of the crowd, and the screaming Eagles ate it up. Just like they’d done with the donuts he’d delivered outside the Bradley Center that morning. Just like they’d collectively done to the Hoyas, who were leaving town with their tail between their legs.
It was quite the sight, another scrapbook snapshot of the blossoming love affair between Williams and the Marquette faithful.
And it was quite the contrast from nine months ago, when a different coach divorced those Marquette fans in favor of some woman named Indiana.
When Tom Crean basically delivered his Marquette resignation via voicemail, he left behind a shocked campus and disillusioned players. Eagles standout Dominic James likened it to seeing your army’s general defect to the enemy.
But these days, nobody’s missing Crean. In fact, it’s entirely possible that the Eagles are better off without him. Ask yourself this: Would anybody around Marquette take Tom Terrific back? Besides the tanning salon operators, of course.
Look, it’s way too early to say that Williams is a better coach than Crean. But you can certainly make the case that he’s a better coach for this particular Marquette team.
Crean had the same group of players last season, and they never looked this good. Some of that can be chalked up to maturity, but Williams has clearly impacted the Eagles in ways that Crean never did.
Buzz has the team playing an unbelievable brand of defense. It’s like watching a game on fast forward, they’re so quick. Then there are the 3-pointers, which fall with the regularity of layups. And Williams has the Eagles believing they can beat anyone, even teams that tower over them like Notre Dame and Georgetown.
So how has he done it? By forming an unbreakable bond with these Eagles, and he didn’t need Billy Mays or Mighty Putty to do it.
“Anytime you’ve got a coach who’s more worried about the guys playing for him than he is about himself, you know his heart is in the right place,” says Jerel McNeal. “Anytime his heart is in the right place, everything else will come.”
(Incidentally, in honor of becoming the best player in the Big East, McNeal has earned his own Fathead poster.)
Williams, meanwhile, will defer all credit to the players, and he will boil it all down to one word.
Toughness.
“Toughness is not something you talk about; toughness is something you do every day,” Williams says. “And I’ve been incredibly hard – more so than what you guys would know – on that group of guys. And I am still incredibly hard on that group of guys. And they respond every day.”
And not only do they respond, but they respond with nothing but smiles.
That’s the truly amazing part. For all of Buzz’s baptism by fire, you’ve never seen a team have so much fun on the basketball court. They grin after diving for loose balls. They do the double-arm point to the crowd after wins. And they even do stand-up comedy in the postgame press conferences.
Somebody asked Wes Matthews if anybody in the country was playing better than McNeal, and Matthews didn’t miss a beat: “I am,” he beamed.
Then Matthews got to the heart of the matter.
“We’re having fun ’cause we’re working,” he said. “When you put a lot of work into something and you see the benefits, you can’t help but have fun and be relaxed and just be confident.”
And there’s another important reason they’re having such a good time.
“It’s always a lot of fun when you’re winning games,” McNeal said later. “The more games we win, the more fun we’re gonna have.”
So round and round they go. Where does it stop? Nobody knows. But if I had to guess, I’d say the Final Four.
That’s more than Crean can say. While Marquette entered the week 8-0 in the Big East, Indiana was 0-8 in the Big Ten. And while people at Marquette aren’t necessarily rooting against Crean, they’ll surely recall his two-word rationale for leaving Marquette behind: “It’s Indiana.”
Well this just in: Marquette is still Marquette.
And right now, it’s a pretty good place to be.
Super Blow
OK, before anything else, let’s get a few Super Bowl things out of the way. Great game. Great fourth quarter. Great moment for Larry Fitzgerald (the best thing produced by any sports writer this side of Red Smith). And crazy catch by Santonio Holmes, probably the best in Super Bowl history when you consider the athleticism, the spotlight and the ramifications.
But…
Was it just me, or did the refs blow a huge call on the pivotal James Harrison interception return? Watch the video, and tell me how they miss Arizona’s Tim Hightower getting blocked in the back by Pittsburgh’s Lamar Woodley around the Cards’ 30-yard line. But just as surprising is that I’ve heard nobody mention it – not Al Michaels nor John Madden during the game, not even anybody during the millions of hours of postgame commentary.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think the Cards lost because of the officiating, and first-half calls don’t decide ballgames. Still, if I was a Cards fan, I’d still be fuming.
And finally…
We’ll never know exactly how difficult Bud Selig’s job as baseball commissioner truly is. My guess: harder than running Bermuda, easier than running a Denny’s on Tuesday morning.
But in today’s economic environment, Selig’s gig got a little bit harder when news broke that he made some $18 million in 2007. And that number is probably on the rise.
No doubt the man has earned his money, because baseball continues to break attendance and revenue records. But at a time when Wall Street executives are getting slammed for their huge bonuses, Selig won’t be immune from the same treatment. And you can bet his compensation will be mentioned by the players union the next time a baseball owner like Mark Attanasio pushes for a salary cap.
So Selig’s not the only one working harder today. You can bet his public relations people are, too.
Tune in every Tuesday morning during the 6 o’clock hour when I join Doug Russell and Mike Wickett on SportsRadio 1250 AM for Tuesdays with Howie. You can also find the segments in their Audio Vault. I’ll also chat with Mitch Teich on WUWM’s “Lake Effect” Friday at 11 a.m. And don’t forget to check out our new fitness column, Training with Tim.
