You have to love the humility of Buzz Williams. Because after the biggest win of his short Marquette career against the school’s biggest rival, Coach Everyman wasn’t gloating. In fact, at one point, he was apologizing.
Not that he was sorry for anything on the court. His Golden Eagles didn’t just beat Wisconsin Saturday night, they beat the Badgers at their own slow-it-down, grind-it-out game.
Wisconsin plays basketball like rivers carve valleys – just a steady stream of water slowly wearing away the resistance of mountains. That’s a tough assignment for Marquette, which prefers to attack its mountains with dynamite, blowing them away with flash and dash.
But there were the Eagles, who’ve twice scored 100 points on their own this season, winning when both teams combined for 119. You’d have bet a Bo Ryan BigNoggin (click, then scroll down) that 61-58 meant a Wisconsin victory, but you’d have joined the Badgers in defeat. And you’d have never bet that Marquette would outrebound the Badgers, but the vertically challenged Eagles did just that.
“I am grateful that we won, but I’m most grateful for how we won,” Williams noted.
Still, even when he’d have been excused for doing so, Williams would not personally bask in the moment. He didn’t just deflect credit to his players, he deflected it to the man on the other bench, Bo Ryan.
“I didn’t beat him,” Williams said when asked about defeating Ryan. “I didn’t beat him. He’s a better coach than I am.”
So it’s not surprising, then, that Williams practically chastised reporters – albeit in that friendly, down-home way of his – for saying this was the first big feather in his coaching cap.
“The game is not about me. I’m unbelievably humbled and grateful, as I have been the last 242 days,” he said, adding his perfunctory notation of how many days he’s been Marquette’s head coach. “But it’s not about me. I’m thankful to have been a part of it.”
And yet all of this was just the warm-up act for a closing soliloquy, one that argues Williams may still play Hamlet someday. Near the end of his 16-minute press conference, when most coaches would chew off a leg to escape the media’s shackles, he wanted to talk some more.
Not just to friends, mind you, but to sports writers. So the guy must be a saint.
It started when someone asked a final question abut his businesslike demeanor and whether he’d even allow himself to celebrate the victory. Instead of giving the typical one-sentence sound bite and heading for his locker room, Williams voluntarily launched into a two-minute oration that would’ve made Barack Obama jealous.
“You know what, I know my wife’s happy, and I know my kids will wake up early in the morning and my wife will tell them that we won, and I’ll get to take a nap with them. That’s what I’m fired up about.”
The man gets excited about naps. Does his optimism know no bounds? Of course not. Nor does his energy, because he was just getting up to speed.
“I’m not trying to be businesslike. I’m trying to make sure that whether I’m the head coach,” and here, he gestured toward the media room entrance, “or the guy that opens that door, that I’m the same. That’s what it is. It’s not me trying to hold you guys from knowing who I am. Who I am is the same thing I was on April the eighth at the [introductory] press conference. I still wear the same hat on game days. The hat that [Marquette athletic director] Steve Cottingham gave me, it’s in my truck, and I wear it every day at the game. Those things mean a lot to me.”
(And no, not just because of the head-warming factor.)
“I’m human, probably a lot more human than you think, and I’m very emotional.”
Actually, Kevin Garnett was emotional. Buzz is in another stratosphere. But that emotion is a big reason why it’s so easy to like Williams. Who, by the way, wasn’t even close to done speaking.
“This program is about our players, about our institution and about our fans. It’s not about me. It’s not a benchmark win. We’ve played eight games. If we would’ve lost, I can’t coach. Got beat by Dayton, got beat by Wisconsin, you guys don’t practice free throws, never run zone offense. Nooo… I’m convicted by what I do as a man, I’m convicted by what I do as a husband, convicted by what I do as a father, and convicted by those things as a coach with our team. And I talk to our players a lot more about life than I do about basketball. Because in the grand scheme of things, those are the things that I think, in the end, have redeeming value.”
You mean there’s more to life than basketball at Marquette? This will be news to the body-painters of the world. But back to Buzz, who was finally winding down.
“We’re 7-1. We’ll probably enjoy the game a little bit past midnight. Our guys have earned that. We’ll go to work on Monday. That’s it. Our guys take finals, and they’d better do good.”
I’m thinking they will. Would you want to tell Buzz about an F?
Then finally, the apology.
“Sorry,” Buzz said. “I didn’t mean to get on a soap box.”
No problem. Preach on, brother, preach on.
Badgers Bowl
Despite the loss to Marquette, there was still good news for Badgers fans.
They’re going to Disney World, courtesy of a bid to the Champs Sports Bowl.
So shouldn’t somebody send that Cal Poly kicker some mouse ears?
Packers Left Behind
Now that the Green Bay Packers have gone from needing a miracle to needing the Second Coming…
Do you realize we’re heading for an athletic fiscal year in which the only Milwaukee-centric pro franchise to miss the playoffs may be the Packers?
The Brewers thrilled the city by ending a 26-year playoff drought. The Milwaukee Admirals and Milwaukee Wave had their playoff runs in 2008, and are likely to repeat the feat in 2009. And the Bucks, Sunday’s rout against the Lakers aside, have proven themselves contenders for one of the eight NBA Eastern Conference postseason berths.
If the Bucks simply play to their potential, they’ll be a playoff team. Then the Pack’s misery will have no company. What a strange year.
And finally…
From our “Headlines You Thought Impossible” department comes this one on SportsIllustrated.com.
Sabathia leaning toward Brewers?
As a follow-up to that, Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin confirms that his team is still in the hunt for Sabathia’s services.
It’s almost enough to make up for the Packers.
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. And don’t forget to check out our new fitness column, Training with Tim.
