Greg McDermott Suspension, Etc...

[sju88grad]

After almost a week of mulling this over, I'll try to put my thoughts down here as sensitively as possible...

I'm happy that G McD didn't lose his job. Hopefully due to this, Creighton (really all 11 of us in our areas) works on expanding outreach into the African American community in Omaha, maybe offers more scholarships (under 5% of the student body is African American), makes a point of giving minority students more of a voice than they may already do.

As far as racism in America, which is alive and well, and which we'll be looking at head-on with the Chauvin-Minneapolis trial this week...

...the few on this thread that freaked out about a maple syrup company changing its name, or a late author's foundation deciding to discontinue the printing of 6 of his unknown books, or some a-hole Confederate general's statue, etc...

I would say dial it back on fighting for the cause of inanimate objects like bottles of high-fructose corn syrup on your breakfast table, and put more stock in actual humans... try to honestly learn why people are pissed and why people are demonstrating.

...like the guy who had his neck knelt on for 8 minutes til death-- let's hope there's some accountability ... or the fact that Georgia is currently trying to make it harder for blacks to vote (limiting voting stations, making it a crime to provide food and water for people waiting in line for 6 hours)-- let's support keeping that from happening ... or the fact that 2 months ago the losing candidate tried to kill his VP and "cancel" the election-- let's keep that from possibly being attempted again... once again, accountability.

I think that would make this G McDermott situation end up as a teachable moment that actually helps us understand each other better.

Well said, Billyjack.....

I find it so despicable that one party will try so hard to prevent people from voting.....how about expanding your platform to try to bring people into the fold instead of disenfranchising them???

[MUBoxer]

What’s funny is that at one point not long ago Omaha had more millionaires per capita than any city in the US due to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

I don't know whether this is true but it doesn't change that Nebraska's cost of living is 10-11% lower than the national average cost of living meaning that his point about millionaires buying most of Nebraska holds some water.

For the record the only reason I know that is my Fiancé's family is from Nebraska and her dad has pushed hard to move their family back there.

Won’t dispute that Omaha is a pretty good place to live and cost of living helps in that regard. Our state is really Omaha (congressional district 2 which voted for Biden) and the entire rest of the state which is largely rural.

I always assumed Lincoln was in that district as well. Didn't know it was just Omaha. What's the fact about UNL's stadium? When it's full it becomes the third largest city in Nebraska

Anyways selfishly I hoped he'd be suspended for the BET b/c we need any help we can get. Ethically I'd say the punishment fits. I mean Creightons team isn't exactly the MVC Creightons team but it's more diverse than a lot of the other BE teams and he didn't single out the black players. Stupid thing to say worthy of a slap on the wrist and an apology. Those boxes have been checked move on and hope that high school recruits don't have long memories

[Savannah Jay]

After almost a week of mulling this over, I'll try to put my thoughts down here as sensitively as possible...

I'm happy that G McD didn't lose his job. Hopefully due to this, Creighton (really all 11 of us in our areas) works on expanding outreach into the African American community in Omaha, maybe offers more scholarships (under 5% of the student body is African American), makes a point of giving minority students more of a voice than they may already do.

As far as racism in America, which is alive and well, and which we'll be looking at head-on with the Chauvin-Minneapolis trial this week...

...the few on this thread that freaked out about a maple syrup company changing its name, or a late author's foundation deciding to discontinue the printing of 6 of his unknown books, or some a-hole Confederate general's statue, etc...

I would say dial it back on fighting for the cause of inanimate objects like bottles of high-fructose corn syrup on your breakfast table, and put more stock in actual humans... try to honestly learn why people are pissed and why people are demonstrating.

...like the guy who had his neck knelt on for 8 minutes til death-- let's hope there's some accountability ... or the fact that Georgia is currently trying to make it harder for blacks to vote (limiting voting stations, making it a crime to provide food and water for people waiting in line for 6 hours)-- let's support keeping that from happening ... or the fact that 2 months ago the losing candidate tried to kill his VP and "cancel" the election-- let's keep that from possibly being attempted again... once again, accountability.

I think that would make this G McDermott situation end up as a teachable moment that actually helps us understand each other better.

Thank you for the thoughtful post. Regarding the teachable moment and those who think McDermott "got off light" with a one game suspension, the suspension was never going to be a meaningful part of his atonement (or penance, to us Catholics). If you read the piece on Josh Jones, you know what I mean. He and Josh have talked 5 times since his comments went public. And that's just one black person in McDermott's life.

We've all said stupid shit to people we love at times in our life. And we have to work hard to earn that trust back from the people we hurt. Now imagine hurting dozens and dozens (maybe hundreds) of people with one terrible comment. There are some people that may never forgive him or trust him again. Some may take years of work to earn that trust. I know that McDermott counts Coach Cooley as one of his closest friends in coaching, certainly among BE coaches. I mean, how do you even begin that conversation?

Whether McDermott sat out a game, or the rest of the season, or was fired, the toughest part of his penance is going to be rebuilding relationships. It can also be a rewarding process if the conversations and actions are meaningful and spread among the Creighton and Omaha community.

[Hall2012]

I wouldn't argue that McDermott "got off light" as I do think it was a mistake for which he's shown great remorse and I don't think he deserves anything severe. I just think it was a meaningless "just for show" punishment, kind of like when teams facing NCAA sanctions self-impose a "postseason ban" in a year they had no shot in hell at the tournament anyway. If you're going cherry pick the one meaningless game between one with regular season championship implications and the Big East Tournament (and not even announce it until after the game became meaningless), why bother suspending him at all? It's entirely meaningless.

[MullinMayhem]

We live in a country where white people are told "You need to understand where POC are coming from!" and then told in the same breath, "You can NEVER understand where POC are coming from!". Listen to me! No shut up! We need a conversation on race. No not that kind! It's literally setup so that you always lose the game. It's not reality, it's a game. If your girlfriend acted like this, you'd say she was crazy. We need to go back to the real definitions of terrible terms. We need to go back to identifying as American brothers and sisters first and foremost. We are individuals, not monoliths. The concept of original sin based on race is evil and should be condemned by everyone wholeheartedly or this country may not last another 100 yrs. Many of the white people today in America had nothing to do with slavery, the Civil War, or Jim Crow. It sounds silly to say that, but I honestly believe many people don't realize that. They just see the same skin color as people who did evil things 150 or 60 yrs ago and act like they're responsible. It's about revenge these days and keeping victimhood status to beat people over the head with. People need to focus on themselves and their families and there will be much better outcomes and much more happiness. We are ALL Americans.

[MUBoxer]

What era were we considering Americans as Brothers and Sisters first and foremost? I mean I can't think of a time this happened to "get back to" so I think you're just seeing frustrations boil over.

[MullinMayhem]

Back to what MLK talked about. Notice at his marches he didn't have people burn down cities or scream at 10 yr old white girls going to a cheerleading competition about their "white privilege" and calling them "racist". MLK would've condemned that to the fullest, but in today's radical world, it's seen as fine. MLK wanted us to live together in harmony and look beyond skin color and into character to judge them. Today, it's all about skin color. It's an obsession thanks to the media and every institution perpetuating it. MLK was peaceful and did not label all white people as being inherently racist. He became allies with many, and that's how he got positive change done.

[MUBoxer]

Back to what MLK talked about. Notice at his marches he didn't have people burn down cities or scream at 10 yr old white girls going to a cheerleading competition about their "white privilege" and calling them "racist". MLK would've condemned that to the fullest, but in today's radical world, it's seen as fine. MLK wanted us to live together in harmony and look beyond skin color and into character to judge them. Today, it's all about skin color. It's an obsession thanks to the media and every institution perpetuating it. MLK was peaceful and did not label all white people as being inherently racist. He became allies with many, and that's how he got positive change done.

I mean that's not an era that's a movement. I love MLK and the change he brought about is truly incredible. That being said there's a whole argument that could be made his philosophy was great on paper and worked wonders for some but overall has not had the desired effects due to white flight and redlining.

Again, there was no time where we looked at Americans as Americans first. Even if you just look at "white society" in the states whether it's "no Irish need apply", anti catholic and Jewish violence in the klan, heck there's a reason for most of history white neighborhoods have been segregated by heritage too (little Italy, Greek town. Polish village, etc here in Chicago) etc. The mindset you're preaching isn't a "we need to return to seeing each other..." it's a "we need to get to the point where we see each other as brothers and sisters"

[DudeAnon]

There will always be shitheads. But the fact is the average net worth of a white family is 100k and the average net worth of a black family is 10k. Until those numbers get closer there will always be anger and resentment at past wrongs (slavery, jim crow etc.)

[Savannah Jay]

I wouldn't argue that McDermott "got off light" as I do think it was a mistake for which he's shown great remorse and I don't think he deserves anything severe. I just think it was a meaningless "just for show" punishment, kind of like when teams facing NCAA sanctions self-impose a "postseason ban" in a year they had no shot in hell at the tournament anyway. If you're going cherry pick the one meaningless game between one with regular season championship implications and the Big East Tournament (and not even announce it until after the game became meaningless), why bother suspending him at all? It's entirely meaningless.

Meaningless to who? You? Okay. From a basketball standpoint, the game wasn't meaningless as we were/are fighting to maintain national standing and a decent seed in the NCAAT, playing a team that had already beaten us and trying to avoid a 3 game losing streak heading into the BET. Lose to Butler again and a 5/6 seed easily could have moved closer to an 8 seed. There is no such thing as a meaningless game in March for teams jockeying to make the tourney or for seeding.

The suspension of a home game was more practical than a road game when the team was not in Omaha (the team stayed in Cincy after the X game and then went straight to Philly). The game he was suspended for was senior day and he wasn't allowed to participate. To many, that's not "meaningless." The timing of the suspension allowed university leaders the opportunity to spend more time speaking to current players (once they returned from the road trip), former players, and other university officials. In addition, being suspended will forever be on his career resume. Just like what he said can be "unsaid," he will always be the coach who got suspended for saying what he said...

I am sorry you (and perhaps others) see it as meaningless.