Nolan And Billy…Together Again
April 10, 2008 at 6:05am by Walking on Sunshine
Filed under Arkansas Razorbacks, Basketball
The first thing I thought about when I saw the list of the 2008 inductees to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame was, “Good for Nolan. A well deserved honor.”
Then I noticed one of his fellow classmates is going to be our old buddy, Billy Packer. Somebody at the Hall of Fame must have a sense of humor.
Richardson’s famous “Hell, Billy…even a blind man could see that!” comment after the Hogs disposed of Arizona in the 1994 NCAA Tournament semi-finals remains one of the best jabs in recent sports history.
Packer didn’t respond at the moment, but later tried to save face in an April, 5, 1994 New York Times article:
Packer said yesterday that Richardson was firing away at him off the air before the interview. “He’s saying: ‘I’m tired of you giving credit to Michelangelo and the General, but you never give credit to black coaches,’ ” Packer said, referring to nicknames used by ESPN’s Dick Vitale for Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski and Indiana Coach Bob Knight, respectively. “At that point, I realized it was an agenda,” Packer said. “Nolan can take tapes of everything I’ve ever said about black coaches, and he won’t see what he’s saying. This just became his forum to vent.”
So get your tickets now for the November 23rd ceremony in Kansas City…it should be a good one. No word yet on whether the bout will be on HBO or pay-per-view. We’ll keep you posted.
It’s easy to see both sides of the issue as far as I’m concerned. Packer never made a black issue out of anything, Nolan did. It just so happened that a lot of the congradulating that Packer did was for white coaches. If you want to get technical about it, look at what each of those coaches did over thier careers and see who was the most consistant and the most sucsessful. It’s basically a “no-brainer”, but Nolan’s jealousy always turned into an excuse to rip Packer and his pro-ACC demeanor. That was the main problem with Packer. Everything was always about how good the ACC was. Other than that, I didn’t really have a problem with the guy.
What was Nolan’s comment directly referring to?
Packer had basically said something along the lines that he thought the turning point of the game was re-inserting Corey Beck into the lineup in the second half, after he sat most of the first half in foul trouble. Then Nolan delivered the jab.
Whether or not Nolan stepped over the line, it was Billy Packer (aka “Fudge”) who usually deserves more than a jab. That guy is a pompous ass. Nolan should have gotten an extension for that.
That was one of the most embarrasing moments I’ve had for the U of A. Nolan acted like a complete “Jerk” and did a very poor job representing the institution that was paying his salary. His attitude during the run for the national championship put a damper on the whole experience as far as I’m concerned.