In general, I try to stay away from discussions on coaches, because in my mind, the issue is far more complex than any individual play or game. The timing of this action shows me how out of touch GW is, because in this case, the season shouldn't have counted against our coaches. It shows desperation on the part of an Athletic Department fighting to find its relevancy. Unfortunately, coaches are the obvious scapegoats, even when there are structural deficiencies in the athletic programs. Many of us who have suffered through so many pathetic seasons of the WFT, know that the problems were not always with the coaches, but mostly with the ownership (Snyder) and upper management. And yet, one coach after another was let go. As with WFT, the GW Athletic Department management seems to disavow any ownership of the problems facing the programs.
Coaching at the college level is extremely tough in these times, and Coach Rizzotti may even feel a sense of relief (in any event, I wish her all the best). But just think about some of the obstacles our coaches face.
Support for sports programs at GW seems indifferent or disingenuous at best. GW has continuously underfunded these activities. The fan base is almost non-existent. I have been following GW basketball for over fifty years, and from 1969 through 1993 (until I relocated from the DC area), I attended every single home game. Rarely did we have large crowds (they were almost non-existent when we were playing at Ft. Myer), and the larger crowds were usually dictated by the quality of our opponents. For a school that doesn't have a football team, and where the admission for students is free (at least when I was attending games), this should not be acceptable.
Playing in the A10 can be problematic. The conference's strength (ranking) fluctuates, so getting at large NCAA bids is not easy and some of our best recent teams had to settle for the NIT/WNIT. There's not much that can be done about this. But if the goal is to reach the NCAAs, then coaches need to worry less about Win/Loss records, and figure out how to increase their chances of winning the A10 tournament year in and year out.
Comparing coaches from different eras is apples and oranges. Today's student athletes have been disadvantaged by things like * rating services, twitter, etc. that can give them a false sense of their ability. When coupled with old school, in your face coaches and the ease with which they can transfer, it's easy to see why the coaches are graying so fast. You could generally see who was receptive to Coach's sideline tirades by their body language (Bautista, Taiwo, yes... Hyduke, MoKwuah, no...). The former accepted the challenge to get better, and the latter transferred. This is not an indictment of the players; they deserve to play where they are comfortable, but this is how the game has evolved in recent years.
In spite of all this, I remain a fan of GW basketball. Winning and losing isn't as important to me as having an attachment to the school, but I have to admit that the university can be more of a disappointment at times than the sports teams. I love the game itself and to watch these young kids develop. The camaraderie and obvious affection they have for one another is what the college years should be about. It's always great to see how our players succeed in life after basketball; a better gauge of what he the university and basketball meant to them.
Just some thoughts from an old fan.
