Big Ten race: That baby is wide-open!
Posted: Wednesday December 23, 1998 05:06 PM
As I take our Purdue team to the Meadowlands to face South Carolina on Tuesday, I want to quickly extend wishes for happy holidays and a very safe and happy New Year to all my readers. This is the final installment for 1998!
Our first game of the new year happens to also be our first Big Ten game -- a matchup with Minnesota at Mackey Arena on January 2. As I look ahead to a competitive conference schedule, I can't help but think how much the Big Ten has improved this season.
I think for the first time in several years, the Big Ten is not going to be top-heavy. It's going to be well-balanced. We're going to have all 11 teams have a say in the league championship.
It's going to be tough to win at home, let alone on the road -- for all of us, I think. That's an interesting change, and I think it's going to make for an exciting Big Ten race.
Michigan State is picked because the Spartans won it last year and they're all back for the most part. But to fulfill such high expectations is no easy task. We couldn't do it the couple times we were picked to do it. One time we were picked to do it and we did, but it's very difficult to accomplish. It will make for a great race though. I think that baby is wide-open!
Refs and rapport
In the 19 years I've been at Purdue, probably the most amusing things that happen over the years are the comments the referees and I exchange. On the sidelines, it appears that I'm mad as hell at everybody, and a lot of the times it's never further from the truth. I'm usually just innocently concentrating on the game.
But, referees and I have a very good rapport, although it doesn't look like it. The main thing about referees and my relationship with them is that I forget the game -- and the calls -- once the game is over. And I enjoy our relationship. We have a lot of short chats in the off-season at golf outings and so on, and we have fun talking and razzing each other. It's a great opportunity to visit with people about their careers, how their lives are going, how their families are.
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Referees and I have a very good rapport, although it doesn't look like it. The main thing about referees and my relationship with them is that I forget the game -- and the calls -- once the game is over.
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I've always enjoyed my relationship with the officials. And, of course, if anyone's watched over the years, those are the people that I really get after the most. But I also respect them the most, which is a lesson: Things aren't always as they seem.
That's always been kind of fun, to go back and forth with the referees, and it makes the game lighter. The remarks in the game make it fun, and I really appreciate their efforts because they have probably the toughest job of working any sport. But also, if you don't take yourself too seriously, officiating a college basketball game is an easy job:
Call what's there, go on and don't listen to the coaches;
Warn coaches, and if they don't take your warning them give them a technical and go on and run the game with a firm but fair hand.
I think that most referees I've been around do those two things, although there are those two or three referees that I think have trouble recognizing what's right for the players sometimes. Nonetheless, I really appreciate their effort.
To the e-mailbag
Thanks for taking the time to give us an inside look at college basketball and the Big Ten Conference. You predicted that the Big Ten would be on an upswing this year and the winning percentage in the league shows you were right. Approaching the Big Ten season openers, have teams like Dick Bennett's Badgers surprised you, and who looks to be the front-runners in your conference?
Tom McCann, Denver
Dick Bennett has been a really a nice addition to this league, and everybody is always surprised when his teams win. I always wonder why, because wherever he's been he's won. He's a great coach and once his players started playing within the realm of his philosophy and his strategy, they were going to win. This year they have three great guards, and he'll mix in the right blend with the other kids to make sure they have a very competitive situation. It doesn't surprise me that he's winning because he's always been a winner.
Hey coach! I'm a Purdue student and I'm thrilled you're writing this column for CNN/SI. I've been a season-ticket holder for four years and I have enjoyed being in Mackey for all the exciting moments in that time. I just wanted to ask about your philosophy on technical fouls. Do you ever attempt to get a technical foul on purpose and do you find it's effective in uniting the team?
Kris Vilamaa, West Lafayette, Indiana
I don't try to get technicals on purpose. Most of my technicals are reactions to a situation. Very seldom have I gotten a technical on purpose. That's not a strategy I believe in.
Coach, you have something of a reputation for being tempestuous on the sidelines. Is this something you do deliberately, or is it just your natural response to the game, and what do you think the effect is on your team?
a g medici, Oakton, Virginia
It's all natural and in response to the game. I tend to take an honest approach to life, not really caring how I look or how I react in certain situations. Instead, I'm more concerned with trying to coach and stick up for my team. I know that maybe I should be a phony and smile, because I am a very happy person. But a lot of times you can't tell it.
I remember when I was back in the Hall of Fame Game in Connecticut, where there's a high community of Irish people. We had a nice party at an Irish outing that week in Springfield and I really enjoyed that, and one of the writers after the game -- we were fortunate enough to beat Connecticut -- asked me if I was an unhappy person because it looks like I'm very unhappy. I said, "No, I'm happy on the inside." He replied, "The way you look you ought to be exceptionally happy then because you never really could tell it by the way you look."
It's just one of those things where I'm not going to apologize for the looks. I love my profession, enjoy my work; I appreciate teaching; I appreciate my opportunity at Purdue and other places that have employed me before. Sorry about my looks, but I'm a very happy person, happily married man, and enjoy the rewards of coaching because they have been very good to me.
From the season's first tip-off to its final buzzer, Purdue coach Gene Keady files a weekly column with CNNSI.com. In his 19th year as head coach of the Boilermakers, Keady provides an exclusive peek into the highlights, lowlights and sidelights of a full college basketball season. Follow one of the nation's top coaches within one of the nation's top conferences this season "From Midnight to March."
Get the inside skinny from Purdue coach Gene Keady! Click here.
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