Some of you guys are pathetic!

[unclejohn]

So you lost your coach. Get over it. He is not a traitor, he didn't lie, he owes you nothing, and if any one of you claims he wouldn't have done the same thing under the same circumstances, he is either a liar or a fool. Oh, and Ernie Grunfeld didn't screw you.

So he took his assistants with him. That is a sign of disloyalty? Try the opposite. Assistant basketball coaches are pretty much at the mercy of the head coach. If the head coach gets canned, chances are they do too. If the head coach leaves and leaves them behind, the new head coach might keep them or might cut them loose. Pearl showed just the right amount of loyalty to exactly the people who were entitled to it: the guys who worked under him.

Grunfeld is some villian? What for? Helping a friend get a great job for which he is truly qualified? Doesn't sound too villianous to me. Why does anybody assume Grunfeld owes more to Milwaukee sports fans, few of which he has ever met, than he does to either his alma mater or a close personal friend?

So Pearl is a money-grubbing slug and he'll be gone in 3-4 years? Well, if he is, he can probably afford it, as he'll make as much in that time as he would in a decade at UWM. If he completely bombs at Tennessee, he is still likely to be better off in the long run. There might be more to life than money, but that's an easy call to make when you are spending someone else's. Now, how many of you are going to pass up an opportunity to triple your salary because you value loyalty so highly?

Funny, I'll bet not a single person here was complaining when your chancellor took the opportunity to jump to Cincinnati. Was she a traitor, too? How about all you students? Let's suppose that you hit the top of the dean's list and get offered a scholarship to Harvard. How many of you are sticking around UWM? Come on, let's see those hands!

I have to say that when Marquette fans lost a coach to the very same place after our own Sweet Sixteen run, few if any complained about lack of loyalty. Some people thought it was the wrong decision, and one of them reportedly was Kevin O'Neill, but with few exceptions, people wished him well and moved on. The program has survived.

Pearl was an employee. Nothing more, nothing less. He worked hard, did a good job, provided good value for the salary he was paid, and moved on when he got a better offer. Happens every day in all sorts of businesses. If you want to talk about loyalty, how about showing some to the guy who got you further than your program has ever gone before. Thank him for a job well done. Wish him well in the future. Then get on with your lives.

[mikeb]

unclejohn said:

So you lost your coach. Get over it. He is not a traitor, he didn't lie, he owes you nothing, and if any one of you claims he wouldn't have done the same thing under the same circumstances, he is either a liar or a fool. Oh, and Ernie Grunfeld didn't screw you.

So he took his assistants with him. That is a sign of disloyalty? Try the opposite. Assistant basketball coaches are pretty much at the mercy of the head coach. If the head coach gets canned, chances are they do too. If the head coach leaves and leaves them behind, the new head coach might keep them or might cut them loose. Pearl showed just the right amount of loyalty to exactly the people who were entitled to it: the guys who worked under him.

Grunfeld is some villian? What for? Helping a friend get a great job for which he is truly qualified? Doesn't sound too villianous to me. Why does anybody assume Grunfeld owes more to Milwaukee sports fans, few of which he has ever met, than he does to either his alma mater or a close personal friend?

So Pearl is a money-grubbing slug and he'll be gone in 3-4 years? Well, if he is, he can probably afford it, as he'll make as much in that time as he would in a decade at UWM. If he completely bombs at Tennessee, he is still likely to be better off in the long run. There might be more to life than money, but that's an easy call to make when you are spending someone else's. Now, how many of you are going to pass up an opportunity to triple your salary because you value loyalty so highly?

Funny, I'll bet not a single person here was complaining when your chancellor took the opportunity to jump to Cincinnati. Was she a traitor, too? How about all you students? Let's suppose that you hit the top of the dean's list and get offered a scholarship to Harvard. How many of you are sticking around UWM? Come on, let's see those hands!

I have to say that when Marquette fans lost a coach to the very same place after our own Sweet Sixteen run, few if any complained about lack of loyalty. Some people thought it was the wrong decision, and one of them reportedly was Kevin O'Neill, but with few exceptions, people wished him well and moved on. The program has survived.

Pearl was an employee. Nothing more, nothing less. He worked hard, did a good job, provided good value for the salary he was paid, and moved on when he got a better offer. Happens every day in all sorts of businesses. If you want to talk about loyalty, how about showing some to the guy who got you further than your program has ever gone before. Thank him for a job well done. Wish him well in the future. Then get on with your lives.

you proved your own ignorance on the subject by the number of times you contradict yourself in this post. if any coach should have left milwaukee it was crean.

[UTLovesPearl]

You can't blame anyone for being upset that they lost their coach. Especially one that helped define a program the way Pearl did. Yes, some people are overreacting but that is going to happen when you care about your program. Eventually, most will come to appreciate what BP did while he was there. Especially once everyone gets the reassurance that their program is still going to continue to be a force.

[PantherFanTKE]

UncleJohn does hit some good points in his post.

This is nothing new for our program either. Lets not dwell on the past (er, present still I suppose) and start looking at the future. Its human nature to want more...


And you know what, IM STILL NOT SATISFIED!!!

Give us a new coach already and lets make history next season!

[n8]

So you lost your coach. Get over it. He is not a traitor, he didn't lie, he owes you nothing, and if any one of you claims he wouldn't have done the same thing under the same circumstances, he is either a liar or a fool. Oh, and Ernie Grunfeld didn't screw you.

So he took his assistants with him. That is a sign of disloyalty? Try the opposite. Assistant basketball coaches are pretty much at the mercy of the head coach. If the head coach gets canned, chances are they do too. If the head coach leaves and leaves them behind, the new head coach might keep them or might cut them loose. Pearl showed just the right amount of loyalty to exactly the people who were entitled to it: the guys who worked under him.

people are upset about our assistant coaches leaving because some felt Tony Jones would be a candidate for the open head coaching position here at UWM

Grunfeld is some villian? What for? Helping a friend get a great job for which he is truly qualified? Doesn't sound too villianous to me. Why does anybody assume Grunfeld owes more to Milwaukee sports fans, few of which he has ever met, than he does to either his alma mater or a close personal friend?

if I'm not mistaken, Grunfeld is responsible for gutting our Milwaukee Bucks of Ray Allen, Glen Robinson, and Sam Cassell. and now responsible for this.

So Pearl is a money-grubbing slug and he'll be gone in 3-4 years? Well, if he is, he can probably afford it, as he'll make as much in that time as he would in a decade at UWM. If he completely bombs at Tennessee, he is still likely to be better off in the long run. There might be more to life than money, but that's an easy call to make when you are spending someone else's. Now, how many of you are going to pass up an opportunity to triple your salary because you value loyalty so highly?

Bruce made it out to seem to all of us that money was not a big factor in his career. he promoted creating a strong program and a winning tradition. if that is why he left to Tennessee, to start over, I'm fine with that. but to leave on the heals of a spectacular season because the money was calling, that is not loyal to us, and most importantly himself.

Funny, I'll bet not a single person here was complaining when your chancellor took the opportunity to jump to Cincinnati. Was she a traitor, too? How about all you students? Let's suppose that you hit the top of the dean's list and get offered a scholarship to Harvard. How many of you are sticking around UWM? Come on, let's see those hands!

I dont think it was discussed to this magnitude, mostly to the fact that this is the UWM Basketball/Athletics message board, not the UWM Staff/Chancellor message board. unless its my misconception, people were upset on campus. she did great things for our school. as for the Harvard offer, I'll pass it up.

I have to say that when Marquette fans lost a coach to the very same place after our own Sweet Sixteen run, few if any complained about lack of loyalty. Some people thought it was the wrong decision, and one of them reportedly was Kevin O'Neill, but with few exceptions, people wished him well and moved on. The program has survived.

besides this year, of course.

Pearl was an employee. Nothing more, nothing less. He worked hard, did a good job, provided good value for the salary he was paid, and moved on when he got a better offer. Happens every day in all sorts of businesses. If you want to talk about loyalty, how about showing some to the guy who got you further than your program has ever gone before. Thank him for a job well done. Wish him well in the future. Then get on with your lives.

when all is said and done, I think we will all wish him luck and be greatful for the things he has done for us. but it is only tuesday, not even a week since our loss to Illinois. THAT is why people are upset. give us maybe 6-7 more days to get over it.

[Ron Diaz]

Um yeah I'd love to go to Harvard cause their basketball program is... umm crap do they even have a basketball team? Maybe you Marquette guys wouldn't mind going to harvard since your parents pay for your schooling anyway. b****es.

[CreamCity]

Excellent responses. Essentially, because it all happened so soon, there hasn't been what the Psych department calls closure. Because the Sweet 16 game happened over spring break, no chance to send off the team in person. Not many students could get tickets to the game to feel a part of it there. After the game, no trip to the airport to welcome back the team, because they drove back. No gathering for the radio show, because Pearl taped it before going back to Tennessee. No pep rally today for the players as planned but canceled because Pearl moved so fast.

I do think he could have told UT to wait a couple of days, all it would have taken, so some of those things could have happened. As you say, it's just an employer-employee situation. And any employer who really want an employee will wait a couple of days.

[PantherAlumBB]

There's an old(?) saying that college players play for the name on the front of the uniform and NBA players play for the name on the back. That's one of the reasons that I love college basketball (although I am a ways out of college) and find the NBA boring.

College coaches, of course, coach for the name on their bank accounts. That isn't surprising but its never fun to be reminded of it.

In the end, I don't think Pearl is subject to that much criticism, although I don't want to go too far in endorsing this "if its in my interest, its ok" thinking. I don't think he ever really a commitment that he wouldn't leave anymore than I have promised my employer that I'll stay for life. Some of the stuff he was saying during the tournament run sounds pretty disingenuous now. It went beyond the normal "I don't want to talk about anything but my great team" stuff that you normally hear from coaches in this situation, but he knows what he was saying privately. Haidet seems to have been ready to respond to him getting a job offer so my guess is that he was relatively straightforward with the team and the school. It did go really fast and that makes it sour, but that seems to have been UT's doing.