12-10-2002, 03:53 PM
From <a href='http://www.sportsbusinessnews.com/index.asp?story_id=20328' target='_blank'>http://www.sportsbusinessnews.com/index.as...?story_id=20328</a>
It wasn't as if the coach whose reputation could pass a white-glove test threw a campus keg party, but Mike Krzyzewski's campaign bash on Duke grounds left him scolded just the same. That and this report from The New York Times Selena Roberts
It wasn't as if the coach who rinses Cascade clean raised money to buy off recruits, but his fund-raiser for the Republican Elizabeth Dole was turned into an ethical violation in the Tar Heel State.
It wasn't as if the coach with the nasally voice of a man in need of Nyquil shouted "Blue Devils for Dole!" in his locker room, but Krzyzewski's public politics have left his character tobacco-stained in North Carolina.
Somehow, Saint Mike became the target of language reserved for attack ads after he dared to throw his Dookie-ness behind Dole in a tighter-than-expected United States Senate race.
He wasn't skewered for his political leaning, but for a reception he and his wife, Mickie, held for Dole at the university-owned Washington Duke Inn a month ago, inviting deep-pocket types from an undisclosed mailing list. Had Coach K dipped into a private university list? Had he created a tacit university endorsement by his association?
The issue caused a stir from Asheville to Kitty Hawk. Even the Duke newspaper, The Chronicle, criticized the unsavory appearance of Krzyzewski's role in the reception. It was like being heckled by his own Cameron Crazies.
Suddenly, Coach Klean had been sullied, as if his halo had been made of nothing more than tinfoil and pipe cleaners. For some reason, the meticulous coach who had always kept a lid on his politics in the past hadn't anticipated a game plan for the outrage.
"It was a firestorm," Mike Munger, chairman of the political science department at Duke, said. "He was probably appalled by the attention. If asked about it, he'll probably stare at you solemnly."
Who can ask if he won't return a call on the subject of politics? "He's really busy, very busy," the Duke P.R. man said. (Code for he's ducking like a man running from a helicopter.)
Too bad he's snakebitten. With so many sports figures scared out of their Nikes to take a stand, reduced to being apolitical in an effort to keep the endorsement cash flowing, Krzyzewski was doing more good than harm in his political stand.
When so many young people are feeling disenfranchised, Duke players pondering whether to register for their first punch of a chad could look at their coach and say, "At least the man votes."
Besides, coaches are never basted for the political undertones woven into their motivational philosophies. How many lead their teams in pregame prayers? How many use war references for motivation? Coaches dig General Patton books.
By all accounts, Krzyzewski has not proselytized to his players in Dole-isms (thou shall set screens and be a moderate conservative) or turned to subliminal campaign messages (placing cans of pineapple on the training table).
The Duke roster isn't exactly filled with North Carolina residents. And if Krzyzewski isn't welcomed into a recruit's home that happens to be filled with card-holding liberals, it won't be the first kid he loses to the University of North Carolina.
The only error in Krzyzewski's activism was na
It wasn't as if the coach whose reputation could pass a white-glove test threw a campus keg party, but Mike Krzyzewski's campaign bash on Duke grounds left him scolded just the same. That and this report from The New York Times Selena Roberts
It wasn't as if the coach who rinses Cascade clean raised money to buy off recruits, but his fund-raiser for the Republican Elizabeth Dole was turned into an ethical violation in the Tar Heel State.
It wasn't as if the coach with the nasally voice of a man in need of Nyquil shouted "Blue Devils for Dole!" in his locker room, but Krzyzewski's public politics have left his character tobacco-stained in North Carolina.
Somehow, Saint Mike became the target of language reserved for attack ads after he dared to throw his Dookie-ness behind Dole in a tighter-than-expected United States Senate race.
He wasn't skewered for his political leaning, but for a reception he and his wife, Mickie, held for Dole at the university-owned Washington Duke Inn a month ago, inviting deep-pocket types from an undisclosed mailing list. Had Coach K dipped into a private university list? Had he created a tacit university endorsement by his association?
The issue caused a stir from Asheville to Kitty Hawk. Even the Duke newspaper, The Chronicle, criticized the unsavory appearance of Krzyzewski's role in the reception. It was like being heckled by his own Cameron Crazies.
Suddenly, Coach Klean had been sullied, as if his halo had been made of nothing more than tinfoil and pipe cleaners. For some reason, the meticulous coach who had always kept a lid on his politics in the past hadn't anticipated a game plan for the outrage.
"It was a firestorm," Mike Munger, chairman of the political science department at Duke, said. "He was probably appalled by the attention. If asked about it, he'll probably stare at you solemnly."
Who can ask if he won't return a call on the subject of politics? "He's really busy, very busy," the Duke P.R. man said. (Code for he's ducking like a man running from a helicopter.)
Too bad he's snakebitten. With so many sports figures scared out of their Nikes to take a stand, reduced to being apolitical in an effort to keep the endorsement cash flowing, Krzyzewski was doing more good than harm in his political stand.
When so many young people are feeling disenfranchised, Duke players pondering whether to register for their first punch of a chad could look at their coach and say, "At least the man votes."
Besides, coaches are never basted for the political undertones woven into their motivational philosophies. How many lead their teams in pregame prayers? How many use war references for motivation? Coaches dig General Patton books.
By all accounts, Krzyzewski has not proselytized to his players in Dole-isms (thou shall set screens and be a moderate conservative) or turned to subliminal campaign messages (placing cans of pineapple on the training table).
The Duke roster isn't exactly filled with North Carolina residents. And if Krzyzewski isn't welcomed into a recruit's home that happens to be filled with card-holding liberals, it won't be the first kid he loses to the University of North Carolina.
The only error in Krzyzewski's activism was na
