[Rocketfan]

Inspiration can be a tough word to say when you stutter.



Trust me, I've got about 30 years of experience, so I don't stammer that sentiment lightly in talking about the man who is making his words count for Louisville this season.


This article was pretty good:

Louisville hired Jeff Walz on March 27, 2007. Less than a year later, he led the Cardinals to their first Sweet 16.

"Where I used to be compared to where I am now, you know, it's twofold," Louisville coach Jeff Walz said over the phone. "If you would have told me 20 years ago, when I was even a freshman in college, that I would be coaching and having to get up in front of people and talk and do a press conference, I would have told you you were crazy."


I didn't know for sure, especially without being able to see whether his eyes darted one way and the other like an hourglass icon on a computer screen as his mind searched for an alternative, but I was almost sure "twofold" wasn't his first choice of words.

For many who stutter, accessing a mental thesaurus capable of producing a replacement word on short notice is as second nature as reciting social security numbers and home addresses.

I'm used to spotting that; I'm just not used to spotting it in the world of big-time college coaching.

In his first year as a head coach, Walz has the Cardinals in the Sweet 16 after an 81-67 win over Miami (Ohio) in the first round and an 80-63 win over Kansas State in the second round. With such success comes a bevy of attention, including a seemingly endless stream of news conferences and interview requests at this week's New Orleans Regional. And when Walz takes the microphone before his team meets top-seeded North Carolina, a few unsuspecting pens will pause over their notebooks the first time the former Northern Kentucky basketball player, who looks like he still could survive one of his own practices, hits the verbal wall in a sentence.


"I'm learning and trying -- I've gotten more comfortable with talking to the media," Walz said. "But at times -- I'll tell ya, the one thing I hate, and I've got to try and get better at it, is as soon as the TV camera flips on the light, it's a disaster. I am a TV person's worst nightmare for trying to get an audio clip from. It's like, 'We only need five seconds,' and I'm like, 'Look, I can't get anything out in five seconds.'"

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/ncaatourn ... d=tab8pos1

[olldflame]

Political correctness continues to run amok.

Of course I knew this guy isn't the coach of the Louisville men's team, and yes, the article is posted in the 2008 NCAA women's basketball tournament section, but still one would think in a looooooooong article like that the writer would mention the sex of the players the guy is coaching somewhere. Nope. Just plain stupid IMHO.