[El Scorcho]

An offer McKay couldn’t refuse

By CHRIS LANG | Sports writer
Published: January 27, 2010

CHARLOTTESVILLE — To understand the relationship between Virginia associate head coach Ritchie McKay and first-year Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett, you have to go back about two decades.

After spending time as a graduate assistant and as an assistant at the Division II level, McKay joined Jim Molinari’s staff at Bradley in 1991, his first full-time Division I gig.

Bradley is located in Peoria, Ill., and that gave McKay opportunities to travel to Green Bay to watch his younger brother Orlando play for the Packers. That wasn’t the only reason McKay headed north.

Continue reading the full article: http://www2.newsadvance.com/lna/sports/ ... use/23562/

[SuperJon]

I've been waiting for this article to come out for a couple of weeks. Chris did a good job with it.

I've talked a lot about the subject both on this board and in private conversations and I've finally come up with what I think are my complete thoughts on it:

As a fan, I hated it.
As a person, I understood it.
As a Christian, I forgave it.
And ultimately, I couldn't be happier with who our head coach is now.

Some will disagree and still hold a grudge and if that's what they want to do then sure, more power to ya, but that's where I'm at on the subject.

[LUconn]

He's such a turd. The paragraph that gives his LU explanation is all about him. Tony is one of two people he would have done this for. And that he misses LU, it's mission, and it's players. What about the fact that you basically screwed them over after only 2 years and they were incredibly lucky to find a replacement like Layer. I mean, when he left, he had set us back at least 5 years. Layer is doing a great job of cleaning this mess up, but Ritchie couldn't have left us in a worse position, especially with the state of the roster when he bailed.

To me sports life is not real life, and I won't be actively cheering for him to fail, but I'm certainly not going to be sad if he does.

[olldflame]

I've been waiting for this article to come out for a couple of weeks. Chris did a good job with it.

I've talked a lot about the subject both on this board and in private conversations and I've finally come up with what I think are my complete thoughts on it:

As a fan, I hated it.
As a person, I understood it.
As a Christian, I forgave it.
And ultimately, I couldn't be happier with who our head coach is now.

Some will disagree and still hold a grudge and if that's what they want to do then sure, more power to ya, but that's where I'm at on the subject.

I'm with you on with 1,3 and 4 SJ, but I will never "understand" a person who thinks they can break promises and blame it on God. As far as LU's basketball program is concerned, it's very hard to know where we would be right now if RMK had stayed, but I love coach Layer.

[SuperJon]

I will never "understand" a person who thinks they can break promises and blame it on God.

I was, and still am, really uncomfortable with the way he used the God card. I hate it when people use the God card like that.

However, when I step back and look at what happened, that's why I can understand it.

He just put together a huge recruiting class that had the potential to be really good. With those players, he won 23 games. Then he saw that half of them were leaving and choosing to leave pretty late. It would've been almost impossible to get four more kids to replace those four that late and still have the success that he had last year. Then, while he was in the process of looking at what he had to do, one of his best friends called him with a job offer that paid him more than he made here and had less stress. It was an out. I don't agree with it and I think it was the easy way out, but I can certainly understand why he did it.

[LUconn]

Well in that sense, I understand that he's a coward too.

[HenryGale]

Well in that sense, I understand that he's a coward too.

I was just going to post the exact same thing but you beat me to it.

[TDDance234]

Said McKay: “I know where I’m supposed to be. How long? Who knows? But I tell you what, we are really enjoying being a part of this program.”

I hope he didn't really want an answer to that question. I think if we set the over/under at 2, you'd have to be silly to bet the over.

[jcmanson]

McKay proved he is a quitter, and I’m glad he’s gone

[Cider Jim]

Said McKay: “I know where I’m supposed to be. How long? Who knows? But I tell you what, we are really enjoying being a part of this program.”

TD, that quote jumped off the page to me, too. And, Lang, as a writer, knew how strong it would be to conclude with those remarks, without any additional commentary from himself: to me, it shows who McKay is, and that he has not changed.

And I'm sure it made some FF readers want to or Nevetheless, it was a great piece fo writing on Lang's part.

[bigsmooth]

that last sentence was the one that got me too, lol

[olldflame]

“We don’t really see him as an assistant,” Farrakhan said of McKay.

Anyone else find this quote intrigueing? I know Richie and Tony are bros, but if I'm the head coach I want my players to respect my assistants, but at the same time I want them to understand that these other guys work for me.

[jcmanson]

“We don’t really see him as an assistant,” Farrakhan said of McKay.

Anyone else find this quote intrigueing? I know Richie and Tony are bros, but if I'm the head coach I want my players to respect my assistants, but at the same time I want them to understand that these other guys work for me.

I'm not surprised. RM won't be there more than 2 years, if that long. I don't think Tony really cares about what the players think of him as long as he helps him win and get the program going in the right direction.

[Chris Lang]

“We don’t really see him as an assistant,” Farrakhan said of McKay.

Anyone else find this quote intrigueing? I know Richie and Tony are bros, but if I'm the head coach I want my players to respect my assistants, but at the same time I want them to understand that these other guys work for me.

It was more of a nod of respect to McKay's head coaching experience, not a slap at TB.

[olldflame]

I didn't really think the Farrakan quote was a rip on Bennett per se. I just have this thing about it being clear who is in charge. I'm not a big believer in the fad of football teams having a "coach in waiting" for that reason.

Anyone else old enough to remember the 85 Bears? Ditka was certainly an authoritarian figure, but a lot of the defensive players were actually more loyal to Buddy Ryan, and if he had not been hired to be the Eagles HC, it's hard to tell what would have happened the next year.

[Chris Lang]

oldflame ... there was a quote that didn't make the story that kind of answers what you're talking about. I asked him whether or not he was the offensive guy and Tony was the defensive guy on staff, and he kind of shot that down. His response was: "I make suggestions. Tony makes decisions."

[BUSIMAN23]

I've been waiting for this article to come out for a couple of weeks. Chris did a good job with it.

I've talked a lot about the subject both on this board and in private conversations and I've finally come up with what I think are my complete thoughts on it:

As a fan, I hated it.
As a person, I understood it.
As a Christian, I forgave it.
And ultimately, I couldn't be happier with who our head coach is now.

Some will disagree and still hold a grudge and if that's what they want to do then sure, more power to ya, but that's where I'm at on the subject.

You guys take this way too serious, the guy got a job at an ACC school. He most likely got a lot of money, and his next coaching job will probably be a big time school. Its business plain and simple.

[SuperJon]

Why did you quote me when saying we took it too seriously? I was the one that said I was past it and over it.

[LUconn]

I don't know how many times we've gone over that "just business" statement.

[jcmanson]

I wish TBGB would make an appearance here

[BUSIMAN23]

Why did you quote me when saying we took it too seriously? I was the one that said I was past it and over it.

It was more directed at the comment, as a Christian, I forgave it. Was forgiveness really needed. I am sure McKay prayed about his decision and talked to his family about it before making this decision. He probably felt like UVA was the path God wanted him to take. I just think that is a little extreme that he needed forgiveness

[LUconn]

and THAT is what makes this beyond the realm of "just business".

[SuperJon]

Why did you quote me when saying we took it too seriously? I was the one that said I was past it and over it.

It was more directed at the comment, as a Christian, I forgave it. Was forgiveness really needed. I am sure McKay prayed about his decision and talked to his family about it before making this decision. He probably felt like UVA was the path God wanted him to take. I just think that is a little extreme that he needed forgiveness

I forgave it because as a fan, I felt betrayed. He had said he wanted to be here for life and wanted his kids to come here. He said he'd been at the big-time level and was done with it and loved Liberty and wanted to stay here. Through all of that I, like many fans, believed him and felt like I was lied to. I can forgive him for that.

[olldflame]

You were lied to SJ. We all were. This idea that christians can make commitments and promises which lead other people to make life altering decisions, and then do a complete 180 and pass it all off as being "God's leading" does not wash with me. What it is saying is that we have an excuse for irresponsible behavior that the world does not have.

[BUSIMAN23]

You were lied to SJ. We all were. This idea that christians can make commitments and promises which lead other people to make life altering decisions, and then do a complete 180 and pass it all off as being "God's leading" does not wash with me. What it is saying is that we have an excuse for irresponsible behavior that the world does not have.

Did his promise and committment lead other people to make life altering decisions?? In a basketball sense, possibly, welcome to the world of college basketball and adulthood kids. Keep in mind its just basketball as well, in the grand scheme of things its not that big of a deal. Is it going to make a kid question his faith and Christianity? I would sure hope not. McKays main priority is to his wife and kids and he did what he thought was best for them. Keep it in perspective. His main priority was not to Liberty University. He came in and did big things for the program. In my opinion he got Liberty basketball back on the radar.