Virginia beat Duke in basketball last night, and since Duke was ranked No. 3 in the indefensible AP rankings, it was labeled an upset. So Virginia fans rushed the court in jubilation, even though they were slight favorites. It’s understandable, though, because the Hoos don’t beat the Blue Devils often. But Coach K — über-competitive drone that he is — reacted in typical angry, grumpy Coach K fashion. He was mad, bros.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, angry over what he perceived as a lack of crowd control while his Blue Devils tried to leave the court following Thursday’s loss at Virginia, traded F-bombs with at least one fan and had to be restrained by security before being ushered into his locker room…
The 66-year-old Krzyzewski stopped and hollered an F-bomb at a fan before security could drag him away. Right behind the Hall of Fame coach were his players, some cursing at fans, some ignoring it and ducking into the hallway. Assistant coach Jeff Capel went back and yelled a few curse words while another assistant coach, Steve Wojciechowski, did his best to quickly usher players into the safe area.
He has a point, but still no need to be cursing at fans. I mean, this sentence: “The 66-year-old Krzyzewski stopped and hollered an F-bomb at a fan before security could drag him away.”
I acknowledged Coach K’s commanding, calming presence in victory, but this is the epitome of grumpiness. You lost, Mr. K, as was expected. Security could’ve done a better job, and you can mention that. But if you’re going to curse off a celebrating, dunken student in a moment of fiery passion, mention that, too. I’m sorry, Vinny Virginia Fan. I’m sorry that I called you a muckworm, scallywag. You, too, attend a terrific academic institution, and don’t deserve to be disrespected for celebrating a victory. I just really enjoy triumph. I’m sorry.
“Whatever you’re doing, you need to get the team off first,” Krzyzewski said about 15 minutes later in the postgame news conference. “Look, celebrate, have fun, obviously you won, that’s cool. Just get our team off the court, and our coaching staff, before the students come on.
“Do you know how close you are to… Just put yourself in the position of one of our players or coaches, and I’m not saying any fan did this, but the potential is there all the time. But they can just go up to you and say, ‘Coach, you’re a …’ or push you or hit you or whatever. What do you do?
“What if you did something (in retaliation)? That would be the story, right? We deserve that type of protection. I’m always concerned about stuff like that, especially at this time of year. What if that happened and we get a kid suspended and that becomes the national story? It’s not all fun and games when people are running onto the court, especially for the team that lost.
Yes, I suppose if a kid pushed you and you retaliated, that would be the story. And you do certainly deserve protection. But it did turn out to all be fun and games. Nobody was hurt, or anything close to it. The story was Coach K being a sore-losing grump. Lighten up, man. You guys were underdogs. Duke isn’t always supposed to win, even with you coaching.