Interesting article. As for me, I'm not so put off by Kelly's distatse of the media. I wish it were better but I would rather have 11 wins and an a-hole as coach that the players revere than a 5 win team and a coach who wiggles every dick in the press room or with boosters.
I hear ya BP.. but to me even more important than the wins (which are amazing) is that his players and coaches stand by Chip and love him. It comes across at least, that he seems more interested in shaping the type of man a person can become (see LaGarrette, Masoli, Cliff, etc) than anything (including weiner wiggling)
From Rob Moseley at the Eugene Register Guard on the WW article: A couple thoughts ... 1) The bottom line here is that change can be difficult. Being a booster is a transactional relationship. It's not charity; you expect something in return (or, most do, I think). And for many years, that meant access to the team, at private functions, etc. And remember, these were people who supported the team through some lean times; a win in the Fiesta Bowl would give Oregon 36 wins the last three years, matching their win total from the decade of the 70s. For those long-time diehards, times have changed. For one thing, their donations don't seem as important given Phil Knight's investment in the program. And Kelly's tenure has meant their access has changed, too. You can argue up and down whether any of this is "right" or "wrong" or "reasonable" or "unreasonable," and that's fine. Bottom line, it's change, and I can understand how that's tough for some boosters to handle. 2) I was interviewed for the piece about Kelly's relationship with media, as you see if you read that far. I made clear to the author I thought tension in general between Chip and media is overblown; he's more accessible than many top coaches, and the vast majority of interactions are very generic. That didn't make it into the story, for what it's worth.
I love watching sports, but don't get the jock sniffing culture of wanting to be around the guys. I don't want autographs or pictures and don't collect shoes, jerseys, or any sort of memorabilia outside of a Rasheed lunchpail that I stash yearly tax stuff in. While attending a game is always a great time, attending a booster meeting sounds like a gigantic bore. given this, big wonder that I side completely with CK here. Plus the program is well past the point that it needs to be trotting it's HC around having him pressing the flesh like a politician running for office. Less distractions from the task at hand is what I'm for... let the man do his thing! STOMP
