I see some people including Dick Vitale calling for getting rid of the handshake line. It's been a part of our college basketball culture for so long ...I think we've all lost if that happens. Maybe you need a short cool off period (as happens with hockey), but that is not going to happen with television time constraints. Essentially good sportsmanship starts in the home and grade school.
Michigan coach Juwan Howard takes swing at Wisconsin assistant coach
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It depends on your life experience. Some of us are taught to protect ourselves when anyone puts hands on us.
Is that seriously your takeaway from this easily preventable incident (that Juwan is clearly 100% at fault for )???
Also this unhinged loser Juwan had to be held back by his entire coaching staff for wanting to kill Maryland's coach (just last season)
3 point girl
- texas
Howard was a punk playing for MIchigan, a punk in the NBA & with the Mavericks, & a punk now while coaching. A leopard never changes its spots.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Yeah, it's fairly simple: are the young men who play for Juwan, and the university, better off this morning because of his conduct than they were 24 hours ago? Clearly, no.
Which is really awful. You should never go through a handshake line.
In a handshake line? In response to a friendly gesture? Seriously? Some must get in a lot of fights.
One man hugs his wife. Another man strikes his wife. Both put their hands on a woman. Do you see a difference?
The more I think about this, what I find particularly unforgivable and a little sad is that some of Michigan's players will miss multiple games because of their head coach. The person who they and their parents hand picked to lead them and help them grow has literally cost them part of their season. He has failed them in every way a coach can fail a player. If he can't be apologetic for that, then he's just a sociopath and needs to be removed from any sort of leadership position immediately.
Sure, you do have to put some responsibility on the players who were throwing punches. But I have a hard time faulting them too much. I'd like to think I'm fairly well adjusted and had a good upbringing, but if I was 18, 19, 20 again and I saw my coach swing on someone, I think I would've had his back too.
Sure, you do have to put some responsibility on the players who were throwing punches. But I have a hard time faulting them too much. I'd like to think I'm fairly well adjusted and had a good upbringing, but if I was 18, 19, 20 again and I saw my coach swing on someone, I think I would've had his back too.
Many, many years ago our high school basketball team lost a game in the state tournament in overtime on a very questionable call. We had high expectations of going far in the tournament. The reaction of our coach (who also had to be very disappointed in our early exit from the tournament) was "The sun will come up tomorrow" He did not rant or even comment on the call. His concern was for his players and our reaction. His demeanor had a influence on all of us and it is something that sticks in my memory to this day. So we should not forget that there is life after sports and the behavior and influence of coaches extends forever into the future lives of their players.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
There's no world where Gard's actions are intimidating or threatening. Grabbing someone by their shirt could certainly be seen as such.
Life tip--if you don't want to be touched, a handshake line should probably be avoided.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
The series of events from my perspective:
1: Wisconsin is up by double digits. Puts in their subs.
2: Michigan keeps starters on the floor. Begins to press the Wisconsin subs.
3: Wisconsin calls time out with seconds remaining in the game to beat the press (which to me, seems justified, and I’d expect BU to make a similar decision).
4: Howard gets his feelings hurt that Gard calls a time out at the point in the game. He then goes to the back of the handshake.
5: Howard chooses to walk past Gard without shaking Gard’s hand and says something along the lines of “I’ll remember that s***”
6: Gard grabs Howard’s arm. We don’t know for sure what Gard’s intention was there, but it appears as though his main intention is along the lines of “wait a second, let’s talk about it”
7: Howard yells at Gard “Don’t f******g touch me”, while grabbing Gard’s shirt.
8: Gard takes his hand off Howard and begins to walk away.
9: An assistant coach of Wisconsin touches a Michigan player or two, but it appears as though his intention is to defuse the situation, not escalate it.
10: Howard then slaps/hits that assistant coach, which causes a small brawl to break out where multiple players from each team throw at least one punch.
From my perspective:
That entire situation is 100% caused by Howard.
- He chose to press against Wisconsin’s back ups, causing Wisconsin to call time out.
- Because of that, he got heated. He chose to walk past Gard and make a derogatory comment.
- Yes, Gard touches Howard first. But it seems like it’s more-so to talk out the situation, rather than create a brawl.
- Howard grabs Gard, then yells at him.
- As an assistant is beginning to defuse the situation, Howard decides to hit him.
- Howard then chose to not apologize for any of his actions after the game.
He’s a joke.
1: Wisconsin is up by double digits. Puts in their subs.
2: Michigan keeps starters on the floor. Begins to press the Wisconsin subs.
3: Wisconsin calls time out with seconds remaining in the game to beat the press (which to me, seems justified, and I’d expect BU to make a similar decision).
4: Howard gets his feelings hurt that Gard calls a time out at the point in the game. He then goes to the back of the handshake.
5: Howard chooses to walk past Gard without shaking Gard’s hand and says something along the lines of “I’ll remember that s***”
6: Gard grabs Howard’s arm. We don’t know for sure what Gard’s intention was there, but it appears as though his main intention is along the lines of “wait a second, let’s talk about it”
7: Howard yells at Gard “Don’t f******g touch me”, while grabbing Gard’s shirt.
8: Gard takes his hand off Howard and begins to walk away.
9: An assistant coach of Wisconsin touches a Michigan player or two, but it appears as though his intention is to defuse the situation, not escalate it.
10: Howard then slaps/hits that assistant coach, which causes a small brawl to break out where multiple players from each team throw at least one punch.
From my perspective:
That entire situation is 100% caused by Howard.
- He chose to press against Wisconsin’s back ups, causing Wisconsin to call time out.
- Because of that, he got heated. He chose to walk past Gard and make a derogatory comment.
- Yes, Gard touches Howard first. But it seems like it’s more-so to talk out the situation, rather than create a brawl.
- Howard grabs Gard, then yells at him.
- As an assistant is beginning to defuse the situation, Howard decides to hit him.
- Howard then chose to not apologize for any of his actions after the game.
He’s a joke.
Also you are on national TV. The emphasis should be being on your best behavior not turning things into the WWE.
sacraig
- The desert
I think what a person does or does not consider threatening is pretty personal, especially in the heat of the moment. But if Howard felt threatened by what Gard was doing (especially given their very different physical statures) then that is still a major personal problem for Howard.
sacraig
- The desert
I'd argue he shouldn't behave like that whether he's on TV or coaching at the local Y. There's just no room for that in sports.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Final thoughts:
If you’re Howard, you got yourself suspended multiple games, you threw your players into a potentially dangerous situation (what if the fans jumped in?), you got your own guys suspended for multiple games… because someone touched your arm?
If you aren’t going to apologize to Wisconsin, fine. But at the very least apologize to your fans and players for throwing away the rest of your season over a touch.
If you’re Howard, you got yourself suspended multiple games, you threw your players into a potentially dangerous situation (what if the fans jumped in?), you got your own guys suspended for multiple games… because someone touched your arm?
If you aren’t going to apologize to Wisconsin, fine. But at the very least apologize to your fans and players for throwing away the rest of your season over a touch.
I don't understand why people don't grasp this concept. If every single person kept their hands to themselves we'd be talking about nothing.
sacraig
- The desert
In practice, you will never have every person keeping their hands to themselves even if they should. That's why it's even more important to have people in authority positions who are mature adults.
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lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
If Howard is unable to differentiate between someone putting hands on him on the street in a potentially life threading situation and a fellow D1 coach, on national TV, grabbing his arm to have a conversation, then maybe he shouldn’t be the head coach of a major D1 basketball team.
drsmitty74
- Rochester
While ScUM was still applying a full court press.
Please please with a cherry on top stop making excuses for that member of the fraud five. he is a classless loser and will always be a classless loser (just watch his post game press conference )
Is that seriously your takeaway from this easily preventable incident (that Juwan is clearly 100% at fault for )???
Also this unhinged loser Juwan had to be held back by his entire coaching staff for wanting to kill Maryland's coach (just last season)
Watching this video from last year and this latest incident, I am not sure you dispute that Howard has at the very least some major anger management issues thats troubling to see in the head of a program in todays age. He's had two noteworthy events in a relatively short period of time and he's supposed to set the tone and example for his team. I didn't see Gard take a swipe at someone or grab Howard by essentially the collar. Howard's post incident justification showed no remorse so I'm not sure if he sees an issue with his behavior which I'd also think is a major concern. JMHFO
When did I make excuses for anyone? I think people get on these message board high horses, have incorrect legal takes and then want to denigrate people's character which is classless. I spoke only to the facts of what was shown in the video. I never called either coach or their players a name. I only highlighted what they could've done to avoid the mayhem that followed.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
You know what’s classless?
For a D1 basketball coach to yell “I’ll f******g kill you” to Mark Turgeon and get ejected from a game.
To leave your starters in and full court press down double digits with the other team’s walk-ons in the game.
To blow by an opposing coach in the hand shake line and say, “I’ll remember that s**t”.
To hit an opposing team’s assistant coach in the face, as that opposing team’s coach begins to break up the situation.
To then apologize for none of those actions to the other team or your own team/fans.
I see a whole lot more class in this thread than I saw from Howard yesterday.
All of the back and forth discussion about how justified Howard was for his actions is really meaningless. It is obvious that his ego is larger than his concern for his players, BIG 10 basketball, college sports, etc. He is not about developing young men into responsible adults. He is about feeding his ego. Think about how much Underwood talks of the development of his players. All coaches need a sizeable ego to arrive at this level. However, controlling that ego for the good of their players and their school is the mark of great coaches. It should not be all about them. It appears that for Howard, it is all about him.
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