Huggieville is no more

Fox Sports is now reporting Bob Huggins has agreed in principle to become the new head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers. Ok, so that's not quite Huggins himself saying "I'm the new head coach at WVU" but I doubt he's going to have a press conference in Morgantown to announce he's staying at K-State.

First of all, a big salute to the internet West Virginia fans for handling this with class. That's probably not a big surprise considering they just had to deal with their own coach leaving last week, and know what it feels like. To my fellow K-State fans who read this (all 5 of you), I beg you...please do not go to the WVU message boards and act like a jackass. If you personally know 'Eer fans, don't be a jerk about this to them. This is not the fault of WVU fans. It's really not anybody's fault. This is big business...err, college athletics. It's also about going home. We all knew Huggins would have a hard time saying no to WVU if they came calling.

I feel worst for Bill Walker in this situation. He has wanted to play for Bob Huggins since 7th or 8th grade. Busted his butt to graduate high school early and get to college this year, instead of next year. Has now had to fight through a knee injury, and if he still wants to play for his chosen coach, he's going to have to transfer and sit out a year. If he transfers, he'll just be starting his college career by the time he figured on starting his NBA career. You can't please everybody in making your career decisions, but this is a particularly egregious case of stepping on others.

Now on to the rest of you (and given my hatred of generalizations, this doesn't pertain to every person in the following categories, but you get the idea)...

Fuck you Husker fans. Fuck you Jayhawk fans. If you want to kick us while we're down, fine, go for it. We'll bounce back. We've been there before. Remember Sirr Parker? Remember a motel room incident in Tempe? Remember Pervis fucking Pasco? We've already been through all that hell already. Losing a really good basketball coach isn't going to kill us. We're not gone forever. In fact, this is better than the Pasco Fiasco. At least now, we're getting really high expectations shot down, rather than dealing with just hoping to be a little better than mediocre.

For all you Husker fans throwing this at us, let's think back about 3 years. Seems to me you all dealt with a similar situation, except your AD manufactured your own little version of hell by firing a relatively succesful coach. About 200 coaching interviews later, Steve Pederson emerged with his first-choice candidate (insert rolling eyes). While you're thinking about all those good times, don't forget 5-6, the end of a 30+ year bowl streak, the nightmare in Lubbock, the split in your once proud fanbase, and the fact that the earth will crash into the sun before you're better than K-State in basketball. On top of that, go to the West Virginia message board to see what the rest of the nation thinks of you.

For all you Jayhawk fans laughing at us, let's think back about about 4 years, and a Sportscenter shot of Roy Williams leaving Lawrence in a maroon Town Car. Sure, you didn't want him, if he didn't want you. He wasn't that great of a coach anyway. He was a choker. He couldn't get the most out of his talent. He was tied to Dean Smith's apron strings. Bullshit. He ran your school. He castrated your former athletic director (and allowed boosters to pay former players). He could tell your WHOLE FUCKING STUDENT SECTION to shut up if he so desired. He was your king, and you were his fellators, if he so desired. Also, don't forget about Terry Allen, 11 years in a row, 64-0, lack of institutional control, aKademic fraUd, and first-round tournament losses to mid-majors.

In sum, thanks for the abbreviated memories, coach Huggins. I enjoyed having you as our coach. Good luck with the rest of your career, and good luck to West Virginia. I can't really say I'll be cheering for you, but I certainly don't wish you ill.

Thank God the Masters is on today. Now I have all that hatred out of my system and can go home and enjoy the tournament.