John Danowski is in an unprecedented position. Though on the eve of a national championship, the Duke squad is in many ways not “his” team—he recruited none of the players; his predecessor, Mike Pressler, was unfairly fired and retained the team’s loyalty; and the players themselves had been abandoned by their administration and vilified by many of their professors.
No one who has watched Danowski’s dealings with the press over the past several days could not have been impressed with how he has handled the situation.
Rather than minimize Pressler’s role on the team, he has celebrated it—even terming himself a “caretaker.” Aaron Beard’s daily story from the Final Four notes that Danowski invited Pressler to address the team, while minimizing his own success: “I felt this was a great challenge, but also a great opportunity to do some good.”
His opposing coach in tomorrow’s championship game, Dave Pietramala, has high praise indeed:
I think he was the perfect guy for that job. John Danowski has something that no other human being as a coach could bring to that team, and that's a firsthand understanding of what those young men have been through. He knows those kids. They know him, too.You can read Beard’s full article here.
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More news article that link the Duke non-rape with non-penises to the claimed upsurge/commoness of gang rape:
Experts: Gang rape common but prosecution is rare
Cases in just the past two years include the controversial case at Duke University, in which all charges were dropped, and others at Brigham Young University, the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, and Fresno City College.
Makes it sound like the Duke case was another of those horrendous gang rapes where the prosecution just could not make a case.
Disgusting trash reporters.
The character of the accused, the others on the men's lacross team, Coach Pressler, the women's lacross team, and now the actions of John Danowski explain the actions of the admin and faculty at Duke.
Envy
These character of these athletes is so much better than the pathetic Duke administration and faculty that hatred is the only possible outcome in their immature minds.
"A university is a college where the faculty have stopped caring about the students."
Durham's congressweasel, David Price, is now in the news for meeting up with the Ikhwan in Egypt. Better known as the Muslim Brothers, or (in Gaza) "Hamas", they have been responsible for more terrorist atrocities than one can count; although one should at least flag the assassination of Anwar Sadat as the exemplar here.
(h/t LGF)
In short, Price (like Pelosi before him) is now making deals with America's enemies as an end-run around the Executive branch.
This Danowski/Pressler thing reminds me a little of when Michigan won the NCAA basketball tournament in 1989. The head coach - Bill Frieder, quit to go to Arizona State right before the tournament started and assistant coach Steve Fisher was pressed into service as interim head coach. Michigan won the national championship. Fisher was like Cinderella man. I always felt bad for Frieder though.
In this case, Pressler did not quit. He was forced out under horrendous circumstances. That should have never happened. Danowski is a great guy and he has done a great job getting the team back on track. Without question he is a great coach. But in many ways this is still Pressler's team and I'll be thinking of him tomorrow.
Anonymous said...
The character of the accused, the others on the men's lacross team, Coach Pressler, the women's lacross team, and now the actions of John Danowski explain the actions of the admin and faculty at Duke.
Envy
These character of these athletes is so much better than the pathetic Duke administration and faculty that hatred is the only possible outcome in their immature minds.
"A university is a college where the faculty have stopped caring about the students."
May 27, 2007 9:40:00 PM
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Very well said. Hits the nail on the head.
Both Danowski and Pressler are in an unprecedented position in that their team at Duke is self managed with an occasional need for listeners and a huge or two.
A coach can only work with what earlier coaches and the parents deliver.
Looks like earlier coaches and the parents have done a darn good job.
They both should author a text book titled:
Recruiting College Athletes who Self Manage.
::
GP
I have a daughter who is a high school junior, an athlete and a pretty good student. This is a terrible time for parents. I'm looking at small Catholic colleges.
Mike - You are so right. I believe in public school education. The education my kids got at McLean High School in the 80s could not be bought. My grandchildren are going to Catholic School because the schools are in such a mess.
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