Coach K is Ailing
Coach K, in healthier times.
Coach K is doing his press conference right now, and while he doesn't sound great, his voice sounds a heck of a lot better than mine. This March is all about sickness to key tournament personnel, from Coach K to me to WaPo college sports editor Matt Rennie to Georgetown host institution PR guy Mex Carey. Here's Coach K, on himself:
"I had a 104 fever during the game and after the game....It's just something you've got to work through. I mean, that's part of it. I feel a little bit better. I still don't have a voice, and that's the thing that's frustrating during the game, because you can't communicate as well, even to the point that last night there were a couple times I wanted to call timeout and the official didn't hear me.
One of them said if you want one just tap me, and I said, 'Yeah, that'll look good. You'll throw me out of here and I'll never coach an NCAA game for touching an official.' But that's part of it. no excuses."
He still managed to do film work, and he was asked exactly what he had done to try to heal himself over the past 24 hours.
"I'm not going to go through the medications," he said. "One was just to not be in a pressure cooker for three hours. So the main thing is just to settle down and try to get your temperature down and try to get on whatever protocol you should, try to get a little sleep. But it's not about me being sick."
And at the end of his press conference, after calling West Virginia fans "some of the great people in the whole world," he again referred to his health.
"I'm already starting to feel better knowing how concerned you all are," he said. "It makes me feel good, teary-eyed."
Coach K also praised Belmont extensively and talked about how gritty his team was in fighting off a team where every player believes he's a starter. It perhaps would have been appropriate for him to praise his team for fighting its guts out, and to say how proud he was of his Devils, and to thank his team's fans.
By Dan Steinberg |
March 21, 2008; 3:52 PM ET
| Category:
College Basketball
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Get This Widget >>
Posted by: Joe Gibbs | March 21, 2008 04:40 PM
(insert inside joke here)
Posted by: unsilentscottvanlittles | March 21, 2008 04:43 PM
I've never worried about Coach K's health, but after
"And at the end of his press conference, after calling West Virginia fans "some of the great people in the whole world," he again referred to his health."
I am.
Posted by: sitruc | March 21, 2008 06:34 PM
Ugh. I had that flu for almost 2 weeks, and at its worst point, I could barely move. I don't remember every looking through injury reports and seeing so many players down with the flu.
Posted by: Matt P | March 22, 2008 10:25 AM
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Dan,
You do a heck of a job keeping Gibbsisms alive. It will be hard fought, with Zorn and Vinny and Dan sort of running the show now, but you just gotta find a way to get a win. We're all in this together.