Today, this space brings you a guest column and a letter to the editor, both focusing their disappointment not on coach Ricardo Patton but on athletic director Mike Bohn.
Counter comments, regardless of what some think, are always welcome.
What you will read today is not unfair. It is one side to the issue and the passion is real.
TheTruth
Dear AD Bohn
Your appalling lack of leadership when it comes to Colorado men's basketball compels me to ask for your resignation, effective immediately.
Why should CU fans be forced to endure any more of Ricardo Patton's mediocre performances as head coach?
Are we supposed to just sit back and accept this garbage?
AD Bohn, you have shown no ability to make the tough decisions when it comes to men's basketball.
You just want to smooth everything over, as if nothing were the matter. You're just a talking head, nothing more!
I'd just like you to know that there are a few of us out here who really do care about CU hoops! It's too bad you're not one of them!
The sorry state of the program is entirely your responsibility.You have failed to make the tough decisions, and repeatedly!
I am sick to my stomach and embarrassed to be a CU basketball fan.
And the fact that you think we should all just write off this season due to your incompetence does not sit well with me at all!
Please resign! You are not the type of leader the CU Athletic Department needs!
Sincerely Yours,
Tony McKeever
Guest column, courtesy of Buffalo Oracle
As an observer of CU Men's Basketball for close to 35 years, the current state of the program leaves me dumbfounded. It is very hard for me to understand why AD MikeBohn has allowed this train wreck to happen.
After last season's disappointing conclusion, Bohn met with several players and heard
complaints of harsh and demeaning coaching techniques used by coach Ricardo Patton
and his lead assistant, Paul Graham. Damaging players' confidence with such gems as
"You're a bunch of pussies, you all think you're going to the League - I've got
news for you, there ain't no way," Patton ended up with a mini-rebellion on his hands.
Bohn told the players last spring he would deal with the situation, but nothing changed.
Graham remains on the staff, and reports are that practices continue to be mostly yelling
and cussing, with very little teaching taking place. Ironically, Graham faced similar issues
while head coach at Washington State. Is history repeating itself? Several players left
the program during Graham's tenure, many complaining of Graham's "abrasive" coaching style.
Watching the players during games this season, it is clear to me that these youngster's spirits
are on the verge of being broken already. Everything Patton does seems to be of a punitive
nature. Throw a bad pass, and you are on the bench. Take a bad shot, and you are on the bench.
How can a player develop confidence in such an environment?
What these young players need is a dose of positive reinforcement, rather than the non-stop
yelling and negativity of the current staff. When a player is told day after day that
"you are not as good as you think you are," that "you don't belong in the Big 12," is it a surprise
that an unsure and tentative young man steps onto the court as a result?
This team's spirit is slowly but surely being broken. I have to believe that Bohn realizes this,
so the question is: Why doesn't he do something about it?
People who follow the program closely have speculated in private that Bohn is quite afraid
Patton will play the "race card" publicly against the university should he be let go in the
middle of the season.
After the Gary Barnett mess, the school is certainly extremely wary of any sort of bad
publicity, regardless of whether or not it is supported by the facts. Thus we have Bohn's
reticence to do what he must deep down WANT to do: replace Patton immediately.
But is this really the ethical position to take? As a leader, difficult decisions must be faced
head on, rather than delayed and rationalized away. Given the ongoing verbal abuse the
players are reportedly receiving this season, one can make the case that Bohn is,
quite frankly, derelict in his duties as the supervisor of the department.
When is Bohn going to stand up and do the right thing? And if his hands are tied by his
superiors at the University (that means you, Hank Brown, and you, the Board of Regents),
when are those individuals going to step up and take ultimate responsibility?
Waiting until March may not be a viable option, given the deterioration of this team game
by game. Will we see promising young players transfer at the semester break? Will we
see a player or coach "snap" and go to blows?
Bohn wants the Patton Era to end quietly, but his lack of action may ironically be creating
a ticking time bomb that goes off at the most inopportune moment.
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