The Terry Hutchens Chronicles Continue

Our old friend Terry is back at his keyboard after a vacation, of which he will “spare us the details.” (Does that mean he had bad diarrhea or something?) Anyway, he’s back and ready to drop some knowledge on us about Rick Greenspan’s resignation from IU and, I bet you’re going to be shocked at this, but ole Terry is taking the contrary opinion to what every sane, sentient, thinking human being who heard the details of the Sampson mess has thought. Terry thinks IU is better with Greenspan in charge. Seriously, I’m not kidding.

He starts with the bold title: “The Greenspan Resignation: Was it Necessary?” Which is funny, since there were columnists who thought IU should get the NCAA “death penalty.” So yeah, I think it was necessary. But let’s move along.

…once Sampson was shown the door, a lot of people felt that Rick Greenspan should have been running in place right behind him.

This choice of words amuses me, because it makes it sound like Greenspan should be jogging “in place” like he’s getting ready to work out or something. Yes, I’m easily amused.

I'm guessing that was the majority opinion on this particular topic.
I also have a feeling that it's not going to surprise a lot of people that I'm in the minority on this one.

Oh, Terry, you’re such a rule-breaker! You’re also an IU lapdog, so no, this isn’t shocking at all.

Perhaps it removes the wolves from the door, or as Greenspan pointed out today in the one-on-one interview I had with him early Thursday evening, maybe it's better this way because he won't be as much of a distraction.

Don’t you love how Terry slips in there that he had a “one-on-one interview” with Greenspan. What a get! But then get the next speculative paragraph:

But while I do understand that as the director of athletics, and the man who hired Kelvin Sampson, that Greenspan needed to accept a great deal of the blame, I'm still not convinced that Sampson was his hire. I honestly believe that IU president Adam Herbert drove the hiring of Kelvin Sampson and that Greenspan was instructed to come along for the ride. He said all of the things at the time of the hire that he was supposed to say, but my opinion is that Greenspan was being the good soldier. Now, I've tried to get Rick to admit that so many times but he has always taken the high road. He has never felt it was his place to engage in those types of discussions. It wasn't from lack of opportunity. Greenspan has been asked that question time and again. But each time, he has always taken the same approach and that was simply that he didn't feel anything was gained by going there. As he has surely realized today though, plenty was lost.

“Being the good soldier”? He “has always taken the high road”? Are you effing SERIOUS with this claptrap, Hutchens?? Are you honestly – HONESTLY – trying to make Rick Greenspan out to be an innocent pawn in all of this? The Athletic Director? With regard to the hiring of the Indiana University head basketball coach? Really? That’s your story, huh?

When I think of the types of people that Rick Greenspan hired at IU, and the list is a long one, one person always stands out as not being in line with the others and that was Kelvin Sampson. Line up Terry Hoeppner, Tom Crean, Felicia Legette-Jack, Tracy Smith and Kelvin Sampson and one guy sticks out like a sore thumb. And that's why I have my serious doubts that Sampson could have been Greenspan's guy.

To be fair, though, at Indiana, THE program is men’s basketball. Not women’s basketball (Legette-Jack) or baseball (Smith), or even football. Basketball is the end-all, be-all at IU and so if they were ever going to take a chance on hiring someone with a dubious past but whom they thought could win, it would be for basketball – and that’s precisely what they did. They made a deal with the devil and it backfired. They all KNEW this was a possibility. They were all asked about it. And they all claimed Kelvin had learned his lessons, even as they and Oklahoma were suffering as a result of Sampson’s indiscretions.

Rick Greenspan is not innocent in any way, shape or form here. Regardless of what went down, he went along with it and didn’t feel strongly against Sampson – and being passive about something is equivalent with allowing/supporting it. Just ask any parent.

Anyway, more from Terry about how magnanimous Rick Greenspan is:

I think most reasonable people were thinking in the back of their minds that if IU was ever charged with 'failure to monitor' or the more serious charge of 'lack of institutional control' that Greenspan was going to have a difficult time surviving it. But here's the part that I don't understand. Yes, the charge was made and yes, the university acknowledged that in a press release Thursday afternoon. But IU also said it would "vigorously'' fight that allegation. President McRobbie said so and Rick Greenspan did as well. Neither of those individuals believe that the accusation is true. So if that's the case, why doesn't Greenspan dig his heels in and fight it? What he will tell you is that the fight ultimately wouldn't be worth the casualties along the way. He'll tell you that sometimes you have to do what is in the best interests of Indiana University, and not necessarily what is in the best interests of Rick Greenspan. In the end, Greenspan just didn't feel the gains would outweigh the losses.

Yes, indeed. I’m sure Rick Greenspan cares much more about IU than himself and doesn’t want to incur “casualties along the way” (what the f-ck does this even mean?). Yes, sometimes you need to do what’s in the best interests of IU and not Rick Greenspan. He’s really a hero, don’t you see? After hiring a cheater and backing him until he had no other choice than to… uhh, form a committee to decide what to do about him… Greenspan then fired said cheater and put the storied basketball program into disarray and likely set them back years. And now, he’s doing what’s in the best interests of the University. Well, even if this is true, as an IU fan/alum, I would be saying, “It’s about damn time!”

I still believe that Greenspan did a lot more good than bad in his four years at Indiana.

And I still believe I'm svelte, Terry. Neither of us are right. Greenspan was part of a team of greedy, opportunistic jackholes that destroyed the basketball program’s credibility. Try dealing with that, Terry.

He turned the financial picture around and took IU from the red to the black.

He did this? Rick Greenspan? I had no idea he was an accounting genius. Must have used Quickbooks.

Though he won't see its completion by the time he leaves Dec. 31, Greenspan was also a big part of the basketball practice facility that will one day make recruiting a hundred percent easier for Crean and Legette-Jack.

Tom Crean agrees and is presently holding up his cell phone so a recruit can hear how great the facility is.

And recruiting will be “a hundred percent easier,” Terry? Wow, that means they’ll be fighting them off with a stick!

He had some great hires, and pulled the trigger on some much-needed changes such as the tenures of Gerry DiNardo and Mike Davis.

Yes, Gerry DiNardo and Mike Davis, one in the same. Both complete failures who needed to be run out of town. DiNardo simply didn’t win enough and was frequently embarrassed by Purdue, and Davis… well, Mike Davis simply was too black didn’t win enough only got to the championship game once. Getting rid of him to hire a known cheater was a fantastic move. Way to support your argument, Terry.

He was professional, hard-working and respected within the Big Ten and the movers and shakers with the IU Alumni Association.

“Movers and shakers”? Who are you, my grandmother? Who says this?

For those of you who believe that Indiana athletics is in a better place today because Greenspan's days as athletic director are numbered, we'll just have to agree to disagree.

First, nice syntax. Second, nobody thinks things are BETTER “today” because Greenspan will be leaving. But might it cleanse the program…eventually? Yes, I think it might.

I understand a lot of people feel that Greenspan had to go. I know I'm in the minority with my opinion but sometimes you have to go with what your gut tells you.

And right now, Terry’s sizable gut is telling him: Cheetos for lunch!

Terry Hutchens Chronicles – April 2008
Terry Hutchens Chronicles – May 2008