No word of any preemptive news conferences this week so Tom Jurich is apparently keeping his word about waiting until after the season to make any pronouncements about Steve Kragthorpe’s future at the University of Louisville.
Actually, Jurich said he would “evaluate” after the season. But his mind was set several weeks ago. So why wait? The delay only postpones the inevitable firing.
If Jurich has already picked a successor, the obvious reason not to name a quick replacement to Kragthorpe is that the next coach has another game or two on the schedule. No smart coach would want to hit his current players over the head with bad news until the season is done.
An early announcement of a firing, however, would be tremendous from a U of L fan’s perspective, giving one reason for hope and plenty of motivation to attend the 11 a.m. game against Rutgers this Friday.
But that’s not going to happen, and there will be a crappy turnout for the seniors. Just more ammo for Jurich when he meets with Kragthorpe to communicate why the dismissal is essential.
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Belated Happy Birthday wishes to Kenny Klein, sports information director, who turned one year older Saturday. Nice gift, that reported Lexus from Coach Rick Piino.
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Tise is back. Chauntise Wright, the big 6-foot-3 center for the Lady Cards, is rounding back into shape. Finally. She was a force, tossing in 15 points and grabbing four rebounds in 16 minutes in U of L’s 85-54 win over Tennessee Tech. See Sonja’s account here.
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The Volley Cards are back, too, eliminating Notre Dame and Cincinnati over the weekend to win their third Big East Tournament in five years. Big East Freshman of the Year Lola Arslanbekova racked up a conference record 25 kills.
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Ken Lolla’s soccer team is gone, falling short of expectations, dropping a 2-0 decision in NCAA tourney action to Indiana University, a team U of L had drubbed 4-0 two weeks ago.
I can’t decide which of the two latest rumors to believe. I have been told so strongly that it will be either Hal Mummy or Eddie Sutton.
Charlie, referring to TJ, what does the line “his mind was set several weeks ago” mean? Do you think that TJ knew that this wasn’t going to work out?
Tom knew what he was going to do, barring any startling upsets. Had to. Too much on the line. If he doesn’t fire Kragthorpe, there’s something else going on, which would concern me.
If Kragthorpe was staying, Tom Jurich would not keep the community waiting and wondering. The buyout is cheap when you consider the investment in stadium expansion.
So you think Coach Krap is on his way out. It would be nice but the buyout amount argues against that move. My prediction is that Charlie Weiss and Coach Krap will both be in their same jobs next year and they will both have better seasons.