CUB REPORTER HAS TITLE RING.Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer The lights go on, the camera rolls and he sticks a microphone in someone's face. Jim Harrick Jim Harrick (born July 25, 1938 in Charleston, West Virginia) is a former college basketball head coach who coached at Pepperdine University, UCLA, the University of Rhode Island and the University of Georgia. , media man. ``Where's my camera crew?'' he asks as Arizona coach Lute Olson Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (born September 22, 1934 in Mayville, North Dakota) is the current men's basketball head coach at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. He is one of the UA's highest-paid employees, though a substantial percentage of his salary is supplemented by approaches. ``They're dogging me.'' The camera crew arrives. Then Harrick, the former UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX coach working for Fox Sports West at the Final Four, pulls out a list of questions: ``What type of shoes do you wear?'' ``What kind of underwear do you like?'' Shoes? Underwear? This is his life. Harrick spent Friday afternoon wandering the RCA Dome • • [ corridor with his microphone and camera crew - the same corridor he roamed a year ago, after UCLA's first-round loss to Princeton. Friday, he waited for interviews and chatted with acquaintances, old coaching buddies, former recruits. Each time, the routine was the same. Lights, camera, microphone, interview. ``We're here with George Raveling George Raveling (born June 27 1937) is a former college men's basketball coach and FOX Sports Net color commentator. He was the head coach at Washington State University (1972-1983), the University of Iowa (1983-1986), and the University of Southern California (1987-1994). ,'' he booms into the camera. ``George, what's your prediction?'' He looked good, too good, in black slacks and a pleated, collarless Rayon rayon, synthetic fibers made from cellulose or textiles woven from such fibers; more rayon is manufactured than any other synthetic fiber. The name was adopted (1924), in preference to "artificial silk," by the U.S. Dept. shirt. ``Hey, Jim, if you want people to think you're a real media guy,'' someone suggested, ``you can't dress that well. Be more of a slob.'' ``I'm not vulturistic enough for this,'' he said. He longs to coach again but has no prospects. Jobs have opened and closed without him. UC Irvine. Wyoming. Louisiana State. Brigham Young. Sacramento State. The truth is, he called LSU LSU Louisiana State University LSU Large Subunit LSU La Salle University (Philadelphia, PA) LSU La Sierra University LSU Link State Update (OSPF) LSU Learning Support Unit and BYU BYU Brigham Young University BYU Bayou BYU Bob's Your Uncle BYU Bayreuth, Germany - Bindlacher Berg (Airport Code) BYU Beyond Your Understanding . They did not call him. Not now. It's too soon. ``Jim will be OK, but he's still too hot right now,'' one Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, coach said. ``It's only been what, five months? He needs more time.'' When Olson saw him, he turned toward the Fox Sports lights and camera, toward Harrick, and could not hide his amusement. Harrick stuck the microphone in his face, and Olson didn't miss a beat. ``I heard you picked us to lose in the first round, Jim.'' ``I picked you to lose every round,'' Harrick responded, grinning. ``And I'm going to pick you to lose again.'' ``The guys asked me, `Why is coach Harrick picking us to lose?' '' Olson said. ``I told them it's for motivation.'' Harrick laughed. Olson laughed. It was the laugh of old rivals. Then Harrick took off his national championship ring, shoved it in Olson's face and said, ``Rub this for me.'' A goodwill gesture? Perhaps. A show of one-upmanship? No question. The down-on-his-luck coach saying, no one can take this away. Olson, who has four Final Fours to his name but no NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association titles, played along and rubbed. Harrick looked at the camera. ``Lute Olson.'' That was it. The lights shut off, Olson departed and Harrick searched for another interview. Recruiting news: Kaspars Kambala, a 6-foot-9 forward from Mequon, Wis., and UCLA's No. 1 front-court recruit, has narrowed his finalists to UCLA, Nevada Las Vegas, Cincinnati and Connecticut. Watch for Santa Monica Crossroads guard Baron Davis to announce his college intentions on April 13, his birthday, which falls in the middle of the spring signing period. Davis says it's Georgia Tech, then UCLA. Family members say it's UCLA, then Georgia Tech. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion