Tark the Shark and El Deano
The last week the basketball world lost two titans with the passing of Dean Smith and Jerry Tarkanian. Both had incredible success on the court, sent fistfuls of players from college to the NBA and were larger-than-life personalities. What I am most struck from losing these two legends is the overall reaction.
Not that “Tark the Shark” ever treated people badly, but it is doubtful many would cast him as a paragon of virtue. His passing brought to mind the chewing on the towel, the “Running Rebs” glory days of UNLV, and winning with rosters constructed of colorful characters wherever he was coaching.
Contrast that to the emotion over the passing of Smith, who former Nuggets Coach Doug Moe liked to call “El Deano.” His teaching “The Carolina Way” at the University of North Carolina touched all corners of the basketball world in a positive way and has been a model for business, too. The outpouring of love and respect for him from former players, assistant coaches and competitors was striking.
I do not write this post to slam Coach Tarkanian, but why do you think the reactions to the passing of these two great coaches were so different?
The word you heard over and over when people recalled Coach Smith was “cared.” Sure, he was a brilliant coach and recruiter and won 879 games, but he genuinely cared for his players inside and outside of basketball, both during their UNC careers and and after. One of the great things he used to do was contact his former players on their birthdays. The Carolina guys I came to know went mental over that.
I was lucky to be immersed in the basketball world in the late 80’s and early 90’s thanks to my friend Bill Young who hired me in the Denver Nuggets’ media relations office back in 1987. The connection between UNC and the Nuggets runs pretty deep - you can read a great post about that at Denverstiffs.com. The way former coaches and players talked about Coach Smith was always completely reverential.
My first up-close look at “The Carolina Way” was back in the 80s when McNichols Arena hosted an early season 4-team college tournament featuring UNC and I helped host the press facilities. Coach Moe insisted that UNC have full use of the Nuggets' locker room and facilities. When UNC showed up, I remember Doug being there and the admiration he showed Coach Smith was not what the public would expect from Doug, one of the great wits in NBA history. No jokes or wisecracks; you could tell it was just pure respect and love. Coach Smith also greeted a nobody like me with a warm handshake and smile. It was a very cool moment.
So I hope you will share in my takeaways from the past week:
How you treat people matters – they will always remember. Care for people because of what you can do for them, not what they can do for you. Loyalty matters. Kindness matters. You can compete fiercely and achieve excellence with integrity as a hallmark.
Thanks, El Deano, your example is one we could all better follow.
Reviews:
Theory of Everything: Intriguing story about the life of Stephen Hawking. Stunning acting from Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones makes great impact. I’m a sucker for a love story, which is the heart of this movie. This was an intelligent, thoughtful movie I would heartily recommend.
On the flipside there’s “Kingsman.” As my wife pointed out, beware of the February release. This one showed great promise and the trailer looked fun, but what a disaster. The first 45 minutes were decent, but then it just fell into an abyss of terrible violence, language and absurdity. Stay far, far away from this one.
The last week the basketball world lost two titans with the passing of Dean Smith and Jerry Tarkanian. Both had incredible success on the court, sent fistfuls of players from college to the NBA and were larger-than-life personalities. What I am most struck from losing these two legends is the overall reaction.
Not that “Tark the Shark” ever treated people badly, but it is doubtful many would cast him as a paragon of virtue. His passing brought to mind the chewing on the towel, the “Running Rebs” glory days of UNLV, and winning with rosters constructed of colorful characters wherever he was coaching.
Contrast that to the emotion over the passing of Smith, who former Nuggets Coach Doug Moe liked to call “El Deano.” His teaching “The Carolina Way” at the University of North Carolina touched all corners of the basketball world in a positive way and has been a model for business, too. The outpouring of love and respect for him from former players, assistant coaches and competitors was striking.
I do not write this post to slam Coach Tarkanian, but why do you think the reactions to the passing of these two great coaches were so different?
The word you heard over and over when people recalled Coach Smith was “cared.” Sure, he was a brilliant coach and recruiter and won 879 games, but he genuinely cared for his players inside and outside of basketball, both during their UNC careers and and after. One of the great things he used to do was contact his former players on their birthdays. The Carolina guys I came to know went mental over that.
I was lucky to be immersed in the basketball world in the late 80’s and early 90’s thanks to my friend Bill Young who hired me in the Denver Nuggets’ media relations office back in 1987. The connection between UNC and the Nuggets runs pretty deep - you can read a great post about that at Denverstiffs.com. The way former coaches and players talked about Coach Smith was always completely reverential.
My first up-close look at “The Carolina Way” was back in the 80s when McNichols Arena hosted an early season 4-team college tournament featuring UNC and I helped host the press facilities. Coach Moe insisted that UNC have full use of the Nuggets' locker room and facilities. When UNC showed up, I remember Doug being there and the admiration he showed Coach Smith was not what the public would expect from Doug, one of the great wits in NBA history. No jokes or wisecracks; you could tell it was just pure respect and love. Coach Smith also greeted a nobody like me with a warm handshake and smile. It was a very cool moment.
So I hope you will share in my takeaways from the past week:
How you treat people matters – they will always remember. Care for people because of what you can do for them, not what they can do for you. Loyalty matters. Kindness matters. You can compete fiercely and achieve excellence with integrity as a hallmark.
Thanks, El Deano, your example is one we could all better follow.
Reviews:
Theory of Everything: Intriguing story about the life of Stephen Hawking. Stunning acting from Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones makes great impact. I’m a sucker for a love story, which is the heart of this movie. This was an intelligent, thoughtful movie I would heartily recommend.
On the flipside there’s “Kingsman.” As my wife pointed out, beware of the February release. This one showed great promise and the trailer looked fun, but what a disaster. The first 45 minutes were decent, but then it just fell into an abyss of terrible violence, language and absurdity. Stay far, far away from this one.
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