Thad Matta (OSU's All Time Winningest Coach & 3x B1G COY, Butler HC)

[akronbuck]

Not Max, but... link



And I know you can trust Wikipedia, because

YouTube - Wikipedia

that was all baseball. He also, was known as a great boxer and a decent BB player.

 

[muffler dragon]

Not Max, but... link



And I know you can trust Wikipedia, because

YouTube - Wikipedia

Thanks schwab.

I would be interested in knowing if either of the two assholes who hit Witte were Winfield. Anyone?

bingo on all that. My older relatives use to tell me about that when I was younger. Winfield was on that team and Witte was never the same. He was going too be a STAR and he was already GREAT. :(

Such a shame.

 

[calibuck]

Yeah, it was the Hall of Fame baseball player, Dave Winfield. As I recollect, he was not the main instigator, but Ron Behagan, (thanks BB73!) was the main culprit. Neither Coach Taylor nor Luke Wittee were worth a hoot after that. Can't say I blame them a whole lot.

Couldn't root for Mussellman's son when he coached the Golden State Warriors for a brief time, and I know, don't blame the son for the father's deeds, but the name still makes me angry. Probably moreso because it was a Buckeye that it happened to, but just in general, Minny and the B10 hierarchy should have responded hard, but failed in their duties.

:gobucks3::gobucks4:

 

[Jake]

I would be interested in knowing if either of the two assholes who hit Witte were Winfield. Anyone?

Besides starring in baseball as a freshman and sophomore at Minnesota, Winfield had been so dominating on his intramural basketball team, the Soulful Strutters, that basketball coach Bill Musselman invited him to try out for the varsity as a junior. Winfield made the team and was sitting on the bench during a game against Ohio State on Jan. 25, 1972.

And he came off that bench, he says, ''like I was spring-loaded,'' when a fight broke out, an ugly affair that matched Buckeye center Luke Witte's face against the feet of several Gopher players. Winfield found Ohio State reserve Mark Wager, who was already down, and punched him five times hard in the head and face. ''Hey, I'm not denying I was involved,'' Winfield says. ''There was a fight with my team. I was swinging.''

Fuck Dave Winfield.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/cover/news/2001/01/15/winfield_flashback92/

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxnCY0CZ1pE"]1972 College Basketbrawl - Gophers vs Buckeyes[/ame]

 

[BB73]

Thanks schwab.

I would be interested in knowing if either of the two assholes who hit Witte were Winfield. Anyone?

Such a shame.

After the hard foul on Witte by Corky Taylor, Taylor was the guy that kneed Witte in the groin as he was pretending to help him to his feet - that initiated the brawl. During the brawl, Ron Behagen, who had previously fouled out, came onto the floor and stomped on Witte's head. Winfield was running around swinging at Buckeyes after a Buckeye that saw the knee confronted Taylor.

How Taylor didn't get suspended, and how Behagen didn't get suspended for the rest of the season, is simply beyond me.

EDIT - Minnesota suspended those two indefinitely, and the Big Ten then made it effective for the rest of the year. Winfield also came off the bench to give a Buckeye a beatdown that sent him to the hospital, but was not caught on tape and was not suspended. Instead, Winfield moved into the starting lineup. Thanks, matcar, for the info.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

''Hey, I'm not denying I was involved,'' Winfield says. ''There was a fight with my team. I was swinging.''

Fuck Dave Winfield.

Dave, you ignorant slut. A fight requires that somebody be fighting back. That was no fight, that was a massacre. Fuck you and fuck your mother.

 

[LitlBuck]

I think we have beat this Minnesota game enough. I saw it on TV and if you are really interested in more information please go out to Google. We really need to get back to the topic of this thread which is our head basketball coach Thad Matta:)

 

[muffler dragon]

Besides starring in baseball as a freshman and sophomore at Minnesota, Winfield had been so dominating on his intramural basketball team, the Soulful Strutters, that basketball coach Bill Musselman invited him to try out for the varsity as a junior. Winfield made the team and was sitting on the bench during a game against Ohio State on Jan. 25, 1972.

And he came off that bench, he says, ''like I was spring-loaded,'' when a fight broke out, an ugly affair that matched Buckeye center Luke Witte's face against the feet of several Gopher players. Winfield found Ohio State reserve Mark Wager, who was already down, and punched him five times hard in the head and face. ''Hey, I'm not denying I was involved,'' Winfield says. ''There was a fight with my team. I was swinging.''

[censored] Dave Winfield.

CNNSI.com - SI Online - This Week's Issue of Sports Illustrated - SI Flashback: Dave Winfield '92 - Tuesday January 16, 2001 04:13 PM

What.
A.
Cocksucker!

Had I known this sooner, my perception of this fuckstick would have been much different.

After the hard foul on Witte by Corky Taylor, Taylor was the guy that kneed Witte in the groin as he was pretending to help him to his feet - that initiated the brawl. During the brawl, Ron Behagen, who had previously fouled out, came onto the floor and stomped on Witte's head. Winfield was running around swinging at Buckeyes after a Buckeye that saw the knee confronted Taylor.

How Taylor didn't get suspended, and how Behagen didn't get suspended for the rest of the season, is simply beyond me.

Excellent additional info (as always). Was there ever a statement by the Big Ten or Minnesota on their lack of action?

Dave, you ignorant slut. A fight requires that somebody be fighting back. That was no fight, that was a massacre. [censored] you and [censored] your mother.

Excellent summation.

 

[LitlBuck]

the answers to your question are then no one ever apologizedand there were also fans who came onto the court and add in a few good licks. Please, this game is discussed in detail in this thread

 

[muffler dragon]

the answers to your question are then no one ever apologizedand there were also fans who came onto the court and add in a few good licks. Please, this game is discussed in detail in this thread

Understood.

As you can see, we posted previously at the same time. Didn't see your request.

 

[Jake]

I can't speak for others but I am not ready to do what you suggest. However, please don't start comparing Coach Matta to Coach Taylor. That is a very unfair comparison because Taylor won a national championship and when to quit a few Final Fours.

I didn't compare Thad to Taylor, or anyone else in particular. I posted his winning percentage at OSU and pointed out that it's the highest of any OSU coach in almost 100 years, and 14 percentage points higher than that of the program itself. I thought those facts needed to be mentioned at the time.

If you think it's unfair to compare Thad to Taylor then you probably shouldn't do it. But since you did so, I'll simply note that getting to the Final Four requires 4 wins today. When Taylor did it, it required two wins. Such an accomplishment is different in different eras.

Winning percentage, on the other hand...

 

[Steve19]

I didn't compare Thad to Taylor, or anyone else in particular. I posted his winning percentage at OSU and pointed out that it's the highest of any OSU coach in almost 100 years, and 14 percentage points higher than that of the program itself. I thought those facts needed to be mentioned at the time.

If you think it's unfair to compare Thad to Taylor then you probably shouldn't do it. But since you did so, I'll simply note that getting to the Final Four requires 4 wins today. When Taylor did it, it required two wins. Such an accomplishment is different in different eras.

Winning percentage, on the other hand...

Jake, I don't think you have anything to apologize for. I also read your first post to implicitly compare Matta to all other Ohio State coaches.

The comparison of Matta to Taylor is a fair one, but Matta is not the winner on winning percentage for this point in his career, Taylor is, by far.

But, what does such a comparison tell us?

As you say, back then it took less wins to get to a final four, but that also says that the fewer teams admitted to the NCAA were of a higher standard.

Perhaps the thing that goes unnoticed is that Fred Taylor did not have to worry about Lucas, Havlichek, and their teammates bolting for the NBA after one year. Personally, I think Matta might well have two national titles under his belt by now if his players had been forced to stay.

So, I would argue that comparisons are not really accurate portrayals of coaching records.

As you say, winning percentage does tell us something and, in my mind, Matta has some work to do before he can be compared to Taylor in that category. Taylor matched Matta's peformance over 14 years. That included a three year lull in the middle of that period. At the same time, he was ahead of Matta on winning percentage but one must remember that his lottery players stayed four years.

So, my point again is that fans need to truly appreciate Coach Matta.

 

[Colvinnl]

Wow that was probably the biggest cheap shot I have ever seen.

 

[LitlBuck]

I didn't compare Thad to Taylor, or anyone else in particular. I posted his winning percentage at OSU and pointed out that it's the highest of any OSU coach in almost 100 years, and 14 percentage points higher than that of the program itself. I thought those facts needed to be mentioned at the time.

If you think it's unfair to compare Thad to Taylor then you probably shouldn't do it. But since you did so, I'll simply note that getting to the Final Four requires 4 wins today. When Taylor did it, it required two wins. Such an accomplishment is different in different eras.

Winning percentage, on the other hand...

Jake, I don't think you have anything to apologize for. I also read your first post to implicitly compare Matta to all other Ohio State coaches.

The comparison of Matta to Taylor is a fair one, but Matta is not the winner on winning percentage for this point in his career, Taylor is, by far.
.

Maybe I did not explain myself well enough which is not unusual.:! I know they you really cannot compare Coach Taylor and Coach Matta because these days you really can't compare them with the ability for players to leave early. I guess I was comparing them more from a tenure side. Coach Taylor was almost here for 25 years while Coach Matta has only been here for 4 so when it comes to the dean of Ohio State basketball coaches I think you have to say it is Coach Taylor. Now if Thad stays around for awhile and keeps on winning I would be more than happy to say that he is the best Ohio State basketball coach ever when I am not willing to say that right now.

 

[LitlBuck]

Dispatch

Xavier fans' hate for OSU's Matta masks deeper hurt
I watched the Xavier-Wisconsin game with my father-in-law at his home in suburban Cincinnati last Sunday. When the Musketeers finally escaped from the muck that the Badgers seem to create in every game they play, he said something about how much my brother-in-law ? a huge Xavier fan ? still resents Thad Matta leaving for Ohio State.

?He?s happy when they lose,? he said. ?He roots against Ohio State every chance he gets. I don?t get it. It?s not like Xavier fell off after he left. They?re as good or better than they were Matta was there.?

The irony of this struck me. Matta and Sean Miller, the Xavier head coach who was his former assistant, are close friends. Matta has two of Miller?s younger brothers? Archie and Brandon -- on his OSU coaching staff. If he had time, Matta would probably personally scout Xavier?s opponents for Sean now that Ohio State has been eliminated from the NCAA field.

Are some Xavier fans still resentful because Matta lied about his interest in the Ohio State job before he left? Undoubtedly. But regrettable as that is, coaches do that all the time. They don?t want their players, bosses, fans, etc., to know that are considering another job until they are certain they are leaving. If they don?t get the job, they may be left in an uncomfortable situation.

That may be the stated cause of the resentment, but it probably masks a more private hurt. It stings many fans that the coach of a program they obsess over would leave for what he believes are greener pastures, even if the new place is in a more prestigious conference and comes with a huge salary increase, a bigger fan base and considerable recruiting advantages. While they might make the same kind of move in their own professions if they were given the chance, in their minds, this is different. Sports fanaticism sometimes trumps logic. They take this personally.

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Posted by Bob Baptist