🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Really po'd me off

Bob Lutz
3:22 PM
(17 votes)

Trying to be funny, Lutz asked this question. Self kind of shut him down.

Have you ever sent a thank you card to the teacher that gave Frank a failing grade in his senior year in high school?
BILL SELF: No, I have not. You know, I know you were trying to be funny Bob, but the reality of it is, Frank didn't qualify in high school, and he went to prep school to become academically qualified, and in four years here, in three and a half years he basically already has his degree. It's always been inside of him.

@Crimsonorblue22 Since the guy works for the Eagle who is also under the same ownership as the ⭐️, can he really even creatively write? Comedy sure seems to have failed him.

@globaljaybird such a low blow! Self has more SELF control than me.

@Crimsonorblue22

Bill is the only coach Kansas has had where I totally trust him in front of the press. We should all appreciate his PR abilities.

Not surprising, to everyone in this state that isn't a hawk fan we are the dark, dirty, evil empire. Our players are all thugs and gangsters, even though most of them haven't gotten in any trouble (Frankamp was not suspended for his DUI but that's ok, Beasley was caught with strippers and drugs but not biggie not KU). Like I've stated before I encourage everyone on here to get news from credible sources not the star or the eagle.

@kjayhawks why would a guy be an a&& 🕳?

@Crimsonorblue22

He probably did not think it through and thought it would be funny...it was not, it was offensive.

@Crimsonorblue22 Because we are KU, I actually used to like Lutz when WSU sucked. He seemed to like covering KU, now that WSU is good he hates all he can.

@JayHawkFanToo does he have dementia?

Way to go, BILL SELF for defending Frank against insouciant broadcasting!!!!!!

Lutz probably can't spell "Momma hit me with a dumb stick!"

@Crimsonorblue22

If he had dementia he would not be working as a journalist.

@JayHawkFanToo he's about to retire, maybe he's in the beginning stages. But you are an expert on most things!

Just butthurt Wichitan-sentiment, likely swirling around the newsroom post WSUloss, so Lutz's brainsicle went there...

But to read a natl story about Frank's recruitment, as told by Kurt Townsend, it was a gift from God that he happenned to be in the 3rd back gym of a Vegas showcase tourney, where Frank did-what-he-does to the MickeyD that Townsend went actually to see.

Then KU misses out in recruiting on that McDAA and another guard also, so Townsend sells Self to allow a visit for Frank.

So do we send a thankU card to the D1 schools that took our other 2 prospects? Or do we send thankU card to those 2 prospects for not picking KU?

Or do we thank FM3 for busting his ass at the prep school, both academically & skillwise, thus putting himself in a position to shine for someone at that Vegas showcase?

Or do we thank Townsend for believing in this smallish bulldog kid? Kurt predicted 1st team Big12 by FM3's Jr year, but Frank did that by his Soph yr.

Or do we quietly just thank the Lord, as Townsend did?

Come on Lutzie, baby, quit with your amateur hour comedy!

It was the type of question suitable only for a private conversation between close friends because the purpose was "Wow, isn't it amazing how things work out!", but NOT appropriate in a public forum because it's reference to the class ends up looking like an attempt to embarrass Frank.

I can be aware that I was unexpectedly able to attend a more expensive law school because of life insurance, and I can focus on that silver lining in conversations with friends, but I would not appreciate someone hollering, "Hey, aren't you glad your dad died your senior year?"

He should have just asked, "Aren't you glad Frank didn't go to Towson?"

Lutz was just looking for an edge to his Frank Mason story that appears in Thursday's Wichita Eagle paper. It's sad to bring up a single high school grade for a young man who has been an outstanding college student. The point of the story is Frank's path to KU, which is old and tired by now. Lutz is a poor journalist who is thankfully close to retirement and obscurity.

@drgnslayr said:

Bill is the only coach Kansas has had where I totally trust him in front of the press. We should all appreciate his PR abilities.

@drgnslayr - wanted you to know i clicked on that "like" button until i sprained my index finger. It still only registered one vote. That needs to be changed.

@JayHawkFanToo You are absolutely correct, if Lutz had dementia he would not be working as a journalist. He would be closely attached to Trump's Secretary of Education.

@REHawk That would be Lutzanov.

Question .. was this F in some class NOT public knowledge? I think everyone is way off base here. His question was perfectly fine.

Help me .. what is so horrible here? He was joking .. kind of. But, reality -- if that teacher doesn't hold Mason accountable, and lets him slide by, Kansas never gets Frank Mason. That's exactly what he meant.

I obviously am not a fan of reporters, but this has a completely legitimate premise.

I would send a thank you card if I were coach Self. I, especially, would send a thank you card if I were Frank Mason

The KC Star ran this morning -- [Here is the LINK]. This exact topic. It's a great story.(http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article140202363.html) ↗

Here's a snippet from the story -- the "she" is Mason's teacher:

"She said she was “bullied” multiple times by people who wanted her to give Mason a passing grade. But she gave Mason several chances to make up the work, she said, and besides, two other kids in the class failed with a higher average than Mason. If she was going to make an exception for one, she’d have to do the same for two others. So, no. She would not pass Mason. She needed to apply the same standards to a rising basketball star that she would a student headed to the military, or college, or into the work force. Smith knew she was doing the right thing, but that doesn’t make it the easy thing, or what she wanted to do. There were days I had to sit at my desk and cry,” she said. “Because everybody wanted to tell me I was wrong.”

.

@HighEliteMajor

Some good insight into how society tries to favour some groups of people. Really it's ridiculous that people tried to bully her into passing Mason.

@Crimsonorblue22

My father has dementia and resides in the Memory Unit of a retirement facility in Olathe, so yes, you could say I know a little about it.

@JayHawkFanToo my father does too.

@HighEliteMajor

I have no issue with the teacher holding Frank accountable. I think it taught Frank a valuable lesson.

The issue is that Lutz shouldn't use that as some sort of prop to a joke during a press conference because that's not the appropriate time and place, as @JayHawkFanToo, @stoptheflop and @mayjay point out above. If Lutz is having a private conversation with Self, that is an okay thing to say because it won't come off as a potentially mean-spirited dig.

Lutz is a professional and should know better.

@mayjay

You are absolutely correct. In a private setting it could have been a funny joke; however, in a public setting it looked like a veiled attempt to humiliate Mason.

Nothing funny about how he said it. The story is nice.

Ok, I will agree. If this was a mean-spirited dig, then I see the point. Obviously most everyone saw it that way. I guess I didn't on its face. I must be missing tone as I didn't hear it. Or maybe there's some history with Self and Lutz. It just seemed very benign to me, albeit poorly worded.

@HighEliteMajor

I doubt Lutz was having mean-spirited thoughts. But he should be aware of the politics between WSU and KU.... and he resides in "enemy territory."

So, naturally, when events happen that can be taken a negative way, those events will be open for criticism.

And there is still plenty of bad feelings after our last on-court battle with WSU.

@&#%%$*! ! ! I really wanted to play the Shockers this year! I wanted Frank to avenge his previous loss!

@HighEliteMajor I am not sure we all saw it as a dig, but as a question that was, shall we say, overly familiar so it looks like (comes off as, some have said) a dig. I actually enjoy Lutz, but thought his question was awkward at best in reading it because he premised it on Frank's failure.

It is a tricky endeavor to joke about someone's failure in a serious public setting because it looks like you are laughing at them, and no one likes that. I think your information helps the understanding, but his truncated version does not.

In a less formal setting, that's a perfectly fine question to ask that probably gets a really good sound bite. Big 12 Media Day is an example of a more appropriate time and place where that question gets a better response.