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Firing Patton wouldn't be wise

Posted December 5, 2006

This is the fourth season I have covered the Colorado men's basketball team, and I am beginning to marvel at the contempt being shown coach Ricardo Patton on message boards and blogs by anonymous cowards.

It's interesting to me that so many people suddenly seem to care about the basketball program. I wonder where they've all been, but that's a subject for another time.

And, trust me, I'm not getting a Christmas card from coach Patton.

The man already has announced this will be his final season in Boulder. Say what you want to about the guy, but I'm guessing that wasn't an easy call for him to make.

And it's not good enough for some. There is a faction of Buffs fans who want the guy run out of town. Yes, the team is 3-5 and playing poorly, but this a giant over-reaction.

A new anonymous blog was created this week with the goal of having Patton removed as coach immediately. It encourages visitors to call university administrators and ask them to part ways with the coach who has been at CU for 13 years and served as head coach since Jan. 16, 1996.

A very similar blog was created last spring advocating Patton's firing and the hiring of former assistant coach Mike Frink. We may never know if the same person is behind it because that person is apparently not brave enough to stand by his or her Internet creations.

Is that an opinion worth taking seriously?

Here is why it makes no sense to remove Patton now.

There is not a viable alternative to turn to on the current staff. So you're talking about brooming everyone with fewer than 100 days left and bringing in someone who is not familiar to the team. That's a genius plan. How is that going to help you beat Kansas or Nebraska for that matter?

Who is going to want the job for fewer than 100 days? Not many, except for perhaps, some of the people behind all this kicking and screaming.

How would you explain it all if you're the administration? People in and outside the media are going to want to know why it was necessary after all. That is guaranteed to get ugly at just the time when you're trying to find a great coach to lead the program into the future.

How do the coaches react? Are they in front of every microphone in America lambasting CU? I'm guessing they wouldn't be happy.

What effect does all that have on your search for a new coach? CU already has enough challenges and problems it will have to convince its next coach to overlook as it is.

If you turn this into a circus, I bet it scares away many if not most good candidates. CU can't afford that. Better to ride out the season, regardless of the number of wins and losses and allow Patton to do the job to the best of his ability, even if that's not good enough for some.

Here is one final point. I keep reading and hearing people say that this needs to be done for the "kids" on the team. First, these are young men, who are more than capable of looking out for themselves. They might even learn something by doing so.

But if it is all about the "kids," what do the kids say? All we have to go by is what they say publicly. And what they say publicly is that they like Ricardo Patton and want him to be their coach. Unless that changes, no change should be made.