who cares?

who cares?

...says the guy who clicked thru to read this story.

Well Pete,

I'm going to take sides, and I take her side. I don't follow college basketball, so I don't have an agenda.

Good for her for speaking her mind out. I believe what she says about Williams sabotaging her efforts. He fits the profile of "very hard-nosed, strong-willed" person. Perhaps a good ole boy who doesn't like to be told what to do from women in power. A lot of men have problems with that. In reality they are lesser men because of how they interact with women with authority.

It's an epidemic across our country. Successful women and women in general are being railroaded, held back and ridiculed publicly. It's nothing but ignorance.

Decades after the civil rights movement, the women in this country are still being discriminated against and receive 70% of their male counterparts wages.

Hillary Clinton was attacked like no other and portrayed like a villain when she ran for president. Even her own party sabotaged here.

It's a man's world for sure, but it would be a better World if men across America grew a pair and treated women equally. After all, we come from women!

Now, let's see the parade of posters who will trash Debbie Yow, and prove my points.

Yow always had to have the last word when she was here, and she still tried to get it on Gary after she was gone.

I'd bet that someone told her that someone told them, that Gary said she was a witch (I probably misspelled that) to work for, which we all know might be putting it mildly. THEY DID NOT GET ALONG, it's a known fact. And they both held each other in contempt. So what?

If I felt about Yow as I believe Gary did (and probably still does), if anyone of my fellow coaches would have asked what I thought of her, I would have given them an honest (and disparaging) answer. So I bet Gary did say it to a fellow coach or whoever, and it eventually made it back to Yow at the wrong time. But NOT in regard to the NCST coaching search. Yow just took it that way.

I just can't believe Debbie Yow was so stupid as to bring it up again, especially when she is introducing her new hire. How embarrassing for him. When they meet again, do you think Gottfried will apologize to Gary for his AD's stupidity?

There's a hilariously pathetic side of this story where CBS Sports writer Greg Doyel went on a radio show in NC and called Gary a "tiny pathetic human being" and "tiny coward runt of a man," apparently because Gary wouldn't return his call about this whole NC State coaching search circus.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/gregg-doyel-and-debbie-yow-savage-gary-williams/2011/04/05/AF6gvclC_blog.html

Obviously this guy has huge beef with Gary Williams and is apparently in love with Debbie Yow. I have a hard time believing this reaction is simply a result of Gary not returning his phone call. Why would Gary even call him back if this is how he acts. Nothing good would come of that interview, because this joker would take anything Gary says out of context and spin it negatively to try and make him look bad.

He's a completely unprofessional pathetic hack and I wouldn't give any credibility to anything he says.

Mesotheliangelos, so far you're the only one who's made this a gender issue. Hope you didn't strain anything with that stretch.

Peter, you're trying so hard to be even-handed and play the pox-on-both-sides game that you ignore the fact that Gary hadn't raised Yow's name at all publicly. Yow took a shot at Gary. This isn't a case of both sides needing to get on with their lives. Yow seems to harbor the deeper grudge.

I live in North Carolina. I cannot believe Debbie Yow said what she did. (Hey everyone, look, we settled for this guy.) Coach Gottfried must be so happy. Then there was the letter to Wolfpack Nation the day before updating them on why they don't have a coach yet. And that AD Yow would address all the rumors. Less than 24 hours later, we have a coach. Strike 2 Dr. Yow.

No one had to call Gary Wililams for a reference---they could have read the papers the past five years.

AD Yow was unprofessional and needs to apologize to her new coach and the fanbase. That fanbase has many detractors from her now, perhaps realizing AD Yow's hiring was a mistake. Of course there are fans who love it, perhaps the same fans who yell profane things at gary every year.

Oh, one mroe thing. NCST fans wanted a coach who could compete with Duke and UNC. I think Sid Lowe beat both of those teams over the years at one point or another, but he was 0 for Gary, if memory serves me. Perhaps sportswriters on tobacco row should reference that.

Couple questions.......

1) Since the national championship a decade ago, how many times has Maryland been ranked in the Top 10? How about the Top 20?

2) Where does the Maryland basketball graduation rate rank in the ACC (year after year after year)? Anyone care to guess?

Yes, Gary deserves props for turning around a program after it hit rock bottom. After a while though, after ten years of mediocre (at best) performance on the court, he could at least rise from the bottom of the grad rate.

We'll take one or the other Gary. Failing at both (performance on the court and in the classroom) however, only makes Yow look smart for leaving.

The only person who is a bigger Donkey than Debbie Yow is Mesotheliangelos. Meso used complete speculation to undermine Yow and ignored the fact that Yow did everything she could to undermine Gary's program. After winning a national championship, MD's mens team ranked in the bottom of the ACC in terms of budget, which hindered Gary's ability to recruit against other ACC and top tier schools. Yow is such a fool that when she hired a new coach at NC state, she hinted that she didn't want him and only hired him because no one else would work with her. On day one, she embarrassed her new coach and has already ruined their relationship. Although I guess according to Meso, it is the new coach's fault because he is part of the old boys network and isn't used to be publicly humiliated and degraded by women.

Mesotheliangelos:
I won't trash Debbie Yow other than to say that making these accusations without supporting evidence is a pretty low class move. I would say the same about a man.

As for the rest of your post, it is quite a stretch to take one bad relationship with a woman and extrapolate that to "Gary can't deal with women in authority". Do you have any other facts/anecdotes/stories that support this contention?

All valid points, wayne, but none of that has anything to do with Debbie Yow and the NC State coaching search.

Bringing up her former coach while at the press conference introducing her new hire at a completely different school was childish. Reading her comment just sounded like an argument from a little kid, "I'm not hard to work with, he was hard to work with."

It's crap like this that makes me so happy she's gone from UMD.

Meso and any other Yow Apologists,

Yow was a success at Maryland at building an overall strong program, with titles in women's hoops, lacrosse, field hockey and men's soccer under her watch. Nicely done. The problem was she chafed at the big personalities of the football and basketball coaches. These weren't men who had a problem with a woman as their boss, they were men who had a problem with an AD who didn't recognize where the bread is buttered in the athletic program. An AD who in public forums always made sure to make clear to the media who was the boss.

Was it Yow that turned football and basketball around? No. Ralph dragged the program from the depths Yow placed it, and after MD's first final four appearance, applications to the school went up 25%! Yow had very little to do with the success of those programs, in fact she'd passed over the Fridge once before (for Ron Vanderlinden of all poeple) and Gary was well established before her arrival. She did not support those programs in the way other major D1 AD's do. It is afterall the revenue sports and student athletic fees that make all the other sports possible. Yow refused to realize that a D1 football or basketball coach personifies the Univeristy in a much larger way than any AD can. It was Yow that didn't like to share the attention and credit.

I think I can speak for my fellow MD alumni that while we all took pride in the soccer, field hockey, etc., championships no one really follows it, and with the exception of the women's hoop teams, the only people that go to the games are the players' families and friends. Basketball and football are the most important programs becasue of their ability to raise reveue and generate prestige. They need to be handled differently becasue they are different.

Finally, it was silly and petty of Yow to make her point at Gottfried's introductory presser. Coaches in D1 know and respect Gary Williams, and understand what he has meant to the program and how he has consistently competed in the ACC for years. Does anyone think they hadn't noticed the way Yow treated him? Gary didn't have to go on a smear campaign, Yow's reputation precedes herself. If you as an AD have a problem with one of the most successful men's coaches in the game, how do think a coach with a lesser resume would feel going to work for her? This has less to do with Yow being a woman and more to do with her failing to supprot coaches who raised their programs from irrelevance back to national conversation.

BTW, no one cares what Gregg Doyel thinks or writes, which is why he is trying to gain attention by being incendiary. Calling Gary out, a 66 year old man, as a coward? Easy to do when your half the guys age and an amateur boxer. Real tough guys don't have to use insulting language to be relevant, and they pick on people their own age. Doyel is a punk.

I am not a Gary Williams fan - but Gary is innocent here.
Gary Williams doesn't have to say a word to anyone about Debbie Yow. It is well-known in college athletics circles what she is like.
Gary isn't the only coach at Maryland who had problems with her. He is the only one who was big enough to talk about them.
This has NOTHING to do with her being a woman. It has everything to do with the type of person she is.

Yow showed no class at the press conference--big surprise. Like or dislike Gary W, he didn't have to do anything to discourage potential coaches from the NC State job. Guess what Debbie--it's NOT a PREMIER job, and you make it even less appealing! Good riddance and don't even speak Gary W's name.

@please

Word! Well said, better than the post itself.

Does anyone really think that Gary was on the phone calling coaches up for the nc state job to sabotage yow? I find that highly unlikely. What seems far more likely is that coaches interviewing for the job called gary to ask what its like to coach under yow. Gary then provided his opinion which in all likelihood was negative because he didn't get along with her. Nobody can fault Gary for telling his perception of the truth about working for Yow. Was he expected to lie? For Yow to bring this up at a press conference introducing their new coach is beyond petty and really just bizarre

The only person that should care is Mark Gottfried because he was disrespected by Yow.

Well I do believe it has something to do with Yow vs Gary.....

When a high profile Bball team at a large institution has a coach making huge dollars, yet his team has performed average or below for a decade, while having the lowest grad rate in the ACC.......then the AD either has to make a change, go in continued spin mode or leave.

Yow left.....

@please,

Debie Yow's reputation as a very capable and successful woman speaks for itself. Gary Williams is treated like a cult leader in MD, even when he doesn't produce. He gets a pass year after year. He remains defiant against his critics, even when the criticism is valid. His recruiting ability is horrible. Perhaps his stubborness and unsubordination to his superior is the real issue here. Gary Williams is not the solution for UMD. He is the problem.

If anyone is interested -look at the North Carolina papers and how they perceived Yow's statement . VERY negative towards her .
Gottfried might want to check his buy out clause !

Mesotheliangelos,

I agree IN GENERAL with some of your points about the difficulties women face in trying to succeed in traditionally male-dominated fields, but that doesn't mean that these same problems were at the root of the rocky relationship between Gary Williams and Debbie Yow.

If a male AD were to utter the same comments about an ex-coach that Yow made about Gary Williams, I don't think "his" words would be looked at (much) differently.

Granted, there are some people who gleefully engage in making gratuitous misogynistic remarks whenever a high-profile woman blunders, and that is probably true even in this case, but it doesn't make the point any less valid that Yow put her foot in her mouth.

This is a PR gaffe committed by a veteran AD who should know better. As others have stated, not only does it make it appear that Gottfried was not her ideal choice, but it also looks petty, if not paranoid, to call Williams out by name and not offer any evidence to suggest he did what she accused him of doing. She could have - and should have - answered much more tactfully.

I'd like to see Gary go down to North Carolina and knock her out. She had a few tricks in her bag, but outside of that good riddence.

Yow acted classless, tactless, and clueless to mention her past issues with Gary during a press conference to announce the new coach. I wish Gottfried luck, as he is going to need it.

I also agree MD basketball has been mediocre since their winning the National Championship in 2002, but I don't put that 100% on Gary or his staff. If given the choice of College Park or another town with a college campus, I think most recruits would opt for one that isn't a blue collar dump -and is actually a college town.

I'd like to see Gary go down to North Carolina and knock her out. She had a few tricks in her bag, but outside of that good riddence.

It might be that potential coaches contacted by Yow might contact Gary for an opinion. After all, he worked for her for years. If I'm right, I would expect Gary to be honest--he wouldn't give Yow a passing grade. Maybe Yow would consider that subterfuge, but I don't. It's just Gary expressing an honest opinion when asked. Moreover, I'd be surprised if Gary would waste his time in an effort to undermine Yow's hiring process.

Mesotheliangelos,

Wow. "Gary Williams is treated like a cult leader in MD, even when he doesn't produce. He gets a pass year after year. He remains defiant against his critics."
Gary is a cult leader, who gets a pass year after year, but apparently has critics. Which is it? It is both Hot and Cold. It is Old and New.

You miss the entire point of the blog and the fact that Yow, "a very capable and successful woman" in your words, basically threw up on her new coach, in front of all, to carry on with what has become an elementary school playground argument. "You did it!" "No. You did it!"

Truly, your love of Yow is only surpassed by your hatred of Williams. Oh, and if you're going to attack someone, as you are with Williams, it's insubordination, not unsubordination.

Debbie Yow is exhibit #1 on why a woman should not be an Athletic Director over men's sports programs. Women are too thin-skinned and get too upset when someone disagrees with them and Gary often did this.
This is exactly why she said what she did about Gary running NC State candidates off. Sure, he may have had conversation with coaching candidates about her. Why wouldn't he be asked in an group as closely knit as the coach's fraternity is? She was AD over him and most knew they did not get along.
She's acting like a girl out looking for a cat fight because she doesn't like the fact someone probably snubbed her when she was narrowing the search for a coach, so she puts the blame on Gary.
Get a life Debbie. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. While you're at it , just go back to ruling over women's sports programs , which is where you should be.
As for Doyel, he sounds like a typical "little man" homey reporter, sitting behind his typewriter calling Gary names, because the Terps usually beat the Sh-t out of NC State. In my book, Gary is tops, one of the 10 best coaches out there.

Wait a second. So, the basketball coach is responsible for declining graduation rates, but the Athletic Director isn't? I'm sorry, but Debbie Yow was the AD during this decline and ultimately she is responsible for correcting the problem. Not letting Gary off the hook here, but she's just as culpable. And that's why she left?

So...let me get this straight. Employee is doing a bad job, so the boss...quits?

Yeah. Let's not forget the mishandling of the football program, capped by the loss of several scholarships. That doesn't get laid at the feet of the new guy -- that's all from things that happened on Yow's watch.

And now she's sniping at Gary Williams? She called him out, not the other way around.

Wow Yow

Without being privy to or even interested in any of their semi private feuds over the years, the bizarre timing of this proclamation by Yow serves only to cast doubt on her credibility and competence.

I thought Gary did a horrible job this year by being too loyal to his seniors, but i can't wait for next year. Go Terps.

I'm sure that Gary would be happy to never utter this woman's name again. She chose to raise the matter publicly, in a very inappropriate forum. I think she's the one who needs to see a psychiatrist.

you and debbie yow need to go back to the kitchen, it is incredibly annoying how women and minorities try to make everything a gender or race issue. quit complaining about how you think you're treated unfair, believe it or not men and women are not created equal. that's why we don't have the same genitalia. you wanted to make this a gender issue, and you got it from me. congratulations.

wow this is like politics in DC. Peter trying to straddle the fence, Meso flip flopping like crazy trying to find a story that sticks in his desperate attempt to tar Gary, and the masses lining up behind already preconceived opinion . . . and it isnt even an election year!

Gary absolutely bullied Yow. He was out of line in taking a dig while she was out of town at her sisters funeral and then when some poor schnook tried to stick up for Yow, Gary leveled her. Yow did a phenomenal job in getting the school's finances in order, Gary is pissed that when he was down and scrambling to find a lifeline, she shot down his attempts to get in players that didnt belong st the U of Md. Gilchrist who demanded a job for his handler, Evans whose record of criminal behavior and incarceration was fudged in an attempt to get him into school . . . all of this was fueled by criticism of Gary over the program having become an afterthought in the league and nationally after the Natty. All of that aside, This popping off out of the blue was bizarre. It is a no win situation for Yow and just plain unnecessary. But it merely shows this was a battle of titans who both have big egos and combative natures.

Gary Williams must love this. He slam dunksYow without having to say a word. Yow can't stand the fact that Gary was bigger than Yow at Maryland and she wanted him gone but couldn't pull it off. Fact is,Gary has run a clean program and never prostituted himself to the AAU coaches. No NCAA infractions and a clean program. That is winning above all other measures. He is beyond controversy as one of the best coaches ever.

Lucky Horseshoe writes "Yow did a phenomenal job in getting the school's finances in order." Yeah, care to guess where the money came for that phenomenal job? I don't think it was from all the fans who paid to see women's field hockey.

Yow's biggest flaw was failing to acknowledge that if it wasn't for Gary Williams (and Ralph), she'd have lost her job after three years. She did nothing more than ride Gary's coattails, and then spit in his face while she was doing it. Good riddance!

Again, I'm no Yow fan.....

But.....

Either Gary has to coach a respectable team or stop being dead last every year in the acc grad rates.

One or the other Gary....

Coach a Top 20 team once in a while (notice I didn't say Top 10).....but just a consistently good team, and most will forgive the unbelievably bad grad rate.

Or

Continue to field mediocre (or less) teams like you have for the last decade, and graduate your players.

One or the other Gary.

By the way everyone..... who thinks the Terps will be improved next season?

Next question: Could they be any worse?

Mesotheliangelos,

I'm not here to defend Gary or to trash Yow. However, you made an extremely harsh and inappropriate accusation about Gary without a shred of evidence. I'm not referring to the accusation that he undermined the coaching search, but the one that Gary is a "good ole boy who doesn't like to be told what to do from women in power." You support your argument not with evidence about Gary, but with evidence that women have been mistreated in the past and are still not on a level playing field. To me that is akin to saying that a women who accuses a man of rape is telling the truth because women have been raped in the past and are still raped today. You cannot make damaging accusations about someone when you have nothing more than Debbie's word. Oh, and you offer as proof that "men" have no respect for women the "parade of posters who will trash Debbie Yow." Is it possible that Debbie Yow was very good at supporting small sports programs at UMD, but was very difficult to get along with? I don't know her, so I cannot say definitively that she was, but I am simply asking you if it is possible. Do you know personally how she treats men? I don't, but I would bet that you don't either. Defending women or any other marginalized group is noble. Defending an individual from a marginalized group based on his/her membership in that group without considering his/her individual attributes is just as ignorant as being critical of that person based on that same group membership. Either way it is sexism (or whatever -ism depending upon the case) because you are making assumptions about an individual not based on evidence but on what you believe to be generally true of that group. If you have an intelligent response to this which is based on proof, I'd love to hear it. If not, you are no better than the @$$ who thought it would be funny to use your moniker and post that women belong in the kitchen. I look forward to an intelligent response or an admission that you have no supporting evidence.

Wayne,

What do your arguments have to do with Gary being accused by Yow of sabotage?

If you were a current or former coach at a D-I school and Yow wanted to interview you for the job, who would you call to find out about your new potential boss? Fridge? No, he is football and he didn't get along with her either. You would call Gary. Gary would speak about his own relationship with her and the percieved frictions. It is nationally well known what went down with Gary and Yow a few years ago, before they made a run at the tourney. The interviewees are big boys, they can make up their own minds on whether it is a good job or not. Yow is a big girl, if she can't sell herself and the NC State program, shame on her, maybe it is time to move out of the athletics arena. What a dimwit to act "disappointed" in settling for her new coach at his press conference. that tells you something right there about her sour disposition as a person. And don't get me started on Greg Doyle, what a moron.

"Debie Yow's reputation as a very capable and successful woman speaks for itself...Gary Williams is ...the problem."

Really? Sorry, Mesotheliangelos but the FACTS say otherwise. Don't believe me? Why don't you try tracking down a copy of the press conference that Yow gave when she fired Mark Duffner. Instead of taking the high road and thanking him for his years at Maryland, she trashed him. It was ugly and mean spirited. But then, I guess you think that was Gary William's fault too.

This is just one minor example of her character. She is a nasty piece of work. It isn't just that her tenure at Maryland was marred by major conflicts with several coaches (not just Gary Williams). It's that she was willing to deliberately damage programs in order to force coaching changes. For example, she paid Gary William's assistants the lowest salaries of any basketball program in the ACC. She got rid of the academic advisor for the football team. She used selective leaks to the news media to try to undermine her coaches (read Don Markus's write-up about this in the "Toy Story" Dept). I could go on and on. Now, maybe you can rationalize this behavior, but in my book, it is unethical. I don't deny that Debbie Yow has ability, but those attibutes are cancelled out by her pettiness and vindictiveness. As a Maryland alumnus, I say good riddance.

Born and raised in Meeeerland. I love the twerps, but my degree from NC State and my love for the Pack makes me agree with Yow even if she does sound paranoid and irrational.
Go Pack (Terps for 2nd place - anyone but Duke or Carolina after that).

Wayne,

The Terps won the ACC regular season last year, and were ranked in the top 20 at the start of the NCAA tournament. And while bowing out in the 2nd round was a disappointment, they lost to a final four team.

Yes, they had a bad year this year. And yes, there are questions about Gary's willingness to recruit top athletes. And sure, Gary's grad rates aren't very good. All of those are true. But the program has had recent success.

Yes Matt,

Gary had a fine year in 2010. Nothing special, but better than most the past decade.

But you picked one year. How about summarizing the last 10? It's been brutal.....and no spin can help.

Top 20 is now a surprise for MD. They are no longer rivals to schools like Duke, or anyone else for that matter. It's a terrible situation.

And the grad rates 'aren't that good' you say? Matt, every year, they are dead last in the acc. Please look it up.

Spin no longer helps Gary's cause.....

Since Wayne has hijacked this thread and turned it into a referendum on GW as coach, let me ask this: Would you rather have someone who wins but runs a program consistently dogged by rumors of improprieties, or would you rather have a program that is impeccably clean because the coach refuses to play the "treat the AAU coaches like gods" game? As a former MD student who was there during the Len Bias tragedy and the Bob Wade fiasco that followed, I am proud to know that the team I root for will *NEVER* be in trouble for doing anything improper. GW would never do the things that Bruce Pearl or Kelvin Sampson did (or Jim Tressel, for that matter). GW would never recruit a player and have his AAU coach or his dad mysteriously show up as an assistant coach for the team the next season (yes, Jim Calhoun, I'm talking about you).

In regards to the original post, NC State students, alums, and fans have got to be apoplectic watching their AD trash their brand new coach at his introductory press conference. Her professionalism is a spectactular failure. Go read the quotes from the presser.

"I don't have a reputation across all men's basketball of being difficult to work with," she said Tuesday. "I have a reputation of not getting along with Gary Williams, who has tried to sabotage the search. Come on, we all know that. OK, so whatever."

Yes, a woman with a Ph.D. said "OK, so whatever" at a press conference. If the university president doesn't call her into his office and threaten her with firing, then he's doing as much of a disservice to NCSU that Yow did. Good luck, Wolfpack fans.

Incredible comment from Mesothelioma, what a know nothing wuss freak thou art. I always found it hard to believe that Gary has not gotten the support that he deserves especially from Debbie Yow when she was AD. The program was built on GW's back and sweat that other school's fans like to make fun of. Yow made her share of mistakes, over emphasizing non revenue sports, competitive cheer, but none worse than the Coach in Waiting deal she made with Franklin. A lot of the unpleasantness that has happened recently is a direct result of her work and the current AD has had to pay the price. Gary or Ralph or Mark Duffner didn't have to say anything about Yow, it was all part of her record. I hoped that she had learned her lessons but from that press conference it is plain to see that she has not. I hope that her new men's BB coach has a nice 2-3 years in the league.

I think meso is on to something but has the motivations slightly askew.

Yow's actions make no sense by themselves. The only way this makes sense is that Yow is not settling into her new job well and is already feeling on the defensive. Any idiot can read between the lines that the boosters wanted Shaka and are upset about that. Is there something more? Are the boosters already grumbling about a female AD? Has she already made some unpopular moves? Run into friction with the football or other coaches?

Who knows, but this reads like someone, who is usually a pretty good manager, who feels threatened about her job, reacting very defensively and lashing out. If she were thinking rationally she would never upstage her own hire, which this has now become. Now ironically, in trying to defend the quality of her work, she may have made a bigger mistake.

So here's my question - how can mesotheliangelos not follow college basketball, yet know what type of person Gary Williams is? Does that make any sense? Which is why his post is worthy of a good snicker - but hardly any credibility.

Personally, I am sick of people trashing Gary Williams, saying he needs to go, then offering ZERO options as a good replacement? If you are going to call for his job - then at least offer a name or two you feel is worthy enough to be a suitable replacement.

Most of you people know little about Maryland basketball, and even less about what makes up a good coach.

As a Terrapin Club member and a season ticket holder - I put my money wear my mouth is. And I support Gary 100%.

Most of you must not remember Bob Wade........

@Frank from Parkville,

I couldn't tell you who's on the MD roster to save my life. That's how I don't follow college basketball. But I do read the news and follow what the experts are saying.

Capish?!

@Chris,

You took me to task, so here we go:

I've worked for women in past jobs and 2 out of 3 I thought were completely full of themselves, abrassive, pushy and authoritarian. That's how I felt for years. I never thought it was my fault. But looking back, I think they were that way because of the resistance they faced because they were women. I feel now that they didn't get the respect they deserved, even from me. So they have to be pushy and abbrasive to get through to people. It's kind of like a defense mechanism, like the ones that cops develop. Cops deal with a-holes all the time, so they tend to treat most everybody like a-holes. I don't think the cops or women are at fault here, in both examples.

So a lot of her strong willed personality is that way because she had to deal with man's men like Ralf and Gary. It's no secret that Gary drove her out of UMD. No I don't know exactly what went on behind closed doors and whether Gary hates women in power or what have you. But a lot of his behavior suggest (speculation ... I know) that his hatred for her has something to do with her being a woman. He sure hasn't given her the respect a women should be given. That's how I arrive at that conclusion. Whether you like someone or not, you need to be cordial about them, in my opinion. Sure she made a mistake, but I have to question what drove her to steam like that in public. People need to stop acting like Gary is some kind of saint. He may be a great basketball coach, but he could be a real effing jerk in real life. People idiolize sports figures so much to the point of thinking they can do no wrong. They're flawed people like all of us.

Mesotheliangelos,

Again, I was clear that my intention was not to defend Gary or trash Debbie. I asked for evidence of a serious accusation that you made. You have still provided nothing more than speculation and conjecture, yet you stand by the idea that Gary has a personality problem despite your lack of evidence. Let me be clear, he may be an a-hole, but accusing him of being the problem when you haven't a clue is as ridiculous as anyone saying that Yow is the problem when they haven't a clue.

Not all women have responded to what you suggest is harsh treatment from men in the way that your bosses did. Not all women have been subject to that. Yet you assume Yow has, when you have no clue (nor do I, so this is not about bashing you either).

You failed to answer my questions above, so I will ask a similar one. Is it possible (whether you believe it is probable or not) that Williams welcomed Yow with open arms when she came in, and that she soured the relationship? I asked if it is POSSIBLE. Yow actually hired Friedgen. So is it possible that he was her biggest fan and that she soured that relationship too? Again, is it POSSIBLE? Now let me ask you a tougher question. If you were Mark Gottfried and you were happier than a pig in $h1t to be hired as the head coach of an ACC basketball program, then your AD used YOUR moment in the spotlight to make accusations (whether merited or not) about another coach undermining her search for a coach while unwittingly implying that you were less than what she wanted, how would your relationship be with her from the start? Again, I am not saying that Yow is the problem, but I am saying you cannot rule her out as the problem.

You have appointed yourself judge and jury and determined that Gary (and apparently Ralph too) are good ole boys who did everything they could to disrespect Debbie and run her out of town, yet you provide no evidence. Your past bosses are not evidence for this case. Nor is history.

I had a girlfriend in high school who I found out was screwing another guy while we were dating. Should I assume all blonds are tramps? All white women? All women? Maybe that's why Gary is "a good ole boy who doesn't like to be told what to do from women in power"...he, too, was cheated on by a woman, only his was a woman of power. Maybe that's his "defense mechanism." Does that make it okay?

Mesotheliangelos,

Again, I was clear that my intention was not to defend Gary or trash Debbie. I asked for evidence of a serious accusation that you made. You have still provided nothing more than speculation and conjecture, yet you stand by the idea that Gary has a personality problem despite your lack of evidence. Let me be clear, he may be an a-hole, but accusing him of being the problem when you haven't a clue is as ridiculous as anyone saying that Yow is the problem when they haven't a clue.

Not all women have responded to what you suggest is harsh treatment from men in the way that your bosses did. Not all women have been subject to that. Yet you assume Yow has, when you have no clue (nor do I, so this is not about bashing you either).

You failed to answer my questions above, so I will ask a similar one. Is it possible (whether you believe it is probable or not) that Williams welcomed Yow with open arms when she came in, and that she soured the relationship? I asked if it is POSSIBLE. Yow actually hired Friedgen. So is it possible that he was her biggest fan and that she soured that relationship too? Again, is it POSSIBLE? Now let me ask you a tougher question. If you were Mark Gottfried and you were happier than a pig in $h1t to be hired as the head coach of an ACC basketball program, then your AD used YOUR moment in the spotlight to make accusations (whether merited or not) about another coach undermining her search for a coach while unwittingly implying that you were less than what she wanted, how would your relationship be with her from the start? Again, I am not saying that Yow is the problem, but I am saying you cannot rule her out as the problem.

You have appointed yourself judge and jury and determined that Gary (and apparently Ralph too) are good ole boys who did everything they could to disrespect Debbie and run her out of town, yet you provide no evidence. Your past bosses are not evidence for this case. Nor is history.

I had a girlfriend in high school who I found out was screwing another guy while we were dating. Should I assume all blonds are tramps? All white women? All women? Maybe that's why Gary is "a good ole boy who doesn't like to be told what to do from women in power"...he, too, was cheated on by a woman, only his was a woman of power. Maybe that's his "defense mechanism." Does that make it okay?

Oops...sorry for the double-post

They are BOTH crazy. They are both good at their jobs. They both saved UMD sports. I like UMD having more acc and national championships than all the other ACC schools (38 and 201). I like it that violent crime in Charlottesville is 6 times the rate or college park Md (look it up). I like that UMD attracts all of those beautiful and talented female athletes (comp cheer....HOT). I like that UMD grads invented Google,Seinfeld, The Muppets, The hybrid engine, the Universal Bar code, The Wire, Linear programming, Pulse dopplar radar, The Octane system, The large screen stadium
TV, the boondocks, launched sirius satellite, mini insulin pumps, artificial pancreas, broke Watergate etc.....Look up the other ACC schools...their grads have produced JACK SQUAT. I love when we crush Uva in soccer. I love when we destroy Unc in girls lax, I love when we humiliate Duke in Field hockey. I love when we physically abuse Vtech in Wrestling. Debbie did that and I appreciate that. When Gary wom the natty a huge weight left my shoulders having followed Umd in bball since 1970.
I like them both. Hope Gary has one more run in him.

Mesotheliangelos,

I would have to disagree with your basis on just about every front. First I'll give you some perspective, I've been a donor, a vounteer, and a supporter of the University of Maryland for over 30 years.

The institution like most academic institutions is very liberal and is the State University System. There are more than adequate opportunities for women throughout College Park and the System.

Ms. Yow acted in a manner while serving as AD at the school that would result in most if not all men being shown the exit door with little if any ceremony. She could turn on the tears in front of boosters and then stab a subordinate in the back seconds later. The financial misdealings of her "administration" are just coming to light and will impact the department for decades.

Her successor has voiced concern for the student ahtletes more in his first 6 months than she did in 15 years.

Many of your points about opportunities afforded to women are on point and accurate. The problem is you have picked the worst example possible to use as evidence in your case.

Mesotheliangelos --

A couple of more thoughts here -- leaking to the press (See Don Markus' article in the Sun this week), undercutting employees -- especially those whose organizations financially float your boat, and generaly managing like a tryant (firing someone with a post-it note) are not signs of a strong and competent manager -- they are signs of a control freak.

Yes there are compensation issues in the work place (not with Yow her self strucutured contract that a weak President signed) paid he handsomly for making decisions to the detriment of the school. There will truly be no gender equity until tyrancial executives -- both male and female are show the door with the same degree of regularity.

Mesotheliangelos -- wow perhpas I should have read all the comments before my initial response...

here is your initial qoute..."I'm going to take sides, and I take her side. I don't follow college basketball, so I don't have an agenda."

and then a few posts later..."Debie Yow's reputation as a very capable and successful woman speaks for itself. Gary Williams is treated like a cult leader in MD, even when he doesn't produce. He gets a pass year after year. He remains defiant against his critics, even when the criticism is valid. His recruiting ability is horrible. Perhaps his stubborness and unsubordination to his superior is the real issue here. Gary Williams is not the solution for UMD. He is the problem."

Well there you go -- you sir (or mam) are a fraud...

Could care less about yow and williams all i care about is md bball team not getting to the big dance just about every year now.Gary your time is up

Gary didnt need to sabotage Yow; she sabotaged herself.

Even the idea that he would go out of his way...is laughable.

I'm a pretty soft Terp fan, but I have to say that GW must be a heck of a coach to produce a NCAA title in 2002 with the talent he had, even with Dixon. Granted he may not be the best recruiter or manager of his kids' classroom work. But as said by others, where is the budget and where was Yow? The buck stops with the AD. Good luck to Gottfried indeed.