Utes Ready to Start Engines Against Zags
Only a few hours remain until the Utes take on former coach Ray Giacoletti and the Gonzaga Bulldogs at an arena named after two of their biggest supporters, so it might be worthwhile -- or at least, entertaining -- to take one last look at the unusual scenario.
While we published our interview with Giacoletti in the newspaper on Sunday, popular columnist John Blanchette of the Spokesman-Review offered his take on the reunion today.
His most dead-on assessment?
"There is little point in revisiting the circumstances of his firing," he wrote, "except perhaps the comical insistence of athletic director Chris Hill announcing it as a resignation, as if it had been Giacoletti's idea all along."
That was ridiculous, indeed, and always made me wonder what Hill was trying to accomplish by attempting to perpetrate such a silly and transparent fraud. It's not as if he didn't have defensible reasons and widespread public support for the move, after all.
At any rate, the game tonight figures to be fascinating not only from the Giacoletti perspective -- how pleasant will the greetings really be? -- but also to see whether the Utes can manage a second straight road upset despite playing sluggishly against a much lesser Idaho State team back in the Huntsman Center a few days ago.
That's especially important because this is the last game for the Utes before they enter Mountain West Conference play next weekend against Air Force. A victory against a quality opponent in a virtually impenetrable arena -- the Zags are 34th in the RPI, and 44-2 at "The Kennel" -- would give them a serious confidence boost at a time when, despite their strong record, they're still only in the middle of the league pack.
The Utes are 10-point underdogs, however.
Oh, and one other thing. The Utes are now the only team in the league that has not a player selected as a league player of the week, now that UNLV's Wink Adams shared the honor for last week. Maybe a win over the Zags would help change that.
While we published our interview with Giacoletti in the newspaper on Sunday, popular columnist John Blanchette of the Spokesman-Review offered his take on the reunion today.
His most dead-on assessment?
"There is little point in revisiting the circumstances of his firing," he wrote, "except perhaps the comical insistence of athletic director Chris Hill announcing it as a resignation, as if it had been Giacoletti's idea all along."
That was ridiculous, indeed, and always made me wonder what Hill was trying to accomplish by attempting to perpetrate such a silly and transparent fraud. It's not as if he didn't have defensible reasons and widespread public support for the move, after all.
At any rate, the game tonight figures to be fascinating not only from the Giacoletti perspective -- how pleasant will the greetings really be? -- but also to see whether the Utes can manage a second straight road upset despite playing sluggishly against a much lesser Idaho State team back in the Huntsman Center a few days ago.
That's especially important because this is the last game for the Utes before they enter Mountain West Conference play next weekend against Air Force. A victory against a quality opponent in a virtually impenetrable arena -- the Zags are 34th in the RPI, and 44-2 at "The Kennel" -- would give them a serious confidence boost at a time when, despite their strong record, they're still only in the middle of the league pack.
The Utes are 10-point underdogs, however.
Oh, and one other thing. The Utes are now the only team in the league that has not a player selected as a league player of the week, now that UNLV's Wink Adams shared the honor for last week. Maybe a win over the Zags would help change that.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 2:12 PM |
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