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YIKES!! (And I don't mean Son.ny) - Printable Version

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YIKES!! (And I don't mean Son.ny) - Redrum - 07-13-2013

Nothing like a reminder of the bad old days to take your mind off the doldrums of Summer.  Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Wlat Harris.

http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/06/06/rags-to-roses-excerpt-on-quick-kicks-and-bear-crawls/

And, keep the antidote handy.  Here it is:

http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/07/11/rags-to-roses-excerpt-lucks-easy-decision/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rags-to-roses-excerpt-lucks-easy-decision&utm_source=The+Stanford+Daily+e-mail+digest&utm_campaign=c8796b5743-The+Stanford+Daily+e-mail+digest&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c6bb9454a7-c8796b5743-102020213

Several links to other excerpts at bottom.  Take as much of the antidote as you want.



Re: YIKES!! (And I don't mean Son.ny) - Bruce Wang - 07-13-2013

If I ever wanted to know what it felt like to be the worst person at your profession in the history of the profession, I would ask Wlat Hairless. Then again he's a remorseless sociopath making the California State Penitentiary League the only place he's qualified to coach football. I would love to see how those Baer Crawls would go over at San Quentin.

Re: YIKES!! (And I don't mean Son.ny) - GoodGrief - 07-13-2013

wow, that article makes me livid. What a ***** asshole. Good freaking lord I hate Walt Harris. Buddy Teevens was ineffective, but he was just a nice guy over his head. I want to run into Walt Harris as hard as I can sprint.

Re: YIKES!! (And I don't mean Son.ny) - Hank 91 - 07-13-2013

Oh. My. God. My main reaction after reading that is to feel so sorry for those players. I can't imagine what that would be like. Does anyone remember watching the Farm Report from back during that era? Each week during football season there would be a five-minute interview with H arris talking about the previous week's game and previewing the upcoming week. I'm sure the idea of the segment was to promote Stanford football, but no recruit with a pulse -- or another decent option -- would ever have been swayed to come to Palo Alto even for a visit. He wasn't just bland, he was negative. In a season preview episode, he was asked about season goals. Now, every football coach in America would oversell, right? "We're looking to contend... We're looking towards playing in a bowl game..." Stuff like that. H arris? He actually said that playing in a bowl game wasn't yet a realistic goal. God, I hated him. He almost pushed Stanford football down to Division II. And now look at us. I truly hope he watches every game, then does 100 yards of bear crawls for every touchdown. God, what an ass.

Re: YIKES!! (And I don't mean Son.ny) - yvonne - 07-14-2013

Yeah, I remember writing to Etch about Harris. Teevens was simply in over his head, and there's no sin in that. Wlat, on the other hand, was reprehensible. The thing is, we sort of knew that when folks from Pitt were coming over here celebrating and hoping that he'd come here. It's not normal to celebrate a winning coach's moving to another college.

Re: YIKES!! (And I don't mean Son.ny) - Nan3cy - 07-14-2013

What I've never been able to get my head around is, how in the world DID Wlat manage to win at Pitt? He can't have had a markedly different personality in 2004 than what he had in 2006 -- can he?? :(

Think about it. - Redrum - 07-14-2013

What is the difference between Stanford players and Pitt players?  Not commenting on any particular individuals, but as a group, back then,  Pitt's standards were in the Miami tier and they lots got Miami-tier players.  Harris' method of discipline worked for a while in that setting, with those kids.  There was a reason why Harris had to announce a policy of no guns in Pitt's locker room.  Harris' mistake was bringing that worldview of players to Stanford, where, on his first day, he made sure that Stanford players understood no guns in the locker room was his policy.

But even back then lots of fans were onto Wlat' as a bit of a headcase.  Oddly enough, it was only when he tried to get the Ohio State job (and failed) that they turned on him en masse.  The well was poisoned, particularly between the athletic director and Wlat.  Pitt declined to renew his contract in advance of his final season and there was a gigantic sigh of relief when Stanford hired him. 

So we got a coach with wounded pride, a stubborn streak,  a view of team and player discipline straight out of the urban Big East, and poor people skills...running headlong into a completely different player and student culture.  What could go wrong?

And, he'd just gotten a messy, public divorce in Pittsburgh.  My personal theory is: he was psychologically spiraling down before he ever hit Palo Alto.  It just got worse on The Farm.

Re: YIKES!! (And I don't mean Son.ny) - Leftcoast - 07-14-2013

It's also easy to believe that the new coach was told the team lacked "discipline" after the Teevens years.  Gasoline splashed onto a burning fuse with Harris. 

My God, another couple of years and Stanford football could have been dug into a pit so deep even the Harbaugh hire might not have dug us out.