[Roberton3]

I have come around on Auriemma.  At first, I couldn't stand him.  Yes, he is arrogant and can be an @ss.  But this prick has coached UConn to play basketball at another level in the womens' game. 

So what?  Even if you're an incredibly talented, hardworking, successful @ss, you're still an @ss.  I hate people like that.  And their success doesn't make me hate them any less (or any more).

I've heard the argument that a personality like that is necessary to be that successful, but it's just not true.  As an athlete, I competed against (and lost to) a number of people who are Olympic medalists.  Some were nice people, and some weren't.  In my career, I've known a substantial number of Nobel Prize winners.  Again, they run the range from arrogant SOBs to the nicest people you'd ever meet, and everywhere in between.  (To pick a Stanford example, Ken Arrow is both utterly brilliant -- someone who stands out as extraordinarily successful even among Economics Nobel winners -- and one of the nicest people around.)

[Roberton3]

I have come around on Auriemma.  At first, I couldn't stand him.  Yes, he is arrogant and can be an @ss.  But this prick has coached UConn to play basketball at another level in the womens' game. 

So what?  Even if you're an incredibly talented, hardworking, successful @ss, you're still an @ss.  I hate people like that.  And their success doesn't make me hate them any less (or any more).

I've heard the argument that a personality like that is necessary to be that successful, but it's just not true.  As an athlete, I competed against (and lost to) a number of people who are Olympic medalists.  Some were nice people, and some weren't.  In my career, I've known a substantial number of Nobel Prize winners.  Again, they run the range from arrogant SOBs to the nicest people you'd ever meet, and everywhere in between.  (To pick a Stanford example, Ken Arrow is both utterly brilliant -- someone who stands out as extraordinarily successful even among Economics Nobel winners -- and one of the nicest people around.)