Huggins being Huggins

Ok, it's entirely possible that Bob Huggins' explanation for why he showed up in public with two black eyes is legitimate, but do I buy it for a second?? Not a chance. Here's his explanation from this article about it.

The West Virginia University coach kept his sense of humor as he sported two black eyes and a welt at the conclusion of his annual fantasy basketball camp Sunday night. He says he stepped into the edge of his bathroom door late one night.

Judging by all the stories I've heard about the Huggy Bear through the years, I'm going to guess there was a little more to it than that. Perhaps he forgot to mention that bottle of Jack Daniels that he had polished off earlier in the evening.

You get what you get when you hire Bob Huggins. This is the second time he's "fell" and shown up with a black eye since he's been hired by WVU. It's not some secret that Huggins has a pretty significant drinking problem and has had one for a long time (I know, I know, those in glass houses..........). I heard a story about him getting carried out of a bar by Jay Wright at the Final Four last year, and didn't doubt it for a second. He's got the bug real bad. The guy will coach his face off and probably make your teams tougher and stronger and more athletic, but just know that he'll probably also show up at sports banquets with two black eyes after "falling" the night before.

The good thing for Huggins is that he's sort of protected in Morgantown with a press that probably doesn't get on his case a whole lot. Just look at the article. It basically glosses over the explanation and leaves it as is. If this had happened while he was at the University of Cincinnati, that picture would have started a riot. There would be a solid month of wall-to-wall coverage on radio, tv, internet, and newspapers with that picture as the lead story, and everyone in town would have their own theory on the picture and use it to justify their agenda on Huggins (whether positive or negative).

In many ways, I actually miss that from the Huggins era. Love him or hate him, Huggins was one of the most divisive sports figures in the history of Cincinnati sports, and only Huggins would have people talking about UC basketball in the middle of June. Now, no one even cares DURING THE SEASON. The decline of UC basketball since he left has really been a huge blow to the Cincy sports scene. There's only so many times you can hear about Chad Johnson and whether or not Homer Bailey should be on the big league roster.