Ole Roy Needs To Have His Mouth Washed Out With Soap

UNC head coach Roy Williams is starting to garner a reputation of being really prickly when his strategy and tactics are questioned in the slightest way, and also using language one would not use in polite company to express his displeasure despite being broadcast live.

Last night, following the UNC victory over UNC, Ole Roy was at it again, once again showing his prickly nature by tossing out an F-Bomb in front of TV cameras and a roomful of reporters.  When asked about UNC struggles with full-court pressure, Roy let off some steam:

Williams’ response was as follows: “If I knew the answer to that,” Williams said, “do you still think we’d be (insert F-Bomb here) stinking?”

Everyone in the room broke out in laughter, and Williams followed up his verbal lapse by saying, “Everybody strike that f-word, I meant to say ‘frickin.’ Seriously, if you think I could figure it out, don’t you think I would do it?”

The interview was broadcast live on the NC State radio network. After Williams’ indiscretion, Wolfpack play-by-play man Gary Hahn and color man Tony Haynes were clearly stunned and apologized to the listening audience — and producers undoubtedly were wishing that they had a seven-second delay on their feed in order to afford them time to bleep out Williams.

Later, local station WRAL-TV showed Williams’ indiscretion during its coverage of last night’s NC State – UNC game, and sports anchor Jeff Gravely chastised Williams by saying, “Coach, you can’t strike live interviews.”

That’s not the only time Williams has burst forth into profanities when asked questions.  There’s the infamous Bonnie Bernstein interview on CBS in front of a national audience, and then there’s his radio show — which is unintentional comedy gold for those who listen in every week.  As 850 The Buzz’s Joe Ovies puts it, “Roy Williams Live” should be renamed “Roy Williams Detests Your Mere Existence”. That’s how Williams comes across when fans offer him suggestions — something that’s a standard if not tedious staple of a typical call-in show.  Almost every coach brushes off those suggestions with a quick joke or a kind comment, but not Williams.  When confronted with the usual questions about why he is playing this player and not playing the other, or whether he has considered playing a zone defense, his answers are dismissive and derisive.

Ole Roy Hates You

Some may call that refreshing honesty, but others might label it a lack of self-control by a man long-accustomed to being in the public eye.  Williams knows better, and he certainly knows how to handle himself with fans in his weekly call-in show, something that hands him hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.  For that kind of money, most folks would manage to suffer fools gladly, but not Williams.

It should be noted that Duke head coach Mike Krzysewski has long been derided in ACC country for having a foul mouth courtside, but for his part, in post-game interviews, Coach K is calm, collected and to this writer’s knowledge has never burst forth with any of  the language the late George Carlin referred to as the “Seven Words You Cannot Say On TV.” (warning, NSFW.)  Williams seems to spout them with regularity.