A different take on the Eddie situation

[knight82]

There's been so much debate between the Eddie should stay and the Eddie must go crowds. I have to admit I'm stuck in the middle. Obviously the team's performance and his performance as a coach has given most people the conclusion that he has to go. But there also seems to be another factor in this. Most of the people who adamantly feel he should go were not around for the glory days of Rutgers basketball, of which Eddie was a huge part. When Eddie played, every RU hoops game was an event. Tickets were nearly impossible to come by. The excitement surrounding the program was off the charts. Then shortly after Eddie left, Fred Gruninger destroyed the program by turning down the Big East invitation. But there are a lot of us who can't find it in our hearts to completely banish Eddie because we experienced what it was like to be a proud fan of this program and again Eddie had a lot to do with that. How do you turn your back on one of the greatest players in program history?

 

[Plum Street]

I was around for the glory days . I am still split on whether Eddie should be canned this year , but he will be judged by his coaching not what he did 40 years ago .
So how does Rutgers turn its back on Eddie ? He's got a contract so there are over a million $$ ways you turn your back on him . Easy

 

[ScarletRunner]

There's been so much debate between the Eddie should stay and the Eddie must go crowds. I have to admit I'm stuck in the middle. Obviously the team's performance and his performance as a coach has given most people the conclusion that he has to go. But there also seems to be another factor in this. Most of the people who adamantly feel he should go were not around for the glory days of Rutgers basketball, of which Eddie was a huge part. When Eddie played, every RU hoops game was an event. Tickets were nearly impossible to come by. The excitement surrounding the program was off the charts. Then shortly after Eddie left, Fred Gruninger destroyed the program by turning down the Big East invitation. But there are a lot of us who can't find it in our hearts to completely banish Eddie because we experienced what it was like to be a proud fan of this program and again Eddie had a lot to do with that. How do you turn your back on one of the greatest players in program history?

Eddie's pedigree earns him some leniency, no doubt, and will likely be enough - combined with the injuries and current RU finances- to get him at least another year.

To be fair, I don't think the split on this board is between "Eddie must stay" vs. "Eddie must go" crowds. While I'm very down on Eddie, I think keeping him around another year is OK to get us one year closer to B1G $ and (god-willing) facilities, and considering there is only one schollie to give in 2017. Similarly, I get the sense some among the ardent Eddie supporters see the realistic best-case outcome being Eddie fulfilling his contract, getting the team to ~.500, and handing a decent roster over to someone - likely younger - willing and able to attempt the herculean task of building the program/brand from the ground up.

 

[ruman]

There's been so much debate between the Eddie should stay and the Eddie must go crowds. I have to admit I'm stuck in the middle. Obviously the team's performance and his performance as a coach has given most people the conclusion that he has to go. But there also seems to be another factor in this. Most of the people who adamantly feel he should go were not around for the glory days of Rutgers basketball, of which Eddie was a huge part. When Eddie played, every RU hoops game was an event. Tickets were nearly impossible to come by. The excitement surrounding the program was off the charts. Then shortly after Eddie left, Fred Gruninger destroyed the program by turning down the Big East invitation. But there are a lot of us who can't find it in our hearts to completely banish Eddie because we experienced what it was like to be a proud fan of this program and again Eddie had a lot to do with that. How do you turn your back on one of the greatest players in program history?

Easy