Jerry Tarkanian

[Merkin]

[ASUHATER!]

Wow Tark and Dean Smith in a couple days.

[Olsondogg]

Not a Tark fan in the slightest, but never wanna see someone die.

[catgrad97]

Me neither, but hope Tark had a lot of quiet time in his final days, because he had a lot to account for. RIP.

[Bear Down Vegas]

I posted this on Facebook so I just copy/pasted. Most of you know that living here (marrying a native, etc) - I have had to adjust my thoughts/opinions on UNLV in the last few years...but anyway - here it is:



"I think I had been dating CJ for a year or so when Bobbi Olson (Lute's wife) passed away. I was watching Sportscenter in the morning & eating cereal & I actually shed tears. I think that's when my future wife figured out how important a silly little college basketball team was to me. I only bring it up because Lute (& Bobbi) Olson are to Tucson what Jerry Tarkanian is to Las Vegas.

Tark & Lute have an incredible back-story actually. Much more than most people know, going all the way back to Long Beach City College. Most people know about the feud & Tark coining the name, "Midnight Lute". Not many people know that at one time, they were best friends. I've read both of their books...there's a lot of gold in there about their history.

I have nothing but respect for Jerry Tarkanian even though I've spent most of my life (especially my younger years) rooting against his teams. He built what very well may be the greatest college basketball team of all time, and in doing so - a city & culture who have put CBB #1. RIP Tark."




So in saying all of that, & being real - I hated some of the things he did & said. However it's evident to me how much he cared about his kids & there a lot of underprivileged kids who's lives are better thanks to Jerry. I think he cheated. I think he screwed Lute over - multiple times in his life. I also think he was a hell of a coach who did a lot of great things for a city. I didn't want to be that long winded (or possibly rude) on facebook....but that's my take. I have a lot of friends & family who are hurting today. Bummer.

Cheers,

BDV

[catgrad97]

That last paragraph summed it up really nicely BDV. I hope Tark settled things once and for all with Lute, because there's still a lot of disrespect towards Olson and the Arizona basketball program from UNLV fans--even though it's their guy who was the offender most of the time.

[Bear Down Vegas]

Oh trust me, listening to hacks on local radio is already brutal. They mock Olson & he is the butt of jokes. It sucks. It's awful. But, I think it's kind of a villain/white cape thing. I tell as many people as I can about the truth about Jerry screwing Lute back in Long Beach. And then Lute making it his goal to beat him at everything there was for the rest of their lives. & that's where the fierce competition came from.

But at the end of the day...it is what it is. Stories got told that make people believe & say hurtful things.

I can say this - those UNLV teams are every bit as important & special to my wife's family & as Lute's teams are to mine. That's the point I try to focus on.

[catgrad97]

True, but Tark could've come out and said a lot more in his final days to give Lute the respect he deserved.

But, by the same token, Tark did have this bad habit of going turtle and feeling sorry for himself whenever the subject of his accountability in UNLV's transgressions came up, like he did to Mike Wallace in a 1998 "60 Minutes" interview.

“The University of Kentucky basketball program breaks more rules in a day than Western Kentucky does in a year. The NCAA doesn’t want to take on the big boys,” he once wrote, and he was right.

Trouble is, someone was always left holding the bag after his battles with the NCAA, and it was never him. It was Lute in Long Beach and two coaches nobody has ever heard from since in Vegas and Fresno.

Was it worth it to them? To Tark, to his fans? All the messes others were left to clean up afterward?

I think Lute, in his very forgiving way, finally said yes--at least on a personal level. I just hope the rest of those affected by the culture he was responsible for at his three D-1 coaching stops can too, someday.

[CatsbyAZ]

RIP Tark.

I do appreciate the true villains of the sport.

[Bear Down Vegas]

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[Bear Down Vegas]

I don't disagree with hardly any of that catgrad. Weird & sad history.

[Olsondogg]

As far as the term "legends" go...I always look to the program after the legend has left ....

[ASUHATER!]

As far as the term "legends" go...I always look to the program after the legend has left ....

In the 22 seasons since he left unlv has 1 sweet 16, 1 conference title and 8 tournament appearances

[Olsondogg]

Yes, and a different coach died recently. He was a legend...

[azcat49]

IMO another sad day for college bball fans. He did care about his kids and if he paid him it was out of his concern for them. UNLV is only UNLV with Tark

[Merkin]

Rivera with Lute talking about Tarkanian:

http://www.foxsports.com/arizona/story/ ... ian-021115

[the real dill]

"Nine out of ten teams cheat, and the tenth team is in last place."

-Jerry Tarkanian

[splitsecond]

I understand the distaste a lot of Cats fans have for Tark, but I have never really felt that. What he did for the game and for his players was enormous, and I have always loved that. Sad to lose him for sure.

[gumby]

"I always like to get transfers, especially from the Pac-10. They already have their cars paid for." -- Tark.

I grew up in Vegas, and was a huge Rebels fan as a kid. Also attended UNLV before transferring (paid for my own car). That 1976-77 team was amazing, averaging 110 per game (no shot clock, no three-pointers). Utah was the big roadblock that year, but the Rebs beat 'em in a tough game. Made it to the Final Four, then ran into the Four Corners and UNC --- boo!

Marquette ended up winning it. The other FF team was UNC-Charlotte, with Cornbread Maxwell. Marquette won the semi on a length of court pass and lay up.

I have an older cousin who went to Arizona. When I was at UNLV, he was a Wildcat fan. But when I went to Arizona, he switched to the Rebs. Still devoted to them, and does the Midnight Lute jokes and sticks with the "they all cheat" line. His daughter went to Arizona, but they yanked her out for partying too much (with the likes of Sean Rooks and Matt Othick).

My first year at Arizona, here comes the Rebels with Reggie Theus. I tell all my friends that UNLV will crush Arizona. Quite the opposite. Been a convert ever since.

Tark was a great coach ... and, yeah, a shady operator. But soooooo beloved in Vegas.

[rgdeuce]

Strongly disliked him when he was coaching but RIP. One thing I cant believe is how so many just sweep blatant and repetetive cheating, over and over again, at three different programs, under the rug. They were treating him like a legend on ESPN.

[Harvey Specter]

Strongly disliked him when he was coaching but RIP. One thing I cant believe is how so many just sweep blatant and repetetive cheating, over and over again, at three different programs, under the rug. They were treating him like a legend on ESPN.

The man is dead... Would you suggest that they trample on his grave in the immediate aftermath of his passing? He accomplished a great deal of positive things in his life, and now is an appropriate time to celebrate those.

I hated UNLV at least as much as anyone on this board... But relative to many others of much "cleaner" reputations who coached during the same era, he wasn't as dirty as you think.

[Olsondogg]

I feel like I've read more Tark stuff than Dean Smith stuff.

Just sayin....

[CalStateTempe]

I feel like I've read more Tark stuff than Dean Smith stuff.

Just sayin....

Clearly you haven't been listening to sports talk out east.

[rgdeuce]

Strongly disliked him when he was coaching but RIP. One thing I cant believe is how so many just sweep blatant and repetetive cheating, over and over again, at three different programs, under the rug. They were treating him like a legend on ESPN.

The man is dead... Would you suggest that they trample on his grave in the immediate aftermath of his passing? He accomplished a great deal of positive things in his life, and now is an appropriate time to celebrate those.

I hated UNLV at least as much as anyone on this board... But relative to many others of much "cleaner" reputations who coached during the same era, he wasn't as dirty as you think.

LOL. Jesus dude.

As pointed out by the post below yours, he got as much love as Dean Smith. Too many people calling him on of the all time greatest coaches. And I am not naive, I am just as aware of some of the crap that went on then and even now as just about anyone else without insider knowledge. However, the point still stands, it is senseless to be mass-glorifying a man that cheated, SEVERELY, multiple times at each of three programs. Pay the man his respects and move on, dont make him out to be a Dean Smith.