University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor:

Coach Gibson's Resignation Suggested

After defending Coach Bill Gibson
for the better part of six years,
I must now ask that Coach Gibson
depart from the Virginia basketball
scene. Though the quality of our
players has indeed improved since
Mr. Gibson's arrival, neither our
overall record nor our competitiveness
in the ACC has appreciably
improved in this time.

A coach should be given at least
four years to prove his worth in
collegiate competition. In that
amount of time, he can install his
system and have his recruits playing
for him. Coach Gibson has had four
years plus two, and his system and
his players are not winning.

As for specific criticisms, I
would rather stay away for emotional
individual judgments that
were found in the "Boot the Hoot"
letter several weeks ago. I do feel
though that there are two areas in
which a basketball coach can show
his expertise. One is assessing the
team's strengths and weaknesses
and arriving at a conclusion as to
the strategy that best fits his
material. Once the strategy is
chosen, the coach must then
discipline his team to the desired
strategy. Our prime assets this year
were a good rebounding and accurate
shooting front line (Gidding,
Carmichael and Wilkes), some ball
handling ability (Kennelly) and
seemingly a lot of desire. Our
outstanding liabilities were a lack of
depth and slowness afoot. I submit
that Frank Maguire, with the same
team, would have played a deliberate
and disciplined offense which
would take maximum advantage of
our strengths while minimizing our
weaknesses.

The second area on which a
coach can be judged is defense. This
phase of the game is the one which
can most readily be taught. Coach
Gibson's teams have consistently
been among the leaders in the
points allowed column ever since he
arrived at the University. Based on
this record, Coach Gibson has been
a failure in teaching this phase of
the game.

While Virginia's basketball fortunes
lay dormant the past six
years, ACC coaches such as Norm
Sloan of North Carolina State, Jack
McClosky of Wake Forest and
Frank Maguire of South Carolina
have turned around sagging basketball
fortunes. Even Clemson has a
couple of good years during this
time. Only Virginia and Maryland
have remained in the second division.
(Incidentally, Coach Fellows'
resignation at Maryland is imminent.)
Knowing that the Athletic
Department will not fire Coach
Gibson, I implore the Coach to
reassess his position at the University
very carefully.

A last suggestion would be to
the Athletic Department in naming
a replacement for Coach Gibson:
Ernie Fears, the impressive and
successful coach at Norfolk State.
With this move I foresee an
integrated and above all a more
successful basketball program.

Sincerity

The March 5 edition of The
Cavalier Daily provides an especially
ludicrous example of the
subtle and not-so-subtle ways in
which the self-perpetuating elite
which runs the tax-supported student
newspaper is attempting to
mold student opinion in its own
rigid ideological patterns. I am
referring to the front-page "news"
story in which we find the following
"report.":

"The two featured speakers
drove home the message of the
coalition. Mr. England, a University
professor of mathematics, stirred
the crown with a lively speech
concerning the faculty's part in the
demonstrations. His speech was
interrupted with sincere applause
many times."

Come now, Mr. Editor. It is
pretty obvious why you seem to
have felt no necessity for an
editorial on the editorial page in the
March 5 issue: the editorializing is
done in the front-page "news"
stories. "Sincere" applause? The
article is accompanied by a picture
whose byline refers to the "Successful
Rally."

"Successful?" By the standards
of The Cavalier Daily staff, maybe?

Successful in accomplishing the
goals of the Coalition, perhaps?

Successful in its tolerance of Mr.
Taylor's admirable use of public
property and tax-funded sound
equipment to shout profanity (duly
printed by the courageous and
progressive Cavalier Daily)? Isn't it
a bit presumptuous for a news
writer to judge the success of an
event?

Mr. Taylor, incidentally, spoke
before Mr. England and Mr. Evans,
not after, as the news writer (was
he there?) reported.

There are many ways in which
an editor can editorialize: through
his column (specifying "right-thinking"
policies), through news stories,
through headlines, by devoting
more or less space to certain
"news" issues, by using headline
"news" stories to announce rallies,
by refusing to publish or delaying
publication of letters disagreeing
with him, by heaping sycophantic
praise upon self-designated "student
leaders" (of which the editor
no doubt considers himself one of
the foremost), etc., ad infinitum.
The present editor does not hesitate
to use any of these methods. Nor
will his hand-picked successor, if
past experience is any guide to his
propensity to "manage" news.

We remind the student body
that the Board of Directors of The
Cavalier Daily, composed of the
vice-presidents of all the schools,
has power "to reject or confirm the
selection of the Editor, Managing
Editor, and Business Manager who
shall be recommended by the whole
staff of The Cavalier Daily, with
power to remove any or all of those
three officers of The Cavalier Daily
for cause;" the Board also has
power "to review and to approve or
disapprove, and when desirable, to
modify the over-all editorial and
news reporting policies."

Is it time for those of us devoted
to freedom of expression of ALL.
opinions to exercise our prerogatives
through our elected representatives?

Our Hero

Our hero is dead, when will we
ever have another. A trinity of
power, speed, and beauty — an era's
Mars, Mercury, and Apollo.

The lucky seven on a field of
majestic pinstripe. The proud
hobble out to the distant center
pasture. The muscles bulging; the
intimation of mastery over the game.

The great warrior in the big
arena. Challenging its spacious
grounds to defeat his blinding
speed, challenging the enemy to
overwhelm his patrol. The assault
begins, he pumps furiously to meet
it — the graceful leap, he overtakes
it.

Now he assaults — a colossal
arch to the top of the world. Only
mortality and the roof contains the
mounting thrust. From right or left
— the towering blow too quick, too
high, too far to counter. Or eschew
the bludgeon and don the rapier in
surprise, he scores again — deft and
fleet. If the enemy recoil and a base
freely yielded, the opportunity is
seized and further advance cannot
be halted.

The victory continuous, the
acclaim widening. The huzzahs
from crowds, the homage paid by
fellows. Humanity on its feet to
shower its favor. The crippled
veteran, repelling extinction, bearing
the standard for us all!

But then the pinstripe fades, the
enemy gains, the magic is withdrawn
by the Greater Power. The
Blond Bomber — The Commerce
Comet — The Switcher — The Mick
is entombed with t he Babe, the
Iron Horse, The Yankee Clipper.

We're alone in the cavernous
arena, A cold wind whips round the
monuments, numbing the spirit, as
we wait for another.

Performance

On March 5 I had the distinct
pleasure of attending the University
Artist Series' presentation of "Man
of La Mancha." From the standpoint
of having viewed the Series'
efforts for the last three years I
found this performance one of the
most moving and best presented of
any that have been offered. However,
the pleasure of the evening
was severely marred by the near-criminal
lack of concern for the
safety of the people of the Hall.

I recognize the admission regulation
problems of handling a
near-capacity crowd at the University
Hall where there are numerous
exits, and therefore, numerous
possible routes of entrance. However,
once the audience has been
seated there is no longer any
necessity for ALL EXITS save the
main one to be locked and chained.
No hall is so perfect that escape
from it cannot become imperative
for an audience, let alone a large
audience. With this in mind I found
the situation existing at the University
Hall on Wednesday night
inexcusable and representative of
the most callused disregard for the
safety and well-being of those
attending. Whoever was responsible
should make sure that exits are
indeed safe routes of escape and
not potential death traps, severe as
that phrase is.

A uniformed member of the
University police force was questioned
on the scene about the
problem and informed me that this
was no concern of his group. I
firmly believe that the primary and
ultimate responsibility of the University
Security Force is the protection
of the lives and well-being
of the members of the University
community and our guests, particularly
at public functions. If the
Security Force can stand around
while all exits save one are locked
at the University Hall on a night
when there is a near-capacity
audience, and not be concerned
enough to insure the escape routes
of these people, then they sadly
misjudge their duty and enormously
overstate their value to the
University and its guests.

This situation should never,
never be allowed to occur again.

Sieg Heil

The Student Council's request
(which must be taken as a mandate
in view of their most recent show
of strength) that those insulting
lines of "Dixie" be forever banned
from our innocent ears befits their
sanctimonious style. One Adolph
Hitler and his Brownshirts, with a
little less finesse, used similar
tactics ot "protect" the German
people from the "lies" of the past.
Perhaps the next step is to purge
Alderman Library of the "lies" and
"affronts" to the citizenry of this
state.

Sieg heil! Mr. Chandler, with
your red . . .