It?s Time for Nolan To Go (Jeffrey Wood Commentary)

(Editor’s Note: This column went to press a day before the University of Arkansas announced that it had removed Nolan Richardson as coach of the Razorbacks.)

It’s time for a buyout of Nolan Richardson Jr.’s remaining six-year contact so that he can be on his hate-mongering way. As of Feb. 28, he had not accepted a $3 million offer to leave gracefully but remained apologetic for embarrassing us all.

It’s time to cut our losses.

This has nothing to do with the fact that Richardson is black. Despite his ability to deal a six-deck stack of race cards like an octopus, the thing about Richardson’s skin that is most noticeable (to everyone but him) is how incredibly thin it is.

The problem is not his consistently abusive treatment of the media. He is a poor ambassador for Arkansas, and he has established a lengthy pattern of bringing the state and UA undeserved negative national publicity.

He alone is to blame for the recent media frenzy that, in the nation’s eyes, knocked down 40 years of progress and made 1957 seem like yesterday.

UA Athletic Director Frank Broyles, Chancellor John White and UA System President B. Alan Sugg should do the right thing and send “The $7 Million Man” packing.

UA boosters who were offended by his latest tirade — a Feb. 25 press conference rant during which he insinuated the UA and state are racist — expressed their financial displeasure by calling the Razorback Foundation at 443-9000. If Richardson is not gone soon, more should do the same.

Merely condemning Richardson’s ridiculous behavior will accomplish nothing. The UA administration, like the local sports media, walks on eggshells for fear of upsetting the self-described “greatest thing going at the University of Arkansas.”

It’s time for some tough love, or don’t complain when he misrepresents us all again.

The latest Richardson-created P.R. nightmare began when he said he’d happily take a buyout. The press reported it, and Richardson went nuts. What did he expect?

If there was more to the story, he should have said so before wigging out.

Richardson’s on-court record speaks for itself. But so does this public figure’s inability to take even the slightest criticism, which he seldom receives. Richardson wouldn’t last 10 minutes in a major market where there’s intense media scrutiny.

Asking tough questions does not make a reporter or columnist a racist. The coach’s inability to represent Arkansas well, however, does make him a liability.

His repeated portrayal of this state as a bastion for “redneck SOBs” (Nolan’s words) who dislike him because he’s black is ludicrous. Good people from all races and backgrounds have worked hard to make Arkansas attractive for students and industries. Richardson’s annual pity parties, which now rival “Cats” on Broadway in their longevity, damage both his ability to recruit players and Arkansas companies that want to hire more minorities.

Just as Richardson’s academic apathy does a disservice to his players, 100 percent of whom have gone home without a college degree in recent years, his unfounded tirades offend the very people who buy Walton Arena tickets and lease luxury suites.

But there is a deeper issue here, something the national media omits when glossing over Richardson’s sound bites.

This is an annual February occurrence.

A good friend recently suggested that Richardson sounds as though “he has lost more than 13 games [this year].” Sadly, that’s true. In late January 1987, he lost his 15-year-old daughter, Yvonne, to leukemia. This time of year marks a traumatic event in his life — one that, as the father of a little girl myself, is tough to fathom.

As hard as it may be for white people to imagine the prejudices Richardson has endured, its must be as difficult for someone who has not lost a child to understand that level of hurt.

A good psychiatrist probably would tell the UA that Richardson should attend some grief counseling or even anger-management classes. That’s not a flippant remark but one made with the sincere hope that he can pull himself together, even if it’s not at Arkansas.

As a former sports writer who has spent many hours interacting with Richardson, it’s true that off-camera he is a genuinely sweet man who does incredible things for people. But there is a tightly twisted ball of hate down deep in his gut that always seems to unravel when he’s under pressure.

It’s time to cut that cord and keep Arkansas — which has a lot to offer people of all races — from getting tangled in Richardson’s knots again.