Chris Baldwin is at it again, this time doing his tabloid/hit-mongering thing ripping Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. He’s attempting (I guess?) to defend Phil Mickelson’s character flaws by saying that at least Phil is better than Coach K.

Among the many interesting comments from Baldwin, here are a few gems:

• K is a control freak who berates his players, officials, reporters and anyone else who gets in his way
• K is a phony because he claims to be an educator
• Because K runs an “arrogant” program, it’s okay for fans of opposing schools to hate JJ Redick, a Duke player on this year’s team
• According to third hand reports, K won’t meet with reporters in person unless he thinks they “kissed his butt” regularly

Well, let me begin by explaining my credentials for disputing what Chris Baldwin has to say. I know Coach K personally. I have known him for many years. I’ve had dinner with him, his wife and three daughters, his sons-in-law and his grandkids. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with him about basketball, about education, about charity and altruism, and about his critics. I’m guessing I’ve had a more in-depth look at who he is and how he handles himself in both a public and a private setting than Chris Baldwin does.

Here’s what I know about Coach K: He runs one of the cleanest programs in the country, graduates his players, wins games, and has done this all consistently for the last 25 years. But apparently none of that matters to Chris.

Here’s what I know about Coach K that many people, including Chris Baldwin, would know if they bothered to do a little research:

• Coach K’s players, the ones he constantly berates according to Chris, feel that they are his sons, almost without exception. They continue to have a relationship with Coach K after graduation that is best described as familial.
• Coach K, despite having more than the usual demands on his time that any head coach faces, spends his free time during the season and off-season working with numerous charities, including the Duke Children’s Hospital, the V Foundation for cancer research, and the Emily Krzyzewski center in downtown Durham which he founded to help underprivileged kids in Duke’s home city.
• Coach K works with Duke’s Fuqua School of Business regularly, including co-founding the Center on Leadership and Ethics, which, among other activities, brings top business leaders from across the country together once a year to discuss ethics in business and among business executives. He holds a part-time faculty position at the school. If that’s not an educator, I don’t know what is.
• Coach K believes that, despite any accolades he has won, it’s HIS honor to be associated with an institution like Duke. His actions and words are well matched. Were he interested in money and fame, he would be $40 million richer today and a Hollywood insider as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Instead, he chose to remain at Duke.

The only thing Baldwin mentions in his blog that resembles reality is that Coach K curses. Yes, I can attest that he does curse.

I wonder what comes out of Chris Baldwin’s mouth every time he duffs a shot. Playing a round with him might be like sitting behind the Duke bench for a game (which I've done too, Chris). And I guess then I would know all I need to know about Chris Baldwin. Because I would have “met” him.

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