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pilight
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Keegan
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 Posted: 09/05/05 9:01 am ::: |
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Hmmmmm but I'm led to believe she wasn't "sacked". So what's the deal? I wouldn't be surprised if the Canberra Times was talking out of its arse though.
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| Despite having not spoken to Graf since her dismissal from the Phoenix job, Cartwright remained confident the sacking would not in any way hinder her preparation for the Capitals' season. |
It's possible the Canberra Times got the AP article and then asked Mr Cartwright "So what do you feel about Graf being fired?"  |
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caune
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Luuuc
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| Posted: 09/05/05 9:26 am ::: |
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| caune wrote: |
| She wasn't sacked, or fired. |
Yeah, I thought the AzCentral article a couple of days ago made that pretty clear:
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The Mercury and Graf decided to go separate ways Thursday night, said General Manager Seth Sulka, who just six days ago had said he expected her back.
"It's a little surprising, but at the end of the day, it was pretty much her decision," Sulka said Friday. |
Mercury, Graf part ways after 2 years
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dukemayo
Joined: 27 May 2005
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| Posted: 09/05/05 9:44 am ::: |
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| Keegan wrote: |
Hmmmmm but I'm led to believe she wasn't "sacked". So what's the deal? I wouldn't be surprised if the Canberra Times was talking out of its arse though.
| Quote: |
| Despite having not spoken to Graf since her dismissal from the Phoenix job, Cartwright remained confident the sacking would not in any way hinder her preparation for the Capitals' season. |
It's possible the Canberra Times got the AP article and then asked Mr Cartwright "So what do you feel about Graf being fired?" |
Here's the lead paragraph from the Mercury's own press release on Friday:
The Phoenix Mercury announced today that Head Coach Carrie Graf’s contract which expired at the end of the 2005 season will not be renewed. The two parties decided not to enter into a new contract and the search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
That's management's best presentation of the decision.
I don't mind the Mercury putting it this way and being as tactful and considerate as possible, especially when management is sincere in its feelings toward her, which I believe it is in this case. There doesn't seem to be hypocrisy even of the sometimes necessary benign kind operating here.
But the phrase "[t]he two parties decided" is a fig leaf. At least, it is unless someone has solid information that Graf did not want to return, and I haven't seen any indication of that.
They're ownership and she's labor. All she could do was accede. I guess you could say she "decided" to accede, but it's an empty decision because she had no choice.
"[C]ontract...will not be renewed" is a soft sacking, but a sacking nonetheless.
Personally, with all she had to deal with, including the underappreciated effect of Penny Taylor having to play injured in those last several games, I think not renewing was mildly unfair. But management, in its own words, made a judgment call that she'd taken the team as far as she could.
“Our commitment is to bring a WNBA Championship to Phoenix,” said Robert Sarver, the Mercury and Phoenix Suns Managing Partner. “In the last two seasons the Mercury have gone from a team that won just eight games to the doorstep of the playoffs. We will begin the search immediately for the person who can take us to the next level in our effort to bring a championship to our very loyal fans.”
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caune
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Swoopes_O'grady
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| Posted: 09/05/05 9:45 am ::: |
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| Well from what I've read here, if the new owners are leaning for a man coach, maybe they did sort of push Graf out the door. You know when they kind of nudge you a little bit and then you decide it's better to leave before you're "sacked" thing. Don't know...just my feelings of the situation.
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Keegan
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dukemayo
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| Posted: 09/05/05 10:01 am ::: |
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| caune wrote: |
| Luuuc wrote: |
| caune wrote: |
| She wasn't sacked, or fired. |
Yeah, I thought the AzCentral article a couple of days ago made that pretty clear:
| Quote: |
The Mercury and Graf decided to go separate ways Thursday night, said General Manager Seth Sulka, who just six days ago had said he expected her back.
"It's a little surprising, but at the end of the day, it was pretty much her decision," Sulka said Friday. |
Mercury, Graf part ways after 2 years |
Clear as an LA sky  |
Exactly. "Clear as an LA sky."
If it really was largely Graf's decision, the Phoenix press release would have said that.
There are also some telltale tics in the unscripted comment of the GM:
"It's a little [not "very"?] surprising, but at the end of the day [several days of management hints and nudges], it was pretty much [not "entirely"?] her decision."
The appearance of a mutual decision is the best thing for both parties. I don't mind.
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Keegan
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| Posted: 09/05/05 10:03 am ::: |
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| dukemayo wrote: |
There are also some telltale tics in the unscripted comment of the GM:
"It's a little [not "very"?] surprising, but at the end of the day [several days of management hints and nudges], it was pretty much [not "entirely"?] her decision." |
That line of reasoning was also as clear as an L.A sky. |
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pilight
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| Posted: 09/05/05 10:05 am ::: |
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The Merc haven't even changed scripts...
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| “I’m proud of what I accomplished with the Mercury the last two seasons and I’m leaving the team in a strong position for the future,” said Graf |
http://www.wnba.com/mercury/news/graf_050902.html
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| "I'm very proud of what I accomplished with the Mercury last season and I'm leaving the team in a very strong position for the future," Shumate said |
http://www.allsports.com/cgi-bin/showstory.cgi?story_id=47618
The Mercury have never "fired" a coach. They always just happen to resign just when the team wants to make a change._________________ If you want a revolution, the only solution's evolve
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caune
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Keegan
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| Posted: 09/05/05 10:11 am ::: |
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| caune wrote: |
| She'll get her wish |
I hope so but who knows when it comes to BA...
Maybe they'll get the hint when the players hand in another round of scathing feedback sheets |
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librarygeek
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Luuuc
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| Posted: 09/05/05 10:20 am ::: |
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| librarygeek wrote: |
| she has just removed, or had removed for her, the biggest hurdle between herself and the Opals head coach position. |
She certainly has. The only other hurdle is Jan, and as hurdles go ... well ... let's just say that even an exhausted Dydek could clear her with ease
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dukemayo
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Keegan
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| Posted: 09/05/05 10:47 am ::: |
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| dukemayo wrote: |
| caune wrote: |
Frankly, I thought it was quite clear Carrie had other things in mind (Coaching the Opals in the 2008 Olympics) when she signed a contract with Canberra when she was still coaching the Mercury.
She knew her contract was to be up and she knew what she really wanted to do, Coach the Australian Olympic team.
She'll get her wish and the Merc will get a new Coach who will build on the foundation Carrie left...it's not a half bad foundation  so we should be able to lure a decent Coach to Phoenix. |
Maybe I truly am being too cynical in my interpretation. But I have to ask whether coaching the national team in 2008 and coaching the Mercury in 2006 are incompatible.
Or is that it she has to be back in Australia pretty extensively in order to position herself to be selected national coach? Is the position open, and a decision to be made in the coming months? I'm trying to make sense of this and am truly just asking.
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As mentioned, Carrie Graf would have been head coach of the Opals post-Athens if not for her WNBA commitments. BA wanted her to commit to the program full-time (which involves coaching in offseason tours that occur at the same time as the WNBA) and obviously she could not.
BA now appoints coaches in two year blocks and the job is up for grabs after the World Champs in 2006. If Carrie still had the Mercury job and could not commit to the Opals full time from 2006 onwards, she would probably miss out on the chance to coach at the Olympics in 2008. |
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Keegan
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dukemayo
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| Posted: 09/05/05 12:21 pm ::: |
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If the national team would perform better under Graf than the present coach, then the powers-that-be should hire her and I hope they do. I'll pull for the U.S. in '08 but want to see the highest level of competition. The sport deserves no less.
The terms "sacked" and "fired" are inappropriate even in my interpretation of a not entirely mutual decision and should be strongly objected to. Using them could be an innocent mistake or could be successful spin from those who want to keep the present regime.
If it was "pretty much" her decision in Phoenix, then the Mercury should do the honorable thing and clarify the initial press release to read "Carrie Graf today informed the Phoenix Mercury that she will not seek to renew her contract with the team in order to return fulltime to basketball in Australia." Make it clear that she was an actor.
Failing that, the best I can think of is to get the press, since they're averse to using the language handed to them in a press release (the "contract...will not be renewed" wording), to simply just say she was "let go" and to point out that she got hit with a "perfect storm." If any one of the following four things had not happened, the Mercury would have made the playoffs:
1. Penny T. missing the early games and then needing several more to settle in;
2. Penny T. having to play injured in the final stretch;
3. Stepanova leaving; and
4. LA sacking* Henry Bibby when they did and not waiting just a game or two more.
*His really was one.
Just my thoughts. Good luck getting better reporting of all this.
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