A picture is worth a thousand words

[meangreen]

Tony has no option BUT to accept the awards. Everyone that says differently is a clueless dumba**. Tony put his heart and soul into the team and this season. There is no shame at all in being named to the all-conference team. Would you expect Dirk to turn down being named to the All-NBA 1st team if the Mavs didn't win the championship that year?

Holy hell people, some of you need to think things over.

[Mean Green 93-98]

I don't think anybody has posted this yet but out of curiosity in what way was he showing immaturity accepting the award?

When they called his name for the award, he originally acted like he wasn't going to go up and get it until Coach Forrest (I think) gave him a nudge (the WKU fans were booing by that point). When he did start walking up to get it, he was moping along very slowly while everyone else was waiting.

Immature? Yes. Justified? No. Understandable? Yes.

[MeanGreenTexan]

You guys that have your head in the clouds re: how Tony reacted, need to understand that he is held to a much higher standard. He doesn't get free passes to mope. He represents not only himself and the Mean Green, but an entire University.

You guys that are raining down on Tony re: how he reacted, need to recall yourself as a 19 year old. Then put yourself on the precipice of something you've worked very hard for, only to have it slip through your grasp... then forced to accept a fun little participation trophy only minutes after your gut punch. I wouldn't want that crap, and neither would you!

I totally agree with 93-98: "Immature? Yes. Justified? No. Understandable? Yes."

[Rudy]

So you guys are just as upset about the 1972 US Men's Basketball Team not accepting their silver medals?

Or was that ok?

Edited March 7, 2012 by Rudy

[FireFightnJoey]

... or maybe at that moment, he felt he let a lot of people down and didn't deserve it. How many times have I seen posted that he is very humble and he worked to be more unselfish as a player through the season (not that I ever heard he was selfish)?

The team just lost and moments after the loss while trying to deal with it, you are forced to get up and be happy go lucky and accept an award that you are not feeling so worthy of. It took quite a few fans at least 24 hours to recover, and you can tell by some of the posts.

And screw the WKY fans that booed. F'em.

So ... Tony, you deserve it. You gave it your best. Next year...

[NT03]

I'm going to try to sum this all up for everyone & then we can all just drop this subject and move forward with the off season. This isn't something we need to discuss for the next few weeks.

Was it immature? Yes

Why was it immature ? Because he's only 19 and hasnt matured yet . Anyone here who claims to have been matured by 19 is lying

Why hasn't he matured yet? Because his whole basketball career he's probably succeeded at anything he's tried to accomplish. Here is a kid who has had a limited number of games under his belt trying to carry an entire team on his back towards a journey to greatness. I think what we had here was someone who for the first time in his life felt like he had failed and you can't fault him for that

Just as in life, in basketball we can't succeed until we first fail. This is a learning experience for all the players involved. This will make them even better for the future.

As a scout , I would see it as a kid not mentally ready for the next level yet. I hope Tony and his advisors do as well. Once Tony gains 100% confidence and learns to handle his emotions better he will be destined for stardom.

I love this kid. But we have to remember that he is still just that, a kid

[NT1978]

He shows the pain of the lost. Unfortunately, he showed his immaturity whilein accepting his all tournament award.

maybe if it was worded a little different, those that were not at the finals would understand.

[Cerebus]

[gksmith]

So you guys are just as upset about the 1972 US Men's Basketball Team not accepting their silver medals?

Or was that ok?

Rudy: Completely different circumstances. I was in Jr. High and watched the gold medal game between the Soviet Union and USA. Unlike the SBC Championship, the refs and higher ups got involved and gave the Soviets 3 chances to win the game. The US declining to accept the Silver Metal had nothing to do with being poor losers. It was in protest of how the Olympic administrators got involved when they shouldn’t have and cheated the US out of the Gold Medal they deserved and won.

As for on topic: I did not see the award ceremony. ESPN2 immediately cut to the next game. Can’t say I blame Tony for being a little slow to the podium though. Play your hart our, fall short of the win that you thought you had. I am not condoning what he did but I am not going to condemn him either.