The Most Important Eddie Sutton Quote Was Not About Doug Gottlieb

As I’m sure you know by now, Eddie Sutton has spoken. He has spoken on the subject of Doug Gottlieb and the future of the Oklahoma State basketball program. You can read more about that in the Tulsa World here.

The Gottlieb stuff was fascinating, for sure, but what intrigued me most was the dismissiveness with which he talked about Travis Ford.

It’s one thing for me, a blogger and predictor of the future, to do that as I did in my five thoughts on Wednesday night. It’s different when an 80-year-old been-in-the-thick-of-it Eddie Sutton does it. If the coffin needed a final nail, he certainly provided it.

“There was a period there (at Gallagher-Iba Arena) when the place was rocking, and it was as good as any place in America,” Sutton told the Tulsa World. “It’s not that way now. It’s sad to go over there and see how few people are in the stands.If they change the coach, hopefully we can get somebody that all of us can pull together and try to get it back.”

It’s somewhat unsettling to read those quotes from Sutton. “The coach” is funny when Mike Gundy says it about Bob Stoops or Charlie Strong. It’s not as funny when Eddie Sutton talks about the man who replaced him and his son.

However this is the reality, and like I said, if OSU fans needed any extra ammunition, Sutton delivered it to them. There’s always a sense among (smart) fans that, “hey, I might not know what I’m talking about when I talk about coaches and players and games being played at a higher level than I ever competed at or fully understand.” That’s how I feel a lot of the time anyway.

But now we can say, “well if he, the best coach we’ve ever had, also thinks it … ”

I probably don’t need to finish that sentence for you.