Giddens goes, yet life goes on without him

Sports opinion

By By Jonathan Kealing

Wednesday, July 6, 2005



So, he’s finally gone.

After countless exclusive, in-depth reports and penetrating sports commentary both defending and deriding the participants in the Moon Brawl, J.R. Giddens has finally left the Fieldhouse.

It’s about time.

I don’t say this because I bear any particular ill-will toward the talented, but misguided, wing forward. In fact, when J.R. was on he was one of the most exciting players to watch.

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Unfortunately, J.R. also had a way of finding trouble. It’s been rehashed over and over again in the seven weeks since the showdown at high Moon. There was the Wal-Mart non-purchase, the late night/early morning car crash and finally the slash and brawl.

Ultimately, J.R.’s free-wheeling, jersey-popping, self-centered style began to detract from the team. Instead of spending the summer months blissfully believing Self and his talented trio of incoming freshmen would return the program to the promised land of NCAA Tourney success, Kansas fans have awoken every morning to some new revelation about Lunar misadventures.

So instead of the cathartic purge of demons that was needed after a disappointing loss to Bucknell, the off-season has just added fuel to the fires of discontent. If this program was going to move forward, J.R. had to go. He would have just distracted the fans, the coaches and, most importantly, the team.

Coach Bill Self had already announced that if J.R. returned, he would be faced with considerable restriction on his off-court time. Does anyone think monitoring J.R. would have been a good way for Self and his staff to spend their time?

J.R. was an enigma to Kansas fans, which probably explains why they either loved him or hated him. There were camping groups dedicated to his name, and countless message board posts loathing his very existence. Sometimes he contributed mightily to his team’s victories, while other times he could go more than a game without making a shot.

Some national commentators have even argued he shot his team out of the Bucknell game.

Love him or hate him, few will argue he wasn’t fun to watch when he was hot.

And that’s exactly why J.R. will have success, wherever he ends up. J.R. has so much natural talent; this incident could be the catalyst to create a new man.

We should know in about a year if that has happened or not.

Self and J.R. made the best possible decision. Fans in Manhattan and Columbia would have never let J.R. forget his recent run-in with the law. And that would have distracted J.R. and his teammates.

This way, the Jayhawks can focus on really embracing the Self-era – only Jeremy Case, Jeff Hawkins, Christian Moody and seldom-used Stephen Vinson remain as players recruited under former coach Roy Williams – and J.R. can focus on his dream of playing basketball for pay. Another season like his freshman year would probably be enough to ensure he makes the pros.

It’s a new era for J.R. and it’s a new era for the Jayhawks. Good luck J.R., wherever you end up.

— Kealing is a Chesterfield, Mo., junior in journalism and political science. He was the spring Kansan associate sports editor.

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