Bill Self deserving of his own street?
Why stop at just a street?
Local radio station Lazer 105.9 is promoting an online petition intended to “rename the section of 19th Street between Iowa and Lousiana Streets to Bill Self Boulevard.”
By Corban Goble (Contact), Jenny Hartz (Contact), Matt Hirschfeld (Contact), Jake Lerman (Contact), Angelique McNaughton, Brandon Minster
Monday, May 5th, 2008
Why stop at just a street?
Corban Goble:
Anyone who has been reading my columns knows that I haven’t minced words about my love for our national championship-winning basketball team. So when the question of whether a street bearing Bill Self’s name should exist, another question pops into my mind—is that enough?
Lawrence has been a great name for this city, but a more deserving moniker has emerged. I’m open to any kind of variation, but I suggest “Bill Self,” “Selfsville,” or “Championship Peak at Bill Self Town.”
As I’ve told many of my peers, this year’s cataclysmic, epic, tear-inducing national championship was the greatest thing that’s ever happened. Why not commemorate that event with a much-deserved name change of a 150-year-old city? Why not go larger? I’ve always thought that the name “United States of America” has grown stale.
Jenny Hartz:
Should we re-name 19th Street to be Bill Self Boulevard?
Of course!
But why stop there? After all, he won us a national championship in basketball, which is, after all, the real reason why we’re here at the University of Kansas, paying thousands of dollars to ensure our sports ratings are higher than our GPAs. In fact, this feat is so great we should rename the city of Lawrence to be Billsville or Self City. No, wait! Why not the world? Or the universe? With valuable taxpayer dollars we can send up a sign into space: Bill Self Universe.
In all seriousness, if we are going to rename anything on or off campus after a person, that person should have done something that has impacted humanity for the greater good. And all the championship has done is increased alcohol and T-shirt sales and inflated our egos.
Who cares?
Angelique McNaughton:
Bill Self Boulevard. Sounds catchy, but I’m not sure that the street name change is a necessary homage to a great coach.
Honestly, I wouldn’t care one way or the other; it would just be another street I pass by or drive along.
I acknowledge that Self has done great things over the past five years: Big 12 championship titles, winning seasons, not to mention that little title he gave our boys this year: champions!
Self said he’d stick around and as much as we would all like to believe it, we never know.
When the time is right to honor Self as one of the greats, we will have a better suggestion as to how to do it. Instead of taking someone else’s name off of a building or renaming a street, we should honor Self in a way that only his legacy could be tied to the unique tribute.
Renaming a street doesn't feel right
Brandon Minster:
There was a time when basketball fans in this town thought as much of Roy Williams as they now think of Bill Self. Few feel that way now. Naming a street after someone is something best left until he or she at least retires.
College athletics is a fickle business, and no one can say what the future holds for Self and KU. He might spend the rest of his career here, or he might be successful for the next few years and leave for something more challenging and rewarding, or he might stumble and be forced out or fired.
Johnny Depp once got a tattoo that read “Winona Forever,” but when his relationship with Winona Ryder ended, he either had to find another woman named Winona to love or get his tattoo changed. Imagine the limited size of the coaching pool from which KU would have to select Self’s replacement if he had to be named Bill Self. Wait until Self retires to name a street after him. Old people love that kind of crap, anyway.
Jake Lerman:
Our University is a huge part of Lawrence, but there’s more to this city than just KU athletics. If we were to name a street after Bill Self we would be ignoring the importance of many of Larry Town’s very own that deserve street sign recognition as much as our beloved coach.
One who jumps to mind is William S. Burroughs, the beat generation genius behind the books “Naked Lunch” and “Junkie.” He surely has had great enough impact on our city as well as the nation to warrant his own avenue, or at least a cul-de-sac.
Heat waves off Mass Street hoards can distort and make us forget our city’s famed children from ages past; so before immortalizing the heroes of today, bear in mind the great Lawrencians of yesteryear.
Matt Hirschfeld:
Never have I felt so proud of a town or an institution. The only reservation I’ve been wrangling with is the root of this pride. It’s indescribable to me at this point in time. I can’t imagine how a person who cares for basketball felt that night of triumph. I know it will stay with me long beyond my time here at the University.
I consider myself lucky for attending here concurrently with a championship. We won, though, not out of luck, but because of the leadership of Bill Self.
I don’t think renaming a street is the right route to go, but something needs to be established in Self’s name for future students and alumn to look up to, walk across or drive through when they come to or come back to the University.
Discussion
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Isn't it called Larryville because of Larry Brown? If that's the case, then, yes, we should rename the town "William" with the popular nickname being Billsville, right?
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