Veritas on Leave

[1972Shocker]

1972, to me you are a great poster...but I have to disagree...if Gene was 'just being Gene', then Gene has to be smart enough to know that can cost you. Many Crummier coaches might have gotten to stay longer because they treated people right. I've had four conversations with the man over the past 20 years...not a huge body of work but at least a snippet. Not once did I feel like "this is a really likable guy"...but maybe that's a reflection of me!:)

Well there is no doubt he is somewhat arrogant and not too concernd with tact. OTOH, those traits may have had a lot to do with him being able to build a strong program at WSU against long odds.

I know others who feel the same about Gene. He seems to be one of those polarizing personalities where people either really like him or they really dislike him with not much in between.

[WstateU]

1972, to me you are a great poster...but I have to disagree...if Gene was 'just being Gene', then Gene has to be smart enough to know that can cost you. Many Crummier coaches might have gotten to stay longer because they treated people right. I've had four conversations with the man over the past 20 years...not a huge body of work but at least a snippet. Not once did I feel like "this is a really likable guy"...but maybe that's a reflection of me!:)

Molly, not a reflection of you; I’ve experienced the same on at least 2 occasions. Gene served a tour in Vietnam and because of my deep respect and appreciation for veterans, I always gave him a ‘free pass’ and assumed he was just having a bad day when we crossed paths.
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Regardless, the man has been responsible for some of the greatest memories in my lifetime and I will always be appreciative of the notoriety he brought WSU. I traveled extensively in the early 80’s and 90’s and back then and we were known ‘nationally’ for our outstanding baseball program… it was the ‘window’ to our university and Gene literally put WSU on the map.

“Gene attended Guthrie High School, then attended University of Missouri with his first year on a football scholarship and graduated in 1968. Stephenson served a three-year stint in the United States Army, spending one year in Vietnam."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Stephenson#Personal_life

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=61172&SPID=2844&DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=648628&Q_SEASON=2006

Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to get this image out of my pea brain: