Christian Ewell

Bibby has been placed in tough situation as interim

et me preface my remarks concerning USC's interim head coach, Henry Bibby, by saying that the manner in which he was thrust into his current position was truly despicable.
It's not as if to take this position is to climb out on a limb. When Bibby's predecessor (and formerly his immediate superior) Charlie Parker was fired on Feb. 7, a nationwide cry of indignation immediately followed.
Everywhere you looked on TV, someone was sticking it to the higher-ups at USC who made the firing possible.
Arizona Coach Lute Olson called the situation "an embarrassment," and he and Arizona State Coach Bill Frieder are lobbying their Pac-10 coaching brethren to name Parker as the league's Coach of the Year. You would have thought it was the "Free Mumia" movement.
In that sense, count me among those pissed off enough to wish the team to hell after the firing, and that included Bibby as well as the guys on the court. When USC lost by 30 to Stanford, it was hard not to glow inside. Nothing against the team or Bibby, but their suffering and the following turmoil further justified the heat that USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett was taking for making a Garrettesque move.
USC is 0-5 since that stroke of genius, but Bibby has seemingly distinguished himself as a man of guts; trying to bring his team above itself, and above all, above the sorry athletic department that lords over it.
Meanwhile, there are those-and it's hard to blame them-who wouldn't mind seeing Bibby suffer. There are those who suspect that maybe Bibby had something to do with Parker's firing.
In addition to dealing with indirect criticism stemming from the Parker firing, Bibby has been portrayed-fairly or unfairly-as the absentee father of one of the most talented high school point guards in the country. The story or non-story of Henry and Mike Bibby (who will play for Arizona next season) has shown up on ESPN and has been written large in at least two different newspapers.
On top of that, Bibby must deal with questions regarding his past and his future-his role in NCAA violations at Arizona State more than a decade ago and the rumors that he might not coach USC basketball past the team's final game on March 9.
You look at this and begin to wonder if maybe Job might have been a better first name for Bibby than Henry. But Henry has consciously put on some pretty good blinders, choosing to look only forward.
Bibby has players to consider, players dealing with the same situation he is. USC hasn't won since Feb. 3, and will suit up only six scholarship players when facing Oregon State on Thursday night. At 46 years of age, Bibby might be equipped to handle his problems. Men young enough to be sons of his, no matter what they say, might not be.
Baloney or not, growth was what Garrett said the team needed, and Bibby is trying to fill that vague prescription. If he does, and if he manages to stick around, some of the questions may be resolved-not all, of course, but some.