Good On Ya, Seth!

An Aussie friend of mine introduced me to the term "good on ya!" years ago. I find that I like it better than the American version, "good for you!" 

Courtesy: Wikipedia

Judging from a recent Mark Giannotto piece in the Washington Post, it appears that Seth Greenberg has not spent much time lamenting his mishandled and ill-timed release from Virginia Tech. Good on him. (I won't go on another one of my endless tirades regarding my opinion of the current VT Athletic Director, but suffice it to say: I will be glad when he retires. For those who would would point to the good things that have happened during his regime, I would only argue that they have happened in spite of him, and not because of him. VT would still be languishing in the Big East Conference if former VA Governor Mark Warner had not stepped in--but enough of that.)

Seth Greenberg got me interested in Hokie basketball, and furthermore, interested in basketball in general. This is because the game makes sense to him, and he enables it to make sense to anyone spending any time listening or talking to him. I have been following Hokie cagers since his arrival in VT's waning years in the Big East conference. His ball knowledge gives him a lot of confidence, and players who were smart enough to buy into the program (Zabian Dowdell, Jamon "Reb" Gordon, Malcolm Delaney, Deron Washington, etc.) all benefited from his game strategy know-how, and they excelled--many times despite a lack of size or the lack of a full complement of pro-level skills.

I had the opportunity to engage in a few polite conversations with Seth during my visits to Blacksburg. He has been one of the speakers at a number of the Alumni Reunions that I have attended, and I always made a point to collar him on some aspect of the Hokies' games or players afterwards. He always spoke highly of his players, even some of the former players that threw him under the bus when he was fired. I appreciated his loyalty to his guys, and his sometimes-abrasive candor. (Again, apparently the AD did not, since one of the reasons for his firing of Seth was the absence of a "family atmosphere" among Seth's coaches and players. What the heck does that mean!? He treated his players like family, visited them in the hospital, addressing their off-the-court challenges, etc. That comment was a cheap shot, and Weaver should be ashamed.)

Regardless of all the above, I now enjoy seeing (and listening to) Seth in a forum where he can showcase his basketball knowledge at a national level (with ESPN), and I can also say that I am proud of his past association with the VT program. The program was going nowhere before his arrival. While Blacksburg was, and still is, a tough place to recruit marquee players to, he was adept at taking differing and varied skill levels and blending them together into a team. Although he was unsuccessful in getting to the NCAA tournament with a number of his teams, they always took down more than a few ACC giants (Duke, UNC, and UMD during the Gary Williams years) in the regular season.

So, "Good On Ya, Seth!" and "Vaya con Dios!" You are one of the good guys and have always been a consummate professional; and this Hokie misses seeing you in Blacksburg now that you've hit the big time.

Go Hokies!