Doug Gottlieb and Ed Hightower are not popular in Big XII country

I think Doug Gottlieb is a prick. He's smug. He's pompous. He has it out (I was watching that same broadcast, and I remember thinking the exact same thing) for the Big East because he got booted from Notre Dame for stealing credit cards.

But I respect Gottlieb. For starters, he knows his stuff. There may not be a more knowledgeable and eloquent college basketball analyst at the worldwide leader (personally, I think it is Jay Bilas, but Gottlieb is number two on my list). He also stands behind everything he says, especially when he believes he is right (99.9% of the time, he does). This exchange is the perfect example. During the Kansas-Nebraska game on Wednesday night, Cookie Miller got into a bit of a tussle with Mario Little. Take a look:



Gottlieb is very critical of Miller, saying he is "acting like a punk". Miller's family was none-too-happy about it, as they emailed Sports-by-Brooks asking for an apology from Gottlieb. I doubt they will ever get one, as Gottlieb reportedly said

He absolutely was acting like a punk. Go back and watch the tape if you guys want, but he was acting like a punk

on his Omaha radio show.

I agree with Miller's father and Nebraska coach Doc Sadler that Gottlieb may have gone a bit over the line in calling Miller a punk. But the bottom line is that the kid was acting like a punk. After the whistle was blown, Miller reached over Little and tried to rip the ball away from him. I don't really judge the kid for it. He clearly got caught up in the emotion of the game and carried it a little too far. But the fact of the matter is that Miller started the whole fracas.

One of the reasons that I respect Gottlieb as an announcer and an analyst is that he is not afraid to say something that may upset the coaches or the players he is covering. This isn't the first time he has gotten into trouble for things he has said on air. He gets paid to give the public his opinion and analysis of the games he is watching, and he does that. Whether or not you agree with him is a different story.

Another reason I like Gottlieb - he's pretty fun. While doing some research for this post, I came across this little diddy from Deadspin. Here is an exchange from an ESPN Chat he did a few years ago:

Mike Indiana: How did your mediocre basketball career prepare you for a mediocre broadcasting career?
Doug Gottlieb: (4:04 PM ET ) So your mediocre life can prepare you for a mediocre afterlife...and by the way, which one of us works for ESPN... hey and next time...when I you say 30 minutes or less....get here on time with my pizza.
John (Notre Dame): Doug, I lost my credit card, where were you last night?
SportsNation Doug Gottlieb: (4:27 PM ET ) Ask your mom.
Johns Mom (Notre Dame): GOTTLIEB I KNOW YOU STOLE MY SON'S CREDIT CARD!
SportsNation Doug Gottlieb: (4:34 PM ET ) Ten years ago I made a mistake...and payed for it...18 years ago YOU WERE your parents mistake and they are still paying for it.

I'm sure he received some sort of punishment for that, but you have to admit, it is pretty funny.



You know Ed Hightower. You've seen him before. He is the ref with the Fresh Prince style flat top. He has worked 12 Final Fours in his days moolighting as a ref (his day job is a superintendent the Edwardsville, Illinois school district), including last year's final when Kansas beat Memphis.

Hightower has also developed a reputation for his over-the-top theatrics when making a call. The fine folks over at Phog.net put together a thread taking this picture of Hightower and, well, see for yourself. Here is a link to the full thread (Deadspin put together a gallery of all the pictures).