Roy Williams apologizes, kind of

Well, Roy Williams has put out a public apology for the comments he had comparing his team's disappointing season to the earthquake in Haiti.

"In no way am I equating the tragedy in Haiti with basketball," Williams said in a statement issued by the University. "I'm sorry that my statement at the press conference made it seem like I was comparing the two. The people of Haiti are suffering through unimaginably difficult times. I know very well that we are just playing a game."

Roy Williams apologized for his comments, I think.
(photo credit: ESPN)

Williams has been getting ripped on the intrawebs for the statement, which came barely two months after he had a fan thrown out of the Dean Dome for yelling at his players.

It wasn't hard to jump to the conclusion that Roy Williams takes himself a tad too seriously.

In his defense, however, he was apparently referencing another story he told on his radio show last week.

"On February 1st at my weekly radio show I made a comment about a colleague telling me that Haiti was a catastrophe and we were just having a difficult season," the statement said. "I said that does put basketball in perspective. However, Tuesday, at a press conference, I referenced her comment again but I neglected to say that it puts basketball in perspective."

Williams is referring to this quote from his show:

The young lady that's our massage therapist, she had the best line ... because that was ... I saw her before the North Carolina State game, and she said, `Coach, you may not believe this, or may not feel it all the time, but, what they have in Haiti is a catastrophe. What you have is a disappointment.' And, it's true. It's something ... I said, well right now in my mind and my body, it feels like a catastrophe, but it is. What those people are having to go through is just unbelievable and it does put what we're going through in a different light, but it doesn't make it any easier though Woody, but it does make us understand what we're facing.

So yes, Roy Williams was trying to compare UNC's season to what happened in Haiti. He just wasn't making the comparison we all assumed he was making.

Right?

Seems you found a way to talk yourself out of another mess, Ol' Roy.