Russ Rose Brings the Funny
October 29, 2010 at 5:47 pm Lori Shontz 3 comments
Anyone who’s ever covered the Penn State women’s volleyball team can tell you two things. One, Russ Rose is a great coach. Two, Russ Rose is hilarious.
Alumni Council members got to see that second side of Rose on Friday afternoon, when he made a special guest appearance at their meeting. Sometimes Rose’s humor can be dry and deadpan, but he was laugh-out-loud funny standing at the podium in Robb Hall. The guy has the expert timing of a first-rate stand-up comic, and I can’t reproduce that here. But I hope you can still tell from these highlights that he did bring his A game:
On players making mistakes: “I like to say I have coaching Alzheimer’s. If I put you in and you do something wrong, I’ll put you in again the next day. But if you keep reminding me, I’ll figure out you’re bad.”
On his educational background: “I went to a small college in Illinois that isn’t there anymore. [Actually, George Williams College merged with Aurora University in 2000.] I have a master’s from Nebraska, so it’s nice to have a degree from a Big Ten institution. Although it is … Nebraska.”
On the sense of entitlement that today’s athletes have. Or, more specifically, their parents have—because they are the ones who have paid for everything from special club teams to private workouts: “The parents say to me, ‘Do you know how much I’ve spent on club?’ ‘Do you know how much I’ve spent on personal trainers?’ All I know is, she’s not that good.”
On his parenting skills: “I don’t want to be the dad that yells all the time. I like to come in and say … `How’s it goin’?'”
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Entry filed under: Alumni Association, Penn State women's volleyball. Tags: Penn State Alumni Council, Russ Rose, women's volleyball.
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