More quotes about the Mac controversy

Hours after his press conference, as he was about to board a shuttle for the airport, Mac said:
"I'm so disappointed in myself. So disappointed." (HA)

About Mac's statements, JD said:
"Coach McMackin is a good man and cares for the University of Hawaii and the football program. He made a statement he shouldn't have made. I believe one of Hawaii's greatest strengths and the University of Hawaii's greatest strengths is our diversity and we're very proud of that and we wouldn't want to say or do anything that would hurt anyone." (HSB)

"Obviously we don't condone his remarks, particularly since we take such great pride in the diversity of our state and university. I've conveyed my disappointment to him and he has expressed deep regret for showing such poor judgment." (HA)

"I cannot comment on personnel matters. We'll go through the normal university procedures." (HA)

About Mac's inappropriate language, Gov. Lingle said:
"I think anybody who's in public life that talks a lot in public faces this problem. I've certainly said things I wish I could take back and I know the Coach is feeling that way right now. Nobody's going be harder on him than he's going be on himself in this situation. I read his remarks in the paper. I know he's just kicking himself right now about it. I believe him when he says this is not who he is as a person and his players have backed that up." (HSB)

UH President David McClain said that he was:
"angered and disappointed by the statement attributed to Coach McMackin. It certainly does not represent the values of the University of Hawaii. I'm glad to learn that Coach has apologized; this is the first step in the healing process." (HSB)

Declining comment, incoming UH President MRC Greenwood said:
"I think (McClain) should be the one to issue anything on behalf of the university." (HSB)

UH Manoa Chancellor Hinsaw said:
"Coach Greg McMackin's use of a derogatory term (f----- dance) during his remarks at today's WAC event is highly regrettable, offensive and surprising to those of us who know him. I know that Coach McMackin deeply regrets his comments because they do not represent his personal beliefs nor those of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which supports an inclusive campus environment for all students. Hurtful language like this has no place in our community, and particularly not among leaders of our UH Manoa campus. Athletic Director Jim Donovan and I will be discussing with Coach McMackin further steps that will be taken to reaffirm his and our commitment to fair and equal treatment of all." (HA, HSB)

Letting UH handle things for now, WAC Commissioner Karl Benson said:
"There is a sportsmanship piece in our code that may apply and at the appropriate time we'll address it. As far as this matter today, it's going to be a University of Hawaii matter." (HSB)

About not posting Mac's press conference online, Benson said:
"Obviously his remarks were offensive and he showed his sincerity just his last couple minutes in terms of his regret. I don't know if there's any useful purpose to put that type of remark out there online." (HSB)

About how this became big news quickly, UH sports information director Derek Inouchi said:
"Seeing it on ESPN as soon as we got on the plane said it was pretty big news." (HA)

HA Note: "

Under the headline, "Hawaii's McMackin exposed at WAC media preview," ESPN.com said the coach's comments "and then his string of apologies were like a snowball running out of control. You kind of wanted someone to tell him to stop talking. Then, in his final apology, he sounded like a child who got caught doing something he shouldn't have." The Chicago Tribune called McMackin's comments "stupendously unfortunate" and compared his initial bumbling apology to "... a guy carrying a flower pot full of water to a five-alarm fire ...""

In addition to diversity training for athletic department employees and a donation from Mac to a gay support group, PFLAG-Oahu, a local gay rights group, wants Mac to fund a public service announcement on:
"the dangers of abusive language on the field, in the classroom and elsewhere." (HSB)

"PFLAG O'ahu is appalled that the head coach at UH-M would be so unprofessional, so homophobic and so prejudicial that he would voice a gay slur even in jest. Behind closed doors is bad, but to voice the 'F' at a press conference at the Western Athletic Conference Football Preview is unacceptable." (HA)

About Mac's unfortunate use of words, Carolyn Martinez Golojuch, president of the Oahu chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays said:
"Behind closed doors is bad, but to voice the 'F' at a press conference at the Western Athletic Conference Football Preview is unacceptable. This discriminatory incident is a reflection of widespread verbal abuse that many times leads to assaults in our society." (HA)

"If we let this coach slide on through, he won't have learned a lesson and neither will any other coach or students standing there listening." (HA)

HA Note: "Martinez Golojuch said McMackin needs to do more than apologize. Her organization called for the UH president to ensure McMackin funds a public service announcement on the dangers of abusive language on the field and classroom, donates $10,000 to a gay support group for LGBT youth, and that the UH athletics staff attend diversity training with a professional trainer."

Darlene Nipper, deputy executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said:
"These comments as reported are an outrage and we urge the University of Hawai'i to act swiftly to take the proper steps to ensure this does not happen again." (HA)

HSB Note: "Perhaps a huge public firestorm ensues in the wake of McMackin's triple faux pas (that's what is most remarkable: in trying to recover from his error, he utters the offending word twice more, cameras and tape recorders still running)."

HSB Note: "McMackin loves his job. He worked all his career to become a head coach, and therein lies a problem. When assistant coaches talk to reporters, they're often off the record.

Still, no excuse. McMackin had to be in a daze to realize he wasn't speaking to every major newspaper in the WAC yesterday, not to mention ESPN."

The Orlando Sentinel noted that C-USA has just had a videoconference and said:
"Ouch. McMackin is going to wish the WAC held a videoconference like Conference USA, which had multiple technical difficulties." (HA)

Idaho Statesman columnist Brian Murphy said:
"... I know I looked at my Statesman colleagues with a 'Can you believe he just said that?' look. As he repeated the word, it was obvious that this was news." (HA)

Reno Gazette Journal writer Dan Hinxman wrote on his blog:
"McMackin has endeared himself to much of the WAC press because of his politeness. He's just a genuinely nice guy who enjoys making people laugh. Does that excuse or make up for what he said? Of course not. But it was abundantly clear, and he said so later in his press conference, that he was attempting to be glib. There was no evil in his intent. There is no doubt about this: (McMackin's) demeanor in the couple hours that followed his comments was rather forlorn and somber. He most definitely learned a lesson, and he won't do that again." (HA)

On ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" cable show, host Tony Kornheiser said Mac:
"could be fired (yesterday)." (HA)

Ferd wrote:
"Why McMackin chose to not only resurrect but compound it yesterday tossing around a term offensive to gays we'll never know and he will undoubtedly long regret. But in using — and repeating — "f-----" yesterday at the Western Athletic Conference Football Media Preview, McMackin went beyond a forgettable football game to something more regrettable, intolerance, in the worst of forums.

Before a room full of reporters and tape recorders in Salt Lake City he attempted to make light of his own failing and ended up, by reflection, disparaging the school that employs him instead. This before what became, in the age of the internet, a national audience.

Then, stumbling through an apology, he proceeded to dig the hole deeper telling reporters to "just, please ... cover for me" or he would "deny it."

Eventually, McMackin returned and made a full and heartfelt apology."