Roy Williams apologized Thursday for a clumsy comparison he made
this week between North Carolina's season-long struggles and the
earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people in Haiti last
month.
The Hall-of-Fame coach made the comments to reporters
Tuesday.
Williams said, "Massage therapist told me, she said, 'You
know, coach, what happened in Haiti is a catastrophe. What you're
having is a disappointment.' And I told her that depends on what
chair she was sitting in. Because it does feel like a catastrophe
to me, because it is my life."
The defending national champion Tar Heels lost to Duke the
following day.
According to the
News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., Williams told a
similar story during his radio show Feb. 1, but said then that the
massage therapist's comments put basketball into perspective. "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 ... but it does make us understand what
we're facing."
Williams left out that explanation this week, causing him to
come under fire on talk shows and in Internet chat rooms and
forums.
In a statement released by the school, Williams said he
understood the relative gravity of the problems.
"In no way am I equating the tragedy in Haiti with
basketball," he said. "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."
