Mike Vaccaro has an interesting take on the matchup between Eric Mangini and Bill Belichick this Sunday in today's Post. He harkens back to a previous rivalry between a New York coach and his mentor - Jeff Van Gundy's late-90's wars with Pat Riley and the Miami Heat.
Jeff Van Gundy has walked in Eric Mangini's shoes before, felt the raging waters of loyalty and loathing collide within his bloodstream. He knows what it's like to be shunned by a man he used to lionize, for whom he gladly would have taken a bullet, for whom he willingly worked endless strings of 20-hour days.
The Van Gundy-Riley feud didn't materialize as quickly as the one between the football coaches as Belichick refused to even acknowledge Mangini's existence during the regular season meetings between the Jets and Patriots. Riley didn't start hating on the Goondy until after the infamous brawl at the Garden that saw JVG swinging from Alonzo Mourning's leg like a toddler. But after that series ended with a Knick win in Game Five, Riley was careful to go out of his way to avoid having to congratulate or snub Van Gundy by exiting around the other side of the court.
That's classier than what Belichick did with his half-hearted handshake after the Jet loss in September or the way that Mangini had to bob and weave his way into an interaction after the upset win in Foxborough. Riley eventually gave his protege a pat on the back,
Riley, the ultimate alpha-dog competitor, ultimately granted Van Gundy the only thing he really wanted. In May 1999, after a year had passed, after the Knicks had broken the Heat's hearts again, Van Gundy received a package in Atlanta, saw the familiar handwriting on the outside and a word that made him take pause. It was addressed to "Coach Jeff Van Gundy." In the parlance of Rileyspeak, that was the highest tribute to be offered, and a sign that anger had been replaced, however reluctantly, by pride.
I don't see Belichick doing the same if Mangini should lead Gang Green past the Patriots again this weekend.
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