Vivian Stringer, Rutgers women‘s basketball coach, on Countdown:

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Joining me now, Vivian Stringer, the coach of the Rutgers women‘s basketball team.

Coach Stringer, great thanks for your time tonight.

VIVIAN STRINGER, RUTGERS WOMEN‘S BASKETBALL COACH (on phone): Thank you. It‘s nice talking with you.

OLBERMANN: Have you spoken to your players about this decision?

STRINGER: No, I haven‘t. I‘ve just asked them not to make a comment.

I know that their intentions are, and they probably still are, to meet with Mr. Imus and put a face with this man that stands behind the mike and makes those kind of remarks.

OLBERMANN: Yesterday, as I mentioned on the air here, the management within this company had asked that I withhold any formal comment or request of my own about this until you got the opportunity and your team got the opportunity to meet with don Imus.

Are—what worried me about that was that, once again, having been dragged into the spotlight unintentionally by all of this, your team was now, to some degree, getting the burden of what would happen with this man‘s television show put upon it. Are you relieved that that meeting, if it indeed takes place, is now just going to be a meeting, it‘s not necessarily going to be a referendum on a guy‘s career?

STRINGER: You know, Keith, to be honest, that was a statement that I was saying all along, that these young people shouldn‘t be responsible for the, you know, the fall or rise of Don Imus. They were only responding to the comments that were made about them. And we—that‘s all that we were all responding to. We didn‘t ask for his resignation.

I think that what—I had faith in, and that is, the American public. And that I think that really, this is the reaction to we, the people, not Mr. Imus, and I think that we put a face on the chairman or the president of MSNBC.

And all of us saying all along, whether it‘s a garbage trucker or a cameraman or a politician or a president, you know, we‘re all equal, we deserve respect and human dignity. And I think that people were able to separate that wasn‘t Rutgers women‘s basketball so much as it spoke to the broader issue, it spoke to the degradation of women and calling women as such. Every one of us has a mother and we had to, you know, put that in perspective.

And I think that that‘s what touched us. And I think that it‘s important that we, you know, we‘ve become so desensitized that we‘ve allowed a lot of things to pass, and we‘ve not been happy.

But it‘s been important that we as adults take a leadership role, that the corporate executives are the people that are there, because the corporations are what they are because of we, the people. But unfortunately, we, the people, haven‘t understood that, you know, too often politicians, leaders, and whatever, religious leaders (INAUDIBLE), whoever speak for us, and we sit back and don‘t realize the power in numbers, and that when we have had enough is enough.

I really think that this was reduced to the very human element of decency, you know, to make sure that these kinds of things are stopped. I hope that it doesn‘t stop with Mr. Imus, because he‘s not the only culprit. I think that some of us as adults, as parents, are responsible for some extent, because we haven‘t stepped up, you know, that the corporate executives have dealt with the color of all of this being green, and it‘s OK.

We see these things over time, you know, a kid that steals something with a plastic cap pistol, to spend 10 years in jail, and yet you see, you know, the white-collar workers, you know, thieves that still millions of dollars. I think that we‘ve just got to come back, we‘ve got to come back to some level of human decency. And I do think that if people stood up, and politicians don‘t wait for a poll but are strong enough to make a decision and stand.

And what people saw is these young ladies, you know, these 10 young

ladies who had done nothing wrong, but been stellar students in the

classroom and had a great story to tell about, you know, the fact that you

it doesn‘t matter where you come from, and it doesn‘t matter how you start, but how you finish. This team lost by 40 points to the number one team in the country on national television, first game of the season.

But you know what? Six months later, they defeated this team, the number one team in the country, there in North Carolina. That was the story. And it was such a special story, and this was a glorious moment.

This is something they never should never have forgotten. But instead,

they find themselves coming back to defend that they are these derogatory -

you know, to defend themselves against these derogatory remarks.

And I think that that‘s what touched people, because they were able to not see them in a basketball uniform, but they saw them as their daughters and their nieces and their grandmothers and their mothers, and people began to say, Where is our sense of human decency? Tell me anyone that can listen to this and absolve themselves or insulate themselves from the hurt that was, you know, you know, that was thrust upon these young ladies.

And that‘s why I said it crossed everything. It crossed, you know, the female issue, you know, it was sexist, and it was biased, and it was racist. And aside from the fact that, you know what, it made trite the great event that took place for the game. Does anybody even know that Tennessee just now won a championship, that Rutgers and Tennessee played? No one even knows that, but no one cares because his reference to being cute was, you know, lessening the talents and the skills and the hard work of these individuals.

So it touched so very many people and I really do think, as I thought about this, no, I didn‘t expect Mr. Imus to be fired and we certainly didn‘t, you know, approach this with that idea. We really just wanted to have a face-to-face meeting with him. He needed to make a personal apology. And much to the players‘ credit, they wanted to see this man. They wanted to understand this man behind a mike and how could you say such things.

But we wanted to also say here‘s who we are. You know, I happen to be the daughter of a coal miner. My father lost both his legs in a mine. He worked hard each and every day. He only stayed out of the mine six months until he got prosthetics. I know what it is to work hard and this has been a lifelong pursuit and passion. I‘ve coached for 36 years and, you know what, to have gotten to a final championship—the last time I was there was 25 years ago.

Would I have liked to have won a national championship? I haven‘t won a championship yet. I‘ve been a coach that has taken three different teams four times to a Final Four. But, you know, this was a special moment because it was the most unlikely of teams. It was a great story to be told. And I was so very proud of these young women.

And it means so much to me that I can honestly say to you that, you know, as a person of conscience, I really do—have seen so much, you know, that I would like to see changed, like I said, with everything, so much of the language and that, that, really and truthfully, I would gladly exchange winning ever a national championship if we, as young ladies, would stand and allow the country to somehow be empowered and that we take back our country, and we start talking about moral decency. And when that happens—and we have to continue on. If it goes on, guess what? This was all good.

OLBERMANN: Vivian stringer, the coach at Rutgers. Those who may not be familiar with women‘s college basketball cannot perhaps appreciate the esteem in which she‘s held. It‘s extraordinary. Our great thanks for your time tonight Vivian.

STRINGER: Thank so you very much, Keith.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18075483">link

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