The Mark Emmert Press Conference at the Final Four Was a Testy Affair, Including Comments Directed at Dennis Dodd

Mark Emmert was speaking at a press conference at the Final Four in Atlanta today. Things were a little testy, and much of it was originating from Emmert as he faced members of the media in the wake of numerous NCAA issues, notably the investigation fiasco in Miami over the last year.

In February, Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports wrote that Emmert needed to step down because of the NCAA’s lack of institutional control as evidenced by the Miami matter. Today, before taking other questions, Emmert singled out Dodd for comment and said, “By the way, thanks for the career advice. Kept my job anyway.” According to several reporters in attendance, Emmert also singled out Dodd again after the cameras turned away and the press conference ended “I’m still here. I know you’re disappointed, but here I am.”

In addition to the exchanges with Dodd, Emmert also had some with vocal critic Joe Nocera of the New York Times, and responded to questions about the USA Today article that ran this week about his history at other schools by saying “”I’m very proud of my record every place I’ve been.”

[update: the entire press conference was not televised, but the following exchange with Gary Parrish about the Auburn investigation and the Freeh report was]