3 theories why Buzz Williams was bleeding through his shirt during the ACC tournament

Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams was seemingly bleeding through his white shirt on Wednesday night for no apparent reason.

It was one of the oddest moments of the ACC tournament so far, that is until someone asked why he was bleeding.

This brief excerpt from his postgame press conference is a modern sports mystery. Why did Williams begin talking about a trip to Nordstrom? More importantly, why does he like the word “maroon” so much?

The internet is mystified by the response, but here are three possible theories as to why things got weird.

Buzz Williams bleeding through his shirt is a curiosity, but really it’s not anyone’s business if he doesn’t want to talk about it. There could be a medical reason for it. Perhaps he accidentally stabbed himself with a pen. There are a multitude of reasons why someone might bleed from their shoulder area.

Asking him about it is fair game, just as dodging the question and turning it into a conversation about maroon and a shopping trip to Nordstrom is fair game.

Let’s suppose for a second that Williams was utterly confused that people thought he was bleeding blood. This is a distinct possibility. In this model imagine that the Hokies’ coach thought everyone was referring to color bleeding through the shirt all along.

Buzz Williams goes to Nordstrom to find a maroon tie. There’s no maroon tie. He settles for a maroon and white undershirt to rep some school spirit while remaining professional.

It’s hot under the Madison Square Garden lights. Williams begins to sweat from the armpit area. One problem: The armpit is where the maroon is. Now he’s bought this shirt hastily so he definitely hasn’t washed the shirt. He’s on live TV sweating during an intense game and the color is staining his white dress shirt from the inside.

Williams is asked about it and all he can say is “maroon.”

Problem with this theory! Why did the person cleaning his shirt wear medical gloves reserved for assisting bleeding players?

This one requires an open mind and a belief in transmogrification. Buzz Williams loves Virginia Tech. He’s the kind of man who went on a spur of the moment shopping trip to Nordstrom to find a tie just so he could rep his team’s colors.

That kind of love changes a person, similarly to how the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes when he learned the true meaning of Christmas. Love is transformative — so in this theory Williams’ body has fully adapted to be an entity of his environment.

Williams’ normally bright red blood is now maroon. Darkened with the fire of competition and love for Blacksburg. Cubs fans “Bleed Cubbie Blue,” and now Williams Bleeds Hokie Maroon.

When asked about the blood the word is foreign to him. “Blood” no longer exists in his vocabulary. There is only maroon. He no longer sees the color red. There is only maroon. Reading through this lens gives the entire weird exchange meaning.

Or, I dunno — maybe the whole thing just makes no dang sense after all.