I will preface this column by saying this is going to be a Tiger-free zone. I wrote about Tiger Woods [1] earlier in the week, and the rest of the world is doing a fine job of covering the ubiquitous story. No more assistance needed from me.
On to some bad sports. Charlie Weis, former head coach of Notre Dame (I love writing that), decided to mouth off this week, talking smack about Pete Carroll of USC [2], stating that Carroll was having an affair with a graduate student. Mouthing off is nothing new for Weis, of course. When he was hired, he waxed poetic about the “decided schematic advantage” that his Notre Dame teams would enjoy. I had never had a well-formed opinion about him when he was an assistant coach for the New England Patriots, but that initial news conference after his hiring by Notre Dame was enough to cause me to despise him instantly. If not for his towering arrogance, he would have been just another ineffective coach at a school that has never accepted its irrelevance in modern college football. His attitude, though, set him up to be under an even more powerful microscope than he might have otherwise been.
Notre Dame has a huge fan base, most members of which have no more connection to the school than an Irish background, a Catholic background, or both. Their sheer numbers, though, have led to a level of attention that far outstrips their actual accomplishments over the last 20+ years. Between 1995 and 2007, Notre Dame went to nine bowl games, losing all of them. Worse, the losses were by an average of more than 17 points. They broke the streak last year, beating a bad Hawaii team in an insignificant bowl a week before New Year’s Day. Part of the reason for this brutal bowl record was the fact that the illogical focus on Notre Dame football consistently led to them being selected for bowl games that were far out of their league, playing opponents who were far better than them, simply because the bowls knew how much attention they could draw to their game by choosing the Irish.
Weis was fired last week. His statements about Pete Carroll were in response to questions (from Irish Illustrated) about the level of scrutiny to which he had been subjected over his years at the school. Apparently, he felt like he was being held to an unfair standard, while someone like Pete Carroll was allowed to do whatever he pleased. There is no proof that what Weis said about Carroll is true, to my knowledge, and Weis has since apologized [3], using the awesome “it was taken out of context” defense. I am not a fan of Carroll, mind you, and I think he runs a dirty program (ask Reggie Bush), but this all seemed pretty unfair to him. Weis’ need to shift his misery onto someone else may amount to nothing, but it will at least bring some questions that Carroll certainly didn’t expect or want. It’s a shame that Carroll’s Trojans won’t get another opportunity to embarrass a Weis-led team. I can’t imagine any other schools will be knocking on Charlie’s door any time soon.
Bad sports, continued:
2) Some players just seem snakebitten. Greg Oden has been one of them since he entered the NBA in 2007. After being the first overall pick in the draft that spring, Oden injured his right knee shortly after the season started, and he required surgery which ended his season. He lost 21 games to various injuries during his second season, and on Saturday, 21 games into his third season, he again suffered a knee injury [4]. He is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
3) I have always liked Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Hines Ward. He has always seemed like a good guy and a great, smart player. Smart player, maybe, but not necessarily smart person. Last week, Ben Roethlisberger, the Pittsburgh quarterback, missed their game against Baltimore with problems caused by a concussion that he had suffered the previous week. As I mentioned in last week’s BSGS [5], the NFL is taking concussions very seriously these days. During a pregame interview with Bob Costas, Ward seemed to be suggesting that Roethlisberger should have lied [6] in order to get clearance to play. I would expect such shortsightedness from a fan, for whom these games are little more than video games, but a player should know better.
Good sports:
1) As the clock wound down in the Florida Gators’ loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship game, Tim Tebow, college football’s golden boy, did what any big-time athlete would do: he cried [7]. Brett Favre would be proud.
2) The Philadelphia Eagles went to Atlanta to play the Falcons this week. All week long, the talk was about the return of Michael Vick to Atlanta. Vick’s lack of involvement in the Eagles offense up to this point in the season wasn’t enough to put off the rabid media, particularly ESPN, who seem to love tracking Vick’s every move. It was music to my ears when the boos rained down [8] when Vick first took the field Sunday. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
By the way, pay no attention to the inevitable overstating of Vick’s role in the Eagles 34-7 win. Yes, he scored his first (and hopefully last ) two touchdowns as an Eagle. What you won’t read is that the scores had no bearing on the final result. The Eagles would have won without them. I don’t remember ever booing an Eagles touchdown in my life. Sunday, I did it twice.
3) David Stern has been extremely progressive during his time as the commissioner of the NBA. People have not always liked his heavy-handed methods, but there is no arguing the success of the league under his stewardship. In an interview with CNN/SI’s Ian Thomsen this week, Stern made it clear that he expects women to play in the NBA someday [9], and in the not too distant future. I don’t know whether or not this is true, of course, but I like to think it will happen.
Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday
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[12]Alan Spoll [13]
[12]Latest posts by Alan Spoll (Posts [14])
- Pereira comments on “Philly Special” a total waste of time [15] - February 14, 2018
- BSGS News Brief: Tom Brady beats the NFL [16] - September 3, 2015
- BSGS News Brief: Geno Smith gets his jaw broken by a punch [17] - August 16, 2015
- BSGS News Brief – Oh, Vanderbilt. Really? [18] - August 6, 2015
- BSGS News Brief – Sheldon Richardson hits the Bad Sports wire in a big way [19] - July 31, 2015