My Corner of the World

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Wow, what a week. Memphis coach John Calipari keeps Tiger fans happy electing to stay put here instead of trekking to N.C. State. Meanwhile, Tigers football coach Tommy West receives a slight raise & extension & that spurs the debate over whether he's worth the money or not. Finally, the death of Logan Young went from a murder investigation to an accidental death. Maybe I watch way too much CSI or Law & Order, but I just feel there is more to this story.

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It seems SMU has officially interviewed Texas assistant basketball coach Rodney Terry for the vacant head coach's position. It's also being reported that "informal" talks have been held with ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla. Jimmy Tubbs was fired last week for alleged NCAA violations.

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New UAB basketball coach Mike Davis has announced his staff.

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As someone on the outside looking in at the resignation this week of Melrose High School football coach Chester Flowers Jr., I can't help but feel sorry for the first-year coach of the Golden Wildcats. He led the team to the State 4A championship game, finishing with a 13-2 record. He was at the helm of a storied program which has amazing fan support.

But somewhere along the way it sounds like the job became too much of a headache, so he walked.

"Some are going to think I'm out of my mind to just walk away like this, but I've discussed it with my family and my pastor and they support me in my decision, and that's all that matters," Flowers told the Commercial Appeal. "I want to do things that are more gratifying to the soul, like going to St. Jude (Children's Research Hospital) and visiting sick children and going to nursing homes and visiting the elderly."

Those are all admirable things, but so is teaching young men the game of football & the game of life. I know, it's why I coached youth league baseball many years ago. It was gratifying & it served a positive purpose, similar to what coach Flowers I am sure was doing at Melrose. But then it sounds like it turned into a job with too many headaches, too much stress & no room for satisfying the needs of young men.

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Pop quiz: What college athletic department had the largest profit in 2005? USC you say? No. Florida? Again, no, but you are getting warmer. The University of Georgia turned a $23.9-million PROFIT last year! All I can say is wow.

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A poll released today indicates a majority of Californians believe slugger Barry Bonds has used steriods. A Field Poll says 58-percent point the finger at Bonds, with the number jumping to 68-percent if the respondent also claimed to be a fan of baseball.

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The big question in New York is will Larry Brown return to the Knicks? The coach was at his Connecticut home yesterday resting after spending a day in a hospital for a stomach ailment. Add this to the rest of the turmoil that is the New York Knicks right now & if I were the 65-year old Brown, I would take a walk... hasta la vista, baby.

For the record, Brown's agent says he will be back next season.

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Broadcasting 101: every mic is hot (turned on) & should always be treated as such. If not, you'll sooner or later say something that at the least will embarrass you... at worst, it could cost you your job. Look, it's happened to me... I've heard it happen to Jack Buck, Joe Buck & even Pat Summerall.

Years ago I was doing color on a high school football game. During what he assumed was a lengthy halftime break, the play-by-play guy flipped our headset receiver to a competing station so we could get a score of another local high school's football game. We started listening to the newby they had behind a mic & couldn't help but laugh. But I was the one who opened my big mouth & said, "Wow, he is awful!"

Looking at his stopwatch, the PBP guy flipped back, thinking we were about to return to the air. But when we hit our station all we could hear was the crowd mic. It seems we had been on-the-air for about 60 seconds... yes, our entire conversation was out there. It was embarrassing, but at least there were no "f" bombs or anything similar offered.

Oh, to top it off, our studio producer who was not smart enough to cover the entire break was smart enough to edit our aircheck tape, so we had no physical proof of what occurred. But there were plenty of earwitnesses that let us know.

I go through this whole story after reading this one which caught a pair of NY Mets TV announcers with a conversation they had no idea they were sharing every viewer.

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Happy Easter, everyone.

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