Dean Smith passed away over the weekend at age 83. Dean Smith was a great basketball coach and from all reports a really good person. In the late 60s he offered Charlie Scott a scholarship at UNC making Scott the first Black scholarship basketball player in the ACC.
Rest in peace, Dean Smith…
On a happier note in college basketball, another coach reached the 1000-win milestone recently. Herb Magee and his team at Philadelphia University beat Post University 80-60 giving Magee 1000 wins for his career. Moreover, here is something Magee can claim that Mike Krzyzewski cannot:
Magee has won all 1000 games at the same school – although it used to be known as Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science when he played there and then began his coaching career. Magee has been the coach there for the last 48 seasons.
A group of caddies has filed a class-action suit against the PGA. The suit asserts that the PGA makes the caddies wear bibs with sponsor logos on the bibs but the caddies do not get any share of the revenue generated from the sponsors. When I first read about this, my reaction was pretty close to indifference because I figured that the amount of money involved here could not be enough to make a difference to anyone. WRONG! The suit asserts that the PGA pulls in $50M for the “bib sponsor logos”. Seriously…
Scott Ostler had this comment in the SF Chronicle regarding Tiger Woods’ most recent failure to finish a tournament:
“Tiger Woods. He withdrew with a bad back, explaining that a long wait in the fog caused his glutes to deactivate. First recorded case of foggy bottom. You know you’re in trouble when your ass goes south on you. Now can we declare a moratorium on discussion of any Tiger Woods body part below his waist?”
Personally, I wonder if this was a case of his glutes deactivating or a situation where he realized he was getting his glutes kicked…
One more golf item – Greg Cote of the Miami Herald had this in his column over the weekend and it has all you need to know about the subject:
“Some facts require no punch line. Example: An LPGA golfer named Brooke Pancake just signed an endorsement deal with Waffle House.”
Three weeks ago, the NFL faced “Deflategate”; last week, the Falcons’ owner admitted that the team had pumped in extra crowd noise for home games; this week, the Browns are under the microscope because they allegedly were caught texting with the sidelines during games this season. Supposedly, the Browns’ GM, Ray Farmer, was texting with quarterbacks’ coach, Dowell Loggains, about the way the Browns’ quarterbacks were playing and various personnel decisions. Before you ask, I have no idea why there is a rule against that but evidently there is.
I read one account that said that Farmer might suffer a suspension for all of this and that the Browns could potentially lose a draft pick over this matter. I understand – and support completely – a ban on texting while driving. I have to say that I do not understand why a GM and one of the coaches on his team cannot text back and forth during a game. I am confident however that if Roger Goodell holds a news conference to explain why this is an issue, I will come away knowing nothing more than I do now about the basis for the rule.
Leave it to the folks at The Onion to take all of the NFL “scandals” and put them in perspective with a simple headline:
“Puppy Bowl overshadowed by league’s rampant heartworm-pill abuse”
Greg Cote had this item regarding the Miami Dolphins in the Miami Herald:
“The Dolphins’ renovated stadium will offer 16 four-seat “living rooms” with personal TVs and unlimited food and drink including liquor. Cost will be $1,500 per seat and up, or some $70,000 per season per “living room.” For that money, accoutrements had better include a playoff team.”
My family room – where my TV is located – can comfortably seat 4 people to watch a football game. My long-suffering wife is an excellent cook. I have a decent wine cellar and can procure any hard liquor anyone might want to consume. If 4 people paid me $6K to come over and watch a game here and we had to provide the food and drink, I think I might come out just a tad ahead at the end of the day. By the way, if they wanted to stay for a second game, I could still feed and water those folks and still show a profit. I cannot understand why anyone would want to pay $1500 to watch a game on TV.
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………