July 17, 2023
717/2023
GOD BLESS UKRAINE AND THE USA!!!!
TODAY’S COLUMNS:
The fate of 2 college football coaches. See FINE IDEAS below… Scott discusses LSU Baseball. Scott talks about mostly LSU Baseball. See WIZARDRY OF OS below.
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FINE IDEAS
4-20 vs 29-1
Two college football programs have been in the news this past week. Their 2 head coaches came under withering criticism. Yet, they experienced different outcomes.
Pat Fitzgerald was a legendary player at Northwestern. In the mid- 90s he was a 2-time consensus all-American and was named Back-to-Back Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as a junior and senior. An often-woebegone Wildcats program experienced unprecedented success (10-2 in 1995 and 9-3 in 1996), largely due to Fitzgerald’s play as a junior and a senior. Northwestern has been playing football since 1892. The 1995 and 1996 teams have the best 2 records (percentage-wise) in program history!
As head coach at his alma mater, Fitzgerald also excelled. He is the winningest coach in Northwestern Football history. In 17 seasons (2006—2022), he led the Wildcats to a record of 110-101, with wins in 5 Bowl games to his credit. In the 113 seasons prior to Fitzgerald coaching the Wildcats, they had won a grand total of only 1 Bowl game!!
Although having some name coaches lead them previously—Ara Parseghian and Dennis Green the 2 biggest--Northwestern became synonymous with wretched football, ignominiously losing (still) a national record 34 straight games from 1979-82. Yet, for many academicians affiliated with Northwestern, this losing football program was almost a badge of honor. The thinking being that at Northwestern—one of the finest institutions of higher learning in the country—focus was placed on scholarly pursuits, with dreadful Big Ten Football results seen as burnishing Northwestern’s academic reputation.
All of this was before Pat Fitzgerald became a player and later a coach at Northwestern. The modern cliché of “changing the culture” could not be better defined than at Northwestern with Fitzgerald as a player and then as a coach.
Then, recently, an insidious culture of Northwestern Football was exposed. Led by investigative reporting by its student newspaper, multiple cases of hazing of Northwestern Football players came to light. Nude players (mostly freshmen) were forced to commit lewd sexual acts on their upperclassmen teammates in the locker room. In addition, a number of minority players expressed that they had experienced racist treatment from several players and an assistant coach.
When this came to light about 10 days ago, Northwestern President Michael Schill initially suspended Fitzgerald for 2 weeks.
This past Monday, Schill had an epiphany that Fitzgerald was responsible for the behavior of his players, even if Fitzgerald was not aware of their indiscretions. Fitzgerald, who had signed a 10-year contract extension in 2021 worth a reported $40 million+, was fired this past Monday. The University has claimed Fitzgerald was fired with cause.
Kirby Smart was a football player at Georgia from 1995—1998. He was far from being a superstar, but was an all-SEC defensive back in his senior season. After several years as an assistant coach at different schools, Smart became head coach at UGA in 2016. In 7 seasons as head coach of his alma mater, he has compiled a record of 81-15, including a remarkable 48-9 in the SEC, with the 2021 and 2022 national championships highlighting his resume. The school’s only other national championship was in 1980 under legendary coach Vince Dooley.
The culture of football runs long and deep in the state of Georgia, most prominently at UGA. Although their 3 national championships do not approach those of Alabama (18) and USC (11), if one is talking about fervent, fanatical football followings, Georgia would make every list. Now, whereby we guess most Northwestern graduates would know that the previous sentence displays alliteration, many Georgia grads would not understand the concept. To clarify (damage control) there are several Georgia alumni who are amongst the most brilliant in their fields, with numerous impressive accomplishments. Yet, on a per capita basis, the University of Georgia is more of a football factory than an academic institution of high repute. They are no Northwestern in this regard.
One thing Georgia might consider is developing a NASCAR major. Several Georgia football players who have been ticketed for speeding would be strong candidates. —Can Georgia offer these players course credits for the speeding tickets they have received? But this is really no laughing matter and I apologize for my irreverence. Astonishingly, less than a week after Georgia won its most recent national championship, star defensive linemen Jalen Carter was racing with another car being driven by football staff member Chandler LeCroy. Both vehicles were estimated to be travelling over 100 mph. This proved fatal for LeCroy and Georgia player Devin Willock, a passenger in LeCroy’s vehicle. Since this senseless accident on January 15, there have been 11 other traffic moving violations committed by UGA players. 11! And, this only counts the players who were caught. And how many others have been speeding and have not been apprehended, whose lone penance was giving a police officer an autograph?
I am not equating the Georgia and Northwestern situations. Certainly, Northwestern’s issues are during team activities in the locker room. Georgia’s issues are on the (with Georgia players driving, dangerous) streets of Athens and beyond.
Plus, Northwestern’s allegations of locker room brutality/racism are a lot more egregious sins than Georgia’s speeding violations.
One way to interpret this is to distinguish between correlation and causation. Whereas Smart presides over Georgia’s program and Fitzgerald held this role at Northwestern, the fact that their players behaved badly while these 2 where their coaches establish a correlation. But, did these 2 coaches cause their players to misbehave? On the surface, that would be unfair to either coach. Now, one might postulate that these programs are out of control, fostering the maladaptive behavior of its players. That would fall directly on the head coach.
We started out this column with 4-20 and 29-1. Have you been waiting breathlessly for an explanation?
The Wildcats, under Fitzgerald, have been 4-20 the last 2 seasons. UGA has gone 29-1, with 2 national championships in 2021 and 2022. Ultimately, to me, this was the deciding factor in Fitzgerald’s pink slip and Smart’s unblemished HR stat sheet.
Put another way, let us create an alternate universe. Suppose Fitzgerald’s teams were 29-1, winning 2 national championships at Northwestern, he would still have a job. Heck, there would probably be plans to erect a statue of him at Dyche Stadium. He would possibly receive a reprimand for what might be framed as his program’s juvenile locker room shenanigans. The operative word is possibly.
A shout-out to both universities to end this column on a “positive” note.
The 2 employees I have had through the years in my capacity as a producer of sport-talk radio shows in Louisiana came several years ago. They had 3 things in common. Both were quality individuals with integrity and neither of them would embrace the critical role of being a salesperson for their shows. Both matriculated at Northwestern University. One thing that was kind of humorous is that many people in Louisiana thought that my guys went to school at Northwestern State in Natchitoches, not Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois!
I do need to apologize for (what I hope will be regarded as) my somewhat tongue in cheek characterization of the typical Georgia student. This mea culpa is especially due to the way that Georgia has embraced former (Baton Rouge) Southern University Football player Devon Gales. Gales was left a paraplegic by a play in the Georgia—Southern game in 2015. Since then, Bulldog Nation has gone above and beyond in opening up their hearts (and wallets) to try to assist Devon. Much of this was put in motion by the way the Georgia Football program set the standard (Coach Mark Richt in 2015, with coach Smart starting the next season). It has been Class Personified by all affiliated directly or indirectly with Georgia Football toward Devon and his family. The love that everyone has shown towards Devon is heartwarming, real life-affirming. This is not a great football story. It is a great Human Being story!...and certainly trumps my crass, condescending characterization of Georgia students in prior paragraphs. In fact, I’ve had a change of heart. Considering how caring Georgia has been toward Devon Gales, I’ll write that, yes, Georgia students understand that this last sentence was yet another example of alliteration!
So, Go Northwestern! Go Georgia!...but a bit slower, please, when driving down the streets of Athens!
THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Thoughts on a sweltering summer day:
July 11, 2023. That is the date I became “old.” No, it wasn’t my birthday (close). It was the day I watched the MLB All-Star game and thought, “Without the uniforms with the team colors, I don’t know any of these guys.” So to MLB, I plead to you, bring back team uniforms with team colors to the All-Star game. I have been blessed to have experienced all of LSU’s national championship baseball teams and watched many of the iconic moments. In 1991, LSU throttled everyone with Lyle Mouton and Gary Hymel launching tape measure home runs. Armando Rios’ double and Todd Walker’s game winning single off the first baseman against Long Beach State in 1993 (Rios launching his helmet as he crossed home plate) are just as memorable as Bret Laxton throwing fastballs by Wichita State batters in the championship game. In 1996, it was Warren Morris, enough said. In 1997, Brandon Larson hit a titanic home run off Matt Anderson of Rice (who threw 100 mph) to tie the first game of the CWS. LSU would go on to win 5-4. In 2000, there were a few moments. The first two that jump out are Ray Wright’s catch and, of course, Brad Cresse’s hit to bring home Ryan Theriot (another helmet launched). In 2009, for me, the memory that stands out the most is every time Chad Jones came into the game. Now, we have Tre Morgan’s dive, Tommy White’s home run, and Cade Beloso’s home run. Wonderful moments and memories that will stay with Tiger fans. LSU women’s basketball and LSU baseball have not just won championships, but have won them with a flair that has placed both programs at the top of their respective sport. Women’s basketball signed a great class from high school and the portal. Combine that with Angel Reese returning and everyone will want to see LSU play next year whether they are cheering for or against the Tigers. The baseball team is losing great players to MLB, but they had an incredibly deep roster this year. The high school recruiting class maintained everyone except the #8 pick in the draft. That is amazing. Meanwhile, through the transfer portal, LSU is gaining talented, experienced players that will certainly have the Tigers in position to return to Omaha. In these two sports, LSU has the premier programs that are dominating NIL and social media. Yet, the Box and Assembly Center are not the premier venues in the conference. The time to make that happen is now.
Not that Scott Woodward needs my advice, and I am certainly not an architect. The Box needs chair back seats down the lines. Whether it is a berm or something else, there needs to be an area for rowdy people (likely students) to stand or sit and have fun watching the game. As we all know, the bullpens must be moved outside the field of play. I think most Tiger fans are of the same mindset in these three aspects. The last part to me, and the greedy part that may have to come later, is to do something unique. Mississippi State has done that with their hotel. The Box used to be unique by its size and suites. Everyone has huge video boards. To be premier and stand out, you need something unique that stands out.
As for the Assembly Center, I think we are all expecting LSU to build a new arena. Whether it is a drastic renovation or a new arena, the best college basketball arenas these days have great size or great proximity and viewing for fans that leads to an intense environment. LSU is not going to be able to create a Bud Walton or Rupp Arena environment, so we know LSU should not go that route. Ole Miss and Auburn are the models for LSU. The arena should have students very close to the court and suites to bring in the big money. A second tier that hangs over the first tier so those fans can be close as well. Finally, there should be windows that give a view to Tiger Stadium or whatever is surrounding the arena.
Many Tiger fans feel like we are embarking on a new Golden Era of Tiger athletics. Football capitalized on the success of the early 2000s to keep Tiger Stadium up with Alabama, A&M, Ohio State, Penn State, and others. Skip Bertman was always improving the old Box until no more could be done there and it was time for a new Box. That was 15 years ago. It is time to move up again. Women’s basketball and gymnastics have done enough to where they deserve a new arena, and men’s basketball will join in that benefit.
Have you seen the NBA summer league overtime rule experiment? Probably not, since it is the NBA summer league. Instead of a timed overtime period, the overtime is played without a clock (the shot clock remains) and the winner is the first team to score 7 points. The result is that every game that goes to overtime ends with a game winning shot, which is pretty neat.
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