Page S
The Coac
We Need Comm itment
•Editor's Note: Parts of this column were submitted prior to the Christmas break.
I have a fabulous idea. I think that colleges around the country should offer a
course in commitment. Obviously, as in all college course list offerings, my course
will be titled. To wit:
Commitment 101 (Four credits) 10:00-11:15 MW
An introduction to behavioral concepts relating the acts of committing to a
charge or trust. We will analyze roles, duties, structures, models, and methods
employed in agreements and pledges. We will discuss and develop a definition of
the word obligation. Attendance mandatory.
What is the Coach talking about? Is he going nuts, you ask? No way, Jose. I'm
talking about Danny Ainge of course. Ainge is just .another example of the
professional athlete who has shown a lack of commitment and obligation where a
legal contract is concerned. That's commitment with a capital C. What Ainge has
done is a disgrace to professional athletics. He has signed a contract to play
baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays. No one forced Ainge to sign with the Blue
Jays. No one forced him to play baseball. Does a contract mean anything
nowadays?
Ainge is a copout! When his batting average dipped below a robust .187 and
' his defensive skills began to deteriorate, he began to have second thoughts about
playing professional baseball. But Danny signed a legal contract with the Blue
Jays. He made a commitment and supposedly had an obligation to fulfill his
contract. Guess what? After being drafted by the Boston Celtics after the finish of
the 1981 baseball season, Ainge told the Jays that he wasn't interested in playing
baseball anymore. It's obvious to me that Ainge has tried to coast on his natural
talent alone. He has given up. He quit!
Danny Ainge has spent the huge signing bonus that he received from the
Toronto Blue Jays. Now he will spend an even larger bonus given' to him for
signing with the Celtics. What a lucky boy. Ainge will probably become a star in
the N.B.A. Maybe play ten years. Maybe even be an All-Star. But, he will lose in
the long run. Everyone will lose in the long run. Big deal, -the Blue Jays get one
million bucks in compensation from the Celtics for signing Ainge. Probably more
than he is worth. But, that's not the point. The point is that Danny Ainge made a
commitment and he has backed out of it. He made a legal contract to play for the
Blue Jays. He has broken it, and with that he has lost a lot of respect. I wonder if
he knows what commitment is? I wonder if he knows what obligation is? I wonder
if they teach that at Brigham Young University?
The first of the pair is Marques Johnson. He is another example of an All
America, NBA All-Star who is showing the fans around the United States his lack
of commitment. He wants his contract renegotiated. He wants more money. Even
though he has signed a contract that is good for the next three years. Johnson
isn't going to play until the Milwaukee Bucks meet his demands. I hope they
refuse to meet his demands. Let him get old and gray waiting for his renegotiated
contract.
The other jerk goes by the same last name as Marques. Yes sports fans, I'm
talking about none other than the Magic Man, Magic Johnson. You know him, he's
the 22-year-old who orders his boss to fire his coach. I guess you can do that when
you have a 25-year, $25 million contract. How is a coach supposed to coach when
his players make 30 times what he makes? Johnson has a lot of class, all low. You
would never hear Dr. J, Larry Bird, or Kareem do that.
Note: After three minutes in a game against Dallas last week, Johnson
demanded and received a new game ball. Mavericks' coach Dick Motta leaped off
the bench and shouted for all Texas to hear, "He's supposed to get rid of coaches,
not basketballs!"
I hope all of the "Fire Paterno" fans will shut up for a while. He always has
been an exciting offensive coach. Ha, ha, ha. If I were a Penn State football fan I'd
feel like a sucker. Oh no, the Coach is picking on Paterno again. Think about it,
why could Penn State field an offense like that against Pitt and not against Miami
or Alabama? PSU combined a good ground attack with a totally surprising
passing attack to defeat Pitt. Why not earlier? Why not undefeated or only one
loss? State should have been in the running for number one this year but they
weren't. Too bad, State fans.
What kind of human being would trapse through the woods, just waiting for
the chance to gun down a defenseless animal? Hunting is not a sport. No way! Oh,
the hunters like to think that they are providing mankind with a service, but
they're not. Not really. However, what is the first statement a hunter will make in
defense of his so-called sport? "If we don't hunt, many animals will starve to death
during the cold winter. We need to kill them," say the hunters with blood dripping
from their hands. Are hunters trying to prove their manhood by hunting? No
doubt about it. Why don't they participate in target shooting at local gun clubs?
Hell no! It's more fun to kill! I can't see any sport being a sport when you need to
kill to make it one. Happy Hunting.
Two More Jerks
P.S.U. 48 Pitt 14 Unbelievable!
Another Non-Sport
Thursday, January 28, 1982
To the Coach-
How can you possibly draw up a basketball Top Ten without including the
Hoosiers of-Indiana?! They are, after all, the NCAA champs, and they have a lot of
players back. I gave Bobby Knight your number; you'll probably be getting a call.
Dear Dr. B-Ball Branner,
Thanks for the threat, but Coach Knight and I have already met. You'll be glad
to know that he reads my column, too. Without a doubt Coach Knight is the best
Coach in the country. I believe that he could be a successful coach in any sport. He
is my most favorite coach of them all. He epitomizes what a great coach really is,
and what many coaches across the country lack. They lack the ability to teach.
The greatest coaches have always been excellent teachers, and Bobby Knight is
no exception.
However, Dr. B, this year's Indiana team will lose 740 games [minimum].
Indiana returns only two starters from last year's team, Randy Wittman [10.4
ppg] and Ted Kitchel [9.2 ppg]. Indiana plays an extremely difficult schedule
which could hurt them come poll time. However, they will be invited to the NCAA
tourney, and if their freshmen come on strong could surprise a lot of people.
Hope to hear from you again.
Dear Coach.
I love your column. It's a welcome relief from the usual humdrum sports
articles one constantly reads.
I'd personally like to congratulate Penn State on their tremendous victory
over Notre Dame. That's the closest thing to winning a national championship
that Penn State will ever experience. Watch out Lions, next year when the Irish
get it together you'll be lucky to keep the score less than: N.D. 31, PSUIO.
Coach, I have a question for you. Why aren't you with Sports Illustrated or
The Sporting News? You're definitely the best,
Dear Clean Gene,
What can I say? It's just a pleasure to receive a letter from an intelligent,
literate, and personable guy. I thank you for your compliments. I feel sorry for
Gerry Faust. Be must be taking quite a bit of heat from Notre Dame fans across
the country. Don't give up the faith, Clean Gene. N.D. will be back.
I've got one for you: Name the three other members in the Jeff Beck Truth
Album. Yon see, I know my musk tool
Coach,
Congratulations on your ability to side-step an issue. It's people like you who
are destroying USAC. Instead of defending your original position, you merely
qualified it. Let me attempt to put you on the right track (pun intended).
In your original slander on race car drivers, you lumped them all into one
category. Now; in your response to my gripe. you . distinguish between
professionals and amateurs. I agree, Formula One racers are athletes, as are
NASCAR, ARTGO, WoO, USAC, SCCA, and NHRA drivers, to name a few. By
the way, the NHRA is one of the organizations of drag racing drivers, and they
too have to endure high heat and hard-to-control cars.
I also agree that weekend warriors, like myself, do not stay in that kind of
shape. But- then again, do intramural baseball or footbal players? Or how about
the guys who play basketball in the gym every once in a while? Most of them stick
with the 12-ounce curls, like me. Yet, if you are to be consistent, you'd have to
admit that no baseball, football, or basketball players, including professionals, are
athletes playing a true sport--just because some people who play them don't stay
in top condition.
Of course, we all know that that's bull. You probably didn't say what you really
meant. But if you're going to have an official column, you'd better mean exactly
what you print, and have facts rather than emotions, to back yourself up.
Please don't sign your name to your column--I don't want to know who's
helping to lower the integrity of this paper. Its integrity is already is already low
enough when its editors have to take cheap shots at engineers, while they have
one on their staff.
Yawn. This is really getting boring. Face the facts, car racing is not a sport! It
doesn't take much to become a driver of a racing car. Hell, when I was 18, I raced a
modified stock car twice. No big deal. Didn't take any skill. We do agree o one
thing though: that the real athletes are the Formula One drivers. Not like those
other phonies who drive in a circle. It takes only a minimal amount of skill to hold
the pedal to the floor and drive like hell in a circle. And those funny cars and fuel
dragsters are just as ridiculous. Push the pedal to the metal and hold on for dear
life. Oh, and Gary, all those racing organizations that you mention in your letter
do not give credibility to car racing.
Gary, next time you write, please write about a real sport. Okay? -
It was a pleasure to meet you, Kevin and Darrell. No matter what anyone
says, I think you guys have some brains. I'll look forward to seeing you again;
maybe this time you'll know it's me.
If you'd like to say something to the Coach, drop him a line at the C.O
READER Office.
The Coach's Mailbag
Coach's Note
C.C. Reader
Dr. Basketball Bronner
Gene McGovern
READER Music Critic
G. Pellett
COACH