Jack’s Blog

It’s great to be back but I’m leaving again.  I’m honored to be the emcee at the party in Las Vegas tonight to celebrate Jerry Tarkanian’s induction into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.  When I get back, it’s off to the Stanford Pain Management Center for a pump refill and check up.  Then, into the car to drive down the 101 to Monterey to pick up Alex who just finished his first year of college at Cal State Monterey Bay and bring him home for the summer.  He claims he nailed it academically this semester.  If he can match his inaugural season in college hoops, in which he was one of only ten players in the country to make the Division II Freshmen All-America team - and the only one from the west coast - he’ll have had a successful beginning to college life.

Not done yet.  For those of you who have ever checked out CoachGeorgeRaveling.com, the website for my boss previous to Tark, you might have seen the video section entitled #JackAndCoach.  On it, I turn the tables on George who has interviews with individuals such as Oscar Robertson, Nolan Richardson, David Falk (MJ’s agent) and my man, Tark, among many others.  In our segment, I pose questions to get to know “the inside Rave.”  Currently, there are between 25-28 “shorts,” about 3-5 minutes in length.  Some are very funny, others quite moving, all entertaining.  We spent about five hours shooting last fall and it’s time for round two, so I’ll be, ahem, on location in LA, as they say, this weekend.  This blog will return Monday.  

The Chicago Bulls teased the entire country when they won Game One of their best-of-seven series with the Miami Heat - in Miami.  Nate Robinson showed what a little guy can do when given a chance - and is playing for a contract.  The fact that Nate hasn’t stuck with any of his five teams yet has more to do with his just being an ultra-short little guy.  The performance that night - and his continued aggressive play despite all the odds - raised the eyebrows of fans and, probably some general managers.  Last night was an abomination of a contest.  Tired or other issues?  Why haven’t the Bulls been able to repeat an effort like they did in the opener?

ESPN has four guys talking about it when the games are on their stations; TNT has four (in my opinion, better) analysts discussing the contests when they’re aired on their network.  The groups chime in on what has happened and what needs to be done to fix the problem.  In each case we hear about how some player needs to contribute more, to become that all-important creation of analysts - the X-factor.  Basically, the talking heads aren’t necessary for this series.  When a superstar is forced into street clothes, it’s obvious the team’s getting nothing from him that day.  In addition, they’re probably going to encounter a serious drop off at that spot in the lineup.

The complete analysis for the Bulls and Heat goes as follows:

“The Bulls have lost their starting point guard and both wings.  They’re playing against the best basketball team in the world.  Next?”

It’s vacation time!  This will be my last blog until Tuesday, May 14.  Look forward to returning with more stories to entertain and inspire.

Whatever anyone says about Jerry Tarkanian, no one refutes he was the master of getting guys to play hard.  The one type of guy who Tark couldn’t stand to have on his team, whom he knew that if he played, sooner or later, they were going to lose.  He called that kind of player a “Cool Guy.”  I haven’t talked to him yet about the Chicago Bulls but I imagine he was totally impressed.  Not because they won in Game 7 but because . . . they don’t have any cool guys.

One coach Tark has always been unbelievably impressed with is Tom Thibodeau.  Tibbs doesn’t like cool guys either.  He took a Chicago Bulls team without Kirk Heinrich, Luol Deng and, of course, Derrick Rose, a former MVP whose services he hasn’t had all year, into Brooklyn’s brand new digs and came out a winner.  He took a franchise which has had incredible success - but had never, NEVER, won a game 7 on the road.  Yet they did it.  Why?

Thibodeau has been telling us all along:

“We have enough.”

In the April 28, 2008 addition of Sports Illustrated - yeah, five years ago - there was an article about the NFL draft.  Not surprising, since it was the same time of year as the one held a few days ago.  The article was about the 1998 draft, the one with Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf, and with the #5 pick (Curtis Enis, who retired from the league two years later) and the #92 pick (Hines Ward, who became the Super Bowl XL MVP).  A couple of the people quoted in the piece were New Orleans coach Sean Payton and former Green Bay Packers general manager, and current San Diego Chargers consultant, Ron Wolf.

Their discussion was, naturally, about the “science” of drafting football players.  Their comments, however, rang just as true as if they were discussing the NBA draft.  Payton’s comment was, “You get excited about a guy because of his tools and projecting his ability, but so much of this is looking beneath the surface.”  As the NBA playoffs continue, it’s impossible not to look at the “nobodies” who slipped through the draft cracks and the high profile picks which have yet to live up to pre-draft hype.  Everybody knows the Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan gigantic  mistake and Greg Oden before Kevin Durant humongous error.  Another interesting example would be the 2009 draft in which the Minnesota Timberwolves were in the market for a guard (several as it turned out).  They took Ricky Rubio, Spain’s version of “Pistol” Pete Maravich, with the fifth pick.  They also had the sixth pick and, because most thought Rubio would be difficult to sign, they decided to go with an additional point guard.  Their choice was Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn - whose career mostly has been in the NBA, although last season he played for the Melbourne Tigers in Australia.

What Payton meant can clearly be seen in that selection.  Not only did Minnesota select Flynn over the next pick, Stephen Curry, whom the T-Wolves are constantly being reminded went to Golden State but they also passed on #10 Brandon Jennings, #17 Jrue Holiday, #18 Ty Lawson (they actually did draft Lawson but it was only to trade him to Denver for a future first round pick) and #19 Jeff Teague.  It’s more than a stretch to say that guys picked in the first round “slipped through the cracks” but it does show how the draft is such a crap shoot for a team when its name comes to make its draft selection.

Other classics?  How about the Clippers, a year after they wisely (OK, that year, a three-year-old would have) picked Blake Griffin at #1, they felt they needed to get a small forward with the ability to get his own shot.  They chose Al-Farouq Aminu with the eighth pick.  The Jazz took Gordon Hayward next, just before the Pacers who grabbed (and has never let go of) Paul George.  Why would the Clippers pass on Paul George for Al-Farouq Aminu?

For the answer, listen to the eerie crossover similarity between football and basketball, as told by Ron Wolf:

The fascinating thing about pro football is, no matter how long you’re in it, you can’t predict how guys are going to handle the pressure, the limelight, the money.”

One day coming up soon, because of availability I’m not sure which, I’ll be headed to Stanford for some (more) tests.  Since I may be contacted and not have enough time to let you readers know, if you get to this site and you see the same blog you read the day before . . . that’s the day(s) I’m at Stanford.  Rest assured I’ll be returning shortly.

Ed Rush, former supervisor of officials for the Pac-12, lost his job because he made a statement that many people felt was obviously in jest.  Not according to CBSSports.com’s Jeff Goodman however.  Or rather, Goodman - and his secret informant.  Goodman reported one of the officials, i.e. referee, in the room told him Rush said that if an official would bang (call a technical foul on) Arizona’s coach, Sean Miller, or would run him (throw him out of the game), he (Rush) would give that ref $5000 or a free trip to Cancun.  Initially, Larry Scott, Pac-12 commissioner made the statement, “I do not find anything that rises to a fireable offense or a breach of ethics or a breach of the integrity of officiating or the program.”  But, claims Goodman, that was before Scott was privy to what the official told Goodman.

Was it?  Really?  Or, have we as a society, become so sensitive to anything said by or to anybody that a significant number of us have assumed the position of the PC (politically correct) police?  Under the guise of exposing insensitivity, they alert, a la Chicken Little, the public about some horrific crime - and in the process ruin lives of some while not benefiting society nearly to the degree they’re tearing it down.

What needs to be revealed is who leaked the information - and why?  According to Goodman, it was one of the referees.  The more the reporter spoke, it was apparent the secret informant was someone close to Goodman, possibly a good friend of his.  If this official believed so strongly that Rush is that evil a person, i.e. Rush really meant what he said, why not come out himself with the accusation?  Or was the guy upset because - although of course he didn’t referee for the money (just joking because if that was the case, he’d be the first for a guy at that level) - he didn’t get selected to officiate in the NCAA tournament and got stuck with one of the lesser post season assignments which pay less money, per diem and prestige?  Due to the fact that most, if not all, of Pac-12 referees have climbed the ladder of elementary, junior high, high school, JC, D-II and/or D-III and lesser name conferences (possibly skipping a rung here or there), when they’ve risen to the level of the Pac-12 (by far the highest in level and pay on the west coast), egos are bruised easily.  So if you believe his outrage was directed more for the love of the game being violated than his substantial paycheck (and national TV face time) being significantly reduced, you’re beyond naiive.  If this referee, Jeff Goodman’s anonymous source, didn’t have a hidden agenda of some sort, I’ll pay him five large or give him a free vacation to Cancun.  Actually, forget the $5K but my wife and I traded our time share and are headed to Cabo San Lucas next month.  I think there’s an extra bedroom.  Everybody knows that Cabo beats Cancun.  What do you say, anon?

All of this means that, in today’s world, we need to be on our best behavior all the time lest someone be offended.  If this sounds like the raging of an old man who hasn’t decided to play by the current rules, let me correct that sentiment - slightly.  There is no doubt I am from an other time, one that took place long ago.  It also got us where we are as a society.  Alright, so maybe that’s nothing to brag about but in my world, like it or not, sarcasm was used much of the time.  In 99% of the cases it was intended to be humorous.  About 95% of the time, it actually was.  Studies have shown that laughing is good for a person’s health.  If this PC nonsense continues, nobody will ever laugh again - for fear of hurting the feelings of whomever thinks that you’re laughing at him.  Or her.  Or it.

Here’s a short (believe it or not) story that illustrates my point.  Our high school football team was made up of seven or eight ethnic groups.  One day, in the locker room after practice, our center who was Polish Catholic, pulled me aside and said, “You’re the only Jew I know who I like.”  Today, national headlines.  Instead, I viewed it as I truly believe it was intended:

“I took it as a compliment!”

There hasn’t been anyone who’s seen the video of former Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice who can believe it.  Including (probably) Mike Rice.  Coaches - even some of the most highly successful ones who have been around for a long, long time - have been quoted that they felt uncomfortable just watching it.  Kobe Bryant claimed he would’ve “smacked the hell out of him” - even if he were only an 18 year old freshman.  Yet, not one of the Rutgers’ players even gave their coach a dirty look.  Keep in mind, however, the video was a “highlight film” (or “lowlight”) of Rice’s bullying antics, i.e. what people saw wasn’t from just one practice.  In fact, it might have been a compilation of weeks of practice video.

Most people have asked “Why did they take it?”  Why did none of them act in the manner Kobe said he would have.  Did the coach brainwash them?  Actually, that might exactly be why they took it.  Here’s my scenario (and keep in mind, it’s nothing more than conjecture, i.e. there is not a shred of evidence to it):

Coach Rice: “Look, guys, we’re the ugly stepchild of this league (the Big East).  Nobody has any respect for us.  Everybody bullies us.  For us to win, we’re going to have to be tough.  Tougher than the guys who want to bully us.

“So I’m going to bully you.  Now, it will just be in practice.  Before and after practice, nothing about our relationship will change.  My door’s still always open, you’re still my guys .  But, at practice I’m going to bully you.  I’m going to shove you, verbally abuse you and throw balls at you.  How are you going to react?  Are you going to cave in to the bully?  Or are you going to ignore him, play harder and beat him?”

Once again, this is complete conjecture.  After seeing the video - and noticing the players never seemed to get upset, never questioned Rice (although in other clips, players are seen pushing back assistant Jimmy Martelli after he shoves them - hey, assistants only get so much leeway) led me to believe that these were playing along.  Like it was a play and they were playing a part in it.  Why else would macho guys - as a good deal of today’s ballers see themselves - allow themselves to be subjected to such bullying.  Especially by somebody who recruited them - who was in their homes, spoke with their parents and their coaches.  You know he never told them to expect any such tomfoolery at practices.

Naturally, even if this were true, Rice could never admit it as it’s as asinine a strategy as telling them to play on their knees in order to get lower in their defensive stances.  Plus, admitting to using the homophobic verbiage as a ploy - in any day and age - but especially this one would force any administrator to fire him on the spot.

All of the above is only my imagination’s explanation of what occurred at Rutgers, so we should all keep in mind that:

“Just because you can justify something in your own mind doesn’t make it right.”

The hottest sports story, including the Final Four, has got to be the total mess that took place at Rutgers and the ensuing domino effect of lost jobs and misery it’s caused.  Maybe the hottest news story as well.  Until it blows over and is replaced by something else that makes us breathe a sigh of relief while saying, “Well, there’s somebody whose life is in worse shape than mine.”

There was nothing good for Rutgers that came out of this situation - except for the hundreds of coaches who are bombarding the university with their resumes for the head and assistant coaching positions.  Their problem, however, is they don’t know exactly where they should send them.  The basketball office?  Athletics director?  President’s office?  On a more somber note, I, along with every coach I’ve seen interviewed, agree none of us have ever seen anything like that.  As loyal readers will know, I spent 30 years in Division I coaching, at nine institutions, going back to 1972.  Although one of those staffs in particular held daily practices that today would probably be considered child abuse, it was nothing at all like RU.

However, what terrified me nearly as much as the videos was what I heard Christine Brennan of USA Today say.  I was completely shocked and scrambled for a pen to write it down.  While I couldn’t remember it verbatim, it was something to the effect of - what a case like this says about college athletics is that it takes the media to police them.  After hearing that, I had a question for the sanctimonious Ms. Brennan.

Are you serious?

First of all, the person you most vilified (after Mike Rice), is Rutgers athletics director Tim Pernetti - who used to be a TV guy.  Had he stayed in the media world, he might be one of your guys policing college athletics.  Wow, how ironic would that be?  The person who watched the video of Mike Rice at Rutgers’ practices and decided not to fire him (which, correctly, offended you and the entire nation) . . . would be a watchdog.  Woof.  I don’t think so.

Since there are a couple, some, many, most, the overwhelming majority of people in this country who don’t, uh, what’s the right word here, oh, yeah, . . . trust the media, what exactly is the vetting process going to be like?  Can I be on the committee?  My memory recalls there have been media members who, how should I put it, have done wrong.  I think plagiarism (whether committed at the New York Times or lesser papers) is still against the law, isn’t it?  How would such people eliminated from your “policing” program?

Yesterday happened to be my annual check up with my optometrist.  After carefully watching and reading all the reports, I asked him if he could do anything to improve my hindsight.  One person I truly admired was the late Haywood Harris who served for five decades at the University of Tennessee as its SID (Sports Information Director, now referred to as Director of Athletic Media Relations).  Haywood was as intelligent and respected as anyone in the state.  He was inducted into four different Halls of Fame.  One day, he heard a young Knoxville sportswriter proudly claim that the media was “the watchdog of society.”  Haywood looked at the visitor and said:

“I’m a member of society.  I don’t remember ever requesting a watchdog.”

P.S. Here’s another question to ponder: Do you think these tapes would have been made public had Rutgers retained Eric Murdock?

Writing a blog on a daily basis is, as anyone who attempts to do it (or any rational person who would take the time to give it a thought), a difficult endeavor.  While I have fun doing it, I have to admit, there are days I can’t think of something to post that would be different, or in greater depth, than the reader could find elsewhere.  Even with yesterday’s great games, including the Florida Gulf Coast storyline, I’m offering up a previous blog (3/26/08) that will have true meaning for the reader.  I seriously doubt anyone’s been following me that long and even if you have, this one might have escaped your memory.  It’s well worth the time to (re)read it.  (Also, we’ll be bringing Alex back to CSU-Monterey Bay (their spring break is over) and will be spending a few days in that area.  Ain’t retirement great?  The blog will return Friday).

In any endeavor, hard work is the key phrase when it comes to attaining success.  This seems to be true more in the field of athletics than any other business.  At least, I’ve heard more leaders of teams (coaches) speak about outworking people than I do in any other business.  I can’t say that I’ve heard a pharmacist or a teacher, when asked about the key to success, mention “outworking” the competition.

Yet, it’s the standard line viewers, readers and fans get when they tune in & are presented with the outlook for the season.  When it comes right down to it, everybody can’t be outworking everybody else.  Somebody, while putting in the time and effort, is falling short of a competitor - somewhere.  But no one will admit to it and possibly, because they don’t believe it.  “Nobody is outworking us, I guarantee you that.”  Just saying it makes people feel like they’re beating down all comers.

The best I’ve ever heard the term “hard work” put in perspective was in a speech given to one of our USC teams in the early ’90s.  George Raveling, our head coach, deeply believed in the use of outside speakers to motivate, inspire, stimulate thinking or help players reach their full potential and each year, we’d have people outside the program, some well-known figures, others of lesser fame (but often with a higher quality message), address the squad.

One of those was a former Academic All-American basketball player from Duke named Dick DeVenzio.  I had known Dick mainly because I followed him in a graduate assistant’s role at Washington State where, by the way, George was also the head mentor.  Dick, a 5′11″ guard, had a terrific career for the Blue Devils in the late ’60s.  Being a fan of the game, I’d heard of Dick but getting to know him was a truly exceptional experience.

Without a doubt, he was one of the first “out-of-the-box” thinkers I’d ever come across.  When you spoke with Dick DeVenzio, you always came away from the conversation wiser, and often shaking your head in wonderment at some of the ideas he’d bring up.  He was a true Renaissance man whose life, tragically, was cut short by cancer nearly two decades ago.

The day he spoke to our players, he’d mention a few strategic things he’d do in a game that I found fascinating and I’ve passed on to other players I’ve coached.  But the one remark he made regarding hard work was the best in its simplicity, yet logical bluntness.  It stopped our players in their tracks and greatly increased the intensity of our practices from that time on - throughout the remainder of that year and a couple more to come for the underclassmen who had the benefit of hearing his message.

He simply said, “Who’s the hardest worker on the team?“  Nearly every team has one, maybe two guys, everybody would select.  On every team I’ve ever been around it’s always been that way.  There just seem to be one or two who stick out above the rest when it comes to work ethic.  It was the same for this particular Trojan club.

Then he said to the others, “What’s keeping everybody from saying you?“  He followed that up with the clincher:

“What’s keeping YOU from saying you?”

Pretty powerful when you think about it.

For those of you who read this space yesterday, you’re expecting the second installment.  That was the plan - until, as the saying goes, life got in the way.

After I left the dentist’s office today, I stopped at a Subway on the way home for a sandwich.  Outside the store, which is located about a block away from the junior high, I noticed a shopping cart with a few items in it, one of them a baseball glove.  There was a kid, junior high age, sitting nearby.  He said, “Excuse me, can I have a dollar for . . . ”

“No, sorry,” I cut him off.  It’s not that being panhandled is a pet peeve of mine.  In this case, what bothered me was that this was a predominantly upper class area and a young kid who, upon first blush (which may be somewhat prejudiced), looked anything like a person who needed to beg.  I remember thinking, “Now!  At your age?  This is the career choice you’ve selected?  Sorry, no.”

I went inside, ordered my sandwich and didn’t think any more of that initial scene - until another, older kid showed up and lurked in the doorway.  The young lady working at Subway recognized this apparent trouble maker and told him to go.  He walked past the store, giving her the one finger salute, followed by, you guessed it, my little friend and another little lost sheep who hooked up with the pair.  Not surprisingly, the trio returned, led by the obnoxious older boy.  As soon as I saw them, I sensed the situation was going to escalate, so I called 911.  He burst into the store and began dog-cussing the owner, dropping senseless racial epithets.  Although he was no farther than ten feet away from me, he had no idea I was explaining what was happening to the 911 operator.  It rather evident that this youngster was under the influence of something, calling the Middle Eastern owner the n-word, accompanied by f-bombs and other slang.  When the owner raised his voice and demanded the wannabe gangsta leave, the kid picked up a chair and hurled it at the middle-aged man.

The action did no harm, except for enraging the owner who chased after the youngster.  As we all learned long ago, when people are attacked, they make one of two choices: fight or flight.  Cowards, such as the one in this story, choose the latter.  When he got just outside the door, he collided with one of his smaller buddies who must have thought his man was going to choose the former.  The two collided, the owner caught up and fists were flying.  They weren’t hitting anybody, just flying.  Finally, the kids took off as I gave the play-by-play to the woman on the other end of my phone.  Evidently, she was passing along the info because she said to me, “OK, I think the officers have them against the wall near the junior high.”  Some criminals.

I went to the owner who, by now was on the phone to a friend (or relative or lawyer), explained I had called 911 and the kids had been apprehended.  He thanked me as I was getting a refill of my Diet Coke.  Naturally, while all this was transpiring (and I was talking to the operator), I never stopped eating my 6″ tuna and provolone on wheat (with avocado - my new health kick).  My curiosity got the better of me so, rather than drive home, I went out of the parking lot in the opposite direction.  Fresno’s Finest must be more efficient than most departments because as I pulled out heading south, I noticed a couple patrol cars headed the other way.  I U-turned at the light and returned to give my “deposition.”

During the entire experience, my mind kept returning to the same topic:

“Where are the parents and what are they like?”

We leave for San Bernadino and San Diego to catch the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters play their final two road contests.  In the past seven weeks I’ve put 5000 miles on my (what used to be new) car.  The following story is from my book Life’s A Joke.  I was one of the less memorable moments of my first year in college coaching.  The blog will return Tuesday.

The year 1972 marked my first college coaching job, a graduate assistantship at the University of Vermont.  The stipend was only $1,000 plus tuition for graduate school.  Naturally, I was going to find the cheapest place I could to live.  I was gung ho about coaching in college after having spent my first two years after graduation teaching math and coaching football and basketball at my alma mater, Highland Park (NJ) High School.

I knew I was going to spend most of the time at the office and just needed a place to sleep at night.  I drove from New Jersey to Vermont, about a six-hour drive, got a newspaper, looked through the rental properties and noticed that there was a room in someone’s home for $80/month.  This was about the best deal I could find, so I went to the house, spoke to the people and found out that they had two grown children who had moved out of the house, a son and a daughter, and they were renting out their rooms.  I would have one room, another grad student would have the other bedroom, ans we would share the bathroom.

I signed the piece of paper the lady handed me which served as a contract and the she uttered the words, “Of course, we don’t allow you to bring any girls up to the room.”

Anxious to get back to New Jersey and realizing I probably wasn’t going to find anything cheaper, I said, “I understand.”  After I got there, I realized that the social life wasn’t going to be too good in Vermont with this type of arrangement.  The people were extremely kind, allowing us to use the living room to watch TV.  We even occasionally got into the refrigerator.

One day I was downstairs and looked up at the pictures of their son and daughter on the wall.  The daughter, I thought (or talked myself into believing) was relatively attractive, so when the mother said, “Oh, by the way, our daughter is coming over tonight,” the wheels of my devious 24-year-old mind started turning and I thought maybe this was a way to circumvent the rules.

I got all cleaned up, thought I was looking and smelling pretty good and figured, “Let’s see how the evening unfolds.”  Knock on the door and I heard the parents say, “Oh, hi, honey, come on in and meet Jack.”

I turned around, trying to give about the coolest look any guy could possibly give when I was the most shocked I ever was in my life. I was staring at their daughter.

The nun.

Sir Walter Scott said:

“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”

Full disclosure: I haven’t wrestled since fifth grade PE.  When it was my turn, I didn’t like it.  Yet, when I heard the news that, of all sports, wrestling was going to be dropped from the 2020 Olympic Games, the first thought that came to me is that wrestling has to be the sport most discriminated against.  Maybe it’s because the nature of wrestling is that the athlete requests so little.  They train in nasty conditions, ask their bodies to perform complicated moves but have to “make weight” in order to compete. And you get one shot at making weight.  Miss and you’re out.  No letters from mom, no excuses, no blaming others.

As with every sport, or for that matter, anything that involves extraordinary skill, constant, intense practice is mandatory.  People, in general, have no idea exactly how good the highly skilled “player” is.  During my time at Tennessee in the early-to-mid ’80s, coaches would get passes for grand openings with the free drinks and hors d’oeuvres.  One year several of the UT coaches went to Bennigans.  Four of us were sitting at one of those bar tables, the kind that are higher than regular restaurant tables.  We kidded each other about the weirder parts of the other’s sport.

Sitting next to me was Gray Simons, our wrestling coach and a former Olympic silver medal winner.  Being a wise ass, I said, “I never really understood a sport where the purpose was to stick your face in the other guy’s armpit.”  Gray chuckled, reached over and playfully grabbed the back of my neck.  Within about a second and a half he had me in a headlock and I realized that if he flexed his arms, he’d snap my neck.  All I could think of was, “How much has he had to drink?”  (That story was from my book Life’s A Joke).

The past ten years, prior to my retirement last June, I taught high school math.  Without exception, I taught a minimum of three wrestlers each year.  I would tell them about Gray (leaving out the choke hold story) as well as another silver medalist I had in class (Theory of Coaching Basketball at Fresno State) - Stephen Abas.  The more I thought about wrestling, the more positives I could see in the sport so it became a talking point.  I taught life lessons as well as algebra.  Wrestling’s positives were:  1) Accountability - it’s all on you.  You can’t blame anybody else - coach, teammates, fans (except the ref but that’s supplanted baseball as the great America past time).  2) No times out - suck it up.  3) No substitutions - suck it up.  4) Discipline - first and foremost, making weight.  With whatever the percentage of overweight (obese) people as we have in this country, wrestlers get disqualified if they are one ounce over their weight class.  And you don’t get to bring your own scale.  5) Hard work - usually early morning workouts, followed by sessions in the weight room.  And no cheating at meals or it’s all for naught.

A sport with all those positives is being eliminated from the 2020 Games?  The earliest Olympics had wrestlers as a segment of its population.  And they’re doing away with wrestling?  I remember Gray Simons leaving Tennessee to take the wrestling job at Old Dominion and me asking him why he’d take what seemed to be a lesser position.  He told me he’d heard from reliable sources that UT was going to drop wrestling.  In a year his sources proved reliable.

I was at Fresno State when rumors would swirl on an annual basis that wrestling’s head was on the chopping block.  Dennis DeLiddo, a legend in the wrestling community in this area, used to always fret the love of his life was going to be taken away.  When he was assured wrestling was safe, he felt comfortable retiring.  He did and a couple years later, wrestling was no more at Fresno State.

What always astonished me was how little it took to field a wrestling team.  Their practice facility would have been condemned - if the Fresno PD could have found it.  It was not uncommon for DeLiddo’s teams to have a match in Fresno in the morning/early afternoon, then jump into vans and drive three hours to Stanford for a night competition.  There were a limited number of athletes and the number of scholarships (I can’t recall exactly how many “equivalencies” they have, e.g. three-and-a-half scholarships? to be split among the entire squad).  In addition, the make up of the team had a great percentage of minorities and low income kids (which usually is an administrator’s dream).

Maybe it’s because they’re not entitled and the sport is so demanding that they forgot the one essential necessary for survival in today’s climate - a great lawyer.

Today’s quote is from none other than me:

“If there is any justice in the world, the 2020 Olympics will include wrestling.”