I’m sure by now those of you who haven’t been hiding in a cave are aware of the latest development in the 2008 Presidential election. You know, the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s comment to another guest on Fox News (when Jackson thought the mike was turned off) about certain parts of Barack Obama’s anatomy the right Reverend would like to sever.
If you can’t guess, just think of former Arkansas football coach, now of Ole Miss, Houston Nutt and his brother Danny.
Now, what you ask, does this have to do with sports? With ESPN’s Espy Awards just concluded, how about an Espy Award for the college coach with the greatest proclivity for sticking his foot in his mouth?
The winner wouldn’t be required to speak in rhymes, just to be able to perform verbal gymnastics well enough to keep his position in spite of verbal gaffes.
It’s simple, really. As college coaches make more and more money, seemingly enough cash to buy their own oil companys, the spotlight on major college coaches becomes ever brighter. Just text the aforementioned Houston Nutt or call his cell ( if you can get through) if you don’t believe me.
Which brings us to the subject of the article. How the lines between big-time football coaches and politicians have blurred almost to the point of disappearing . Speaking of lines, not a word about a former Arkansas player now playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Matt Jones, a Jacksonville Jaguar for the time being, who was in the news recently. I digress.
Last season at Arkansas, banners flew over the stadium insulting Houston Nutt’s coaching abilities. The last time I remember banners with negative messages at a Razorback game was in 1992 when the then Governor of the state, one William Jefferson Clinton, was running for President.
There were numerous jokes comparing the two men when it was revealed that Nutt’s cell phone had exchanged thousands of calls and text messages with a local female news anchor. “I never had text with that woman” one joke went.
So, why not have an award in college football for the coach who best manages to make mega-bucks in spite of mediocre job performance and numerous verbal gaffes? Kind of a Matt Millen of college sports. You know, the Detroit Lions GM who keeps his job in spite of enough buffoonery to send him to Washington D.C.?
Not to mention drafting a bust at wide receiver in the draft every year, though last years’ Calvin Johnson may break the trend yet. Millen has fired three or four coaches for not winning with the roster of misfits that he, Millen, has given the coaches to work with. What a sweetheart.
Jesse Jackson did play college football after all, at North Carolina A&T after transferring from the University of Illinois, so it’s not like the man is totally without street cred in the world of what Howard Cosell referred to as “jock-ocracy”.
So, without further adieu, here are the 2008 nominees for the inaugural Jesse Jackson Sower Of Discord Award for the college coach who is despised by the most fans, including those of his own team, yet always seems to come out smelling like a rose come contract time.
1. Nick Saban, Alabama
1 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
C. S 11 months ago
I actually feel bad for Saban, Fulmer, and Stoops--with Fraud-riguez and Hootie in the mix, the trio had no chance of winning this year. LOL, thanks for writing this, I'll be smiling all day.
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