Jeff Jagodzinski at Hotel Boston College: You Can Check Out Anytime You Like...

...but you can never leave?

Here at Today's ACC Headlines, we enjoy Sally Jenkins’ take on the world of sports. The daughter of famous sportswriter Dan Jenkins, we find her view from the distaff side of the aisle interesting, although we do frequently disagree with her opinions.

Jenkins’ column in Wednesday’s Washington Post was no different for T.A.H., as she applauded Boston College’s firing of their head football coach, saying, among other things:

“More than one morally supple sham has noisily demanded commitments from his players, while failing to live up to his own, and Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski is hardly the first coach to treat a signed contract like a disposable tissue. But Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo, rigid conventionalist that he is, thinks a signature on paper ought to be binding.”

She goes on to deride Jagodzinski for a variety of reasons, including his not telling his friend DeFilippo that he was going to interview with the Jets (hmmm...maybe he knew his old buddy would fire him!). In addition, she applauds DeFilippo’s position and notes how in firing Jagodzinski for violating the “spirit” of his contract, he has “made the spine of every other athletic director and college president around the country a little stiffer.”

"We will find somebody who really wants to be at Boston College and will be here for the length of their contract," DeFilippo said.

While we won’t contest anything Jenkins said, and we remain fully aware of the hypocrisy that is college sports on so many levels, Jenkins, and others who share her view, are telling just one side of the story.

Let’s rewind. Apparently—and clearly, according to DeFilippo—Jagodzinski should be the coach of the Eagles through the term of his contract. Correct us if we’re wrong, but is that a two-way street?

Is DeFilippo going to be waving the “signature on paper ought to be binding” flag when Jagodzinski loses too many games (for any number of reason within or beyond his control), and he fires him just ahead of a pack of screaming and drooling fans, alums, and boosters crying out for the coach’s head? We think not.

Do the names Mike Shanahan and Phil Fulmer mean anything to the folks who deride Jagodzinski? Both reached the pinnacle of their professions, winning Super Bowls and College National Championships, and both were removed involuntarily prior to the date on the piece of paper DeFilippo trumpets so proudly.

Nobody in the system—not coaches, one-and-done players, athletic directors, presidents, chancellors, board of visitors, the NCAA, and yes, everybody’s favorite whipping boy, the BCS—has cornered the market on “what’s in it for me?”

College football is a business. It's part of the multi-billion dollar entertainment industry with many business components that are similar to the television and movie industries.

In spite of the affiliation with institutions of higher learning and the education of our children, we all should be realistic about the business aspect of the games we love. If NCAA schools are going to make millions on football, don’t get all high and mighty when the CEO of the team is acting like a capitalist with the same agenda as the corporate sponsors, universities, and television networks that profit from the games.

If you can fire a coach for going 5-9, shouldn’t he be able to interview for a job when he’s 9-5?

Oh, by the way, Darrius Heyward-Bey of Maryland, Kevin Ogletree of Virginia, and Everette Brown of FSU announced this week that they will be leaving those schools (where they signed a four-year commitment) early to pursue economic opportunities in professional football.

Sound familiar?

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