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OBSERVATIONS ON
COLLEGE SPORTS
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Nuggets of Gold
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
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By Adam Gold
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Adam Gold is
the host of the Morning Show (6-9 a.m.) on
620 the Buzz. |
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To resolve or not to resolve
By
Adam Gold
©2010 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
I’m really not much
of a New Year's Eve guy. I really never have thought of the big night
as, well, a big night. It’s cool and all, but it’s just the calendar
turning over.
Why can’t we get ripped
off at the local speakeasy every time the earth successfully rotates? It’s
not that spectacular.
As for the requisite
resolutions, if I haven’t started doing “it” already, I’m probably not going
to make “it” a habit, so why bother?
Okay, just this once…
I resolve to… stop
complaining that we’ve become so lazy that we’re okay with ending the decade
now rather than waiting until the end of 2010. In the grand scheme of
things, it’s not really a big deal, but just because it’s easier to refer to
the 70’s or the 90’s without explaining that 1970 is actually a part of the
decade of the 60’s is proof that we’re getting soft — maybe not Adam James
soft, but close.
Frankly, I don’t really
care when we end a decade, century, millennium or era — their vague cousin
on the timeline — but I think all decades and such should have the same
number of years. When we “passed go,” so to speak, 2009 years ago, we didn’t
go from 1 BC to 0 and then to 1 AD.
Therefore, according to
the way we calculate here in the Couch Potato Era, the very first decade
included just nine years. That’s why when people ask me what was the
greatest decade in the history of sports, the answer is never the original
aughts. They’re at a distinct disadvantage.
I resolve to… stop
wondering why those of us in Raleigh, a mere 85 miles from Greenville, can’t
get WITN-TV 7 on our cable system. We treat the Pirates like a local team in
the Triangle, so why can’t we watch those games.
Yes, I know that MASN
(Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) carries most of those, so people who get their
TV via satellite or fiber-optics don’t have the same problem. However, until
MASN and Time Warner Cable settle their differences over placement on the
channel line up, the Pirates might as well play in Brazil.
Meanwhile, I can watch
three different C-SPANs.
And, I resolve to… be a
better father to my children than Urban Meyer has been to his. Christmas
night, Meyer had heart-to-heart conversations with each of his three
children and his wife and came to the conclusion that, for the sake of his
long-term health, he was going to step aside as Florida’s head coach.
One of his daughters
commented that she was going to, “get my daddy back”. His 16-year old
daughter figured that it had been about two years since she’d had any
meaningful conversation with her dad.
Imagine, being so
consumed with your paying job that you ignore the one that really matters?
There is nothing more important than being a parent, a father, and when your
kids so openly express their excitement at getting you back into their lives
it says something about what your priorities have been.
Never mind.
Less than 24 hours later,
after a really good practice, Urban Meyer effectively told his wife and
three children that Florida football was more important than being a husband
and a father. Oh, he’ll take an “indefinite leave of absence,” but his plan
is to be back on the sideline when the Gators open the 2010 season.
Thanks, dad.
One more thing before I
let you go. Skip Holtz’s name has surfaced a lot during the spinning of the
coaching carousel. He was mentioned in connection with the openings at
Kansas, Cincinnati, Texas Tech and even Notre Dame.
But, keep this in mind
when you ponder whether or not to worry that East Carolina's head coach just
might be ready to skip town: ECU is one of the very best “stepping stone”
jobs in college football. It’s a place where you can win, there’s a certain
level of national recognition and there is tremendous fan support.
Holtz has done a great
job, winning back-to-back conference championships for the first time since
Sonny Randle pulled off the feat 36 years ago when the Pirates were in the
Southern Conference.
If Skip is going to leave
Greenville, it will either be for one of the better jobs in college coaching
or for a bigger payday. Texas Tech will be looking for a successor to Mike
Leach in the coming weeks and Skip’s name has been floated. But know this:
Tech‘s is not a better job than East Carolina’s.
The Red Raiders program
might be able to offer more money, as evidenced by Leach’s $2.5 million
annual salary. But, it’s a much tougher place to win, and it would be
awfully easy to get left behind in the Big 12 — especially in the South
division with Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
Since money is never
a good motivation on its own, I wouldn’t be too worried that Skip is
going to be house hunting in Lubbock.
Happy New Year, Pirate
Nation. All the best to you in 2010.
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01/05/2010 03:22:37 AM |
