• You know… that’s not very nice. Is Carl Pavano gay? Are there rumors? Has he been spotted at nightclubs hanging out with Peyton Manning and Nathan Lane If not, why the hell would the New York Post choose to do that to the guy? Seriously… if I’m Carl Pavano, I’m showing up at the New York Post offices today and demanding some answers. That’s messed up.
• Eddie Sutton was in fact drunk when he wrecked his car last week. And on pain pills. He says his back was causing him so much pain that the pain pills weren’t doing the trick, so he picked up a bottle. Which is not good, considering that he’s an alcoholic and went through rehab for it back in 1987. You’d just have to assume that he’s coached his last game. 69-year-old guys with chronic, debilitating back pain, alcoholism, and a recent DUI arrest don’t often make heroic comebacks. Best of luck to him with his future treatment.
• Mike Davis is done at Indiana. He’ll coach out the string, but he’s resigning at the end of the year. It’s such an odd situation… but it looks like this is the right way to handle it. In some ways, yes, it takes the pressure off his kids, because there’s no longer any reason for jagoffs to show up at Indiana games wearing black in protest. You always say you’d like to see a coach tough it out, but I don’t think anyone would wish another year at Indiana on Mike Davis. All you Hoosier fans can relax, as you’ll probably get your homegrown white coach next year, and the evil Mike Davis will be gone.
• Irony: BetUS.com has put down 6-1 odds that Rick Tocchet will be convicted on charges of promiting gambling and conspiracy to run a sports gambling operation. 6-1 seems like a pretty good bet. The way this case has been pursued so publicly, you know they’re looking to make at least one big-name arrest. It’s true that celebrities don’t usually get convicted, but… this is an assistant NHL coach in Phoenix, not a star linebacker the night before the Super Bowl. If I had to bet, I’d take those odds.
Brandon
OK, so it WAS a drunken car wreck. I guess I can’t say that I feel bad for the guy, but I do wish him luck getting his shit together. Or, maybe now that he’s out of the public eye, he can commit himself fully to drinking. I’m a Jayhawk fan, but I’ve always been a fan of Eddie Sutton and the type of basketball his teams play. After KU beat OSU at Allen Fieldhouse after Heinrich and Collison’s last game against his team, Eddie ran over to our bench and shook those guys’ hands, as though to say thanks for treating college basketball as something more than a waystation to the NBA. I think he’s a class act on the court. Off the court, well, he’s flawed like the rest of us.
February 16, 2006 at 11:39 am
UC
I agree with you on Mike Davis, but you could have just said “homegrown” and left out “white”. That’s just close-minded, judgemental, and presumptous. Why are you casting a negative, pseudo-racist light on the people of Indiana? Are you privy to rumors or news of anti-Davis racist garbage that nobody else is? I haven’t heard anything, have you? Come on now. That’s a cheap shot.
Yeah, Davis is in a rough spot following Knight, and I feel for him, and I like the guy and actually supported him until the last few weeks, but for you to casually toss out some racial bull without any merit is total garbage.
Are there some Indiana fans who might like a white coach? Sure, maybe. Jerks are everywhere.
But if the Indiana program hadn’t been in a downward turn for three years now, Davis wouldn’t be in the position he’s currently in – and that has nothing to do with his color.
I suppose if/when Steve Alford takes over the IU job, you’ll say its because he’s white and conveniently gloss over the fact that he’s a Hoosier legend and currently in charge of the Big Ten’s first place team, right?
February 16, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Insomniac
Maybe Keith Smart will get the IU job???
February 16, 2006 at 3:21 pm
Unsilent Majority
I’m sure Calbert Cheaney could use the work his career peaked with blue chips…then again, so did bobby hurley’s, and nick nolte’s, and penny’s, and bobby knight’s career certainly has tanked since then?
February 16, 2006 at 3:40 pm
The Big Picture
rick majurus to IU? He looks the part.
February 16, 2006 at 6:28 pm
BigBoi
“He looks the part.”
White???
February 16, 2006 at 6:29 pm
Mullet
Saying Mike Davis lost his job at Indiana because he’s black is just plain lazy and simple-minded. If you don’t follow Indiana basketball, then you’re just jumping on what some of the media and Mike Davis wants you to think. I could say more, but I think Jason Whitlock says it in his Page 2 column much better than I could.
February 16, 2006 at 11:54 pm
Becky
Ok wow, MJD i’ve been reading you for a few months now and I usually really enjoy what you have to say here. But the way you characterized the Mike Davis situation is totally off base here. I am an IU fan, and as a fan i typically enjoy watching a basketball team that is well coached, no matter what the color of skin that coach may have. It really irks me how IU fans are being portrayed as redneck idiots here. I was at the IU-ISU game a few months back when it was sadly apparent that even the Indiana State coach had one up on Mike Davis. I’m sure Davis is a good guy, but he is far from a great coach, and a program like Indiana’s should not settle for mediocrity. This is not a ‘race’ issue here, its a coaching issue.
February 17, 2006 at 3:16 pm
the mighty mjd
You know, when I wrote this original post, I don’t even recall thinking of race… when I put the word “white” in there, I certainly wasn’t thinking that I wanted to cast all Indiana fans as any more racist than fans anywhere else. So I don’t mind taking a little heat for it, and you have a legitimate beef. I didn’t really think it through when I put that in there, so… that’s fair.
But I will say this… race colors peoples’ perceptions, a lot of the time when they don’t even realize it. Anyone, and I mean absolutely anyone, who believes they can truly be “color-blind” is kidding themselves. It doesn’t exist. And people have perceptions and biases that they aren’t even aware of. So no, I’m not saying that Mike Davis was run out of IU because he’s black and Hoosier fans are racist… but I’m not going to completely rule out the possibility that his race does affect the perception of some fans out there; more than you might think. It’s not just limited to a few random jerks out there.
I’m not willing to ignore race being a factor in any head coaching situation, because there are major major problems that exist. Maybe I was careless in what I said earlier, and I’ll acknowledge that, and I apologize for it. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to at least pose the question that problems exist… unless, sometime over the course of the last 24 hours, all Americans became well-educated on our racial issues. Did that happen?
And, just for the record, I like Steve Alford, I think he’s a very good coach, and if he gets the Hoosier job, he’s earned it.
February 17, 2006 at 5:29 pm
Andy
Steve Alford turned Manchester University into a D-III powerhouse while my sister was there.
February 20, 2006 at 10:50 am
Ron
That white comment about Indiana seems unfair to me. You are putting a race on it, the fans aren’t. Sure there are some racist people but your comment makes it sound like there are a bunch of white hoods and burning crosses in the stands.
Love your site though, just didn’t much care for that jab.
February 20, 2006 at 12:10 pm