A few years ago,
my now son-in-law Chris was a football graduate assistant at Syracuse and had a
chance to do the same at Maryland; graduate assistants are the new indentured
servants, if only the NCAA cared to investigate. But the boy wanted to come home to the
Midwest and his homerun-hitting sweetheart, so he missed the tragedy-scandal
that has befallen the Maryland football program.
Had things had
gone according to the school regents’ plan, Terrapins' coach D.J. Durkin would’ve been
back at the helm, this despite the fallout resulting from the death of football
player Jordan McNair after a grueling spring practice session. There’s a line of thinking common in certain
football circles that connects pain with gain.
My nephew once had a high school coach tell his players to suck it up
during a summer practice, unless they wanted to join the “grass fairies,” his
term for soccer players. Maybe the good
news is this kind of thinking seems to be on the decline.
Anyway, public
outcry set in motion a series of events this week that have led to Durkin’s dismissal
and the resignation of the regent (also board chairman, naturally) who wanted
to keep him on. Oh, and Illinois
Wesleyan played UIC yesterday in basketball.
In other words, an NCAA D-III team dared take on a D-I opponent, and the
Spartans did pretty well for themselves.
They outrebounded the Flames 34-30 in an 83-67 loss.
Really, it’s not
winning that counts, but how you play the game, and where.
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