Moving the Chains: Just Plain Wrong

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Saturday was the last day of February, and Sunday was the first day of March.

Saturday was the first day of the weekend, and Sunday was the last.

So far the two days share nothing in common.  That is, unless what happened in the world of sports on each of them is taken into consideration.

In that case, what happened on those two days had a lot in common.  Because what happened in sports on Saturday, February 28, and Sunday, March 1 was – in so many ways – just plain wrong.

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On Saturday, college basketball talking head Bruce Pearl said that the *Miami of Ohio RedHawks of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) aren’t worthy of a spot in the men’s NCAA tournament –  unless they win their conference tournament and gain an automatic bid, because they would have never survived against a Power 4 schedule (SEC, Big Ten, Big-12, ACC).  

*Currently they’re ranked 19^th in the AP Top 25 with a record of 29 – 0, 

the only undefeated team in the country.

Basketball fans may remember that Bruce Pearl retired as Auburn’s head coach just hours before the start of the regular season.  It didn’t take long to announce his replacement: Steven Pearl, whose name might ring a bell because he happens to be Bruce Pearl’s son.  Auburn insists he didn’t get the job through nepotism, so let’s just let that slide for now.  

Miami of Ohio athletic director David Saylor had a few choice words for Mr. Pearl: ‘The disrespect is awful and [you] should not be near a TV studio covering this sport when [you] show your true colors.’

Pundits – and I admit I’m one of them – believe Bruce was out of line and made his disparaging remarks to boost the chances of his son’s team* – they’re currently one of several teams ‘on the bubble’ – of making the NCAA tourney.   Sayler believes Pearl is doing it to diminish the chances of his university getting invited to March Madness. 

*Auburn, losers of 7 of their last 8 games, 

has an overall record of 15 – 14, and 6 – 10 in SEC games.

I doubt many would disagree that Bruce Pearl’s comments were disrespectful.  Teams don’t win 29 games without a loss if they’re not any good.  The RedHawks deserve an apology from Mr. Pearl, similar to the apology his son made to Auburn fans who ‘deserve better.’  

And while Bruce Pearl is at it, he can go ahead and apologize to Auburn for sticking them with a coach – nepotism or not – who doesn’t appear to be the right man for the job.  

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On Sunday, Jess McLain was leading the U.S. half marathon championships in Atlanta and appeared to be on her way to winning the race.  At least that appeared to be the case until she was led off the course by a lead vehicle that made a wrong turn with just over a mile left in the race.  Three other runners just behind McLain made the wrong turn as well, so instead of finishing in the top three positions, the best they could do was 9^th (McLain), 12^th (Emma Hurley of Colorado Springs), and 13^th (Ednah Kurgat of Roswell). 

Molly Born of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, ended up breaking the tape and was crowned U.S. champion, although she admitted she didn’t really feel like the champion ‘because of the whole situation at the end.’  Born also took home $20,000 in prize money for winning … or at least for crossing the finish line first.  It’s worth mentioning that the top three finishers also qualified for the world championship in September in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Jess McLain, of course, was not one of them.      

After the race, the four runners who followed the lead vehicle appealed to the USATF (USA Track & Field) regarding the order of finish.  Their appeal was quickly rejected.  The USATF, however, was quick to point a finger at the Atlanta Track Club, the local organizing committee responsible for providing and managing the lead vehicles for the race.   

This would be the same Atlanta Track Club that was responsible for last year’s Atlanta Marathon. After that race was over, the course was found to be 554 feet short of the 26.2 miles needed for certification.  (The error was blamed on misplaced turnaround cones caused by unexpected road construction.)   Ergo, since the course was not certified, runners couldn’t use their finishing times to qualify for certain races, one of them being the prestigious Boston Marathon.  

I don’t know who the Atlanta Track Club needs to apologize to, but if they haven’t done so already they might want to get busy.

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Bruce Pearl spoke ill of a basketball team that didn’t deserve it; the USATF refused to acknowledge the accomplishments of a handful of runners who did. 

Any way you look at it, they’re both just plain wrong.