Don’t take the words of sports fans too seriously when it comes to the off-court happenings of players and coaches. The truth is they don’t care as much as they let on.
Oftentimes, when an athlete or coach has a transgression off the playing field, many take issue with the person still having a job, especially one that pays the kind of money they make. The phone lines on sports talk shows light up for days, while letters to the editor and message board posts on the matter are seemingly endless. The reaction to Michael Vick signing with the Philadelphia Eagles is just the latest of many examples of this, and surely the college basketball world will see something similar with the recent news that has come out with Louisville head coach Rick Pitino. And while I don’t expect the phone lines on sports talk shows, and even non-sports talk shows, to burn up with discussion of Pitino the same way they have for discussion of Vick, the larger issue is that fans are far more accepting of the transgressions of athletes and coaches than they like to let on.
Fans will talk the talk of moral indignation at these actions, but won’t walk the walk when it comes to spending their money on their favorite players or team.
For years now, fans and even non-fans have complained about the salaries of athletes and coaches. I won’t get into the economics involved that more than justifies their salaries, except to note that as long as the seats are filled, televisions and radios are tuned to watch the games and memorabilia is flying out of the stores, they deserve every penny of their salaries. But this is a critical point to keep in mind as questions arise about whether or not Pitino should still be the head coach at Louisville or how much it will affect recruiting, if at all.
I’m not out to defend Pitino’s actions, or those of anyone one else who has engaged in wrongdoing of some sort. Even if Pitino has done nothing illegal – and based on reports, it appears he has not – he did cheat on his wife. That’s a matter for him and his wife to hash out in private, not public. As more details come out, there is sure to be the perception that there is more than meets the eye to the entire situation between him and Karen Cunagin Sypher, and most times the court of public opinion is far more harsh than just about any court of law. I am a firm believer that actions have consequences, and I’m sure that will be the case here. What those consequences will be, I don’t know and don’t pretend to have a crystal ball. But when it comes to sports fans, the material consequences seem to be quite minimal.
There are numerous examples that can attest to this. In Major League Baseball, despite the years of suspicion of steroid use by players, many stadiums across the league have been filled up for years, only seeing any appreciable decline this year as the recession hits more and more people. Fans loved every minute of the home run chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998. Manny Ramirez certainly was not hurt in All-Star balloting by testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug, as Ramirez was seventh in the balloting among National League outfielders this season. When he returned from his 50-game suspension in July, he received nothing short of warm ovations by home fans who weren’t exactly in a hurry to sell their season tickets because of what one of their players had done.
Vick and Donte’ Stallworth are far from the first NFL players to commit a noteworthy transgression off the field, but fans keep tailgating, filling NFL stadiums and watching Monday Night Football on ESPN. This continues despite numerous players failing drug tests every year or getting arrested for a wide range of offenses. Once again, fans don’t care at the end of the day.
In the NBA, Kobe Bryant cheated on his wife several years ago. Plenty of Lakers jerseys with the number 24 on the back can still be found worn by young kids today and he’s still beloved in Los Angeles. The Staples Center is still packed for home games; fans didn’t start trying to sell off their season tickets because of what Kobe did off the court. Bulls fans didn’t start selling off their season tickets en masse because Michael Jordan gambled away some money while his team was winning six titles in eight years.
In college basketball, we’ve seen coaches like Bob Huggins get arrested for DUI and Andy Kennedy for assaulting a cab driver. (Kennedy later pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge from that incident.) Southern Miss head coach Larry Eustachy was photographed with while drinking with college students on a road trip in 2003 while head coach at Iowa State. In each case, life has gone on for each coach, although Eustachy lost his job at the time only to resurface at Southern Miss. Huggins’ team at West Virginia may have the personnel to compete for the Big East title this season.
While some parents might not be fond of Pitino’s actions, this likely means nothing to recruits. Players care about just a couple of things when considering a school. Can a coach get on television? Can he get a team to the NCAA Tournament? Can he get players to the NBA? If the answer to each is yes – and Pitino has done all three – that’s what matters to young players.
This is also what matters to fans. Fans want to see their team in the NCAA Tournament; if you don’t think so, one need only look to Pitino’s arch-rival school and former employer for a good example. Kentucky changed head coaches this past off-season because they were playing in the NIT, not the NCAA Tournament, last March. Their new head coach, John Calipari, has had two Final Four appearances by his teams vacated by the NCAA, but Wildcat fans won’t care about that as long as the Wildcats are winning games, especially in March. (The NCAA’s action against Memphis will be under appeal, but for now the national runner-up season of 2007-08 is off the NCAA’s books.)
As the season approaches, Pitino will surely be asked more about the situation with Cunagin Sypher. There will be more written about it and how it might affect the team. But all the speculation in the world about recruiting or his job can be put to rest right now. He will still be the head coach at Louisville, and if he loses any recruits at all because of it, he will get plenty of others who are eager to play for a coach whose teams are consistently in the NCAA Tournament and who consistently sends players on to the NBA.
For that matter, fans won’t have a problem with it and will continue to pack Freedom Hall, wear Cardinal memorabilia and watch and listen to games on TV and the radio. At the end of the day, fans care about the bottom line and not whether or not those who play for or coach their team are nothing but saints.
Unless and until that changes, those looking for athletes and coaches to suffer real consequences need to hold fans’ feet to the fire as much as they do the athletes and coaches whose wrongdoing they take issue with. And unless and until large numbers of fans take real action showing their disapproval of off-field transgressions, I will continue to consider the words of those who think it’s a travesty that Michael Vick has an NFL job or that Rick Pitino should resign as head coach at Louisville to be nothing more than grandstanding hot air.
