For the final column of the year, the Babbling Bostonian will reflect on the important sporting events of the past school year and look to what lies ahead this summer and next fall.
Hello: to the Boston Celtics' quest to bring a 17th championship to Boston; to the Red Sox march past the Yankees to a World Series Championship; to the Amherst women's lacrosse team's National Championship victory over Middlebury.
Hello: to at least two major championship victories for Tiger Woods this season; to a Stanley Cup for the improbable Mighty Ducks of Anaheim; to a playoff victory for Drew Bledsoe and the Buffalo Bills (I do root for non-Massachusetts teams); to a 4-12 season for Bill Parcells in Dallas.
Goodbye: to the greatest basketball player on the planet, Michael Jordan; to the second best hockey player on the planet, Super Mario Lemieux; to the college career of future NFL bust, Ken Dorsey; to the brilliant three-sport career of Brooke Diamond '03.
Goodbye: to the Red Wings reign as a NHL powerhouse; to Willis McGahee's chances of rushing for 1,000 yards this season as part of the Buffalo Bills; to Jason Kidd after the Nets are upset by the Bucks this week; to the Lakers Dynasty; to the Yankees dynasty.
Hello: to the Yao Ming Dynasty in Houston; to Carmelo Anthony as next season's NBA Rookie of the Year; to Phil Mickelson as a Major winner
Goodbye: to Lebron James' infamous high school career; to the WNBA; to Martha Burk; to the Amherst College Class of 2003. Good luck.
Middle-aged coach parties at rival schools
Just this week, Iowa State University men's basketball coach, Larry Eustachy, appeared in The Des Moines Register drinking beer and kissing college-aged women at a party on the campus of the University of Missouri after a conference loss to the Tigers in January. Eustachy reportedly arrived at the apartment where the party was occurring accompanied by a Missouri player sometime around 1:30 a.m. and left about four hours later. In between, people at the party revealed that Eustachy "drank beer, became belligerent with a partygoer who objected to his presence, and made disparaging remarks about his team," according to an ESPN.com article. A student living at the residence took pictures of Eustachy and recently sent them to The Register, which published the pictures and an article this week.
By themselves, Eustachy's actions in Missouri seem like grounds for dismissal from his position at Iowa State, but since the article came out, students at Kansas State University have also reported partying with Eustachy after a game in January of 2002.
The most pathetic part about this whole story is that Eustachy, 47, has been married for 16 years and has two young children. He was the National Coach of the Year in 2000 and is the state of Iowa's highest paid public employee, making over $1 million per year.
Eustachy has a good thing going at Iowa State, winning the Big 12 Championship in 2000 and 2001 and is well respected in coaching circles. But now Eustachy has ruined his coaching career. When, not if, Iowa State fires Eustachy, he will be hard-pressed to find a school willing to hire him immediately after the revelation of his after-game exploits.
While many will compare what Eustachy did with Bobby Knight's entire career, I would argue that Knight knows how to behave outside the arena. Knight may have thrown chairs, sworn at the referees and the media and even yelled at his players, but he never embarrassed himself or his institution outside of the basketball spectrum. He has never been arrested, accused of having a drinking problem or violated any NCAA rules. He has been extremely generous to the community and has taken an active role as a role model and leader on every campus where he has coached.
The actions of a coach reflect not only the institution he or she represents, but also the players on the team, and, most importantly, the coach him or herself. How he or she behaves off the court is just as important, if not more important, than how he or she coaches on the court.
With NCAA violations running rampant at Villanova, St. Bonaventure, Georgia, Michigan, Auburn, Fresno State and Alabama Universities, something must be done. Schools should hold coaches, and players, more accountable for their actions.
Most importantly, coaches must act like responsible adults. Although their number one concern might realistically be winning games, their real concern should be educating student-athletes and preparing them for whatever kind of life they choose after college.