Fightin' through...

Let’s begin with the “war” of words from earlier this week. On Dan Le Batard’s radio show, Michael Wilbon (good friend of my good friend Tony Kornheiser) said the following:

“I'm not one of those guys who likes to pound on Stan Van Gundy. I thought he got completely hosed in Miami. I think there are things that Stan does very well. I think he was sabotaged in this case by the trading -- not the trading but the letting go to free agency -- of his best offensive player (Hedo Turkoglu). I think that Stan probably will be fired (if the Magic lose to the Celtics). I don't know how you fire him. I really don't... I've already heard the rumblings that he will be fired if they don't win this series”.

Well, Stan Van Gundy wasn’t going to take THAT. So he responded by saying:

“No, I’m not worried about my job security and I’m less worried about what Michael Wilbon would think about anything. People comment on things and that’s fine –whatever. Michael Wilbon, to my knowledge, has never done anything competitive, never been in a locker room... never had to play, never had to coach, never had to make a decision. He’s one of those guys who is a talking head. I’ve refused to be on PTI over the years. Look, I follow this stuff. If you’re on guys’ shows, they don’t criticize you and if you won’t go on their shows, they do. That stuff is never made known. There’s a lack of integrity in the business. So whatever Mike wants to say, that’s fine. He’s certainly not an expert in my business and I’m not going to worry about it too much”.

Haha... Good one, Stan. Let that be a lesson to anyone trying to defend Stan Van Gundy! Haha... To be fair (and I sometimes try to be) I’m sure Stan wasn’t given the full Wilbon quote before he responded. To keep being fair, Stan Van Gundy may very well just be a dumba**. What I would like to see happen, is the owner of the Magic go up to Stan and say, “We’re going to let you go... I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, but then I heard Wilbon on the radio and he made a good point so I decided to keep you. But then I heard you say that Wilbon doesn’t know anything... So I’m going to fire you”. That’s what I’d like to see. Here’s the thing, I don’t really care that much about Stan Van Gundy or Michael Wilbon. What I do hate is that crap Stanny boy said about Wilbon having never played or coached... as if that matters in this situation. That’s like Jeremy’s boy Hanley saying his coach doesn’t know what he’s doing because he never played Major League baseball. When did Stan Van Gundy play in the NBA? On the flip side, when did Michael Jordan become a great coach? When did it become necessary to play or coach before you can report or analyze something? This past April, Stan was fined for criticizing officials. I have yet to find where in his bio it is mentioned that he has ever worked as an NBA ref. I’m sure there are times when having played or having coached does help give insight... but don’t think it’s a prerequisite for a TV gig.

Moving a little closer to home... The Citadel and Elon got into a little scuffle in there game yesterday. The Citadel base runner did a kind of half-slide into the Elon catcher (who was reaching for the ball) on a play at the plate. College rules say a runner has to slide on a close play at the plate. One could debate if the slide by The Citadel player was a true slide or more of a flying knee block, but it at least looked like he was attempting to slide. What one could not debate, is that the Elon catcher (at least from the pictures I’ve seen) was doing a great job (in my opinion) of blocking the plate. Had the runner really slid, I’m not sure he could have reached the plate. Listen, I have no problem with a catcher blocking the plate on a close play. In fact, I believe that’s how God intended the game to be played. What I do have a problem with, is a catcher, coach, teammate... whatever, getting all bent out of shape if the gets hit by the runner who is trying to get to the plate the catcher is blocking. Anyway, there was a collision and the runner was ruled safe. The Elon coach went out to argue. Words were flying all around and then (from my sources at the Post and Courier) an Elon player ran out of the dugout and the fun really began. I don’t know how good of a fight it was since I wasn’t there. I did see some pictures (including one with my friend and former position coach my senior year at JI, Coach Beckley... who seems to be trying to hold someone back, though I can’t really tell). I’m going to look for a video of it when I get a chance. I do know Fred Jordan (Head Coach for El Cid) ended up with a separated shoulder (not sure how that happened). In the end, The Citadel won the game (and I hope the fight... it is a military school after all).