An Urban Legend Bites The Dust

Pardon us if we experience a little schadenfreude:

The Jacksonville Jaguars fired coach Urban Meyer early Thursday morning, ending his tenure 13 games into a season that was defined by controversy and disappointing play.

“After deliberation over many weeks and a thorough analysis of the entirety of Urban’s tenure with our team, I am bitterly disappointed to arrive at the conclusion that an immediate change is imperative for everyone,” Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a statement released by the team. “I informed Urban of the change this evening.”  [snip]

Meyer, who was hired in January after a decorated career as a college coach, guided Jacksonville to a 2-11 record and faced criticism for questionable personnel moves, his off-field behavior and his treatment of assistant coaches and players. The latest controversy came Wednesday evening, when the Tampa Bay Times published a story in which former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo accused Meyer of kicking him during a practice in August, which Meyer denied.

Sally Jenkins, writing elsewhere in the Post prior to word of Meyer's firing, had it right:

From the very beginning, with his demeaning labeling of guys as either “Winners” or “Losers” in training camp and his supercilious pronouncement that “Every man’s got a record,” you could tell Meyer badly misapprehended what it takes to lead in the NFL. He’s as close to a legit NFL head coach as a grackle is to an attack helicopter. The difference between pros and the worshipful spaniel-eyed kids Meyer barked at in college is that high performers in the NFL are almost impossible to manipulate with dishonest or counterfeit slogans. What turns their performance is the truth. [snip]

Ever since Meyer was lured off a TV set by Jaguars owner Shad Khan, he has been spouting airy platitudes that have as much substance as a young-adult novel. He could get away with that at Ohio State and Florida, backed by administrations willing to tolerate his mismanagement-scandals, such as 31 arrests among the Gators and the coddling of an alleged domestic abuser on his staff with the Buckeyes. He recruited top talent, benefited from a lot of mismatches and coated it all with organizational bromides. But it’s becoming clear that he knows absolutely nothing about real-world, elite competitive character. Don’t ever forget that he ran off Joe Burrow in favor of Dwayne Haskins — and labeled Haskins the can’t-miss prospect.

Well, we've already wasted too many electrons on this "Urban legend," who always seemed to us to be too smug, too confident in his "I alone can fix it" ability to shape the teams around him -- mostly by bullying and threatening, as it turned out.   Now some other pro or college team will doubtless take a chance on him, given his overall "record," regardless of the toll he's taken on programs on his way to being a "winner."

BONUS:  LGM wins the headline contest: Urban Meyer discovers it’s much harder to win when the other team gets paid too

(Photo: Meyer raging; Phelan M Ebenhack/ AP)

 

Ban On Russian Dopers Upheld

Russia has lost its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), international sports' highest tribunal, over the ban of its track and field team over doping its athletes. This paves the way for the International Olympic Committee  (IOC) to ban Russian athletes from the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro beginning on August 5, if the IOC so chooses. Even without a blanket ban on Russia for the Rio Olympics, track and field events were at the core of their Olympic hopes.

An independent report last fall by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) asserted that there was "rampant state-sponsored doping in Russian athletics." At the time, Russia pledged to clean up the problem, but in June the international federation ruled that progress had not been sufficient to lift the ban on the track and field athletes.  Russia Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, a crony of Russian leader and Trump fave Vladimir "Vlad the Invader" Putin, claimed that the ban harmed athletes that weren't doping, although the independent report was clear that the doping was supported by the Russian government itself through its Ministry of Sport and was "rampant."

Reverting to their default "slander against Russia" mode, the Sports Ministry has called CAS's ruling a "crime against sport," while Russian pole vaulter Yelena "I Can Vault Without A Pole" Isinbayeva claimed that it was a plot to keep the mighty Russkies from winning: "They have always feared (our) strength." Well, Yelena, strength through chemistry it seems.  Spasibo for (not) playing.

L'il Danny the Censor?

Former Washington Post Bezos Bugle sports writer Jason Reid was known for his biting -- and accurate -- columns on the Washington football team's lousy play and even lousier management, by which we mean the vertically-challenged team owner (and Republican contributor) Daniel "L'il Danny" Snyder.  When he was with the Bezos Bugle, Reid would ask probing and critical questions of the team's management, particularly General Manager Bruce Allen, in press conferences, which annoyed him and L'il Danny to no end.

Now, according to reports, L'il Danny is strongly suspected to have directed the squashing of Reid's debut on "The Man Cave," a new show on the local radio station that he owns.  If true, it wouldn't be the first time that L'il Danny elbowed the local press to try to shape his image or that of his team.  Several years ago, L'il Danny tried to shut down a small paper in D.C. that had run an unflattering story about him, and it was only after the community expressed its outrage that L'il Danny backed down.  Time will tell if this latest effort at censorship blow up in his face, too.

(Image:  L'il Danny with his best friends)

From The Sports Desk...

Last night's preseason football game between Washington and the Cleveland Browns was apparently a snoozer, with both teams' quarterbacks looking uninspiring.  However, we noted that Cleveland rookie quarterback Johnny "Johnny Football" Manziel made the news not for his flat performance, but for his upright middle finger which he flipped at the Washington sidelines after a series of plays:

We'd like to think that Manziel flipped the bird at our "favorite" football team owner, Li'l Danny Snyder, but no such luck.

Fans of Cleveland's bitterest rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers, were quick to jump on Manziel's gesture:

On a more mature note, two prominent broadcasters, CBS' Phil Simms and NBC's Tony Dungy have stated that they will not use the Washington football team's offensive name in their broadcasts this season.

Not A Bad Sports Weekend

Both #6 Wisconsin and Michigan won their games, and the Packers trounced the lowly Dallas Cowpies 45-7. The Redskins avoided embarrassment and didn't play. Not a bad weekend in sports for the Hackwhackers.

Hmmm

Sports headline: "Bulls' Derrick Rose Hurts Self In Bed"

We can only conclude he's not "Master of His Domain."