The book on Bob Huggins has always been changing. For a while, he wasn’t much liked by the national consensus. Then, he was disliked but appreciated for practical reasons, because he was the only one who could get West Virginia fans to stop throwing garbage onto the court when they didn’t like a call. Then, he was beloved, part of a backlash against those old tired ways of thinking that are always so trendy to bemoan. Finally, he was disliked again, but with sadness, because he made it impossible to ignore his drinking problem and also he said some really shitty stuff about gay people and kind of Catholics, which is a unique combination but that didn’t make it better. Now, everyone’s pissed off at him! (Not everyone, of course, but if you require us to speak in exactitudes this is going to get tedious, and fast.)
At the end of last week, Bob Huggins’s attorney sent a letter to the WVU administration saying Huggins never actually resigned. The explanation is that Huggins’s wife sent a text to that effect, but that Huggins himself never officially formally resigned. We, of course, don’t really care what is or isn’t legally correct. We’re here for the soap opera. And frankly, what I think Huggins should actually do here is remind his former (current?) bosses about his power with the PA mic at the WVU Coliseum. Nobody else can stop West Virginia fans from throwing garbage when they don’t like calls. It is routinely Bob Huggins’s responsibility. What if Huggins gets those inclined to throw bottles to rally to his cause? Even Big 12 refs will eventually make you forfeit for too many projectiles on the hardwood.
Speaking of Projectiles
Yet another Georgia football player was caught driving illegally fast.
Wednesday, freshman linebacker Samuel M’Pemba was pulled over in Oconee County doing 88 mph in a 55 zone. (I’m assuming it’s the Oconee County in Georgia, not South Carolina, but they are very close to one another!) This is at least the fourth speeding or speeding-adjacent offense for which Georgia players have been cited since January 15th, the night a Georgia player and a Georgia staffer were killed while the staffer drove over 100 mph (allegedly racing) despite being nearly as drunk as Bob Huggins was when he was pulled over in Pittsburgh.
That is a ton of speeding or speeding-adjacent offenses.
In normal circumstances, an 18-year-old getting caught going 88 in a 55 wouldn’t be news, especially if it took place on an interstate or similar highway (going 88 on a two-lane road is homicidal, going 88 on an interstate is happening in thousands of cars around the country at the very moment you are reading this). When there have been that many offenses, though, and when there was such a sad, strong example of why to be careful driving cars less than six months ago? This is nuts!
One of the reasons Nick Saban outlasted Urban Meyer is that Nick Saban can keep himself and others under control. Nick Saban, believe it or not, has restraint, and he’s also evidently pretty effective at discipline. I’m not sure Kirby Smart’s effective at discipline. I’m not sure that bodes well for Georgia football.
Piss Boys!
Excuse me.
*The* Piss Boys.
I don’t know where this is from, but a Packers blogger named Jason B. Hirschhorn tweeted today that, during their time with the Texans, Matt LaFleur, Kyle Shanahan, and “the other young coaches” were referred to collectively as “the piss boys.”
No further context.
At least that I’ve found.
But you know I haven’t been looking for further context.
The thing about being known as one of The Piss Boys™ is that you are clearly either the biggest weirdo ever or a whole lot of fun or both. Let’s see if we can figure out which of those three is going on with LaFleur and Shanahan.
LaFleur was with the Texans in 2008 and 2009. Shanahan was there longer, joining in 2006. Let’s start in 2008 because I clicked that one first. Young coaches on the staff at that point whom I care to mention here:
- LaFleur and Shanahan, of course.
- Mike McDaniel, which tracks.
- Robert Saleh? He was on the defensive side of the ball. Was he a piss boy? IS he a piss boy?
No one new in 2009, but let’s check 2006 and 2007. This is more fun than I expected.
Ok, nobody else, but Brady Hoke’s brother was on those staffs and Brady Hoke seems like he’d be a piss boy in the weirdo way. Sorry, Brady Hoke. You caught a stray today. You are the bad kind of piss boy.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say this applied to McDaniel but not Saleh, and that there are others it applied to who just aren’t big enough names for me to know them. I’m then going to go out on another limb and say that I bet it was a term of endearment. I would use it that way. In fact, I’m going to use it that way right now. I’m going to text an impish friend: “You’re such a piss boy.”
The Baseball World Can’t Stop Talking About Joe Kelly
I don’t know why, but a TikTok went viral today (or sometime recently, who knows with the teens) of Joe Kelly kicking Tyler Austin’s ass in 2018. I guess most of the world doesn’t think about that at least once a week like I do. Boy. It is weird to see something very present for you become someone else’s history lesson.
Anyway, glad our guy is dominating the interwebs as we get into the All-Star Break. Things are as they should be.
NASCAR Still Needs Domes
The Cup Series finish in Atlanta last night was great as far as rain-shortened races go. The racing was delirious because no one knew where the finish line was because the finish line was being determined by Mother Nature. Once the race was red-flagged, they declared it over quickly. Best possible scenario.
Still: You’ve gotta be able to get away from the rain. This is fine on a Sunday night after the Fourth of July in Atlanta, but the Daytona 500 keeps getting rained out, and there have been others where it would be preferable to at least have the option to extend it. NASCAR, then, needs the biggest dome in the world, and it needs to have a retractable roof, and I’m going to hazard a guess that it needs some big carbon monoxide filters. Now’s the time, too, specifically at Daytona. With the Jaguars evidently preparing to play some games there, NASCAR can try tricking the NFL into paying for it.
The DeBrincat Trade Is Done
Our beloved Ottawa Senators finally traded Alex DeBrincat, sending him across the division to the Red Wings for Dominik Kubalik, a depth prospect, and a pair of draft picks. It’s a decent enough return, trading a ton of upside for a competent forward and more flexibility in the attempt to sign Vladimir Tarasenko. They’re worse without DeBrincat, but they had to get something for him since he wasn’t going to sign an extension, and they seemed to get about the best they could get.
At least, that’s how I’m reading it. Really, I’m waiting for the first time they play the Red Wings this fall so I can try to gauge Brady Tkachuk’s body language and see if he hates the guy. That’s the real determiner of my emotions on the matter. Check back in November or whenever it is.
Home Run Derby Tonight
Home Run Derby tonight! Not much else to add. It’s cool. Home Run Derbies are fun. There isn’t a lot of previewing to do with a Home Run Derby unless you’re going to go all the way into the weeds, and I am not going to do that today, because I am wearing shorts and that’s how you get ticks.
