WACky golf tourney highlighted in SI this week

[Dawgpix]

SportsIllustrated columnist Rick Reilly expressed his wit this week as he backhandedly complimented Tulsa golf coach Bill Brogden's decision to lead his team to the airport instead of the playoff for the WAC golf title at "Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, La."

Reilly took a shot at the WAC assistant of championships Joe Menaugh, who Reilly said had his "boxers in a bunch over the idea" of declaring Tulsa and SMU WAC co-champions.
IMHO, a nice column by Reilly, the perennial prize-winning writer.
tm

[soccer_dawg9]

A Stroke of Inspiration

Once every comet or so, somebody in sports does something so brain-boggling that you drop your spoon in your raisin bran, fall over backward in your chair and scream to the Saint Bernard, "I'll be dog-damned!"
Well, two weeks ago it happened.

It was in college golf. The Tulsa men's team was tied with Southern Methodist at the end of 54 holes for the Western Athletic Conference championship. The day had crawled along at Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, La., and now there would be a sudden-death playoff, with Tulsa's five players going against SMU's five for the title.

But it was 3:20 p.m., and Tulsa had to catch a 4:30 flight, the last one out of town. It was a half-hour drive to the airport. Ten guys in a playoff hole could take almost an hour, and Tulsa was supposed to be in the car and on the way five minutes ago. The players would never make their plane, and three of them had final exams in the morning. Four of the five had GPAs of 3.2 or better.

That's when Tulsa coach Bill Brogden did something so insane, so unheard of, so slap-the-priest new that he runs the risk of being barred from coaching forever.

He forfeited.

"We have more important things than this," he told his boys as he herded them to the airport to get on that plane. He chose academics over athletics, No. 2 pencils over No. 2 irons. He finally let the dog wag the tail.

A coach looking out for the "student" at the expense of the "athlete"? Does the musher suddenly pull the sled and let the husky ride? What part of the term college golf factory doesn't Brogden understand? Who does he think he is, Coach Carter? "The guys were disappointed," Brogden says, "but I told them I had to do what I thought was right. By the time we were in the air, I think they agreed it was the only thing to do."

The only thing to do? Is he bats? Nobody does this! Ever! This is college sports, in which NFL defensive end Dexter Manley finished four years at Oklahoma State and couldn't read! In which Nicholls State just got four years' probation because a coach and an academic adviser did course work for more than two dozen jocks! Hell, what Brogden did has to be a shock at Tulsa, where only 42% of athletes who entered in 1997 had graduated in six years, the seventh-worst rate in Division I-A.

No wonder Tulsa president Steadman Upham wrote a memo to every faculty member at the school. "I have never been more proud of a coach or a team," he said, adding that the decision "shines brighter than any trophy."

Here's something stranger: Even the parents back Brogden. "When we first heard about it, we were kinda mad," said Tulsa golfer Sam Korbe's dad, Greg. "But once we heard the situation and thought about it, we were really proud of him."

"It was kind of a bummer," says Sam, the team's best player and a 3.8 student. "We'd been working so hard all spring, and we wanted to win it so bad. But I know it's the best thing overall for us. I admire Coach for what he did. A lot of coaches would have cared only about the sports half of our lives."

Now, wait: Don't paint Brogden as some feel-good New Age gym coach. This guy wants to win the way moles want to dig. He's won 14 conference titles in his 36-year career and coached 22 All-Americas, including PGA Tour regular Bill Glasson. In fact, Brogden tried to leave Louisiana with his integrity and the title.

He and SMU coach Jay Loar agreed to share the championship so Tulsa could catch that plane. But into every logical, happy solution a bureaucrat must fall, and WAC assistant director of championships Joe Menaugh had his boxers in a bunch over the idea.

"You can't do that," Menaugh sniffed, according to Brogden. "There's no provision in the bylaws for that. We have to declare a winner."

So it was a choice: tests or title?

Two Tulsa and two SMU players had already hit their drives. Three more golfers on each team were waiting on the 18th tee box when Brogden turned and said firmly, "We're outta here."

The four sets of Tulsa players' parents on site were shocked. "What in the world are we doing?" one asked.

"Packin' and goin'," Brogden explained.

Most every coach you've ever heard of would've stayed and played. Know how you know? Because when the Tulsa professors heard about Brogden's decision, they almost swallowed their pipes. "That was a very courageous act," says math prof William Hamill, who gave Korbe his Calculus III final the next morning. "I've never seen that before. I've never even heard of that."

To Brogden it was simple. "When I recruit these kids, I promise their parents I'm gonna graduate 'em. Most of 'em are not gonna be Tour players. We've got to remember why they're here: to get a degree."

Uh, Coach, can you excuse us a second while we fall over dead?

Issue date: May 23, 2005



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...523/index.html

[soccer_dawg9]

SportsIllustrated columnist Rick Reilly expressed his wit this week as he backhandedly complimented Tulsa golf coach Bill Brogden's decision to lead his team to the airport instead of the playoff for the WAC golf title at "Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, La."

Reilly took a shot at the WAC assistant of championships Joe Menaugh, who Reilly said had his "boxers in a bunch over the idea" of declaring Tulsa and SMU WAC co-champions.
IMHO, a nice column by Reilly, the perennial prize-winning writer.
tm

I emailed Rick because he did a really good job on the article, but he forgot to mention one very important reason why the Tulsa coach decided to leave early. Both Tulsa and SMU already qualified for regionals so he decided that finals were more important than the actual WAC championship trophy. I don't agree with the Tulsa coach, and I think this quote Spike Lee said about Michael Jordan will sum it up. He said, "I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying."

[HogDawg]

I really hate to see the media praising this Tulsa coach for being so irresponsible. The whole incident just smacks of irresponsibility and tells me that the Tulsa Coach and his staff are too STUPID to plan their schedules properly. Tulsa should not be honored for such a misstep.

Somehow, SMU --and everybody else-- was able to take care of their business without having such a silly scheduling conflict. And I lay that responsibility at the feet of the Tulsa Head Coach.

First of all: Why weren't prior arrangements made by the coaching staff for the Tulsa kids to take their exams at a more fitting time? These types of special requests are usually accommodated freely by the faculty of REAL COLLEGES! As a golf coach, Bill Brogden should know how long it takes to play a WAC golf tournament, and he certainly should have been prepared for a playoff scenario. Brogden should have never made the schedule so "tight". His fault, plain and simple.

Secondly: Tulsa is only about a 5 or 6 hour car drive from Ruston. At worst, the entire Tulsa team could have rented cars and DRIVEN back to Tulsa if necessary after finishing the playoff. They probably could have still been home by midnight, and maybe even studied in their cars.

Folks, this was not a T-Ball league game for 4-year olds, where everybody wins and nobody keeps score. This was SUPPOSED to be a WAC championship golf match between some of the best golfers in a "wannabe major conference". In my opinion, the Tulsa coach robbed the Tulsa kids AND the SMU kids of their rightful opportunity to EARN a WAC championship outright.

I think the Tulsa coach did his players a huge DISSERVICE by sending them the wrong message. His message says "it's okay to QUIT, and turn your back on your obligations, as long as the cause "seems noble".

If the Tulsa kids try this in the business world, they'll lose the deal. Period. Because no money goes to the second place finisher in the real world.

But then again, this is exactly the kind of thing that separates the winners and the losers in this world. You either WANT IT BAD, or you don't.

HD

[aubunique]

Getting them home in condition to take the finals and using the travel money already spent was extremely responsible. Had there been major thunderstorms expected over Oklahoma before their plane could get there, then it might have made sense to stay and play.

This is college athletics and they are students. Asking professors to offer exams at separate times for jocks should be as rare as 13-0 football seasons and 18 holes-in-one!

I hope these young golfers all did well on their exams and are forever proud of their performance in the tournament.

If decision-makers in business would have done the opposite, that is their ethical problem.

[Cal&Ken]

That is about the dumbest thing I have heard of in sports. We all know that the professors would have been happy to give the exams at alternate times. He just choked and thought he would lose.

[Dwayne From Minden]

HD -

I agree with you 100% - and I'll add ONE more thing -

This tourney was schedule several years ago - it didn't exactly SNEAK up on them -

The coach scheduled to "skinny" of a travel window and his kids had to suffer the consequences and then he used the WAC official as a scapegoat -

Honorable actions my a$$...

[JoeTech]

Hey don't let facts mess up a "feel good" story. Bottom line. They screwed up their travel plans, they were already late to leave for the airport when the tournament ended, so they were going to be late with or without a playoff.

Notice no mention of what he would have cost Tulsa in travel expenses by missing the scheduled flight and doing last minute arrangements. I'm sure Tulsa doesn't have a lot of cash laying around at the end of the fiscal year for a last minute expense like that.

It was a budget saver, pure and simple.

[NashVegasRabidK9]

Just want to throw something out there.... How many flights out of Monroe can get you to Tulsa? Monroe is not exactly DFW. Maybe that was the only window they could make a connecting flight to Tulsa.

[soccer_dawg9]

The reason they left was because that was the last flight that day to Tulsa from the Monroe airport.

I have to agree with HD. The Tulsa golf team could've played out the tiebreaker and then drove 6 or 7 hours back to Tulsa using rental cars. It's not that bad of a drive and they still would have gotten back in time for their finals the next morning. Road Trip!

[bdub]

I witnessed the the Tulso coach firsthand make a huge a##hole of himself at the WAC Championship. All of the things that fhave been written about him, everyone of them have failed to mention some of the facts about the whole week. Coach Brogden didnt how up for the MANDATORY coaches meeting on Sunday morning. If he would have shown up for the meeting, he could have told them about the his travel arrangements and also the playoff format was discussed in this meeting.

Also, we were lucky to get the tournamnet in without rain that week. What would he have done if we would have had a rain delay, when his team was sitting in the clubhouse with the lead. I gaurantee he would have wanted to stay around and try wo win the championship.

None of the write ups talked about how he wasted 20 minutes arguing with Joe Menaugh from the WAC once it was determined that they would be playing it off. If he would have gone to the 18th tee when after regulation and started the playoff, they might have been able to get it in.

Well enough rambling about the guy. He was complete jerk and showed no class the entire week. the WAC will be better off next year with Brogden not in the conference.

[KayBee]

I'm sorry but a coach's job is to first worry about the athletic success of his team and then about the academic success. He should have stayed and played the tournament.

Like Gov. Blanco said at commencement (paraphrased): If you try, there can be two answers - yes and no. If you don't try, there can be only one.

He was hired to make Tulsa's golf team good not to make sure the golfers perform well in the classroom. While it is good for a coach to be concerned about his students in the classroom and all coaches should take an interest in that it is not their primary responsibility.

Bottom line: you play to win the game

[DocMarvin362]

I'm sorry but a coach's job is to first worry about the athletic success of his team and then about the academic success. He should have stayed and played the tournament.

Hold on sparky.... Don't you hear all the time about kids being held out of events because they lacked the grades?? So your totally wrong, if the kids aren't doing well in school, you work their asses off there so that they can be on the feild/court/course with the team. To use Gov. Blanco's thinking.. If you make the grades, you can win or lose. If you don't make the grades, then you may only lose.

[KayBee]

but you dont hire a coach to put up good GPA and graduation rate numbers....and when a player fails to qualify academically you blame the player not the coach