Too bad these words cannot be returned
It arrives every year the day after Christmas. In jolly old England they call it Boxing Day. Here in the red, white and blue U.S. of A., we unofficially call it Return Day, that first chance to send back or exchange whatever we wished we hadn’t been gifted by Santa Claus.
But it’s a little difficult to take back words, especially when you’re semi-famous to famous and more folks than should hang on your every word, dissecting each one like a frog in a seventh-grade biology class.
So in honor of all things we wish could be returned without consequences, here’s one writer’s view of the top five verbal sports faux pas of 2016: ›
No. 5: Team USA women’s soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo trashing Sweden after her team’s Olympic quarterfinal loss on penalty kicks. Saying the Swedes played like “a bunch of cowards,” Solo lent credence to any world view that we’re not only a bunch of spoiled brats in this country but also really poor losers.
Thankfully, U.S. Soccer not only suspended Solo for six months but then elected to not renew her contract, despite her well-earned reputation as the world’s top keeper. ›
No. 4: Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton’s postgame news conference following the Super Bowl. That three quick minutes of surliness while clad in a hoodie seemed to instantly — if, we hope, temporarily — flip an overall good guy from prince to pariah with many both in and outside the media.
Two days later Newton tried to save himself with the 11-word explanation “show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser,” which isn’t an awful excuse in an age when college players are now skipping bowl games because they might get hurt.
But by then, thanks to this instant news cycle we live in, the combined worlds of national media and social media had savaged him in a way usually reserved for right-wing politicians and Miley Cyrus.
Was it fair? Perhaps not. But when you seem to so enjoy every touchdown you score in victory — dancing, prancing and laughing as you hand a football to some fortunate fan in the stands (which is a very good thing) — when you show up for postgame media
sessions after wins dressed as if you’re on your way to a GQ photo shoot, a lot of folks, rightly or wrongly, expect you to show up and take your medicine in defeat.
Of course, with the Panthers assured of a losing record this year heading into the season’s final weekend, he’s had plenty of practice at becoming a better loser.
› No. 3: North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams’ decision — though we have no idea if it was verbal or nonverbal — not to closely guard Villanova forward Kris Jenkins on his way up the court in the final seconds of the Tar Heels’ NCAA title-game loss.
The Heels having just tied the game on an off-balance 3-pointer from senior guard Marcus Paige, Williams didn’t make harassing the gifted long-range shooter Jenkins a priority. Trailing the action, the Wildcats forward stopped outside the top of the key, took a pass from savvy guard Ryan Arcidiacono and calmly swished a deep 3, the buzzer sounding before it dropped through the goal, to win the Philly Felines their second NCAA title 31 years after the same program stunned a more impressive Georgetown bunch to win its first.
“We work on it every single day in practice,” Arcidiacono said.
“One, two, step, shoot ’em up,” Jenkins said.
Williams, who does have NCAA crowns to his credit from 2005 and 2009, was left to wonder why he didn’t make stopping a play Villanova coach Jay Wright practices every day a priority on the biggest night of the year.
› No. 2: Oklahoma backup quarterback Austin Kendall — we repeat, BACKUP quarterback — trash-talking the Ohio State defense this past September before the Sooners welcomed the Buckeyes to Norman, Okla.
Said Kendall in the days before that game: “I think they have a really basic defense. I think we can go out there and Baker (Mayfield, the starting QB), he’ll light them up, and I’m really looking forward to it. If my number’s called, I think I can do the same. I’m really looking forward to the game. It should be really exciting.”
It was certainly exciting for the Buckeyes, who won 45-24, seven of those points scored by returning an interception against Mayfield for a touchdown.
It not only guaranteed that Oklahoma, which already had lost to Houston, wouldn’t reach the College Football Playoff despite not losing another game the rest of the season, but often was cited as the chief reason the Buckeyes made the playoff without winning their Big Ten division or conference crown.
Returning to Kendall, his pregame words might be termed a basic error in judgment.
› No. 1: This admittedly is a gift to a grumpy Big Orange Nation, but Tennessee coach Butch Jones saying of his seniors five days before they went to Vanderbilt, “They’ve won the biggest championship — that’s the championship of life,” may be lampooned by Volniacs until their football team finds a way to beat Alabama.
Especially after the Volunteers lost 45-34 to the Commodores after being outscored 21-3 down the stretch.
To be fair, Jones has seemed to build a program capable of turning out championship people, given this year’s senior class that includes Josh Dobbs and Cam Sutton, to name only two. But when you can’t win an SEC East you were favored to win when it’s the weakest it’s been in years and you finally beat Florida, your fan base wants a championship it can celebrate on a T-shirt rather than sending its former players off to high-end jobs where T-shirts aren’t allowed.