Not too well, as I recall

The funniest line to come out recent stories about the Miami Heat’s alleged unhappiness with coach with Erik Spoelstra is this one: They're not winning as much as expected because he won’t let them be themselves.

It’s funny because when easy-going Wade Phillips replaced disciplinarian Bill Parcells as coach of the Dallas Cowboys, every player was allowed to be himself.

How did that work out?

Implausible denial

So.

Cam Newton’s father, the good Rev. Newton, was pimping his son around to college football programs for a couple of hundred thou, but the son knew nothing about it?

Two words: Un-likely.

Auburn may gets its national championship, but the NCAA investigation will continue, and the subsequent embarrassment may be a bitch.

Even if it comes years later.

Just as Southern Cal.

As for Newton attorney George Lawson's insistence that he is "a million percent confident that Cam Newton took no money from no one," I'm a million percent confident that Lawson, saying just what a flak is paid to say, has credibility in this matter of ... just ... about ... zero.

No offense, Derek, but …

Derek Jeter is easily my favorite player in Major League Baseball.

I love his work ethic, his demeanor, his hustle. I’ve never seen him not run out a ground ball — and I mean hard.

But the idea the Yankees owe him tons of money in his declining years simply because he is Derek Jeter, because of what he has done for them in the past, is absurd. He was well compensated for all those years.

The sense now is that after early rebuffs, Jeter and his agent are getting more realistic about his current monetary value. I hope so.

In an era when hardly anybody plays for one team his entire career, it would be nice for Jeter to finish as a Yankee.

Friday column: 'This how you do me?'

I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME?!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO …

Thus tweeted Buffalo wide receiver Steve Johnson’s after dropping a sure touchdown pass Sunday, a play that would have given the Bills an upset victory over Pittsburgh.

Johnson’s reaction brought to mind my struggles with a Ignatius Loyola prayer of dedication recommended to me years ago.

Recognizing God as the source of all things, the prayer offers back to that source all of one’s freedom, memory, intelligence and will for God to use as he sees fit. The prayer ends, “I ask only for your love and your grace, for they are enough for me.”

I have found praying that prayer problematic in this sense: While I understand and do believe that God’s love and grace should be enough for me, I find as say those words that, in truth, I want a little more.

A newer car would be nice. Maybe a house without so many problems. A bit of financial security would be appreciated. I wouldn’t mind a Pulitzer.

Johnson apparently would very much have liked a game-winning touchdown. When he didn’t get it, he tweeted, ostensibly to God. But as his faith tells Johnson that the Almighty already knows his thoughts, it’s safe to assume the tweet was really to Bills fans, to let them know the drop really wasn’t Johnson’s fault — blame the Man Upstairs.

In a world of suffering, it’s easy to make fun of Johnson’s angst over a dropped pass. But it’s worth remembering the wide receiver is only 24 and clearly felt he had let down an entire community. When he said after the game that he would “never get over it — ever,” I’m quite sure he meant it.

But, obviously a little perspective is called for.

There are countless millions of people waking up today who must struggle with their faith, whatever it may be, while confronting soul-shattering losses — of job, health, child, husband, wife. In this life, loss, pain and fear come at us, sometimes in waves. We do what we can to prevent them but sooner or later they come, just the same.

What we can control, one hopes, is our response, and here Johnson should have an edge. He’s an elite athlete, which means he’s already learned that pushing through the hard moments — wind sprints at the end of practice, extra reps when you’re tired, discouraged and want to quit — is where the most progress is made.

What’s true in the athletic realm I believe to be true also in the spiritual.

For people of faith, getting from “And this how you do me?” to “your love and your grace are enough for me,” is a long, arduous journey, and there are frequent drops — for all of us — along the way.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.

Friday column: Nothing like a visual to spur the conscience

Why do people lie?

Let’s ask Bruce Pearl.

“There’s no reasonable excuse,” the University of Tennessee men’s basketball coach said. “When you get asked a question, you panic.”

Pearl knows whereof he speaks as he recently admitted to … uh … misleading — that’s the word Pearl used — NCAA investigators probing infractions in Pearl’s program.

So far, the results of the lie and other ethical boo-boos are an eight-game suspension for Pearl and a $1.5 million pay cut over five years. Pearl also won’t be allowed to recruit off campus for a year. Those penalties were imposed by the Southeastern Conference and the university, respectively. The NCAA is yet to be heard from, but even the penalties thus far imposed could have been worse.

If he had stuck with his lie, Pearl could have lost his job.

To me, that help explains Pearl’s decision to ’fess up to his athletic director.

Pearl’s lie apparently involved a recruit being in his home in violation of NCAA rules. Reportedly, there was a photo of the visit. It doesn’t take a Mensa-caliber intellect to see a continued denial of the truth in this situation was foolhardy.

An image — or images — also played a role in another confession — that of Nebraska defensive coordinator Carl Pelini, who was accused of pushing a video camera held by a reporter for a Texas A&M fan website following the Cornhuskers’ Saturday loss to the Aggies.

Carl Pelini’s first response?

The incident never happened.

The response of his brother, head coach Bo Pelini? Well, it happened, but it was accidental. You see, Carl was trying to help a Nebraska player off the field and the photographer got in the way.

Unfortunately for the Pelinis, video to the contrary surfaced, leading to Carl’s Tuesday mea culpa.

“It was a very emotional situation and the mob scene on the field after the game amplified that,” he said. “Having been involved in a similar situation in 2003 at Missouri, and in witnessing the situation on the field, I made a poor decision in trying to prevent a reporter from recording the scene.”

Ah, yes, the dreaded “poor decision.”

And the false story peddled by his brother? Was that another “poor decision”?

“Unfortunately, Bo did not have all the facts prior to (Monday’s) press conference and wasn’t fully prepared for the question,” Carl Pelini said.

I hate when that happens.

Why do people lie? Often, I guess, because they know they’ve done something wrong and don’t want to own up to it. Or perhaps a close relative has done something wrong, and they don’t want them to have to own up to it.

Why do people who first lie later tell the truth? That’s often a bit easier to figure out.

Two words.

Visual evidence.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.

Might want to be careful, Rev.

So.

Besides NCAA and state officials probing the auction ... I mean recruitment ... of Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, now federal officials are involved.

Note to the Rev. Cecil Newton, Cam's dad, who is alleged to have demanded lots and lots of cash for his son's services: The feds don't like to be lied to. Don't believe me? Ask, oh ... Marion Jones or Martha Stewart ... or any number of folks who've made that mistake.

Don't ... lie ... to ... the ... feds.

Friday column: Sometimes, it’s good to be surprised

The sports landscape often showcases individuals who accept praise more quickly than blame, are more interested in themselves than in others, are more interested in taking than in giving.
Often — but not always.
Oct. 27, a Notre Dame student videographer died when a high wind toppled the hydraulic lift from which he was recording football practice.
Eight days later, the Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president, sent an e-mail to students, faculty, staff and alumni stating what most everyone understood but what few expected to hear from an institution with lawyers on the payroll.
“Declan Sullivan was entrusted to our care, and we failed to keep him safe. We at Notre Dame and ultimately I as president are responsible. Words cannot express our sorrow to the Sullivan family and to all involved.”
Jenkins didn’t blame Sullivan for somehow improperly using the lift. He didn’t blame the maker of the device. He didn’t even blame God. He did what one would hope a university president would do — stood up and told the truth.

* * *

Truth is, athletes have been known to spend their retirement living in the past rather than moving on and doing something significant with their lives.
Not Roberto Baggio.
Baggio, one of the finest soccer players ever, works to raise awareness of world hunger and serves as a goodwill ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
That’s just for starters.
As a recent New York Times article pointed out, Baggio “helps to fund hospitals. He committed to raise money in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. He involved himself in the fight against bird flu. He joined the pro-democracy movement for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar.”
Baggio won plenty of honors as a player, but last Sunday was given something more meaningful than a sporting trophy. In Hiroshima, Baggio received the Peace Summit Award given yearly by the world’s Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

* * *

I can’t imagine a World Peace Award being given to Ron Artest, but the thing about the aggressive Laker swingman is that with him, you never really know what to expect.
For years, we did know. We expected bad behavior.
Artest’s image began to change when, following the Lakers’ victory over Boston, he became the first athlete to begin his post-championship comments by thanking his psychologist. And no, it wasn’t a joke.
Then he appeared at an L.A.-area intermediate school to talk to kids about the importance of seeking help for emotional problems. Now, he’s taking what some athletes regard as their prized possession — a championship ring — and auctioning it off to raise money for, yes, mental health charities.
The idea came to him suddenly. Said Artest: “It was … simple. It was perfect. It’s something that can help others.”
Artest has gone from pariah to role model, of a sort. And I can’t believe I just wrote that.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.