Compare and contrast

Jerry Jones and Mike D’Antoni both have narcissists on their teams.

Here’s how Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, handles his:

In Sunday’s game against Cincinnati, with his team winning but Terrell Owens on his way to a paltry two-catch performance, Jones felt the need to walk over to Owens and buck him up.

“I was just reminding him how important a player and an important part he is to this team winning,” said Jones, undoubtedly mindful of some of Owens’ sideline explosions when a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Jones’ pep talk didn’t keep T.O. from blowing off reporters after the game — a 31-22 Dallas win — after issuing the following bizarre comment:

“It was frustrating out there, but I kept with it. My teammates stuck with it. … God used me today for his glory. Reality is where glory resides. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

I wish.

Now to New York Knicks coach D’Antoni, whose narcissist is guard Stephon Marbury, fond of calling himself “Starbury.”

Marbury, ticketed for backup duty under the new Knicks coach despite his outrageous salary, amazed the New York press by saying that, yes, he would accept coming off the bench in order to collect his $22 million this season.

In the Big Apple, that was considered a STORY — but not to D’Antoni.

“For you all, that’s big news,” D’Antoni told reporters. “For me, that’s how everybody should act.”

“I’m really proud that he did that,” he added, referring to Marbury. “But it shouldn’t be newsworthy. To do the right thing should never make the news.”

What part of 'No!' didn't you understand?

Nothing might be written in stone — this side of the Ten Commandments — but the following could be written in, say, plexiglass?

“Thou shalt not recruit to your college a player who attended five high schools.”

Despite his checkered prep academic career, UConn recruited Nate Miles to play basketball.

But it turns out he won’t be doing that.

On Sept. 22, the 20-year-old was served with a restraining order after a woman claimed Miles had attempted to force her to have sex with him.

Twenty minutes later, Miles reportedly violated that order by calling the woman — possibly a record for quickest disregard of a restraining order.

UConn has now expelled the 6-foot-7 player.

Of course, if he's talented enough for UConn to recruit him in the first place, chances are Miles will soon have second college to add to his academic résumé.

Friday column: Nothing says 'spirit' like execution

It was, explained Nathan Chaddick, principal of Nacogdoches (Texas) High School, all about spirit.

The football pep-rally skit opens with some NHS cheerleaders dressed as that week’s opponents, the Central High School Roughriders, wearing cowboy hats and carrying toy pistols.

The “Roughriders” kidnap the Golden Dragons’ mascot, which is then rescued by the Nacogdoches cheerleaders. So far, standard high-school rally fare. What follows isn’t, and here I quote from an Oct. 4 article in The Daily Sentinel.

“The music shifts to a popular song which includes the sound of gunfire. As the NHS cheerleaders hold the guns to the back of the kneeling ‘prisoners’ ’ heads, gunfire is heard. The ‘prisoners’ fall over, dead.

“The victorious NHS cheerleaders then toss what appears to be fake money into the air in celebration, then drag the bodies representing Center into a pile, whereupon the NHS mascot holds up a tombstone over the executed ‘prisoners,’ to the sound of clapping and cheering from the spectators.”

Not everyone cheered.

In the days following the rally, some students circulated a petition against the promotion of gun violence, and two editorials were written for the school newspaper. One — written by a cheerleader in defense of the skit — ran in full. The other — attacking the skit’s appropriateness — had paragraphs removed by the principal, including one that questioned the administration’s support for the skit.

Asked by The Sentinel what was objectionable about the excised material, Chaddick said it was obvious that a personal grudge was involved — something student journalists Katie Rushing and Mollie Garrigan denied.

“They were calling the cheerleaders ‘fearleaders,’ ” Chaddick said. “That’s inappropriate.”

That’s inappropriate?

Chaddick also moved a news story about the skit from the front page of the paper to inside, saying, “ … There’s more important things going on than a personal agenda of three little girls.”

It’s unclear who the third girl is Chaddick is referring to, but note the demeaning language: “three … little … girls.” If anyone comes up little in this incident, it’s Chaddick.

Among the material he censored was the following:

“ … it is inappropriate to allow such a display of excessive violence in a high school. This is not only unacceptable in a school environment, but also from a moral standpoint. This skit did not portray the other team as our opponent in a sports game, but as an enemy.”

Chaddick said the skit was a “simple, innocent satire” and was done “to promote some school spirit.”

A skit showing a mock execution, especially in an era when gun violence and death on school grounds is all too common, surely involves spirit — but not the type of spirit I would think a principal would want anywhere near his campus.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.

Oh, my aching ...

OK. I know I get on NFL players now and again for behavioral issues. OK — I get on them a lot. But there is no gainsaying the brutality of their sport or their toughness.

Take Brian Westbrook, for example.

A Tuesday morning main headline reads, “Eagles' Brian Westbrook has two broken ribs”

And the subhead: “It's too early to know if his latest injury will keep him out of Sunday's game at San Francisco”

Say what?

It those were my ribs, it would definitely not be too early to say I wouldn’t be playing this Sunday — or for many Sundays after that.

Dancing with the feds

Helio Castroneves is a two-time Indy 500 winner and a “Dancing With The Stars" champ.

But the federal government believes Castroneves is something else: a tax cheat who has evaded U.S. taxes on more than $5 million in income.

Castroneves, who has been charged with conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion from 1999 through 2004, appeared in court last week in handcuffs and leg chains. Apparently Uncle Sam is serious about getting his money.

Interestingly, his lawyer didn’t deny wrongdoing had been done — just that his client wasn’t responsible.

"Helio has always done the appropriate thing and hired accountants and attorneys he relied upon," the mouthpiece said.

But the feds have also charged his sister. Hmmm. If it comes down to a plea deal, as he’s the big fish in this case, she’s the one who would have some leverage, I would think.

"We are of the strong belief that he did not do anything wrong," his attorney said. "We're looking forward to going to court."

I bet.

Or to put it another way, the lawyer stands to have a great number of billable hours, so I can believe he’s looking forward to going to court.

Helio? I'm guessing not so much.

Who do you trust? How about ... neither?

A favorite sound byte on the radio show of late, great Jim Healy was a quote of Ed Garvey, the onetime head of the NFL players union, on the troubled then-owner of the Philadelphia Eagles.

“Leonard Tose,” Garvey said, “has lost it.”

I thought of Healy and Garvey and Tose while watching a tape of Al Davis railing this week against the alleged sins of Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin, whose firing Davis announced at a news conference that was bizarre even by Raider standards.

After eviscerating Kiffin for alleged coaching and character flaws, a rambling Davis went on to claim that New England coach Bill Belichick tampered with Raiders receiver Randy Moss before trading for him before the 2007 season. Belichick denied the claim.

A quandary — who is one to believe here? Belichick is a proven cheat. And Davis? Well, he’s gone the Leonard Tose route.

Great Moments in Parenting

In Ohio during a pee-wee football game between Amherst and Midview, a parent — one Eric Frambach — decided the Midview coach needed help calling plays.

"Apparently, the parent was yelling to the coach to run a particular play. They ran the play, the coach turns around as says, 'There is your sweep,' and bam, the rest is history," said youth football board member Dennis Szalai.

The “history” Szalai refers to is Frambach’s alleged attack on the coach, which resulted in Frambach’s arrest.

What made the incident more inane, Szalai said, was that there was an injured played on the field when the sideline fight began.

"I looked at the player, here is this third- or fourth-grader. This fight occurred within 2 feet of the player. There was no regard for this kid, no clue what happened to him. The boy could have had a serious injury to him. It wasn't, thank God," said Szalai.

As for the rest of the players, "They were all crying, and the Amherst players and they had a blank look on their faces, like they didn't know what was going on," Szalai said.

Frambach is no longer welcome at the league football games; his presence in court, however, will be not only permitted but required.