J-Hill’s Two Minute Drill

Opinion

Welcome back to the Drill. This week had as many scandals in a span a seven days as possibly ever before in sports history, so let’s take a closer look at the stories that have shook the world of sports at its core:Razorback Regret: Arkansas Fires Petrino – The Bobby Petrino scandal in Fayetteville reached an apex on Tuesday when athletic director Jeff Long axed the former Falcons head coach after it was confirmed that he had be completely dishonest with the school concerning his relationship with Jessica Dorrell, who he helped the school hire as student-athlete development coordinator. It has also been revealed that the hiring process in which Dorrell was brought on in was completely unfair, as thanks to Petrino’s help only 3 of the 159 applicants for the job were interviewed and of those three people Dorrell, who had no experience with football, was hired. Phone records have also came to light between Dorrell and Petrino and the amount of contact between the two is very alarming, as the two have exchanged around 4,300 texts and 300 calls. With all of this information in mind, I can make a solid statement about Coach Petrino: he will be lucky if he is ever interviewed for a head coaching position again, even more so if he actually lands one. Petrino’s name was already mud to a good majority of the football world when he handled his departure from the Falcons like a thief in the night, and his latest indiscretion eliminates his chances of getting a job coaching a powerhouse for at least the next ten years. People love comeback stories, but it’s going to take a ton of work and effort out of Petrino in both his job, his family life, and his character for anyone to ever address the 51-year-old as “Coach” again.

Guillen Goes Too Far – People around Major League Baseball know about Ozzie Guillen and his propensity to state whatever is on his mind, which those around the league have deemed just “Ozzie being Ozzie.” Most of the time Guillen’s statements are racy, like the time he hurled a gay slur at Jay Mariotti, but can be quickly forgotten. However, Guillen’s latest string of words has all of South Florida in an uproar, as the new Miami Marlins manager told Time Magazine “I love Fidel Castro…I respect Fidel Castro.” Guillen apologized on Tuesday, saying in part that “What I wanted to say in Spanish, I said in English in a wrong way” and that “I was saying I can not believe somebody who hurt so many people over the years is still alive.” Whatever Guillen tried to say is beside the point now, as the Marlins manager was suspended five games for the words that did come out of his mouth. While some may see the suspension as an infringement on the freedom of speech, those who understand what a big part of the Miami Marlins’ fanbase that Cuban Americans really are would realize that Guillen is extremely lucky to still call himself employed.

Odom Done in Dallas – The train wreck that was Lamar Odom as a Maverick finally came to an end this week when the team placed the reigning Sixth Man of the Year Award on the inactive list, which means Odom can not play for Dallas or any other team this season. The situation is really best for both sides, as Odom never really fit in with the rest of the Mavericks and did not provide the team with sufficient play, averaging a little under seven points and a little over four rebounds per game with the team. The question now concerns Odom’s future, and my guess is it doesn’t focus on reality shows with wife Khloe Kardashian. I say that next season Lamar Odom finds himself in a familiar situation, as he makes a return to the Los Angeles Lakers that were quite despondent without his presence in the 2011-2012 season.

Kings’ Courtless – Poor, poor Sacramento Kings. Adding insult to injury to a squad that is twenty-two games under .500, it was announced on Friday that the deal that would give the Kings a new arena in Sacramento has fallen apart after discussions between the Maloof family, which owns the team, and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson made no progress. The ball is in the Maloof family’s court according to commissioner David Stern, which basically means they can shop for the highest bidder if that’s really what they are interested in doing. It looks like this story is quite far from reaching a revolution, but one fact is undeniable: if the Kings had this many headlines about its players as it did about its arena, they would be headed for the NBA Finals without a contest.

Falcons Headed to Hard Knocks? – The Atlanta Falcons to Hard Knocks rumors have started up again, as for the second straight year people have started speculating that the NFC South team would be the focus of HBO’s show that follows one NFL team from training camp up to the start of the season. The rumors reached a head on Thursday when ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted that the team had indeed been offering the starring role in the series, making it very realistic that these rumors are true. Last year I was critical of the idea of the team being placed under the microscope that is being on Hard Knocks, but this year I’ve changed my tune. Outside of the Peach State, the Falcons really don’t have the type of following like some of the major franchises, so more exposure would undoubtedly help that a bit. The situation would also not be unfamiliar territory for head coach Mike Smith, as he was a part of the Ravens and Jaguars when the teams were featured on the show. It’s not really clear how soon we will find out if the Falcons will accept the offer to be on Hard Knocks, but if they do I’m sure that the Dirty Birds throughout America will tune in week in and week out to check out Matt Ryan and Company.

Sports Quote of the Week

“I sort of always liked playing them that second game because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended.”
South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier on the South Carolina-Georgia game being moved back from its traditional September date to October this year

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