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Jerry Sloan has just resigned as a coach of 23 years for the Utah Jazz. That in itself is sad.
Jeff Fisher is likewise gone from the Tennessee Titans.
Both these men have been ambassadors of an "old-school" approach to their sports. A hard-nosed, no-excuses, cold-hard-facts effort to plow through the season. Both have failed, time and again, to reach that elusive championship and have always shown up to work the next day, ready to work towards it yet again, never quitting, always picking themselves up.
Both coaches have also been the definition of class acts. Never trash-talking the opposition, always giving credit where it was due and not shying away from their responsibilities.
They have also been known as "player's" coaches. People that athletes love to play for, because they don't sugarcoat things and are frank with the situations that arise. They take the drama away.
It would be wrong of me to say more than what is needed while talking about them.
However, I feel that this cannot be a coincidence. The Leagues are changing. They have become more of a show than a battle and these hard-working cool coaches don't feel the entertainment is worth the trouble. "You play to win the game."
There is also the notion of star players, some of whom do not behave with class about it. Fisher definitely had to work with one in Young and Sloan might have with Williams.
But, while their coaches tried to keep the issues internal and handle them with personal conversations, establishing and promoting a family sanctum as the locker room, the players did not share that view. They went to the Press, who blew things out of proportion, as it its job to do.
And so the mighty may have not fallen, but they walked away, signaling the end of an era. An era of hard work,class and accountability. And that is sad.
Sad, because just as the medium is the message, the show has become the sport.
Their departure also raises the question, will the resilience they stood for depart along with them?
Jeff Fisher is likewise gone from the Tennessee Titans.
Both these men have been ambassadors of an "old-school" approach to their sports. A hard-nosed, no-excuses, cold-hard-facts effort to plow through the season. Both have failed, time and again, to reach that elusive championship and have always shown up to work the next day, ready to work towards it yet again, never quitting, always picking themselves up.
Both coaches have also been the definition of class acts. Never trash-talking the opposition, always giving credit where it was due and not shying away from their responsibilities.
They have also been known as "player's" coaches. People that athletes love to play for, because they don't sugarcoat things and are frank with the situations that arise. They take the drama away.
It would be wrong of me to say more than what is needed while talking about them.
However, I feel that this cannot be a coincidence. The Leagues are changing. They have become more of a show than a battle and these hard-working cool coaches don't feel the entertainment is worth the trouble. "You play to win the game."
There is also the notion of star players, some of whom do not behave with class about it. Fisher definitely had to work with one in Young and Sloan might have with Williams.
But, while their coaches tried to keep the issues internal and handle them with personal conversations, establishing and promoting a family sanctum as the locker room, the players did not share that view. They went to the Press, who blew things out of proportion, as it its job to do.
And so the mighty may have not fallen, but they walked away, signaling the end of an era. An era of hard work,class and accountability. And that is sad.
Sad, because just as the medium is the message, the show has become the sport.
Their departure also raises the question, will the resilience they stood for depart along with them?
