Urban Meyer Is Sports' Latest Coward

I had a run-in with a high-school hockey coach 13 years ago. The coach was furious that I printed a quote from one of his alternate captains after the team's flat, losing performance in the first round of the state tournament.

I knew the player to be somewhat of a hothead, but he was, as a key player, a senior and a guy with an "A" on his sweater, a perfectly appropriate player for me to interview after the game. The player criticized two key coaching decisions. I thought one of his criticisms was dead-on, the other ill-considered. But that didn't matter. The young man had a right to his opinions, and I certainly had a right to print them.

The coach was upset, not just because I printed these quotes, but because I did not go to him for response to the player's comments. He had a right to be upset about that.

At the beginning of the following season, he refused to speak with me at all concerning the team, finally relenting after my editor spoke to him. Our relationship seemed uncomfortable after that, to me, that is, but he apparently got over it very quickly, telling a mutual friend that he had no problem with me, and later telling me what a good job he thought I did.

Incidentally, I did not think he was a very good coach, but I admired the fact that he was willing to listen to reason, and to get over one indiscretion by a journalist concerning an accurate quote.

I italicize the word "accurate" because there has been a flap today concerning another accurate quote from an athlete. Orlando Sentinel reporter Jeremy Fowler quoted Florida Gators receiver Deonte Thompson comparing Tim Tebow and his apparent successor, John Brantley. "You never know with Tim," Thompson said. "He can bolt. You'll think he's running, but then he'll just come up and pass it to you. You just have to be ready at all times. With Brantley, everything's with rhythm, time. Like, you know what I mean, a real quarterback."

That last part, "real quarterback," implies that Tebow is not a real quarterback. I don't care about the debate over what type of quarterback Tebow is. What I do care about is that Urban Meyer was angry enough about the quote that he threatened the reporter -- becoming just the next in a long line of sports figures to reveal himself as a bully, and, closely related, a coward.

Meyer seems to be upset for two reasons -- one, because the quote is insulting to his favorite player; or, at least it would be insulting to Tebow if it weren't clear to anyone with common sense that Thompson merely was drawing comparisons between the freelancing, running style of Tebow and the more traditional pocket passing of Brantley; and two -- because Thompson has apparently caught hell for the quote, likely from those without the aforementioned common sense.

But that's not Fowler's problem. Fowler's job is to report facts and back them up with accurate quotations. For those of us with common sense enough to know what Thompson meant, it was a great quote, the type of quote that let us football fans know exactly what this receiver felt about working with one quarterback after working with another.

It was a rare moment when an athlete, in an interview, actually SAID something!

And what does this reporter get for this insightful piece of writing? A threat from a gutless coach, who said, "If I were (Thompson's) father, we'd be going at it right now. Be very careful." And where did Meyer make this threat? In front of several of his assistants. Just like so many other sports figures, who threaten reporters in front of all their teammates. You never see a guy go to a newsroom and threaten a reporter. He might actually get his butt kicked.

ESPN's Michael Wilbon decried Meyer's actions on Pardon the Interruption, wondering if Meyer is going to threaten scouts and GMs who pass on Tebow in the draft. No. Of course he won't threaten them. They're usually former football players who just might give Meyer the beating he deserves. A reporter? Ah, just some skinny geek with a notebook who never played a sport.

Just once, I'd like to see one of these cowards take on the wrong reporter -- the one who actually moonlights as an MMA fighter -- and get a serious beating. I don't think that will change the fact that coaches think the press is supposed to be nothing but positive, but maybe it will tell them that it's time to show some guts. If you're so tough, try picking on someone your own size -- and without all your buddies backing you up.

SportsCenter is Bad for Children

OK, that's a little overly dramatic, but it scares me that a generation of future broadcasters is learning the trade by watching this crappy show.

I never really see any SC edition other than the weekday-morning shows, but I hope the people who host those other shows are better than the horrendous Josh Elliott. Last week I meant to blog something about his use of the term "missers" as the plural form of the word "mister." It isn't. The word is "messrs."

Today he showed the highlight of Kyle Singler of Duke crashing into ESPN sportscaster Dan Shulman (great play-by-play man, by the way) to save a loose ball (great play, by the way). And he identified Shulman as being "astride" Dick Vitale.

Please, readers, pick up a dictionary and look up the word astride. Quite a visual you will get of the working relationship of Messrs. Shulman and Vitale.

I'm fed up with the dorky, dippy Elliott. He is now in my crosshairs.

I have DirecTV, so I don't get to see NHL games on Versus, but I do see Versus hockey ads on the NHL network. Not good, boys. I'm actually pretty glad the NHL finds ways to keep most sports fans out. Thirty years I've been a hockey fan, and I'm glad that most people don't appreciate this great sport. It hasn't been corrupted by superstar cachet. I hope it never is.

So, Versus and NHL, please keep up the good work. Three closeups of Tim Thomas' face as we hear highlights of his saves -- all while he serves as Tukka Rask's backup. That's a fine ad campaign.

Scoreless Duel -- Or Scoreless Dull?

Wow, let's just get to April and play some real baseball, because this isn't doing much for me, other than watching what the Florida wind can do to a baseball -- oh, and a nice pick by Nick Johnson. It'll be good to see him back at first base for the Yankees. Oh, wait, we already have a first baseman? I guess he'll DH. So much for leaving the DH role empty for our older position players such as Posada, et al. Needless to say, I'm not in love with the Yankees' off-season.

So let's talk hockey. Hockey? Yes, hockey. Specifically this: Will the buzz from the Olympics translate to an increase in interest in the NHL?

In a word, no. I don't know why Americans don't like hockey. I love hockey. I always have. It's not great on TV, but really, neither is baseball. And hockey in person is better than anything. It's beatiful. You think the sound of the crack of the bet is special when you're at a baseball game? It's nothing compared to the "clop" of a puck on a stick as a player receives a pass.

Hockey has given Americans plenty of opportunities to fall in love with it. The Miracle on Ice -- followed, you may remember, by the first of four straight Stanley Cups for the New York Islanders, won in sudden-death overtime. Gretzky's time in L.A., Lemieux's entire career in Pittsburgh, including back-to-back titles. The Rangers' breaking the Curse in 1994. Not to mention there was already a USA-Canada gold medal game in 2002, in this country!

It's not the lack of a good TV deal. The NHL was on ESPN for years. It helped, but hockey just never took hold. And let's put it this way: if football were on Versus, would the ratings suffer? Or would people complain for five minutes and then find out where Versus was? You bet they would.

Does interest in figure skating pick up after the Olympics? Seriously, does anyone watch the long program, or whatever it's called, and see some pixie win a gold medal, then make a commitment to go to more figure-skating performances? Or, for that matter, speed skating? Does anyone care about Apolo Ohno in a non-Olympic year?

I don't care about figure or speed skating even during the Olympics. For the 100 or so people who are interested in them all the time, I am missing out. That's how I feel about non-hockey fans. It's the best sport to watch, and I've been addicted to it since I was 8 years old. And it had nothing to do with the Miracle On Ice. It had to do with having a father who loved hockey and shared his passion for the sport with me.

So my kids will probably love hockey, too. Yours probably won't. It'll be their loss.

Balls and Beers

Mitre gets the Pirates to go 1-2-3. Then again, so could I. OK, that's a little harsh. I'm going to try to be nice to the Pirates for as long as I can, because I'm thinking of making multiple trips out there for games this year. I've never been to PNC Park but I hear it's one of the best ballparks there.

I have been to Citizens Bank Park in Philly, and I've long thought I could get into the Phillies as an NL team I could follow. I really like Philadelphia, and they have a great ballpark.

Alas, after 18 months of venom from Boston fans, I don't think I'm going to spend that much time around another angry fan base. Philly fans aren't the self-righteous clowns Boston fans are, but they more than rival the Beantowners in the anger department, and I'm not going to deal with that, especially the season after the Yankees have just vanquished the Phils in the World Series.

Meanwhile, I hadn't had much to write since the first, so I needed inspiration. So, I crack open a Yuengling and take one sip, and the ideas just start flowing. This one is a "Bock Beer," and the label features a goat and the words "Tastes Good." And it does. My initial reaction: what a weak slogan! But have you seen a Bud Light commercial lately? "Here We Go!"

They actually paid an ad exec to come up with "Here We Go"? I must be in the wrong business. I could have come up with that. That's even worse than "It's the Cola" and "The Strength to Be There." And ad people wonder why we all use our DVRs to skip commercials.

A-Rod fires to first to end the top of the fourth and jogs off the field with a smile on his face. Why is he smiling? Because at this time last year his mind was occupied with just about everything but baseball. Now, it's just baseball. Rodriguez will hear "STE-ROID" chants the rest of his career, but I everything has turned for him. He's about to put up a monster year. Count on it.

And here comes Jeter to the plate. Is there anything better than that?

Welcome to the New Embassy!

That's right, New York sports fans, but the Embassy has moved. In fact, the whole need for an "embassy" may have disappeared with my move from Boston. Then again, probably not. While no place does "hate NY" quite like Boston, you must trust me when I tell you that Yankee-hating knows no boundaries.

So, my digs in Lancaster, Pa., will remain a safe haven for Yankee fans. Right now the location is my father-in-law's house. Ron is a huge Yankee fan who grew up in Jersey. He's got memorabilia and photos from the '50s and '60s Yankee teams all over his office. Mrs. Ambassador and I will be moving into a downtown apartment pretty soon.

But regardless of place, I will never stop following the hometown teams from the city of my birth.

And this year, the one that ends up being the subject of most of my ink is the defending World Champion!

So let's get going with a look at today's starter, Chad Gaudin, who is competing for the Yankees' fifth starter role, along with Sergio Mitre, Chan Ho Park, Alfredo Aceves and undoubtedly a few others, in addition to, of course, Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes.

I'd say it's safe to read into this that the Yankees, while they publicly proclaim that Joba and Hughes figure to be starters in the Yankees' long-term plans, have to be considering the possibility that both pitchers could be destined for the bullpen.

I'm a firm believer that the best case for both guys is that they succeed as starters, but it may be that it's not going to happen for either guy. Chamberlain, in particular, shows the widest gulf between what he can do as a starter and as a reliever. He has had a few bright spots as a starter, but mostly he has been a frustrating pitcher who has struggled to throw strikes. He's a good bet every time out to throw 105 pitches in five innings and guarantee a long night for the bullpen.

Yet it was only 2 1/2 years ago that Chamberlain came up from the minors and became, instantly, the best relief pitcher in baseball not named Rivera. We haven't seen that guy since the midge game in Cleveland. Then again, the Yankees have screwed around with Joba so much, he's never had a chance to simply go to the mound and throw fire.

I've long been a supporter of Joba being a starter, but I'm running out of patience for that, and I think Mariano Rivera's replacement might be there. Perhaps we should just turn Joba loose from the bullpen once and for all and stop trying to craft a starter out of him. He just might not be that guy.

Hughes, on the other hand, has really not shown yet that he can't be a starter, he just hasn't stayed healthy. In truth, his career is not that unlike Joba's, yet something about him just screams "starter." He was incredible in the eighth inning a year ago, but he just doesn't seem like a short reliever. He looks more like a craftsman than a brute.

Here's hoping Hughes can just stay healthy all spring and get a fair shake at winning the No. 5 starting job.

Meanwhile, no score end of the 1st. Maholm breezes through Jeter, Granderson and Teixeira, and Gaudin pitches around his own error and an infield hit.

Granderson now 0-1 against lefties this spring. New York writers sound alarm bells all over the city.