Newz Forum: OTHER: The Sports Curmudgeon on The Associated Press, The FCA, Larry Eustachy plus more.

Recently, I told you about football writers getting grief for the way they voted in the AP poll which affects the BCS rankings. I told you that some of them might opt out of the voting by wrapping the mantle of "journalistic objectivity" around themselves. Well, the AP itself has saved them that embarrassment.

The AP now declares that they do not want their poll used by the BCS in any way The AP has sent a "cease and desist letter" to the BCS folks telling them that their "unauthorized use of the AP poll has harmed AP's reputation and interfered with AP's agreements with AP poll voters." Now let me get this straight. AP publishes the results of its poll because it thinks it is newsworthy and valuable information. However, once it is published and in the public domain, another group cannot use that information because said information is insufficiently valid to draw an unambiguous conclusion and that harms AP's reputation.

Memo to Associated Press:

1. Get over yourselves.

2. Stop publishing your silly-assed poll if using its results harms your reputation.

3. What might be the journalistic response to a government agency/official who sent a similar “cease-and-desist letter” to AP because they think AP might be using some statistical measure to damage the reputation of the agency/official? Can you spell hypocrisy? Oh, I forgot, you guys have editors who check spelling for you...

While the AP postures and attempts to seize the moral high ground in a situation where the high ground is at the bottom of a cesspool, the football coaches of America - or whatever their organization likes to call itself, has categorically refused to release the votes of the members that generate the so-called "coaches poll". Some folks have asked what these people have to hide. Here is what I think. There are probably some coaches who never fill out any of the ballots and have their secretaries/admin assistants/straphangers fill out the forms. If the results were made available to the public, the coach might then be asked why he voted for one school over another and he might not have realized he did that... Just my hypothesis.

Oh, by the way, would anyone care at all if people stopped using this poll in any way that is related to the selection of BCS bowl match-ups? I didn't think so.

Legalisms and college football are intersecting in other portions of the space-time continuum. Jackie Sherrill is suing the NCAA claiming that the NCAA's decision to investigate his football program at Mississippi State is what caused the administration there to fire his ass. I guess that final season with a 2-9 record had nothing to do with that decision on the part of the school. Neither did the outcome of the investigation that resulted in probation and recruiting restrictions. I'm pretty much on record as being antagonistic to the NCAA as a feckless and generally useless organization run by hypocrites and ideologues; but in this case, I hope they win in a walk.

I think that Rick Majerus' decision not to coach USC three days after accepting the job sets the standard for coaching tenure. I thought that George O'Leary's one-week stint as football coach at Notre Dame would be tough to break, but Majerus beat it by more than half. So, what coach out there will "step up", "take this to the next level", and sign somewhere only to renounce the job in only 48 hours...

Larry Eustachy is back coaching basketball at Southern Mississippi. You probably remember that he was the one who lost his job at Iowa State after photos of him drinking at a Missouri fraternity party and kissing a co-ed were plastered all over the Internet. In one of the pictures, it appears as if he is trying to French kiss a young lady's ear. Eustachy admitted having an alcohol problem and sought treatment/therapy. I do not doubt that he has stopped his drinking; but based on an interview with the LA Times, I'm not sure that he has come to grips fully with his previous behaviors.

Eustachy told the LA Times he is less than thrilled about the basis for his firing at Iowa State. He said, "There are probably two to three hundred pictures of me kissing people at events. I kissed a guy on the cheek who was dressed as a leprechaun at a Halloween party but nobody published that. If I'd been kissing ladies on the cheek at an old-age home, I would have been called a hero."

Memo to Larry Eustachy:

1. Welcome back to coaching.

2. You were partying at a rival school frat party after a game with that school and drinking with underage students. That is not heroic.

3. You were snuggling up to someone young enough to be your daughter whilst both of you were in a state of inebriation. If you can't see the difference between that and kissing ladies at an old-age home, you need to head on back to your therapy provider for some follow-up sessions.

4. You were drinking Natural Light beer. That alone should qualify as a crime against nature...

Here are two interesting items from Elliot Harris in the Chicago Sun-Times:

"Steve Tasker summed up the situation (the Bears/Texans game) nicely when he told his TV audience, 'The only problem with the Bears' defense is they have to turn the ball over to the offense.' "

"Philly receiver Terrell Owens may miss most, if not all of the postseason. You want desperate housewives? Try Eagles spouses who have already spent Super Bowl bonuses."

This will be the final rant of the year. I am closing down Curmudgeon Central so that I can spend time with family and friends. Like it or not, I'll be back after the New Year.

Finally, Reading lost to Wolverhampton 4-1 in an English soccer match recently. Steve Coppell is the manager of the Reading team; after this loss, he told the Sunday Times in London:

"I'm a man of few words, but most of the ones I used in the dressing room began with 'F' and 'S'."

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...

This will be the final rant of the year. I am closing down Curmudgeon Central so that I can spend time with family and friends. Like it or not, I'll be back after the New Year.

Copyright The Sports Curmudgeon

Ming demands to know: Gramps - What are you doing here? How old are you anyway? By definintion, you are crusty, moldy and old and therefore probably smelly. If you are old enough to truly qualify as a curmudgeon, at what age did you attain that rank (and Ming means RANK)? Or was it self-professed?

I quote from an earthling dictionary:

"curmudgeon "
Main Entry: cur·mud·geon
Pronunciation: (")k&r-'m&-j&n
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
1 archaic : MISER
2 : a crusty, musty, moldy, ill-tempered old man
- cur·mud·geon·li·ness /-lE-n&s/ noun
- cur·mud·geon·ly /-lE/ adjective

Respond to Ming or be prepared to pay the consequences

I hate both polls. They are a popularity contest. He who loses last is dropped first.

Ming, if SportzWriter is truly a curmudgeon, then maybe you should respect your elders.

We could ask you the same about your preconceived notion that you are better than the rest of us.

Ming if you wish to talk to the Sports Curmudgeon feel free..

Here is his email address which is freely available.

[email protected]

Sportzwriter is not the Curmudgeon, he just posts the articles on behalf of the Curmudgeon.

You need to take a step back as The Curmudgeon and a couple of other writers Librado and Deanchristopher put articles up on the news site for free. They give their time to do this which is greatly appreciated by the staff and members on here.

As to 'Respond to Ming or be prepared to pay the consequences' and the rest of your post. We don't tolerate name calling and such like so lets leave it as that.