SOME THOUGHTS WHILE waiting for Santa to bring a new golf swing . . .
COLLEGE COACHING - Why would anyone want to get into it?
Here we have Bob Wagner of Hawaii coming off a nine-year stretch in which he guided the University of Hawaii football team to its only two bowl appearances, its only WAC title (an 11-2 year in 1992 and Holiday Bowl victory), a 58-49-3 record and an improved graduation rate.
But attendance and victories were down the last two years and so somebody had to go, explained athletic director Hugh Yoshida.
However, the cost to buy out the remaining two years of Wagner's contract may come close to the amount of revenue generated by the hoped for increase in attendance.
And, are Hawaii season ticket holders going to get excited about welcoming teams like San Jose State and Tulsa into the new 16-team WAC? Why not let Wagner serve the remaining two years of his contract and then decide whether or not to renew it in 1997?
PRO COACHING - Alice in Wonderland and then some.
In what other profession do you have the rank and file making 10 times as much money as management? Do bank tellers make 10 times as much as the bank president? Do reporters make 10 times as much as the publisher? (this one might be worth pursuing a little). In professional sports, the coach is one of the lowest-paid employees. So if there's a disagreement between a coach making $500,000 a year and a player making $5 million, who wins out? The answer was given a few years ago when a player named Magic Johnson disagreed with how the coach, Paul Westhead, was running the team.
A more current example may take place soon in Philadelphia. Coach-general manager John Lucas has a collection of characters out of a Star Wars movie, the latest being the league's Darth Vader - Derrick Coleman, who gets around $7.5 million per year. Without the assistance of Obi Wan Kenobi or The Force, Lucas has little chance of withstanding the almost certain infighting that will take place.
SPORTS IN GENERAL - Its unpredictability gives it its fascination.
- A little more than three weeks ago, a two-touchdown underdog San Francisco 49er team - ravaged by injuries and quarterbacked by Elvis (who the previous two games had performed like a rock and roller trying to play quarterback) - marched into Texas Stadium to play the mighty Pepsi-Nike-Dallas Cowboys. Fox TV commentator Terry Bradshaw guaranteed the game would be over in the first quarter. That part he got right. He just had the wrong team. Elvis exchanged his blue suede shoes for some cleats and led the Niners to an improbable 38-20 victory.
- The incredible Northwestern saga. Backed by Michigan's upset over Ohio State, the Northwestern Rocket Scientists are capping their unbelievable season in the Rose Bowl. They're 10-1 and ranked No. 3 in the nation - in football!
- The Weber State Wildcats were a couple of seconds short of shocking mighty Georgetown and going to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA basketball tournament last year. They stunned heavily favored Michigan State in the first round to reach the round of 32. Give him blue chip material and Ron Abegglen might be the next John Wooden.