<mcc head="">This was on BN:
Lloyd Carr, Curmudgeon of the West</mcc>
Web-posted Nov 28, 2004
<mcc byline1="">PAT CAPUTO</mcc>
<mcc byline1="">OF THE DAILY OAKLAND PRESS</mcc>
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</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top" width="208"> <center>Pat Caputo</center> -
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</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> I was privileged to be the Detroit Tigers beat writer for this newspaper while Sparky Anderson was their manager. I spent literally thousands of hours talking to the man. And not only did I get an invaluable education in baseball from him, but life as well. There aren't these huge lessons that stick out. Just little snippets that have hung in the back of my mind.
Like the time Sparky said, "Patrick, remember this: Anytime somebody says, 'Honestly,' hold on, because a whopper is about to come out of their mouth. They're coverin' up something.''
I thought about that the other day when Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr prefaced another one of his infamous tight-lipped, angry-man rants - this time about his team being checked by security at Ohio State - by saying it had nothing to do with the Wolverines getting routed by a Buckeyes team that lost four Big Ten games this season.
Given Carr's track record following Michigan losses, particularly those unexpected, it's difficult not to be skeptical about those comments. It's also hard to imagine Carr would have made such a fuss about the issue had the Wolverines won the game.
But with Carr following a loss, there's always a grassy knoll. There is Michigan and The World. And The World is out to get Michigan.
There was the crowned field at Oregon. And the clock keeper at Michigan State.
This time, it was Ohio State's athletics department for trying to ensure the safety of its patrons. At least he didn't take it out on some 18-year-old kid from the student newspaper. Or a television sideline reporter asking him an obvious question.
Sparky and Carr share a common bond in that both are great deflectors.
The difference is that when Anderson would do it, it was to put attention on himself to take attention away from his players when they were struggling.
Carr uses these tirades to divert attention away from himself and whatever difficult questions might arise following a defeat.
In this instance, it took the focus away from why his team, with so much at stake, was uninspired for the Ohio State game. And how Ohio State's offense, one of the worst in the Big Ten, was able to perform so well against such a talented Michigan defense.
There's also the overall disappointment of this season. It looks great on paper with a 9-2 record and the Big Ten championship, but the Wolverines blew their best opportunity yet to get to the BCS title game.
The Wolverines clearly were superior to every team on their cushy schedule and should have run the table. Yet, they lost to Notre Dame and Ohio State - mediocre teams at best.
Carr did win the national championship in 1997. For that, Michigan fans forever will be grateful. But since that time, Michigan has developed an alarming pattern of losing games it shouldn't, given its extraordinary talent.
That "beep, beep'' you just heard is Michigan backing into the Rose Bowl like a truck to a loading dock.
Most long-established coaches have a trademark. For Bear Bryant, it was his hound's tooth hat. For Joe Paterno, it's his thick-rimmed glasses.
For Lloyd Carr, it's being a grouch and not holding himself accountable for his program's disappointing moments.
Last week, he acted like the guy in line at the security gate at the airport who feels he is above taking off his shoes or belt when asked.
But evidently to Carr, the security of more than 105,000 people at Ohio Stadium was secondary to the feelings of his football team and, perhaps more telling, himself.
What kind of message is that to send to young people in this post 9/11 world?
But that's Lloyd Carr, Curmudgeon of the West.
Pat Caputo is a senior sports reporter and a columnist for The Daily Oakland Press. E-mail him at [email protected].
Lloyd Carr, Curmudgeon of the West</mcc>
Web-posted Nov 28, 2004
<mcc byline1="">PAT CAPUTO</mcc>
<mcc byline1="">OF THE DAILY OAKLAND PRESS</mcc>
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</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top" width="208"> <center>Pat Caputo</center> - </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" bgcolor="#ffffff" valign="top" width="208">
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</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> I was privileged to be the Detroit Tigers beat writer for this newspaper while Sparky Anderson was their manager. I spent literally thousands of hours talking to the man. And not only did I get an invaluable education in baseball from him, but life as well. There aren't these huge lessons that stick out. Just little snippets that have hung in the back of my mind.
Like the time Sparky said, "Patrick, remember this: Anytime somebody says, 'Honestly,' hold on, because a whopper is about to come out of their mouth. They're coverin' up something.''
I thought about that the other day when Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr prefaced another one of his infamous tight-lipped, angry-man rants - this time about his team being checked by security at Ohio State - by saying it had nothing to do with the Wolverines getting routed by a Buckeyes team that lost four Big Ten games this season.
Given Carr's track record following Michigan losses, particularly those unexpected, it's difficult not to be skeptical about those comments. It's also hard to imagine Carr would have made such a fuss about the issue had the Wolverines won the game.
But with Carr following a loss, there's always a grassy knoll. There is Michigan and The World. And The World is out to get Michigan.
There was the crowned field at Oregon. And the clock keeper at Michigan State.
This time, it was Ohio State's athletics department for trying to ensure the safety of its patrons. At least he didn't take it out on some 18-year-old kid from the student newspaper. Or a television sideline reporter asking him an obvious question.
Sparky and Carr share a common bond in that both are great deflectors.
The difference is that when Anderson would do it, it was to put attention on himself to take attention away from his players when they were struggling.
Carr uses these tirades to divert attention away from himself and whatever difficult questions might arise following a defeat.
In this instance, it took the focus away from why his team, with so much at stake, was uninspired for the Ohio State game. And how Ohio State's offense, one of the worst in the Big Ten, was able to perform so well against such a talented Michigan defense.
There's also the overall disappointment of this season. It looks great on paper with a 9-2 record and the Big Ten championship, but the Wolverines blew their best opportunity yet to get to the BCS title game.
The Wolverines clearly were superior to every team on their cushy schedule and should have run the table. Yet, they lost to Notre Dame and Ohio State - mediocre teams at best.
Carr did win the national championship in 1997. For that, Michigan fans forever will be grateful. But since that time, Michigan has developed an alarming pattern of losing games it shouldn't, given its extraordinary talent.
That "beep, beep'' you just heard is Michigan backing into the Rose Bowl like a truck to a loading dock.
Most long-established coaches have a trademark. For Bear Bryant, it was his hound's tooth hat. For Joe Paterno, it's his thick-rimmed glasses.
For Lloyd Carr, it's being a grouch and not holding himself accountable for his program's disappointing moments.
Last week, he acted like the guy in line at the security gate at the airport who feels he is above taking off his shoes or belt when asked.
But evidently to Carr, the security of more than 105,000 people at Ohio Stadium was secondary to the feelings of his football team and, perhaps more telling, himself.
What kind of message is that to send to young people in this post 9/11 world?
But that's Lloyd Carr, Curmudgeon of the West.
Pat Caputo is a senior sports reporter and a columnist for The Daily Oakland Press. E-mail him at [email protected].
