Recently fired Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis appears to be a very sore loser. Fighting Irish fans, as well as anyone with even a mild interest in college football, were well aware that Weis was a loser, but the soreness element has only recently begun to surface as he responds to his termination.
In a Q&A with the former head coach published on IrishIllustrated.com by Senior Editor Tim Prister, Weis was quoted as saying:
Q: Is it frustrating to you Pete Carroll, for example, portrayed in one way…
A: Let me ask you this question: You guys know about things that go on in different places. Was I living with a grad student in Malibu, or was I living with my wife in my house? You could bet that if I were living with a grad student here in South Bend, it would be national news. He’s doing it in Malibu and it’s not national news. What’s the difference? I don’t understand. Why is it okay for one guy to do things like that, but for me, I’m scrutinized when I swear. I’m sorry for swearing; absolve my sins.
The statement unleashed a maelstrom of internet buzz and contrary to the point Weis was trying to make, the media turned its telescopic lens on an unsuspecting Pete Carroll, who vehemently denied the accusation in a telephone interview with the L.A. Times, saying about Weis, “It’s untrue, it’s irresponsible, and it’s incredible he’d be talking about me like that.”
Now Weis is not only trying to gloss over his poor performance as head football coach at Notre Dame, but also his statement about Carroll! The L.A. Times blog describes his back-pedaling phone conversation:
“In no way was I trying to take a shot at Pete,” Weis said in a phone message. “What we were talking about was how the rumor mill can affect people’s lives. When I was asked a specific question like that, I responded like, ‘This is the same crap that I’m talking about.’ You start saying things like this and one thing, this guy does this and I do that and all of a sudden the Internet takes it all over the place.
“So, in no way was I trying to take a shot at Pete. I feel if I offended Pete, I will run Pete down and apologize. … In no way do I have any idea what’s going on in anyone’s life other than the fact that rumors on the Internet can affect coaches’ lives in a very, very negative fashion.”
Later, in a telephone interview, Weis said, “In no way would I be disrespectful to that guy,” and “All I know is that he kicked the crap out of me five times.”
Carroll and Weis have since talked on the phone and seem to have worked out the misunderstanding:
“I talked to Charlie and he wants to set the record straight,” Carroll said. “He apologized profusely for being represented wrongly. I’m not commenting anymore.”
Charlie Weis, like most of his quarterbacks, just dropped the ball on this one. Boo-hooing over the media scrutiny that goes along with being the head football coach at Notre Dame is just silly, especially when you lead one of the most prestigious football programs in the country to a 16-21 record over the last three seasons. Also, is it really amazing to think that having an affair with a student while at the most prestigious Catholic university in the country would be more of a story than the coach at The University of Southern California doing the same? Also, his argument was fundamentally flawed in that Pete Carroll kinda looks like a dude a grad student might want to shack up with whereas Weis… I’m just sayin’!
Editor’s Note – Much like the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys, Notre Dame has marketed itself in a manor that means if you are a sports fan you either love them or you hate them. I was born into the latter category so schadenfreude played a huge part in this article. Speaking of which, if I have any Notre Dame-despising brethren out there with a knack for statistics, you need to look up the average discrepancy between their preseason and early season rankings and their final rankings. Every year I have to listen to how great The Irish are going to be and why they deserve to be in the Top Twenty or even Top Ten, right up until they lose their first game, which thankfully happens in the first few weeks of the season.
Thanks to notredamesucks.org I can support the “Notre Dame is always over-rated” theory with some bowl game stats. Notre Dame has lost eight straight bowl games by an average margin of 16.5 points! Forget the liberal media bias stuff, the Fighting Irish sports media bias is completely out of control! Now they’re gonna throw a billion dollars at some great coach from some college without a bankroll to keep him and the ESPN blah blah will begin anew with a bunch of “They have a new coach and one of the top recruiting classes in the country” crap.
Ummmmm…who’s boo-hooing now? My apologies.
UPDATE – The original interview posted on IrishIllustrated.com has since been edited and the controversial tidbits have been removed. The L.A. Times tried to reach Senior Editor Tim Prister for a comment, but haven’t received a response.
