Chinthaka Weerappuli’s Blog

Alright, being a big sports fan obviously my blog is going to be related in some way to the current seasons underway. However, I’m not actually going to focus on a player or sport itself but rather a common theme that has recently been bothering me a lot. It seems like the most insecure job in America is that of being a professional coach or manager in any league. That may be old news to most of you, but the reason this is so is not simply isolated to sports. A manager like Phil Garner, who recently took his Houston Astros to the World Series a few years back, was recently canned because of a lack luster season. The reason? The fact that sports, and America in general, is a, “what have you done for me lately?” society. Often times I feel like we as an audience put too much expectations on the coach themselves, because he/she is the one that can actually be removed and replaced. However, isn’t it the players on the field that ultimately decide the outcome of the game? Which brings me to my main point. The Michigan Wolverines will play at the Big House tomorrow (Saturday) against the #10 Penn State Nittany Lions. Despite a great 11-2 season last year, a national championship in his back pocket, and countless big ten titles, Lloyd Carr seems to be on the hot seat of his Michigan coaching job every time he suffers a loss. Was the Appalachian State defeat maybe the greatest upset in college sports history? It very well could’ve been, but upsets happen when one team simply wants it more than the other. Carr did his job in getting the Wolverines ready, but when the first half came around they simply took the opposition too lightly, and despite the halftime adjustments and allowing only 6 points, the Mountaineers took the victory. I’m not defending Lloyd Carr blindly because I feel bad for the man that many say is too old school and ancient to coach the great Wolverines. I’m simply saying that there’s a long season to go, and creating a hot seat for the coach that has to refocus our players may not be the best thing right now.