Hours after Jackson State lost to annual doormat Mississippi Valley State at home, a JSU fan started a petition with the hopes of getting Harold Jackson and the AD fired.
Since last Saturday, the online document posted on Change.org has received more than 700 signatures in support of the effort.
Considering that the success rate for these things are as low as someone contracting Ebola from a person who is not spewing bodily fluids all over the place, it is a complete waste of bandwidth.
I get it.
A percentage of the fan base is angry that the team lost to a school it had beaten 19 consecutive years. Losing to then winless Prairie View and Grambling State at home is hard to stomach. The 3-4 record is well below the expectation of a program that played in back-to-back SWAC championship games.
HOW. EVER. Coaches shouldn’t be on the hot seat seven games into their tenure. And especially not a coach who is being paid the highest salary of any head coach in the league.
No amount of pouting, screaming, crying, posting on message boards or rubber stamping petitions will result in a school firing the coach. It won’t work. If fans had it their way, coaches would be replaced as frequently as underwear and athletes just the same on a whim.
The only realistic happening that places the job of a coach in peril is sustained losing. I’m not the fire the coach guy when it comes to college sports.
Not when their destiny rests in the hands of a group of people whose performances can be affected by interactions with someone 5 feet 3 inches tall, about 130 pounds with natural hair and smells of Burberry products.
The sports fan is more impatient, extreme and vitriolic than ever before. Every win is celebrated in debauchery, and defeat is tackled with a combination of scorn and deep sorrow.
Average people use these outcomes to waywardly define their schools, communities and themselves. The coach who fails, in their eyes, is a representative of the choices they’ve made in their lives. And that symbol of failure standing on the sideline donning the headset — because they don’t want to be personally associated with its stink — must be scrubbed away immediately.
What sane person lives like that? What level-headed educated person rationalizes coping with losses by consuming large amounts of alcohol or announcing they’ll refrain from engaging in human interaction with other humans? That’s the uncomfortable behavior of the depressed and psychotic.
In these cases, sports bring out the worst otherwise good in people.
THE FORECAST
Texas Southern versus Alcorn State
Alcorn State was brought down to Earth after dropping one on the road at Grambling last week. Texas Southern is 5-1 but have played pushovers so far this season. The Braves won’t drop two in a row.
Alcorn State 31, Texas Southern 21
Arkansas Pine-Bluff versus Grambling State
Arkansas Pine-Bluff is as feisty as a rat caught in a mouse trap. Grambling State is the only unbeaten team in conference play, although they’ve only played on home game this season. I don’t know whether Fobbs is a magician or specializes in voodoo. Whatever the case might be, the Tigers can save the sleight of hand in this match up.
Grambling 27, Arkansas Pine-Bluff 14
Prairie View versus Mississippi Valley State
Rick Comegy got his revenge against Jackson State last week. The longtime head coach called the victory one of the biggest of his career. And this is a guy who has won national championships. Yeah, beating JSU meant something to home.
After stumbling the first four games, Prairie View has won two straight. They’ll win this one simply because the Delta Devils offense resembles a SPAM sammich at times. But it is too little too late to save their season.
Praire View 35, Mississippi Valley State 13.
Florida A&M versus Howard
Earl Holmes finally got that job-saving first win of the season and is now using that collateral to rebuff the notion that Florida A&M should’t be homecoming sheep for Howard.
Speaking of the Bison, Greg McGhee is a great QB on a bad team. And his presence alone will be enough for his bad team to beat FAMU’s bad team so the fans can groove to the likes of Lauryn Hill and Fabolous at the postgame concert.
Howard 20, Florida A&M 7
North Carolina Central versus Morgan State
Morgan State has surprised some people going 3-3 so far. North Carolina Central is one of a few teams without a lost in the MEAC. This game should be some good eatin.’
North Carolina Central 21, Morgan State 20
Bethune-Cookman Savannah State
Two words: slaughter rule.
Bethune-Cookman 37, Savannah State 10
