Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Arkansas Razorbacks Football Fires Bobby Petrino

By Douglas V. Gibbs

I am a big Razorbacks fan, and since Petrino has been the head coach of the Arkansas college football team, they have been putting up winning records. Last season they once again had a legitimate shot at positioning themselves for a national title, falling short at the end, but still finishing the year as number five in the nation - the best since I was just a kid in the seventies.

Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long has fired Petrino, and I think it was a good move.

I hate seeing a winning coach leave the program, but his actions off the field were unbecoming of a college football head coach, and gave us a glimpse into the man's character, and that glimpse was darker than most people assumed.

Petrino deceived the faculty at Arkansas, and acted in an inappropriate manner, having a relationship with a young woman he hired, and then lying about it. He only got caught because of a motorcycle accident.

Rewind back to April 1st, when Petrino's motorcycle accident, after he claimed he had been alone on the bike, turned out to involve twenty-five year old Jessica Dorell, a former Arkansas volleyball player hired by Petrino as student-athlete development coordinator.  It was only found out by the Arkansas staff when the report of the accident revealed there was a female passenger, because he lied about her being with him originally.

I hope the team can get through this and still provide a winning season, but they are better off without a man whose character is that deeply flawed.

If he had come clean, apologized, and all that jazz, perhaps there would have been a different outcome. But to hide it, lie about it, and purposely try to deceive the University of Arkansas?

Unacceptable.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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