Monday, January 02, 2006

One and Dungy

Realizing that this is definitely in bad taste, I just have to ask: should Tony Dungy really be getting all this admiration?

For those of you not paying attention, Dungy is the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. One of his sons recently seems to have committed suicide. By which I mean, he is certainly dead, and suicide is the reported cause. Less than a week after the funeral, Dungy coached the 13-2 Colts against the Arizona Cardinals, a bad team in a meaningless game.

The uniform position of all sportswriters and most fans seems to be: what a guy. Came back to be with his team so soon after a tragedy. Arizona fans at the game gave him a standing ovation.

Now uh... maybe it's just me, but I feel like if he were a lawyer or something, the response would be vastly different. Imagine a partner at a large firm whose son kills himself, and then he's back at work on wednesday. I daresay that words like "heartless" might be floating around.

Not to mention, Head Coach in the NFL is a very demanding job that, during the season, seems to make for 16 hour days. One can't help but wonder if maybe his son's isolation and eventual death may not have been prevented, exactly, by his father's perpetual absence.

By all accounts, Dungy is a stand-up guy. I just can't help but question some of the adulation that we heap on people for neglecting important familial duties for a game. This goes back to the Brett Favre slurping. He's basically an interception machine, yet people blame it on his team. Vick has a higher QB rating. People are all saying that he should come back for another season. I'm wondering if maybe Nathan Vasher isn't moonlighting as a sports reporter. On top of that, the man was addicted to painkillers. Somehow, I can't imagine that if Terrel Owens had the same sort of condition, "wow, he's such a hero for overcoming an addiction" would be the sentiment.

cranked out at 7:12 AM | |