Woo Pig Sooie

Trey Smith

Sports often offers a microcosm of the real world. Take, for example, whether or not college coaches weather a scandal.

As a general rule, if the coach has a middling or losing record, the coach gets fired. If the coach's record is above average, but not super, the coach will probably be fired. If the coach's record is superb, then the coach stands a good chance of not being fired at all or, if he/she is, it's only after the scandal deepens to mammoth proportions.

When the coach is a FOOTBALL coach, he often can get away with the sorts of things that you or I would be fired for immediately in our piddly ass jobs. In a world that worships the almighty dollar, it's easy to understand why. At big time colleges, the football program generates a lot of dollars. If the coach is highly successful, then he's responsible for generating the moolah. We don't want to dump the cash cow, now do we?

And so, big time coaches can cheat, lie, misappropriate funds, and a sundry other things and, with a "humble" apology, they get to keep their lucrative jobs. No, it might not be fair or ethical, but that's the way it tends to play out.

This is why I'm proud of the University of Arkansas. Their big time coach Bobby Petrino returned the Razorback football team to national prominence. Last year the Hogs finished in the Top Ten and fans were expecting even greater success this year.

The Razorbacks may achieve that success, but Bobby Petrino won't be there to enjoy it with them. Last night he was fired from his $3.6 million job for lying about an illicit relationship with one of his subordinates.

The firing was the ethical thing to do and that's why I'm both shocked and pleasantly surprised that it occurred. As a long-time Razorback fan -- I lived in Arkansas for many years -- it's nice to know that an Arkansas college stood up for principles.

If only we could get the folks on Wall Street and in Washington, DC to take notice!