A drawback to writing a sports column that comes out on the weekend is that, often the events you want to write about occurred a week earlier. By the time you read this, SuperBowl XXXVI is a week old, nobody’s talking about it anymore and everyone’s attention is focused on the Winter Olympics, or the Pro Bowl.
But I’ve got to say that my opinion of Bill Belichick has changed. I have not thought well of Bill Belichick in the past. (I don’t imagine it kept him up nights, though.) It all stems from the years he was head coach of the Cleveland Browns and they didn’t win.
After watching his New England Patriots dismantle the St. Louis Rams last Sunday, I’ve got to admit. Bill Belichick is an excellent NFL coach. He had his team prepared, trained, healthy and enthusiastic as they upset their way into the title game and won it.
Part of the fallout from the Kmart Corporation’s request for bankruptcy protection will land on the Daytona 500 next weekend. NASCAR’s premier event and season opener takes place next Sunday.
Last Monday, the company, based in Troy, MI, asked a judge to let them out of their two-year sponsorship contract. Kmart was to pay International Speedway Corporation, which owns the Daytona Speedway and promotes the 500, $685 thousand dollars this year and $735 thousand next year. The contract reportedly made Kmart a corporate sponsor and official mass retailer of the race.
Under its Chapter 11 filing, the company said the contract is an unnecessary use of its cash. The judge is expected to issue a decision this coming Wednesday.
The company also will not renew its sponsorship of the June 400 mile race at Michigan International Speedway. According to the Associated Press, the three year deal in Michigan expired last year and spokesmen for both the retailer and the speedway agreed that Kmart already had decided then against renewal.
Kmart (Does anybody besides me still catch themselves calling it Kresge’s?) still sponsors the No. 26 Kmart School Spirit Ford of Joe Nemecheck and the No. 66 Kmart Ford driven by Todd Bodine. Latest word is that both teams are still in the next two races.
The 2002 Winter Olympics are underway, with Friday night’s opening ceremonies. The Associated Press reports that the tattered flag recovered from the wreckage of the World Trade Center after the September 11th attack will fly over the ceremonies.
There was some controversy. The U.S. Olympic Committee had planned to have the flag carried into the stadium by five American athletes and an official. However, the International Olympic Committee said no.
The IOC said that many nations have issues and that allowing the Americans to flaunt it would constitute a forbidden political display.
However, the flag will be raised and fly next to the Olympic Torch during the opening. It will be the official U.S. flag.
The whole issue begs the question, “How is it proper, all of a sudden, to fly a damaged ragged Stars and Stripes?” The flag was flown at Yankee Stadium during the World Series and was displayed during the National Anthem at the Super Bowl last week.
It’s wrong. It’s poor flag etiquette. I’m not the type who considers the Stars and Stripes a magical or mystical symbol. But there is a proper way to do things, and displaying a ragged flag is not proper.
It’s also not good PR. If you want to present to the world an image of strength and power, you don’t show your injuries…you hide them the best you can.
Any self-respecting al-Qaida spin doctor worth his salt will paper his camel and the walls of his cave with pictures of the ragged flag. He will tell anyone who stops by, “Look! See how badly we hurt the Great Satan! As damaged and torn as his flag is, his nation is as well.”
Americans should have better sense.