LITTLE ROCK — Sanctions don’t apply to Seattle
Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll recently completed a promotional tour for his new book, Win Forever, which is about the veteran coach’s philosophy on coaching in the NFL and at the collegiate level.
Carroll, who left Southern California after 10 seasons to take the Seahawks job in January, was on tour for two weeks, beginning in New York before wrapping up in Seattle.
“The book is titled Win Forever, and Pete Carroll’s promotional tour didn’t last quite that long. At times, though, it may have seemed like it,” wrote Danny O’Neil of The Seattle Times.
USC was placed on four years’ probation last month and also received a two-year bowl ban, loss of scholarships and forfeits of an entire year’s games for improper benefits to Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush dating to the Trojans’ 2004 national championship season. At the time,Carroll said, “I never thought it would come to this.”
Fortunately for Carroll, a crowd of 150 that showed up to hear him speak in Seattle on Friday wasn’t interested in the NCAA sanctions. Of the 11 questions Carroll answered, not one of them dealt with the sanctions or the NCAA.
“The temperature of acrowd that paid to hear Carroll talk about his book is hardly a scientific measure of public opinion, but it does show that at this point and in this town, the public isn’t that interested in another recitation of Carroll’s appraisal of the sanctions,” O’Neil said.
Instead, Seahawks fans are more interested in seeing Carroll lead their team back to glory.
Seattle has missed the playoffs the past two seasons, a period that may seem like forever for a fan base that saw the Seahawks play in the Super Bowl in February 2006.
Shot through the Heart
Once a co-owner of the Arena Football League’s Philadelphia Soul, Jon Bon Jovi is showing some heart.
The lead singer of New Jersey rock band Bon Jovi, Jon Bon Jovi has purchased four season tickets for the new Melbourne Heart team in Australia’s A-League and will donate them to fans.
With his purchase, Bon Jovi was announced as the club’s No. 1 international ticket holder.
The four tickets, valued at about $2,500, will be donated for each home game to fanswho otherwise “don’t have the financial means.” The Heart will play 15 home matches in its inaugural season starting next month.
Bon Jovi will tour Australia in December.
Weighing in
Dallas Cowboys players had their weigh-in Friday, but it was Coach Wade Phillips who hadundergone the most noticeable change.
The veteran coach has lost 10 pounds since the team’s minicamp last month. He said it was a combination of walking and Nutrisystem,joking he expected to hear from the weight-loss program about an endorsement deal.
“When you’re younger, it’s, ‘Boy, you look like you’re in good shape, and you’re really doing good,’ ” said Phillips, who recently became a grandfather. “When you get older, they say, Are you sick?
What’s wrong with you?’ It’s just something I personally wanted to do.”Quote of the day “I can’t list you the top six or seven playmakers in order. I know we have them.” Florida Coach Urban Meyer
Sports, Pages 30 on 07/25/2010