North Carolina State Coach Mark Gottfried was fired Thursday -- kind of.
After a week filled with speculation, reports that NC State already had begun its search for a successor, and a 24-point home loss to North Carolina, the Wolfpack program announced Gottfried would not be retained for a seventh season.
But he wasn't immediately let go. Athletic Director Debbie Yow is allowing Gottfried to coach the rest of the season -- four regular-season games, plus the ACC Tournament.
Gottfried coached the first of those four games Saturday at home against Notre Dame, and North Carolina State allowed ESPN cameras inside its locker room for Gottfried's pregame speech. It was ... motivational? Maybe. More than anything, it just seemed awkward:
"It's like I'm that dog ... that damn car rolls over me, and that car is on top of me, and that tire is squishing me," Gottfried said. "You got a choice to make right there.
"I promise you, I promise you, I'm going to bite that damn tire. Bite the damn tire today, fellas. You hear me?"
Some players forced out a grumbled "yeah."
"Bite the damn tire," Gottfried repeated one more time, before clapping and taking his team out to the court.
It was obviously meant to be inspirational, but it apparently did not work. Notre Dame defeated NC State 81-72.
Check me out
Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen admits he spent the offseason searching the internet for rumors.
"I'm not gonna lie. I Googled my own name more than a few times this offseason to see if there was any news," McCutchen wrote in an article for The Players' Tribune. "It was hard not to when just about every conversation I had with friends, family and even strangers started with them asking me, 'So, what's the latest?' "
McCutchen also wrote that he at first did not want to move from center field to right field, but now he understands.
"I'm not the boss," he said. "Remember, this is a business. And if upper management thinks putting me in right field gives this team the best chance to win -- or if the front office still entertains the idea of trading me -- that's just business. It's not personal. It comes with the territory."
Bible thumper
From R.J. Curry of sportsdeke.com:
"In case you missed it, Seattle Seahawks assistant coach Rocky Seto left the team to join the ministry. In short: He turned in his playbook and picked up a pray book."
Sports on 02/19/2017