Second Thoughts

Head coach of Chargers happy to walk

Los Angeles Chargers Coach Anthony Lynn missed the final two days of the team’s rookie minicamp last weekend to walk at his graduation at UNLV with a degree in interdisciplinary studies.
Los Angeles Chargers Coach Anthony Lynn missed the final two days of the team’s rookie minicamp last weekend to walk at his graduation at UNLV with a degree in interdisciplinary studies.

Los Angeles Chargers Coach Anthony Lynn didn't want an inspirational moment. It's not why he went back.

He just wanted an envelope with proof that he reached the finish line 25 years later. No fanfare -- just printed proof that he finally finished something he started a lifetime ago.

"I don't think anybody even knew I was back in school," said Lynn in an interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune. "That's how I liked it. It's how I wanted it. I just wanted my papers in the mail. FedEx it to me. That's how I wanted to go about this.

"I never meant to walk. I never meant to talk about it."

But here he was, the day before he walked across the stage at UNLV to receive his degree in interdisciplinary studies, talking about his secret plans over the past year, when he took classes without anyone knowing to complete the coursework he began at Texas Tech in 1988.

This past Saturday, Lynn received his diploma while joined by his family and Chargers owner Dean Spanos. He missed the final two days of the team's rookie minicamp to do so.

"I was the first person in my family to go to [college], and my mother sat there and watched my son graduate, watched my daughter graduate," Lynn said. "And I just think she's going to enjoy watching her son graduate."

Fire bugs

Krakow's Wisla and Lech Poznan are fierce rivals.

So it makes sense that the fans wanted to do something memorable when the Polish soccer teams faced off this weekend in Krakow.

They succeeded. Lech Poznan fans accidentally set fire to their stadium, almost "setting alight a giant banner reading: 'We will never burn out,' " according to The Associated Press.

The game was stopped for 10 minutes while firefighters battled the blaze, according to reports.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw.

It wasn't the first time Polish fans have dabbled in pyrotechnics. In 2013, the Polish team Legia Warsaw was penalized for "racist behavior" by the United European Football Association. In response, the team's fans created a flaming protest, complete with a sign reading "Ultra Extreme Fanatical Atmosphere."

In 2014, a Polish soccer fan was momentarily set on fire when police tried to extinguish the flare he was holding with pepper spray.

No threat

In just the past eight months, the Kansas cheer team has been suspended and three fraternities shut down amid hazing allegations.

Wrote Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times: "Turns out the least-threatening thing on campus is the football team."

Sports quiz

What position did Anthony Lynn play during his NFL career?

Sports answer

Running back

Sports on 05/16/2018

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