TOSS UP! - Who is the Bigger Douchebag Coach?

TOSS UP! is a feature idea that we here at TSoF blatantly stole from "Pardon the Interruption." TOSS UP! takes two of our esteemed bloggers, and puts them up against each other in a spirited debate!

Two sides of an issue!

Scintillating arguments!

Little, if any, discernable resolution!

Here's the question: In light of the recent actions of each, who is the bigger douchebag coach? Bobby Petrino or Nick Saban?

First up, FightingIrishman!

Go!

This one is easy for me--it's Bobby Petrino. Nick Saban may have strung the media and the city of Miami along, he may have lied, but his reasons were understandable if not to be condoned. He wanted to be fair to the Dolphins organization and finish out the season before handing over the reigns. However, the media frenzy surrounding Miami was a distraction, not Saban. He tried to re-direct questions because he wanted to put the focus back on the game. When the media incessantly demanded answers he finally cracked and gave them the only one that would quell the onslaught of rumors and speculation. Yes, he lied. He's human. I'm sure the people of Miami will never forgive him, but his transgressions pale in comparison to Petrino's douchebaggery(look for that in Websters next year)!

Bobby Petrino (by the way, is it just me or is it weird for a middle aged man to still refer to himself as Bobby) is the bigger douche for 3 reasons:

1. He walked out on his team IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEASON. He walked out on a franchise decimated over the Vick scandal and a city looking to him to pick up the pieces of a shattered team and lead them out of the cellar.

2. He lied too. Tony Kornheiser revealed on PTI that when he pressed Petrino before Monday night's game versus the Saints, Petrino replied definitively that he was remaining the Falcons head coach.

3. MOST IMPORTANTLY, He's a coward and he showed no respect for his players. Petrino informed Falcons owner Athur Blank of his intentions to take the Arkansas job via voicemail, and that he wrote his players A FORM LETTER explaining his decision before hightailing it out of Atlanta to attend his "coronation" in Fayettville. That is classless. It's like Robert Irsay hiring Mayflower trucks to move the Colts out of Baltimore in the middle of the night. People in Baltimore to this day boycott Mayflower movers!

Here's just a glimpse as to what the players thought of Bobby Petrino:

--Joey Harrington said, "That's what I think brought up the anger, to have him talk about family, about team and about commitment, and then to come in here and have a form letter at your locker. That's not how a man acts. That's how a coward acts."

--Running Back and team leader Warrick Dunn said, "It got to the point where guys really didn't care if he left or not. But the way he decided to leave, to me, was just not right."
both quotes courtesy of ESPN.com news services

BOB Petrino acted like a coward. He was the captain that took the only life boat on a sinking ship and left his crew to drown....and that my friends is the peak of douchebaggery!


Well said good sir! Now, WCT!

Go!

Both men lied. Both left their teams high and dry. We have established that both are capable of being disingenuous pricks. But Nick Saban took his douche-ness to a higher level. Saban was the one who stood in front of the media late in the '06 NFL season, and indignantly said, "I don't know why I have to keep going over this over, and over, and over again" when asked about the Alabama job.

But why should we be surprised? Saban was the one who specifically told LSU recruits that he would be the Tigers' coach for at least the next four years, before abruptly leaving to go to the Doplhins.

Saban was the one who specifically told Michigan State recruits that he would be the Spartans' coach for at least the next four years, before abruptly leaving to go to LSU.

Saban's douchebaggery is not even restricted to lying about leaving jobs. This season, after his Crimson Tide lost to Mississippi State and Louisiana-Monroe in consecutive games, he compared those losses to the attacks of 9/11 and the Pearl Harbor attack.

Last year in training camp he berated a rookie for being too fat, and actually made the man cry! (Actually, I take that back, that was kind of funny.)

And lest we forget, his last two seasons have consisted of a terrible year with the Dolphins, and a disappointing year in Tuscaloosa (including a loss to one of his former employers, LSU, and sixth straight loss to Auburn) so recently he has been a dick and a bad coach!

He is a consistent liar, his coaching abilities seem to be eroding since he won the BCS title four years ago, and, worst of all, he is really really indignant about it. That is why, in this blogger's opinion, he the lowest of the low. He is Saban, King of all Douchebags!