Bill Parcells on Civility – Losing One’s Amateur Status

There’s been flurry over at Money Law on civility, with Nancy Rapoport and Jeffrey Harrison weighing in. (I should note that it all still sounds pretty civil to me.)  I think the issue is interesting and too complex to be addressed in a blog post, so I will limit myself to today’s how-to from the world of professional grade incivility.  I didn’t catch it on Sunday, but apparently football coach Charlie Weis, the newest edition of a legend waiting to happen at Notre Dame, was the interviewee on 60 Minutes.  The following is a quote from Michael McCarthy’s Sports on TV column in USA Today this morning.

Weis admitted to being a “jerk” who abuses everybody, including quarterback Brady Quinn [ed. for those of you not familiar with this, Brady Quinn is an unbearably handsome 22 year-old with a certain future in the National Football League, but whose chances for a Heisman Trophy were significantly hindered by the pasting Notre Dame got earlier this year from a certain team to the east-northeast of South Bend].  He learned his in-your-face style from an even more obnoxious, sarcastic Jersey guy:  Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells.  Weis recalls how the Tuna cut him off at the knees the first time he meekly offered advice at a coaches’ meeting.  “You have been in the league for five minutes.  No one cares what you think, so just sit there and shut up,” Parcells said.

Why we love sports….[Jeff Lipshaw]