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Oklahoma Baseball Coach Larry Cochell resigned from his job Sunday after making several racist remarks to two ESPN reporters. Unfortunately, this was a move that had to be made. If Oklahoma kept Cochell they would’ve been making the statement that they condoned his remarks and that would’ve sent the wrong message. Now that the new SportsRant site is finally operational (and it is simply phenomenal), maybe we must consider what kind of message SportsRant is making by backing site CEO Mike Simonds.
Mike has been great for the Rant, make no mistake, he is the reason the site is where it is today. He is the driving force behind the site and behind recruiting the Rant girls, which is one of the site’s better assets. He has enough sense to leave the writing to those that can do it and he surrounds himself with very smart people- two more checks in the positive column.
It’s not that Mike isn’t a good guy; he’s decent enough (until you get to know him). The problem lies in what he is not. Mike was good enough to get the Rant to this stage, but is he good enough to take the Rant to the next level?
“I’m good enough, I can do simple math in my head, who else can do that?” Simonds lied.
If we allow Simonds to remain the head of this new site, are the members of the Rant implying that they condone the lack of general arithmetic skills? Furthermore, a member of the rant spotted Mike trying to peddle what must be assumed to be steroids to little league players at a park near his house.
“I cannot confirm nor deny that accusation,” Simonds said. “But the kid’s dream was to play professional ball and look at the kid, he’s scrawny. I’m doing him a favor. Look at it this way, I live my life on a WWBD (what would Barry do) basis, so what would Barry do in this situation; turn his back on the kid? Well, he probably would, but I’m not Barry so I’m helping the kid the only way I know how.”
Is this what we want from a leader? Someone who abandons his life motto to give away a valuable commodity for free? What kind of business sense is that? Can SportsRant really afford to take the stance that steroids should be free for all players?
I guess my problem with that scenario is that Mike went to a park near his house, which means that if we back Simonds, we are implying that SportsRant.com is only concerned with helping those who live near Mike achieve their dreams. A real leader can transcend borders. A real leader would work tirelessly to develop a system to distribute free steroids to all little leaguers nationwide.
The more I think about it though, the more I think that Mike can work. Having someone like him in a position of power gives hope to every D student in the country – if Mike can do something with his life, maybe they can too. That alone is a very powerful message.
Another reason to keep Mike around is to look better by comparison. When a writer turns in a sub-par piece (like this one), at least they can have the comfort of knowing it’s better than anything Mike could do. He’s also a comfort for the rest of the members of the site, because no matter how bad their life is, they have one thing going for them – they are not Mike Simonds.
I guess in the end the members of the Rant aren’t judged (thankfully) by the man at the top. The members truly make the site what it is and continue to make up for the ineptitude of Mike, which is no small task. I think that maybe, just maybe, he might do all right.
“Hey, it could be worse,” Simonds said. “You could be me."
Mark Chalifoux is a writer for SportsRant.com and the founder of the Mike Simonds fan club. You can email him at Rockne48@und.com
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