PRY TUMBLES 15 PLACES ... NOW ONLY TWO AHEAD OF ELLIOTT
Briefly told … just college football and hockey ...
Hot seat … is getting hotter for Virginia Tech’s
BRENT PRY. In CBS’ 10th annual ranking of
Power 4 football coaches, Pry landed 63d among 68
in all. Virginia’s TONY ELLIOTT is 65th …
“Things appear headed in the wrong direction in
Blacksburg,” began the brief commentary …
explaining why Pry, about to begin his fourth season,
fell 15 spots from a year ago …. when the Hokies
finished with “an uninspiring 6-7 mark, and there’s a
bit of heat on Pry’s seat heading into 2025.” Just a
bit? … The network uses a panel of media types
(exactly how many it doesn’t say), with only two
rules: You can only rank coaches from the four
power conferences – ACC, Big 10, Big 12 and SEC
– and you must rank every one of them. “Everything
else is up to the voter.” … In other words, just about
anything goes. If a panelist doesn’t get along with a
coach, he can rank him 68th (last), and no one will be
the wiser. Or care, for that matter … Former JMU
coach CURT CIGNETTI, who proved as polarizing
as he was successful in his first season at Indiana U.,
came in 21st … plus 22 from a year ago this time.
Actually, the voters still do not know what to make
of Cignetti … rating him anywhere from a high of
ninth best to a low of 61 … the widest difference of
all … Georgia’sKIRBY SMART remained
unanimous No. 1, with national champion Ohio
State’s RYAN DAY still No. 2, and DABO
SWINNEY of Clemson continuing to hold on to No.
3 … JEFF LEBBY was last (68th) after going 2-10
(0-8 SEC) in his first season at Mississippi State ...
Of Elliott, it was noted “… the Hoos took a step
forward last year with a mark of 5-7 [but] you do
have to wonder how much more patience Virginia
will have if it fails to make a bowl game again …”
… Oh, and North Carolina’s BILL BELICHICK,
six-times Super Bowl champion about to coach his
first college game, was seen as 54th best. He ran the
gamut from 19th (Why? “Because he’s Bill
Belichick.”) to 67th.
What the? In Game 1 of the NHL’s Eastern
Conference finals, Carolina’s SHAYNE
GOSTISBEHERE took a slap shot … targeting
Florida’s BRAD MARCHAND, who was standing
no more than a few feet away. Thankfully, the puck
only glanced off his arm but, for some reason,
Marchand didn’t like it, dropped his gloves and went
after the Hurricanes’ defenseman … Only in hockey
would starting a fight (in which no major blows were
landed) be ruled worse than firing a very hard chunk
of rubber at close range, deliberately attempting to
inflict major punishment, eh? … In fact, despite
gloves off, punches thrown, it was not worthy of
being seen as a fight by the game’s referees.
Gostisbehere got two minutes for roughing;
Marchand four minutes, roughing, as well as a game
misconduct … The defending Stanley Cup-champion
Panthers won 5-2 on the road in Raleigh, N.C., and
afterwards Gostisbehere admitted shooting at
Marchand because … “He tried to take a run at me,
and it [hacked] me off.” … None of the Panthers
wanted to talk about it, leaving the impression
Gostisbehere better keep his head up in Game 2.
As expected … Toronto Maple Leafs parted ways
with team president BRENDAN SHANAHAN …
but from the Dept. of Bad Scoops … the Hockey
Hall of Fame winger did not join the New York
Islanders to replace general manager LOU
LAMORIELLO (fired). That job went to Tampa
Bay assistant GM MATHIEU DARCHE.
Until next time …
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