No Politics, Please

Rice Dumps SMU; Mustangs’ Coach Angered By Anthem Question

DALLAS – After losing badly to the Rice Owls on Wednesday, SMU head coach Matt Doherty was in no mood for a question concerning his team’s apparent lack of respect during the playing of the National Anthem.

OK, it’s clear he’d never be in the mood for the question.

(Wait. The game: SMU (9-7, 1-1) looked woeful -- falling behind 11-0 early, shooting 38.8 percent, hitting half its free throws, getting out-boarded, 36-22, getting no closer than five in the second half, and losing, 68-52. Doherty, in his sixth SMU season, had no answer for the debacle, claiming the team had had “great” practices this week, and that maybe biorhythms were to blame. Rice’s 6-7, 220-pound Arsalan Kazemi, led all scorers with 21 points.)

Back to the Anthem: Over the past couple of seasons it’s become quite noticeable to fans that several Mustang players (Wednesday, it was seven) stare directly down – way down - at the floor when the National Anthem is played.

At the end of Wednesday’s post-game presser, Doherty was asked by this scribe if he knew if his players were making some sort of political statement by their actions.

“No,” Doherty snapped, before angrily calling the question “ridiculous,” – “the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” He said the question should not have been asked publicly, but privately, one-on-one, or by email.

Doherty seemed highly insulted, personally offended. He huffed, as he left the interview, that his players’ actions were maybe “immature,” but not “political.”

A media colleague taping the interview assured Doherty as he departed that this portion of the proceeding would be “cut out.”

Turns out, as Doherty himself noted, he had been asked privately in the past by SMU president R. Gerald Turner to have the players look at the flag during the National Anthem – to no apparent effect.

How my private inquiry now would carry more weight than President Turner’s is unclear.

It’s been reliably reported to me that before SMU’s loss to 1-9 Jackson State on Dec. 15, SMU players’ actions were highly conspicuous next to Jackson State’s -- who all looked at the flag, with hand over heart.

As for Doherty blaming it on “immaturity,” recall that plenty of our 18-22 year olds have died in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years.

That’s plenty old enough to know what you’re doing.

Doherty’s players have been doing the “stare-down” publicly for some time now. He should have no problem answering for them publicly. It’s been an embarrassment for the school and it should stop.

He claims he hasn’t noticed the incidents because he’s looking at the flag. But he should notice -- after having it brought to his attention by the school president.

I’m all for free speech - yada, yada, yada. Go for it. But do it on your own time. Not while publicly representing SMU.