Echo from the Buttes’s young alumni columnist ponders the importance of blogs and message boards in coaching decisions. Rich Olson beware. The Internets are coming for you.

Six NBA head coaches were fired a quarter of the way through the season, another sign that both professional teams and major college programs are more impatient than ever with their coaching personnel.

You’ll never guess who’s to blame.

Quoth Timberwolves head coach Kevin McHale in the St. Paul Pioneer Press: “There’s so much media availability and everything else. There’s just so many bloggers; everybody’s got an opinion. … Sometimes that starts forming the opinion of people in front offices, too, and owner.”

Never mind the fact that Minnesota’s firing of Randy Wittman was actually McHale’s doing, or that FireMcHale.com exists, and ponder this question: do fans on the Internet really have that much sway?

College football coaches are dropping like flies, even mid-season. And a major college hoops coaching carousel is revving its engine as we speak. Our not-so-friendly neighbors to the south are right at the center of it.

Is the “smoky boardroom” we’ve always imagined now merely a network of blogs and message boards?

Personally, it’s a scary thought. The idea of an attention-slurping, self-appointed expert such as myself actually controlling the destiny of any major sports program – especially my beloved alma mater, Arizona State – while I may or may not be wearing pants in the comfort of my own home seems a little far-fetched, if not dangerous.

On the other hand, perhaps all Echo from the Buttes regular contributors and commenters should feel empowered.

Maybe the widespread online calls for Rich Olson’s job will actually reach Lisa Love’s interested ears.

Maybe regular commenter David’s legendary post after football season ended will lead directly to better conditioning, the use of a fullback, and for the Sun Devils to “sign a freaking punter”.

Hell, maybe the helmet will actually match the pants some day.

Or, maybe McHale is just propping our egos up a bit, trying shake his title as one of the most-hated men in the sports blogosphere. Who really knows?

But if you really are reading, Lisa Love, for the sake of all that is holy: put Sparky back at mid-field and mid-court, will ya?

What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
Does what we say on the Internet impact the decisions of our sports leaders? Is that good or bad? Let us know in the comments below!

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Tags: Housekeeping , lisa love, rich olson, sparky, the bold saguaro // 3 Comments »