I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised anymore when the world of sport disappoints me, but why does anyone think that Dave Bliss would deserve a second chance? For those who may not remember, Bliss was the head coach at Baylor who tried obstruct a police investigation into the murder of one of his players by telling his players to lie. In the end, it turns out that Bliss had reason for not wanting the police to dig very deep because he was running a dirty program.

So now the Dakota Wizards have declared him rehabilitated and Bliss "appreciates that he’s been given a second chance," but the worst of the article might be here:

Bliss’ tarnished history will likely increase the Wizards’ attendance, which averaged about 3,000 fans a game last year, McCormick said.

That is really disturbing on all kinds of levels. One, that the owner would think that. Two, that the owner would say that to the press and think it’s a good thing. Three, that ESPN would print it, and four, that it might actually be true.

Now, I’ve coached for nine years. I’ve met many, many excellent, intelligent and moral coaches. Does the owner of the Dakota Wizards really mean to tell me that in his exhaustive search for a coach for his team, he couldn’t find anyone better than someone who would ask a twenty year old to lie for him to cover up the murder of a player? This is the best guy he can find? Worse… does the owner really believe that this kind of notoriety is a good thing?

At what point do we say, "Coaching a pro team — even a CBA team — is a privilege and your behavior is such that you are clearly not a leader of young men."

Sports can be embody the best of who and what we are… and sadly, too often it embodies the worst.