Turkey of the Decade: Pat Reusse

Pat, it's time to retire the turkey of the year. It is old and tired. I hesitate to say, Like you? Give it a rest.

Once upon a time, the turkey of the year was real turkeys, guys like Woody Hayes, who slugged an opposing player, and Bowie Kuhn and Bobby Knight and George Steinbrenner. People with real and well-known character defects.

Now...now...now it's just guys who don't win enough ball games for you. Guys of impeccable character, but they just don't win as much as a crotchety old sportswriter thinks they should. I mean, Tubby Smith, turkey of the year? No. Pat Reusse, turkey of the year, turkey of the decade. Give it a rest  before you end up turkey of the century.

I mean, if you wanna know what a negatory fellow Pat is, consider this. Seimone Augustus has led the Minnesota Lynx to 55 wins and 13 losses in 2 years, a WNBA title and a WNBA runner-up slot. She helped the U.S.A. win a gold medal, Pat. The U.S.A. But the only thing Pat knows or cares about Seimone Augustus is one 3-for-21 night. Of course, Seimone is a woman....

Well, the truth is that Pat's sportswriting is on exactly the same trajectory, though describing Pat's writing as a 3-of-21 night would even be a bit generous.

Pat, it's time to put that turkey out of its misery.