Tucson Citizen.com
AG's Wildcat Report - Dispatches on the Wildcats, from Anthony Gimino

Mike Stoops makes the Wall Street Journal (not necessarily a good thing)

by on Nov. 24, 2010, under Sports

TV producers like to catch Mike Stoops yelling at the refs. Photo by Chris Morrison, US PRESSWIRE

Coaches yelling on the sideline has been a big college football topic this week, with the focus on Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini.

His coaching family just happens to be longtime friends with the Stoops coaching family, dating to childhood days in Youngstown, Ohio. Like the Pelinis, the Stoops boys have been known to blow some steam — OK, go nuclear — on the sideline from time to time.

The Wall Street Journal decided to compare the sideline behavior of Arizona Wildcats coach Mike Stoops and Oklahoma Sooners coach Bob Stoops during recently televised games.

Which leads me to one thought — why didn’t I think of this?

Anyway, the Journal studied Arizona’s 42-17 home loss to Stanford on Nov. 6 and Oklahoma’s 36-27 loss to Missouri on Oct. 23 when the Sooners were ranked No. 1. Wrote the Journal:

The cameras focused on Mike Stoops 37 times in the Wildcats’ loss this month against Stanford, and he was complaining 51.4% of the time. Among those instances, he was upset with someone on his team almost twice as often as with a ref.

Bob Stoops, meanwhile, was much more calm. Writer David Biderman
 claims older brother Bob was upset just 15.2 percent of the time when the cameras were on him.

Click the link to the Journal for more info.

I’m not sure of the scientific nature of the results, but in a perception-is-reality kind of world, it’s important to note, for better or worse, this is Mike Stoops’ public face to the college football world.

With Mike’s established reputation, you know the TV director in the truck is going to be quick with his decision to go with a Stoops’ reaction shot.

Of course, any and all sideline ranting will be quickly forgotten Friday night at Oregon, if Stoops gets a chilly Gatorade bath and is pumping his fist in the air if the Wildcats pull off an upset of the No. 1 Ducks in Autzen Stadium.

Other football coverage from the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network:

Scott Terrell, UASports.net: This week in the Pac-10

Brad Allis, WildcatSportsReport.com: Bug Wright out; Morrison and Miller will replace him

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 24th, 2010 at 8:39 am and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

RSS feed for this post (comments)

  • Pingback: Tweets that mention Mike Stoops makes the Wall Street Journal (not necessarily a good thing) - AG's Wildcat Report -- Topsy.com

  • Jeff Roberts

    Mike Stoops is a big freakin baby who whines at calls that were made correctly and hammers his players for the smallest infractions. It’s a wonder anyone will play for such a donkey. I can’t wait to watch him cry all game long Friday as the Ducks hand Arizona another major A$$-WHOOPING!

    • MO

      It’s L-O-S-E-R and be prepare to be one tonight.  Stupid Cats fans can’t even spell their insults right.

  • catalinaserf

    So expect a lot of camera time for Mike. And after Oregon’s game at Cal, the cameras will be trying to spot fake injuries to stop the clock. I might be alone, but I think this year’s game will be a lot like last year’s, complete with a nerve-wracking overtime.  It’s revenge time!

  • Bruce

    Stoops has obvious anger management issues that will continue to be displayed as long as Greg Byrne allows. 

  • fraser007

    You are both wrong. If it pumps up his team and makes them fight harder then Ok with me. And I bet the refs watch harder when they make calls.
    When he is on TV doing interviews or other places he is not that intense. And how is he at practise? Ask his players, they are the ones who count.

    Wildcats by two points! BEAR DOWN…I have seen those games the writer mentioned plus many others, any long time U of A fan knows we can do it.

    • Joel

      A true fan. Well said!

  • Ernie McCray

    If I had a dollar for every time a coach yelled in my face I’d be sitting pretty.

  • Quackhead503

    I promise the refs just get annoyed. This guys is an embarrassment to the Pac 10. He thought, because of his brother and his defensive background, that he could come in and dominate the Pac 10. How quickly he was humbled by the skill of the conference.
    His yelling on the sideline only brings laughs. Not motivation. Oregon should take this game by at least 24.

    • fraser007

      Are you a ref, played football at the college level?, at high school level. Pop Warner?? If you havent you know nothing.

  • Carlos J. M.

    If the Cats are losing, it’s frustration illustrated.  If the Cardinal and Navy are winning like they are now, generally, it’s exuberance, enthusiasm, high energy.  And we love it.  At least I do. 

    Seriously though, to me it’s just Coach Stoops wanting his players, coaches, fans and the refs – yes the refs – giving it as much as he does to get it right.  And I find absolutely nothing wrong with that.  We don’t have to think back too long ago to get a real sense of what exactly is riding on every second of every down with this guy and his program. 

    Coach Mike didn’t follow a world famous coach (or two or three) who had already done all the heavy lifting.  He doesn’t have the luxury of an international business conglomerate feeding his program with certain frills and thrills – otherwise known as Sugar Daddy Dollars – meant to make recruiting that much easier.  For all intents and purposes, he is Univeristy of Arizona Football – shoot, UA Athletics – personified over the years. 

    Coach Stoops lives it.  So what if he happens to do so off of his sleeve.  It’s all or nothing.  Now or never.  And may the best man be left standing.  We wouldn’t want it any other way.

    Get ‘em Mike!  Get ‘em!! 

    • fraser007

      Well said!!!!!!!!

    • Joel

      Bravo!

  • Doug

    If football were about screaming in the face of your players, Arizona would have won.  Nicely played, Coach.

«
»