John Blanchette: Earlywine commits big blunder

Here’s the thing about basketball: It’s not a foul unless the referee calls it.

Doesn’t matter what the rulebook says, or the consensus in the bleachers. It’s strictly eyes-of-the-beholder, and only two eyes count. So the game goes on – and maybe you hope for a better referee the next time.

In the matter of new Eastern Washington basketball coach Kirk Earlywine and whatever goo-goo eyes he and the folks at Ball State made at each other this past week, the referee at EWU – his current boss – has concluded no harm, no foul.

And maybe he’s right. After all, public opinion of EWU athletics at the moment could hardly get any lower.

Fortunately, a breeze of good PR would seem to be right around the corner with the impending hire of an athletic director and the anticipation of a new and improved football season. Sometimes the calendar is your best friend.

In the foxhole of Eastern’s most devoted, it’s being rationalized that no one among us would not have done what Earlywine did and pursue, if only for a day or two, such a grand opportunity – a big raise, a more prestigious league, a chance to work near home and family.

Good to know it’s such a given. Saves us the trouble of, you know, thinking for ourselves.

The difference in this case, of course, is context and timing.

A job is not a job is not a job. Plumbers and bankers and shopkeepers all want your business, but college coaches specifically and athletic programs in general plead for your emotional and financial investment, and loyalty.

If the Bilgemobile you buy turns out to be a lemon, you’re not likely to go back to the same dealership – and the dealer would understand, even as he’s unhappy to lose a customer. But if the Fighting Squash go 4-23, that’s somehow different. The true fan is expected to stick with ‘em, to dig deeper.

Support us. Hang with us through thick and thin. Bring a buddy to the game. Give more.

Commit to us.

Commitment is the hemoglobin of college athletics. Recruits are asked to commit four years to the program. Donors are asked to commit their largesse. Fans are asked to commit, well, their fannies. The school must offer a multiyear contract and enhancements to each new coach or else it’s not committed.

So how can Earlywine keep a straight face and ask for commitment – from his players in particular – when he’s entertaining thoughts of a job hop 30-some days into his union with Eastern? Has he even signed up for direct deposit yet?

This was off even the Dennis Erickson happy-feet scale.

Did he take the leap? No. His athletic director says he thought better of it upon reflection, but it’s just as possible Earlywine reached the quick and likely conclusion that he wasn’t going to get the job at Ball State, despite someone’s passing interest in him. Surely he wasn’t the kind of slam-dunk candidate who could land the job tomorrow and avoid a protracted courtship, which if unrequited would have been downright toxic to his situation here.

We don’t know this to be the case because, as Earlywine has repeatedly maintained, his policy is to “not comment about any job,” per the example set by his old mentor, Rick Majerus.

That’s a perfect policy for Majerus, who plays footsy with any school that has a coaching vacancy. But as good of a basketball coach as Majerus is, it may not be wise to crib your entire media philosophy from him, unless you really have a way with fat jokes.

And there’s this: EWU didn’t hire Rick Majerus.

It hired Kirk Earlywine, who was brought into a tender situation – the unconscionably late firing of his predecessor – made worse by the perception that the process was more sham than search. It was not that Earlywine isn’t qualified – his resumé is fine – but that it obviously didn’t matter whether he was the most qualified or the best fit of those Eastern could hire. It was a done deal and the other finalists knew it.

Once hired, however, he deserved the same honeymoon that any new coach gets and time to heal whatever hard feelings might be out there. Unfortunately, he just blew it by – for an irretrievable moment – unfairly making his school look like a chump.

All the spinning notwithstanding, this was a misstep, at best. And rather than the free pass issued by his friend temporarily inhabiting the athletic director’s office (“this is actually a positive thing”), it should have been greeted more along the lines of, “Kirk, you’re killing me here.”

Sometimes you have to say no – and say it right away. If indeed Ball State’s athletic interests made the first contact – pardon the skepticism – then all that needed to be said was, “I’m flattered and it’s a great opportunity, but I simply can’t – it just wouldn’t be proper to even consider it at this time.” And then stroll into the AD’s office and repeat the exchange.

Then it stops right there, it doesn’t get public and Eastern doesn’t have yet another shiner.

Then you demonstrate commitment. Which should always happen before you ask for one.