JimBob
12-18-2007, 07:49 AM
Oh, brother: It's a tough week to be named Sutton
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
12/18/2007
CIVIL WAR. Brother against brother. Sutton vs. Sutton. It sounds like something to look forward to -- unless your last name happens to be Sutton.
Sean Sutton is the basketball coach at Oklahoma State University. His younger brother, Scott, is the basketball coach at Oral Roberts University.
With a bit of nudging by ESPN, the Suttons agreed to pit their gladiators against each other. The day of dread arrives Thursday when the All-College Classic tips off at Oklahoma City's Ford Center.
"I'm not real excited about playing," Scott Sutton said. "I'm excited for my team and for my program. I think it's a great opportunity for our program to be on national TV and play in that environment. I am happy for them and happy for our program because I think it can help our program. But as far as personally going against Sean and against OSU, I'm not real excited about that."
Here's what the Suttons should do: Invent a time machine, zip back a few months and tell ESPN that the Suttons aren't going to engage in combat just to please viewers.
But it's just a silly game, right?
No, it's not.
The Suttons will get together for Christmas a few days after the game. What if their kids are so mad at Uncle Sean or Uncle Scott for beating dad that it sabotages the holiday?
Don't believe that could happen? Sure it could, especially when you grow up in a family where competition is a way of life.
In 2000, OSU lost an Elite Eight game to Florida. Sean was a Cowboy assistant and one of his friends, John Pelphrey, was a Gator assistant. The Suttons and Pelphreys are so tight that their families have vacationed together.
Pelphrey felt badly that he played a role in ending his buddy's season and he attempted to hug Sean's oldest son, Hunter. But Hunter refused to embrace a man who had cost his dad and grandfather (former OSU head coach Eddie Sutton) a Final Four trip.
Want to tell that kid it was only a game?
Fans and media may relish the intrigue of a hoops family feud, but you can bet the Suttons would rather watch anything other than a game where at least one family member is guaranteed to lose.
Patsy Sutton, mother of Sean and Scott and Steve (who chose banking rather than bank shots), has watched her children play and coach in a billion games, but she is telling family members she will skip this one.
"It's hard," said Papa Eddie, who wasn't going to go, but changed his mind because the All-College folks are honoring him at halftime. So, Eddie will endure one son making another son's job more difficult.
"And people don't understand that," Scott said.
Scott said many people used to criticize his dad for a reluc tance to schedule games against friends and former assistants.
But, said Scott, "People shouldn't judge until they are in that position. This is our livelihood. This is our jobs. Every time you lose, it's difficult to take, especially when you lose to somebody you care for or you beat somebody you care for. You hate to see a person you love suffer."
Maybe the Suttons should have consulted the Thompsons before agreeing to the game.
The sons of former Georgetown coach John Thompson squared off last season. John Thompson III's Georgetown squad beat Ronny Thompson-led Ball State 69-54.
Daddy Thompson objected when the game was scheduled and later called the idea of his boys playing each other "stupid," according to published reports. Pops attended the game, wore neutral colors and those who watched him wrote that he never changed expressions. Other family members wore shirts that said "All's fair in basketball and brotherhood."
John III said after the game that he didn't look toward his brother's bench until about three minutes were left.
"This was hard," he said. "I knew it would be difficult, and it was much more difficult than I thought it would be."
In 2004, Yale's James Jones and Columbia's Joe Jones became the first brothers to coach against each other in a major college basketball game since OSU's Henry Iba and Tulsa's Clarence Iba used to gig each other in the 1950s.
"It was weird," Joe Jones told the New York Times afterward. "You try not to focus on it, but then you walk out to the court and see your brother. He called me last night, saying he couldn't wait for this to just get over with, that the media was killing him. And he has an ego the size of this room, so you know it must have been getting bad."
Oklahoma will play Gonzaga in the nightcap of an All-College doubleheader. It's probably too late to ask ESPN to reshuffle the deck, so the Suttons are anxious to get this brother of all wars in the rear view mirror.
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
12/18/2007
CIVIL WAR. Brother against brother. Sutton vs. Sutton. It sounds like something to look forward to -- unless your last name happens to be Sutton.
Sean Sutton is the basketball coach at Oklahoma State University. His younger brother, Scott, is the basketball coach at Oral Roberts University.
With a bit of nudging by ESPN, the Suttons agreed to pit their gladiators against each other. The day of dread arrives Thursday when the All-College Classic tips off at Oklahoma City's Ford Center.
"I'm not real excited about playing," Scott Sutton said. "I'm excited for my team and for my program. I think it's a great opportunity for our program to be on national TV and play in that environment. I am happy for them and happy for our program because I think it can help our program. But as far as personally going against Sean and against OSU, I'm not real excited about that."
Here's what the Suttons should do: Invent a time machine, zip back a few months and tell ESPN that the Suttons aren't going to engage in combat just to please viewers.
But it's just a silly game, right?
No, it's not.
The Suttons will get together for Christmas a few days after the game. What if their kids are so mad at Uncle Sean or Uncle Scott for beating dad that it sabotages the holiday?
Don't believe that could happen? Sure it could, especially when you grow up in a family where competition is a way of life.
In 2000, OSU lost an Elite Eight game to Florida. Sean was a Cowboy assistant and one of his friends, John Pelphrey, was a Gator assistant. The Suttons and Pelphreys are so tight that their families have vacationed together.
Pelphrey felt badly that he played a role in ending his buddy's season and he attempted to hug Sean's oldest son, Hunter. But Hunter refused to embrace a man who had cost his dad and grandfather (former OSU head coach Eddie Sutton) a Final Four trip.
Want to tell that kid it was only a game?
Fans and media may relish the intrigue of a hoops family feud, but you can bet the Suttons would rather watch anything other than a game where at least one family member is guaranteed to lose.
Patsy Sutton, mother of Sean and Scott and Steve (who chose banking rather than bank shots), has watched her children play and coach in a billion games, but she is telling family members she will skip this one.
"It's hard," said Papa Eddie, who wasn't going to go, but changed his mind because the All-College folks are honoring him at halftime. So, Eddie will endure one son making another son's job more difficult.
"And people don't understand that," Scott said.
Scott said many people used to criticize his dad for a reluc tance to schedule games against friends and former assistants.
But, said Scott, "People shouldn't judge until they are in that position. This is our livelihood. This is our jobs. Every time you lose, it's difficult to take, especially when you lose to somebody you care for or you beat somebody you care for. You hate to see a person you love suffer."
Maybe the Suttons should have consulted the Thompsons before agreeing to the game.
The sons of former Georgetown coach John Thompson squared off last season. John Thompson III's Georgetown squad beat Ronny Thompson-led Ball State 69-54.
Daddy Thompson objected when the game was scheduled and later called the idea of his boys playing each other "stupid," according to published reports. Pops attended the game, wore neutral colors and those who watched him wrote that he never changed expressions. Other family members wore shirts that said "All's fair in basketball and brotherhood."
John III said after the game that he didn't look toward his brother's bench until about three minutes were left.
"This was hard," he said. "I knew it would be difficult, and it was much more difficult than I thought it would be."
In 2004, Yale's James Jones and Columbia's Joe Jones became the first brothers to coach against each other in a major college basketball game since OSU's Henry Iba and Tulsa's Clarence Iba used to gig each other in the 1950s.
"It was weird," Joe Jones told the New York Times afterward. "You try not to focus on it, but then you walk out to the court and see your brother. He called me last night, saying he couldn't wait for this to just get over with, that the media was killing him. And he has an ego the size of this room, so you know it must have been getting bad."
Oklahoma will play Gonzaga in the nightcap of an All-College doubleheader. It's probably too late to ask ESPN to reshuffle the deck, so the Suttons are anxious to get this brother of all wars in the rear view mirror.