April 11th update

Petrino out at Arkansas

• Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino was fired on Tuesday as the fallout from his motorcycle escapades continued. Petrino played the part on April Fool’s day by riding his motorcycle without a helmet with a 25 year-old football staffer, with whom his relationship was not clearly defined. Petrino (who is married with children) was fired with cause, which allows the university to avoid paying him a multimillion dollar buyout.
• This is not the first time Petrino has left an organization he was the head coach in controversy. In July of 2006, he signed a 10 year extension at the university of Louisville with much fanfare to remain the head coach and build the Cardinals into a power. Less than a year later, he bailed on them to sign with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons in a similar high dollar deal. Less than a year after that, he bailed on the Falcons after it became obvious that Michael Vick would be off the team with his dogfighting issues and signed with Arkansas, the job that he has just now been fired from. Hopefully the next school to hire him isn't expecting a high-character individual.
• The female passenger, Jessica Dorrell, has not made any public comments. Dorrell is a former Arkansas volleyball player and had been recently hired by Petrino to help with the recruiting effort. Her on-going status with the university is unknown.


Guillen suspended for 5 games

• Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen is known to be a fiery manager, saying what he wants no matter whom he offends. This was never more clear that in a recent interview when Guillen said he "loves Fidel Castro." Castro, the longtime dictator of Cuba is a very unpopular figure in Miami which has a very high percentage of ex-Cubans.
• Sportico does not try to delve into political controversies but suffice it to say a lot of people are mad and some are even calling for Guillen's termination. Others wonder how a simple comment like this can be grounds for a suspension and why he's being penalized so harshly. To his credit, Guillen, whose first language is Spanish but gave this interview in English, tempered his statement, saying that he did not mean to say he personally loved Csstro, but rather that he was surprised that he was still around after so long and harming so many people.
• In 2008, he also praised Castro in an interview saying: "Fidel Castro is a bull---- dictator and everybody's against him, and he still survives, has power. Still has a country behind him. Everywhere he goes they roll out the red carpet. I don't admire his philosophy. I admire him."