Mcmackin Slur

Hawaii football coach Greg McMackin must feel like a victim of the old bait-and-switch routine. On Thursday, he apologized for describing one of Notre Dame's traditions with a gay slur during the Western Athletic Conference media preview. He then dropped the slur a couple of more times as he winked at the media, asking them not to publicize his comment, even though in repeating it multiple times he made it obvious he really didn't have a problem tossing the word around.

In his apology, he said he didn't mean any harm, but that he was just trying to be funny, "and it wasn't funny and it's not funny. Even more, it isn't funny to me." What a bunch of crap. Of course he thought it was funny. You can hear him enjoying his own joke on the audio track. But, more tellingly, you can hear the outburst of laughter from some of the media members in the room each time he drops the slur.

McMackin said it was a wrong choice of words, but that's not really genuine either. It was the right choice of words for the audience he was trying to connect with. He might be a second-year head coach at Hawaii, but the man has been coaching football -- college and pro -- for 40 years. He not only has an understanding of the game and the mentality of the players; he has an understanding of the people who cover the sport as well.