Better to be thought a poor loser than to be Mike Kelly and remove any lingering doubt

PHILADELPHIA - After Widener University was hammered 45-7 by Linfield College in a NCAA Division III national quarterfinal game Saturday afternoon in nearby Chester, Pa., Pride coach Mike Kelly took a shot at the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, who had allowed the Wildcats to prepare at the NFL team’s practice facility…. “Make sure you put in the paper that we thank Chip Kelly and I hope the Seahawks do well tomorrow,” Mike Kelly said. “He was helping them out. Maybe somebody in Philadelphia ought to buy him a map so he knows where he lives now. But, go Seahawks.”…. The comments received national attention and sparked swift condemnation and derision from sports fans on social media. And after the Seahawks defeated the Eagles 24-14 on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, Chip Kelly, who led Oregon to the 2011 BCS national championship game and has the Eagles in contention for a second consecutive NFC East title, brought the chorus to its culmination, delivering a scathing screed on sportsmanship Monday during an interview on the 94WIP Morning Show.

Anyone who’s been involved in sports at any level understands that athletic competition is about struggle and conflict and- sometimes- hurt feelings. Under the best of circumstances, competitors go at one another to the best of their ability for the length of the contest…and then they shake hands can go on their way. You butt heads, you try to best your opponent in any acceptable available manner, and when it’s all said and done, you congratulate your opponent and get on with life. Under the worst of circumstances, you have people like Widener University football coach Mike Kelly, who was all manner of bent out of shape because Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly (no relation) allowed Linfield College (from McMinnville, OR) to use the team’s practice facility before their Division III playoff game against Widener. Linfield won 45-7…and Mike Kelly evidently felt that using the Eagles indoor practice bubble was an unfair advantage of some sort. Never mind that it’s the sort of courtesy that coaches extend to other coaches all the time; I suppose Mike Kelly expected that Linfield should have been happy to be left with practicing in a church parking lot.

It was an astonishingly petty and unbelievably small-minded outburst from a coach who really should have known better. Mike Kelly could have taken the high road and acknowledged that his team got their asses handed to them by a superior Linfield team. Instead, he acted as if Chip Kelly’s “unwarranted” courtesy extended to a coach he knows and respects was an act of disloyalty towards another Philadelphia-based program.

The reaction from the Internet was swift, decisive, and uniformly negative, so there’s no reason I need to reinvent the wheel and rip Mike Kelly a new one. I’ll say only that kindness never goes out of style. This is especially true when you consider that one of Linfield’s players was brutally murdered in a McMinnville 7-Eleven recently. Chip Kelly’s kindness was in part a recognition of the bravery displayed by Linfield’s coaches and players under some very difficult and highly emotional circumstances. For Mike Kelly to complain about Chip Kelly extending a degree of kindness- of the sort that’s not at all uncommon among coaches…well, let’s just say it speak well for his (lack of) humanity and simple human decency.

I can only hope that Mike Kelly wishes he could take his words back. I have to believe his words were spoken in frustration after suffering a difficult loss, because I really don’t want to think he’s that small and petty.

For his part, I think Chip Kelly handled it beautifully in stating his case. He did nothing unusual, untoward, or that would have given Linfield an unfair advantage. All he did was what coaches frequently do for one another. That’s neither disloyal or unwarranted; it’s professional courtesy…or, if you want a shorter way to describe it, call it kindness.