Is he staying or is he going? This is the question being asked ad nauseam about Japan's national soccer coach Philippe Troussier.
As the Olympics draw near and the 2002 World Cup looms on the horizon, more media attention has been given to the Frenchman's status than to Yoshiro Mori's recent ascent to the post of prime minister. Before and after last week's 1-0 loss to South Korea in a friendly match, the talk has not been about Japan's play on the field. Instead, it's all been about whether Troussier, whose contract is due to expire at the end of June, will be kept on or given his walking papers.
The Japan Football Association is largely to blame for the circus-like atmosphere, sending out mixed signals and letting Troussier twist in the wind while all kinds of scenarios about how he'll be replaced are being circulated.
The media's refusal to accept the JFA line that Troussier's fate will be decided at a May 25 meeting and the feeding frenzy which follows the manager's every move certainly haven't helped the mood of the team or its ability to stay focused.
The Japanese soccer scene is not the only place where off-the-field distractions are having a negative effect.
Elsewhere, in the City of Brotherly Love, a soap opera involving the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers rages on.
Several weeks ago, Eric Lindros criticized the team's medical staff for misdiagnosing a concussion and was stripped of his captaincy for his candor. He now waits on the outside, hoping to return to action if his estranged teammates can advance to the third round of the playoffs a tall order after dropping the first two games at home in their best-of-seven series against Pittsburgh.
Flyers coach Roger Neilson left the team in February to undergo treatment for bone marrow cancer on the understanding he would return during the playoffs. However, when he declared himself fit to return last week, Neilson discovered he was no longer wanted as head coach.
Neilson said on a Toronto radio show that the team "doesn't want a cancer patient who is a friend of Eric Lindros behind the bench right now." While he later apologized and said he was just joking, there was probably a lot of truth in his words.
Flyers general manager Bobby Clarke has handled these issues about as delicately as he handled his hockey stick as captain of Philly's "Broad Street Bullies" back in the 1970s.
One of the big stories in the early stages of the National Basketball Association playoffs has been the Butch Carter-Marcus Camby feud. Camby called the Toronto coach a "liar" for telling him the Raptors were going to build their team around the young forward just days before trading him to the Knicks.
Two weeks ago, on the eve of the Knicks-Raptors first-round series, Carter filed a $5 million defamation suit against Camby, saying he would withdraw it if Camby apologized.
Camby didn't, but Carter dropped the suit during the series anyway, saying he wanted to "turn the other cheek." Now that his distracted team has been eliminated in three straight games, it's clear that Carter would have been well advised to turn the other cheek in the first place. Of course, no self-respecting lawyer would ever give such advice.
One might think that professional athletes should be able to block out distractions like these and focus on the task at hand; but they're only human and as fragile as anyone else. With such a fine line between winning and losing, the slightest loss of concentration can be fatal.
Controversies are bound to arise over the course of a season. Successful organizations are able to eliminate them or, at least, minimize the damage. In the three above cases, neither was done and the results show.
Under the influence
Has anyone noticed an increase in the number of Japanese athletes appearing in beer commercials?
One ad popping up on TV with annoying frequency features Lotte Marines pitcher Tomohiro "Johnny" Kuroki, decked out in his Marines uniform, gulping back a mug of suds.
Another has Mainoumi, the pint-sized former sumo wrestler, break-dancing to the ditty "Body Needs Lager Light" (some doctors may not agree).
Call me a prude, but I think athletes especially active ones like Kuroki promoting beer is a bad influence on the youth of a country where we've all seen more than our share of people passed out in pools of vomit.
The fact that Mainoumi is retired makes his spot more tolerable. However, the former komusubi is still sporting his topknot, the hallmark of a top-division rikishi.
I'm sure the lowly Marines will gladly take any publicity they can get, but they can't be happy with Kuroki's results since he started pitching beer. After being one of Japan's best hurlers the past few years, the Lotte workhorse is off to an 0-4 start and at 9.76, his ERA is as bloated as someone who's just guzzled a 12-pack.