Just rewards

A couple of easy lessons flow from the firing this week of Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino. One is that hubris can be costly. Petrino clearly felt that his exalted position as head of the state’s beloved football program made him untouchable. That sort of arrogance is too often the norm, not the exception, with bigtime college football (and basketball) coaches. Another is that the cover-up is always worse than the crime. Petrino’s downfall started with a motorcycle crash on April 1. On board at the time was a 25-year-old woman with whom Petrino had been having an affair. He had only a few days earlier hired her onto his support staff. From the start, and despite numerous chances to come clean, Petrino lied to his boss and others about the details of the crash and the improper relationship. Despite all of this, the decision to show Petrino the door had to be difficult for Athletic Director Jeff Long, a former associate AD at the University of Oklahoma. Kudos to him for doing the right thing.