Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times was not impressed by the behavior of USC Athletic Director Pat Haden during his school's 13-10 victory over Stanford.
That Haden came to the sideline to support his coach, Steve Sarkisian, who drew an unsportsmanlike penalty, isn't all that big of a deal.
But when Haden is one of three standing athletic directors, along with Arkansas' Jeff Long and Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez, on the 13-man committee charged with picking the four teams who will participate in first College Football Playoff, his behavior becomes a big deal.
Wrote Dufresne: "It was behavior unbecoming an AD and a committee member but, ah, there lies the rub. You can't do either job justice. What if USC meets Stanford in the Pac-12 title game with a playoff berth on the line?
"It doesn't matter how fairly Haden thinks he can adjudicate both jobs, it's all about perceptions."
Monday, the Pac-12 fined Haden $25,000 and Haden issued himself a two-game ban from the USC sideline.
College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock said he was not concerned about Haden's behavior.
"Emotional outbursts at games are not a matter for the playoff selection committee to deal with," Hancock said. "This does not affect Pat Haden's capability as a committee member. We recognize that athletic directors cannot be dispassionate about their own teams, and that's why we have a recusal policy."
But they can act professional.
Bad form
Five-time major winner Phil Mickelson is a favorite of fans and media.
But Golf Channel insiders believe Mickelson blundered when he withdrew from the BMW Championship at Cherry Hills after shooting a 6-over 76 in Friday's second round.
Mickelson, 44, wasn't thrilled about participating in the third round of PGA Tour playoffs, an event he needed to play in to have any chance of qualifying for the Tour Championship and a fourth consecutive week of golf.
The second-round 76 made up his mind, virtually eliminating him from any chance of making the top 30 in FedEx points, but he waited until Saturday morning to leave Denver, leaving behind a message that he wanted to prepare for the Ryder Cup, Sept. 25-28 in Perthsire, Scotland.
That didn't sit well with Randall Mell of golfchannel.com.
"Yes, Mickelson is running out of gas, as his Friday struggle to a 76 further suggest, but this withdraw is poorly executed. Now he's sending all the wrong messages. He's quitting in the middle of the night.
"This withdrawal, though, was a bogey on his card as an ambassador of the game, a mistake. He'll be quickly forgiven quickly. He's earned that, but it's unfortunate one of his toughest years concludes this way."
Mell's colleague at golfchannel.com, Jason Sobel, said much the same thing.
"On the scale of poor form, this ranks somewhere between societal faux pas and unlawful surrender. Over the past two decades, no player has better understood the business of building a brand and protecting an image. By fleeing like the old Baltimore Colts in their Mayflower trucks (do they make private jets, too?), Mickelson undoubtedly knows he triple-bogeyed this latest public relations test."
Headlines
• From the satirical website, fark.com on the NCAA's decision to lift Penn State's bowl ban. "NCAA decides Penn State has suffered enough. Well, the NCAA's income has, anyways."
Sports quiz
How many seasons did Pat Haden play in the NFL?
Answer: 6, 1976-1981
Sports on 09/09/2014