Cut the sanctimony

Hey, I love Pater King's MMQB column, but I gotta call him on this little sequence..

Two weeks ago, I reported on NBC that I gave Saban two chances to say he would be back with the Dolphins in 2007 and not take a college job, and he wouldn't say he'd definitely be back. I thought it was news. NBC thought it was news. We aired it.

followed by...

Deep Coach answered the question the way I wish all of them would.

"Sorry I can't help you,'' he said. "I just don't talk about my contract. Ever.''

Great! Don't lie, don't tell. That should be the policy of every coach.

The hell you do, Peter. Otherwise, you wouldn't ask. Otherwise, you wouldn't have called it "news" when Saban did pretty much exactly what you're proposing.

And King isn't the only one on a high horse.

Look, I know Saban "lied." Lying isn't good.

And isn't it possible that when Saban made those commitments he hadn't imagined an offer like the one he received? And he's supposed to leave that on the table because he had told some sportswriters otherwise? Do you think that if any of them were offered a record contract to jump ship, they wouln't do it, regardless of what they might have said earlier?

But exactly who was hurt by this lie? He took the job in the first week of the offseason, giving the Dolphins as much time as possible to adjust. It's not like he had recruited players under the assumption he would be their coach.

No, Saban just made a few sportswriters look bad, and they're taking their revenge. And it's ugly.