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The most unstable profession
By Mark Kreidler
Special to Page 2

The college basketball coaching fraternity can sleep: Rick Pitino and Bob Knight have finally decided whose soon-to-be-former-head-coaches jobs they coveted most. All those university presidents and athletic directors who were planning to whack their hoops leaders to make room for the Legends of the Fall, at ease.


	Sooner or later, Duke will tire of Mike Krzyzewski's predictability.

But with the Final Four now mere days away, it's never too early to begin planning for next year. And it's time to think big. The world of the NCAA already has established that, depending upon the situation, the issue doesn't necessarily have to boil down to (a) winning, (b) graduating players, (c) the occasional verbal abuse or (d) a well-timed manual contraction of the windpipe of a young scholar-athlete now and again, just to remind these fellows who's in charge.

No, what college firings really hinge on, these days, is who feels the crankiest when he gets up in the morning. For that reason alone, we feel compelled to present our At-Risk List for Fall 2001 and beyond.

1. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
Isn't it annoying? The constant politeness? The thoughtful replies to relatively inane sportswriterly questions? The whole "game in perspective" thing? My heavens, how much more of this can Blue Devils fans be subjected to? And the winning -- the constant, grinding, saw-it-coming-from-two-time-zones-away winning. You think these people aren't ready for a little North Carolina-like uncertainty in their lives?

2. Steve Lavin, UCLA
Already wears a frowny-face patch on his shirt that reads, "My school Courted Rick Pitino and All I Got Was This K-Mart Memorabilia!" And, look, there's just no way that Bruins fans are going to stand for four Sweet 16 appearances in five years. Why, just the other day on sports-talk radio, a caller said, "There's no toughness there! There's no resilience there! There's no heart there! There is no there there!"

He was talking about the Dodgers, of course, but you understand the point.

3. Steve Alford, Iowa
Because there is simply no way that this fine institution can tolerate a man openly campaigning for the Indiana top job. Wait: Alford didn't campaign? He actively sought to squelch the conversation entirely? He grew irritated and then angry that people even sought to raise the issue? That settles it: The man was practically begging for an interview.

4. Mike Davis, Indiana
Outpublicized in his home state by some guy taking over a program in Tumbleweed, Texas. And when was the last time he threw something?

5. Mike Montgomery, Stanford
Held personally responsible for the university's chronic inability to find a better mascot than The Tree. Come on, you've got kids scoring 1601 on their SATs! Get after it!

6. Bob Huggins, Cincinnati
If Kenyon Martin is coached properly, no way does he break his leg twice in two years.

7. Lute Olson, Arizona
Shoot, anybody can recruit to Tucson.

8. Larry Eustachy, Iowa State
Shoot, anybody can recruit to Ames.

9. Lon Kruger, Atlanta Hawks
Never should have left Illinois for the trouble he's finding down South. Hereby reinstated to Illini program. Then fired.

10. Pete Carril, Princeton
Apparently intent on spinning that backdoor play out into infinity, with each new Tigers team just a bizarre reincarnation of the one before it: Patient, plodding, methodical, plodding, defensive, plodding ... You say Carril's been gone from the campus for six years? Have you seen Princeton play lately?

Prove it.

Mark Kreidler, a columnist for the Sacramento Bee, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com and Page 2.

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