Yes, the team lost. The players were disheartened that they were so close to having a shot to play in the Rose Bowl — so close for the second year in a row, and they fell flat when everything was on the line. However, that doesn’t give players the right to be a sore loser.
When reporters were doing their job, when they were asking the players what went wrong in the game, Joe Williams decided to pull a Marshawn Lynch. He decided to be rude, somewhat arrogant, and most of all disrespectful.
Williams decided to respond with the word “Colorado,” to every question asked. He interrupted reporters’ questions when they had only gotten half way through to say, “Colorado.” But guess what? Just because you couldn’t do your job and win the game doesn’t mean Williams should be preventing the reporters, journalists and writers from doing their job.
It is much easier to cover a winning team. There are better storylines, and yes, the players and coaches are more open and willing to talk. I am not saying that Williams needed to give elaborate answers. He was clearly upset about the loss. I would have been upset if I was in his position. What I am saying is that he needed to listen, and he needed to answer the questions, even if it was just going to be a short five word sentence. Granted that still would have been frustrating to deal with, but I would have accepted that.
Plenty of times when I interview people they say something along the lines of, “Sorry if I was going on for too long.” Don’t be sorry. You’re making my job easier. I prefer to have too much information rather than not enough where I am struggling to piece together a story. I am able to make most anything work for a story. But when Williams decides that he is going to stick with one word, and occasionally string together a sentence like when he said, “We’re moving on to Colorado,” I can’t really work with that.
I am not writing this to condemn Williams’ play on the field. Since returning from retirement he has continued to have games where he rushes for more than 100 yards. And against UCLA he set the school record for the most rushing yards in a single game with 332 yards.
However, I am condemning his attitude after the game. He lost, so be it. Life goes on. But losing does not give Williams, or anyone else for that matter, to behave in the way he did, because he doesn’t feel like talking. Williams is the starting running back for a Pac-12 football team, it comes with the territory, and he is going to have to continue to field questions after a loss if he continues his football career. Don’t be a sore loser.
@kbrenneisen