Between Scott Linehan and Lane Kiffin, we’ve learned just how rare it is for a coach to get fired during the middle of the season. But before a team plays it’s inaugural game as a program? Ave Maria University men’s basketball coach Ricky Benitez was axed by the school last week, about a month before the team’s first-ever game.

His sin? According to the NAPLES (FL) DAILY NEWS, he was originally fired for excessive swearing. (Someone tell Sam Mitchell, quick.) But the paper is now reporting that two big pieces of his resume - his time playing for the Puerto Rican National Team and his work as an NBA scout - have come into question. What is it about Catholic universities and coaches who allegedly fudge their resumes?

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Doug Smith of the TORONTO STAR has Toronto Raptors Coach Sam Mitchell dreaming the impossible dream this season. No, he isn’t imagining an NBA title north of the border.

(Funny, Sam didn’t mention obscene gestures in his pledge…)

Instead, Mitchell says he is going to go the entire season without cursing.

In a never-ending quest for self-improvement, Sam Mitchell swears that he will swear no more and points to two months of profanity-free living as proof. Those, however, were two summer months with spent mainly with his wife and four daughters; a much sterner test of his willpower comes with the onset of the NBA season and the Raptor coach knows it.

“Now, I haven’t had Kris Humphries on the court yet, I haven’t had Jamario (Moon) yet, Those are going to be my tests.“

FOUR DAUGHTERS? Don’t sell yourself short, Sam.

The best part of this story though of course is the widely-circulated photo Mitchell is pictured in above.
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Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell says he wouldn’t be afraid to sing the Canadian national anthem - if the money was right.

The TORONTO SUN reports that Mitchell would be willing to belt out “O Canada” before a Raptors game, but he would want a performance fee of $25,000. However, he’s not being as greedy as he sounds: Read more…