Sidelines
Speculation should
simply be ignoredIT'S downright vexing, all this speculation surrounding June Jones. Don't people know he already has a job? Don't people know he's not going anywhere? Don't they know his special feelings for Hawaii? He's said it enough. Over and over and over again. What more does a man have to do?
You'd think people would get the message.
June Jones isn't going anywhere. I know. I heard him on the radio yesterday, setting the record straight on this mess once and for all, again. And let me tell you, it was a relief.
"I would never leave at this point," he said, at one point.
There, there you go.
End of story.
Of course, earlier this week The Oregonian had him saying, "you never say never."
But that's just good general advice. That's just a good motto to have in life. That shouldn't be taken to mean that he's open to other offers. That doesn't mean he wants his name connected to Oregon State. Or Georgia Tech. Or whomever.
That shouldn't panic Hawaii fans or put pressure on the UH administration in contract negotiations or anything.
And yet his name gets on these lists, and he's a candidate.
I don't know how any of this stuff gets started.
June Jones certainly doesn't know how any of this stuff gets started.
Like that 49ers mess earlier this week. How ridiculous! Never happened. Not true. It's amazing how they come up with this stuff. They must be making it up.
"A source said Jones was interested in the job, and the 49ers were interested in him," it said in Tuesday's San Francisco Chronicle.
What scurrilous so-called "source" would say that? Reporters should be more careful about nefarious characters willing to spread such untruths.
A few paragraphs later, Jones' agent clarified things by saying, "I can't anticipate what might come out of those discussions (with the 49ers)."
Now, you might take that statement to mean that when he said "those discussions" it confirms that there actually were discussions, that "those discussions" actually took place, that Jones was talking to a pro team about a job opening. I know I did when I first read it.
But that couldn't have been right.
Especially when you consider that when the agent would have been talking to the press about Jones being a candidate, someone else was being offered the job as he spoke.
Maybe he meant it in the abstract, like, "I can't anticipate what might come out of it if there were discussions with the 49ers."
And then people always seem to jump to the wrong conclusion when it comes to Jones' possible interest in and availability for other jobs, despite his constant refrain that UH is where he wants to be.
Every year at contract time, his name is on these lists. Luckily, the coach always sets us straight.
So here is what I'll do the next time I hear that Jones is a "candidate" for some other job.
Ignore it.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com