By JOHN MOOREHOUSE
Another Heisman Trophy ceremony is in the books, but even though he didn’t win the award, Diego Pavia successfully hijacked the attention during Heisman weekend with his antics on social media.
Pavia apologized on Monday morning for the social media posts.
Not to go all “inside baseball” with the audience, but one benefit of a website like this — especially one just starting — is that there are very few hard and fast rules when it comes to deadlines. So, even though I would have rather not spent most of Monday going to appointments and driving, it gave me time to reflect and marinate on the whole Pavia story. Sunday, when I saw the posts, I was set to torch him for his last antics. Even before the Heisman weekend, Pavia had proven himself to be a “cocky cuss”, as my Uncle Bill used to say. The thing about Pavia is, he got pretty good at backing up his bold claims, which is why Vanderbilt went 10-2 this season and seems poised for an unprecedented period of relevance in football for the Commodores.
So yeah, Pavia comes off as a jerk. He’s also 23 years old. I’m sure we all know people who were insufferable at that age — who thought they knew everything about everything, that they were poised for greatness, yada yada.
More than anything, the Heisman weekend posts by Pavia make him another example of the epidemic that’s been plaguing the sports world as of late.
An epidemic of sore losers.
They’ve always been around but they’re more prevalent than ever. I say that with confidence as someone who’s been involved with sports writing in some capacity for almost 30 years.
It’s Dan Hurley — also a rather well-known notorious grump — ripping the officiating as he walked off the floor following Florida’s loss to UCONN in the NCAA Tournament this past spring.
It’s Notre Dame deciding to skip bowl season after getting snubbed from the College Football Playoff.
It’s Bill Belichick and his history of frosty postgame handshakes.
I’ve seen it in my time covering Virginia Tech and Tennessee athletics. I still see it — now more than ever — at the high school level.
Coaches avoiding, skipping, or outright declining the customary postgame interview.
Athletes bypassing the postgame handshake line: sometimes to pout, or one time even throwing a full-on temper tantrum after the result went against them.
Parents and fans who fashion X-Files level conspiracies to explain their team’s woes.
Social media gives everyone a direct outlet: coaches, players, staff, and fans. After every Southeastern Conference football Saturday, you can find clips online breaking down that missed holding call on the game-winning touchdown frame by frame.
It’s a mindset that “if I win, I beat you, but if I lose, you cheated.” Sore losers think that they deserve every win, but if the results go against them, someone else was the culprit. The other team benefited from a no-call. The referees screwed them.
And on and on it goes.
Pavia won’t be the last sore loser in sports. He’s just the latest. Because it’s a trend that shows no signs of stopping.