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The race card once again has reared its ugly head. And like a 7-2 off suit in Texas Hold 'Em, it's the worst possible hand a sports fan can be dealt. I knew it would come flying out of the decks the moment Tyrone Willingham was fired by Notre Dame on Tuesday.

It didn't take long before Black Coaches Association executive director Floyd Keith told The Associated Press that Notre Dame's decision was a setback to the efforts of universities which were increasing their efforts to recruit minority candidates. "This action sends an alarming message to African-Americans who are pursuing coaching at the Division I-A level," Keith said. "It's still going to be tough."

No, it's an alarming message to all coaches, regardless of color, who are pursuing coaching jobs at the Division I-A level. Just ask Frank Solich and Ron Zook, who were fired from prestigious football programs at Nebraska and Florida, respectively, after posting winning records. Were they fired because they were white? No, they were dumped because their programs needed a change.

Willingham was fired because he wasn't the right man for the job at Notre Dame. He was 21-15 in three years at South Bend, but only 13-15 since he had his team wear those lucky green uniforms against Boston College in 2002. His teams also have been blown out by more than 30 points five times, including three straight 31-point drubbings to rival USC.

Notre Dame hopes that its next head coach, likely Utah head coach Urban Meyer, will do for its football programs what Bob Stoops and Pete Carroll did for Oklahoma and USC -- take a once-proud football powerhouse that's been dormant for years and make it a national championship contender. It's a thankless task, but as long as its happening at other schools, Golden Domers will expect nothing less from their new coach.

Willingham's firing has more to do with unreasonably high expectations than racism. If Willingham had won 10 games each season and taken the Irish to a couple of BCS bowl games, he would still have his job. The only thing black and white in the eyes of most sports fans is the win-loss column in their daily newspaper.

Regardless, college football needs take a harder look at its hiring practice when it comes to minority candidates. It's inexcusable that there now are only two black head coaches out of 117 I-A schools.

The only thing certain in this mess is that Notre Dame's next football coach, no matter what color his skin is, will need to significantly improve on Willingham's record if he wants to have a job in South Bend after three years.

Week Sauce

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Let's open up the bottle and pour out the week that was.

Friday -- The University of Missouri will spend approximately $30,000 erasing the name of Paige Laurie from its new arena, which was supposed to be named after the daughter of billionaires -- and Mizzou benefactors -- Bill and Nancy Laurie. Coincidentally, that's the about same amount of money Paige allegedly paid her roommate to help cheat her way through the University of Southern California.

Saturday -- Holding a 34-10 lead with 10 minutes remaining in their game against Notre Dame, USC head coach Pete Carroll runs a fake punt, justifying the call by saying the Trojans have been meaning to run the play for weeks. I suppose Carroll also had been meaning to have Matt Leinart throw another touchdown pass three minutes later.

Sunday -- The San Francisco 49ers survey their fans to try to better understand why they aren't showing up to their games. Their research isn't completed yet, but early indications are fans don't like wasting money watching the worst team in the NFL.

Monday -- Alfred Beardsley, a friend of O.J. Simpson's, is ordered by a Santa Monica judge to give up Simpson's press passes to the 1984 Olympics for possible sale to help pay the $33.5 million civil judgment Simpson still owes. I don't know how much press passes are going for these days, but I'd be willing to part with my Los Angeles Clippers press pass for a fraction of that price.

Tuesday -- Anna Benson, the wife of Mets pitcher Kris Benson, tells Howard Stern that if she ever caught her husband cheating, she would have sex with all his teammates. "I told him [Kris] -- because that's the biggest thing in athletics, they cheat all the time -- I told him, cheat on me all you want. If you get caught, I'm going to screw everybody on your entire team -- coaches, trainers, players. I would do everybody on his whole team." In a related story, the Mets have now become the most attractive destination for free-agent coaches, trainers and players.

Wednesday -- Butch Davis says he will not coach next season for various reasons, including the fact that he has been eating poorly and has gained 25 pounds since leaving the University of Miami. The sooner Davis realizes fans want his teams to look good, not his waistline, he may be able to get six wins before six-pack abs.

The Six-Pack

In honor of Barry Pepper, who played Roger Maris in 61* and will play Dale Earnhardt in ESPN's film 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story, our weekly six-pack is devoted to the Top Six Worst Casted Actors in Sports Films.

6. John Goodman, The Babe -- I know Babe Ruth was overweight, but Goodman overweight?

5. Kadeem Hardison, The Sixth Man -- Even without the flip glasses, try envisioning Dwayne Wayne from A Different World as the best basketball player in the nation.

4. Tom Sizemore, Hu$tle -- The next time someone tells Sizemore he looks like Pete Rose, let alone a baseball player, will be the first.

3. Matt LeBlanc, Ed -- It's hard to decide who was a lousier baseball player in this forgettable flick, the chimp or LeBlanc.

2. Tommy Lee Jones, Cobb -- I bet if you searched in every "warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse" you would find at least a dozen actors who look more like Ty Cobb.

1. Brian Dennehy, Season on the Brink - Can anyone spot a single similarity between Dennehy and Bobby Knight? They might as well have cast Danny DeVito for the role.

The Last Word

It's hard to imagine anyone having a worst Thanksgiving than I did. Watered down cafeteria fare with unfamiliar faces at the Staples Center media lounge, followed by a terrible new Thanksgiving tradition: the New Jersey Nets playing the Los Angeles Clippers (they've played on four straight Turkey days now). It almost made me wish I were at Texas Stadium for that deplorable Chicago Bears-Dallas Cowboys game. Almost.