Classic heel turns

CRUNCH TIME

Last week, I had flashbacks to July 7, 1996, and April 7-14, 2003.

What triggered these flashbacks? Jim Schlossnagle and the University of Texas.

Last Tuesday - June 25, 2024 to be exact - will be a day of infamy for Texas A&M and its arch rival Texas. That’s because Schlossnagle, the baseball coach at A&M, took the same job at Texas.

How does this relate to the aforementioned dates. The first one - July 7, 1996 - marked one of the darkest days in the lives of professional wrestling fans.

That was the night that Hulk Hogan turned heel or became a “bad guy.” Anyone who watched wrestling in the 1980s or early 1990s remembers Hogan as the face - no pun intended - of wrestling.

The second timeframe - April 7-14, 2003 - was a week of uncertainty for then-Kansas men’s basketball coach Roy Williams as well as the Kansas and North Carolina men’s basketball teams. On April 7, Kansas lost to Syracuse in the national championship game.

Just minutes after the loss, CBS reporter Leslie Visser asked Williams about the coaching vacancy at North Carolina - his alma mater. Mind you, Williams and his Jayhawks just lost the national championship game.

After expressing that the question was insensitive at the moment, Williams went on to say that he could give a (expletive) about North Carolina right now, and he capped the interview by saying that he had 13 players in the locker room who he loved. A week later - April 14 - Williams accepts the job at North Carolina.

Just as Hogan turning heel upset many wrestling fans and Williams taking the North Carolina job upset many Kansas fans, Schlossnagle jumping ship from A&M to Texas upset many Aggies. In some ways, Schlossnagle’s exit is similar to Williams’ exit, and in others, it’s similar to Hogan’s heel turn.

Like Williams, Schlossnagle’s Aggies lost in the championship. After winning the opener of the bestof- three national championship series, A&M lost the last two to Tennessee.

Following the Game Three loss, a reporter asked Schlossnagle about the opening at Texas. He scolded the reporter for asking a “selfish question” and proceeded to say that he “left his family to be the coach at Texas A&M.”

Schlossnagle went on to say that he “took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job again, and that hasn’t changed his mind.” less than 24 hours later, he accepts the job at Texas.

Schlossnagle tried to downplay the question much like Williams did. The difference is Williams never said that he was staying at Kansas, while Schlossnagle stating that he went to A&M to never take another job again essentially gave people the impression that he was going to stay.

Williams said “no comment,” while Schlossnagle said “no way.” He would’ve been better off saying something along the lines of, “I prefer to focus on the game and my team.”

By saying something that gave the impression that he was going to stay then a day later jumping ship to another team, Schlossnagle looked more like Hogan than Williams. Fittingly, this Sunday will be the 28th anniversary of WCW’s Bash at the Beach pay-perview event when Hogan turned heel.

If A&M is WCW in this situation, then Texas is the NWO (New World Order). The main event at Bash at the Beach featured wrestlers from WCW (Sting, Lex Luger and Randy Savage) in a six-man tag team match against the Outsiders (recent WWF defectors Scott Hall and Kevin Nash and a mystery partner).

Hall and Nash, who challenged WCW President Eric Bischoff to a match against three of their best wrestlers, entered the ring without the mystery partner. This gave Team WCW a 3-on-2 advantage until Luger was kayfabe (pretend) injured and carted off on a stretcher.

Down to an even 2-on-2, the match resumed for another 15-20 minutes before the crowd erupted to Hogan walking down the aisle to the ring. Almost everyone in the arena assumed that Hogan was going to save the day for Sting and Savage.

Hogan rips his tank top and stares at Hall and Nash, who rolled out of the ring as he walked in. Then, Hogan shocks the crowd by delivering a trio of leg drops to Savage, who was down on the mat.

Sting then pulls Savage out of the ring as Hogan celebrates with Hall and Nash. Fans threw debris at the trio, and the NWO faction was born.

For the next 2-3 years, the NWO - made up primarily of former WWF wrestlers who left the company for WCW - was a stable in the company. This gave wrestling fans the dream matches they always wanted - Sting vs. Hogan, Luger vs. Hall, Hogan vs. Ric Flair, Savage vs. Flair, Luger vs. Nash, etc.

Granted, professional wrestling storylines are scripted. Hogan can’t be to blame for turning heel because it was part of his contract.

As a Kansas fan, I was not upset when Williams left for North Carolina. He was a UNC alumnus and he began his coaching career there.

Schlossnagle can’t really be to blame for leaving A&M for Texas either. He had an opportunity to make more money and reunite with Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte, whom he worked with at TCU.

Also, Schlossnagle didn’t attend A&M or Texas. He has no allegiances to either school.

But, if you’re going to take a new job and you’re asked about it on the record, just say “no comment” or “I’ll address this another time.” Don’t say something that gives people the impression that you’re staying at your current school.

That not only makes you look like a fraud, that makes you look more like a heel than a coach. It could also lead to more flashbacks in the future.

Jason Chlapek is the general manager of the Fairfield Recorder. He can be reached at editor@fairfield-recorder. com.