By TERRY NAU

Sports editor

Some things I think I think:
The irony behind Tim Welsh’s dismissal as Providence College basketball coach is the school fired just the type of person it strives to produce on campus – someone with dignity, humility and a respect for his fellow man.

Welsh didn’t really fail at his job over the past 10 years. Even his last team played hard until the final seconds of the farewell game had elapsed. I’ve seen coaches who deserved to be fired because their players quit on them halfway through the season. That didn’t happen with Welsh.
Maybe it was just time for a change, after 10 years on the job. That’s a lifetime in big-time college sports, where coaches come and go, taking bigger jobs at the first opportunity. Welsh turned down a few offers, the first time in two decades that a PC coach had shown any desire to stick around.
Here’s the dirty truth about this business: PC’s administration didn’t want to fire Welsh one year before his contract ran out. The alumni who support the athletic program with cash donations every year wanted him gone.
And when a coach loses the support of influential alumni, that’s far worse than having players tuning him out.
The only way PC gets better is to hire a bright young coach who can win a few recruiting battles for blue-chip players. And maybe the school has to look the other way when it comes to admission standards for certain prospective student-athletes. That’s the unfortunate truth about winning in highly competitive college sports like football and basketball. Just bend the rules a little bit. All the Top 10 schools do it. The alumni love it, too.
Of course, then PC could be accused of lowering its standards. After firing a decent human being as coach, though, one would suggest that has already happened.
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The armchair critics are also asking questions about University of Rhode Island coach Jim Baron because the Rams lost their winning formula in the second half of the season, falling from the Top 25 all the way down to the NIT.
To criticize Jim Baron for the Rams’ slump is to completely misunderstand the meaning of college sports. Like Welsh, this is a man with excellent family values, a solid coach who has found some success at a college that can hardly expect to compete with big-time schools, even in its own conference, when it comes to location, facilities, and support from alumni or students. Compare the atmosphere at a URI game to what we see at Dayton, Xavier, Temple or St. Joe’s, schools located in cities where basketball reigns supreme.
It’s difficult for some folks to understand, especially the ones that only look at wins and losses, but many college teams succeed even if they miss the NCAA Tournament. If the players never give up, and they maintain their academic standing, what’s wrong with that?
Thirty years ago, I might have been in the other camp on this issue. As you get older, though, different things become important. I’m happy Tim Welsh coached PC, even if the alumni aren’t. Same with Jim Baron at URI. They are two good guys doing the best job they can at schools that can’t be expected to compete at the highest levels of the sport. Welsh is gone now. Jim Baron should stay as long as he wants.
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The Red Sox are heading to Japan on Wednesday. Well, at least most of them are. Josh Beckett won’t be going as the team tries to protect his aching back. Coco Crisp may not be on the plane either. He’s got a groin issue aggravated by a bad attitude. Manager Terry Francona wants to take Crisp along. It will be interesting to see if Coco makes the trip.
With Curt Schilling out for at least half the season, the Sox are hoping Bartolo Colon can work his way into the starting pitching rotation. When the season starts on March 25 in Japan, Boston’s rotation shapes up this way: Dice-K, Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, Clay Buchholz and then the No. 5 starter – whomever that may be.
Beckett should be ready by early April. Still, the Sox must monitor Buchholz’s innings limit for the season, making sure he doesn’t go over the dreaded “Plus-30” barrier developed by a sports writer named Tom Verducci. Buchholz pitched a total of 148 innings for Portland, Pawtucket and Boston last season so his limit will be set in the neighborhood of 178 innings.
The Yankees have the same problem with their three young pitchers – Phil Hughes (176 limit this year), Joba Chamberlain (140) and Ian Kennedy (175). That’s a bit trickier to deal with, having two probable rotation starters who must miss five starts during the season to keep within their innings limits. Injuries or off-days can take care of that, especially for Kennedy, who figures to be the Yankees’ No. 5 starter. Joba’s innings will be managed by keeping him in the bullpen for the first part of the season.
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Speaking of baseball, our best wishes go out to Woonsocket native Rocco Baldelli, currently sidelined with a fatigue issue. Nobody’s faith has been tested more than Rocco’s when it comes to baseball misfortunes over the past few years. His employers, the Tampa Bay Rays, have put Baldelli in the hands of the best doctors available. Now it is a waiting game, as the doctors try to determine a solution to Rocco’s ailment.
It would be great to see Rocco back on the field sometime this summer. But if it doesn’t work out, it’s still important to remember that he’s young and has a wonderful life in front of him. He’s got family and friends who love him and a lot of people in the Blackstone Valley who think about him every day.