Isiah Thomas Can't Even Lose Properly

You'd think that someone with as rich and variegated a history of failure as Isiah Thomas would have the etiquette of losing down pat. But we are speaking of Isiah Thomas here. The man is a failure even at failure.

His Florida International team got blown out of Tulsa yesterday, losing 81-49 to the Golden Hurricane, its third double-digit loss in three games. But the story, as always, was Isiah. Midway through the second half, it seems, Thomas gestured testily toward Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik in what I assume was standard coaching semaphore for, "Pull your goddamn starters; a few more blowouts like this, and I'll never get that DePaul job." Minutes later, according to the Associated Press, he began yelling at Wojcik. Wojcik merely shrugged.

"It's a 40-minute game. If you want the truth of it, go back to the (North) Carolina game Monday night, when Carolina was pressing them with 3 minutes left," Wojcik said, referring to FIU's 88-72 loss at North Carolina. "I don't press, and I don't embarrass anybody. But it's a 40-minute game, and I'm in this game to get better.

"I've never seen anything like that. It was very bizarre."

If there's a better epitaph for Isiah Thomas' post-playing career, I've yet to hear it.

Tulsa's Doug Wojcik at odds with Florida International's Isiah Thomas [AP]