A lot of basketball coaches love chewing gum. Some of my fondest memories from college involve Jim Calhoun aggressively chewing on a piece of gum in an attempt to stop himself from chewing out a UConn player. Apparently Indiana coach Tom Crean is also a gum-chewer. In fact, chewing gum during games is so important to him that he’s willing to pop a piece in his mouth after dropping it on the floor.
As you can see in the clip above from SportsCenter’s “Not Top 10” on Friday morning, Crean accidentally fumbled a fresh piece of gum onto the court during Indiana’s 99-45 win over Sam Houston State Thursday night and adhered to the five-second rule. After catching a ton of flack, he tried to explain himself on Twitter.
“The gum I dropped tonight was a fresh piece of Dentyne Ice,” Crean wrote. “No 5 second rule was in effect. Now, even if it was used, it wouldn’t matter. Branch McCracken Court at ASSEMBLY HALL is the cleanest and greatest court around.”
Listen Tom, I ain’t mad at ya. Truth be told I would have done the same thing — especially with a fresh piece of gum that was dry as a bone. But since when does the five-second rule only apply to chewed food? The gum hit the floor, the five-second rule went into effect and you picked it up well within the five-second grace period. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.
Chest bump to The Dagger
