Sports Commentary: Pinkel defending a friend

Coach should have stayed quiet on Paterno

Most coaches, football in particular, are pretty good at knowing when to talk, when not to talk, and when to break into the old "coach speak.'

In the time I've spend with Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel, he often falls into the third category. He's usually cautious about answering a lot of questions and normally dances his way around some of the tougher ones.

But when approached last week at the SEC media days about the situation at Penn State, instead of sidestepping the question like other coaches did, he decided to give his two cents worth, which turned into about two dollars.