Remember back when there were all these rumors that Jim Mora would become the coach of the Huskies, and people said that Mora was perpetuating the madness because he hadn’t released a statement flatly denying any interest in the job?

So, on Halloween, Mora released this statement:

“I am not a candidate for the University of Washington coaching vacancy. I wish the university well with their search and the program nothing but sustained success in the future.”

As Bob Condotta wrote at the time: “I think it should now put to bed any question of Mora being a candidate for this job at any time.”

Well guess what? Said question has not been put to bed. In fact, said question is standing outside its girlfriend’s apartment, drunk as shit, belting out “Everything I Do (I Do It For You).”

Wrote Frank Hughes at 8pm last night: “I myself have gotten a flurry of emails informing me that Mora would be announced in the next 24 hours; that Paul Allen and Scott Woodward have sat down to discuss the issue; that Mora is definitely going to be the Huskies’ next coach and it will be announced any moment.”

I wish Mora had just stuck with his original stance, which was to not say anything. As we have seen, the rumors were going to persist no matter what, his statement had absolutely no effect on them.

And you never know how circumstances will change. What if Matt Hasselbeck’s back injury was a career-ender? What if Lofa Tatupu ripped up a knee? What if the 49ers landed a half-decent quarterback? Might that change your calculations if you were Mora? Maybe you would want to revisit the Huskies job — but you can’t, not without looking like a Bobby Petrino.

Hopefully Mora’s situation will put an end to the ridiculous practice of people issuing statements to disavow events that haven’t even happened.

The public has a right to know who a state institution interviews for a job, and I think we have a right to know who our favorite NFL team interviews.

But we have absolutely no right to learn the private decisions of another person. Whether Jim Mora does or doesn’t want to be the coach of Washington isn’t and never has been any of our business, and Mora erred by making it so.

As Hughes correctly points out: “The rumors will continue in earnest until UW hires a head coach — whether that is Mora or somebody else.”

Here’s what’s been bouncing through my mind — let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Jim Mora is the greatest coach of all-time, that he’s almost assured of turning whichever team he helms into a destiny. If you’re both a Huskies and Seahawks fan, which team would you rather have him coach?