Sunday, February 18, 2007
The Vault
I know, I know. It has been a while. First my computer caught a virus and I was without if for a few weeks and I cannot update my blog from my workplace computer. Plus I was really swamped with other stuff. But here is a late edition of The Vault, I know some of the stories are old but here they are:
1. Bill Parcells calls it quits. I did not know how to react but at least this was not dragged out until the Super Bowl week. Parcells said he could not do the game mentally anymore and could not endure another season of this. Well, I wonder how much easier the decision would have been if a certain number 81 was not on the team? I don't know if TO was the reason but it did not make it easier for him to stay. Parcells has too much in him to let one player dictate whether or not he could stay but the grind all together of running a football team, much less the Dallas Cowboys and the added distractions of TO wore on him and he just probably said to himself "do I really want to go through this again?" I guess the answer was no.
2. What to make of the Parcells legacyin Dallas? He had a 34-32 record two playoff appearance with no division titles and the same amount of playoff wins as Chan Gailey and Dave Campo. Heck, Barry Switzer had more division titles, playoff wins, and a Super bowl victory. Chan Gailey even had 1 division title. So from a standpoint, you have to say it was a failure because the main goal, a Super Bowl was not accomplished. When Parcells arrived, the bar was set. Anything less than a Super Bowl was going to be a disappointment. And it is. Parcells does leave the Cowboys in better shape than Dave Campo did when he left. There is some direction and foundation placed that was not their when Parcells arrived. So the next coach(more on that below) will not have much difficulty in getting the Cowboys going in a different move.
3. Now on the new coach, Wade Philips, the son of the Bum. I think it was a good hire. He had Texas roots, so he knows the importance of football in the region. He also has 5 years of head coaching experience with the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills plus interim stops at New Orleans and Atlanta. His record is 45-38 record with the Broncos and Bills. He has experience with the 3-4 defense, which will help especially with the development of DeMarcus Ware as a pass rusher, much like Phillips helped with the development with Shawn Merriman, minus the performance enhancers. So in all it is a logical choice and with all the candidates interviwed, Norv Turner, Mike Singletary, Ron Rivera, I do not think you could have gone wrong. The important thing is to see how Phillips will hand Jerry Jones antics, TO's anctics, the development of Tony Romo, and the get the defense playing on a stellar level.
4. Did you see Jerry Jones get all choked up at the hiring of the press conference? First I thought jokingly thought he was thinking "What have I done!?" Now I think maybe he is thinking, "My God, I am in charge again!". Which is what I have been dreading from the start of the hiring process. Now that Parcells, is gone, Jones wants to be the man again. I know he is the owner of the team. He should have the right to run his franchise the way he wants to. But will it kill him to lay back and let the coach have some control or say in the acquistion of players and the hiring of coaches. Be honest, has Parcells being the coach really put Jones out of the spotlight? Did we really see less of him in the last four seasons? So if Parcells being in control does not let Jones get away from the spotlight, then why not jsut keep it going? I mean he had his best success when Jimmy Johnson was the coach, and it is safe to say Jones was not in the background. So Jerry, it will not kill you to let Wade run the team. You still will get to do your anctics and sign players you crave (TO, Eddie George, Drew Henson, Peerless Price) and still share the spotlight with the coach. If that is not what you want, than just coach the team yourself, because these will be your players and coaches and you had better win with them. It is not good that AL Davis is your role model. Look where that got Al.
5. 81. The number makes me tremble in fear. I have my thoughts known about this guy. Dump him. I know we have no depth at receiver wven with the guy, but the bad clearly outweighs the good. I am a coach in real life and I have a couple of students who are good athletes but they are jerks. And guess who their role model is? It sickens me when they say it. I mean this is stupid. I know TO made the first call in reaching out to his new head coach and that surprised me considering what Randy Moss did when his head coach tried to reach out to him. So maybe it will work. Sorry, temporary insanity moment. It will never work. I mean look at how TO responded when PArcells left. He just could not wait to unleash all hell on what he thought of Parcells. And saying the offense did not do a good job of using him. Well he caught the most passes since Michael Irvin, he had over 10 touchdowns and over 1,000 yards and considering you played for conservative PArcells, that is a lot. Of course if you count all the drops, he could have had over 100 cathches. But I know, those are not his fault. Cowboys, dump him. Jerry, are you afraid by dumping him you are admitting to a mistake? Well, you had no trouble admitting when you fired coaches you hired or letting go of a Mike Vanderjagt for being a mental case. So what is one more? You're afraid we will think less of your football IQ? Don't worry Jerry. We know you have no football IQ already, so what is the harm. Sign a Donte Stallworth through free agency or trade a draft pick for Larry Fitgerald is my solution.
6. Tony Romo is going to be a big deal in the offseason. Much was made on the hiring of Jason Garrett as offensice coordiantor, even with only having 2 years of experience as an assistant and none as a coordinator. There was also rumor that Norv Turner would be hired as the head coach so he and Garrett would groom Romo together. Well I was thinking if it was so important to get the right coach to tutor Romo, why was it not important when PArcells was here. Granted Parcells is a Hall of Fame coach but he is no QB genius. His best QB, Phil Simms is not in the HAll and his second best, Bledsoe has been replacet twice in hsi career. No one seem concerend when that staff was in place so why is it such a big deal. Norv Turner was not know by media when he was hired as the Cowboys off. coordinator in '91. But he was widely know in the coaching ranks. The Same has been with Garrett. Apparently a lot has been made of him as an assistant, and was mentioned by other head coaching candidates interviewing for other teams as possibly joing their staff as a coordinator. So there is obviously something special here. We will not know until the seaons starts but lets see how Romo respnds to this. I mean I hope he is still over the missed FG hold, I mean it was not his specialty, and I think the Cowboys should find someone else for that role this season. Romo's development will be a huge headline which I think it much ado about nothing really if you ask me. He will be fine. I mean it is not like hiring Tom Walsh, who had been running a bed & breakfast for ten years before being hired as off. coordiantor for the Raiders. And all this talk about Phillips not being an offensive-minded guy and that it will not benefit Romo is stupid. Remember a QB named Elway? Phillips was his coach for two seasons and Elway had some of his best statistcial years under Phillips after years of being held on a leah by Dan Reeves. So I am sure Wade knows a little about QBs.
7. The defense needs to improve. One of the complaints about the defense last year was that they were being held back by Parcells. When the players and assistants felt they needed to be more aggressive, PArcells played it conservative. Phillips is known for blitzing a lot on his 3-4. By getting a pass rush going by someone else not named Demarcus Ware, this will allow the secondary to play a better level. The reason the Secondary got lit up last year could have been due to the defenses' lack of a psss rush and the ability for the QB to have time to see the field and receivers having time to adjust their route and get open. So the secondary might not be as bad as advertised.
8. All together though the offseason is going to be a roller coaster and lets just hope this brings the Lombardi Trophy back to big D sometime soon.
9. Upside. Michael Irvin gets into the Hall of Fame. I have felt because of how he played on the field he should be in. I mean how many times do you hear people say that a team needs a tough receiver willing to go over the middle like a Micahel Irvin? A lot. He redefined the postition, unlike another Hall of Fame candidate, Art Monk, who I do not hear anyone say that he needs to be like an Art Monk. You also had coaches scheming and making gameplans to try to stop Irvin. You do not hear of people trying to figure out how to stop an offensive linemen no matter how good he is. But those are other debates. Irvin getting in is over due.
10. I feel Irvin should be a Hall of Famer, no doubt, but I have always felt that Irvin should be let go from his job as analyst on ESPN NFL Countdown. I have said he does not work as hard as his peers on the show, usually is not neutral on issues (TO), usually is hard to understand his analysis on the show, and always seemed to be kind of in his own world when he was on the air (too much crack?). Anyway, the voices at ESPN have heard the cries from The Mansion, and have responded by a report saying that ESPN did not renew Irvin's contract for the upcoming season. Bill PArcells is listed as a possible replacement. All I can say is, good going ESPN. Irvin, you are a Hall of Famer, a great Dallas Cowboy and will also have a special place in my heart for that but there was no place for you on that show. Did you hear that? Those were Tom Jackson's tears of joy as heard the announcement. Michael, your, ahem, professional behavior is more suited for the Best Damn Sports Show Period. Oh wait, they already let you go from that didn' they?
11. Well the Super Bowl was a dud but hey it is a great day to watch football. But for once, I wish it would live up to the hype. I mean it does on occasion, PAtriots-Panthers, Patriots-Rams, Rams-Titans all come to mind but for all the glamour and stuff, it was a boring game and week.
12. The Super Bowl could not have gone to a better coach or nicer guy than Tony Dungy. If either of these coaches had won, I would not have been upset but considering what has happened to Dungy in the past, I was rooting for him. And the fact that even though this was the first Super Bowl matchup with 2 black head coaches and the first to have even one was kind of an afterthought which is what it should be. I mean the fact that it does not have to be brought up or maybe it not the major storyline says a lot. We have come a long way but their is till work to be done on the hiring of black head coahes.
13. So Peyton Manning is off the hook. He does not have to worry about that moneky on his back anymore. Or does he? Think about this for a minute. MAnning is still young and so is his counterpart, Tom Brady. Suppose Brady goes on and wins 2 or 3 more Super Bowls in hsi career and MAnning does not win another one and Brady gets to the game at teh expense of MAnning. Then what do we think of Manning's legacy. There is no question Manning will be a Hall of Fame QB even without the Super Bowl he will break Brett Favre's records, which Favre will break Marino's in the upcoming year and go down as one of the best to ever play. But will his legacy be kind of like a Wilt Chamberlain/Bill Russell legacy? Russell had Ibelieve 9 or 10 championships to Chamberlains' 1 and beat Wilt 7 of 8 times im playoff series. And what is that legacy? Russell was the more complete player and worked harder. Now I know there is not a question about working harder as far as Peyton goes but it will be interesting in the scenario I spelled out comes to play.
14. Well there is talk that Rex Grossman is a villain in the city of Chicago on the same level as Steve Bartman. Maybe I am looking at this wrong but Grossman was not that bad. I mean do you want the Raiders QBs? His statistice were on the same level as Super Bowl MVP Peyon Manning and in some cases better. So what gives. It was his first full season to start without injury and he led them to a 13-3 record with a Super Bowl birth. Gee, I wish my team had those QB problems. I take them quick. And you Bears fans better get used to Rex being around because Lovie Smith is in no hurry to replace him and he should not be. The point people are making is when Grossman is bad he is really bad. OK, but when he has been really good he is REALLY GOOD. So live with it. What Jeff Garcia is going to be your savior? Wow, the fans are buying their Super Bowl tickets already for the Garcia bowl.
15. A lot of people felt that Jerry Jones interviewd 49ers assitant head coach Mike Singletary and Bears def. coordinator Ron Rivera in order to satisfy the Rooney rule and had no intention of hiring them no matter how impressive. Obviously don't know what Jones is thinking on this issue but I think having them interviewing did them good. Now these same guys are being interviewd for the Chargers head coaching job. If Jones had not interviews them, who knows if they would have gotten an interview with the Chargers. That is the thing the Rooney rule has done is create exposure to the minority candidates. Seriously, would Lovie Smith be coaching in the Super Bowl if not for the Rooney rule? Who knows. But I think it helped to have his name mentioned in the interview process.
16. The Chargers situation really does not surprise me only in the fact that it was done so late in the season. Remember as a Cowboys fan, a certain head coach was fired after winning back to back Super Bowls? So the fact that coach MArty Schottenheimer and GM AJ SMith could not get along really does not surprise me. But could they have not made it work. The players clearly like Marty and SMith clearly knew how to draft considering who he got fromthe Eli Manning deal. Why could it not work? They had a buffer to communicate with each other because they could not talk in person. And now with all the assistants seem to be bolting, the Chargers felt that all the buffers were leaving and they had no choice. No one comes out of this winning. I would let Smith go if I were the Chargers owner. I mean if you can't get along with MArty, then something is wrong with you. Well some say that well Smith drafted the players well, well MArty coached them well and he got canned anyway, so let SMith go to. They both deserve it.
17. How do you fell if your are Saints coach Sean Payton this week. First your MVP candidate QB Drew Brees dislocates his elbow (non-throwing) in the Pro Bowl and then your #1 draft pcik and future superstar RB Reggie Bush hurts his ankle in a celebrity all star game? Not a good week.
18. 4 words I love hearing this time of year: Pitchers and catchers report.
19. Colorado head Coach Dan Hawkins rant did not bother me. I mean, parents need to know their place in the role of sports. I know if you are a good parent, your babies will always come first but please, if the coach is not abusing the players, let him run the policy he wants. I liked the rant, but the maybe the pressure is getting to him after seeing what his old team Boise State did this year.
20. The Cubs and Yankees should just give Carlos Zambrano and Mariano Rivera the money they want. I mean why fight? How much better can you get.
21. You know it is Cubs season when the first injury report on Kerry Wood is out already. He fell from his hot tub?
22. The subject of Tim Hardaway is not something I am comfortable talking about. All I can say is regardless of how you feel about homsexuals, you really should not say you hate them. I mean yes if you feel you disagree with that lifestyle because it is against your morals, yes you can disagree but do not be hateful about it. The thing is that I believe most NBA players feel similar if not quite to the extreme of what Hardaway said. I mean do you see many current NBA players really being hard on him. The sports and national media have been harder than any current NBA player.
23. Daytona 500 is going on. I don't get it. I know it is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation but I cannot get into it. There is something about watching the cars going in circles that just does not give the intensity of the NFL or even the relaxation of MLB. Maybe if I watched a race live I could probably get it. Texas Motor Speedway has about 3 races a year, maybe I need to go and see it for myself. But NASCAR does average more fan deaths per year than any other sport. That is right, fan deaths.
24. The NBA All-star game is in LAs Vegas. Watching the half-time show. Did we stop caring about this show? I don't get all that is being done during the show and if you are watching it, explain to me what it is. This is almost as confusing as the pregame show of the Super Bowl.
25. The halftime of the Super Bowl was not bad. I liked Prince. I know some made a big deal when his large shadow appeared and he had his guitar in a certain position but I feel that was nit-picking.
26. The commercials I felt were kind of weak. Loved the Snickers commercial and the Kevin Federline commercial, but overall it was like the companies were not trying.
27. College basketball seems more exciting to me than usual this year. Maybe it is because the players don't go to the NBA right our of high school for the first time.
28. Beatles songs are going to finally be available on Itunes soon. Cannot wait.
Sorry for the delay but that is the vault.
1. Bill Parcells calls it quits. I did not know how to react but at least this was not dragged out until the Super Bowl week. Parcells said he could not do the game mentally anymore and could not endure another season of this. Well, I wonder how much easier the decision would have been if a certain number 81 was not on the team? I don't know if TO was the reason but it did not make it easier for him to stay. Parcells has too much in him to let one player dictate whether or not he could stay but the grind all together of running a football team, much less the Dallas Cowboys and the added distractions of TO wore on him and he just probably said to himself "do I really want to go through this again?" I guess the answer was no.
2. What to make of the Parcells legacyin Dallas? He had a 34-32 record two playoff appearance with no division titles and the same amount of playoff wins as Chan Gailey and Dave Campo. Heck, Barry Switzer had more division titles, playoff wins, and a Super bowl victory. Chan Gailey even had 1 division title. So from a standpoint, you have to say it was a failure because the main goal, a Super Bowl was not accomplished. When Parcells arrived, the bar was set. Anything less than a Super Bowl was going to be a disappointment. And it is. Parcells does leave the Cowboys in better shape than Dave Campo did when he left. There is some direction and foundation placed that was not their when Parcells arrived. So the next coach(more on that below) will not have much difficulty in getting the Cowboys going in a different move.
3. Now on the new coach, Wade Philips, the son of the Bum. I think it was a good hire. He had Texas roots, so he knows the importance of football in the region. He also has 5 years of head coaching experience with the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills plus interim stops at New Orleans and Atlanta. His record is 45-38 record with the Broncos and Bills. He has experience with the 3-4 defense, which will help especially with the development of DeMarcus Ware as a pass rusher, much like Phillips helped with the development with Shawn Merriman, minus the performance enhancers. So in all it is a logical choice and with all the candidates interviwed, Norv Turner, Mike Singletary, Ron Rivera, I do not think you could have gone wrong. The important thing is to see how Phillips will hand Jerry Jones antics, TO's anctics, the development of Tony Romo, and the get the defense playing on a stellar level.
4. Did you see Jerry Jones get all choked up at the hiring of the press conference? First I thought jokingly thought he was thinking "What have I done!?" Now I think maybe he is thinking, "My God, I am in charge again!". Which is what I have been dreading from the start of the hiring process. Now that Parcells, is gone, Jones wants to be the man again. I know he is the owner of the team. He should have the right to run his franchise the way he wants to. But will it kill him to lay back and let the coach have some control or say in the acquistion of players and the hiring of coaches. Be honest, has Parcells being the coach really put Jones out of the spotlight? Did we really see less of him in the last four seasons? So if Parcells being in control does not let Jones get away from the spotlight, then why not jsut keep it going? I mean he had his best success when Jimmy Johnson was the coach, and it is safe to say Jones was not in the background. So Jerry, it will not kill you to let Wade run the team. You still will get to do your anctics and sign players you crave (TO, Eddie George, Drew Henson, Peerless Price) and still share the spotlight with the coach. If that is not what you want, than just coach the team yourself, because these will be your players and coaches and you had better win with them. It is not good that AL Davis is your role model. Look where that got Al.
5. 81. The number makes me tremble in fear. I have my thoughts known about this guy. Dump him. I know we have no depth at receiver wven with the guy, but the bad clearly outweighs the good. I am a coach in real life and I have a couple of students who are good athletes but they are jerks. And guess who their role model is? It sickens me when they say it. I mean this is stupid. I know TO made the first call in reaching out to his new head coach and that surprised me considering what Randy Moss did when his head coach tried to reach out to him. So maybe it will work. Sorry, temporary insanity moment. It will never work. I mean look at how TO responded when PArcells left. He just could not wait to unleash all hell on what he thought of Parcells. And saying the offense did not do a good job of using him. Well he caught the most passes since Michael Irvin, he had over 10 touchdowns and over 1,000 yards and considering you played for conservative PArcells, that is a lot. Of course if you count all the drops, he could have had over 100 cathches. But I know, those are not his fault. Cowboys, dump him. Jerry, are you afraid by dumping him you are admitting to a mistake? Well, you had no trouble admitting when you fired coaches you hired or letting go of a Mike Vanderjagt for being a mental case. So what is one more? You're afraid we will think less of your football IQ? Don't worry Jerry. We know you have no football IQ already, so what is the harm. Sign a Donte Stallworth through free agency or trade a draft pick for Larry Fitgerald is my solution.
6. Tony Romo is going to be a big deal in the offseason. Much was made on the hiring of Jason Garrett as offensice coordiantor, even with only having 2 years of experience as an assistant and none as a coordinator. There was also rumor that Norv Turner would be hired as the head coach so he and Garrett would groom Romo together. Well I was thinking if it was so important to get the right coach to tutor Romo, why was it not important when PArcells was here. Granted Parcells is a Hall of Fame coach but he is no QB genius. His best QB, Phil Simms is not in the HAll and his second best, Bledsoe has been replacet twice in hsi career. No one seem concerend when that staff was in place so why is it such a big deal. Norv Turner was not know by media when he was hired as the Cowboys off. coordinator in '91. But he was widely know in the coaching ranks. The Same has been with Garrett. Apparently a lot has been made of him as an assistant, and was mentioned by other head coaching candidates interviewing for other teams as possibly joing their staff as a coordinator. So there is obviously something special here. We will not know until the seaons starts but lets see how Romo respnds to this. I mean I hope he is still over the missed FG hold, I mean it was not his specialty, and I think the Cowboys should find someone else for that role this season. Romo's development will be a huge headline which I think it much ado about nothing really if you ask me. He will be fine. I mean it is not like hiring Tom Walsh, who had been running a bed & breakfast for ten years before being hired as off. coordiantor for the Raiders. And all this talk about Phillips not being an offensive-minded guy and that it will not benefit Romo is stupid. Remember a QB named Elway? Phillips was his coach for two seasons and Elway had some of his best statistcial years under Phillips after years of being held on a leah by Dan Reeves. So I am sure Wade knows a little about QBs.
7. The defense needs to improve. One of the complaints about the defense last year was that they were being held back by Parcells. When the players and assistants felt they needed to be more aggressive, PArcells played it conservative. Phillips is known for blitzing a lot on his 3-4. By getting a pass rush going by someone else not named Demarcus Ware, this will allow the secondary to play a better level. The reason the Secondary got lit up last year could have been due to the defenses' lack of a psss rush and the ability for the QB to have time to see the field and receivers having time to adjust their route and get open. So the secondary might not be as bad as advertised.
8. All together though the offseason is going to be a roller coaster and lets just hope this brings the Lombardi Trophy back to big D sometime soon.
9. Upside. Michael Irvin gets into the Hall of Fame. I have felt because of how he played on the field he should be in. I mean how many times do you hear people say that a team needs a tough receiver willing to go over the middle like a Micahel Irvin? A lot. He redefined the postition, unlike another Hall of Fame candidate, Art Monk, who I do not hear anyone say that he needs to be like an Art Monk. You also had coaches scheming and making gameplans to try to stop Irvin. You do not hear of people trying to figure out how to stop an offensive linemen no matter how good he is. But those are other debates. Irvin getting in is over due.
10. I feel Irvin should be a Hall of Famer, no doubt, but I have always felt that Irvin should be let go from his job as analyst on ESPN NFL Countdown. I have said he does not work as hard as his peers on the show, usually is not neutral on issues (TO), usually is hard to understand his analysis on the show, and always seemed to be kind of in his own world when he was on the air (too much crack?). Anyway, the voices at ESPN have heard the cries from The Mansion, and have responded by a report saying that ESPN did not renew Irvin's contract for the upcoming season. Bill PArcells is listed as a possible replacement. All I can say is, good going ESPN. Irvin, you are a Hall of Famer, a great Dallas Cowboy and will also have a special place in my heart for that but there was no place for you on that show. Did you hear that? Those were Tom Jackson's tears of joy as heard the announcement. Michael, your, ahem, professional behavior is more suited for the Best Damn Sports Show Period. Oh wait, they already let you go from that didn' they?
11. Well the Super Bowl was a dud but hey it is a great day to watch football. But for once, I wish it would live up to the hype. I mean it does on occasion, PAtriots-Panthers, Patriots-Rams, Rams-Titans all come to mind but for all the glamour and stuff, it was a boring game and week.
12. The Super Bowl could not have gone to a better coach or nicer guy than Tony Dungy. If either of these coaches had won, I would not have been upset but considering what has happened to Dungy in the past, I was rooting for him. And the fact that even though this was the first Super Bowl matchup with 2 black head coaches and the first to have even one was kind of an afterthought which is what it should be. I mean the fact that it does not have to be brought up or maybe it not the major storyline says a lot. We have come a long way but their is till work to be done on the hiring of black head coahes.
13. So Peyton Manning is off the hook. He does not have to worry about that moneky on his back anymore. Or does he? Think about this for a minute. MAnning is still young and so is his counterpart, Tom Brady. Suppose Brady goes on and wins 2 or 3 more Super Bowls in hsi career and MAnning does not win another one and Brady gets to the game at teh expense of MAnning. Then what do we think of Manning's legacy. There is no question Manning will be a Hall of Fame QB even without the Super Bowl he will break Brett Favre's records, which Favre will break Marino's in the upcoming year and go down as one of the best to ever play. But will his legacy be kind of like a Wilt Chamberlain/Bill Russell legacy? Russell had Ibelieve 9 or 10 championships to Chamberlains' 1 and beat Wilt 7 of 8 times im playoff series. And what is that legacy? Russell was the more complete player and worked harder. Now I know there is not a question about working harder as far as Peyton goes but it will be interesting in the scenario I spelled out comes to play.
14. Well there is talk that Rex Grossman is a villain in the city of Chicago on the same level as Steve Bartman. Maybe I am looking at this wrong but Grossman was not that bad. I mean do you want the Raiders QBs? His statistice were on the same level as Super Bowl MVP Peyon Manning and in some cases better. So what gives. It was his first full season to start without injury and he led them to a 13-3 record with a Super Bowl birth. Gee, I wish my team had those QB problems. I take them quick. And you Bears fans better get used to Rex being around because Lovie Smith is in no hurry to replace him and he should not be. The point people are making is when Grossman is bad he is really bad. OK, but when he has been really good he is REALLY GOOD. So live with it. What Jeff Garcia is going to be your savior? Wow, the fans are buying their Super Bowl tickets already for the Garcia bowl.
15. A lot of people felt that Jerry Jones interviewd 49ers assitant head coach Mike Singletary and Bears def. coordinator Ron Rivera in order to satisfy the Rooney rule and had no intention of hiring them no matter how impressive. Obviously don't know what Jones is thinking on this issue but I think having them interviewing did them good. Now these same guys are being interviewd for the Chargers head coaching job. If Jones had not interviews them, who knows if they would have gotten an interview with the Chargers. That is the thing the Rooney rule has done is create exposure to the minority candidates. Seriously, would Lovie Smith be coaching in the Super Bowl if not for the Rooney rule? Who knows. But I think it helped to have his name mentioned in the interview process.
16. The Chargers situation really does not surprise me only in the fact that it was done so late in the season. Remember as a Cowboys fan, a certain head coach was fired after winning back to back Super Bowls? So the fact that coach MArty Schottenheimer and GM AJ SMith could not get along really does not surprise me. But could they have not made it work. The players clearly like Marty and SMith clearly knew how to draft considering who he got fromthe Eli Manning deal. Why could it not work? They had a buffer to communicate with each other because they could not talk in person. And now with all the assistants seem to be bolting, the Chargers felt that all the buffers were leaving and they had no choice. No one comes out of this winning. I would let Smith go if I were the Chargers owner. I mean if you can't get along with MArty, then something is wrong with you. Well some say that well Smith drafted the players well, well MArty coached them well and he got canned anyway, so let SMith go to. They both deserve it.
17. How do you fell if your are Saints coach Sean Payton this week. First your MVP candidate QB Drew Brees dislocates his elbow (non-throwing) in the Pro Bowl and then your #1 draft pcik and future superstar RB Reggie Bush hurts his ankle in a celebrity all star game? Not a good week.
18. 4 words I love hearing this time of year: Pitchers and catchers report.
19. Colorado head Coach Dan Hawkins rant did not bother me. I mean, parents need to know their place in the role of sports. I know if you are a good parent, your babies will always come first but please, if the coach is not abusing the players, let him run the policy he wants. I liked the rant, but the maybe the pressure is getting to him after seeing what his old team Boise State did this year.
20. The Cubs and Yankees should just give Carlos Zambrano and Mariano Rivera the money they want. I mean why fight? How much better can you get.
21. You know it is Cubs season when the first injury report on Kerry Wood is out already. He fell from his hot tub?
22. The subject of Tim Hardaway is not something I am comfortable talking about. All I can say is regardless of how you feel about homsexuals, you really should not say you hate them. I mean yes if you feel you disagree with that lifestyle because it is against your morals, yes you can disagree but do not be hateful about it. The thing is that I believe most NBA players feel similar if not quite to the extreme of what Hardaway said. I mean do you see many current NBA players really being hard on him. The sports and national media have been harder than any current NBA player.
23. Daytona 500 is going on. I don't get it. I know it is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation but I cannot get into it. There is something about watching the cars going in circles that just does not give the intensity of the NFL or even the relaxation of MLB. Maybe if I watched a race live I could probably get it. Texas Motor Speedway has about 3 races a year, maybe I need to go and see it for myself. But NASCAR does average more fan deaths per year than any other sport. That is right, fan deaths.
24. The NBA All-star game is in LAs Vegas. Watching the half-time show. Did we stop caring about this show? I don't get all that is being done during the show and if you are watching it, explain to me what it is. This is almost as confusing as the pregame show of the Super Bowl.
25. The halftime of the Super Bowl was not bad. I liked Prince. I know some made a big deal when his large shadow appeared and he had his guitar in a certain position but I feel that was nit-picking.
26. The commercials I felt were kind of weak. Loved the Snickers commercial and the Kevin Federline commercial, but overall it was like the companies were not trying.
27. College basketball seems more exciting to me than usual this year. Maybe it is because the players don't go to the NBA right our of high school for the first time.
28. Beatles songs are going to finally be available on Itunes soon. Cannot wait.
Sorry for the delay but that is the vault.
# posted by ttheman @ 4:54 PM 
