It has been an interesting off season for the coaching carousel in the NFL this year.  Several high profile coaches left the league (Bobby Petrino, Joe Gibbs) and several other new head coaches have been hired with resumes skinnier than an anorexic Tayshaun Prince.  The decision to take a chance on an unproven coach or splurge on a veteran coach is fast becoming a big debate in the NFL.  Do you as a franchise cultivate a potential star coach at a reasonable price like Mike McCarthy, Mike Tomlin or Sean Payton or spend big money and hope Marty Schottenheimer figures out how to win in the playoffs or Bill Cowher’s spit showers are enough to motivate your players to win it all?

Several teams have made the decision to hire veteran NFL coaches and promote them to Head Coach this off season.  Eschewing recycled coaches and even coordinators in favor of hiring position coaches is all the rage in some NFL circles.  Tony Sparano, Mike Smith, and John Harbaugh are all sitting in offices right now thinking to themselves, “How the bleep did I get here?”  At this rate sometime in the near future, there will be age limits to prevent teenagers from becoming head coaches at too young of an age.  It’s all spiraling out of control. 

The lack of successful, experienced head coaches to recycle has been dwindling for years and forcing teams to make tough decisions.  The past two years, Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells have called it quits with Tony Dungy and Mike Holmgren soon to follow.  Due to the lack of salary cap on coaching contracts, sometime in the near future NFL teams will throw boat loads of money at Bill Cowher, Steve Mariucci or any coach with a decent resume and a pulse.  Coordinators will start making head coaching money.  Jason Garrett and Al Saunders have already cracked this barrier.  Fans across the league will be lead to believe that without a 8 million dollar a year head coach, their team can’t win.  It’s not inconceivable that over the next few years, the best head coaches in the league will be making close to $10 million dollars per year.  So now as a parent instead of hoping your child is a left handed pitcher or has a freakishly strong kicking leg, parents will hope their children has a propensity to watch game tape and carry around large charts of plays.  Kids will grow up hoping to be the next Holmgren or Dungy or Shanahan.  The only exception will be when a son tells his father he doesn’t want to be a QB, he wants to be the next Bill Belicheck. It will be like the son slapping them in the face. Scores of kids will wear suits to recess and a fake moustache and stay up all night breaking down game tape instead of doing a book report on the Boston Tea Party. 

What’s my point in all of this?  The choice of paying John Harbaugh 2 million dollars to run your team or Bill Cowher 9 million dollars will soon be as important of a debate as Manning versus Leaf.  As an NFL fan, brace yourself for an era in which head coaches are synonymous with star players and their salaries.  And if you’re ambitious, start putting video of your Madden mastery on Youtube, because you never know the depths to which a desperate NFL franchise will reach to find the next great NFL coach.

Back with some NCAA Basketball thoughts, Super Bowl thoughts and more randomness in the near future.

jody

Now that the college bowl season is over, we can safely assume that is was...an absolute disaster.

You suffer through wave after wave of bowl games in December as sort of a way of preparing you for the BCS games, the classic match ups and eventually the National Championship.  But what rang out true this year was the fundamental fact that these games, these competitions, meant nothing.  There was absolutely nothing at stake. Unless you are a fan of the school, why would you watch 95% of these bowl games (as a side, I'm a huge fan of arbitrary percentages because how can you really argue with something that’s arbitrary)?  And further more, how did the GMAC Bowl and International Bowl make it past the first of the year?  Thats like being invited to a party that's only supposed to have hot women yet a couple of 4's make their way into the party.  How does it happen? And am I being too generous by correlating the GMAC and International Bowls with a 4? Maybe a 3?  Isn't college football supposed to wait to showcase the best games as late as possible?

The BCS is in place to attempt to showcase premier teams competing for absolutely nothing.  There is only 1 game that matters, the National Championship, and when it was a blowout like it was this year, it’s hard not to count the bowl season as bad one.

All of the other bowl games have nothing at stake. I make the comparison it would be like NBC green lighting a show called "No Deal or No Deal"(which wouldn't surprise me with the writers strike going on).  A contestant would get up, pick numbered suitcases and some, uh I guess they call them a, suitcase model opens it up only to reveal...gasp, $0!  But wait, that's enough to keep going so the contestant picks another suitcase and its...$0!   Every suitcase is full of $0.  If there's nothing at stake, what creates the drama?  Why would you watch "No Deal or No Deal"? I mean, I know the fact that Howie Mandel will only fist bump and not shake hands is hilarious EVERY time, but would it be enough to watch? 

It sounds riveting but let me tell you, its not.  I, as a college football fan, have been subjected to over 20 episodes of "No Deal or No Deal" only its been in the form of college football bowl games.  Hopefully at some point, college football decides to actually add something to the suitcases.  Hey, if worse comes to worse, they can just have suitcase models opening up suitcases to reveal the final scores of simulated meaningless bowl games, it would be better viewing than actually watching those games.

I hope your holidays were positive. I really enjoyed the fact that the weather was cold over Christmas and it could have still been better with some overcast skies or even some precipiation.  I've had a hard time adjusting to the weather around the holidays in Tucson after spending so many Christmases in Pennsylvania as a kid. I never imagined having to give some sunscreen as a Christmas gift, not because it's thoughtful but because it’s a necessity. I’ve lived in Tucson for over 9 years now and love it. But in Pennsylvania our tradition around Christmas is making hot chocolate on Christmas. Not scrambled eggs on the sidewalk or iced tea on the porch.  The only time our bare skin would see the light of day around Christmas is if we forgot our ear muffs or scarves. Here it's because you decided to sunbathe before finishing up wrapping. Ill never get used to it and thankfully this Christmas the thermometer read about 45-50 degrees and I didn't have to give anyone sunscreen. Overall, I had a great time and will be heading to Albuquerque for the New Year's weekend.  Here are some extended thoughts on the Patriots record breaking game vs. the Giants tomorrow night.

New England @ NY Giants
There's a concerted effort to create some dramatic theatre out of this game and understandably so.  The Patriots are on the verge of almost effortlessly shattering the most hallowed record in professional team sports: an undefeated season in the NFL.  The ease by which New England has done this has been astounding.  Sure, there were a few teams that challenged the Patriots, namely the Colts, Eagles and even the Ravens, but at no point during a Patriots game did it realistically seem like they were on the verge of losing.  So, in an effort to ramp up the dramatic moments of the Patriots vs. Giants game, there has been serious discussion about how long the Patriots will play their starters, how badly the Giants just want to win and so forth.  Here's the simple breakdown: New England is going to go all out.  It doesn't matter what the Giants do but if Tom Coughlin has managed to successfully stave off NFL senility for another game, he'll rest just about everyone after the first quarter.  New England is winning this game and going 16-0.  I understand the artificial drama behind this.  The baseball parallel would have been like Barry Bonds breaking the all time HR record by hitting off a tee over a fence that was 200 feet from home plate and questions leading up to it like, "Will Barry swing and miss?" or "Will their be a gale force wind at the last minute that keeps the ball from going out?". 

Some more thoughts on this game:
I'm just not a fan of Eli Manning.  Look, I know he has achieved some success.  He led the Giants to the NFC Crown in 2005, led them to the playoffs in 2006 and has once again directed a Giants team to the 2007 postseason and along the way compiled some solid stats.  In 3 full years of starting, the Giants have made the playoffs every year.  Compared to a huge majority of the QB's who started in the NFL this year, the Giants are extremely fortunate to have Eli.  But something is off about him and I think I figured it out.  My best hypothesis on Eli is that he has been forced to steadfastly suppress his true career dreams since about 3rd grade.  He likes football well enough but he'd really love to be a...firefighter.  Or a pastry chef.  Or a veterinarian.  But Archie wouldn't have it and Peyton has been enlisted to gain his trust and steer him clearly into football waters.  There's a look on his face after every interception or tough loss that I can best translate into:  "I knew I was right when I told Dad I wanted to be a veternarian but NOOOO, Mannings aren't veterinarians,  they're football players!"  Only, he doesn't have enough strength to ever stop playing football and let down Archie and Peyton. And the rest of the team sees the pictures of all the animals in his locker, or the firefighting helmet or the pastry cookbook and know they aren't following a person who lives and breathes football and thirsts for success more than anything, they are following a grown man who has never outgrown his 3rd grade dreams of being a horsy doctor.

Also, now that the game is being simulcast on NBC and CBS in addition to the regular telecast on the NFL Network, the entire football base will be subjected to the absolutely terrible play by play job of Bryant Gumble.  I enjoy Gumble's work on Real Sports with Bryant Gumble, but he just doesn't do a very good job on the NFL Network.  Conversely, I enjoy Cris Collinsworth's commentary very much.  Its like Collinsworth is the good friend who you know when you invite him for an evening out, its comes will the inherent knowledge that his annoying girlfriend is coming too with at least a 60% chance she ruins the evening, but you forgot about this fact until you meet up with him.  Whenever there's a Thursday or Saturday night game on the NFL Network I get all excited to watch some NFL on a non-Sunday or Monday night until I hear Gumble's voice.  If you haven't heard Gumble's work before because you don't get the NFL Network, consider this your primer.  Its gonna be a solid enough evening until Gumble freaks out about Collinsworth giving the waitress too much of a tip or confusing him saying "excuse me" for flirting with someone to the point where its just uncomfortable for everyone because everyone knows Collinsworth is miserable.

Have a safe and happy New Year's.  Ill try and blog some more before New Year's and if not, Ill definitely have some thoughts on New Years, bowl games, and more next week. 

Jody

Hopefully by now you have wrapped up all your errands and wrapped up all your gifts as well.  It's always an interesting experience to try and find the right gift for someone.  When you think about it, it really shouldn't be that hard.  I was buying gifts for my parents, 2 brothers (and their girlfriends) and my girlfriend this year.  Now, despite having known my parents for, well since I could breathe, it took me an inordinate amount of time to find them a gift I had any sort of measurable confidence they would enjoy.  I don't even have the excuse that my parents are hard to buy for. I could literally wrap up a pair of socks for my mom and a box of cookies for my dad and they would both exclaim it to be the best Christmas ever.  I think the thirst to find a great gift for my parents and my brothers for that matter is borne out of a few different things: 1) an insatiable drive that requires me to have given the best gifts of the holiday ( Michael Jordan was born with this drive in something that actually matters, mine is manifested in the triviality of gift giving, which is really the only major difference between Michael Jordan and myself, if you don't include: height, hair color, ethnicity, profession, bank accounts, gambling addictions, mistresses...) 2) Picking out gifts that I think would look good under the tree.  In addition to my gift giving quirks, I also have a peculiar shall we say, obsession, over finding the best wrapping paper.  I'll spare you the details of my wrapping paper philosophy but it does figure in greatly to my gift giving troubles.  Needless to say, I finished this season with a level of confidence I would approximate to a rating of 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.  I didn't have any good stories from shopping except I learned from some snooty lady that it's "Williams Sonoma" and definitely NOT "Williams AND Sonoma".  Suffice it to say, I will now call it "Williams AND Sonoma" for the rest of my life just for some imaginary spite to some lady I will never see again.  'Tis the season!

Now on to some sports.   If you find yourself seeking the solace of sports to get your fix, like an addict seeking a needle, over the holiday weekend, I hope you are an NBA fan.  With Christmas falling on a Tuesday there will be no football and no college basketball.  Instead, its the NBA.  Years ago, this would have been great.  I would have heard the John Tesh produced NBA on NBC music and immediately been fired up.  Now its just the, well I'm not even sure what goes on with televised NBA games these days, its been so long.  Nevertheless, Ill find myself watching and you know you will be to, so here are some quick thoughts on the games:

Game 1: Miami at Cleveland - This is like serving a turd sandwich for an appetizer.  The over/under on total points scored in this game is about 75 and if my Christmas depended on it, Id take the under.  On the bright side, there is the outside chance that Lebron and Wade go mano y mano for 48 minutes and its a thrilling display of two of the NBA's brightest stars.  Or it could be a Damon Jones vs. Jason Williams battle for who can suck the life out of an NBA game the best.  By the way, the Miami Heat have employed the following players and actually played them at some point this season: Joel Anthony, Chris Quinn and Earl Barron. 
Final Assessment:  Don't sacrifice any family time to watch this.  In fact, its best served purpose is to have it on in the background and you and any other sports loving family members can make sarcastic remarks at the expense of Shaq, Ricky Davis, Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic.  Also, anytime Daniel Gibson appears on screen, make sure you tell someone his nickname is "Boobie". 

Game 2: Phoenix @ LA Lakers - If Miami @ Cleveland is a turd sandwich appetizer, this is the filet mignon of the evening;  a legitimate rivalry between two teams that have recent post season bad blood between them.  The Lakers are finally realizing they have some intriguing young talent and Kobe is finally realizing the "B" button exists, which is to say, you can actually pass to teammates.  The Suns are a strange team.  Nash is complaining about this team earlier and more often than in the past 3 seasons.  On the other hand Grant Hill, Shawn Marion and Leandro Barbosa are all having stellar seasons.  Boris Diaw has been awful however and beyond the 7 man rotation, there is little there.  Despite that, the Suns are still one of the best teams in the NBA.  Sound familiar? The Lakers are getting solid play from Jordan Farmar, Vlad Radmonvic, and Andrew Bynum to go with Kobe's usual superb play.
Final Assesment: Appointment television.  Interrupt any conversations or helping any parents/grandparents with newly received electronic equipment to watch this.  Mom is never going to figure out her iPod anyways so just watch the Suns beat the Lakers. 

Game 3: Seattle @ Portland - Continuing our theme of meal related analogies, this game would be like a dessert of rice pudding.  I've heard of it, I'm vaguely familiar with the contents of it but I don't have any true desire to actually indulge in it.  Kind of like this game.  It was supposed to be Oden vs. Durant.  Now, its Durant vs. Channing Frye?  For true NBA fans, this game could be a treat.  The Blazers are amongst the hottest teams in the league brimming with young, likeable talent.  Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw and Channing Frye amongst others.  Meanwhile, the Supersonics have Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Chris Wilcox and a trio of 7 footers that are a statistical anomaly.  Consider, given the odds that there would be 3 seven-footers on one team and given the amount of 7 foot frea-er, people, there are in the world, you'd think they'd have something in common.  Nope.  Robert Swift a 7 foot red head from Bakersfield, CA. Johan Petro is a 7 foot French guy with a giant forehead. And Mouhamed Sene is  from Senegal.  They don't even have the same continent of origin in common! On second thought, here is the common characteristic:  They all suck.
Final Assessment: Don't prevent someone from watching the new DVD they just purchased to watch this game but if the television isn't occupied, flip it on.  If its an up tempo game with some good scoring, settle in.  If its a couple of young teams pretending to be professionals, just use it as a reliable flip back option for something else.

That's it for now.  Back later this week with more blogs.  Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.

Jody