Friendly Disagreements

                        

LIONS FIRE STEVE MARIUCCI

Earlier today, the Lions made official what was rumored all weekend.....that head coach Steve Mariucci would be fired.  Happy Thanksgiving to all in Detroit!

I disagree with this in so many ways.  First off...I find no merit in canning a NFL coach mid season....even if it is Week 12, unless letting every "free agent" coach know that you have an opening.  Aside from that, it is pointless.  The team cannot get better, as more times than not an assistant coach will suddenly be thrust into the head job to hold down the fort.  In the NFL, there is no way that a interim coach can possible circle the wagons and make a positive out of this negative.

As for the ol' "well, the assistant coach gets to show what he's made of" line is a crock!  That interim coach all of the sudden takes responsibility for an obvious mess and a roster full of guys wondering about their futures with the team.  Not a recipe for success.  And, obviously, the team isn't very good anyways when you have to fire your coach during the season.

Also, if there was one coach that I may have even broken this rule for this season....it would've been Mike Tice.  It seemed that the Vikings lacked "institutional control"...and they had a poor record.  I mean, it is one thing to have a morally inept team, but they cannot suck too!  But Tice stayed around...and Minnesota is suddenly 6-5 with a four game winning streak and are back on the playoff pace...trailing Tampa, Atlanta and New York by just one game.

Not to say that the Lions could/would do the same.  The team has played poorly...been dealt with a ton of injuries...and the GM, Matt Millen, seems to love drafting WRs in the first round.  Most likely, the Lions would have packed it in for the rest of the season and Mooch would've been canned anyways. 

But at least let him play it out. 

                                   

DUKE STRIKES BACK

I got this comment today....

DUKEBLUEIS1:  "I am a Dookie, and proud of it. You want to talk about  Duke players and fans as you would like to be one! Sorry we dont take losers. Laettner, Hurley, Reddick, Ferry, Collins, Parks, Battier, Williams, last but not least our Crazies , have a winning record that ant team including UNC Tarbabbies would cheat to own . Maybe you will grow up and understand DUKE BLUE IS A WINNING color is that something else for Carolina blue to hate"

Now, allow me to retort. 

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:  North Carolina 4....Duke 3
ALL TIME WINS:  North Carolina 1860 [2nd]....Duke 1764 [4th]
UNC-DUKE SERIES WINS:  North Carolina 124....Duke 95
BEST PLAYER:  North Carolina:  Michael Jordan....Duke:  Christian Laettner

Yep.  I'm so jealous

                        

NFL OVERTIME DOESN'T WORK

Alex from Alex's Sports Blog wrote this blog entry: 

"Mike Shanahan was happy with the sudden death rule yesterday, but I wasn't.  I'm sure many football fans weren't either.  I want to see both teams given a fair chance to win.  College Football does it perfectly, both teams start at the 20 yard line, and if one team scores than the other team needs to score.  Both teams get an equal chance.  I think the NFL shouldn't adopt the 20 yard line rule, but maybe both teams get a possesion.  After Dayne got that 55 yard run, and after the field goal, Dallas would've gotten the ball kicked tothem and then they would start a possesion.  If they couldn't score, then the game would end.  If they did score, the game would keep going. 

If the new overtime rule was adopted, maybe the Cowboys would've been celebrating yesterday.  This also works from a business perspective.  Anybody could figure this out, the overtime games would go longer, so obviously more additional ad revenue would be produced.  The sudden death aspect would still be there, because college still has a sudden death aspect, and they do give both teams an equal chance.  This change may not happen, but I feel it's long overdue.  Do you think the NFL overtime should chance?"

I respectfully disagree with everything here.  I am a Redskin fan...and watched my team lose in the exact same fashion that they Cowboys lost on Thanksgiving.  And I don't have a problem with the rule. 

What if the Cowboys stopped Denver with a 3-and-out??  Then Denver would have punted the ball...and Dallas gets it mid-field.  Then is that fair?  In the history of the NFL.....106 of the 381 all-time overtime games ended in the scenerio on Thanksgiving...that one team didn't get a chance in overtime.  It happens. 

So does the coin toss really determine the overtime winner??  Well, the same can be said in the NCAA version as well if you want to truly break it down.  In college, the team who wins the coin toss tends to go on offense SECOND so they know how many points they need.  If Team 1 scores a FG...than Team 2 knows all they have to do is get a FG to stay alive.  Team 1 doesn't have the option since they are going first.  Same principle.  So...in essence, the coin toss is just as important in the NCAA as it is in the NFL. 

And having the NCAA rule would completely skew the NFL game.  In the NCAA a few years back, Kentucky and Arkansas played to a 71-63 Razorbacks win in 7 overtimes.  All stats count.  And we usually see one of those 54-51 overtime games at some point during the college season.  Does the NFL need that??  No.

Also...the NFL ends overtime games with triumph!!  The NCAA does not.  I mean, to win an NFL game in overtime...there must be a made FGor a TD of some kind.  Even a safety.  In the NCAA, an overtime game can end with an incomplete pass.  Not as triumphant.  So....let's keep it the same way.