Holmgren Keeps Options Open By Keeping Mangini

Mike Holmgren sent a small shock wave through the Cleveland football community by keeping heavily criticised coach Eric Mangini on board for next season. What I found more shocking was that Mangini wasn't asked to gut his current staff of assistants.
While I was certain that Holmgren was going to bring in his own hand picked coaching staff, keeping Mangini does give Holmgren some extra leverage going forward from here. Having Mangini in charge next year ensures that Holmgren has a fall guy to take the blame if the Browns implode next season. If the Browns continue to show development, as they did during the tail end of the season, Holmgren looks smart for keeping Mangini.

By not hiring a new coach Holmgren has in a way given himself a year of immunity. More importantly Holmgren has bought some time to add talent to the roster over the next year or two. This would give a coach Holmgren may choose to hire later a better chance at success. Some have thought that Holmgren himself might get the itch and return to the sidelines. Why not make the roster improvements beforehand. After all any coach would be handcuffed by the lack of overall talent on this Browns roster.

On the other hand Holmgren is a coach first and an executive second. Maybe he genuinely felt that it was unfair to evaluate Mangini on just one season. Either senario seems to provide Holmgren a little cushion. I do know one thing for sure, the pressure will be on Holmgren to pick the right guy if he does decide to dump Mangini at some point. Stability is what this organization has lacked for the last decade. If Holmgren fires a hand picked coach after just a couple of seasons what we will have is just more of the same old Browns. And after all no one wants to see more of the same old Browns, except maybe the Steelers, Bengals, and Ravens.

Saban's Late Score Bothersome

Let me first say that I am not the liberal 'let's play fair type'. As a matter of fact, I was a supporter of Bill Belichick when many folks thought he ran up the score on the Tennessee Titans earlier this NFL season in a 59-0 victory. The way I see it, you can't stop playing the game after only two quarters and if 11 men making millions of dollars a year want to quit and/or can't stop you, too bad, their professionals and I will not shed a tear for them. Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way, on to last night. With about 1:06 remaining and a ten point lead 'Bama had the ball second and goal on the Texas two yard line. Texas had only one time out left and did not use it after a first down play, which led me to believe Longhorn coach Mack Brown had conceded the game. Instead of being gracious in victory, Alabama coach Nick Saban saw an opportunity to widen the margin. I felt Alabama underachieved in the game despite the win, just ask Brent Musberger who was quick to point out early in the first half that Texas "did not have a chance" with McCoy out of the game. Instead, a freshman QB spearheaded a gritty performance by the 'Horns and actually put them in a position to tie or win the game late in the fourth quarter. Maybe I am off base here, but I thought under the circumstances, Saban should have tipped his cap to his colleague by kneeling on the ball rather than satisfying his own ego with a cheap score.

Dawson Not Enshrined Soon Enough

I was happy to hear that the Baseball Writer's Association of America finally came to there senses and voted to induct Andre Dawson into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. This was Andre's 9th year of eligibility and as far as I'm concerned they made the "Hawk" wait a little too long. He was one of the great all around players not only of his generation but of all time. Dawson has long been an under appreciated player in my opinion. Let me throw some numbers at you just to put his accomplishments into context.

Dawson finished his career with more hits than either Lou Gehrig or Ted Williams. He drove in more runs than Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio. He outhomered Duke Snider and Al Kaline. The Hawk possesed a very rare combination of power and speed. He is only one of three players ever with over 400 HR's and 300 stolen bases along with Willie Mays and Barry Bonds.

The aforementioned names put Dawson in some pretty good company, wouldn't you agree? But Dawson wasn't just about offensive numbers. The man could lay down some defense. Only 7 outfielders in history have more Gold Gloves than the 8 compiled by Dawson. Just for icing on the cake he mixed in a Rookie of the Year Award, an M.V.P. , and 4 Silver Sluggers.
Did I mention he was the only player ever to win an M.V.P. for a last place team? It takes a pretty good year to pull that off. But what I remember most about Dawson was how he came to the park ready to give 100% every day even if his sore knees weren't. So congratulations to Andre Dawson. After all these years the Hawk soars again.

BCS Championship: Texas/Alabama

Well, its finally here. The Longhorns and Crimson Tide collide in Pasadena, CA. for all the marbles. Not many are giving Texas much of a chance from what I have been hearing. Alabama has a dominating defense and a powerful running game led by Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram. I would not be at all surprised by an Alabama victory, however, I think some folks are not factoring in the big game experience that QB Colt McCoy will provide for the 'Horns. If Texas can muster any semblance of a running game to keep the 'Tide defense somewhat honest and keep Ingram from totally dominating the game, I feel McCoy can provide enough big plays with his arm and legs to possibly pull off the upset. I'll go against the grain here and take 'the boys from the Lone Star State'.
-Take Texas +4.5

Making The Case For Bert Blyleven

Every year about this time I find myself scratching my head and wondering why Bert Blyleven has been once again bypassed by Hall Of Fame voters. A look at Bert's body of work leaves no question in my mind about his worthiness as a Hall Of Famer. For those of you not familiar with Blyleven's track record let me present his case. Blyleven has 287 career victories. That is more wins than current H.O.F.ers like Bob Feller, Fergie Jenkins, and Robin Roberts. In fact there are dozens of pitchers already in the Hall with fewer wins than Blyleven. He ranks 5th on the all time strike-out list with 3,701 (3rd all-time among right handers). He ranks 9th all time in shut-outs with 60, ahead of Hall members like Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, and Jim Palmer. His 242 complete games rank him ahead of legends like Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, and Nolan Ryan. Throw into the mix that he is 11th all time in career starts and 14th all time in innings pitched and it is hard to figure his difficulty in getting the necessary votes. How is it that Bert can outrank so many Hall Of Famers in so many significant categories and still be overlooked time after time? Just the fact that his name can be mentioned in the same sentence over and over with players like Ryan, Feller, Gibson, Carlton, and Seaver speaks volumes in my book. Blyleven has 2 more chances to get into the Hall and I think justice would be served if he gets elected. Unfortunately for Bert, nothing on his resume will change between now and next year, and inexplicably it hasn't been good enough thus far. Blyleven had the nastiest curve ball that I have ever seen, but for now it's the Baseball Writers' Association of America that is throwing the curves.

Eagles McNabb Has Ways To Go Until Bronzed

I received a call from a friend the other day after he had a spirited discussion with one of his old college buddies about Donovan McNabb. His buddy seemed to be of the opinion that McNabb's place in The Pro Football Hall of Fame has already been solidified. Of course, my friend vehemently disagreed and ask for my thoughts on the matter. First let me say that McNabb, now in his 11th season, has proven to be an extremely capable NFL QB. A quick glance shows he has put up some very impressive numbers along the way, but let's put them in some context. In career passer rating Donovan is 18th on the list with a solid 86.5, however, a closer look shows that he trails the likes of Chad Pennington, Daunte Culpepper, Jeff Garcia and Matt Schaub. No Offense to those folks, but I do not see Canton in their future. As for career TD's thrown he ranks 22nd all time, once again very impressive. Here he ranks behind Dave Kreig, John Hadl, Vinny Testaverde and Boomer Esiason. In fact, Testaverde has thrown for well over 40,000 yards and as much as I like Vinny and felt he was very under appreciated no one is sizing up his bust. Lastly, I checked the passing yards category and found that McNabb is 24th on the list with over 32,000 yards looking up at QB's such as Steve DeBerg, Jim Everett and Jim Hart (bet you don't believe me about DeBerg). As I see it, it will take a lot more than some pretty numbers for this QB to earn Hall of Fame honors. Like many before him he will have to earn his place by leading his team to the promise land and capturing the hardware. As far as how the media feels about this issue, I will defer to Rush Limbaugh. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Big Ten Flexes Its Muscle

The Big 10 has been a football conference that has endured a lot if criticism in recent years for playing poorly in Bowl Games and against highly ranked opponents. The critics have not exactly been wrong. After all there was those difficult to watch defeats in the B.C.S. Championship Games, and last years 1-6 showing in Bowl Games by the Big Ten collectively. The Big 10 has been forced to take a back seat to such conferences as the SEC, PAC 10, ACC, and others. As much as I'm a Buckeye fan and Big 10 backer it was hard to refute the critics. It was coaching legend Bill Parcells who said it best, "you are what your record says you are". The record this year ,however, says something a little different. The Big 10 went a collective 4-3 in Bowls this year. I know what your thinking, that's good , but not spectacular. A closer look reveals something about those 4 wins, they were all over top 15 teams. They defeated 2 top 10 teams by knocking off both the PAC-10 and ACC champs when Ohio State soundly defeated #7 Oregon and Iowa punched #9 Georgia Tech in the mouth. Let's not forget Penn State's victory over #13 LSU, which was LSU's first loss in the post season under Les Miles. Wisconsin also racked up a win against a resurgent Miami Hurricane program that was ranked 15th. They did it the Big 10 way with physical play and stingy, hard hitting defense. It is a style of play that has not faired well in the last few years against speedy, high powered offenses, but maybe the tide is turning. Miami, LSU, Oregon and Georgia Tech combined for only 62 points in 4 games . Not bad considering Miami, Oregon and Georgia Tech all averaged more than 30 points per game, and LSU averaged 25. While the Big 10 still has a way to go to get itself completely out of the dog house the recent Bowl season was a step in the right direction. With victories over the PAC 10, SEC, and ACC and a 4-0 record against ranked opponents the Big-10 can finally enjoy the post season. Remember, "you are what your record says you are."

To Play Or Not To Play, That Is The Question

As the N.F.L. regular season has come to a close, there has been much talk about how coaches have handled their personnel in some "meaningless" games over the last few weeks of the season. Whether or not to play starters when play-off spots are already sown up can be a two sided coin. Should teams be obligated to put their best players on the field for the full 60 minutes every Sunday, or are they justified in protecting their assets when late season games are no longer important in determining a teams play-off fate? Interestingly enough we have seen coaches use differing strategies over the last couple of weeks, and their have been drawbacks either way.
Colts head coach Jim Caldwell has gone down the road of resting players or playing them sparingly in the final two games of the season. He came under some criticism for pulling starters in a close game against the Jets two weeks ago and in effect ruining the Colts chances for a possibly historic undefeated run. He now has a team that critics would say has lost all of it's momentum and is on a two game losing streak going into the play-offs. Bill Belichick on the other hand, decided to play his regulars in his team's final game even though his play-off spot was already determined. He lost the leagues top receiver Wes Welker in doing so with a severe knee injury. He also chose to play Tom Brady in spite of the fact that he has a sore shoulder, bad ribs and a broken finger. Surely there would have been little second guessing of Belichick had he rested Brady in that last game.
One can argue that each and every team should play to win to their fullest extent every week to preserve the integrity of the game and make sure that fans get their money's worth when they spend big bucks to attend N.F.L. games. Others will say that it is smart for coaches to protect their players and have earned the right to sit players late in the year because they have locked down their play-off spot. After all is said and done an undefeated regular season means nothing if it doesn't end in a Super Bowl win, just ask Belichick and company about that. So, maybe resting players down the stretch is a good move, but it does seem wrong to have teams on the field not trying to win games. "You play to win the game", just ask Herm Edwards about that. You can also ask anyone who watched that ridiculous Jets vs. Bengals game last Sunday night. I'm not sure there is a simple answer to the question, so I ask you, to play or not to play?

Browns Finish Strong

I haven't given Browns head coach Eric Mangini much credit this season, and frankly he hasn't deserved much. First there was the poor draft last spring. For an encore he created a needless quarterback controversy. Oh, and did I mention that the Browns were the laughing stock of the N.F.L. for most of the season? But I would like to give the coach and team credit where it's due. Somehow Mangini was able to keep his troops motivated down the final stretch of the season when it would have been easy to pack it in. Not only was the play on the field embarrassing for most of the season, but there were outside distractions as well. There was front office turmoil and " Mangenious" was looking over his shoulder as Mike Holmgren was interviewing to be his new boss. It would have been easy for some within the organization to "mail it in" for the last month of the season, and in fact it looked at times as if they might be ready to do that. But the coaching staff and players finished like true professionals. They played hard on every down during the closing month of games , and put together the longest winning streak we've seen since 1994. While it's great that Mangini and his boys showed character and heart late in the year, 5 wins and a last place finish in the division isn't going to do. While it would be ironic to fire a coach on a 4 game winning streak there are quite a few who feel Holmgren just might do that. I'm really not sure if Mangini deserves a second season or not. I'm glad that Holmgren is here to figure that out . If you were Holmgren would you send Eric packing, or are the 4 straight wins a sign that his philosophy is beginning to work?

Of Leach, Mangino and College Athletics

Over the course of the last few weeks two NCAA football coaches, Mark Mangino of Kansas and Mike Leach of Texas Tech were both relieved of their duties amid allegations that they "mishandled" players. Mangino was accused of psychical and verbal abuse. These are some of the same concerns voiced by parents of players at Lincoln High in Ellwood, PA. where Mangino coached for one year. Back in 2002 undisclosed action was taken against Mangino after he verbally abused high school officials during a game his son was playing in for Lawrence High School. As we all know by now, Leach was fired for his handling of WR Adam James during practices in which James could not take part in because he was reportedly recovering from a concussion. These incidents may not be brand new to college athletics, or even high school for that matter. We are all well aware of some of the antics by coaches such as Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight back in the day. I have been involved with coaching at lower levels, I have a brother who has long been involved with coaching at higher levels so I know the drill. Coaches have a difficult job, they must instill discipline in their players and demand they put out the maximum effort so that they reach full potential all the while dealing with a wide variety of personalities. Players on the other hand, must understand it is an honor and privilege to be part of a team and must earn their way, especially if you are a scholarship player. That being said, I wonder if the financial monster that is now college sports has disrupted the delicate balance of player coach relations and clouded good judgement, or is this much ado about nothing? I would love to hear your thoughts.