Axe Time? A Plunger Would be More Appropriate
Monday November 28, 2005
It's that time of year again. We've got frost on the windshield, holiday decorations popping up all over, and NFL playoff races taking shape. We also have coaches on ever-increasing hot seats creeping consistently closer to the chopping block. And on Monday, the proverbial axe fell in Detroit, making Steve Mariucci the first head coaching casualty (excluding Mike Martz) of the season. (join discussion)
In two-plus seasons with the Detroit Lions, Mooch compiled a very modest 15-28 record. And despite high expectations entering the 2005 season, the team has looked basically the same as last year (and the year before that... and the year before that... ). Apparently the kitty poop hit the fan following the club's Thanksgiving Day loss to the Atlanta Falcons in which the Lions looked typically tame. And the mind trust (I use that term lightly), general manager Matt Millen and owner Bill Ford, decided it was best for the franchise that they look in a different direction for someone to lead the team between the white lines.
The question is, why wasn't Millen given his pink slip as well? What exactly has he done to warrant keeping his job while Mariucci takes the fall for him? The Lions are a woeful 20-55 on Millen's watch, and a series of bad hires along with some questionable draft picks have left the team floundering for direction once again. How many head coaches will he be allowed to go through before he shoulders the blame?
And let's take this one step further, up to the ownership level. After all, it was the Ford family that hired Millen in the first place. That's the same Ford family that has put in place the foundation of a franchise that has won just one pitiful playoff game in 48 years.
Yes, you read that right.
The Lions have won just one stinkin' post-season contest in nearly half a century. And the Ford family is responsible for the hiring of failed regime after failed regime during that time frame. Unfortunately for Lions' fans, you can't fire your owner.
Yes, it is probably for the best, for both Mariucci and the Lions, that the two parties separate. But the Lions' problems run much deeper than Mooch and they aren't suddenly going to go away now that he is gone. And he can hardly be blamed for the decades of inept leadership that has doomed this franchise for the better part of the post-leather helmet era.
Perhaps a top-down enema is the only thing that can bring pride back to this long-suffering franchise.
In two-plus seasons with the Detroit Lions, Mooch compiled a very modest 15-28 record. And despite high expectations entering the 2005 season, the team has looked basically the same as last year (and the year before that... and the year before that... ). Apparently the kitty poop hit the fan following the club's Thanksgiving Day loss to the Atlanta Falcons in which the Lions looked typically tame. And the mind trust (I use that term lightly), general manager Matt Millen and owner Bill Ford, decided it was best for the franchise that they look in a different direction for someone to lead the team between the white lines.
The question is, why wasn't Millen given his pink slip as well? What exactly has he done to warrant keeping his job while Mariucci takes the fall for him? The Lions are a woeful 20-55 on Millen's watch, and a series of bad hires along with some questionable draft picks have left the team floundering for direction once again. How many head coaches will he be allowed to go through before he shoulders the blame?
And let's take this one step further, up to the ownership level. After all, it was the Ford family that hired Millen in the first place. That's the same Ford family that has put in place the foundation of a franchise that has won just one pitiful playoff game in 48 years.
Yes, you read that right.
The Lions have won just one stinkin' post-season contest in nearly half a century. And the Ford family is responsible for the hiring of failed regime after failed regime during that time frame. Unfortunately for Lions' fans, you can't fire your owner.
Yes, it is probably for the best, for both Mariucci and the Lions, that the two parties separate. But the Lions' problems run much deeper than Mooch and they aren't suddenly going to go away now that he is gone. And he can hardly be blamed for the decades of inept leadership that has doomed this franchise for the better part of the post-leather helmet era.
Perhaps a top-down enema is the only thing that can bring pride back to this long-suffering franchise.
Comments
No comments yet. Leave a Comment