HOW DO WE MEASURE SUCCESS?

It seems that football like baseball, seems to lose it’s way when evaluating success. Recently, Todd Haley of the Kansas City Chiefs and Tony Sparano of the Miami Dolphins have been dumped for a season of failure. Couples with Jack Del Rio on November 29^th from Jacksonville. The records seem to speak for themselves, but do the teams?

Let’s look at the Chiefs. After less than a season ago they won their division, and now, they are 5-8! They look for a new coach because of a record that at best could only be .500% at the end of the day. In all probability it will be a losing record. The Dolphins, after a disastrous start had a 4 game winning streak put together and then they lost once again, insuring a losing season for the last few years.

How much should the coach be held accountable? In the Chiefs case, there were a multitude of injuries to contribute to a bad situation. If Haley is accountable, it is based on the inept performance of his team on Sunday against the Jets. Tony Sparano lost his team long ago, being one of the most hated coaches in football. But so is Bill Belichek, yet he finds ways to win.

Sparano took a 1-win team to the playoffs and the following year they were 11-5! That is impressive!

In their final preseason game the Chiefs lost starting tight end Tony Moeaki, then watched as Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry and All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles went down in the following weeks. To top it all off, Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Cassel joined them on injured reserve hurting his throwing hand in a loss to Denver. The important thing here is that the injuries all point up to a lack of depth on the roster!

The Chiefs rallied to four consecutive victories, after losing their first three games. For a short while they sat in a tie atop the AFC West. The rash of injuries proved too difficult to overcome, and they’ve lost five of their last six to fall out of contention with several of the defeats coming in lopsided fashion.

That’s what cost Haley his job.

Sparano knew what was coming, and speculation didn’t make matters better. Bill Cowher, Jeff Fisher, and Jon Gruden were the names thrown out as possible successors, months before he was fired.

My problem with all this is the coach has just so much power, so much influence. What stands in his way is ownership ego’s General Managers who are too controlling, and money. A coach likes to build a team based on his philosophy, experience and can only do so by what the ownership and upper management allows. Then who is the boss? How much can I spend, and how much can I save. All this impacts on personnel, and personnel impacts on a coach’s playbook, philosophy and game plan. What he expects is that any player he elects to put out on the playing field is professional enough to perform.

I DON”T WANT TO SAY ANYTHING BUT…

It seems some New York newspapers agree with me about Eli Manning. Mr. Manning has come from behind in the last quarter to lead the Giants to victories. If only they had a defense.

Meanwhile the Jets have a reoccurring nightmare. Jim Leonhard is once again lost for the season. This time he was tackled after an interception, tearing a patella tendon in his right knee. Devastating for the Jets defense.

TIME TO CALL IT A DAY!

The Mets have borrowed more money and continue to sell pieces of ownership of the ball club. It I on an austerity program of little movement, lose a great player because we can’t afford to keep him, and pretend they are contenders. I contend they are pretenders. Sell the club and it gives the Mets two things. One, they give the players a better chance, and two, it gives the fans what they want, new ownership.

RULES ARE RULES, OR ARE THEY?

It’s quite simple. Don’t use illegal performance enhancing drugs and play for a major league baseball club. Ryan Braun knew that, won a title and was tested and found that he broke the rules. He is appealing the findings. No player has ever won that appeal, what makes him think he should? He won the National League Most Valuable Player award. In my opinion, they should strip him of the title, and award it to the runner up. 50 game suspensions are fine, but they are cheating a ballclub, an owner who pays in good faith, and teammates that rely on Braun to do his job. No matter how good he is, he will

always be under suspicion and tainted as a drug user.