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SIDELINE ARCHIVE Unnecessary Hits To The Pocket / Upset: BYU October 17, 2008 Romo's Pause / Seattle Seahawks October 15, 2008 Weekend Prep: Red River and More October 10, 2008 College Football's 'Crossroads' Weekend October 9, 2008 Gramatical Error October 7, 2008 Turning The Page September 30, 2008 So Cal 'Quizzed — But Who Will Answer? September 26, 2008 3rd Tuesday Panic Button / Forté Yard Dash September 23, 2008 Two and Oh; Oh and Two September 22, 2008 No More NCAAffeine September 11, 2008 Week 1 College Football September 6, 2008 How To Spell Heisman / Chad Ocho Cinco September 1, 2008 Why the Favre story STILL won't go away August 18, 2008 Olympic Notes / Ricky's Still Relevant August 14, 2008 Committee Meetings August 9, 2008 Let the QB Battles Begin August 8, 2008 Slinging The Slinger — More Favre August 6, 2008 Welcome to the 2008 season July 28, 2008 Plus One May 27, 2008 Draft: The Morning After April 28, 2008 Draft: Thinking the Unthinkable April 25, 2008 Draft: Ready For The Long Haul April 23, 2008 Sofa–bound Sport April 16, 2008 Post–Winter Wonderland April 11, 2008 Six Impossible Things February 4, 2008 Brady's Misdirection Play February 3, 2008 Colorful Language January 23, 2008 Let the Romo–bashing begin: Dallas lost January 14, 2008 Bowl Bites: The Wrap January 10, 2008 All About The Coaches January 1, 2008 Bowl Bites 3 and A Communication Breakdown December 29, 2007 Bowl Bites 2 December 27, 2007 Bowl Bites 1 December 23, 2007 The Empty Chair - Coach Situations Vacant December 22, 2007 For Some, The Playoffs Are Now December 15, 2007 A Certain Lack Of Welcome December 13, 2007 Unrelated Notes November 29, 2007 Two Thanksgiving thoughts November 22, 2007 Halftime: NFC November 9, 2007 Halftime: AFC November 8, 2007 London, Part 2 / A Tale of Two Chads / A Game of Intimidation November 4, 2007 Damp Squib / Other London Notes October 29, 2007 Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em / Dolphins – The Aftermath October 23, 2007 The Dolphins Did What? October 18, 2007 Notes on the Defenses October 13, 2007 Habits to be Broken October 12, 2007 Overtime October 13, 2007 This Week's Starters October 6, 2007: USF: Covering The Spread / Fantastic Football September 27, 2007: Grossman: The Final Act? / McNabb, the Epilogue September 24, 2007: Eagles QB in Slight Controversy September 21, 2007: Leftwich's Parting Gift to Jacksonville? / Boos cruise September 18, 2007: Notre Dame M.I.A. September 16, 2007: Looking Beyond NFL Wk. 1 September 12, 2007: Best Hope For Heisman September 10, 2007: Coaching Hot Seats / AP Poll Feeling ’Appy September 7, 2007: The NFL’s Prime Cuts September 5, 2007: Michigan Falls to Killer Apps September 3, 2007: Look Out Couch / The Taint's On You, Bud September 1, 2007: |
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SPORTS SIDELINE 
Observations, Opinion & Occasional Silliness by Richard L Gale LIGHTS, CAMERAS, DISTRACTION Playing sports isn't just about winning and losing. It's also about suspensions and arrests and media hype and quarterback controversies and frustrated sound bites and coaches under pressure. Yeah, I know it SHOULD be about the winning and losing, but let's not kid ourselves – without the other stuff, sports talk radio would just be empty static. So this year, in addition to musing on weekly performances, winning streaks and playoff implications, we'll be touring the teams intermittently to compile a list of the league's Most Troubled Teams, Top QB Controversies, and Top 10 Coaching Hot Seats. Clearly, it's too early to deal with arrests, but with Commissioner Goodell this week declaring that there are no more suspensions in the pipeline, now's the best time to start the count. As of right now, nobody is any better or worse than the Bengals, and all existing suspensions don't count. (Of course, all that free time does give some suspended players more opportunity for off-field indiscretions, so it may be only a matter of time before we round up the usual suspects). QB Controversies? Well, the Jaguars disarmed their own by getting rid of arguably their best passer (not that Quinn Gray can't put pressure on David Garrard down the line), and Charlie Frye/Brady Quinn is a matter of when rather than if. But controversies are just grumbles until an 0-2 or 0-3 record gives local media the ammunition with which to start take pot-shots at incumbents. So we'll come back to that one later on. Like NASCAR, the Coaching Hot Seat Top 10 enjoys more of a rolling start. Here's our lap one line-up: 1. Tom Coughlin (NY Giants). With Tiki Barber's retirement reminding us about Coughlin, Michael Strahan's almost-retirement sure seems like another veteran trying to avoid the coach in training camp. A regimental brand of coaching draws respect when it's winning, but following a season when an easy-going coach won a Superbowl with one Manning, a losing record from Coughlin's troops will have people questioning the whole hard-line coach philosophy. 2. Jon Gruden (Tampa Bay). Gruden inherited Tony Dungy's competitive team and managed them to a Superbowl victory. But Gruden is only 42-42 with the Bucs. A winning record now and overall may be needed ...but that's not improbable. 3. Marvin Lewis (Cincinnati). Lewis enters his fifth season with a bare positive record (35-30). The off-field antics of some (many) of his players focus the media on the negative, and those story lines threaten to overshadow on-field play for a second season. A playoff visit is probably necessary for Lewis to see year six. 4. John Fox (Carolina). Fox still has a 49-38 record, but which direction are the Panthers headed? If it comes to switching QB from Jake Delhomme to David Carr, could Fox ride that out without paying with his job? 5. Joe Gibbs (Washington). There is too much respect for Gibbs in Washington for him to be pushed out of the door, but another bad season from the Redskins might prompt Gibbs to step away. But my guess is they are still in the picture in Week 17, and Gibbs stays. 6. Romeo Crennel (Cleveland). One of several coaches looking over his shoulder at Bill Cowher rumors. 7. Rod Marinelli (Detroit). A bit of a nowhere man, heat-wise. Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz will receive any credit for a working offense, and Matt Millen will continue to receive the ire of the fans for any continued disasters. He's probably safe-ish. 8. Mike Holmgren (Seattle). Holmgren must counter the impression that Seattle are slipping back year-on-year. If they don't win the division again (at least) the pressure for change will increase. 9. Jack Del Rio (Jacksonville). Del Rio was reportedly keen to bring in a new QB at draft-time, but made the ultimate decision to part with Byron Leftwich. If the season goes badly, plenty of commentators will be revisiting that decision. 10. Cam Cameron (Miami). The off-season booing has Cameron' seat heated before his season even begins. AP Poll is Feeling ’Appy In the aftermath of Appalachian State's defeat of Michigan, the AP poll has changed its rules and will now allow voters to give votes to FCS teams such as the Mountaineers. Appalachian would certainly have earned some votes in the most recent poll had the rule change been in place before, but with Appalachian State playing a Division II team this week, the spotlight – and the opportunity to be the first FCS team to receive votes in that poll – may have moved on. Hopefully somebody remembers... even if it's just Steve Spurrier switching his Duke vote. |
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