This just in: Mike Shula canned at Alabama.  That’s right, hire a branch from the Dave Wannstedt tree and expect root rot almost immediately. 

It will cost Alabama $3 million to buy him out.  No idea who the next guy will be, but Butch Davis, who really wanted the job, has taken the North Carolina job.  The last rumor was Coach Satan in Miami.  Come to think of it, outside of Greg Schiano at Rutgers, are there any other hot coaching candidates?  All of the other coaches who have done well this year are locked up.  Mal Moore must have somebody in mind, otherwise he would have stuck with Shula at least one more year.

I feel bad for Shula in the sense that he is a classy guy and he is loyal to those around him.  He came to his alma mater when Mike Price was caught with the strippers and guided them through the toughest part of the probabtion, the part Dennis Franchione didn't have the stones to stick around for.  Leo Durocher may have had a point when he said "nice guys finish last."  Shula most likely will wind up back in the NFL or as a busboy at the Don Shula steakhouses.

What is so telling about the dismissals of both Shula and Larry Coker are the comments made by the ADs.  In both cases, we heard the phrase "complete for a national championship each year."  Okay, break that down to who ever is next on the hot seat at Alabama is going to have to beat LSU, Tennessee and Auburn just about every year just to keep his job, plus be in the top two or three in the BCS on a regular basis.   Nah, no pressure.

Speaking of getting fired, the Chicago Black Hawks (that's a hockey team) dismissed Coach Trent Yawney today.  Yawney was the long time coach of the Hawks minor league affiliate in Norfolk where he waited patiently to come to Chicago.  Now, after less than a year and a half he's out of work, He's had injuries, silly player signngs, bad trades and a tremndous amount of idiocy in the front office (and miraculously Bob Pulford is STILL employed.) 

Still miss Mike Keenan, Hawks fans?  And while Denis Savard, who was named Yawney's replacement was a great player, most great players do not make great coaches (how's it going for Wayne Gretzky these days?) 

Truth be told, you could bring in Scottie Bowman or the ghost of Toe Blake and the results would be the same.  Until someone purchases this franchise from the Wirtz family (which is unlikely) and shows Pulford a door he should have seen twenty years ago, you might as well, sit back, relax and root for the Nashville Preditors.  That is, if you'd like to root for a hockey team that is going to make it to the playoffs.



I hate to say “I told you so” but I did and you chose not to listen. Yesterday, planet football saw it for itself and has jumped to my aid.  Rex Grossman is and always will be a fraud.

While at Florida, his coach Steve Spurrier admired his moxie, but had little confidence in him.  With the Bears, you are seeing what the old ball coach saw first hand: Too many unforced turnovers, too many bad decisions and the inability to finish in a big game.

The reality is that the Bears are a good team, not a great one, who will finish one, maybe two and done in the playoffs despite probably the best record in the NFC.  If you can’t win when your opponent makes five turnovers, you have a problem.  And against teams the ilk of New England, the Bears have a big problem.

I was very surprised yesterday to hear most of the talking radio heads come to Grossman’s defense

Who is in charge of hiring announcers for networks these days and what standards do they use?  First, ESPN let Reis Davis do a college football game last week.  Reis is a terrific anchor, one of the few at that network I can still stomach.  But play by play?  Nah. 

Then, there was the guy (I didn’t catch his name) who did the Colorado-Nebraska game last Friday.  He was talking about how Nebraska coach Bill Callahan tried to keep things loose by bringing in “comedian Dan Whitney who is on the cable guy show on TV.” 

Does this clueless wonder not realize he’s talking about Larry the Cable Guy, one of the best known and hottest comedic talents in the country?  Nobody recognizes Larry by his real name (okay, I did, but I have lots of free time) and probably nobody understood what the guy was trying to say.  This is better than Mike Patrick?  I think not.

ABC/Disney should be ashamed for keeping such talented play by play guys as Patrick and Ron Franklin in relative obscurity while on ABC having guys who don’t even recognize Larry the Cable Guy.

Paging the Pittsburgh Steelers, paging the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Boston Legal is getting so wacky it’s like watching a car wreck every week.  You just sit there and drop your jaw.