Life and Stuff

Bobby Petrino is a coward. There, I said it. Why is he a coward you ask, well let's just say that in less than a year, he has succeeded in alienating fans in both the college and pro game. Last winter, the good people of Louisville Kentucky had to endure weeks of speculation about their beloved football coach Bobby Petrino staying at Louisville or leaving for greener pastures. In the end, Bobby said his heart was at Louisville and he agreed to stay on as coach for a million dollar a year salary. Now I have long been a opponent of million dollar salaries in the college game. I believe college sports are the only pure and scared athletic entities left in society. Most of the kids are playing because they want to play, not because they dream of rich contracts and endorsement deals. College athletics represent an environment that for the most part is free from media scrutiny and holier than thou attitudes from coaches and players. The bottom line is that it's a kids game, and it gives people who don't have the talent to play in the pros one last chance to prove what they are made of. Therefore, I resent the fact that there are coaches in college sports that make million dollar salaries. It gives the school unwanted scrutiny, and it suggests the the coach is bigger than the program. So now that Bobby Petrino was supposedly staying at Louisville, everything was fine and dandy in the land of fried chicken and Slugger bats right, wrong! The temptation of coaching in the NFL to the tune of 24 million dollars over five years was an offer he couldn't refuse and he took the money and ran. What Bobby didn't know was that he was getting himself into a situation that was going from bad to worse quickly. The Michael Vick situation wouldn't go away, and the Falcons were pitiful. With a 3-10 record in the NFL, Petrino had made up his mind about what his next move would be. He decided to return to the college game he found success in and bolt the Falcons with 3 games left to play to accept the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas. In essence he found a way out of the mess he helped create. What makes this story sad though is that Petrino didn't wait until the season was over, he just walked away from it like the coward he is, leaving the Falcons organization in shambles while their leader rode off into the sunset for greener pastures. If Petrino had stuck on out like a good solider and decided that the NFL wasn't for him at season's end, I would have more respect for him. However, the fact that he took the easy way out and did not deal with the Falcons problems head on like a good coach does, irks me to no end. I feel for the Falcons organization and the people of Atlanta because they have been had by a man whose heart was in the college game all along. Now then, the Pats are still perfect, and what made the Cowboys lose to the Eagles, time to find out in the bullet points.

• If there is such a thing as Defensive Comeback Player of the Year, it's the Texans Mario Williams who had an awful rookie year last season, only to come back and lead the NFL in sacks this year.

• The Texans themselves might miss the playoffs, but with a 7-7 record, Gary Kubiak deserves some votes for coach of the year.

• Another guy I think should get some coach of the year consideration is the Vikings Brad Chilldress. Minnesota has won five in a row, and is in prime position for the final wild card spot in the NFC heading into a big matchup with the Redskins on Sunday night.

• Nice win for the Niners on Saturday, but are they really that much better than the Bengals or have the Bengals given up on the season?

• Eli Manning is lucky his family has a good reputation within the NFL. If he wasn't so young, and if the Giants did not believe that the best was yet to come, he would have lost his job a long time ago.

• Matt Stover had never missed an overtime field goal in his long career, until Sunday. The miss allowed the lowly Dolphins to score a touchdown and win their first game of the year. The Ravens have now lost eight in a row and may I suggest that they play the next two games with paper bags over their heads.
  

• What makes the Miami win even sweeter is that the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are still the most pathetic team in NFL history. A win next week over the Pats would be a Christmas miracle, but it would also allow them to leapfrog past the the 1990 Pats as the second most pathetic team in NFL history.

• Brett Favre broke another one of Dan Marino's records on Sunday. He has now thrown for more yards than anyone in the history of the game. What record will he break next, Joe Namath's record for most jean ads in a career?

• It took the Bucs 1,864 attempts to finally return a kickoff for a touchdown in their 31 year history. Coincidentally, it also took me that many attempts to properly use the potty when I was a toddler.

• Interim Falcons coach Emmet Thomas believes that his team lacks character. He's right, any character the Falcons had went with Michael Vick to prison and Bobby Petrino to Arkansas.

• Rookie Matt Moore was the starting QB for the Panthers on Sunday and he lead them to a victory against the NFC west champ Seahawks. See what happens when young blood leads the Panthers?