Armadillo: Friday's six-pack
There are seven new head coaches in the NFL this season...........
Cleveland—Mike Pettine—Defensive background, was HS coach featured in a 1999 TV reality show about high school football in eastern PA. Has come a long way; now has Johnny Manziel as his rookie QB/franchise savior.
Detroit—Jim Caldwell-- Went 26-63 as coach at Wake Forest, then didn’t win a title in Indy even though he had Peyton Manning. If I was a Lions’ fan, wouldn’t be very happy with this hire.
Houston—Bill O’Brien—Another person Tom Brady made famous; he was QB coach in Foxboro, then was doing good work at Penn State until he bolted to this job for unknown reasons.
Minnesota—Mike Zimmer—How come the media never complained when this guy got passed over for HC jobs year after year? Finally gets his chance with the Vikings playing outdoors for the next two years, as a new stadium is built.
Tampa Bay—Lovie Smith—Won more than he lost in Chicago, but won only one playoff game the last five years, so they stupidly fired him. Bucs benefit from Bears’ mistake.
Tennessee— Ken Whienhunt-- Got Cardinals to the Super Bowl; I repeat, he got the Cardinals to the Super Bowl. Tremendous hire.
Washington—Jay Gruden-- Was HC in Arena League for 8 or 9 years; once quit as HC to go back to playing QB in the AFL. Will do well in Washington.
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Armadillo: Friday's List of 13: Random stuff with the weekend here.......
13) On Monday, there was an article online about Eldrick Woods lobbying to be on the Ryder Cup team; on Wednesday, he announced his golf was done until December for medical reasons. Alrighty then, the old “You can’t fire me, I quit!!!” tactic.
Saves Tom Watson the trouble of not picking Eldrick when it comes time to choose up sides for one of the most overrated events of any year, the Ryder Cup.
12) If every Bronx Bomber game ended after the 5th inning, they’d be 63-38-18 this season. But games are nine innings and they’re 61-58; is it all the bullpen’s fault? Without knowing exact numbers, I’m guessing their late-inning offense is very poor, they don’t tack on to leads, so they lose a lot of close games. They’ll be better next year when they get ARod back.
11) Why did the Lions hire Jim Caldwell as their coach? Seriously, they couldn’t come up with a better candidate than him? If I was a Lion fan, one playoff win in 50 years would be frustrating, but hiring this guy, who couldn’t win with Payton Manning under center, who went 26-63 in eight years at Wake Forest, that would be a big problem for me.
10) Rutgers at Washington State on August 30 is a very long road trip for the Scarlet Knights (Rutgers is in New Jersey); they opened at Fresno State LY, so they must have a big travel budget. Wonder how many times I’ll look for Rutgers in the AAC section before I get it ingrained in my head that they’re in the Big 14 now.
9) Saturday is National Rollercoaster Day. One of the things in life I like least are rollercoasters. Seriously. Scare the hell out of me. Ever see the movie Shakedown, with Sam Elliott/Peter Weller? Rollercoaster goes into the ocean at the end? Have not been on one since I saw that movie. All I think about when I’m on one is how many ways it could go off the tracks and kill me. No bueno.
8) Baseball injury updates: Manny Machado is on the DL with a sprained knee he injured while swinging a bat in a game. Weird thing. Texas put Yu Darvish on the DL; Troy Tulowitzki is done for the year after hip surgery; first they spell his name wrong on his giveaway t-shirt, then he gets hurt and is gone for the year. Rough year for the Rockies.
7) Looks like the Mets will bring manager Terry Collins back next year; he can’t get over .500 with the Mets but keeps his job longer than he did with Houston or the Angels, where he was seldom under .500. Go figure.
6) Cincinnati transfer Jermaine Lawrence is eligible immediately at Manhattan, where he is expected to be a big addition to Steve Masiello’s team.
5) Arizona Diamondbacks played a doubleheader in Cleveland on Wednesday, won the nightcap in extra innings, then flew to Miami and got in at 3:39am. Not every day is glamorous for a pro athlete.
4) When the Atlanta Hawks traded Pete Maravich to the New Orleans Jazz, they got back two journeyman players and five draft picks, two of whom became David Thompson and Alex English, both Hall of Fame players. Problem for Atlanta was that neither Thompson or English ever played for the Hawks; Thompson signed with the ABA’s Nuggets, English was traded to Milwaukee. Whoops.
3) Tennessee Volunteers haven't played in a bowl game since 2010; they've had four head coaches the last seven years. Butch Jones will get it done in Knoxville, if he is given enough time. Not a lot of patient people in the SEC.
2) Louisville Cardinals are 15-29 vs spread at home since Bobby Petrino left there for Arkansas after the '06 season; now he is back with the Cardinals-- can he get Louisville back to being a dominant home team, as they move up to the ACC?
1) University of Texas gave alum/former NFL QB Vince Young a $100K a year job as a fund raiser, proving that if you win a national title for the Longhorns, you are indeed set for life. He works in community outreach, meaning he is going to shake a lot of boosters' hands in the coming years.
