Jerry Jones announced today that the new head coach of the Dallas Cowboys will not be announced until after the Super Bowl. Norv Turner still seems to be the front runner, though reports have said that Jerry was impressed by Mike Singletary’s interview. Hopefully the announcement will be early next week.
News came down today that Kobe Bryant will be suspended for hitting Manu Ginobili with an unintentional elbow in last Sunday’s game between the Lakers and the Spurs. Kobe says he is “shocked” by the suspension.
I side with Kobe for three reasons:
1) The policing of behavior in NBA games has gotten way out of control. The knee-jerk pendulum swing in terms of new rules about flagrant fouls, automatic suspensions and the like is perhaps understandable in the wake of the Artest and ‘Melo brawls in the last few years, but that does not make it right. Apparently, players must now be sure not to do anything accidentally.
2) Manu Ginobili has faked so many fouls over the years that he deserves any physical harm that comes his way.
3) I’d be willing to bet that the league office reviewed this incident because of a whining phone call from the Spurs organization, which continues to deceive its fans and the media by trying to position itself as a bastion of class and good sportsmanship.
What kills me about the ESPN article reporting this incident is Phil Jackson’s quote near the end. The years of favorable calls Kobe and Shaq received during the Lakers’ title run must have slipped his mind.
Edit: Link of NY Times article including quote where Phil Jackson has been “a little disappointed with how Kobe’s been treated as a premier player over the last couple of weeks.â€
The “best team in the NBA” has finally lost a game. Last night, Minnesota beat Phoenix 121-112 with 44 points from Kevin Garnett. Even though they have only lost 1 of their last 18 games, and 3 of their last 36, they are still only tied with the Mavs for the best record in the league (and they are still 0-6 against the other 4 of the top 5 teams in the league).
They are starting to remind me of the Texas Tech football team. They destroy opponents that are average or below-average, but when they have to play the good teams, they can’t play enough defense to win. They may end up with the best record at the end of the season, but I just don’t see them surviving in a 7 game series against another of the West’s elite.
Ever since Bill Parcells retired, Jerry Jones seems to be doing everything out of whack. First, he hires a new offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett. Garrett was hired to help groom Tony Romo. Then, he begins his head coach search, where the front-runner appears to be Norv Turner, whom they want to hire to groom Tony Romo. Why they need to hire 2 coaches to groom Romo is a bit beyond me.
Apparently, since Troy Aikman is on board with the hirings, most other people are as well. The local media seems to be on board because they are friendly with Norv Turner, and can call him up on his cell when news breaks.
It seems as if Jerry is trying to get back to the good old days when they won three Super Bowls in the mid-nineties. Personally, I don’t think Norv is a bad hire, I’m just wondering where the big names are. This is supposed to be one of the premiere coaching jobs in the country. Right now the candidates include Wade Phillips, Mike Singletary, Gary Gibbs, and if they can’t find someone, Jason Garrett would be promoted. No big names there.
Is Jerry mismanaging the process, or has he turned the franchise into something that big names would not want to coach? It seemed as if he and Bill got along well, and Bill was able to get what ever he wanted (The exception being T.O.). Did Jerry get tired of not getting the credit (or blame)? Is he really trying to get back to the days where he ran the show?
Who knows, maybe Jerry could just coach the team himself.
National Signing Day is approaching on February 7. The usual last-minute de-commits and re-commits have begun. Today, news broke that San Antonio Churchill quarterback Nick Fanuzzi switched his oral commitment from Miami to Alabama, and Allen quarterback Nathan Dick de-committed from Rice to go play with his brother Casey, also a quarterback, at Arkansas. Arkansas, of course, has a big hole at that position since highly-touted 2006 QB recruit Mitch Mustain asked for, and was granted, his release from his scholarship. The linked article speculates that Mustain will follow his former offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn, who left Arkansas after one year to take the same position at the University of Tulsa. Malzahn, of course, was Mustain’s high school coach, and came to Arkansas with Mustain as a package deal. And as if this story needed more twists and turns, Mustain has now re-enrolled in spring classes at Arkansas despite no longer being on scholarship.
The links below will allow us to keep an eye on fluctuating recruiting rankings as Signing Day approaches:
Obviously, Notre Dame’s ranking pleases me, though there is still recruiting work left to be done on the defensive side of the ball. Hopeully, the coaching staff, buoyed by new defensive coordinator Corwin Brown, can make up some of the deficit by getting some early commits for the class of 2008. On the offensive side of the ball, though, the Irish have loaded up with some major talent in the last two classes, and should be able to put on a show by the 2008 season.
EDIT: Notre Dame’s ranking will take a hit with Justin Trattou switching his oral commitment to the Gators (1/25/07).
Bad news for the Ags today: running back Shawnbrey McNeal (Dallas Madison) has switched his oral commitment to Miami, leaving Texas A&M with only one known running back commit for 2007.
Finally, I’ve been continually updating the UNT post below. There has been a new commitment to the Mean Green announced each day this week in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Clearly, Dodge isn’t beating out the big Texas schools for recruits, but some of the players this week have chosen UNT over other Big 10 and Big 12 schools. Dodge is basically putting together an all-star team of Texas high school seniors, and I am excited about getting to see a few games next year. I’ll keep updating each the post with links to the individual news articles about each player.
Just announced on KTCK the Ticket. Details/links to follow.
Updates:
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