Monday, November 4, 2013

Football this 'n' that

Earlier this season, Jerry Kill, head football coach at the University of Minnesota, left the team for medical reasons for the second time in the last couple of seasons. This weekend, two NFL coaches joined Kill on the sidelines.

On Saturday, Denver Broncos coach John Fox was taken to a hospital after complaining of being dizzy & light-headed, while out on the golf course in Charlotte. Fox, a former coach with the Carolina Panthers and before that a defensive coordinator with the Giants, underwent heart surgery earlier today, and will be away for 4-6 weeks, during which time defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, who has head coaching experience (Jacksonville), will be the interim coach.

The scenario repeated itself the next night in Houston. Texans coach Gary Kubiak collapsed on the field at halftime and was wheeled off the field on a stretcher. Another defensive coordinator with head coaching experience, Wade Phillips, previously the head man in Dallas & Denver, took over the team for the 2nd half of their game vs. Indianapolis, and witnessed the Colts' comeback from an 18 point deficit to defeat Houston. It hadn't been made official as of press time, with Kubiak still in the hospital, but if he is to miss any significant time, Phillips would be the interim coach, in all probability.

Meanwhile, the dark cloud of racism reared its ugly head in Miami.

Offensive lineman Richie Incognito was suspended by the Dolphins earlier today, the culmination of an internal investigation into some cyberbullying perpetrated against Miami rookie Jonathan Martin, who left the team prior to last Thursday's win over Cincinnati. Dolphins officials obtained a voice mail message, left reportedly by Incognito, that was riddled with racial slurs and coarse language. It is widely assumed that Incognito, who had some behavorial issues in college, has played his last game in a Dolphin uniform.

Incognito picks up a Weasel of the Week award for resorting to the trendy cyberbullying to haze his rookie teammate. A real man would speak his mind if he had a problem with a rookie, and tell it to the man's face, regardless of consequence. Apparently, one must assume that Incognito felt he could get away with living up to his name and hassle Martin without the rest of the team knowing about it. Dolphins management has a box of Dunce Caps headed their way for not nipping this problem in the bud. You know they'd love to have Martin back for their next game on November 10, but will he "come home", if you will, knowing his tormentor is gone? We'll see.

It is necessary for management on all 32 teams to ensure that what happened in Miami isn't happening in their locker rooms, too. Incognito may have been playing for the wrong team all along. In another age, he'd be a perfect fit for the Oakland Raiders, but today, he'd fit right in with Bill Belichick's CIA-like New England Patriots, don't you think?

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