Sports this 'n' that

'Tis the season where impatient owners are making moves before things get worse.

In the NBA, this is very obvious. Fred Hoiberg was dismissed by the Chicago Bulls over the weekend after a poor start. Hoiberg was in his 5th season with Chicago after a successful run in the college ranks, and will likely land somewhere else next season.
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There is much to-do over the fact that Green Bay fired Mike McCarthy after losing to Arizona on Sunday. Fox's Troy Aikman ripped the decision, feeling that McCarthy deserved a better fate in his 12th season.

ESPN's Jason Witten, like Aikman a former Dallas Cowboys star, echoed Aikman's sentiments Monday night. In contrast, fellow analyst Anthony "Booger" McFarland felt the time was right to make a change, as rare as it is for Green Bay to make a change in mid-season. Former Miami coach Joe "Don't call me Regis" Philbin will take over for the final four games of the season.

Personally, I feel McCarthy will also find a new home in 2019.
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Meanwhile, the NFL needs to get its house in order when it comes to players and the law.

Two first round draft picks in 2017 are sitting out the rest of the season because of off-field issues. Last week, Kansas City cut their leading rusher, Kareem Hunt, amid charges of assaulting a woman earlier this year. TMZ posted a video of a February incident, and the Chiefs, despite being the #1 seed in the AFC at this point, wasted little time in dismissing Hunt, who has been placed on the league's exempt list, meaning he can't play or practice even if he signs with a new team.

A few days earlier, San Francisco cut their first round pick in '17, Reuben Foster, after an alleged incident in a Tampa hotel. Two days later, the Washington Trumpets took a chance on Foster, but he, too, is on the exempt list.

Has the NFL learned nothing from the Ray Rice debacle a few years back? Apparently, no, not yet.
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Perhaps, then, it is karma that visited the Trumpets in Philadelphia on Monday in a loss to the Eagles.

Colt McCoy, thrust into the starting role at quarterback after Alex Smith went down for the season with a broken leg, suffered the same injury, but was able to play two more downs before calling it a night and a season. Mark Sanchez, whose resume includes the Eagles, Jets, Bears, & Cowboys, was signed as McCoy's backup, and now he's the starter for the rest of the year. Butt Fumble II, anyone?
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The College Football Playoff is now set, but, as usual, the committee didn't exactly endear itself to the masses.

SEC champ Alabama has been the #1 seed from wire to wire, and despite claims of 'Bama Fatigue from fans tired of seeing Nick Saban's Crimson Tide in the playoff every year, nothing's going to change unless the NCAA finally does away with the early season scheduling of non-league tomato cans for Power 5 conference teams such as Alabama. They talk about "strength of schedule", but all that really is is an excuse to justify the same old, same old, leaving mid-major champs like Central Florida out in the cold.

With the SEC comprised of two divisions, you don't need to have non-league games. You've got enough teams to start conference play from the jump. Same goes for the Big 10, although its champion, Ohio State, got the el snubbino from the committee of idiots. The Buckeyes will play in the Rose Bowl on January 1, which will be coach Urban Meyer's final game with the team, as reports have surfaced that he will step down after the season, due mostly to health issues more than the scandals involving assistants.

Alabama-Oklahoma would be worth watching, if but to see all the front-runners on the Bamawagon plotz when the Tide can't blow away the Sooners. As it is, Alabama came from behind for a change to win the SEC title over Georgia on Saturday. I wouldn't mind ESPN getting the biggest Sooner fan in the country, Jim Ross, on the College GameDay panel. It's not as if they've had enough WWE talents, past or present, on their Saturday show. The Hall of Famer could easily take fellow geriatric Lee Corso to school.

Clemson-Notre Dame will be interesting simply because I can't see the Tigers running away and hiding from the Irish.
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