AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2008 > January > 08 > Entry

The Tuesday Countdown


Jeff Schultz

10: I don’t know if there’s any chance of him pulling this off. But before Arthur Blank hires a new general manager or coach, he needs to take a shot at bringing one legend back into the Falcons’ organization: Joe Gibbs.

9: Gibbs, who retired as Redskins coach Tuesday, sat on the Falcons’ Board of Directors before leaving in 2004 to return to the sideline with Washington. The fact he never returned the Skins to glory - though they did make the playoffs this season - doesn’t diminish the man’s depth of football knowledge. Should Gibbs coach the Falcons? No. Should he be the GM? No. But if there’s any possibility of Blank getting him involved in the hiring process, it would be his best move of the off-season.

8: What was the final score of the BCS title game? I went to sleep at 11:15, or roughly a half-hour after Ohio State.

7: Just guessing out loud here: If ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit doesn’t leak that Les Miles is going to take the Michigan job - which clearly blew up the process and Miles’ obvious intentions - the Tigers might not be national champions today. There’s a good chance the distraction of Miles’ impending departure would be too great for the team to function. And if he had left, the team would’ve been coached by an interim replacement.

6: According to a sports gambling website (bodoglife.com), “Other” is even money to be the Falcons’ starting quarterback next season, followed by Joey Harrington (3-2), Chris Redman (2-1) and Byron Leftwich (5-2). Who is this Other guy, and did he have a better bowl game than Colt Brennan?

5: Dr. Phil met the other day with Britney Spears. He later said he will not do a TV special on her mental breakdown, but plans are in the works for an examination on the Falcons’ coaching search.

4: It’s impossible not to like Brad McCrimmon, whom the Thrashers say was “promoted” from assistant coach to associate coach. But for what it’s worth, I punched “assistant” into my Word thesaurus and it came up with three meanings: helper, subordinate, associate.

3: While “associate” coach conveys some pecking order in NHL-speak, the title change means next to nothing, unless general manager/coach Don Waddell suddenly leaves the bench and allows McCrimmon to run things. Is McCrimmon next in line as coach? Probably. But that would’ve been the case, anyway. And if Waddell loses his job after this season, the next general manager will determine the next coach.

2: Concerns about the Rose Bowl not wanting to be a part of Michael Adams’ proposed college playoff system - or any playoff system - will go away if the Big Ten and Pacific 10 say goodbye to the Rose Bowl.

1: Sorry. I still don’t believe Roger Clemens.

Permalink | Comments (22) | Post your comment | Categories: Jeff Schultz

Comments

By the way,

January 8, 2008 10:34 AM | Link to this

The Rose Bowl is so arrogant, they’re liable to turn the venue into a high school soccer stadium if the Pac 10/Big 10 deal goes bust. That’s the kind of organization they are.

By Singletary

January 8, 2008 10:45 AM | Link to this

Too bad, Jeff. Early reports in the mid-Atlantic are that Gibbs is being signed to some uber-consultancy for the next year by The Danny.

I agree Gibbs would be a great GM or EVP over that process, but so far it looks like it really is his ill grandson.

By Cowher to the 'Skins

January 8, 2008 10:48 AM | Link to this

This is the one he’s been waiting for. Watch for it to happen quickly. You read it here first.

By Rose Bowl Committee

January 8, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this

We will be happy to host the highest ranked non-playoff teams from the Pac-10 and Big-10. Tradition means something in Southern California.

By Ali G

January 8, 2008 10:52 AM | Link to this

Jeff, why did you write item 3 in Canada? I don’t read Canada.

By Tom Heckert

January 8, 2008 10:54 AM | Link to this

Jeff, are you trying to screw up my deal? I’ll already have Arthur and Rich looking over my shoulder and you want to add Gibbs, too. Geez.

By GT

January 8, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this

Kirk Herbstreit intended to blow up the Michigan deal to help his OSU team continue to beat Michigan. He did OSU the favor by not having to play against someone that would turn the tide like Les Miles. LSU would have beaten OSU if Pearl Harbor had broken out in NO. Herbstreit is a king maker not a reporter, working for OSU. Southern Cal should have been in that game or Georgia or West Virginia, but not OSU. If Kirk could control politics the way he works sports he would be dangerous.

By Oh well, the best laid plans ...

January 8, 2008 12:07 PM | Link to this

Michigan got a better coach than Miles, so Herbstreit’s machinations backfired on him.

By Wouldn't It be Nice

January 8, 2008 1:06 PM | Link to this

if we had a 4 team playoff with WVU, USC, UGA & LSU. Looks like they were the best teams after the weak BCS games. The only competitive BCS game was the Orange because it was a match up of 2 inferior teams.

Maybe Dr. Adams’ new playoff could make that kind of thing happen but my gut tells me something will screw it up and we’ll end up with Ohio State getting a free ride to the Championship game.

Oh, and yes I went to bed at a reasonable hour and missed the last of the game. It was basically over at halftime. I was curious about how many minutes of commercials were run and by my calculations there were 16 minutes of commericials in the first 15 minutes of the game. FOX and the BCS really know how to promote College Football.

By Dang

January 8, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this

The blogger everybody loves to hate and his infamous countdown only has 9 responses? Must be the New Hampshire primary has everyone distracted.

By Pat

January 8, 2008 2:08 PM | Link to this

Who are “The Thrashers?”

By Pete Rose

January 8, 2008 2:38 PM | Link to this

I don’t believe Roger Clemens either. A man should always tell the truth…

By FD Day

January 8, 2008 3:16 PM | Link to this

Pac10 and Big10 “say goodbye” to the Rose Bowl? How stupid are you? They won’t give up that money.

Plus, UGA whining And complaints could have been avoided if the Dawgs had just beaten Tennessee, and won the Eastern Div. How stupid are the 3 voters who gave 1st place votes to UGA? I’m guessing you are one of them.

By Chiefs fan

January 8, 2008 3:48 PM | Link to this

Hire Herm Edwards! Now!

By Mikey

January 8, 2008 4:06 PM | Link to this

Yeah, Chiefs fan. Herm has won how many playoff games ? playoffs ? playoffs ? Heck, lets recycle Jim Mora Sr for that matter.

By Ryder

January 8, 2008 4:41 PM | Link to this

Tradition? Southern California? You mean the place where implants and botox injections are as common there as smog and illegal immigrants? You have GOT to be kidding me! Tradition in Southern California is a euphaseum for “afraid of change”. The only reason the Wac-10 didn’t schedule Georgia was simple:

THE PAC 10 DIDN’T WANT TO GET TRAMPLED ON THEIR OWN FIELD!

After getting embarrassed two years ago by Vince Young USC wanted to take the easy route and figure that by scheduling Illinois they could have an automatic W. Had they scheduled a real team like UGA they would’ve been trounced.

That is why no one respects the Wac 10, because they aren’t ready to play real teams. Won’t matter though, they won’t be able to avoid UGA next year in Miami!

By hotrod

January 8, 2008 9:42 PM | Link to this

we dont care about hockey so quit writing about it

By pete

January 9, 2008 10:57 AM | Link to this

I think the title change to “associate” was a public sign of good faith for work done. I will be most interested if we have another year at the trade deadline like last year. If not, they will all go I think.

Oh yeah, I don’t believe Clemens either. It seemed like he intentionally played certain parts of that tape without playing the beginning or end so you can really put together what they were talking about.

By bali

January 9, 2008 11:47 AM | Link to this

when does a eporter for ESPN all of a sudden have all this power to control who plays for the National Championship. He s always seemed like a dork to me.

By sharon

January 9, 2008 3:03 PM | Link to this

dear hotrod,

nobody cares about you, either, but yet you still posting on here.

please go stick your “hotrod” in a Midtown “exhaust pipe,” get a VD and die.

thanks.

By gdawginkalamazoo

January 9, 2008 3:43 PM | Link to this

Ryder, We all know USC was just looking to “share” the title again with LSU. Thinking a big win over Illinois (the team that beat the #1 team) would do it. Except for the ESPN wonks and other idiots out there who believe that USC has two titles this decade, the majority of us realize that there is no “sharing” of the title. Div I football (as Dan Hawkins likes to call it) adopted the BCS and provided a crystal football to the winner. Never been to the campus but does USC have 2 crystal footballs? The AP can’t crown anything in college football. Maybe they finally realized how stupid it sounds for USC to actually claim that as a true national title.

By Terrible Truth

January 9, 2008 6:36 PM | Link to this

If Ol’ Rog will take and pass a polygraph on that new Fox TV show, I will personally start a petition for his immediate induction into the baseball HOF.

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