Behind The Scoreboard - Claude Vinson


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Behind The Scoreboard
By Claude Vinson

Coaching carousel

(Editor’s Note – This column, due to press deadlines, was written prior to Monday night’s national championship football game.)

Half of all the football fans in the area with whom I have spoken this past week have predicted one thing for this week’s column – it will bear heavily on the BCS game with the Rolling Tide and the Fighting Irish. Au contraire, my peeps. It would be all too easy to spread the proposed exploits of the Crimson Tide all over these hallowed pages but that would be totally unfair to a duo of other major issues.

However, I must point out that yours truly didn’t do all that shabby with the SEC bowl participation forecast. So far the tally is 5-3 with just one left undecided. My apology to coach Hugh Freeze and the Ole Miss Rebels. They really baked the Pittsburgh Panthers’ potatoes.

It is generally a hot topic the day after the regular season ends in the NFL which former coach was first to dial the moving company. Normally, we refer to the time as the coaching carousel, but this time it could have been a windmill. No less than a grand total of seven coaches was let go. Three of the first to face the Black Monday cloud had Super Bowl resumes. Andy Reid (Eagles), Lovie Smith (Bears) and Ken Whisenhunt (Cardinals) had lost NFL championship games. Norv Turner, Pat Shurmur, Romeo Crennel and Chan Gailey joined the list.

Reid, the longest tenured coach in the present day NFL was almost immediately named head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. None of these newly jobless have immediate worries. I believe one of these has a severance package of about five and a half mil coming.

“Wild Card Week” came and went amid plenty of fireworks. The Bengals of Cincinnati were denied their first playoff win in like forever. The Seahawks of Seattle greatly disappointed a Redskins team which tied its hopes to a rookie phenom. The latter will probably be back next year. Baltimore moved on after putting the hurt on Indianapolis and the Green Bay Packers reversed the fortunes of the Vikings after bowing to them a week before.

And now to Monday (of this week) and the grand dance. This will be the 18th time the two schools have played for a national title. So far the Tide has rolled to nine crowns to eight for the Irish.

Notre Dame and Bama last met in 1987, an Irish win. Just one little last tidbit – the SEC has won seven consecutive national titles.

Prediction – Tide 19, Irish 16.

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