EL BARRIO, EL FALLS: I was down earlier this week with a stomach bug but felt almost as sick as I do on the average Friday, when I realize that I have to write up a post for MTM! I did some looking around, spit in the air and drew up today’s menu: Black NFL Coaches, Archie Manning And The Sports Calendar.
Black NFL Coaches: It has been a tough off-season for black head coaches and head coach candidates in the NFL. They have watched position after position go to all kinds. College coaches with a mediocre record were hired. A coach with a with a losing record on a previous team was hired (J-E-T-S). And others were hired based on potential. However, that outside-the-box-thinking doesn’t extend to minority coaches. After working hard to develop the experience necessary they are told that it is not experience but the potential and sheer talent. So Kliff Kingsbury is a better candidate that Philadelphia Assistant coach Duce Staley. Somehow Adam “Marty Feldman” Gase, despite being fresh off of failing in Miami, was a more interesting proposition than Eric Bienemy, who was running the best offense in the league. There is no immediate answer or fix for this. The Rooney Rule was introduced but like anything else, it has been worked around so we are essentially back to square one.
Arch Manning: Social media has changed things. Things like a 13-year-old slinging a the football perfectly would not be all over the internet, but now the are. What makes this 13-year-old special is he is a Manning. His grandad and namesake is Archie Manning and his uncles are Peyton and Eli. Archie Manning is the son of Cooper Manning. Cooper was a phenom himself until being diagnosed with a rare spinal condition ended his football career at 18. It appears the football genes continued to his son. Young Archie is already drawing looks from colleges as he gets ready for his freshman year of High School! We have no idea if he will choose Ole Miss or Tennessee. Maybe he will choose LSU and really make a name for himself.
The Sports Calendar: The calendar really sucks this time of the year. We are in the first week of Super Bowl hype. Why isn’t it back to one week and on Saturday? It is all so insane… Basketball use to be something worth turning your attention to but the NBA is essentially now the Golden State Warriors Invitational… Hockey might be competitive but with the way my Rangers are playing, I can’t say I am dying to watch – and since it is not playoffs – I can’t say I am interested… I am paying attention to English soccer but I think it is too early to start that talk with you. It is also only pre-season for US club soccer so no MLS talk. There is not much going on, so don’t be surprised if my next piece is an Angry Ward-like take on movies.
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NOTE FROM MANAGEMENT: Get on the Major League Rugby bandwagon… 9 teams, including NYC and Toronto this year. It kicks off this weekend.
