EL BARIO, BRONX – ‘Tis Saturday so it is time to listen to the word of Deacon Blaber. Today I preach from my bully pulpit, speaking to the sporting masses. This week the topic is fraud – because the news of the week has been the fake signer at Nelson Mandela’s memorial. More on that in a bit, however as we are discussing frauds, we also look at coaches that are only fooling themselves.
The memorial for Nelson Mandela was a worldwide event. Over 100 countries and their dignitaries were present. Thousands of people watched on TV or listened to their radio. For those that watch but were deaf, they were treated to a real What the Frack!?! moment. Apparently the gentleman hired to sign Thamsanqa Jantjie, was not a professionally trained sign language expert. At first, members of the South African ruling political party – the African National Congress (ANC) – claimed he was a mystery man… then they identified him. The gentleman himself now claims he had a breakdown and started seeing angels. Worse yet apparently he has been used at previous events and though complaints were made then, they were quickly dismissed. You have to admire the sheer cojones to go up there and not know what your doing and fake it. Lets not forgot the people that hired him also deserve some credit for thinking it would go unnoticed. If you wondered what he was signing when the public leaders were speaking, it has been translated into nonsensical words and something about “…having prawns for dinner!”
From a guy that managed to fool people for sometime… let’s segue to a collection of guys that aren’t fooling anyone: Pro Coaches On The Hot Seat:
NFL:
Gary Kubiak – wait! what!?! The Texans already fired him??Ok, next up is …
Mike Shananahan – He has destroyed RG3 and is doing his best Steve Spurrier impression in Washington. Also not sure anyone has noticed but Shanny has not won anything since he didn’t have some guy named John Elway as his QB.
Greg Schiano – Though the Tampa Bay Bucs could hold on to him and give him another year, it is possibly that there are a few good young coached that may force the issue. Not to mention some vets that are available.
Tom Coughlin – He must go. He has had a great run. Two Super Bowls wins and another appearance. however, the Jints are bad this season and unfortunately for Tommy boy, every head coaching job is an interim run and his time is up.
NBA:
Tyrone Corbin – You would think the head coach of the Utah Jazz would be a safe job as they are not a fly by night style organization. You would be right but Corbin and Jazz look nothing like “Stockton to Malone” Jazz we all remember. It may be Corbin that will be singing the blues soon.
Dwayne Casey – The Raptors have a shot at the playoffs but that is down to the Eastern Conference being horrible. It is evident that they are going into year 7 of their 3 year rebuilding plan. They may let Casey finish out the season but if he doesn’t start playing the high money rookies, the Raptors may let him go.
Larry Drew – The Milwaukee Bucks are playing horrible basketball right now. Fans are tuning in to watch the mascot at halftime then leaving. Drew may not make the season but as it is a lost cause already, management may not want to throw out the good money with the bad.
Mike Brown – Everyone thought Brown got a raw deal when the Lakers fired him. However in his second go round in Cleveland, things aren’t going much better and there is infighting. Brown is seeming Shanahan-esqe as he struggles to win without Lebron James on his roster.
Randy Wittman – This past Thanksgiving, he must have been thankful there are so many other coaches doing a poor job that he is going unnoticed and winning games against the really bad one. Washington is not scarring anybody and he can’t seem to get the chemistry right with John Wall and the supporting cast, thanks to egos.
Jason Kidd – Hit me!! The fact that management made his assistant the highest paid assistant in Basketball so he can help Kidd and Kidd has banished the assistant says a lot. Egos and I really would be surprised if he finished the season.
Mike Woodson – Poor old Mikey. He is not a bad guy. He just took a job with the worst organization in all of sports. We all got bills to pay though. He can only hope Carmelo Anthony flies right enough to score enough points to help and the rest of the team steps it up on defense. It won’t happen and he will be gone by the All-Star Game.
I hope it is some consolation to these coashes to know they can always get hired to be sign language interpreters in South Africa, since not knowing what your doing is a pre-requisite.
That is it for now, feel free to comment below and come back tomorrow for Chessy Bruin and his NFL Picks . Still trying to get him to do LFL picks but he is not budging.
If you want to read more of my ramblings you can find them on RugbyWrapUp.com, look for and “Like” our Facebook Rugby Wrap Up Page and follow us on Twitter @RugbyWrapUp and @JunoirBlaber, respectively.
