Superbowl Coaches

In today's world of instant gratification in sports, there is no such thing as a franchise having loyalty to an NFL head coach.

This is highlighted by the stunning fact that there are only two active coaches in the NFL to win a superbowl--Bill Belichick and tom Coughlin.

In a sport where the coach is likely more important to the teams success than just about every player on the field outside of the quarterback, organizations seem to turn there back on their coaches quickly in hopes of finding a quick fix elsewhere.

Winning a superbowl with a franchise used to mean that you could then leave at your own discretion, i.e. Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, but after John Gruden and Mike Shanahan were released in recent weeks, that is not the case anymore.

Superbowl winning coaches last 22 years

Joe Gibbs - Retired Jan. 8 2008
Tom Flores - Left coaching in 1994
Bill Walsh - Left after Superbowl XXIII
George Seifert - Fired in 2001 from carolina after 1-15 record
Bill Parcells - Left cowboys, now in Miami head office
Jimmie Johnson - Resigned from Dolphins following fallout with Marino
Barry Switzer - Retired after 1997 season (70 years old)
Mike Holmgren - Left seahawks following 2008 season
Mike shanhan - Fired following 2008 season
Dick Vermeil - Left rams after superbowl, returned to Chiefs and retired after 2005 season
Brian Billick - Fired December 31, 2007 from ravens
Jon Gruden - Fired Jan. 16 2009 from Buccaneers
Bill Belichick - Still active coach of Patriots
Bill Cowher - Left Steelers after superbowl
Tony Dungy - Left Colts after 2008 season
Tom Coughlin - Still active coach of Giants

As you can see by this, it was not until Brian Billick was fired by the Ravens last year that a coach had been fired from the team he won the superbowl with, and its a trend that has been quickly followed twice more in the next 13 months, and one to keep an eye on in the future.

The Arizona Cardinals are in the Superbowl, and it's about time that we all showed Kurt Warner some love.

Warner is just the second quarterback in History to bring a second team to the big game. He has guided a team there past defenses that have known all they will do is throw the ball.

I was reading SI.com today, and there is an article comparing Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning.

Until Tom Brady's incredible season last year, Peyton Manning was widely regarded as the top passer in the NFL, while no one in recent years has ever given Warner--two time MVP Warner, a fair shake.

Warner is 8-2 in post-season play, and has a passer rating higher in the post season than in the regular season. Manning has a passer rating more than ten points worse in the post season than in the regular season.

An excerpt from the article.

"Manning has played his worst statistical game of the year in the playoffs in 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 (as measured by passer rating). Three times in 15 playoff games Manning has posted a passer rating of less than 40 (compared with just twice in 176 regular season games)."

So maybe we haven't given Kurt his dues in years past, and I for one will be cheering for him to win a second ring come Feb. 1, and with two rings, (including beating 2 of the top 3 defenses in this post season) the public will have to give him his well deserved dues.

Are You Kidding me?! Swirsky Back in T.O. Tonight

Tonight marks a special night at the Air Canada Centre.

Long-time voice of the Toronto Raptors, Chuck Swirsky, returns to Toronto tonight as the radio voice for the Chicago Bulls.

Chuck was an entrepreneur type broadcaster in Toronto sports. He arrived in 1998-99 to a hockey crazed city to do radio for the lowly Toronto Raptors. Another face of a kid from North Carolina also showed up that year, and with Vince Carter's play, and Chuck's exuberant calls of "Vincent Lamar Carter", or "Air Canada Carter", the Raptors were put on the NBA map, and more importantly, onto the Toronto Sports fans radar.

Chuck excelled so much in the Radio role that he was promoted to television play by play not long after.

Through inspired calls like "Onions, baby Onions!", and "that was sick, wicked and nasty," we watched for years as the Raptors worked under Vince. Chuck was the eternal optimist and always gave Raptors fans a positive look at what was going on in Raptorland.

And what long-time raptor fan didn't yell out "Raptors win, Raptors win, Raptors win" after the season opener this year?

Other than his calls of the game, some of chucks finest work came on "The Chuck Swirsky Show" on the fan 590. Nothing was nicer to here on an afternoon drive home from school than Chuck's classic "It's always great talking sports in the great, and I mean GREAT city of Toronto." And who didn't laugh when chuck talked about "having the big one."

Other lines that we in Toronto will miss will be ones like "Ring it up from downtown" "Just ate some Spalding" "nothing but Nylon" "Oh My Bosh!" and whoever "is showing a little something something"

I know Chuck didn't want to leave the city, especially a short time after he received his Canadian citizenship, but we wish him the best in his future endeavors in Chicago.

I will be attending the game tonight, and am truly hoping for a tribute and a much-deserved standing O.

Well Chuck,
I for one will finish off my dinner tonite with a Large DQ blizzard for the man who brought to the forefront of Toronto Sports.
You are truly "a class act".

Patriots Season Outlook II

Bill Belichick was bang-on after the Patriots' 24-21 win over the Seahawks Sunday when he said "that was a great example of 60 minutes."

The Patriots never stopped fighting in a game that not only saw them miss their starters that were out before the game (Tom Brady, Lawrence Mareoney, Adalius Thomas, Rodney Harrison, Pierre Woods, Vince Redd, Kelly Washington)but during the game lost defenders Mike Vrabel, Teddi Bruchi and Vince Wilfork.

Junior Seau and Rosey Colvin had to turn into every down linebackers, after both were family men in street clothes less than a week before the game, Seau hadn't even had a real practice with the team.

Now the Patriots are staying on the west coast, and face a Raiders team, that although they have shown some fight against some teams this year, (Bills, Jets etc.) it should be a win for the pats.

In most circumstances.

News of Matt Cassel's father passing away on Monday night has come about, and Cassel is back home and the Patriots are not sure when he will be back. First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with Matt and his family. And secondly, I hope Cassel has a little Brett Favre monday night after his faster passed in him.

As far as the Patriots playoff chances go, It looks like they are going to have to win out, as it is almost guaranteed that either the dolphins or jets will get to 10 wins, and maybe 11. The Ravens have a very tough remaining schedule and are by no means a lock for a wild card spot.

The big match up is still next week in Foxborough against the Cardinals. Lets hope its cold and rainy day and the Patriots running game and defence can dominate the game, and force Kurt "fumble alot" Warner into some untimely turnovers.

Sam Mitchell got the ax last night.

I was never a huge fan of Sam Mitchell, but i came to respect what he did and never was totally against him as a coach. It seemed he got along well with his players and emphasized the right things.

Emphasizing something, and actually getting the players to buy into it are two different things though, and the Raptors have not been able to defend in years. Mitchell did a great job with a young club, bring a group of European and American players, many who could not even understand each other, together and win 47 games two years ago, albeit in a division with 3 deadbeat teams at the time.

Now that the team has such a solid nucleus and is focused on advancing in the playoffs, The Raptors need more of an "x's and o's" guy. I think that Jay Triano is more of that, although I think you are crazy if you think that Collangelo sees Triano as his long term option.

Look at the history of Raptors coaches: Sam Mitchell, Butch Carter,Kevin O'Neill, Brenden Malone, Gene Keady, Darell Walker. None of these guys have ever had another NBA head coaching job and many have never been heard from again. Outside of Lenny Wilkens the Raptors have never had an "A List" coach. Bryan Collangelo never picked Sam Mitchell and now we will see who he brings in for next year. Personally, I think Avery Johnson is holding by. We need a quality coach in Order to help convince Chris Bosh that Toronto is a good place for him to sign a long term deal.

Here's Hoping.

Raptors out West

The Raptors got beat pretty handly on Sunday night in LA, but that I don't think that really upset too many Raptors fans, as the Lakers appear to have something special going on.

With O'Neill out of the lineup, it left Bosh to pound with Bynum, which Bosh is not built for, and clearly took away from his offensive game.

Something special about playing in LA with Jack Nicholson and David Beckham courtside, and Kobe seemingly scoring anytime he wanted. I enjoyed watching this game as much as any Raptors blow out loss I can remember.

My Sports Quick Thoughts

Leafs sign Burke. Although I think people in Toronto are overrating him, he is probably the best guy available, and hopefully he will bring some credibility back to a franchise, and a fan base that deserves it.

Surprise surprise, another Wide receiver in trouble. If you ask me, his days as a Giant are over.

On the same topic, this is the fourth or fifth incident recently involving an NFL player and a gun, the league as got to do something about the trend.

Ted Rogers has done much for the Toronto sports scene even though he was not the biggest fan himself, we thank him and his family for the contributions and keep them in our prayers.

Bosh may be putting up MVP numbers, but MVPs don't come from .500 teams.

Congratulation Michael Phelps on winning the prestigious Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the year for 2008.

The Browns have gone from 2 quality starting quarterbacks, to none. Did you hear that return specialist Josh Cribbs is the backup QB this weekend?

Favorite all-time Athletes

I figured I would try and rank my all-time favourite athletes. I am only 21 so most of my sports knowledge is in recent times. As a kid I only followed my favorite teams, and that will be quite apparent in my list.

1. Tom Brady - The ultimate champion. Throughout his career Tom has played his best in the biggest games. He won three superbowl rings in his first 4 years as the Patriots starter, and led the team to their 16-0 season last year, in which he set the all-time record for touchdowns in a season. He plays for a "hometown" discount to help the patriots acquire other players and stay with their winning ways.

2. Mats Sundin - Growing up a leafs fan, there was only one constant. Sundin led the beloved leafs in scoring seemingly every year, he wore the "C" with pride and was an elite centre. When he had the chance to go elsewhere he stuck with the leafs, even last year when he could have left to a true contender, he wanted to stick it out with "his" team. He has taken a lot of criticism, as any captain in the hockey hot-bed would over the years, and has never said a harsh word about it.

3. Roy Halladay - Halladay may be the most intense athlete I have ever watched. No one takes their job more seriously than "The Doctor". Halladay is a workhorse in the true sense of the word, leading the league in Complete games most years. He faced a lot of adversity early in his career being sent back to the minors and having to fight back. Halladay won the 2003 AL Cy Young award. He is supportive of the Blue Jays franchise and does his bes to get others to come and stay.

4. Chris Bosh - I was sold on Bosh in his rookie season when Vince Carter threw a towel at him during a lopsided game and said something along the lines of "Don't worry chris there will be other days" Bosh took the towel threw it back at Vince and said "This game isn't over Vince" and walked back onto the floor.

5. Tiger Woods - I don't think an explanation is needed here. I remember the 97 masters that this kid was just incredible, and a legend was born.

6. Carlos Delgado - The leader of the Jays while I was growing up, Delgado was an intimidating force in the middle of the lineup. A perennial all-star, Delgado was called up in late fall 1993, but wasn't on the roster in the post-season for the world series. Delgado was the one constant from the world series' years to the new crop of Jays trying to make another run.

7. Wendel Clark - My first sports hero. Wendel was the definition of what Toronto hockey fans want. A skilled player, who when the time was right would drop the gloves and tussle with anyone. Wendel was an incredible captain and then was also the chip that got us Sundin who would be the captain for the next era of Leafs.

8. Teddi Bruschi - A hero in all three superbowls, Bruschi was the emotional leader of a defensive team. The image of bruschi celebrating in the end zone of the Snow bowl sticks with me. Bruschi suffered a stroke in February 2005 that had negative affects on both his vision and motor skills. He managed to come back to football the following year mid-way through and remains an inspiration for stroke survivors as he is still an effective player today.

9. Michael Jordan - Although i was young, and not the biggest basketball fan growing up, looking back, I wish I had watched more of MJ live. I constantly am looking on youtube and tuning into the odd ESPN classic game to watch him work on the court. In the time I have watched sports, no one has dominated a sport, and been as clutch as Michael Jordan.

10. Troy Brown - The ultimate patriot. Brown did whatever Bill Belichick asked whenever he asked during the Patriots superbowls. Whether it was being the Number one wide receiver, being a 3rd or fourth option or even playing defensive back, Troy Brown would do it. Belichick doesn't smile much, and doesn't give his players too much credit, but the times Troy Brown comes up in press conferences, Bill gushes about him.

11. David Ortiz - If anyone remotely into baseball, or sports for that matter was not captivated by the 2004 MLB playoffs, then please step forward. David Ortiz had the entire sports world on hold with each at bat, hitting multiple clutch homers. Ortiz is a perennial all-star, an intimidating bat in Boston's line-up, an overall good guy, and a fun personality for baseball.

12. Morris Peterson - Peterson came to the Raptors as a rookie and immediately produced. He won the city over with big shots and an attractive personality. He left on bog terms, but any who follows the Raptors remembers the circus shot in Washington his final year. He noe starts on the Hornets, a championship contender this year.

13. Brett Favre - Favre is a guy who truly loves to play football. You have to love his gunslinger approach, it isn't always pretty, but overall Favre has gotten the job done, capturing the 1996 superbowl. He continues to play the game with the joy of a child even now that he is 38, which is a truly refreshing thing in sports.

14. Curtis Joseph - Toronto Maple Leafs fans fell in love with "Cujo" during his time in Toronto, riding him as far as the Eastern conference finals. Cujo was a local kid playing for his favorite team. He made the leafs an immediate contender and was a cinderella for a team that had not won a championship in over 30 years. Cujo had an accomplished career in Edmonton before he was a leaf, and had success in Detroit, he came back to the leafs and is the backup this year.

15. Paul Kariya - Kariya was truly a good guy in the NHL in the 90s. He and Selanne made one of the most exciting duos in recent memory. Kariya was also one of the headliners for Canada in Nagano, a very much hyped Olympics, although it ended in disappointment. Kariya was back in Salt Lake city and paired with Lemieux for the famous goal in the gold medal game.