Afternoon Coffee Daily "Linkin' Logs" (9/25/08)

The news is grand in Detroit. As mentioned yesterday in my shortened links, Matt Millen was canned as Detroit Lions GM.

From the article,William Clay for was quoted as saying in a statement: “I have relieved Matt Millen of his duties effective immediately. I believe that this decision is in the best interest of this organization. I appreciate Matt’s efforts. Matt worked tirelessly during his tenure to win, and he would be the first one to tell you that you have to win in this league. It just didn’t work out.

“The support of our fans continues to be incredible and they deserve a winner. Every decision we make must focus on that goal, and I believe this decision today will allow this team to move forward in a positive manner.

“I am very disappointed with where we are as a team after our start this season. Our sole focus now is preparing for our next game against Chicago. The entire organization must work together and do whatever we can to make this a successful season. Despite our record, it is still early and there is time to turn this season around.

“These decisions are for the duration of the 2008 season. Once the season is over, we will undergo a thorough and comprehensive evaluation of our entire football operation and put together a plan that we believe will transform this team into a winner.”

Really, the fans of Detroit deserve a winner. The fans of an NFL franchise that has won exactly one NFL playoff game in the last 50 years, suffered under the worst regime in the NFL over the last 7 years, the fans of a team that odds are, if they are not baby boomers have never seen Detroit even remotely close to the pinnacle of success deserve a winner?

Is there a stronger word than deserve? Merriam-Webster's Thesaurus suggests there is not. The point of this is, the Ford family is an utter joke at leading this franchise. It is entirely one thing, to make a poor decision in hiring a GM, but its entirely different to allow such an insolent and ineffective GM to run hog wild for 7 years. And when Steve Mariucci believes you're ineffective...and blatantly unqualified, then perhaps there's an issue that should have been resolved, in, oh say, 2003.

My respected Detroit fans, your franchise's owners have been sucking at the tit of the NFL for years, ripping you and the NFL off for being a complete waste of a franchise in one of the 11 largest metro areas in the United States. Its a travesty that you have suffered through this era with Millen, but even more of a tragedy that you must live with the Ford Family taking you and your franchise to the cleaners.

You deserve a winner, the Fords do not.

• Is anyone interested in winning an NL playoff spot?
• Does Drew Rosenhaus even have an ounce of credibility anymore? I'm impressed owners haven't blackballed him already, but given his situation with Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown, something tells me the players might already be moving that way.
• For a little Cubbie history
• Awful Announcing makes a run at the "Worst pun of the Year" Award (see if you catch it...it almost seems like even they missed it)
• Benches cleared in Philly last night...it was either Shane Victorino calling Julian Tavarez ugly or some mysterious bomb...err hot dogs
• Hank Steinbrenner proclaims that he dislikes the divisional system in baseball, basically taking a swipe at the Dodgers and suggesting they don't belong because they had an inferior record to the Yankees:

"The biggest problem is the divisional setup in major league baseball. I didn't like it in the 1970s, and I hate it now. Baseball went to a multidivision setup to create more races, rivalries and excitement. But it isn't fair. You see it this season, with plenty of people in the media pointing out that Joe Torre and the Dodgers are going to the playoffs while we're not. This is by no means a knock on Torre - let me make that clear-but look at the division they're in. If L.A. were in the AL East, it wouldn't be in the playoff discussion. The AL East is never weak."

The Yankees currently have the fourth best winning percentage in the AL, 6th in MLB (tied with the Brewers and Mets at 87-71). If the Yankees were in the NL West (or AL Central), its true they'd be in the playoffs. If the Yankees were in the AL West, NL East or NL Central, they would not. If you use the 1969-1994 system, the Yankees would have missed the playoffs on the basis of the Red Sox and Rays making it, and therefore rendering the Yankees 3rd (at best) finish in the AL East worthless. Take it further to a pre-1969 situation and since the Yankees aren't first, they're out.

So to answer Hank's question, yes they have one of the top 8 records in baseball, and if we followed that, they would be in, but that system has never existed (and I don't think it will), so its a moot point to even consider the Dodgers. I don't remember Phillies, Blue Jays, Red Sox, or Angels bellyaching when the Cardinals won the World Series in 2006 with 83 wins (having the 5th best record in the NL, 12th in MLB).

Besides, you want to complain about unfair rules, ask the Toronto Blue Jays about being the smallest market in the MLB and still managing pretty good records with no playoff births.

• And finally, courtesy of Epic Carnival, If you haven't heard me rave in my excitement over American Gladiators, let's get to know Gina Carano...