More Football Quickies

-You almost never see an NFL head coach get fired during the season, let alone two, but Vikings head coach Brad Childress was fired earlier today. I'm really surprised at how quickly this went south. I mean, they were in the NFC Championship last year. Still, I don't think it was so much the team's record that got him fired, but more how the entire team appears to have turned against him. Also, releasing a player like Randy Moss without telling your owner isn't going to do you any favors. This probably will give the Vikings some kind of mini-bump for the rest of the season but I believe it will be too little, too late. It just goes to show you: sometimes it's best not to press your luck.

-I remember going nuts when Vince Young led the Texas Longhorns on that huge comeback against USC for the National Championship. I really thought Young would turn out to be a serviceable, if not spectacular, NFL player. But, after allegedly tossing his pads into the stands and telling his coach, "I'm not quitting on my teammates. I'm quitting on you.", it appears that he is the kind of player who can't handle adversity well and that is something you will face a lot of when you play quarterback. Unless Jeff Fisher bolts for Dallas, I can't see any way that Vince remains with the Titans after this season.

-Count me among those who does not think Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took a dive yesterday after being slapped by Oakland's Richard Seymour. (Indulged? That one I'll agree with.) I've stood next to Seymour - that dude can put just about anyone on the ground with minimal effort. If anything, kudos to Ben for saying whatever it was that got Seymour mad enough to make that stupid of a mistake. My question is, why his linemen weren't going after Seymour after it happened?

-One thing I didn't like about the Steelers' game was that Roethlisberger was still in the game and throwing late into the fourth quarter, when the outcome was clearly decided by then. (And this isn't just because I was playing against him in Fantasy Football.) Also, down in New Orleans it was the same thing with the Saints trying to run it up on the Seahawks. Basically, the reason this bothers me goes back to the same thing I said last week: when the Patriots beat a team by more than 20 they are accused of running it up, but when any other team does it all that happens is one muttered comment by the guy narrating the highlights. It infuriates me that the Patriots (and especially Bill Belichick) have this reputation, when it is clear they don't do any thing that every other team in the league would do in the same situation.

-I thought it was a very cool sight when Notre Dame and Army played a game Saturday night in New Yankee Stadium. They really played up the history of the rivalry storyline, which was nice. Not to mention, given what happened in Chicago the same afternoon, it was helpful that they could actually use both sides of the field.