Mariucci Firing

By now you've heard or read pretty much all you can handle on Steve Mariucci's dismissal today, so I am just going to provide some random thoughts in the wake of the latest Lions coaching upheaval. (In case you haven't read enough, here are Sweaty Men Endeavors, Out of Bounds and the Detroit Lions Weblog take on today's events.)

* The Lions are so pathetic they can't even fire a guy correctly. Instead of canning Mariucci on Friday morning, as they should have, they let the poor fellow swing in the breeze all weekend long. Perhaps if the story of his firing hadn't leaked out, the Lions could have taken the "wait until the season ends" approach. However, once the story got wings, they should have had the decency to fire the man instead of letting him and his family go through another three days of questions.

* I'm neither elated or depressed about Mariucci's departure. Beyond, of course, normal sympathy for someone losing their job. (That's a bit off-set by the $10 or so million dollars Mooch is going to collect to stay at home, however.) I guess I'm just a bit too negative today. I just don't see things improving unless Matt Millen accidentally stumbles across a football genius in his coaching search. Now, whether he will have the smarts to recognize, then hire the genius even if he finds him, is an entirely different matter. (For your reading pleasure, here is a list of would-be candidates for the Lions gig from John Clayton at ESPN.com.)

* Then there are the Fords. They're not going anywhere, but neither have the Lions since the Ford family took charge. That is not a coincidence. I'm becoming a believer in "the Lions will stink until the Fords are gone" theory. That's so depressing, I cannot ponder it tonight.

* Did anyone else notice the similarities between the Mariucci firing and Alan Trammell's? Both men were lauded for being fine human beings. Their ex-employers went out of their way to point out what fine men they were firing. However, in being so good natured, both were perceived by some as "too nice". That led to disciplinary issues that both seemed ill-equipped to correct.

In both situations a player also made it clear there were few or no leaders in the lockeroom/clubhouse. In the Lions case, that was Mariucci man, Jeff Garcia. In Trammell's case, Brandon Inge spoke of the lack of leadership amongst his teammates.

I just found it odd that you could have almost replaced Trammell's name for Mariucci's and had almost identical press conferences.

*Millen's not going anywhere. I suppose if the Lions tank all five remaining games there is a tiny, tiny chance he could get the boot, but I doubt that's going to do him in, either. I know his supporters generally point to his good draft selections, but do we consider Charles Rogers and Joey Harrington (number two and three overall choices) good picks? Shouldn't he have some success drafting as high as the Lions do annually?

What of his free agent moves? Love that offensive line play this year? Those are his fill-ins upfront. Dare I utter "Schroeder"? It pains anyone with an ounce of common sense and halfway decent vision to see the Bears just smush opponents week in and week out with all those household names. Seriously, outside of Brian Urlacher, how many Bears could a casual, non-fantasy league participant, name?

Forget the flashy, early picks, how many mid to late round choices have become solid starters on this team? I can have a degree of success drafting high first rounders. Assembling a team takes more than that as we witness each Sunday.

* I was flipping through the stations early this evening when I came across a program on the NFL Network entitled "In Their Own Words". The feature was Part II of the Steelers of the 1970s. That team, a childhood favorite of mine, was arguably the best team ever assembled. I watched as the Steelers won and, occasionally, lost playoff games, but generally dominated an era. I began to wonder why the Lions couldn't have half that kind of success?

I'm not talking about becoming the greatest team ever, although that would be fine, I'm just talking about a run of success that gives their fanbase something to brag about. A succession of years where the playoffs are not only expected, but almost taken for granted. If only one Super Bowl championship emerged, wouldn't that be enough? Why in the world is that so darn hard to accomplish?

* Overall, I think today's news has me more negative than positive. Not because Mariucci shouldn't have been let go, again, that should have been done Friday morning, but because I feel we are stuck in a cycle that just isn't going to end. Poor season, high draft choice, renewed optimism, poor season, high draft choice, renewed optimism, poor season, fired coach, high draft choice........ It seems like the odds of the Lions being champions are only slightly better than me winning the lottery.

Part of me, the sane part, says forget the Lions. Root for someone else. It's plain stupid to care about a team that appears doomed for failure. It's crazy to support a team that doesn't give a care about you. (Of course, buying that logic would eliminate me from rooting for any team because none of them give a hoot about me or you.) Yet I care enough to type this little rant. I guess that means I wait for the "high draft pick" part of the cycle come April.