Day: November 28, 2005

If I were a fan of the Houston Texans, I would have burned their stadium to the ground yesterday, after they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against the inept St. Louis Rams. They were up, what, 24-3? I understand the idea behind playing not to lose, as opposed to playing to win. But for the Texans to give up a lead like that, they must have been executing the ultimate prevent defense, one that prevents their opponents from punting. How embarrassing. Season ticket holders, revolt.

Coming off an embarrassing Turkey Day loss to the Falcons, the Detroit Lions canned head coach Steve Mariucci Monday, naming defensive coordinator and former Bears HC Dick Jauron as the interim head coach.

So did Mooch deserve to get fired? Well, the Lions were 15-28 under Mariucci, including 4-7 this season, which doesn’t exactly help you establish job security. Of course, if I’m pointing fingers, I’m looking for president Matt Millen, who put together a team that’s gone an NFL-worst 20-55 since 2001. Unexplicably, Millen was given a five-year extension before this season.

Pro Bowl cornerback Dre Bly, in an interview on the NFL Network, pointed his finger at someone else, though:

“They should have fired guys on this team a long time ago… I feel like there is one guy in particular who I felt like is the cause of this whole thing. That’s just how it is.”

Who?

“It’s not hard to figure out. The quarterback (Joey Harrington) here has been bad. He hasn’t gotten the job done since I got here. Y’all just see Sundays, but I’ve been a part of this every day for three years… practices. You see how the guys practice and the practices have been bad… I really don’t believe coach would have gotten fired if Jeff (Garcia) didn’t get hurt.”

Things have been ugly in Detroit for a long time, yet somehow, they just got even uglier.

Former Cowboys WR Michael Irvin was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia in Plano, TX.

Irvin, an ESPN analyst and semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, told The Associated Press late Sunday that the drug pipe found in his car belonged to a friend of 17 years who left a Houston rehab center and came to Irvin’s house in Carrollton for Thanksgiving. Irvin wouldn’t reveal his friend’s name.

Irvin said he put the pipe in his car because he didn’t want it in his house where his children might find it. He said he planned to drive somewhere the next day, like a grocery trash bin, and throw the pipe away but forgot.

The article doesn’t say what kind of pipe Irvin had in his car, but the former wideout has had a history of using cocaine. If his story is true, one wonders how he could “forget” to throw the pipe away. If I were in his position, I would have immediately taken the pipe down to the nearest 7-11 and thrown it in the Dumpster out back. That’s assuming, of course, that I was still inviting my crack addict friends over for Thanksgiving.