Paydirt

You can call me Bobby. Atlanta hired Bobby Petrino. I liked Jim Mora better, and I think that the Falcons should have stuck with him. But Petrino has some NFL coaching experience as a quarterbacks coach and an offensive coodinator. John L. Smith built the Louisville program, and Petrino took it over and advanced it a little bit. (Just a thought, but maybe Smith will come back to Louisville. I think he is fun to watch.) But the NFL is another kettle of meat. (from Bob Dylan's "Quinn the Mighty Eskimo": "Ain't my cup of meat".) More coaching changes. I think that this move helps the Steelers. Strike another team off of the Wisenhunt-Grimm bandwagon. Arizona, Miami, Oakland, and Pittsburgh are still looking. Here are some of the rumors. Norm Chow, former USC and BYU offensive coordinator and current Tennessee Titan offensive coordinator, to Arizona to coach Matt Leinart. The Dolphins are going to go all out after Pete Carroll, USC's head coach. If I were the decision maker in Pittsburgh, I would go for Russ Grimm. I also may try to start a Mike Ditka rumor to Pittsburgh. That could be fun. Oakland? Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, Buddy Ryan's kid, would seem to be the front-runner. He's a Raider now. The players like him. His defense played very well. God help 'em if they pick John Shoop. I also could see them going to Ken Wisenhunt, the Steelers offensive coordinator. I would love to see Mike Singletary be a head coach somewhere. But I don't think Oakland would be the place. Tom Coughlin will be back with the Giants if the Giants can't convince Charley Weis or Bill Parcells to come coach in New York. Tony the Slip. Shut up already about the shiny, slippery football. Tony Romo just didn't handle it. Reminds all of the Brad St. Louis-Kyle Larson botched snap that killed the Bengals' playoff chances. Here's a thought: have a wide receiver do the holding. A wideout should have better hands than a backup quarterback, not to mention a punter. WRs should beway more athletic when the snap is no good. The added arm strength a QB should be offset by the speed and the fact that a wide receiver wouldn't really need tothrow a deep out on a botched extra point or even a botched field goal. Rex Kern lives. Ohio State will win the National Championship game tonight 30-14 over Florida. You say it's your birthday? Happy birthday, King. Seventy-two, if my counting is right. My friend, Hot Doug, who owns a hot dog stand, has the Dr. George Nichopoulos as his special sausage today. The game sausage of the week? Gator. Go Buckeyes.