The world wide of sports... it's exciting, passionate, diverse, dynamic, competitive, cutthroat, pressure packed, and much more. This goes for the fans, players, general managers, owners, athletic administration, and especially the coaches.It seems that the legendary coaches and players are untouchable and can continue in their respective sport forever, but for some, the spotlight is short lived. One slip up, and there are question marks around your name. A few lost games, and your job is clearly in jeopardy. A losing season...you're gone! This may sound a little exaggerated and harsh, but I'm afraid it truly is the way things go.
In fact, teams are even releasing coaches after preseason games and in the middle of the season, not wasting any time allowing an unacceptable leader's position to linger deeper into despair. This year in the NFL three offensive coordinators (Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Buffalo Bills) were fired following a less than impressive preseason. Preseason? Aren't those games used for the purpose of tuning up, practicing, and perfecting before the real deal commences? Now they are more like an audition previewing the successes or failures of the coaches- YIKES!
Then there is the scenario of firing coaches mid season- the Phoenix Suns fired coach, Terry Porter, after four months at the head post. My hometown Houston Astros fired manager, Cecil Cooper, after a dismal few seasons- with another month or so left in the season. In my opinion, if there are individuals familiar with the personnel and the program, maybe holding lower positions, that can step right in without a hiccup- these releases are acceptable. If a coach is going to create more dissention and tension within a program than he or she is going to inspire and cultivate success- it's time for them to go...
The world of sports is a cruel one... judgements are passed quickly, and only the strong survive. It's a very simple, tough truth and thought that coaches with high profiles must live by- sink or swim.
The world of sports can be cruel; but no more cruel than the rest of the world. These coaches go into it knowing they will be fired some day. Most of them have huge salaries and get lucrative buyouts when they are fired. I don't think they would trade that to work for Enron or GM. We need to figure out a way to fire some owners once in a while; many times the coach is a scape goat for their ineptness!
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