Those New Coaches Are Just Groovy (All Of 'Em)
The Chronicle's Editorial LiveJournalists swoon today over the hiring of Gary Kubiak as the head coach of the Texans. I posted about the Editorial LiveJournalists trying to write about sports over at blogHOUSTON.
Rich Connelly, however, noticed that Chron sports columnist John Lopez has been swooning over Kubiak, as well as just about everyone else who manages to get hired to coach teams in Houston:
Now that Roger Clemens has taken his leave, you might have thought Houston would be bereft of Godlike sports figures. Luckily there's always Houston Chronicle columnist John P. Lopez to come to the rescue.
As the Texans prepared to name former St. Pius High quarterback Gary Kubiak as their new coach, Lopez was there to testify: "No matter how Gary Kubiak decides to use the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft," he wrote January 25, "you can count on this: If the pick proves to be a booming success, Kubiak will deflect all credit. And if the pick ends up being a flop, he will take the blame."
And if the bottled water in the press room suddenly turns into a robust cabernet sauvignon, you'll know who to thank.
Lopez went on and on about Kubiak's near-deity status. Which isn't really anything new when Lopez is greeting incoming Houston coaches:
January 2001: "Hiring [Dom] Capers will mark the first time [Texans owner Bob] McNair has veered onto a road that has a few potential potholes. But don't turn in your PSLs just yet, Texans fans. As much as this will be a daring hire, it'll be a good one."
November 2001: "On many fronts, [Jimy] Williams is a perfect fit for this club…Williams will quietly and with dignity take the fall, even if it is obvious that it's the [Astros] players or management bumbling and stumbling."
December 1998: "This was a night that didn't just offer evidence that the [University of Houston] Cougars could be on their way to a bright future. It offered some hints that [new coach Clyde] Drexler might be more serious about this coaching gig than most experts and fans around the country believed he would be."
Less than three years later, writing about UH athletic director Chet Gladchuck: "He seemed to follow the Clyde [Drexler] disaster with a smart move, hiring Ray McCallum, who appears to be doing things the right way." McCallum lasted four years and was axed with a 44-73 record.
Man. If only Lopez would criticize a new hire, Houston sports fans might have some hope.
Oh my! Talk about notable misses!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/11/06 17:12 | Sports | Technorati
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