Random thoughts: Guess Hue’s coming

by Gary Shelton on January 6, 2019 · 4 comments

in general

Sunday, 4 a.m.

Wow. The Bengals are interviewing Hue Jackson, who not only established his strengths by going 3-36-1 with the Browns. He also was part of a staff that was 1-7 after joining the Bengals as an assistant coach. Think he'll bring an apple for the interviewer?

-- The last time the Lightning lost, I was much, much younger.

-- Colin Cowherd, the old Tampa Bay radio guy (who moved onto a bit of fame afterwards) points out 10 teams whose fortunes Jon Gruden affected since joining the Raiders. One team he didn't mention is Tampa Bay, which exhaled a sigh of relief that he didn't come back here to trade his stars away.

-- You're going to see a million mock drafts between now and the real thing if you want to look, but For the Win took five mocks and averaged the draft position of each player. They had the Bucs with Alabama tackle Jonah Williams, which isn't a bad choice. The thing is, the Bucs would have had their picks between Clemson defensive end Clelin Farrell, Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver, Florida defensive end Jachai Polite, Washington cornerback Byron Murphy and Georgia cornerback Deondre Baker. No running backs went in the first round, but that's okay: The Bucs have Ronald Jones.

-- Speaking of Jones, he lost the team rushing title to Peyton Barber by only 827 yards. Did any running back in the top two rounds lose their team rushing title by that much? (No, they didn't.)

-- Here's proof that we've run out of head coaches. The Jets and Cardinals both wanted to interview USC coordinator Kliff Kingsbury for their head coaching job but were denied. Isn't that like calling Roseanne Barr for a date and her telling you that she's busy?

-- The real reason the Rays shut down the upper deck: they didn't want to hit fans with all of those mammoth home runs.

-- Wait. Is this real? Brent Grimes, who coasted through the season for the Bucs, says he's disrespected because he was paid "only" $7 million and had to cover top receivers. The Bucs can fix this by not paying him $7 million. How would that be for respect? So when DeSean Jackson whines, he has harmony.

-- Think about it. Grimes first gripe came before the Pittsburgh game. At the time, the Bucs were 2-0. I'd cut him tomorrow. Shame on the Bucs' coaches for not being stricter with a malcontent.

-- If any coach has heard more whining than Tampa Bay, it might be Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin, who suffered through the defection of Le'Veon Bell and the pout of Antonio Brown. That's a lot of talent moaning into their pillows.

-- Hey, I like a tuna fish sandwich as much as anyone I know. But did you read that a bluefin tuna sold for $3.1 million in Tokyo? Some estimates are that it will cost more than $200 per serving (it was a big fish). I assume that comes with a side of chips.

-- After the Colts' T.Y. Hilton was called "a clown" by Houston's Johnathan Joseph, he showed up wearing a clown mask. Pretty funny. Good thing he didn't call him a princess.

-- Good thing about the Bucs' interviewing Bruce Arians. Evidently, they were able to get it done in time so Bruce could make the Early Bird Special.

-- Hey, I'm old, too. I can joke.

-- So the Rays have finally figured out how to have fewer empty seats at the Trop. They'll have more than 5,000 fewer seats in the building, which usually translates that, eventually, there will be a higher cost involved for those who do go. You wonder: If reducing the potential number of fans is  such a good idea, why didn't they take 10,000 seats out? Or 15,000?

-- Here's a thought: If Urban Meyer really wants a low-stress job where he doesn't have to worry about expectations, why doesn't he coach the Bucs?

-- So, anyone else think the Orlando Sentinel will proclaim UCF as national champions again?

-- If the Steelers really want to get rid of Antonio Brown in the worst way (or Bell), why not trade him for Grimes?

-- Just wondering how athletes think? Do you think anyone in the real world understands Grimes' position today? He's supposed to be the team's best corner, playing with a bunch of rookies, but he balks over covering the opponent's best receiver in a season in which he's making more money than Steve Austin (who was worth only six million dollars, if you remember). He grumbles because his coaches want him to tackle. And he had to be talked into playing the last game. Now, he wants to play for a contender. Ha.

-- SBnation.com ranked the fired head coaches as far as their second chances this week. Dirk Koetter finished fourth of eight. Of course, you can judge the resuts for yourself: Ex-Cleveland coach Hue Jackson got 41 percent, while Mike McCarthy, ex of Green Bay, got 23 percent.

 

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