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02/20/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - They're rejoicing in Denver, Kansas City, and Oakland right about now.
Norv Turner is an NFL head coach for the third time, having taken over for Marty Schottenheimer in San Diego, and the rest of the AFC West is licking its collective chops.
"Aw," you insist. "Give Norv a chance!"
No thanks. Turner got nine seasons worth of chances, minus those final three games of 2000 in which Redskins owner Daniel Snyder sent Norv on an early, ineptitude-forced vacation.
The record - 58-82-1 in nine years with Washington and Oakland - should speak for itself. The number of playoff appearances and postseason wins - one each - should too.
Norv Turner is simply not a quality head football coach, and I'm not sure that a Chargers Super Bowl win, which could realistically come as early as next season, would necessarily prove otherwise. Turner might just raise the Lombardi Trophy next February in Glendale, but at best, he's a caretaker in the class of Barry Switzer or George Seifert.
At worst, he's a disaster. With the Redskins and Raiders, he was the quintessential "player's coach" albeit one that had little clue how to actually motivate those players. He was even-keel to a fault, rarely inspired greatness in important division or rivalry games, and more or less left both franchises in worse shape than he found them.
"Yeah," you're telling me, "but that great offensive mind!"
That great offensive mind, which indisputably functions at a John Nash-like level when Turner wears the coordinator's headset, loses some of its cellular activity when Turner assumes the head coaching reins.
In his seven years with the Redskins, Turner's teams were top 10 in the league in yards exactly once. The Raiders finished in the bottom half of the NFL in both points and yards in each of Norv's two years in Oakland.
And look at all those great signal-callers that the purported QB guru helped guide in his nine seasons as head coach. Heath Shuler became the next Sonny Jurgensen, right? Turner seemed to have a great rapport with consummate winners Jeff George and Kerry Collins, too. The best quarterback Norv coached in the close-to-a-decade he spent as a head coach was probably Trent Green, who the Rockne-like Turner let walk away via free agency after the 1998 season.
Are the Chargers headed on a path to destruction simply because they hired Turner? Of course not. San Diego still has the best offensive player (LaDainian Tomlinson) and defensive player (Shawne Merriman) in the league, has a bright young quarterback in Philip Rivers and other first-rate talents like tight end Antonio Gates and nose tackle Jamal Williams. With that nucleus and the bitterness of last season's shocking playoff exit in their rear-view mirror, you can expect the Chargers to win the AFC West and make a serious run at the franchise's first Super Bowl title.
But the very same would have happened had the Spanos family and co-conspirator A.J. Smith hired Mike Singletary, Mike Zimmer, Rex Ryan, Ron Rivera, or someone else who hadn't already proven himself to be an utter failure as a head coach.
The same would have also happened had the Chargers hired Barry Switzer. Which in a way, they did.
...AND IN SAN FRANCISCO
Fans of the 49ers should be fearful too. Turner's departure leaves a gap at offensive coordinator, and early speculation has centered on the possible promotion of San Francisco wide receivers coach Jerry Sullivan to the position.
The 62-year-old Sullivan has a ton of experience as an NFL assistant, but his only year as an offensive coordinator in the league ended in abject failure. Sullivan steered the attack of the 2003 Arizona Cardinals, who finished dead last in the league in scoring (14.1 points per game) while going 4-12 and hastening head coach Dave McGinnis' exit from town.
Finding a credible coordinator candidate at this late stage of the offseason is problematic, but I've got one - Mark Whipple. Whipple was quarterbacks coach in Pittsburgh for the past three seasons, and was the odds-on favorite to become offensive coordinator if either Ken Whisenhunt or Russ Grimm had been tabbed as new head coach of the Steelers. Instead, Whipple is out of a job, an ignoble fate for a man that helped mold Ben Roethlisberger into one of the top young quarterbacks in the league.
<< Rangers, Devils open home-and-home series in New Jersey
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils begin an
important home-and-home series this evening, with the first of the consecutive
meetings to take place at Continental Airlines Arena.
These two games carry importance for
<< Habs entertain Caps in encounter between struggling clubs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to post back-to-back wins
for the first time in a month as they welcome the Washington Capitals for
tonight's showdown at the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens ended a six-game losing stre
<< Murray goes for win No. 600 as Senators host Oilers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams headed in different directions face off tonight
at Ottawa's Scotiabank Place, where the Senators wrap up a three-game
homestand with a matchup against the slumping Edmonton Oilers.
Ottawa has won the first two ga
<< Wild try to end futility against Dallas
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild will try to stop their longest current
losing streak against any team in the league when they host the Dallas Stars
this evening at Xcel Energy Center for the final time this season.
Minnesota has droppe
Jazz have what it takes to hold on in Northwest Division >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Utah (35-17) is in first place in the Northwest
Division, 8 1/2 games ahead of the second place Denver Nuggets. Led by All-
Stars Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, the Nuggets will be primed to make a
run at the Jazz.
Cowboys sign Gurode to six-year deal >>
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Cowboys signed offensive lineman
Andre Gurode to a six-year contract on Tuesday.
Gurode started all 17 games last season for the Cowboys and was added to the
Pro Bowl as an injury replacement f
76ers still alive for lottery >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - All it takes is a dollar and a dream for a select few to
strike it rich in the lottery.
But in order for the Philadelphia 76ers to start raking in the loot, they have
to bag the rest of the 2006-07 season and start ev
Celtics send Ray to D-League >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics assigned rookie guard
Allan Ray to their NBA Development League affiliate in Austin.
Ray is the team's first assignment to the NBA Development League this season
and the 19th NBA pla
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
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The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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