The Morning According to Us

Mike Shanahan could "fail" in Detroit any ol' time.

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"Where can we get 'Mastermind' t-shirts?"

It was barely five minutes after we published this ranking of the best coaches to ever be fired yesterday that word trickled in about the dumping of Mike Shanahan. He was already on the list, having been, like so many others, a victim of Al Davis. (Even the ones Al can't dump end up like John Madden, walking away a success, but with ulcers.)

Shanahan is, like some others in this league, a victim of his own success more than he is a straight up failure. He's an almost certain Hall of Fame coach with hopefully another long stop ahead of him. But here's why this is fascinating. Shanahan would almost assuredly still hold his job today were it not for a mere three-game losing streak to close the season. A win in any of those games would have clinched a home playoff berth for the Broncos. They failed in each. On Monday, Rod Marinelli was fired for a mere 17-game losing streak in Detroit. The team hadn't just lost those 17 games, but also 23 of their last 24.

If there is any kind of testament to the sort of expectations a coach has created for a franchise, let them be this: Shanahan finishes in Denver with a record of 146-91 in 14 seasons, easily 50+ games over .500. Some say he was really just a product of John Elway's greatness, but that's not true either. During a period where the team had the flightiness of handball maestro Jake Plummer and took their time to break in the certain star of Jay Cutler, Shanahan managed to go a still much better than league average 91-69.

As for Marinelli? Just remember that the NFL is built for parity. To lose 23 of 24 is a somewhat frightening display of pathetic brilliance in the face of mathematics. It's hard to find a formula that could make it possible. We salute Matt Millen's construction of such an algorithm.

But in his absence, perhaps the Lions should call Shanahan's agent with a simple question: "What number would it take?"

In the last three seasons in Denver, Shanahan stumbled with injuries and the ups and downs of quarterback training on his way to a shabby-by-his-standards 24-24 mark. In the last SIX seasons, Detroit has amassed 26 wins—total.

Oh, what the Lions would give.

Elsewhere…

The Brits lay into Obama for golfing during a Middle East conflict. (Seeing as such things are perpetual—not the golf—we'll give the Prez a mulligan for this one.)

And he's bringing his clubs, dammit.

Liverpool: We've got your back, Gerrard! (You DJ-decking jolly ol' soul.)

The Canadiens have 3,000 wins.

Where politics played ball with sports in 2008.

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