Tag Archives: fired

May 8, 2014

Good Night Mark Jackson

By chappy81

Oh the life of a Warriors fan. W’s fans have had plenty of down time over the years to reflect on bad decisions since we’ve seen so many of them. Strangely I’ve found this whole Mark Jackson fiasco entertaining, but mostly because of the reaction it got. It seemed like a lot of people around the bay area wanted heads to roll in the front office for it. I watched about 90% of their games this season, and more than a handful of times they looked unprepared and unmotivated. Especially against some of the weaker teams in the league. I’m not saying that I’m an expert, but for a guy that’s supposed be such a good motivator, you shouldn’t be losing that many of those types of games especially not 10 of them over a year in a conference as good as the West. If they won 5 of those 10 that I thought they should’ve won, they would’ve been ahead of the Rockets and Blazers in the standings. The lack of preparation showed on the offensive end as well with isolation plays taking up way too many possessions. Another thing that really bugged me was the hockey substitution pattern he had, especially when their bench was proven to be terrible. Why would you put in 5 not very good players at once? Can’t you mix and match some starters with the bench? Anyways, the only thing I was really concerned about when I heard the MJ news was, I hope they get someone that Curry likes enough to stay here when his contract is up in 3 years.

I’ve heard a lot of outrage from national media, local media, and fans, but in all honesty I think it stems back to the previous ownership group that didn’t get anything right on just about every level. I’m not the biggest fan of Lacob as a person and how visible of an owner he is, but he sure has helped them come a long way from when he first bought the team in 2010. I might be one of the few out there that truly trusts this ownership group. After someone gets fired you have to look back at the series of smart moves which gave Mark Jackson the tools to actually be a successful coach. After all, your team is only as good as your players, and without the pieces you don’t go from 27 to 48 to 51 wins. The way a lot of media seems to spin it, is that MJ was the only reason they made the improvement.

The first move they made that really got me excited about the new regime wasn’t a player signing, it was hiring The Logo, Jerry West as an adviser to the team. After years of watching the clueless Larry Riley sign bad contracts and trade players away and see them excel elsewhere, we finally had someone we could lean on and trust to make the right moves. He was instrumental in the selection of Klay Thompson and Draymond Green during the 2011 draft who look like damn good players at the moment.

They then promoted Bob Myers to the GM position. I wasn’t overly excited about that one, but the former agent has pulled off some great moves in his time here. The two players that were on that 2011 team that are still here when he was hired are David Lee and Stephen Curry. He pulled off the Bogut for Monta trade, which obviously worked out better for the W’s than it did for the Bucks. That trade also freed up the team to be Curry and Klay’s team and helped them grow into the players they are today. He made the cap sucking corpses of Andris Biendris, Richard Jefferson, and Brandon Rush turn into the swiss army knife Andre Iguodala. He found the valuable assets in Jarret Jack and Carl Landry for the 12-13 season. Oh and he hired Mark Jackson to coach this team. Sure, they’ve had some mis-steps like using the amnesty on Charlie Bell instead of Andris Biendris, but at least that move was to make room to give Deandre Jordan and Tyson Chandler offer sheets.

So why am I not bent out of shape that they let Jackson go? Because there’s starting to be a track record with this ownership group and making SMART decisions. Honestly if you told me three years ago when they took over that they’d be in back to back playoffs and have one of the best starting fives in the league, I would’ve probably thought you were on crack. It has happened though, and contrary to public opinion it seems like this ownership group has a plan, and is being tactical in the way they are making moves. I’ve never been able to say that or thought I’d be able to say that. They stuck out with Keith Smart, and did well with Jackson, but weren’t satisfied, so we’ll see if they find THE guy this time around.

11 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Sports

June 9, 2011

Christmas Came Early, the A’s Fire Geren!

By chappy81

It’s no secret, MCeezy and I have been begging for Bob Geren to be fired for the better part of two years. Recently there’s been more of an internet buzz jumping on that bandwagon as he seems to make more and more questionable calls as the season went along. Finally this June 9th, the A’s made a move to get him out of town. It must have been hard for Billy Beane to fire his BFF Geren, but he finally sucked it up and made the much needed change. To say the team didn’t seem like they liked playing for Geren is the understatement of the year. Hell, I could barely figure out why he was making a lot of the moves he was, and I’m sure a professional player had just as hard a time making sense of his in game moves. Honestly it was like trying to figure out what happened to Lebron in Game 4.

Geren for the most part was a puppet for the front office like most of the A’s managers over the last decade plus. All his job really was supposed to be is relaying the messages from the front office to the players, and he couldn’t even handle that. When Fuentes said he never talked to Geren about his role in the bullpen, and former A’s player Huston Street said he was the worst baseball person he’s ever encountered, I think we all knew that he had completely lost this locker room. If that’s pretty much your only job, you should at least be talking to your players. The conspiracy theorist in me wants to credit the players for going on this current nine game losing streak playing as bad as possible in an effort to get Geren fired once and for all. They were in first a few short weeks ago, and now they are in dead last in the AL West 8 games out of first.

I don’t know a lot about our new interim manager Bob Melvin. He had a couple good years in Arizona going to the NLCS one year, but had a couple REALLY bad ones after. I’m glad they didn’t hire him on for good and are just trying him out for the rest of this year, so we aren’t stuck with him if he sucks too. He also had a stint with our AL West rival the Mariners, so he’s familiar with the division. I did read that Melvin grew up in the Bay Area near Palo Alto, and even played for the Cal Bears, so hopefully he has some A’s pride deep down. I hope they let him hire a new hitting coach, because that’s where we need the most improvement. Well, that and maybe a room full of hyper-barrack chambers to prevent all our guys from getting hurt like they have been.

24 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Sports

December 23, 2010

Mid-Week Ramblings…

By chappy81

Ohio State just had five of their best players suspended, including QB Terrelle Pryor. Definitely not a Buckeyes fan, nor do I feel that this was all that solid of a punishment. They took a measly $1K to $2.5K, and are all paying for that with a five game suspensions. The main part I don’t understand in this whole suspension is why these players get to play their bowl game this year. If all the evidence is there, shouldn’t the NCAA suspend all of them for the bowl game, and the first four games of next year for the five games?!? Personally I think they should, and that feels like a much stiffer penalty than the one handed down. Missing a bowl game and most likely losing it because you are missing five of your best players seems more fair in my book. Maybe the NCAA is trying to protect itself so if they run across something on Cam Newton, he will still be eligible for the Championship game, and then they could suspend him for next year when he’ll be in the NFL anyways keeping everyone’s pockets fat.

The Bobcats are blowing up the team to start 2011 with fresh outlook, after a season of underachievement. Adrian Wojnarowski wrote a good one on Yahoo about how the Larry Brown-Michael Jordan relationship all broke down starting back in 2008 when Jordan wanted to draft Brook Lopez, but ended up listening to Brown and drafted DJ Augustin. Change was obviously needed. I’m not sure what to make of Paul Silas coming back to coaching after being out of it for awhile. I thought he was a great coach for the Hornets the first time around with BD, Mashburn, Magloire, and Steve Smith, but this Bobcats team is nowhere near them talent wise. Either way, I’m sure he’ll be better than Art Shell was coming out of his hiatus back to coaching. I loved that Jordan brought Charles Oakley in as an assistant coach. Last week Oakley blasted Charles Barkley for being lazy and just getting by with his athletic skills. I won’t argue with Oak, because he’s probably taking mental notes and I don’t want to be on that list. Lebron’s list is fine, but Oak’s isn’t. I was more wondering if he knew what was about to happen and wanted to say “Chuck, stay behind a desk and keep being lazy cracking jokes on TNT instead of trying to coach or be a GM, you just don’t have the work ethic.”

Phil Jackson sounded off about not wanting to play on Christmas saying “I don’t think anybody should play on Christmas Day. Soccer teams don’t play this time of year, they take a break. I don’t understand it… It’s like Christian holidays don’t mean anything to them anymore. We just go out and play and entertain the TV. It’s really weird.”

Ummm, we know Phil is full of head games, but seriously Phil? I know you guys work hard and all, and maybe most don’t want to work on this glorious Christian holiday, but sports is a form of the entertainment industry, and when are the most people watching? When they don’t have work! You and your squad are paid ridiculous millions to play, so give us some damn entertainment. If you want your team to suck and not be one of the marquee match ups on Christmas I’m all for it. I’d love to see the Lakers not be on TV during Christmas because they aren’t relevant, that would almost be as good as any present I could get. I can make a list of the cons of my job a mile long, and I’m sure everyone playing on Christmas would much rather have that be their biggest “problem over a the average citizens problems like even having a job. I’m positive Jeanie will be able to handle giving out the solid gold PS4’s you got the kids this year. Plus, if there were no basketball games on Christmas, how could I parlay my Christmas money on some games to have an even better Christmas?!?

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

May 4, 2010

Vinny Del Negro: From Underqualified to Underappreciated

By mceezy

Two seasons ago, the Chicago Bulls, to the surprise of many, announced Vinny Del Negro as their new head coach. The media knew it was a questionable hire, the fans knew it was questionable, and I knew. There are certain players in the game today that announcers will say, “he’s going to be a head coach in this league when his playing days are over.” I don’t remember anyone saying that about Vinny D. Somehow though, he managed to convince the Bulls he was the right man for the job. In two seasons, though, he has won over a lot of the basketball community – not necessarily for his success on the court, but in large part due to the animosity he has dealt with during his tenure. The Bulls were in rebuilding mode. They were coming off a 33-49 season, but they had reason for optimism with the arrival of #1 draft pick, Derrick Rose. They also had a solid core of young players in Joakim Noah and Luol Deng, among others. In his first season at the helm, Del Negro took the team to the postseason with a 41-41 record and ultimately took the defending champion Boston Celtics to the full seven games in their opening round series. Despite all that, Del Negro remained on the hot seat in which he was firmly planted very shortly into his career. The team clearly was on the ascent though, as no one expected them to make that much noise in the playoffs. This year, it was no secret that management was waiting for any excuse to can him. Still though, he led the team to another .500 season, but this time only managed one win against the top seed Cleveland Cavaliers.

Now that the team has gone out on a losing note, John Paxson and co. finally had an excuse to relieve Del Negro of his duties. Regardless of his success, or lack thereof, many fans are in agreement that Vinny was a bit shafted in his tenure in Chicago and was never really given the freedom to succeed. Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo Sports begs to differ, but that’s nothing really out of the ordinary. I just don’t know who could do a better job with that squad. Sure, Derrick Rose is a nice centerpiece, but are the Bulls really a contender? John Calipari has already reportedly expressed interest, but we all know what happened in his last NBA endeavor. Do I think Del Negro is the best head coach out there? Certainly not. Do I think he did an admiral job considering what he had to work with? Absolutely. There are two things I know about Vinny D…..

  • He once lifted me up so I could dunk a basketball at Arco Arena during his days a player in Sacramento
  • He likes to walk around the locker room naked, according to former teammates.

What does this have to do with coaching? Absolutely nothing. I just had to share those two tidbits about Vinny and likely wouldn’t have another chance to do so. While I hope he gets another shot at the helm of an NBA team, I’m also hoping neither of my local franchises are looking for a new coach. The Kings seem pretty content giving Paul Westphal another year to try and improve on an overachieving 2009-2010 campaign, but the Warriors I am worried about. Many feel that Don Nelson checked out a while ago, and now that he has the all-time Wins record, one can only imagine what he will decide this offseason. Here’s hoping Vinny gets another shot, but just somewhere else.

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Sports

September 19, 2009

Here’s your tip: Take some responsibility, Notre Dame

By cali4dre
Beautiful campus, ugly lawsuit

Beautiful campus, ugly lawsuit

If you haven’t heard by now, there is a storm a brewing over an accounting mistake pitting David against Goliath.  Take a second, read it through, and tell me you can’t at least see both sides of the argument before settling on your own verdict. If you don’t want to read, here’s a quick recap: Notre Dame University fired, and is now going forward with a lawsuit against, a catering employee over an Accounting error made in the Employees favor.  Not just any old error, mind you, an error costing over $29,000 because of a careless slip of the finger and proofing of someone’s work.  Now it comes down to who’s responsible for what, and Notre Dame is on the offensive.

As the story goes, Sara Gaspar saw this error as it appeared magically (ok, quite unexpectedly) in her account after performing a catering job per her usual duties.  Nothing special about this job whatsoever, most likely deserving of the tip amount Notre Dame claims should have been paid, $29.87.  Instead Ms. Gaspar’s account ballooned by $29,387, and it’s obvious the 3 was punched by an account-type on their 10-stroke keypad instead of the decimal point, located just below the 3.  Ms. Gaspar claims to have called several times to alert the University of the generous error, and eventually she was told there was no mistake by a “supervisor” and they would pass the message along to HR.  Can’t figure out why HR, they don’t make accounting tips under “tips” for work performed, but I guess it was handled more a complaint as she mentioned there was a “problem”.  That was an understatement for sure.  At this point it appears she’s either dumb like a fox or truly thought she would get away with the extra $29,357.13.

ND stays true to form: Looking for a fight!

ND stays true to form: Looking for a fight!

When the University finally realized the error only a month later, Ms. Gaspar informed the University she had none of the money left.   She had already spent the money on medical bills she had recently racked up and a five year old Jetta.  Sensible purchases for someone in her struggling position, but non-sensible logic as to whose money she was spending.  She acted in a hurry, perhaps a little too hastily, but how was she to know it wasn’t her lucky day?  Her thinking was she had finally received a break, the University of Notre Dame was providing a boost to her livelihood the next few months and it wasn’t anywhere near Christmas season yet.  Imagine what they were gonna do then!!

So we arrive at the point where mud is now being slung at Ms. Gaspar by the University in a series of condemning statements and a shiny new lawsuit, asking not only for THEIR error to be reconciled by Ms. Gaspar but for her to cover THEIR attorney’s fees.  Surprisingly I didn’t see anything about interest owed, however, but perhaps they can work that in as well.  GIVE ME A BREAK Notre Dame!!!  Unbelievable!!  At this point one has to think to themselves “How is this even possible??”  Not only has Notre Dame demonstrated their incompetence while suggesting they are are an institution of higher learning, they now decide their only remedy to the situation is to clog the court system with this totally lopsided case.  And by lopsided, I mean a billion dollar institution versus an employee they already fired over this issue, who was living paycheck to paycheck to begin with while taking care of her mother.

Excuse me, TD Jesus, how could you let this happen??

Excuse me, TD Jesus, how could you let this happen??

I’m not familiar with the actual statutes in place for this type of situation, so I’m just taking an educated guess here.  With total disregard to Ms. Gaspar’s failed “attempts” at notifying the University right away, shouldn’t she be in the clear as it was an error made under “Tips” and not under “Wages”?  It appears she has a leg to stand on, but to no one’s surprise she says she is having a hard time finding representation on the case, and it’s obvious that the girth of the University of Notre Dame and it’s team of lawyers is the only reason.  And of course Ms. Gaspar is now suffering from depression and despair over this, can you blame her??

Upon Further Review, the University of Notre Dame should take the loss and allow Ms. Gaspar to keep the money because it was THEIR mistake unfortunately made in an indefensible cost code, Tips.  I think they could make up the missing $30,000 by FIRING their accounting person not for the original error and oversight made but for causing all of this ruckus and dragging the wrongly fired employee in the first place back through this mess.  If they didn’t hire anyone to replace them for 6 months, they would easily replace that loss.  And Notre Dame comes out looking like the bigger person/entity here.  It’s a Win-Win-Win.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in News, Random