Removes All Doubt

Quits before halftime

No red flag on TD drop

Axe Chilly like pine

(A Haggy Haiku)

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Sunday's game management provided reason enough to leave another Minnesota coach unemployed. A week after the Gophers fired Tim Brewster, Brad Childress committed the gravest mistakes in a close game involving five interceptions.

He failed to challenge a second quarter touchdown catch by Andrew Quarless. Replays showed that Quarless juggled the ball out of bounds, prompting an overturn had Childress thrown the red flag.

Still in the second quarter... After a suspect pass interference call on Randy Moss and a 14 yard run by Adrian Peterson, the Vikings had the ball near their 40 with 26 ticks on the clock and two timeouts. Rather than running a few more plays to try and get into field goal range for Ryan Longwell, Chilly elected to run out the quarter and head into halftime staked to a 17-14 lead.

Either an overturn of Quarless' touchdown or circumstantial field goal by Longwell late in the first half would have dramatically changed the outcome of the game and prospects for this Minnesota team moving forward.

In a game of inches, Childress is off by a country mile.

Have It Made... Or Not

The two highest paid players on two of the most spend-happy teams in baseball, Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Howard, struck out to end each LCS without so much as lifting a finger, er bat from their shoulder.

Both took called strike threes and you have to wonder whether their fat contracts and respective team's purchased success got to them.

Each thought they had it made, believed that things would come easy for them, that they wouldn't have to reach out and swing for their survival. So when the opposition rose to the occasion, they simply were too proud and too stunned to rebuttal.

You're out.