In the 2006 edition of the NFL coaching carousel, I find it interesting there is less recycling than normal. As each name is announced, I find myself having to research the guy, as he comes to the fore from an assistant's job with another team.

Take for instance the hirng of Rod Marinelli at Detroit. What gives Lions fans hope that this guy can turn around 50 years of futility? Bobby Ross couldn't get it done & he came with a Super Bowl appearance at San Diego in 1994, their first in franchise history. Steve Mariucci failed at San Fransisco, so what made you think he could get the job done in Motown?

Marinelli is also a veteran of the NFL. Does that mean he's battle-tested or is there a reason why he's never been a head coach? Sorry, I don't mean to pick on the Lions...

For those of you keeping score:

- the Jets have hired Eric Mangini, a young guy that can only help the team over the long run, or maybe not; makes me feel old though because the guy is my age.

- the Packers choose Mike McCarthey, I guess because he ran such a stellar offense at San Fran this season (for the record, last in the league).

- the Saints chose Sean Payton, a brilliant move if he's succesful (then again, ain't they all).

Now what will the Raiders, Rams & Bills do?

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As Thursday wore on, I read more & more about Antonio Davis & his trek into the stands last night, supposedly to protect his wife. Sportsblog Deadspin.com has posted an email from someone who alleges Antonio's wife was not totally innocent:

"When the game went into overtime, the intensity obviously increased. A fan (the balding fellow mentioned in Jay Mariotti’s column today) who was sitting two rows directly behind her, was rooting loudly for the Bulls. He did not say anything offensive. He did not swear. He was just rooting for the Bulls. It appeared that Kendra didn’t like it that someone was rooting against her husband. She got up and went to the guy’s seat (he remained seated the whole time) and started waving her hands in his face. She kept telling him to “calm down” and “relax,” and the guy kept telling her to get away from him. He was not at all confrontational. She called a member of the Bulls security staff over and told him what had happened from her perspective. He did nothing to discipline the fan since he apparently did nothing wrong.

At that point, another fan sitting nearby asked her to sit down because she was obstructing his view of the game. She immediately ran over and started screaming at him, repeatedly sticking her finger in his face. He asked her to stop sticking her finger in his face, but she continued to do it and he grabbed her finger to defend himself because he didn’t not know what her intentions were. As he held her finger, she lunged at him with her other hand, and he grabbed that one to protect himself. He pushed her hands away from him, and at that point Antonio Davis arrived at his seat. There was a Bulls security person who restrained him from going after the fan. Davis was then escorted back down to the court.

Security talked to a number of people and quickly determined that Kendra Davis was at fault. She and her kids were escorted from the section. The balding fellow left his seat for a short time to give his statement and returned to his seat a short time later. Nobody was ejected, nobody was arrested."

I still don't equate what Davis did to the actions of Ron Artest & his schoolyard antics at Detroit in November of 2004. Tonight, Davis was suspended five games for his actions.

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