In professional sports, one of the indicators of a team successful over a long period of time is stability in the coaching ranks. Gregg Popovich has been the coach of the San Antonio Spurs since 1996; the Spurs have been very successful over that span of time. Bill Belichick has been the coach of the New England Patriots since 2000; the Pats have been very successful over that span of time. Mike Scioscia has been in the dugout with the LA Angels since 2005; the Angels have only had 2 losing seasons over that span and have never failed to win 78 games in a season. Compare those examples with the Palermo FC in the Italian Serie A.
This team is the poster-child for coaching instability; they just changed coaches about a week ago; this is the 12 “new coach” for the team since June 2012. I put “new coach” in quotation marks on purpose because for some of the individuals involved the coaching position was a revolving door.
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Giuseppe Sannino coached from June 2012 to Sept 2012
Gian Pierro Gaspirini took over in Sept 2012 and lasted until Feb 13
Alberto Malesani took over then and hung around until March 2013
Gian Pierro Gaspirini came back in March 2013 and lasted less than a month
Giuseppe Sannino returned to coaching in March 2013 – completing the circle of life? – and stayed for 3 whole months until June 2013
The owner of Palermo FC is Maurizio Zamparini. Either he has the attention span of a kitten or he is in the pantheon of meddlesome owners worldwide. Here is the more recent coaching history for his club:
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Giuseppe Iachini had been the Palermo coach for 2 years – an eternity there. He started in Sept 2013 and was comfortably ensconced until November 2015. Note that November 2015 was only about 4 months ago. Then…
In Nov 15 Giuseppe Iachini was fired and replaced by David Ballardini
In Jan 16, Ballardini was fired and replaced by Fabio Vivani
In Jan 16 (less than a month once again) Vivani was fired and replaced by Giovanni Tedesco
In Feb 16, Tedesco was fired and replaced by Giovanni Bosi
In Feb 16 (less than a month yet again) Bosi was fired and replaced by – – wait for it – – Giuseppe Iachini
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Unsurprisingly, Palermo is in 17th place in the Serie A and is exactly one point out of the relegation zone with 10 games to play. If the owner has had trouble getting along with coaches while his team is in the top league, just imagine how happy he will be should the squad get relegated at the end of this season.
Bernie Lincicome – as a Special Contributor to the Chicago Tribune – had a column there where he decried the 3-point shot in basketball. Truth be told, I tolerate it but if I were Dictator of the Universe, it would be relegated to history. My dislike is not even close to his; I never called the 3-point shot an abomination. I commend this column to your reading in its entirety and here is a sample to whet your appetite:
“The 3-pointer has become as dull as the intentional walk, and any competent player in the NBA can make a 3. There is no special skill to it. Some are better than others just as some are taller than others or more agile than others. They do not get an extra reward for being so. This is nothing against those who do it well. The concern is how easy it has become and how it has altered the game.
“A basket should count what a basket counts. If we start assigning greater value to the length of things, Pinocchio never would stop lying.”
Bob Molinaro of the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot had a recent commentary on the 3-point shot and Steph Curry’s proficiency:
“Too good: Move the 3-point line back because of Stephen Curry? Did the NBA consider raising the basket when Shaquille O’Neal dominated? Here’s a suggestion for teams frustrated by Curry’s quickness and range: Figure out a better way to guard him.”
I have no quarrel with Professor Molinaro’s reasoning and conclusion here. I would have to point out, however, that the NBA has – in the past – changed rules because a player was too dominant under the old set of rules. Recall that the free throw lane – and thereby the 3-second violation zone – was more than doubled to assure that Wilt Chamberlain could not set himself up so close to the basket. My only point here is that there is precedent for the NBA to make such a specifically focused rule change.
Finally, Greg Cote had this observation in the Miami Herald last weekend with regard to the start of an annual sporting event:
“The Iditarod sled-dog race is underway in Alaska. I wonder if Sarah Palin can see it form her backyard?”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………