Maddux Sports Blog

There are few things I take more pleasure in than watching Notre Dame fail. As a Michigan fan I don’t particularly have any love for the Irish to begin with. The general hatred has elevated to a whole new level in the Charlie Weis regime, though. I think it was a bad joke that they got rid of Ty Willingham when and how they did, a bad joke that when they gave Weis, a guy with no head coaching experience, the reins, a really bad joke when they gave him a massive extension before he did anything to earn it, and a really, really bad joke when they kept him around for another year. With a nod to Marvin Lewis, Weis is the worst head coach in football. That makes the latest news from South Bend particularly ridiculous.

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The Lakers convincing win over the Celtics to end Boston’s 19 game winning streak was the highlight of the Christmas basketball action, but there was more to take note of as well. San Antonio’s last second win over the Suns was further proof that San Antonio’s bad start was just a blip on their path to the same predictability dull dependability that they have become known for. Cleveland won yet again, but they had to work way too hard to get past the lousy Wizards. Dallas looked very convincing against the Blazers. The Mavs are another Texas team that has turned things around after a forgettable start. Most surprising, though, was Orlando’s win over New Orleans. Orlando didn’t look like they were working very hard, yet they crushed the Hornets and totally shut down Chris Paul.

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The Carolina Hurricanes made a coaching change. They ditched Peter Laviolette, the winningest American born coach in NHL history, and the man who led Carolina to a Stanley Cup win. He was there for five mostly solid years, but they have missed the playoffs two years in a row and were barely holding on to a spot this year. In his place they have hired Paul Maurice. This a case of total deja vu – Maurice was the coach who was fired in Carolina to make way for Laviolette. The two men are the only two coaches the team has ever had. The other part of the move is that Ron Francis, the assistant GM and the all time scoring leader for the Hurricanes, moves behind the bench as associate coach. The move makes some sense. Laviolette is a good coach, but the team wasn’t going anywhere, so a change is good. Few players are still around from the first Maurice era,  so he is as good as a fresh voice, especially when paired with Francis. The two will bring new energy to a team that desperately needs it. Maurice will also be hungry for redemption after a rough year in Toronto last year. I expect a decent bounce in the short term as a result of this move.

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