Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Brad Childress Embodies Fail



A lot of things can make someone a bad head coach. You can have poor time management skills. You can fail to get respect from your players and subordinates. You can mismanage money and team resources. You might just be bad at calling plays. Brad Childress combines all of the above, and more. The waiver of Randy Moss is a watershed moment, cementing his incompetence.

Vikings fans can be ambivalent about Brad's shortcomings as long as they are mitigated. Last season made him seem halfway tolerable. There were still plenty of weird decisions and awkward moments, but there was also success. For a while it seemed like there was enough talent and skill to minimize his impact. Maybe even enough to get to a Super Bowl. He still would be a bad coach. But Minnesota would have been happy to deal with that hangover, provided we got a ring.

Now, the bottom has fallen out. Things were dire even before yesterday, now they're hopeless. Childress, unilaterally, has jettisoned a superstar he spent a 3rd round pick to acquire. He's attempting to sell the idea that Randy Moss was an impolite man who was rude to a caterer. Awesome! Good to know. Let's recap. Less than professional behavior towards a man serving food: grounds for waiver. Showing your penis to an unreceptive young lady: keep him on the field even when he's past injured.

There's no opportunity to claim the high ground. Childress is hopelessly devoted to a man who's been exposed as a fraud and a pervert. The Vikings, under his direction, have done anything and everything to cater to Brett Favre's whims. They've willfully ignored a seriously troubling and obviously illegal incident. That's why Randy Moss's waiver is so absurd. Sending away a Hall of Famer and getting nothing in return is foolish. Singling him out as the bad apple is stunningly dumb.

The best case scenario is this is Brad's Waterloo. This is the point where his bizarre behavior and destructive influence becomes too obvious to ignore.