I am a sucker for tradition in sport such as college American football on New Year's Day or the opening day of the baseball season. Lately, the National Football League have had a tradition that happens when the regular season ends - the firing of the coaches.
It is like the running of the bulls in Spain, only with more carnage. Fill in whatever term you like: sacked, canned, I even used the phrase launched recently because so many guys got the boot that I needed to mix it up.
Seven coaches got launched this season. Some were obvious, like Rod Marinelli of the 0-16 Detroit Lions.
It is hard to make the case to keep a coach who won the same number of games as you or I did.
Then came more firings: Mike Nolan in San Francisco, Lane Kiffin in Oakland, Scott Linehan in St Louis, Rome Crennel in Cleveland and Eric Mangini in New York. One surprise was the two-time Super Bowl winner Mike Shanahan getting... whacked in Denver. I told you I was running low on ways to say it.
Shanahan's Broncos were one win from making the postseason. Think about it, your whole livelihood is boiled down to one contest. One more win and Shanahan is battling for the Super Bowl. Now he is unemployed.
Other coaches came a whisker away from getting their walking papers. The Philadelphia Eagles' Andy Reid was possibly saved by making the play-offs.
Just a month ago, when the Eagles were struggling, sports radio stations in Philly were calling for Reid to go.
Now Reid and the Eagles have won a play-off game and are just two wins from a Super Bowl appearance. Listen to those station's today and it is all flowers and candy when Reid's name comes up. It is as if the down part of the Eagles' season never happened.
The Minnesota Vikings' Brad Childress also saved himself by sneaking into the play-offs. The Vikings were knocked out quickly, but just on Monday the Vikings' ownership announced that Childress would return for 2009.
The difference between employment and unemployment is the perception of a successful season.
The other yearly tradition is seeing what happens to the coaching cast-offs.
The term for the coaches who get another chance is "re-treads." Mark my words: Mike Shanahan will get another job whenever he wants.
He is already rumoured to be a candidate for the Dallas Cowboys head coaching position, which is currently still filled by Wade Phillips.
If the Cowboys sack Phillips to upgrade to a two-time Super Bowl winning coach, it will be Phillips turn to get back on the coaching carousel. The only problem is, will there be enough job openings for the list of fired coaches when the music stops?
Mangini, the Jets' coach until his firing last week, is a top candidate for the Cleveland Browns job.
If you are a Browns fan, are you excited about this possibility: "Yea, we just hired a guy who couldn't get it done in New York with Brett Favre, yea!"
Throw in the fact that the legendary former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher is on the sidelines doing TV for the near future until the right opening comes along.
Cowher flirted with the New York Jets job last week before declaring he would not interview for any of the multiple current coaching positions.
This means that all 32 NFL head coaches, many still to be named, had better to keep an eye over their shoulders as the 2009 regular season wraps up.
Your 8-8 schedule may not be awful, but with Cowher now back in the game, it could be your name on the carousel.
Stay tuned.
ppabst@thenational.ae
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Which products are to be taxed?
To be taxed:
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Products excluded from the ‘sweetened drink’ category would contain at least 75 per cent milk in a ready-to-drink form or as a milk substitute, baby formula, follow-up formula or baby food, beverages consumed for medicinal use and special dietary needs determined as per GCC Standardisation Organisation rules
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Don't get fined
The UAE FTA requires following to be kept:
- Records of all supplies and imports of goods and services
- All tax invoices and tax credit notes
- Alternative documents related to receiving goods or services
- All tax invoices and tax credit notes
- Alternative documents issued
- Records of goods and services that have been disposed of or used for matters not related to business
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
The%C2%A0specs%20
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E6-cylinder%2C%204.8-litre%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E5-speed%20automatic%20and%20manual%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E280%20brake%20horsepower%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E451Nm%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh153%2C00%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo and dual electric motors
Power: 300hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,500-3,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.0L/100km
Price: from Dh199,900
On sale: now
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
Porsche Macan T: The Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 265hp from 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,800-4,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Speed: 0-100kph in 6.2sec
Top speed: 232kph
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
On sale: May or June
Price: From Dh259,900