Base10 read a NY Post interview with Jets rookie head coach Eric Mangini this week and left it quite impressed. It's going to be a hard year for Jets Nation in '06, of that there is no doubt. Base10 would be very happy with eight wins but thinks that might even prove unrealistic. But Mangini guaranteed this: he said no one would work harder for success or be unemotionally committed to it more than he and his staff. Whether that translates into wins this year is iffy. Whether it translates into wins in the long run and instills a work ethic in the players is quite certain. The more Base10 thinks about it, the happier he is that Woody Johnson hired young Messrs. Mangini and Tannenbaum. Hiring some retread head coach would have been a mistake. Get some new blood in and some new ideas and see where it goes.

And now for today's most ironic football item. NFL Network has announced that it is trying to hire Ryan Leaf to provide commentary at this year's draft. Leaf, taken number two overall after Peyton Manning, is without a doubt the greatest draft bust in the history of the NFL (this is no mean feat considering the likes of Browning Nagel and Blair Thomas). Is this a new trend? Hire a color commentator to talk about their worst failures? How about Mike Ditka talking about the benefits of trading up? Or Terrell Owens talking about the importance of honoring contracts? Or Dan Marino talking about how it feels to win a Superbowl?

- posted by Base10 @ 12:43 PM