For those of you that missed it -- the Vikings got in a position to tie the exhibition game with the Raiders with a last-second field goal. Childress chose not to kick the field goal, instead trying futily for a TD. They weren't even in the red zone.
It's easy to sit back in an armchair and second guess NFL coaches. But I really think Childress made a mistake last night. Not just because he cost me a few dollars -- I had the over for the game, hedged by the under 16.5 in the second half. An overtime game would have produced two winners. I think a few things about Childress came to light that will haunt him in his inevitably short time in Minnesota.
1) He has no desire to win. Can you imagine Bill Parcells or Billick or any of the other great coaches doing what Childress did? He just showed his team that winning isn't all that important. I imagine that a lot of his players were ticked as well - exhibition or not, those guys are competitive and don't want to lose.
2) He showed no fan appreciation. Granted, the coach doesn't answer to fans but I'd be pretty ticked if I was a loyal fan who paid good money to support my team only to watch the coach give up in the end. I wouldn't spend another penny to support that team if I was there and was disrespected.
I understand about injuries and a game that doesn't really count, but Childress flat out gave up. Why did he bother calling his timeouts to get the ball back and pretending like he wanted to win if he really didn't? I only lost $5 juice on the game so it isn't that. His actions just really rubbed me the wrong way. Get rid of exhibition games and make the if coaches don't even care about winning. Add 2-4 regular season games if it's a money issue.
I'd say Vikings are a pretty good fade the rest of the preseason.
It's easy to sit back in an armchair and second guess NFL coaches. But I really think Childress made a mistake last night. Not just because he cost me a few dollars -- I had the over for the game, hedged by the under 16.5 in the second half. An overtime game would have produced two winners. I think a few things about Childress came to light that will haunt him in his inevitably short time in Minnesota.
1) He has no desire to win. Can you imagine Bill Parcells or Billick or any of the other great coaches doing what Childress did? He just showed his team that winning isn't all that important. I imagine that a lot of his players were ticked as well - exhibition or not, those guys are competitive and don't want to lose.
2) He showed no fan appreciation. Granted, the coach doesn't answer to fans but I'd be pretty ticked if I was a loyal fan who paid good money to support my team only to watch the coach give up in the end. I wouldn't spend another penny to support that team if I was there and was disrespected.
I understand about injuries and a game that doesn't really count, but Childress flat out gave up. Why did he bother calling his timeouts to get the ball back and pretending like he wanted to win if he really didn't? I only lost $5 juice on the game so it isn't that. His actions just really rubbed me the wrong way. Get rid of exhibition games and make the if coaches don't even care about winning. Add 2-4 regular season games if it's a money issue.
I'd say Vikings are a pretty good fade the rest of the preseason.