It was fun while it lasted

Of course the big news for me this week (as a season ticket holder) is that UL's highly successful football coach, Bobby Petrino, is leaving his job to take the head coaching position of the Atlanta Falcons. I will place the blame on Dave Spitzer who is an Atlanta native and should probably not sleep too soundly on the upcoming ski trip. Few things will throw me into a homicidal rage, but messing with my football team will do it. Actually, I'm just kidding. I've never killed anyone on the ski trip. Certainly not anyone in our cabin. And if I were to do so, I'm sure my first victim would be Phil if, for instance, certain potentially embarrassing footage of me ever made it into the ski trip video. But, really, what's the chance that I would beat Phil to death with a pool cue in some psychotic rage over something like that? Probably not better than 60-40.

But I digress. I want to thank Petrino for a good four year run that was more successful than any time in Cardinal history. It got me winter trips to Miami and Jacksonville the past two years. A lot of Cards' fans are unhappy about him leaving, but there's a certain naivete in that. Rich Rodriguez is from West Virgina (poor bastard), played for WVU and coached the Brokeback Mountaineers. Yet, he seriously considered leaving for Alabama. So, if a favorite son is willing to leave Toothless Redneck Central Tech, why would I expect a coach (whose only connection to UL was being hired as an assistant and then head coach) to turn down the NFL and double his salary. Plus, what I really find laughable are the ones crying about "loyalty". Well, word is that UL is going to hire Tulsa head coach Steve Kragthorpe. If that happens, that means three of the last four head football coaches at UL (including John L Smith and Ron Cooper) were hired away from other jobs. It would be pretty hypocritical of me to complain about someone else "stealing" our coach when we're willing to do it to Tulsa, Utah State or Eastern Michigan (although after the Ron Cooper disaster, I wish we hadn't stolen that guy).

Still, I hate to see Petrino leave. He's a great coach, and I think he'll do well at Atlanta assuming he can either dump coach-killer Michael Vick or at least get his stupid ass to listen. Petrino has always run a balanced, non-gimmick, pro style offense, so I think he's going to beat the common perception of college coaches non being worth a damn in the pros. It's a crap argument anyway. Sure, Steve Spurrier didn't do well, but Jimmy Johnson did. And Bill Walsh was the Stanford head coach before taking the 49ers job, so don't believe the myths about college coaches. Besides, Petrino spent time as an offensive coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars, so he's not a novice. As for UL, I said he's a great coach, so I'm sorry to see him go. However, while UL reached another level under Petrino, we were winning and going to bowl games before he got there, and I predict we will after he leaves. Now, if Brian Brohm leaves early because Petrino says he'll draft him, Spitzer may want to spend his first day on the ski trip convincing me how much he hates the Falcons, because I hold grudges and am prone to fits of irrationality. God knows, we don't want an tragic accident to happen.