Friday, September 19, 2008

ESPN Page 2's Bill Simmons on Matt Millen

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080912

I'm starting a Matt Millen watch here. Think about what happened with Kwame. When the text-messaging scandal came out, only a few people (Ken Cockrel Jr., The Metro Times) were calling for the mayor to resign. Flash forward to yesterday, as Kwame packs up the black Nav to begin a new life as "World's Largest Lobbyist."

There are three ways I can foresee Millen leaving Detroit:
1. Simmons is the first in a tidal wave of national voices calling for resignation; nationwide Lions' blackout and pressure from the league; opening for Millen on Monday Night Football.
2. Ford Sr. dies; Bill, Jr. fires Millen immediately.
3. Sexy text messages sent by Millen to Joey Herrington found in Free Press investigation.

I think Simmons is my favorite sportswriter today:

"Here's something I've been thinking about a lot lately: With any job, you're going to have your ups and downs. At some point, you have to decide whether the downs outweigh the ups to the point that it's not worth it for you to have that job anymore. You could call it a satisfaction/misery ratio. If that ratio swings past 20/80, it's time to go. Well, if you're Matt Millen and everyone in Detroit thinks you're incompetent, openly despises you and spends every waking moment pining for your departure, at some point wouldn't that reality outweigh Millen's salary as well as any fun he could ever have running a football team? He's probably afraid to pick up a newspaper or turn on the radio. He probably spends every dinner wondering if the cook hawked a loogie in his entree. He probably walks through the stadium on Sundays with his head down. And on top of that, his team is awful. You could say his satisfaction/misery ratio is at 5/95 right now. So why wouldn't he quit and go back to TV? What's he waiting for?"

(True fact: Matt Millen gets to the stadium on Sundays before the doors open to the public. He goes up to his suite and stays there. This lessens the chance of him being verbally castrated during another Lions' loss--until one of the food servers finally has a meltdown, or something.)

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