Giants Make Coaching Change - Jim Fassel Laughs Until Snot Bubbles Out Of His Nose

So, in case you are unaware, the Giants have relieved their offensive coordinator, John Hufnagel, of his play-calling duties, handing them over to Kevin Gilbride. The best part of all of this is Eli Manning's response:

"It's an awkward situation," Manning said of the switch. "I feel it's somewhat my fault."

Really? Really, Eli? The fact that you keep whipping passes into triple coverage got someone demoted? Huh. Imagine that.

"Our offense hasn't been playing real well...It didn't have to do with the coaching or the play calling. We didn't execute or do anything right."

Honesty is the first step, there, Eli.

I'm not an Eli hater, really I'm not. I root for the guy. I have to. He's on my fantasy team.

Regardless, it's time to call a spade a spade. He's not getting it done. Granted, some of this is because an NFL offense is really hard to pick up. Drew Brees didn't really blossom until his 4th year. It takes time, no doubt. Maybe Eli will get it.

However, most of the mistakes he makes are because he doesn't read the coverage. As Tuesday Morning Quarterback will tell you, many of his mistakes can be traced back to lack of discipline. He'll rip off a pass to a clearly covered guy, and he does this a lot.

He's not the only one to blame, though. Plaxico Burress is also to blame. You can see it: when a pass is delivered right on the numbers, it magically slips through his fingers. When he has to stretch and leap to get it, he'll catch it. Fortunately for him, he's playing with Eli Manning, so most passes do not end up right on the numbers. In other words, there's enough blame to spread around for this team.

What's the solution?

Tom Coughlin is almost certainly out after the season. If he isn't, there needs to be an inquest into this. Coughlin runs into these problems everywhere he goes: When he's winning, his totalitarian policies are seen as a "disciplinarian" style. When he's losing, his policies are seen as an "impotent, sulking man-boy" style.

See, if Tom Coughlin was your boss, this is the kind of boss he'd be: He would be standing at the door, fuming, at 10 minutes to 9, tapping his watch and glaring holes in your head as you walked in. When you came in to work, he would call you into his office and explain, veins throbbing in his forehead, that you need to be a "team player," and mention that "Everyone needs to pull their own weight, and frankly, I don't see you doing that." It's virtually unbearable when everything is going well, and when it's not going well, it makes you want to dump your $4.50 venti latte all over his Armani suit, throw the cup at his head, and tell him to commit a degrading act to some type of livestock.

Only after divesting themselves of Coughlin can they actually start fixing these problems. However, it may already be too late for Eli. Eli will probably develop, at best, into a serviceable QB, who might cost you a game here and there, like a Jake Plummer. There may still be time to save this thing, but not this season.

Lost Makes Me Angry

So, I've finally figured out why "Lost" makes me so angry.

It's not the hanging plot details. No, those I expected from Day One.

It's not the slow pace of the show. I like slow-paced shows.

It's not the incessant flashbacks. I think it works perfectly.

I'm angry because they don't have a point.

Here's what I mean: They spent all of Season 2 setting up the Tailies. Ana Lucia, Libby, Eko, all these interesting characters. They give them back stories. (Except for Libby. What was that about? They set this up so mysteriously. "Oooh! She's in the mental institution! Oooh, she ran into Desmond!" AND?!) Eko's back story, in particular, was incredible.

So, what do they do? They kill Ana Lucia and Libby. I'm okay with that. It was a really shocking moment. You didn't expect it. It reinforced the whole "any character can die at any time" thing. No big deal.

Next, there's this big "incident" in the hatch. You spend all season in this hatch, and now, everyone just walks away from it and not another word is said. There was a freaking IMPLOSION in the hatch. And, mysteriously, no one wants to talk about it. Okay, I'm all right.

Now, there might be OTHER people on the island. There's a lady interrogating Jack, and more of the Others that are introduced. Plus, you're pushing to the forefront some other random couple that's been in the background the whole time. As if we need more characters, more balls to juggle. Okay, I'm still okay.

Then they kill Eko.

Now, this was the straw that broke the camel's back. One of the most intriguing characters of last season, Eko was just plain cool. He did everything the island told him to do, all while carrying around a Bible beat-down stick. You give him, not one, but TWO whole episodes of exposition. You save the guy from a polar bear. And for what? Just to kill him?

This is the problem. Much like this blog, Lost is getting more and more unfocused as time goes on. They're not tying anything together.

Take a look at Heroes. Already, halfway through the first season, they're explaining things. You see which direction the show is going. Shows are now being advertised with taglines that basically say, "Watch our show for 10 episodes and we'll explain everything. Scout's Honor."

Does this mean that when Lost comes on for the spring season, I will refuse to watch? Probably not. But I will feel very put out indeed.