I haven’t done a sports rant in a long time. So I have a lot of ground to cover with this post
I’m starting with a simple summary of my position: It is my belief that the problems with the Houston Texans’ performance this season will not be solved by firing Gary Kubiak as head coach. While I understand the popular trend in professional sports fandom is to blame the head coach (or manager, in MLB) for everything that goes wrong, the ultimate responsibility for the final score of any game and final standings of any sports season rests with the players.
That said, I was disturbed by what I read today on a site called, surprisingly enough, firegarykubiak.com:
Due to unrelenting hate mail and threats, I have decided that I am taking the site down. It was initially created as a fun place for people to gather who had the same thought process as I did. I really never intended for this to get as big as it did, and have no desire in taking on the world. Thank you to all of the supporters, and others that voiced their opinions. Time will tell if we get a new coach.
Despite the fact I vehemently disagree with what the original site author wanted, I defend his right to want what is best for the city of Houston and its NFL football franchise and to unite others behind him. I am horrified that there are football fans in Houston that have chosen to resort to hate mail and threats. I’d like to think we are a higher class city than that, but I’ve been wrong before.
I’m not leaping to the defense of Gary Kubiak’s job. Should Bob McNair decide it’s time for Kubiak to go, I respect his decision as a Texans fan; he knows his franchise better than I do. And indeed, firing Kubiak may fix the more urgent problem of keeping the fans happy. Make no mistake about it: I think that is unfortunate. But, it is the reality of professional sports in 2010, soon to be 2011.