Wizards Fire Coach, Then Win

Sometimes all it takes is a change. I am not suggesting that the Washington Wizards troubles are over, but the team did the right thing by firing head coach Flip Saunders after a 2-15 start to the season.

Wizards assistant Randy Wittman took over as the interim head coach and led the Wizards to a 92-75 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats last night, another horrible NBA team.

Leadership has been an issue with the Wizards. When verbal scuffles between Saunders and Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee became public, it was obvious that there were some issues in the locker room. When that type of stuff happens, its hard to focus on winning games. The Wizards have a long way to go before they are a legitimate team in the NBA. Beating teams like the Bobcats are necessary, but they won't get you to the playoffs. They are a long way away from beating some of the elite teams in the NBA on a regular basis, but firing Saunders was a start.

Prince Is A Tiger... Like His Daddy

The Detroit Tigers and Prince Fielder have agreed to a nine year, $214 million deal - taking arguably the biggest free-agent off the market. The former Milwaukee Brewer hit .299 with 30 homeruns and 120 RBIs last season and was nearly the league MVP before being edged out by teammate Ryan Braun.

The Tigers lost first baseman\catcher Victor Martinez to a season ending knee injury already this offseason, so adding Fielder to the roster became not only a want but a need. The Tigers beat out Texas and Washington for the coveted first baseman, and frankly flew under the radar the entire time. Adding Fielder to a lineup that already contains Miguel Cabrera gives the Tigers two of the top power hitters in the league.

Fielder is a career .282 hitter with 230 homeruns and 656 RBIs since his rookie season in 2005. The 27 year old first baseman was a first round pick by the Brewers in 2002. His father Cecil Fielder played for the Tigers from 1990-1996. The elder Fielder hit 51 homeruns for the Tigers in 1990 and was considered one of the best power hitters in the late 80's and early 90's.

[Image: Sully Baseball]

The Wizards Are Pathetic

Has there ever been a more embarrassing team in the NBA than the 2012 Washington Wizards? Let's face it, nobody thought that the Wizards were going to be a good team, but nobody also thought that they would become that Washington Generals of the NBA,

Night in and night out the Wizards continue to lose games. Currently sitting at 1-12, the Wizards host a Oklahoma City Thunder team that owns a 12-2 record. Chances are we have a pretty good guess how this game will end up.

Wizards savior John Wall has been anything but. The former number one pick has shown glimpses of promise, most recently a 38-point performance in a loss to the Houston Rockets. However, he has not been able to save the Wizards in any way. Sure, it takes more than one player and most likely that is the case. Many will say that Wall is doing a good job, but his turnover stats beg to differ. Wall is far from the only problem on the team, but it proves that the entire team needs to get better.

How much longer can the Wizards fans stand by this team? The last time the Wizards made the playoffs was in 2008 and the last time the Wizards won a playoffs series was in 2005 when they beat the Chicago Bulls before losing to the Miami Heat in the conference semifinals.

It takes time to build a winner, but it shouldn't take time to become competitive. With the current squad being embarrassed every night, it's time to figure out who needs to be there and who is going to help the Wizards win some games.

Gunner Kiel Enrolls At Notre Dame

Things got worse for the LSU Tigers after their BCS Championship loss to Alabama when the Tigers lost highly touted quarterback recruit Gunner Kiel to Notre Dame.

It was thought that Kiel was going to commit to Notre Dame all along, but a late surge by LSU saw Kiel choose the Tigers over Vanderbilt and Notre Dame. Kiel has since backed off that commitment and changed his loyalty to The Irish and has enrolled at Notre Dame.

Kiel, a pro-style quarterback, will have the opportunity to play immediately at Notre Dame. He will have some competition with Tommy Rees, Andrew Hendrix and Everett Golson, but he must have felt comfortable enrolling anyway. Rees and Hendrix both played this year, but Golson was redshirted. Inconsistent quarterback play plagued the Irish at times throughout the 2011 season, so Kiel may have an opportunity to play sooner than later.

[Image: The Observer]

Of Course Tebow Is The Denver Starter

Did anybody actually think that the Denver Broncos would come out and say that Tim Tebow wasn't the team's starting quarterback heading into the 2012 training camp? Listen, the last time I checked the Broncos didn't have another quarterback signed on their roster that could compete with Tebow. That isn't saying that the Broncos won't sign another quarterback by the time training camp rolls around, but right now, Tebow is the guy.

The Broncos backup quarterback Brady Quinn is a unrestricted free-agent and his future with Denver is uncertain. He most likely will not be on the team's roster in 2012, but it is too early to make assumptions at this point.

Tebow certainly earned the right to be the team's top quarterback after he took a 1-4 team and turned them into a playoff team. Not only did the Broncos reach the playoffs, but they knocked off the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game that nobody thought Tebow could win.

Denver looked like a different team with Tebow leading the way. Probably because they did reshape the offense to fit Tebow's option style of play. Let's face it, Tebow wasn't the most accurate passer this season, but he was able to find a way to win. It's hard to find another quarterback in the league that played with more passion and heart than Tebow. It is what makes him a winner and what makes him a player that team's love to have on their side. It's why Tebow kept the starting job for the remainder of the season.

Having already known that Tebow is not one to shy away from putting the work in, it should be a fair assumption that the former University of Florida star will improve this offseason. It will definitely be interesting to see if the team makes any drastic offseason moves by bringing in legit competition for Tebow. Even though the Broncos brass stands behind Tebow right now, we will know real quick by the moves the team does make. So even though Tebow has earned the right to be the top quarterback in Denver right now, a lot can change before the 2012 season.

[image: Ron Chenoy, US PRESSWIRE]