Changing Horses in Midstream Smacks of Desperation & Defeat

Just a few more contests remain until you will finally know the outcome of what you have been striving for all year, or in some cases all your life. Sure, things could be better. Maybe you know you're not going to win it all, but are still trying for those around you and those who believe in you. So the last thing you want to do is make a change before you've had a chance to ultimately prove yourself. But these things happen.

In 2007, SMU went beyond the accepted norm and fired Phil Bennett midway through the football season. Sure, he wasn't lighting up Conference USA by any stretch of the imagination, but he seemed to have put together one or two decent years and the facilities were improving. Considering the state of SMU when he got there, it was not altogether disastrous. But people want results and they want them now.

Which is why this move is even worse: today, after the first faint whiff of possible defeat following Obama's surge, Hillary Clinton fired her campaign manager Patty Solis Doyle.

(Read: "will stay on board as a senior adviser" is the same as "will coach this year's remaining games.")


Who can look the most glum behind a microphone? Stay tuned to find out!


In football, however, change is inevitable. And each year presents a fresh slate as empty as Mrs. Clinton's highly-veneered soundbytes. In politics, a politician may wait their entire life for one shot and one shot only when all the stars align. It makes more sense to make changes like this in a major political campaign.

But not now. You've lost a 100-delegate lead in only 2 days, and Chesapeake Tuesday does not look too promising. This reeks of panic and weakness, and if there's one medium where weakness is pounced upon even more readily than sport, it is surely politics.

Sure, SMU and the Clinton family have seen their similar ups and downs (is this Clinton's Death Penalty?), but something tells me June Jones will have a bit more success than Maggie Williams.

And by the way, there's no crying in football.

Also, I hear Mike Huckabee is filing suit against the state of Washington over the primary results. He may wish to consult with this gentleman for some legal advice: