Dexter's Vantage Point!

CLEVELAND – The team, formerly known as the Cleveland Browns (Baltimore Ravens), marched into their old city and claimed a victory over the current Cleveland Browns. Starting quarterback Brady Quinn over Derek Anderson didn’t help the anemic offense as the Browns were shut out 16-0. The Cleveland defense played solid but the offense stunk. I could barely stand to watch. The Browns have scored just five offensive touchdowns this season. That’s horrific. In the press conference Browns head coach Eric Mangini had this to say when asked about the offense: I’ve tried a lot of different things and obviously it’s not been successful enough. We’re going to have to keep trying things until we get to the point where we need to be.” Quinn didn’t try throw downfield at all. Was anything over a ten yard pass off limits for Quinn? Sure looked that way to me but Mangini suggests, “It’s not like we were avoiding that part of the field.” What game was Mangini watching? The first half was like watching ...

Byron Scott has been fired as head coach of the New Orleans Hornets. Yeah, I’m shaking my head too. One of the first things that popped into my mind was who was going to replace Scott. Enter New Orleans Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower. You know who he is right? Bower use to be the head coach at. Oops, sorry. Bower has never been a head coach in the NBA. Is Bower really the right man for the job? Please. This move makes absolutely no sense. The Hornets fire a man who has rings on his fingers as a player and two NBA Finals appearances with the New Jersey Nets as a coach. Scott gets canned at the beginning of the season for a guy who has never coached? Scott was Coach-of-the-Year during the 2007-2008 campaign. He nearly took the Hornets to the Western Conference Finals. Last year the Hornets lost to Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. It’s hard to understand why the team decided to part ways after a 3-6 start. The season just got under way. Why make a change so early? He...

When Weis was introduced as Notre Dames’ head coach five years ago at his press conference he suggested, “Well, guess what folks you are a 6-5 football team and that’s not good enough.” Before the Pittsburgh game Weis was on life support. After dropping another game to a ranked opponent it seems the time is nearing to pull the plug on the Charlie Weis era at Notre Dame. Weis’ record stands at 6-4 after losing to Navy last week and Pittsburgh today 27-22. The Panthers outplayed the Irish and rightfully so because they were simply a better team. Weis came into this season with a schedule weak as water. The Irish had high hopes in trying to restore the once proud tradition at Notre Dame. Instead the season has been an utter debacle. What’s going to be the excuse for keeping Weis now? Costs too much to fire him? He’s a great recruiter? He just needs more time? Sorry Charlie. Those excuses are old now. It’s about winning. All other things are secondary at this point. The time has come to pu...

The US team lost in the Fed Cup final 3-0 to the Italian team. Venus and Serena Williams decided not to participate. Young American Melanie Oudin surely wanted to represent her country though. Oudin, who lost to Flavia Pannetta which gave the Italians an insurmountable lead of 3-0 in a best-of-five series stated: “I wanted to come here. I wanted to play for my country. Other people choose different things.” Oudin continued, “Some people I guess didn’t want to play as badly as I did. But I think that the team that we had here really wanted to be here,” Oudin said. “You don’t want people here that don’t want to be here. Even if you lose, if you give it everything you have, then that’s the best you can do.” Who is Oudin referencing when she states, “you don’t want people here that don’t want to be here?” Without question Oudin is referencing the Williams’ sisters. Perhaps if Oudin was winning Grand Slams, was No. 1 in the world and representing her country her words would have more sting ...

Charlie Weis’ Notre Dame fighting Irish played Navy at home and lost 23-21. The embarrassing loss puts Notre Dames hope for a BCS game in serious jeopardy as Navy literally ran all over the Irish defense. Two seasons ago Navy beat the Irish 46-44. Before that loss the Irish beat Navy 43 consecutive times. Now Navy has won 2 of the last 3 contests against the Irish. What’s the excuse now for keeping Weis as head coach? Based on the teams performance today Notre Dame must make some changes starting with Weis. The team has played a bubble gum schedule to ensure they’d have good record but not necessarily a good team. Bottom line: Weis hasn’t met the high expectations he set for the team when he took over for Tyrone Willingham five seasons ago. All the excuses must cease. No more benefit of the doubts. Weis must go. How can folks continue to think Weis is the coach that gives the Irish the best chance to win? Was Weis even qualified for this prestigious job to begin with? Yeah, he was an o...

Serena Williams is assured of being the No. 1 player in the world after beating her big sister in the final of the WTA Championships in Doha, Quatar 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). Serena’s next formidable opponent could come from the tennis hierarchy as she now faces the possibility of not competing in the 2010 Australian Open. Why? The tennis establishment is trying to penalize Serena for something she’s already been sanctioned for. The Grand Slam Committee is considering punishing Serena for her outburst at last years’ US Open. Here’s what went down at the US Open. Serena was defaulted from her semifinal match against eventual champion Kim Clijsters. Serena was serving 15-30 down in the second set when she was called for a foot fault. Replays indicated it wasn’t a foot fault. Serena got very upset. She said the following to the lines person: “I swear to God I’m (expletitve) going to take this (expletive) ball and shove it down your (expletive) throat, you hear that? I swear to God!” Serena was fine...