Blame Canada

 

Former Steelers Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada

I've never been one to want to see people lose their jobs.

Even as a manager, I've given people multiple chances before terminating. Maybe that's a failure of mine but I'm not quick to give up on people.

But I'll admit I wasn't heartbroken to see Matt Canada let go as offensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers today.

If anything, I felt relief.

The fear in such moves has always been about "what's next?"

I hear about firing Yankees manager Aaron Boone all the time. The same with Brian Cashman.

And, yet, what happens after they're let go? Who replaces them? Who makes things better?

Casey Stengel isn't walking into Yankee Stadium anytime soon.

I've always felt like this. Eradicating one problem doesn't mean the replacement won't be worse. I've seen it happen too many times.

The grass isn't always greener.

The Steelers' consistency in terms of their head coaches has always been a source of comfort for fans. 

Bill Austin was the Steelers coach when I was born. He didn't exactly hold up the standard of Vince Lombardi. Since then, there have been three coaches: Chuck Noll (1969-1991), Bill Cowher (1992-2006), and Mike Tomlin (2007-present).

There have also been six Lombardi trophies since 1969.

Of course, there are those who have felt each one of those coaches had seen their time come and go. Tomlin is the latest to be on the fringe of the hot seat, but those are often the fans who are never happy.

Tomlin, like many, would basically have a job within days of leaving.

This all being said, Matt Canada needed to go. Simply put the culture of Steelers football was deteriorating by the day.

Teams simply can't fire a coach due to the whim of fans. It's a bad precedent to set.

Yet, this was next-level bad.

The Fire Canada movement had been in full form since last season when most thought he wouldn't return.

Then he was back for 2023 and I think most fans knew it was going to get worse.

But I have to imagine that Mike Tomlin and the Steelers front office felt they could make it work. Also, they probably didn't have a better option.

Maybe now they do (in the interim, they'll utilize other coaches in the organization to run the offense).

Or, more likely, they simply realized the situation became untenable, especially after a dangerously lifeless performance against their hated rivals from Cleveland.

They were, in short, losing the locker room, and, in sports, the players rule the day.

So Canada had to go.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were 5-3 going into Sunday in a division that is very close. Their 13-10 loss to the Browns was pretty bad.

More than anything, it was glaring at their deficiencies on offense, with a second-year quarterback who needs to make or break.

Maybe there is some grand plan. Maybe they'll patch it together to get through the rest of the 2023 season.

Of course, the Steelers aren't winning the Super Bowl this year but that doesn't mean they can't try.

Count this as a rare time when a coach needed to be terminated.

It was a mercy firing for all involved.

*****

In my continued pursuit of sleep, I put curtains up in my room today.

Honestly, window dressings weren't a priority here but getting some peace at night is.

You see, The Cat likes to chase shadows at night. Given we live on a fairly main street, lights move as cars drive by.

Those lights -- the shadows -- often appear in a few places. Among them are next to my bed and above my desk.

To that end, I've piled pillows on the desk to keep Rascal from doing his thing while I tried to sleep.

Of course, he calms down during the middle of the night because traffic is quiet, so nobody is passing by.

So combine that with his being hungry, and the fun begins early in the morning.

Thus I'm giving these curtains a try. I had them in Mahopac, in part, to help keep my bedroom there warm.

Now they'll hopefully keep our room dark.

And my nights peaceful.

So I've added a loveseat and I'm breaking out my inner interior designer.

What's next?