Vacation Man Likes To Make Stuff Up
June 16th, 2010
"Jimminy Christmas! If I didn't work with Vacation Man, I'd rip him a new one."
When Joe thinks about his beautiful girlfriends over the years, Joe doesn’t include the lovely Rachel Watson.
The reason is simple: Joe has never dated, spoken to or performed naughty acts with Ms. Watson.
Sadly, Pat “Vacation Man” Yasinskas, the BSPN.com NFC South beat writer, doesn’t subscribe to this truth-be-told philosophy.
Vacation Man prefers to pretend fantasy is reality and sell it to his “worldwide leader” audience as the end result of intelligent journalism. Vacation Man ranked his top coaches in NFC South history yesterday, and two on his list never even coached in the NFC South, which was created in 2002.
To make his piece more laughable, Vacation Man ranked the coaches as follows:
1. Tony Dungy
2. Sean Payton
3. John Fox
4. Jim Mora
5. Jon Gruden
6. Dan Reeves
Yes, JIM MORA is No. 4.
Never mind that Mora never won a playoff game with the Saints. Never mind that Vacation Man has him ranked ahead of Super Bowl-winning Chucky. Mora coached in the NFC West.
(Reeves, by the way, only coached in the NFC South for two seasons.)
That’s like saying Tom Osborne is one of the greatest coaches in Big Ten history!
And Vacation Man takes yet another swipe at Chucky.
“I’m not going to say Dungy or defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin deserve the credit for that Super Bowl. Gruden deserves the credit. But what did Gruden really do beyond that?”
That’s like saying, other than leading the country through the Great Depression and World War II, what did Franklin Roosevelt do beyond that? WHAT??? Coaches are SUPPOSED to win Super Bowls!!! This is the singular goal of an NFL coach. A coach can wipe his ass with division title flags. They mean squat!
Please, name a coach, any coach, when he is hired, saying his goal is to win a division title? That’s beyond absurd.
Vacation Man, in his bizarre assessment of Chucky, goes on to drop the nugget that “he won a Super Bowl with Brad Johnson as his quarterback and no true superstars on offense.”
Maybe Joe’s lost his mind, but Joe’s pretty sure that Keyshawn Johnson and Mike Alstott were bonafide renowned superstars entering 2002, and Johnson had a heck of a season that year. And how many Pro Bowls did Alstott play in?
Thinking of past references to Alstott, Joe wonders if Vacation Man has an ax to grind with the guy?
Vacation Man doesn’t directly address why he picked non-NFC South coaches like Dungy and Mora, but he does say “I like to look at the big picture and have some flexibility outside the lines.”
Translation: Vacation Man makes stuff up because he thinks it reads well. What’s next, Michael Clayton ranked No. 9 on the list of top offensive lineman?
By this twisted logic used by Vacation Man, Wayne Fontes would edge out Mike Holmgren as the greatest coach in NFC North history. Oh, wait…
It’s just unbelievable to Joe how Father Dungy has some people hoodwinked. “What did Gruden really do beyond that?” What, was Chucky supposed to perform free vasectomies? NEWSFLASH: NFL coaches are not hired to perform the Last Rites.
It’s been years ago and Joe should have let it pass, but he cannot. Joe will never forget how Father Dungy stubbornly, if not arrogantly, refused to adjust his offense to something slightly more modern than the 1946 Chicago Bears claiming this was the offense that Chuck Noll used when the Steelers won, when if fact it was not.
Joe vividly recalls how Mel Blount talked about the 1978 Steelers in an episode of the fantastic America’s Game by NFL Films. Blount referred to a change in NFL rules, known as the “Mel Blount Rule,” that banned contact with receivers five yards past the line of scrimmage. It was because of this rule, Noll informed the Steelers he would change his offense up and pass more to take advantage of the new rule, which resulted in two Steelers Super Bowls in 1978 and 1979.
And who was Blount’s teammate on the 1978 Steelers? Father Dungy.
Blount also went on to say in the same episode how Father Dungy was one of the smartest men he ever played with. So if Father Dungy was this smart, why didn’t he learn from Noll being flexible when Father Dungy was with the Bucs?
What another pathetic waste of time from BSPN! This almost makes “Around the Horn” seem intelligent.
C’mon Pat, you’re better than this.
June 16th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Let it out Joe, don’t hold back. LOL
I usually like Pat’s stuff for the most part, but I agree, this piece is garbage.
Gruden did win the Superbowl and deserves to be in the top 2, but I would also agree with ‘what did Gruden do beyond that?’. The answer? Not much.
June 16th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Chucky did what he was supposed to do: Win a Super Bowl.
Only one other coach in NFC South history has done that.
Beyond having a team that couldn’t score a touchdown in multiple playoff games, what did Father Dungy do?
June 16th, 2010 at 11:31 am
Can we discuss my unhealthy obsession with Ms. Watson?
June 16th, 2010 at 11:39 am
I think you’re being a little rough on Dungy here.
I mean, he did set the stage for turning around the entire franchise.
I do agree with your Gruden points though.
June 16th, 2010 at 11:40 am
By regular season record in the NFC South…
Payton 38-26 .594
Dungy 54-42 .563
Fox 71-57 .555
Mora 26-22 .543
Gruden 57-55 .509
Reeves 49-59 .454
Add in Superbowls
It’s Payton, Gruden, Fox, Reeves and then everyone else.
(Mora and Dungy didn’t get to the show…)
June 16th, 2010 at 11:48 am
What’s with you posting records! Dungy coached in the NFC Central. Vacation Man (can’t believe i just typed that) is ridiculous. This whole premise is nuts. And it’s not like Gruden wasn’t a great coach BEFORE he came to Tampa. …The world is a sick place sometimes.
June 16th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Do your homework, Joe. The article was about anyone who had ever coached any of the teams currently playing in the NFC South. That doesn’t mean coaches since 2002.
Joe: “Vacation Man doesn’t directly address why he picked non-NFC South coaches like Dungy and Mora, but he does say “I like to look at the big picture and have some flexibility outside the lines.” Translation: Vacation Man makes stuff up because he thinks it reads well.”
This is just plain wrong, Joe. He addressed it BOTH before his article ran, and after when shortsighted bloggers complained. Read more before you call out a more accomplished journalist for “making stuff up.”
June 16th, 2010 at 11:49 am
You’re right, Gruden probably deserves more credit for winning the Super Bowl than Pat gives him, but I agree with what both Pat and bucfanjeff said: What did Gruden do beyond that?
A head coaches job is not strictly to be a play caller (which you could contend was mostly Chucky’s input in 2002.) That’s the offensive coordinator’s job. A head coach builds a competitive team and keeps them competitive. Gruden could barely keep us above .500 the rest of the way.
June 16th, 2010 at 11:52 am
Joe here,
Jamie – I appreciate you being thorough, but all Vacation Man did was link back to a story (rather than put it where it belonged in this story with a screaming headline) that dropped a one-liner explaining that he was going to set the parameters of coaches who coached one of the current NFC south teams.
It’s not in his story where it belongs, and it doesn’t change the absoulte ridiculousness of the premise. And Joe stands behind everything written here.
June 16th, 2010 at 11:52 am
There’s no such thing as “beyond that” when you’ve won a Super Bowl. That’s the Holy Grail. You’ve reached the peak of football’s Mount Everest. There is nothing higher to climb.
June 16th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Respect, Joe/admin. Thanks for still posting my criticism. Other mods are not nearly so democratic.
June 16th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
If he was going to engage in this ridiculous exercise, it’s way ridiculous to not have John McKay on the list
June 16th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Joe,
Is he Talking about Jim Mora SR. or JR.?
June 16th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Senior.
Junior is laughable.
June 16th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
This is the most ridiculous thing i’ve ever seen.
June 16th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Jaime,
“Accomplished” journalists don’t subject their readers to rinky-dink, silly lists such as this! That was drivel.
June 16th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
It’s too funny that Dungy seemed to get credit for saving the franchise from moving out of Tampa. I guess losing 34-3 in his first game, a few days before the CITS vote, was what turned the trucks around…
June 16th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
And that’s just another example of why I don’t read that guy’s crap.
June 16th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Is he talking about the playoffs? Playoffs? Thanks Joe for pointing out the hypocricy of Dungy, great man, average to at best above average coach. If Gruden gets no credit for winning Superbowl, let’s not forget who’s team he beat in the Superbowl, his own Raiders, who have been abysmall since Gruden was last there. Say what you want about Gruden, he is stubborn and petty and too often over thinks things, but he is a great game coach and in a head to head matchup I’d take him number one out of all those coaches, except maybe Fox, he is truly underrated in my opinion.
June 16th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Also I heard Rah was 7 on the list, just above Perkins.
June 16th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Gruden has 3 NFC South Division titles, 1 NFC Championship to go along with his Super Bowl. What did Gruden do after the Super Bowl? He won 2 more NFC South titles… and should have won one his last year, but lost 4 straight and then got canned for doing so… hmmmmm. Winning a division his last year would have netted him 4 NFC South division titles.
Anyway, compare his 3 division titles, 1 NFC championship, and 1 Super Bowl win with Dungy’s 1 NFC North title (still don’t see why Pat the Moron clumped all this together, apples to oranges).
Compare Gruden’s 3 divs, 1 NFC title, 1 Suber Bowl with Jim Mora, John Fox…
The list should be Peyton, Gruden, Fox and who ever the best record NFC South coach’s records are remaining.
Dungy and Mora shouldn’t even be mentioned in the NFC South period… Even THEY would agree to this.
June 16th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Jamie:
That’s why Joe is special! 🙂
June 16th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
An “unhealthy obsession” with Rachel? Isn’t that an oxymoron?
June 16th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Dungy had 1 NFC Central Title… sorry. He did make some wild card berths!
Lets talk overall NFC South, past Central though…. Gruden still had more division titles with the same amount of NFC Conference appearances… but Gruden won his.
So, that seems to be an easy argument.
But of course people are human, and humans want to believe what they want, so they throw some qualitative qualifiers into the analysis… it’s just those qualitative perceptions are absolutely biased… much like Patty Y’s blog.
June 16th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I like what vacation man does here. Look at the history of all 4 teams that are “currently” in the NFC south and rank the coaches that way. The division has only been around since 2002 and hasn’t had enough coaches to make a list.
The Panthers have only had one coach since it began: John Fox.
The Buccaneers had Jon Gruden as their coach until 2008 until Raheem of course took over.
The Saints had Jim Haslett until 2005 until Sean Payton took over.
The Falcons had Dan Reeves until 2003 and then Jim Mora. Jr was hired in 2004 and was around until his firing after the 2006 season. In came the Bobby Petrino/Vick fiasco and then Mike Smith was became the current coach in 2008.
1. Sean Payton
2. Jon Gruden
3. John Fox
4. Mike Smith
5. Jim Mora Jr.
6. Dan Reeves
7. Bobby Petrino
8. RAHEEM!!!!! Though the jury is still out on him.
June 16th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
LOL… Raheem makes the list because there hasn’t even been 10 NFC South coaches…. LMAO!!!
So, Raheemers…. there you go, Raheem Morris is officially on the top 10 list of the all time greatest NFC South coaches to ever step on the field.
Although Hasslet ranks ahead of Raheem.
June 16th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Wait, does this now make Patty Y, aka Vacation Man, nothing more than a troll looking to get reactions out of his readers? Much like JimboBuc?
Patty Y has stooped to an all time low, seeking attention, KNOWING he would get some… sad.
June 16th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Petrino shouldn’t make anyone’s list.
June 16th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
This was an interesting response:
“Jamie – I appreciate you being thorough, but all Vacation Man did was link back to a story (rather than put it where it belonged in this story with a screaming headline) that dropped a one-liner explaining that he was going to set the parameters of coaches who coached one of the current NFC south teams.
It’s not in his story where it belongs, and it doesn’t change the absoulte ridiculousness of the premise. And Joe stands behind everything written here.”
June 16th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
d-money, “This is the most ridiculous thing i’ve ever seen.”??
You obviously haven’t seen/heard about a certain oil spill in the gulf or how the President has handled it.
June 16th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Oh no, it’s the “comment guardian”!
June 16th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
In case some of you were confused by the post i made, my above list consists of all the NFC South coaches since the division began in 2002. I ranked all of them from best to worst.
@RamDaTheBest
I did leave out Jim Haslett and he definitely is ahead of Raheem. And Petrino.
My corrected list:
1. Sean Payton
2. Jon Gruden
3. John Fox
4. Mike Smith
5. Jim Mora. Jr.
6. Dan Reeves
7. Jim Haslett
8. Bobby Petrino
9. RAHEEM!!!!!
Petrino sucked and Raheem currently is sucking, but they were/are NFC South coaches so therefore they’re in the rankings list.
June 16th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
BuccoMike:
Joe’s not going to call Father Dungy a hypocrite, let’s not get carried away. Joe thinks the world of the guy. He was a good football coach, nothing more. That written, he is hardly a diety as a football coach.
It just drives Joe crazy the way some write about Dungy, you would think the guy was Paul Brown and Bill Parcells rolled into one.
Just watch the first few minutes of the Bucs’ episode of America’s Game (it’s on Hulu.com) and listen to what Warren Sapp and John Lynch say.
June 16th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Patrick, Dan Reeves should probablly be ahead of Mike Smith(although time will tell, he does seem to be good). Raheem should be ahead of Betty Petrino for no other reason than he isn’t a QUITTER! Just my opinion. Nothing to see here folks, move along.
June 16th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Gruden is above Peyton, he won almost all of the important games against the Saints during his tenure.
Grudens tems beat Peytons teams with less talent.
June 16th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
What if………………….. Jon Gruden replaces John Fox in 2011???
That would be quite interesting.
June 17th, 2010 at 1:11 am
I am not going to kill Pat for including all the coaches from the history of each NFC South team. That is what it is. I do have problems with some of his criteria. It looks he gave a lot of credit to coaches who “resurrected” their respective teams-Mora, Dungy, Payton. I think you ultimately have to go by the results.
I don’t see how you can have Gruden #5. He has Fox above Gruden.
Fox-3 Division Championships, 1 NFC Championship, 5 mediocre years
Gruden-3 Division Championships, 1 Super Bowl, 1 mediocre years, 2 bad yrs.
Gruden has the same amount of division championships and has the 1 Super Bowl. I just don’t see how you can have John Fox over Gruden.
Mora over Gruden?? Are you kidding me?? Mora had 1 Division Championship and 0 playoff wins. Case closed. Mora should be applauded for building a winner in NO, but he never took the next step.
It’s hard comparing Gruden and Dungy. Dungy did have to turn around the losing culture in TB. That is very true. Bennett, Perkins, Williamson and Wyche all failed to do that. He should get major props for this. Dungy did have incredibly bad luck in 2 instances. The Bert Emanuel no catch and the Martin G. missed chip shot. The Bucs were on their way to taking the lead with the Emanuel catch and get to the SB. Martin G. could have given the Bucs the #2 seed in 2000. Instead they had to travel on the road to Philly as the #4 seed. Huge difference. I will give heat to Dungy for not getting closer for that FG. He played way too conservative. But Dungy’s offenses weren’t as bad as I thought they were looking back now. Dungy had 2 of the best offenses in TB point wise in 2000 and 2001. Dungy didn’t though get the team over the hump and it cost him. Gruden’s offenses never took off. He did bring a SB to the bay area. Dungy only had 1 Division Championship compared to 3 for Gruden. It is hard for me to rank one over the other. It just depends on what you are looking for. Sure Gruden did win the SB, but he never any other playoff game with TB. Sure Dungy did go to the playoffs 4 out 6 years, but he never the Big One.
Payton has the SB win and almost went to the SB another year. I would probably have Payton above Gruden. He’s never had a bad year and he does have the 2 Division Championships and the 2 Conf Championship appearances.
So I would have Gruden at least #3 and possibly #2. I could be talked into either one.
Patrick-There is no way I would have Raheem below Petrino. Even though I am not a big fan of Raheem, he didn’t quit on his team like Petrino. Petrino and Raheem both have the same amount of wins. Petrino is a piece of garbage that abandoned the ship when the going got tough. Raheem is just a guy who was in over his head. No comparison.