Tice was better

That much is obvious. He went 9-7 last year.
Since that time, the Vikings added Chester Taylor, Matt Birk (he was hurt), Steve Hutchinson, Cedric Griffin, Dwight Smith, Ryan Longwell, Ben Leber and D.C. Mike Tomlin - and yet they will likely finish 6-10 in the first year of Brad Childress' tenure.

Is it fair to call for Childress to be fired after just one year?

Maybe.

After all, this has been far worse than anyone could've expected. Let's be real. Three of this teams' wins have come against Detroit and Arizona. Another came against a Seattle team that played without Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander (which is kind of like beating the Red Sox without David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez). The other two wins came against underachieving Carolina and Washington, who probably only lost because they were unprepared for how terrible the Vikings would actually be.
Bad teams like San Francisco, Green Bay, Miami and Buffalo beat the Vikes with relative ease.
With this schedule, and the off-season additions to the roster, 10 wins was not too much to expect. I believe Tice would've delivered that.

And now this.

Thursday night against Green Bay, the Vikings recorded one, two, three first downs.

3.

First, Childress made the mistake of giving in to public pressure and starting Tarvaris Jackson. I didn't disagree with the decision, except for the fact that Childress didn't make the move to give Jackson experience (which is why I would've). He did it ostensibly to win the game, which is laughable, considering the guy is one year removed from playing I-AA ball.
If Childress thought that game needed to be won (which it didn't), Brad Johnson should've started, and the Vikings probably would've won.
Second, Childress started Jackson but kept the boring Brad Johnson plays. The fact that Jackson has a stronger arm and more mobility became a moot point. I don't believe I've ever watched a worse NFL game.

What also bothers me is how Childress has not shied away from placing blame for his putrid offense on Johnson all year, which continues to hint towards a prickly insecurity that lies beneath Hamster Face's supposed tough-guy demeanor.
I don't believe he's as confident in himself and his coaching as he pretends to be. All you have to do is look at his face during games. He looks clueless, almost scared. He knows he's being outcoached as it's happening.

Maybe we should've seen this coming. I'd be lying if I said this is what I thought would happen, but deep down I did fear that it was a possibility. After all, what had Hamster Face ever done before?
OC in Philly? Please. Philly's offense has usually been the achilles heel of their team. And Childress didn't call the plays anyway.

Disciplinarian? The Vikings lead the NFL in penalties, and the off-field incidents that Zygi Wilf's handlers have convinced him are more important than winning games, have not lessened.

Speaking of Boner-Nose, he's part of the problem. When he hired Childress, he introduced him as a 'proven winner'. In what universe, Zygi? The guy had never been a HC before.
Wilf had no idea who to hire, and since Hamster Face's name kept popping up in Peter King's weekly column, that was apparently enough to convince him that he should be the guy.

Will Childress be back? Almost certainly.

Being that Zygi is as unstable and clueless as he is, I guess it's possible that he'll push the panic button and fire Childress. I would neither cheer nor oppose that move. Hamster Face has been the most disappointing coach in the NFL, and he has certainly raised plenty of doubt as to whether he's capable of leading an NFL team. He's been nothing short of a colossal, bombastic failure.

But firing a guy after one year, especially with the enourmous amount of staff that he brought in, could drive the team further into chaos and disarray.

Plus, I think Boner-Nose has too much ego to admit he struck out on his first hire after just one year. My guess is there will be a compromise of sorts.
Originally, the plan was surely for Childress to get at least three years, and if by the third year the team was at least starting to win, he'd get to stay longer.
But now, with this season having gone as badly as it has, my guess is he'll be on the hot seat in '07.
If they go finish below .500 again, or continue to be boring and pitiful on offense, he should be fired. If he can coax 8 or 9 wins out of them, or at least start showing some semblence of a clue offensively, give him another year.

Honestly, I pity Childress. I don't think he expected any of this. I honestly think he thought he was some kind of fucking genius, and now he's having trouble with the humbling realization that he may be pro football's worst coach. The media and fans have already turned against him, savagely in some cases, and that just exacerbates things. He doesn't have many allies at this point.
He isn't an idiot, however. If he admits to himself that he's got a lot more learning to do than he thought, he might have a chance to get this team on track next year.

I'm trying to be optimistic, but it's tough.

* The Wolves failure to land Allen Iverson is inexcusable if, as has been reported, they were unwilling to give them what they wanted. The Wolves are the most irrelevant team in pro sports - they have almost no fans - so they should've given the 76ers literally anyone on the entire roster besides Kevin Garnett.

This was the one chance for this team to get back on the map, both competitively and from a ticket-selling standpoint, and they blew it.

* The Twins officiallly signed Rondell White to an incentive laden 1-yr deal. He'll start in LF, with Jason Kubel penciled in at DH (with Jeff Cirillo and others at the ready). I doubt White will stay healthy playing the field, but I'm convinced that he's more likely to repeat his second half performance of last year than his first.

And considering the ridiculous contracts being given to mediocre players, the Twins didn't have much choice. It was either White or Josh Raabe.

Two new bats (and one old shitty one)

The Twins signed former Nebraska Cornhuskers and Kansas City Royals 1B/DH Ken Harvey (right) earlier this week, and are expected to finalize a deal for former Brewers, Mariners, Padres and Rockies 3b/1b Jeff Cirllo (left) later this week.
Harvey was actually an AL AllStar in 2003 when he got off to a hot start, but immediatley came plummeting back to Earth, with injuries limiting him to only a handful of games the last few years. He's no guarantee to make the team, and is completely useless in the field. However, he could be a decent option off the bench and as a DH vs. lefty pitching.
Cirillo, meanwhile, qualifies as a major addition, at least in Twins terms.
The 37-year old has a career .298 average and .368 OBP. He has 1,550 career hits.
Last year in 263 at-bats he hit .319 with 3 homers and 23 RBI.
From '96 to '01 he consistently contended for the NL batting title, posting seasons of .321, .325, .326 and .326 during that period. His OBP routinely hovered around .400, and while his 2000 numbers are surely skewed by playing at Coors Field, they're still impressive: .326, 11 homers, 115 RBI, 111 runs, 53 doubles, 195 hits.
He went to Seattle and tanked, apparently ending his career. From 2002 to 2004 he batted .249, .205 and .213. A return to Milwaukee apparently rejuvenated him however, as he hit .281 in '05, and .319 last year. In those two years, he batted .408 against lefties.
The Twins have always lacked for RH bats, so both of these additions make sense.
I'm not so high on Harvey, who I would say is a longshot to make the team (especially since the Twins intend on keeping Lew Ford - that's the shitty bat I was talking about in the headline).
But Cirillo makes sense on several levels. He's righthanded, kills lefty pitching, and can play third, first and second. The Twins didn't really have a backup for Morneau at first, and now they do, and they didn't have an insurance policy in case Nick Punto gets hurt sliding into first base or goes back to being Nick Punto. Now they do.
If nothing else, adding these two the expected re-signing of Rondell White gives the Twins some sudden depth, creating a nice competition for roster spots and at-bats in spring training.

Make It Happen

At different times in my life, the Minnesota Timberwolves and University of Minnesota Golden Gophers have been a very big deal. There were winters where those two teams took up way too much of my time.
This is not one of those winters.
The Gophers have become a Big 10 doormat. The Wolves are by no means terrible (impossible with Kevin Garnett on your roster), but they've become increasingly irrelevant as they find themselves stuck in neutral.
I'm exactly the fan both programs are trying to win back, and I have "the answer" (get it?) to how they can do so.
Kevin McHale, go get Alan Iverson. Now.
You may have heard that Iverson asked for a trade this week and the Sixers aim to accomodate him.
He reportedly is interested in playing with KG. Iverson's exactly the kind of player that can make KG better. He's averaging 30 a game. He's the only player in the NBA with a work ethic that rivals KG.
Do the Wolves have enough to land him? Maybe.
Randy Foye, Craig Smith, Ricky Davis, Mike James, Troy Hudson? They can have all of 'em.
With KG and AI on the same team, they'd win 55 games if the rest of the roster was CBA guys (oh, wait, it kind of is already).
There are few things can put the Wolves back on the map right now. This is one of them.
Joel Maturi, same deal.
Go get Bob Knight. Don't tell me he doesn't miss the Big 10. Or that he wouldn't fill Williams Arena. Or make the team winners without cheating. I don't think this is as unrealistic as some are making it out to be.
Do it.

Rippin' Rondell

Appears to now be a virtual lock to return to the Twins next year. Considering he'll come relatively cheap, had a good second half, and everyone else is way, way overpaying for everything, it's not such a bad thing.
It appears White (doing what I have dubbed 'the gay gallop' with Luis Castillo in the photo) will play LF, while Jason Kubel will be the DH. It's interesting that last year the Twins went into the season all excited about how Rondell would DH so he can stay healthy, and now theyre trying to say how excited they are to have him in LF, where he hit over .300 last year (compared to .194 as a DH).
Rondell isn't a terrible LF, but he does have a terrible arm. He's basically going to be a carbon copy of Shannon Stewart.
*The whole Jason Jennings thing has cooled off, though the Twins are still interested. It could be awhile before Jennings is moved.
The Twins have also expressed interest in Sidney Ponson and Bruce Chen.
*Infielder Jeff Cirillo could sign this week. As a RH bat who's hit over .300 much of his career, Cirillo would be a nice addition. He can play 1b/3b and of course could DH. He'd open the season as a bench player, but it seems pretty obvious that he would also be insurance in case Nick Punto is unable to repeat his 2006 performance next year.
*The Royals gave a 5 year, $55 million deal to Gil Meche. I don't see how that's a good move for a rebuilding team that loses 100 games every year.
*The Indians signed a couple decent relievers (Joe Borowski, Aaron Fultz). Smart moves, but nothing to get too worried about if youre the rest of the division.
*The White Sox traded Freddy Garcia to the Phils for Gavin Floyd, a former No. 1 draft pick yet to pan out. The larger accomplishment of the trade was clearing a rotation spot for Brandon McCarthy. Still, I'm glad to see Garcia go. He was real good, and pitched some gems against the Twins.

In the Market

The Winter meetings are often full of big happenings on the trade and free-agency front...unless you're the Minnesota Twins.
Usually Terry Ryan doesn't do much more than grant interviews in which he talks about all the moves he won't be making.
It does appear that the Twins are the leaders in the hunt for Jason Jennings, the 2004 NL ROY for Colorado. Jennings went just 9-12 last year, but with a 3.78 ERA.
To post a 3.78 ERA while making half your starts at Coors Field is very impressive. Look for the Twins to send Jesse Crain or Juan Rincon (hopefully Crain) and probably Scott Baker, to the Rockies.
Jennings would then likely be the Twins No. 2 starter, allowing Boof and Silva to compete for the No. 3 spot, with Matt Garza likely taking the 5th turn.
*The odds of Rondell White returning to the Twins are improving. White made it clear he wants to be back, and his popularity with teammates and coaches certainly works in his favor.
What really works in his favor, though, is the fact that he hit .321 with 7 homers after the All-Star break. With Jason Kubel's knees a major question mark, the Twins could use the added depth at LF/DH. Mike Piazza's name has surfaced again, but he may not want to DH, and the Twins don't need another catcher.
*The Twins left Terry Tiffee unprotected, and he signed with Baltimore.
If you think this is in any way a negative development for the Twins, you are a moron.
Tiffee sucked, and there were grumblings that he was an asshole as well (he got into an on-field fight with Mike Redmond, one of the team's most popular and likeable players, in spring training). All his departure really means is that if Justin Morneau ever needs a day off, Michael Cuddyer or Luis Rodriguez would have to play 1st base for a day. If Morneau had to go on the DL, Triple-A slugger Garrett Jones could fill in just as well as Tiffee did.
Of course, that would change if the Twins brought back Phil Nevin, a move I am highly in favor of if affordable, but it probably won't be.
*The Vikings still blow.