There is no doubt that Laimbeer has done an outstanding job making enemies in the league. He’s been in altercations with current and former executives & coaches named Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Danny Ainge and Kurt Rambis when the Pistons/Bad Boys were winning titles during the "Bad Boys" dynasty.

The "Bad Boys" dynasty saw Bird fire Isiah Thomas when the pair were on the Indiana Pacers payroll. It was inevitable that Celtics and Pistons couldn’t work together.

What amazes me about Laimbeer is I do believe he could have done a much better job than the Pistons recently deposed Coach Michael Curry.

Laimbeer is a fierce competitor and along with Thomas, they took it upon themselves with their strong personalities to lay down the law when Detroit acquired Mark Aguirre and made sure he wouldn’t be disruptive in the locker room. The rest is history as Detroit defeated the LA Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers and won their championship rings.

The one thing I’ll never forget about Laimbeer was when I made my lone appearance at the Boston Garden in January of 1990, I was in the Pistons locker room talking with Dennis Rodman.

On December 25, 1989, the same day former Tigers Manager Billy Martin was killed in an automobile accident, I was injured in a skiing accident on Magic Mountain in Vermont tearing the ligiments on my last run of the day.

A concerned Rodman was asking me why I was wearing a fiber glass cast on my left ankle. At that time, Dennis and I had a great rapport and he was always cooperative when I wanted to speak with him. Rodman treated me like a friend.

As I was speaking with Rodman, Laimbeer made some stupid wisecrack and I went ahead and told him, "Just because you can afford to make your car payment doesn’t mean I can afford to make mine." Rodman quickly jumped in and told Laimbeer to get off my back and to leave me alone. Dennis and I then proceeded with my interview and I went on to talk to another player.

Right then and there, I knew like many people, why Laimbeer was hated. It’s easy to tolerate a guy when a team is winning. But he made reporters jobs more difficult and as aforementioned, didn’t get along with other players. Little did Laimbeer realize that dealing with the media is free advertising for the team. I certainly never questioned his basketball intelligence, but his public relations skills were horrible.

Laimbeer did a masterful job with the Detroit Shock by saving a franchise that was destined to fold to winning championships. Since I never covered the Shock, I’m unaware of his dealings with the media. I would think that they should have improved.

Laimbeer reminds me of former Tiger Kirk Gibson, who as a player was lousy with the media. But as Gibson retired and when he became a part of the media, he appreciated the other side and now as a coach is much better to deal with. I do believe that it’s a matter of time before Gibson becomes a manager because the difference between him and Lambeer is he didn’t burn bridges with other baseball people like Laimbeer did with basketball people.

Gibson’s dramatic World Series homers with the Tigers in 1984 and LA Dodgers in 1988 will always be great memories on ESPN Classic. Laimbeer’s elbows and fights on ESPN Classic won’t capture the imagination of fans but will only infuriate them.

I’m still amazed that Joe Dumars hasn’t hired him as an assistant coach unless the two discussed it but Laimbeer frowned on the idea. Again, I don’t know so I don’t want to be questioned for making false statements. But Dumars has been around all five of Laimbeer’s championships so there is more to this than meets the eye.

When Thomas was running the New York Knicks, he did interview Laimbeer but hired Larry Brown. I’m surprised that Thomas didn’t talk Brown into hiring Laimbeer as an assistant coach. He’s always made sure that Brendan Suhr and Brendan Malone had jobs with him during his stops in Toronto and New York.

Dumars’ former top front-office aide and now Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond had a chance to offer Laimbeer a coaching job of some sort when he hired Scott Skiles as his head coach. There was familiarity but nothing transpired.

Laimbeer did interview for the Minnesota Timberwolves head coaching job which did go to Rambis. I wouldn’t have expected there to be a friendly reunion between these one time rivals unless Rambis won’t hold a grudge against Laimbeer and utilize his basketball knowledge that he obtained from the late Chuck Daly. Even before Daly passed away, I’m surprised that Daly wasn’t able to get Laimbeer more consideration for other jobs unless he thought his former center was happy working in the WNBA.

Nevertheless, the question remains, is there a future on an NBA bench for Laimbeer? I’d like to think there is since he does know how to win.

It’s no secret that he plays mind games with his players but even the best coaches in sports like Bill Parcells, Pat Riley and many others do to keep their players off balance and focused.

But the NBA coaching ranks are very weird. I’m amazed that New York Knicks legendary Center Patrick Ewing hasn’t been given the opportunity to be the head coach for this team since he has paid his dues as an assistant under Jeff and Stan Van Gundy and played under Riley. This is an injustice.

Until we find out how Ewing and Laimbeer would do as coaches, for the time being, we’ll never know. Ewing is more media friendly but Laimbeer still has what Ewing was unable to accomplish in his career and that’s win an NBA title.

The only thing I can say to Laimbeer at the moment is if there are no NBA jobs in the future, Bill you should rejoin Thomas at Florida International University (FIU) and learn how to teach because if there is a job that opens up with a bad team, you’ll be forced to educate the younger players and develop patience.

It would be scary to think that FIU would be the amateur version of the "Bad Boys" with the boosters paying the fines because of rough play. Then again, they won’t care if the team is winning, gets to the NCAA Tournament and becomes a Cinderella Story that bolsters recruiting and puts the university on the map.

It’s time to start paying dues Bill like the rest of us who take entry level positions and work our way up. At least you know now through ESPN’s "Outside The Lines" that while Barkley still might not like you, he does respect you and does believe you’ll be a winning coach, thus you do have an unexpected ally.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com

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Posted By Scott Morganroth to Motor City Mad Mouth’s Insights at 8/17/2009 03:25:00 PM

"Obviously Matt made a bad decision (on the interception for an Atlanta touchdown). They blitzed him, a rookie quarterback is going to get blitzed, but then rather than burning the ball he tried to make a play that ended up costing him. The thing I liked about it is: he bounced back with an 80-yard touchdown drive and took a hit which you have to do in the NFL and made a perfect pass and Derrick (Williams) made a great catch. I liked that bounce back.

"Drew (Stanton) did a great job with his feet; a lot of people in Michigan have seen Drew play football and they know, like I mentioned in training camp, it’s hard to get an evaluation of him because in training camp and practices you really don’t scramble around and he’s got a great asset with his legs. He used it today, he got us in field goal range and that was able to win the game."

Schwartz on his impression of Stafford bouncing back from throwing an interception returned for a Falcons touchdown: "That’s part of his personality; that’s one of the reasons we drafted him. He’s not scared, he’s not afraid, he’s not afraid to go back out and put himself out there. I wasn’t in here when he was in here but I imagine he wasn’t shy about coming in, that’s all apart of the reason, not just what he did on the field. It didn’t take Vince Lombardi to see that he can throw the football but all those other things led to this organization drafting him." 

On his mobility: "I feel stronger – my feet, my legs, I feel like I finally got them back to be the player that I want to be. I feel comfortable – I’m going to continue to work and still take it one day at a time and try to get better every day."

On watching the other two quarterbacks: "It’s a situation where everybody wants to be in there playing. I was just trying to encourage and give any positive input or any type of thing that I see from the sideline to try to help. That’s kind of my approach when I’m not in."

On how Culpepper is taking the competition for the starting quarterback job: "I always think of the three ‘d’s.’ There’s a lot of debating going on. You guys see, I don’t choose to be in the debate – the decision is for the coaching staff. I’m very determined, and those are the three d’s that I always consider and how I look at it."

Culpepper on being a veteran and still competing for his job: "You always have to fell like you’re going out there to show you’re stuff. At the same time, when you’re prepared, it makes the battle a little easier. I feel very prepared going out there and playing. I have that confidence knowing in certain situations what we’re trying to do and that’s just the preparation and hard work that I put through and we put through as a team."

On throwing an interception and bouncing right back afterwards: "Yeah, that’s a ball I just should have thrown it away. We were hot; it didn’t happen the way we wanted it to and I tried to make a play on third down. I should of just threw it away. I’m going to throw interceptions, it’s going to happen; every quarterback does and I understand that. It never really got to me and I don’t plan on it happening anytime soon. I knew there was going to be another drive and I had another chance to get out there and make something happen and best way to make up for that is to go out there and score a touchdown. It was big for us and Drew and Daunte played really well. Drew there at the end really gave us a chance to win; that’s a situation we have worked a hundred times in practice – working almost everyday – and he did a great job of getting us out there. And Hanson is about as automatic as they get."

On his touchdown throw: "I knew it was coming. I felt it, I looked to my left, actually had nine-route, a go route to my left and the corner had great position on him so I went back right, saw Derrick (Williams), had him deep pretty good and just kind of cut it loose to a spot where I thought he was going to be and I don’t really know what it looked like but we scored – I heard the cheer."

Stafford on whether he was nervous on the sideline before he got into the game: "I wasn’t very nervous, more anxious. I was like, ‘ I want to get out here and play.’ It was tough sitting around for the first quarter and a half and I loved watching Daunte, he is a great player, but at the same time, I want to be in there too. Once I got out there, I felt at home. We had a first good couple plays; we stalled out for a little bit but I felt like we did pretty good."

Here is a list of what the City of Brotherly Love has in store for this controversial athlete, who has turned the animal world upside down after serving prison time for bankrolling a dogfighting operation.

1) Eleven years ago, the Philadelphia fans booed the selection of QB Donovan McNabb. I wonder how many busts were drafted in that time frame with the most notable one being Ryan Leaf of the San Diego Chargers.

2) Wednesday night, Pedro Martinez won his debut 12-5 over the Chicago Cubs for the World Series Champions Phillies. I’d hate to see how he reacts when he loses some games especially against the hated New York Mets.

3) Philadelphia fans are known for booing Santa Claus.

4) The Philadelphia Flyers won two Stanley Cups in 1973-74 and 1974-75 and were known as The Broad Street Bullies. Their rough house style of play carried over to a January 11, 1976 game against the Soviet Red Army team that walked off the ice in what was billed as "Conflict On Ice."

5) Old Veterans Stadium had jail cells in the building for fans that deserved to be disciplined because of bad behavior.

6) Legendary Phillies Hall of Fame Pitcher Steve Carlton refused to talk to the local media for many years.

7) Vick will be playing for a compassionate coach in Andy Reid, who believes in giving second chances. Reid has had to deal with the legal difficulties of his sons who were involved in drugs.

Vick will be teammates with the classy McNabb, who tolerated Terrell Owens turbulent behavior. McNabb played a huge role in recruiting Vick.

9) Former Detroit Lions Coach Marty Mornhinweg (5-27) has rebounded well with the Eagles and has become an offensive genius as offensive coordinator for Reid.

10) Vick will go from one bird nickname to another leaving the Falcons and starting over with the Eagles. Both teams will face each other on December 6, 2009 at the Georgia Dome and you can bet that Atlanta Owner Arthur Blank can take this sellout and media circus to the bank.

Although the headlines in Philadelphia are reading "Hide Your Dogs" & What Are You Thinking?"—–The Eagles front office knew what they were thinking and believe that Vick will be an impact player once the right role is created for him. The Eagles know that Vick holds the NFL record for rushing yards for a quarterback with 1,039 and opposing defensive coaches will be loading up on Tylenol.

If you’re in the Stock Market, Tylenol would be a great investment.

The addition of Vick gives the Eagles another athletic quarterback if McNabb does get injured. In recent years, McNabb’s body has taken a pounding with injuries and the team won’t miss a beat with his mobility.

If the Vick experiment does work, Philadelphia will be singing Kate Smith’s God Bless America.

In the meantime, the NFL’s version of One Life To Live or General Hospital will add a new soap opera to the lineup titled "Will Michael Vick Take Advantage Of His Second Chance?"

Stay tuned and good luck Michael because you’re playing in front of the most demanding, negative & positive fans who are passionate about their sports teams and will love you if you succeed or blast you if you don’t. Even though the reaction appears to be 90-95% negative at the moment, that could change with the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl 44 in Miami.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at Scottsports33@aol.com

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Posted By Scott Morganroth to Motor City Mad Mouth’s Insights at 8/14/2009 07:27:00 AM

Allstate says drivers are in good hands and have used this marketing slogan to perfection. The NFL is in good hands with Goodell.

Thursday’s ruling to suspend Donte Stallworth for one year under the league’s personal conduct policy appears to be the right decision for a man that plea bargained his way into getting just a 24 day jail sentence for DUI manslaughter that ended the life of Mario Reyes on March 14 in Miami with a blood-alcohol level of .126, above Florida’s .08 legal limit.

If Reyes, a 59-year old construction crane operator had been killed by somebody else other than a professional athlete, the legal penalties would have been far more severe than they were in this case.

Unfortunately, the problem with today’s athletes is they can buy there way out of trouble.

Even though Goodell has made the right decision on Stallworth, I personally believe that Stallworth should have been suspended for at least two years or even banished by the league permanently.

Stallworth, 28, killed another person and that’s all there is to it! Goodell saw things this way and that’s why he came down hard on Stallworth. Whether Stallworth ever plays in the NFL remains to be seen. Yes, he’ll pay a huge price in the wallet for missing this season and like former Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick, his reputation is shot.

Vick is having a hard time finding work. But to Vick’s credit, he served his jail time for dog fighting. What Vick did was wrong and having been a dog owner, killing animals is disgusting.

But Vick did pay the price financially and with his reputation.

One thing Vick does have going for him is Tony Dungy is mentoring him. I do believe that Vick does deserve a second chance and his work with animal groups including the Humane Society is a step in the right direction. Dungy will help him get back in the NFL.

As for Stallworth, he’s a different story. I doubt that Dungy would mentor him. He killed a human being! Period!

Even though Goodell says the legal system’s shorter sentence played no part in his decision and he punished Stallworth based on killing another human being, deep down inside, I do believe that the commissioner created his own justice. I feel the legal shorter sentence played a part in his tougher decision.

If there is something positive that should come out of Goodell’s hammer, all players better beware that this sheriff is "Walking Tall" and isn’t afraid to use his sledge hammer. Full 16-game season’s will be lost.

I’ve always detested alcohol and Stallworth just reinforced why I can’t stand this liquid killer.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com

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Posted By Scott Morganroth to Motor City Mad Mouth’s Insights at 8/13/2009 03:44:00 PM