LITTLE ROCK — Parcells: Pats fans are spoiled
Bill Parcells and New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft have evidently buried their feud that stemmed from Parcells leaving the Patriots for the New York Jets in 1997.
But Parcells had plenty to say to Patriots fans who are still upset or disappointed their team didn’t reach today’s Super Bowl.
New England lost 28-13 to Baltimore in the AFC Championship Game in Foxborough, Mass., two weeks ago.
“I don’t know what happened in the playoffs, but here’s what I say to you guys in New England: You guys are spoiled,” Parcells told the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy. “Really, you are.
You’ve got to remember how the other half lives. You forgot.
I was there for it, so I know. Just remember, you could be like some of these other franchises that you see. You got a couple of them inyour division.”
After leading to the Patriots’ to a Super Bowl loss to Green Bay in 1997, Parcells coached the Jets for three seasons and the Dallas Cowboys in 2003-2006, never returning to the Super Bowl.
But he came up for a Hall of Fame vote this year, and Kraft was one of those leading the charge for his inclusion.
“That’s over with,” Parcells told Shaughnessy of his feud with Kraft. “It’s been over for a long time. We’re both at the age where we don’t have time for these things. There are a lot of things that I would do different. I was very sad to leave New England.
I put a lot of blood in that team.
That was a Super Bowl team, and we were young.”
Petrino’s the worst
Athlonsports.com recently ranked the 20 worst NFL coaching tenures since 1990.
Included on the list were such forgettable names as Rich Kotite (4-28 with the New York Jets in 1995-1996), Chris Palmer (5-27 with the Cleveland Browns in 1999-2000) and Dick MacPherson (8-24 with the New England Patriots in 1991-1992).
But what stretch topped the list?
That would be Bobby Petrino’s 11-month run as the Atlanta Falcons’ coach in 2008.
The Falcons, who lost their quarterback before the season when Michael Vick was sent to prison for running an illegal dog fighting ring, went 3-10 before Petrino resigned before the end of the season to take the Arkansas coaching job.
“Petrino never seemed to be able to adjust to the pro game,” Athlonsports.com wrote.
Obviously, Petrino’s time at Arkansas didn’t end much better, either.
It’s the 49ers
“Mid-South Maple” didn’t care much about predicting the weather Saturday.
Instead, the groundhog at the Little Rock Zoo picked a winner for today’s Super Bowl. In a morning ceremony, Maple was set in between two decorated kennels, representing each team.
After what the zoo described in a release as a “long pause,” Maple headed for the kennel with a San Francisco 49ers logo on it.
“It was obvious that Maple took this decision very seriously,” zoo director Mike Blakely said.
“Maple has been studying up on the teams and watching a lot of ESPN the last few weeks. Maple has been studying the stats and watching the players in order to make this important prediction.
Any groundhog can predict the weather, but predicting the Super Bowl takes some real skill.”
Quote of the day
“BJ [Young] told me I had some big shoes to fill, so I just tried to keep up his energy and basically hold it down for the team and for when he came in.
Arkansas forward Michael Qualls, on making his first start for the Razorbacks.
Sports, Pages 22 on 02/03/2013