Just in case you have not gotten the word, Frank Reich is the Colts’ new head coach. The 56 year old Pennsylvanian Is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where he played quarterback. He was drafted by Bill Polian for the Buffalo Bills in 1985 in the third round where he played behind Jim Kelly. On a number of occasions, Reich would relieve an injured Kelly to win games for the Bills, including a 1992 playoff win against the then-Houston Oilers in which he engineered a 41 -38 overtime victory. At one time in the third quarter, the Oilers led 31-3. It was the greatest comeback win in NFL history. Polian called Reich the greatest backup quarterback in NFL history — a sentiment echoed by several other media experts. He played for the Panthers in their first season in 1995, throwing their first touchdown pass to former Bills teammate Pete Merlelaars. He played for the Jets and Lions before retiring as a player 1998.
Reich was an ordained Presbyterian minister and motivational speaker before Bill Polian tapped him to join the Colts coaching staff in 2008. He became the quarterback coach in 2009 as a general assistant. He worked with the receivers in 2011. He joined the Cardinals in 2011 and the Chargers in 2013. In 2016 he join the Eagles as the offensive coordinator and is credited with developing both Carson Weintz and Nick Foles into championship level quarterbacks.
After the Josh McDaniel fiasco it was important for the Colts to get it right at the open HC position. There are informed people who now say that Reich should have been the first choice all along. Anyway, we have got “The Guy” to wear headphones and manage the sidelines. We can now move on to more pressing issues.
The Winter Olympics
The PyeongChang Olympic Games are going full throttle and the Team USA is ripping up the ice and snow. As of this writing, the team has already won 3 gold, a silver, and two bronze medals. Nick Goepper from Lawrenceburg, Indiana, is a freestyle skier and is in the preliminary rounds of his event. Each and every Winter Olympic American team seems to have a female member who emerges as the media darling and the center of social attention. Often it’s a figure skater, but this time it seems to be 17-year-old snow boarding champ Chloe Kim. She is lovely, charming, and quite frankly, athletically ASTOUNDING. I watched her gold medal winning run and she seemed to defy the laws of gravity. She’s a visual winter poem on the snowboard!
Ms. Kim is also the daughter of immigrants. There are also several other members of the American team who are the children of immigrants. There are several members of the team who are gay. As long as they are competing and winning, their critics in the United States will look the other way and begrudgingly concede them the privilege of being members of the team.
Vice President Mike Pence led the USA delegation at the opening ceremonies. Afterwards several of the team members who are gay refused to meet him privately because of his stated views on their status as human beings. The Vice President found his reception to the team a chilly one and rightly so! This is a sports column, however, not a political one! I will just end by saying “Go Team USA!”
snicewanager@yahoo.com