The Detroit Lions agreed to terms with Kansas City Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham to take the same role. Cunningham served as the Chiefs DC from 1992-2000 when he took over as head coach. He was replaced by Dick Vermeil and later returned to his role as DC under Vermeil.

I like Gunther. I like his passion and his aggressiveness. Herm didn't care for his mouth, but I think a defensive coach needs a little of that (as long as he can back it up). His defenses under Marty Schotenhiemer flourished. Neil Smith. Derrick Thomas. James Hasty. Dale Carter. And those were just the big names. He had a whole host of defenders that played at a level even Steelers fans could appreciate. They were tough and fast. They were the defense that single-handedly destoryed Ryan Leaf's career forcing three fumbles and two picks in his third professional game. They were the defense that went 13-3 with Steve Bono under center. This was a defense that allowed the offense to be mediocre and still win tons of football games. And the whole time, Gunther was there calling the shots.

When he became head coach of the Chiefs, I thought it was a good move. After two seasons, he was 16-16 with no playoff appearances. The team seemed to lack the same fervor they'd had under Marty. Dick Vermeil was hired to rebuild the Rams offense in KC. But the defense was horrible, so they brought Gunther back to be the coordinator in 2004. Again, I thought it was a great move. "He was a bad head coach," I'd say. "But you can't argue with the defense he produced in the 90s."

Maybe you could argue after all. Since that time, his defenses have ranked near the bottom of the NFL. Since 2004, the Chiefs used eighteen draft picks on defensive players. Jared Allen is the lone superstar in this group. I'm so glad they've buil....what's that? Oh.

Save a few secondary players in the past two years, the player development has been an utter disaster has been an utter disaster. The first rounders (Hali, Johnson and Dorsey) each came in with great promise but have not developed in the slightest. The defensive line has been awful. The linebackers were worse and that's supposed to be Cunningham's specialty. The secondary is starting to come around, but when you're dead last in sacks, it's hard to keep the receivers covered.

Maybe Steeler fans could appreciate that 1990's Chiefs defensive because it was their team's defense. Bill Cowher was the Chiefs DC when they drafted Thomas in 1989 and helped develop him (as well as Neil Smith who was drafted in 1988) throughout his stay until he left for Pittsburgh in 1992. Maybe Gunther was playing with Cowher's players. Maybe he needed a great defensive mind like Marty working over him. Maybe the tradgic death of Derrick Thomas was too much for him. Or maybe he's just lost 'it'. Whatever it is, Gunther has coached the best and worst defensives in team history.

How do you fix the worst defense in the league? You bring in the coach of the second worst defense. Good luck, Detroit.

How do you fix the second worst defense in the league? Hire that guy over to the left. I know he's not ready. But when he's ready, we better have the truck full of money waiting.

Regardless of who you voted for, or how you feel about him now, the swearing in of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States is cause for reflection.

150 years ago, African-Americans could be owned as property.
96 years ago, the President of the United States ordered that white and African-American federal employees work in separate offices.
46 years ago, the governor of Alabama was actively working to bar African-Americans from going to a state college.

Today, an African-American is being elected to the office of President of the United States.

Just think about that for a while.
 

A response to Patton Dodd's Text Messages blog about "Scripture Shock":

This sort of thing has happened to me on many occasions. One might say that if it hasn't, you're not paying attention. But it is a matter of perspective as to what shocks you as you read. As a very young conservative, I was bewildered and confused by passages about caring for the poor. "Shouldn't these people be made to work? Haven't they read 2 Thessalonians?" In more recent days,it is just the passages that Jeff mentions (especially Psalm 137) have made me uncomfortable.
My pastor, Bill Tibert, speaks often about how Jesus would disorient people then reoriented them. "You have heard it said, but I say to you" sort of thing. The parable of the late visitor and the audacious neighbor is a good example of this. The fact that these passages are still doing this today give me hope. I need to be reoriented. Passages like these keep me thinking, questioning and praying.

Ken Ham-Scot McKnight-Bart Ehrman sliding scale...what do you even say about that? :)

John Dunham over at Quibbling has written a nice reflection on the theology of Wall-E. I highly recommend the read as well as the movie. It was thoughtful, cute, and to a degree, silent. The character of Wall-E is not unlike having a completely non-threatening King Kong—love struck and hardly able to communicate verbally. The film was nearly flawless.

Nearly.

The opening scenes of this film portray earth as a giant landfill. This is primarily the work of Big-N-Save, an obvious shot at big box stores like Wal-mart. Humans have bought so much that the earth is full of trash. Wall-E's is there to clean up the earth so that humans can inhabit it again. After 700 years, Wall-E has made some nice sculptures, but not a lot of headway.

And here lays problem number one: Wall-E wants you to believe that it has a message about consumerism. But how could it be? Its entire  existence is based on you buying Wall-E. Not just tickets or a DVD, but plush Wall-E and remote control Wall-E and Wall-E bed sheets and Wall-E shower curtains and on and on. Any part of the story that was supposed to be about consumerism is convience at best and opportunism at worst. Perhaps the writers were attempting to be subversive. Only the sales numbers of Wall-E products could tell. But after spending 180 million dollars to produce it, and approaching 700 million in sales, consumers weren't consuming less. They were just feeling better about what they consumed. Or as Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message.