Archive for January 10th, 2022

Obit watch: January 10, 2022.

Monday, January 10th, 2022

Playing catch-up from the weekend:

Dwayne Hickman. THR.

His most famous role was as the title character on “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis”. Other roles included “Whatever Happened to Dobie Gillis?”, “Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis”, “How to Stuff a Wild Bikini”, and “Sergeant Orkin” in “The Youth Killer” episode of “Kolchak: The Night Stalker”.

Bob Saget. THR.

Marilyn Bergman. She and her husband Alan were Hollywood lyricists.

The Bergmans and Mr. Hamlisch won the 1974 best-song Academy Award for “The Way We Were,” from the Robert Redford-Barbra Streisand romance of the same name. (The album of that movie’s score also won the Bergmans their only Grammy Award.) Their other best-song winner, “The Windmills of Your Mind” (“Round, like a circle in a spiral/Like a wheel within a wheel”), was written with Mr. Legrand for the 1968 film “The Thomas Crown Affair.” Their third Oscar was for the score of Ms. Streisand’s 1983 film “Yentl,” also written with Mr. Legrand.

…

But their lyrics were probably heard far more often by viewers of popular late-20th-century television series. They wrote the words to the bouncy theme songs for the hit sitcoms “Maude,” “Alice” and “Good Times,” as well as the themes for the nostalgic comedy series “Brooklyn Bridge” and the drama series “In the Heat of the Night.” Their hit “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” best known as a duet by Neil Diamond (who wrote the music) and Ms. Streisand, was originally written for Norman Lear’s short-lived series “All That Glitters.”

NYT obit for Max Julien, for the record.

Lani Guinier, historical footnote. Bill Clinton nominated her for the post of “assistant attorney general for civil rights” in 1993, but was forced to withdraw her nomination after some of her views came to light.

She argued, for example, that the principle of “one person, one vote” was insufficient in a system where the interests of minorities, racial or otherwise, were inevitably trampled by those of the majority, and that alternatives needed to be considered to give more weight to minority interests.

(Hattip: Lawrence.)

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Blood in the streets!

Monday, January 10th, 2022

While this would be an appropriate title for an after-action report on the training classes I went to over the weekend, this is not that report. I hope to be able to write that sometime this week.

This is your “Monday morning after the end of the NFL season” firings watch. So far, there’s a lot of “sources say”. I’m going to leave these unlinked for right now, and update when there’s better confirmation.

“Sources say” Mike Zimmer is out as head coach, and Rick Spielman is out as general manager of the Vikings.

Edited to add: Story from the Star Tribune, though it is still “according to a source familiar with the team’s decision-making”. I can’t find any evidence that there’s been a press release, press conference, or other official announcement.

Zimmer had led the team to the postseason in three of his first six years, earning a second contract extension from the Wilfs before the 2020 season. Shortly thereafter, the Vikings gave Spielman a three-year deal to match the length of Zimmer’s, rewarding the general manager who’d had full control of the roster since 2012 and hired Zimmer to replace Leslie Frazier in 2014.
Zimmer finished his eight years in Minnesota with a 72-56-1 mark, ranking third in team history in wins, games coached (129) and winning percentage (.559). He was the seventh-longest tenured head coach in the NFL; all six who’ve been in their jobs longer than Zimmer have won Super Bowls.

Edited to add: this is now official, with a statement from the team ownership.

“This morning we met with Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer to notify them we will be moving in a different direction at the general manager and head coach positions in 2022,” co-owners Zygi and Mark Wilf said in a statement. “We appreciate Rick and Mike’s commitment to the team’s on-field success, their passion for making a positive impact in our community and their dedication to players, coaches and staff. While these decisions are not easy, we believe it is time for new leadership to elevate our team so we can consistently contend for championships. We wish both Rick and Mike and their families only the best.

“Sources say” Matt Nagy is out as head coach of da Bears.

Edited to add: Chicago Tribune, “according to league sources”, Sun Times.

Nagy went 34-31; his winning percentage of 52.3 trails only Mike Ditka and Lovie Smith among Bears modern-era coaches. Both those two went to the Super Bowl. The Bears lost in each of their two playoff appearances — most memorably in 2018, when Cody Parkey double-doinked the potential game-winner in the first round against the Eagles.

More as events break.

Edited to add: going back a day, Denver Post coverage (by way of archive.is) of the Vic Fangio/Broncos firing.

Edited to add: Brian Flores out as head coach of the Dolphins. This appears to be an official team announcement, not “sources said”.

Flores led the Dolphin to a 5-11 record his first season, 10-6 his second and 9-8 in his third season, which ended with Sunday’s win against the New England Patriots.

…

Flores’ firing was the byproduct of a poor relationship with general manager Chris Grier, among other factors, according to an ESPN report. “His relationship with Grier and Tua [Tagoavailoa] had deteriorated to a pretty bad place,” ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reported. “Along with constant staff changes, owner Steve Ross n longer saw Flores as a healthy fit in Miami.”

Edited to add: Dave Gettleman out as general manager of hapless the New York Football Giants. It seems like the official spin on this is that he “retired”.

The Giants finished 4-13 this season and were 19-46 in Gettleman’s tenure running the football operations.

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