The thing about an old car that you love, is that no matter how many kinks, kunks, and clunks it goes through, it still starts up in the morning, turns smoothly, uses gas efficiently (well, not really) and still hits the best AC/DC solos on the radio. So I say goodbye to my old friend, my Dell D800 Laptop, for better or worse, we had a good time.
Also on notes about old things being replaced by new things. The Walrus pointed out this Yahoo article, that specifically copies this PFT post about Randy Mueller in the running to be the Bengals General Manager. So I'm going to copy and paste their post, while linking them at the same time.
The fine folks at WhoDeyRevolution.com have been trying their damnedest to persuade Bengals president Mike Brown to hire a General Manager.
Regardless of whether the billboards and the urinal cakes have had any impact on Brown, there’s talk that the franchise is considering exactly such a move.
The first name tied to the Bengals, we’re told, is Randy Mueller. The former Saints and Dolphins G.M. currently works in the Chargers’ front office, and Mueller’s star is ascending again because of the resurgence of the Dolphins. Though most of the credit for Miami’s performance will go to Parcells, Ireland, and Sparano, a lot of the players were brought to town with the involvement of Mueller.
If any of this remotely comes true, we should gather WDR into a single bar, and buy them drinks all night long wearing our Willie Anderson Bengals jersey.
UPDATE: A little more on Mueller
OK, so this talk of "thinking" about acquiring a General Manager, specifically Randy Mueller, whose mere mention caused me to cough up a Styrofoam cup of steaming coffee onto my 19 inch flat panel monitor that Walrus will have to reimburse me for, I wanted to introduce a cliff notes version of Mueller's resume.
While a Player Personal Director from 1990-1995, Mueller stayed on with the Seattle Seahawks as VP of Football Operations until 1999, when he moved to the Saints organization as the team's General Manager from 2000-2001. In two seasons, Mueller fielded a team that went 17-15, captured the NFC West (at the time) title the first year he was there, and the franchise's first post-season win; a 31-28 win over the St. Louis Rams (Aaron Brooks threw four touchdown passes in that game).
Don't be fooled by the title of Miami Dolphin's General Manager from 2005-2007. Even though Mueller was the GM, head coach Nick Saben has more authority and final say regarding personnel decisions. After Saben left in the night (surprised?), Mueller signed Cam Cameron. Even so, Mueller had basically one full season to field a competitive football team. When that team went 1-15, Bill Parcells took over and fired Mueller. We don't believe that anyone should be persuaded one way or the other, for this stretch run where a head coach outranked him, and a VP was generally cleaning house after Mueller was given one season. Right now, he's given the bland title of Senior Executive for the San Diego Chargers.
Considering his stint with the Seahawks, and limited two-year success with the Saints, and the obvious reasons we shouldn't take his Miami Dolphins stint too seriously, it would seem to us that Mueller would be a good stepping stone for the Bengals to inquire (not acquire, just to get their feet wet for the position) about a General Manager.
However, simply inquiring about Mueller doesn't mean the Bengals would be opening their frozen hearts for a general manager. It could also mean the Bengals simply want help with the personnel department, while keeping the family as the overall authoritarian ruler -- in which I ask, what changes then? I caution that we don't get excited, simply because of "word" that the Bengals "may" go in that "direction", in which Mueller hasn't always served as simply a General Manager.