Erickson can relate to firings

San Francisco 49ers coach Dennis Erickson describes his profession as a "volatile business," so he's not surprised that Miami Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt resigned in midseason.
Neither is he caught off guard when colleges such as Washington (Keith Gilbertson) and Florida (Ron Cook) dismiss their coaches in mid-season but let them finish the schedule.
"That seems to be the trend this year," said Erickson of the recent firings of Gilbertson and Cook.
"Keith Gilbertson is a good friend of mine, so I find it pretty difficult to accept what happened," Erickson said, noting that Gilbertson took over the Huskies' program in late summer of 2003 after Rick Neuheisel was dismissed after paying money to enter a NCAA basketball pool.
"The situation he inherited was not good," said Erickson, suggesting that Gilbertson was given little chance to reverse course.
If anyone can relate to Wannstedt's predicament, it's Erickson, whose team also has fallen from playoff contender to the bottom of the NFL standings.
"It can be a pretty quick trip to the outhouse from the penthouse in this business," Erickson said.
The Dolphins' problems escalated after tailback Ricky Williams retired right before training camp and the Dolphins had no adequate replacement. The trade for quarterback A.J. Feeley (first-round pick to the Eagles) has been a flop so far.
The Niners' failure can be traced to using this year's salary cap to pay off released expensive players from the playoff teams of 2001 and 2002 and a slew of injuries to the likes of linebacker Julian Peterson, cornerbacks Mike Rumph and Ahmed Plummer, quarterback Tim Rattay and all-Pro center Jeremy Newberry.
TV comments suggestSteelers humiliate rival
Monday, ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor Dan Patrick suggested to Mike Ditka and Michael Irvin that the Steelers unnecessarily humiliated the Eagles by taking a knee with more than two minutes remaining in Sunday's game.
Ditka and Irvin gave Patrick surprised looks, then responded that they thought Steelers coach Bill Cowher made a classy move not scoring one more time in the 27-3 victory.
Steelers fans aren't going to like this -- Armstrong Cable, which services most of Mahoning County, is getting ready for a lineup change now that WBCB-TV Channel 20 is the Mahoning Valley's new WB affiliate.
That means Armstrong can drop WBNX 55, the Cleveland WB affiliate, and add a different out-of-town signal. (Cable operators are permitted to carry two out-of-town signals; WUAB 43 is the other one.)
Steelers fans want Armstrong to carry Pittsburgh's CBS affiliate, KDKA Channel 2, because it carries every Steelers game.
WKBN Channel 27, the Youngstown CBS affiliate, is considered a Cleveland Browns station. So when the Browns and Steelers play at the same time and CBS has the rights to both games, Steelers fans are shut out in Mahoning County.
On Nov. 21 when the Steelers play the Bengals in Cincinnati and the Browns are at home against the New York Jets, Channel 27 will show the Browns game.
Although Armstrong hasn't announced which out-of-station they will replace WBNX with, a source with the company says it won't be KDKA.
Once again, baseballdisplays its wisdom
Once again, Major League Baseball has shown its infinite wisdom with the 2005 schedule.
Next June, the Pittsburgh Pirates, who could use a boost in ticket sales just about every year, will be playing the World Champion Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, but not in PNC Park.
Last winter, the Red Sox sold out Fenway Park before the season began. Imagine how tough it will be to get a regular-season ticket now.
Yankee Stadium has a lot more seats than Fenway, so Pirates fans who plan ahead should be able to buy tickets.
But imagine the excitement that would have filled PNC Park if the Red Sox and Yankees were coming to Pittsburgh. Instead, the Pirates marketing staff has the privilege of trying to move tickets for the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
XTom Williams is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at williams@vindy.com.