Quite Frankly, At This Juncture ... Marty Fired!

Well, the Chargers' braintrust figured out a way to get people to stop talking about Terrence Kiel.
In a move that would have made perfect sense a few weeks ago -- but is downright bizarre in its sudden timing now -- Chargers president Dean Spanos fired head coach Marty Schottenheimer on Monday.
The firing comes less than a month after the team held a press conference to announce Schottenheimer would return for the 2007 season.
OK, whatever.
In his prepared statement released Monday, Spanos cited the ongoing strained relationship -- calling it a "dysfunctional situation" -- between Schottenheimer and general manager A.J. Smith as the reason for the dismissal. Uh, Dean, you're just now noticing those two didn't get along?
This latest soap opera just confirms that the Chargers are one of the most dysfunctional franchises in sports.
Now, let the speculation begin. Who will be the next coach of the Chargers?
Quite frankly, we don't think it matters that much. At this juncture, this is a team loaded with talent. How much coaching does Shawne Merriman require? Do you really think LaDainian Tomlinson requires any special pep talks? How much expertise with Xs and Os does it take to devise a system in which you hand the ball off to LT as often as possible?
Schottenheimer's chair isn't even cold yet and there already have been so many names thrown out there as possible candidates.
And some fans seem to be hoping for a temp just to keep the chair warm for a year until Bill Cowher is available in 2008. Not so fast there, Chester.
It will take $8 million a year to win the bidding war for Cowher. Ain't happening. The Spanos family will vote for a Democrat before they'll pay $8 million a year for a head coach.
All this leaves one other intriguing question: Will Marty Schottenheimer, the motivational speaker, keep his previous engagement for this Wednesday?