Black Monday - Cue the Dirge - NYTimes.com A day of watching Black Monday programming on the NFL Network and ESPN2 tells you that the ritual of firing head coaches the day after the regular season ends is the funereal opposite of the celebration of the N.F.L. draft. It is an occasion when the studios should be draped in black curtains and the anchors should speak in hushed tones. At least it is clear that everyone plays a role on Black Monday. ■ Team executives are downcast as they describe to the news media why they dismissed their coaches. They voice their respect for a coach's contributions to, well, not winning enough. ■ The pink-slipped coaches, if they speak at all, invariably thank the owners who fired them, although it is probably the last sentiment in their broken hearts. ■ The networks" anchors and analysts are nearly always somber, recognizing not to shout, chuckle or tell jokes at the expense of coaches, some of whom will receive millions to get lost. The NFL Network gave much of its coverage an inoffensive label - "Total Access Special: The Aftermath" - perhaps realizing that something like "Black Monday, presented by Lewis Black" would be tacky. In the aftermath, the network shifted regularly from its main studio desk; to a set that featured two former general managers (Charley Casserly and Mike Tannenbaum, who was fired by the Jets and is now an agent for coaches); to field reports and live news conferences with owners, front-office executives and coaches. The league's channel recognized a few years ago that sticking with firings (and potential hires) on Black Monday benefited viewers most, even if it grew repetitive when the firings stopped. Eric Weinberger, the network's executive producer, said that it was yet another part of its mix of nongame programming, like the college draft, the scouting combine and the release of the season schedule. "A lot of fans see this as a restart - the beginning of the next move that could put their teams over the top," Weinberger said by phone from Los Angeles. We dedicate a lot of resources and time to this. Our audience expects that, when news is breaking, the NFL Network will be all over it. ESPN2 was less single-minded about the firings than the NFL Network, mixing coverage of the dismissals with speculation about possible replacements (as the NFL Network did), analysis of this weekend's wild-card playoff games and other news. The appeal of watching Black Monday rests, in part, on whether fans will get their pound of coaching flesh and in how many coaches will be dismissed. How long would the list get? The firings began Sunday, with the Cleveland Browns parting ways with Rob Chudzinski. They were followed Monday by the dismissal of Mike Shanahan by the Washington Redskins, Leslie Frazier by the Minnesota Vikings, Jim Schwartz by the Detroit Lions and Greg Schiano by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A sixth coach, Gary Kubiak, was fired by the Houston Texans late in the season, not long after he had a ministroke during a game. Even as the networks analyze every nuance of the coaching carousel, the fun is mostly in watching news conferences to see what can be gleaned from speakers" euphemistic, tortured language. Nothing in the Black Monday vigil matched watching Jimmy Haslam, the Browns" owner, and Joe Banner, the president, face the news media. Haslam, whose family-owned truck-stop business is being investigated by the F.B.I., looked uncomfortable, stern and displeased to be there. This inquisition is not why he spent $1 billion for the Browns. Banner tried to stay on his main point: that the team did not improve throughout the season under Chudzinski. But firing him after one season seemed like the latest sign of the woebegone franchise's never-ending dysfunction. At one point, Haslam appeared to hold his breath as Banner answered a question. A reporter used a fan's online comments to ask Haslam if he, Banner and Mike Lombardi, the general manager, were the "Three Stooges running this operation." Haslam did not respond with a Nixonian "I am not a Stooge." Instead, he deployed almost every cliché in the owner handbook: He has the right people to remake the organization. His team's fans are the best and they deserve better. Nobody will work harder than he and Banner to fix the team. Chudzinski played his role in the sacrifice. In a statement, he said that he was "shocked and disappointed" to be fired but added, "I am very grateful to Jimmy Haslam and the Haslam family for letting me live my dream." Shanahan deviated from the script when he cited the effect on the team of a $36 million salary-cap penalty imposed by the league. But at least he remembered to thank Daniel Snyder, the Redskins" owner, for letting him, in essence, walk in the scuffed coaching shoes of Norv Turner, Terry Robiskie, Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier, Joe Gibbs and Jim Zorn.