49ers release Mariucci from final year of contract

[Novacane]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/2003/0115/1493146.html

[The_Philster]

Mariucci 'saddened' by sudden dismissal

There are two sides to every divorce. Two stories to be told in every breakup. Two ways to spin reality any time a long-term relationship ends.

So while his former bosses were conducting news conferences on Wednesday afternoon, telling anyone who would listen that Steve Mariucci was dismissed because of an unsuccessful power play, the one-time San Francisco head coach sat in his office and acknowledged to ESPN.com that the purported demand for more clout was all news to him.....more

[The_Philster]

Mariucci was fighting a winless battle

And we all thought that John York was just another overly earnest, big-haired bean counter, loath beyond reason to pay a man a million bucks or so to chat it up with Steve Young Sunday mornings on the set of "NFL Countdown."

But no. Wrong again. Steve Mariucci was smoked Wednesday morning with executive dispatch by the executive dispatcher, York.

It was determined that: A) Mariucci's 60-43 record (including playoffs) was a figment of everyone's imagination; B) That he would receive no extension, no increased power or even a better parking space; and C) That York would do the deed, but that general manager Terry Donahue would play the coroner for the audience.....more