ICYMI: Happy New Year: Doug Marrone Walks Away from Bills

Raise your hand if you thought the Buffalo Bills would be looking for a new coach after their 1st winning season since 2004?

Yeah, nobody else did either.

Now former Bills head coach Doug Marrone took advantage of a 4-day window to opt out of his contract with his team Wednesday night and walked away. He...or his agent had the clause put in his original contract in case the team was sold. Which happened this fall.

It surprised his players, observers and others. But don't expect Marrone, who has been very successful in rebuilding the Bills team in his two seasons as head coach. He'd been trying to negotiate a contract extension with new owner Terry Pegula, but apparently that discussion was not getting very far.

And, despite his choice to walk away, Marrone will still get his $4 million dollar payday from Buffalo whether he coaches or not. And most think that is exactly what will happen. Speculation has already begun he will interview in New York with the Jets, a team he spent time with as an offensive line coach.

As for the Bills, they have plenty of options as well. Already we'd say the leader in the clubhouse would be former Bills QB Frank Reich, currently a quarterbacks coach in San Diego.

But we could be wrong.

Here's coverage from our surprised friends at WIVB-TV

DEVELOPING: Black Monday Begins: Ryan and Idzik Fired

((HT: NJ.com/SNY))

Surprising no one, really, Black Monday begins with a dual firing in New York with both head coach Rex Ryan and GM John Idzik being shown their walking papers.

Owner Woody Johnson has long been known for wanting to clean house and he went two levels on a team that seemed ill-fitted to compete in the AFC- until yesterday with their fun performance and win over the Miami Dolphins

Here's his game ball presentation


And his addressing the media after the game


The HQ anticipates their will be further action in Chicago, Atlanta, and the actions in San Francisco

More when we know more...

Rex Ryan might finally be leavin' on a non-Jet plane...

Idzik (L)) and Ryan (C) might be shown the door by Johnson (R)

MEADOWLANDS, NJ--Sports pundits have been placing wagers on Rex Ryan's demise in New York for years. Well, if you picked the end of the 2014-15 season for sexy Rexy's marching papers, then you might have just won big.

According to NJ.com, former Redskins general manager and consultant Charley Casserly has already started contacting people about replacing the embattled head coach AND current NYJ GM John Idzik. Owner Woody Johnson is apparently not wasting any time.

According to another source, Ryan has already started cleaning out his office in advance of the impending move. If this happens, at least Ryan and Idzik went out after a 37-24 win over Brother Phil's Miami Dolphins. Ryan spoke out after the game, in a message directed right at Johnson.

"Fire me, already. Don't jerk me around."

The OSG Sports team will keep you posted as details arise.

Morning Wrap: Titans vs. Jets--The Brawl for Last Place (But What An Ending!)

((ht: cbssports.com))

So there weren't exactly a whole lot of highlights late Sunday afternoon when the putrid New York Jets took on the hapless Tennessee Titans.

Outside of the last play of the game, a wild attempt at re-creating the Music City Miracle, perhaps the best video of the game came here.

Jets QB Geno Smith and a slew of Jets lineman exchange some words. One of them slaps Smith's helmet, bringing his teammates out onto the field.

Some more words were exchanged. And that's when the punches flew.

Video from CBSSports.com:

But, just as wild was the end of the game as the Titans- in the first-ever NFL game to finish 16-11 got nine yards away from another Music City Miracle...

Charlie Whitehurst to Dexter McCluster- who lateraled back to Nate Washington. He then found Whitehurst again across the field, who eventually lateraled to a streaking Delanie Walker.

Walker was that close...
((HT: NJ.com/Charles Curtis' Vine))

DEVELOPING: Bills-Jets May Move From Buffalo (UPDATED: Yep, It's Moving)

((HT: WGRZ-TV))

With all the snow that is covering western New York and Governor Andrew Cuomo asking everyone to stay inside "pretty, please" the thought of a football game on Sunday afternoon at Ralph Wilson Stadium is a longshot at best.

So, with a little leeway to think about it, the NFL is debating moving the game to either Detroit, Pittsburgh, or Washington to get it in the books this weekend.

Adam Benigni discusses...
The thought is Monday night for a kickoff, but the Bills have to be able to get out of town. The team hasn't practiced in two days and would need to get transportation out of town to whatever locale will host if it is not Orchard Park. Interesting math frm the Bills front office: Bills officials said Wednesday that it takes about three days to remove one foot of snow from the stadium and surrounding areas. At the rate the snow is falling, that cleanup would take 18 days. So, don't go holding your breath on a Bills home game. PM UPDATE: Yep, it's moving... According to Adams Caplan and Schefter at ESPN, it's not happening Sunday and they may not get their November 30 game played in Buffalo, either, because of the amount of snow inside Ralph Wilson Stadium.

And the final idea is that the game will be in Detroit on Monday night...

Provided, of course, the Bills can actually get there...

Sign of a Slow Day: Jets Nick Mangold Snaps Pepsi's to Customers

((ht: bleacherreport.com))

Okay, if you ever wanted to know what happens on a slow news day, you are about to find out. Two non-football related, sort of funny stories involving the New York Jets in a row.

And we know, this is totally a promotional thing. But it is kinda funny and makes you wonder what would happen if this happened to you.

Check out Jets center Nick Mangold hiding in a display case cooler, waiting for unsuspecting customers to come up and get a cold drink.

In true football form, he snaps the Pepsi's to them as all of them chuckle with glee.

No word on whether the soda sprayed all over the people when they tried opening them. (Shaken up soda bottles do that)

Watch--and enjoy:

ICYMI: Jets Fan Heckled Walking Around Manhattan

Yeah, I know, we are late to the party with this video, but it's pretty funny...and telling.

In the wake of the viral video showing a woman walking around Manhattan getting catcalls, many people have tried to spoof it.

One of the best....the one here.

This features a guy named Jay Nog dressed up in New York Jets gear wandering the streets of the Big Island. It kinda looks a little bit staged, but it's still pretty funny.

And telling, because outside the folks at the 4-letter (ESPN) and a handful on New York City residents, nobody really cares about the 2-8 Jets.

ICYMI: NY Jets With Worst Trick Play Ever

Folks, the New York Jets are a crappy football team. Despite their near constant presence on the Sports TV wrap-up shows, they are a bad football team. They don't have nor have they earned the right to have that much coverage. Nobody outside New York...and maybe not even there based on a recent Facebook poll cares anything about them.

That all being said, this is visual proof of just how sad the J-E-T-S are. It's a really, really bad attempt at a trick play on a kickoff return during their 42-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The Jests had T.J Graham lay down in the "Green" end zone, wearing his green Jets jersey during a kick that landed deep in the end zone with the thought that new acquisition Percy Harvin would throw it to him as he suddenly sprang to life.

Yeah...

It didn't go quite that well. Harvin got the ball, tried to run out of the end zone and before he could wind up...was tackled on his own 2 yard line.

Good bye Rex Ryan, it was nice doing stories about you:

Bills Fan Falls From Upper Deck Onto Fan In Lower Level (VIDEO)

((HT: Terez Owens/NFL on CBS))

And, yes, the video does exist...
Look in the upper left corner of the screen before the close-up...


The Bills fan slides along the upper ledge and falls, landing on a fan in the middle level...

The Buffalo News is reporting that an ambulance report from Rural/Metro Medical Services said that the man who fell suffered a shoulder injury and that the man he struck had a head injury.

The Erie County (NY) Sheriff’s Office said that a report on the incident would be issued later today.

The Most Atlanta Sports Night Ever: A Hard Luck Life

You know, I've been thinking about how to tell this story all day.



The biggest city in the south, home to teams in all the major sports. A town that is the new melting pot of the U.S. People come to Atlanta from all over the world to live, to play and enjoy life. Heck, movie's and TV shows are filming in Atlanta on a regular basis.

But for those who are from the city, there's a deep, not-so-dark secret.

Atlanta has come to stand for "Good, not great" sports.

Monday night, October 7th, 2013 in Atlanta, may have been the single worst night that any city has every experienced in the history of Sports.

Mind you there have been some pretty bad one's in the ATL.

In the late 80's, the Atlanta Braves were so bad, you could go to a game, starting with outfield seats and end up behind the 1st base dugout before the game was over.

Nobody was there. (look at the crowd shot about 1:00 in)



The Atlanta Falcons never had back-to-back winning seasons until 2009.

The AtlantaHawks, they traded away Hall-of-famer Dominique Wilkins in his prime, for Danny Manning. And have never played an NBA finals game as the Atlanta Hawks.

Never.

Atlanta had not 1, but 2 NHL teams. Both lasted a handful of years, both franchises left and moved to Canada.

You get the picture.

So, to have a night where in the span of two hours, the Braves get eliminated from the playoffs after giving up a game-winning 2 run home run in the 8th inning, with their best pitcher, Craig Kimbrel on the bench is not surprising.

Watching the Falcons get beat by a BAD New York Jets team with a rookie QB, 30-28 on a last second game-winning field goal drive is pretty bad.

Finding out that your star WR Julio Jones broke a bone in his foot and is out for the season is worse. Dealing with all this and the knowledge you are 1-4. Depressing.

And this doesn't even take into account the Hawks losing to the Miami Heat in an exhibition game.

Oh, and we didn't even mention the Georgia Bulldogs (yes, I know they are in Athens), who while barely beating a crappy Tennessee team in Knoxville, are now without 5 of their top 6 offensive players.

You get the picture.

For the Braves, it's just disappointing. They played well enough at times. They made the playoffs and had a shot at winning. At least in the 1st round.

But manager Fredi Gonzalez, who appeared to be a genius for starting a pitcher hauled off the scrap heap (Freddie Garcia), instantly became the goat, when he wouldn't warm up Kimbrel to prepare for a 2-inning save.

He paid the price for that when reliever David Carpenter gave up an 8th inning, 2-run homer to Juan Uribe.



Game over.

For the Falcons, yeah, it was pretty depressing. But it's nowhere close to your saddest day.

No, nothing will ever top the embarrassment of Bobby Petrino coaching you to a loss on Monday Night Football in 2007, then showing up later than night in Fayetteville, Arkansas hollering "Pig Sooey!!"



But this is pretty bad. Sure, the Falcons were probably a bit over-rated this year. No depth, weak on both sides of the line. This despite having Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Jones, Tony Gonzalez and Steven Jackson on your offense.

Let's be real: You were a 9-7 team at the start of the season. That should still be your goal.

As for the Hawks, well, yeah...um...well, if there were ever a poster child for "Good, not great", you'd be it.

5 straight years of playoffs. 0 Titles. And now, your stars are Al Horford and....uh...Paul Millsap?

Thanks for playing...

My point is this. People ridicule Atlanta fans for being bandwagon jumpers. And to some extent, it's not without warrant. But the fans in this town are a bit spoiled, kinda confused, and mostly--not from here.

So why would they suddenly become loyal to Atlanta teams? They aren't.

But for those who live here and those who love/follow the teams, it's heartbreak after heartbreak. It's always been that way. The Braves, while good, last won a playoff series in 2001.

The Falcons, while good, won their first playoff game in 7-years last season (2012).

The Hawks, yeah, they've won a couple of playoff games and even a series or two. But they've never been a title threat.

For me, I grew up a Braves fan. It's tough to see this. I know they probably will never be much more than what they are. Good, not great. Their ownership doesn't---scratch that---won't give them the resources the Yankees or Dodgers or Texas Rangers have. And that's ok.

The Falcons. I like them. I don't love them.

I like them because I covered them, for a long time. I know several people in the front office and they've always been kind to me. It's nice to see them win. Except when they play the Miami Dolphins, the team I grew up rooting for.

The Hawks, again, I like them. I like to see them do well. But they too, will never be more than what they are.

If you live or have lived in the Atlanta area, the one team that really, the entire area lives and dies with, it would be the University of Georgia.

But even they haven't won a National Title since 1980.

They've been close. And they may again be close this year.

But like every other team in this part of the country, for the most part, they are "Very good, but not great"...



((author note--"I've lived in Atlanta for over 12-years. I worked as a Sports Producer and Photographer for 10 of those years. Many of these miseries were experienced first hand))

Brad Nessler Had To Go...

((HT: Awful Announcing))

The Number One By-Law The HQ has always adhered to in the television bid-ness is "Always Act Like Your Mic Is Hot..."

We learned at an early age that you never cuss and you never say anything you don't want to go over the air in a normal circumstance until you're off the air entirely...

A dude we really admire in the booth, Brad Nessler, fell victim to the hot mic last night before the Pats-Jets game...


But when you gotta go, you gotta go... and that will never change...

The New York Jets are Stupid

You know, we've grown weary over the past couple of seasons being bombarded with non-stop, blow-by-blow, stupid mistake-by-stupid mistake coverage of the hapless New York Jets.

And every time we think the ESPN and NBC Sports of the world are going to finally figure out nobody outside New York likes or cares about the ineptitude of the Jets, we get this.

Saturday night during the teams exhibition game with the New York Giants, which the Jets actually  won, head coach Rex Ryan made another in his long list of bizarre coaching decisions.

Inexplicably, Ryan put the man most think would be the starting QB for the team, Mark Sanchez (he of the butt fumble), back in the exhibition game in the 4th quarter with the backups instead of 3rd teamer Matt Simms.

And almost immediately, Sanchez got hurt. He was hit by the Giants Marvin Austin and came off the field with what appeared to be a pretty significant shoulder injury.

Granted, there was no guarantee that Sanchez would be the starter when the season begins, the massive media throng covering the team has been hoping rookie QB Geno Smith would get the nod. But Smith played like a green rookie throwing 3 INT's during the game and pulling a Dan Orlovsky by stepping out of his own end zone trying to complete a pass.

Anyway....

As dumb as the Ryan move was, it got worse when he got kinda defensive about it at his press conference:

Jets RB Goodson Facing Multiple Charges

Uh...this is never good.

Jets RB Mike Goodson, expected to be a big contributor in 2013 was arrested Thursday night after a vehicle stop in Denville, New Jersey.

Goodson wasn't driving the grey Chevy Yukon found parked in the middle of Route 80, he was a passenger, but the driver, Garant Evans was, well, a bit intoxicated.

When New Jersey State Troopers found the car, with the two men in it, they found a few other things.

Those things include: Marijuana (under 50g), drug paraphernalia and a loaded handgun with hollow point ammunition.

Goodson now faces 5 charges, 1 for the drugs, 1 for the paraphernalia, 1 for the loaded handgun, 1 for not having a license for it and 1 for the ammo. His bail was set at $50K

Read the New Jersey State Trooper release RIGHT HERE

The Jets just dropped a 3-year, $6.9 million contract in Goodson's lap with the expectation he'd help revive their pathetic offense. And though they haven't commented at this point, it will be interesting to see what they decide to do or say about someone who figured pretty heavily in their plans going forward.

It will also be interesting to see what Commissioner Jolly Roger has to say about this too...

Jets Cut Tebow, National Media Freaks Out

It never ceases to amaze us how much attention the national media pays to the exploits of a now former backup quarterback.

And that frenzy has been reignited after the New York Jets have apparently released backup QB/pariah Tim Tebow. This comes on the heels of the Jets drafting West Virginia QB Geno Smith in this past weekends NFL Draft.


Tebow languished on the sidelines watching a pretty bad Jets team struggle through their season last year and yet got more media exposure/attention than any combination of people on the team.

We've never understood the completely overblown fascination with Mr. Tebow by the national media, particularly ESPN. And we probably never will. He is nowhere near the 1st incredibly successful College QB who struggled to find his place in the NFL. The list in fact, is pretty darn long.

But none of them were the focus of an entire networks coverage during the last offseason and into the season than Tebow was.

Our only exposure to him was covering Georgia/Florida games and SEC Media Days, and he came off as nothing special. Yet he was treated that way.

So, we are quite sure the focus of the multiple ESPN NFL shows today, National Sports talk radio and pretty much every media outlet in North Florida will be "Tebow released by Jets, where will he land next"

If he's smart, he'll do what he says he always wanted to do which is missionary work. And if that is what he decides, bravo, we applaud him. But the guess here is he'll try catching on with another team, which will be difficult, he brings a lot of baggage.

It will be difficult because like it or not, talent or no talent, just his presence now bring attention and not the type of attention most teams want. Because to sign him is to immediately bring a perceived quarterback controversy, even if there's not one. To sign him brings daily mention of why he's not playing whether he deserves an opportunity or not by the biggest, most annoying, most overblown, most self-centered dictators of Sports conversation in America, the true "Evil Empire"--ESPN.

We wonder if this is what it's like this morning in Bristol:

 

Female Kicker Tryout Lasts 2 Kicks

((HT: MyFoxNY))

Lauren Silberman was a soccer player in Wisconsin and she wanted to give the New York Jets her best shot as a kicker- unfortunately, it only went for two kicks before she had to pack it in due to a quad injury...
New York News | NYC Breaking News

Silberman was the first female to be at a regional tryout under the new tryout format of the NFL. The regional combines debuted in 2011, and include players who weren't among the 333 invited to the main combine in Indianapolis. The super-regional tryout camp is in April in Dallas.

Rex Ryan Tattoo Sends ESPN and NY Media Into Feeding Frenzy

((ht: nydailynews.com))

It appears the world will never be exposed to enough stories about the New York Jets. The fact that they were one of the worst teams in the NFL is somewhat irrelevant to the amount of coverage the rest of us are subjected to.

And the latest story has the New York tabloid media and our friends at Tim Tebow's favorite network all aflutter.

It seems as though Jets coach Rex Ryan was stalked and found sunbathing at a hotel in the Bahamas by a New York Daily News photographer. That photographer snapped a photo of sexy Rexy's arm, adorned with a rather large tattoo of his wife---wait for it---wearing a Mark Sanchez jersey.

Okay, please stop laughing now.

The above photo is NOT of that tattoo, but it is Sanchez, possibly the leagues worst QB and Ryan together.

**ED NOTE--We didn't steal the NYDN photo because we run the risk of getting in trouble for it**

If you want to see the offending tattoo photo, you can click on the NYDN link HERE

Unfortunately, Ryan is heading back to his friends in New York City and the team is slated to hold their overdue "Season Ending" presser sometime today. We are quite sure it will be a live breaking news cut in to programming in New York and probably on "The Worldwide Leader" too.

Black Monday Is Off And Running...7 Teams Makes Moves... (UPDATED... Now 11)

It's not quite a national holiday, but it's a day that pro football fans look at for guidance and renewed optimism... in some places, it's expected...

Others, not so much...

Like Chicago...

The Bears started out 7-1 and now Lovie Smith is fired after the team went 3-5 after the half-way point... Ian Rapoport over at NFL.com gets the HT for that one...

The appropriate amount of early discussion is hyah... on the NFL Network... and they've already asked the Broncos for permission to talk to OC Mike McCoy- which they can do since the Broncos are in a bye week...

Apparently, Bears QB Jay Cutler found out via text during his own radio show. He was, understandably, a little choked up.

The Buffalo Bills, mired in mediocrity, fired Grizzly Adams Chan Gailey... back-to-back 6-10's in three years... but how does GM Buddy Nix still have a job...???

Gailey released a statement through WGR-AM55 radio:

"I understand this is a business. We didn't get the job done. I've been called two other times to get things turned around, was able to do it, we weren't able to get this one soon enough and I understand that completely. I want to thank the fans, great Buffalo fans, great football town. These are loyal, loyal fans and I understand that. I think that the next staff will have a great opportunity for success and to make this another great football franchise. This'll probably be, and I say probably, but I think it will be the first place that's ever fired me that I'll pull for. Thank you."

The Kansas City Chiefs, stuck in one of the worst seasons on and off the field anyone can remember, fired Romeo Crennel... the HQ thinks the team mercifully put him out of his misery...

Crennel texted Rapoport, the response through on Rapoport's Twitter: "It has happened. Going home to watch it snow. Happy New Year."

According to Bill Maas, Atlanta Falcons OC Dirk Koetter will be interviewing with the Chiefs tomorrow in Atlanta...

The New York Jets fired GM Mike Tannenbaum and kept head coach Rex Ryan- for now... The Philadelphia Eagles fired Andy Reid after 14 seasons

- and the San Diego Chargers aren't interested... the HQ slams it's collective palm against its forehead...((Owner Jeffrey Lurie gives Reid a game ball for his time in front of Eagles employees on the right, thanks to the Eagles))

The Cleveland Browns, not surprising the HQ, fired both head coach Pat Shurmur and GM Tom Heckart... Heckart told the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot: "I knew I'd be gone..." when new CEO Joe Banner came in...

And the Jacksonville Jaguars fired their GM, Gene Smith, after a 2-14 season... head coach Mike Mularkey says he's safe for now... “Until I’m told otherwise, I’m the coach of this team,” Mularkey told the Florida Times-Union. 1240 UPDATE:

According to Jim Wyatt, over at the Tennessean and others, Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams is keeping head coach Mike Munchak. Executive Vice President Mike Reinfeldt wasn't so lucky...

From Wyatt:
“He has two more years to go on his contract but I think we’d be better off without him," Adams said. 'I don’t think he was getting the job done. Mike Reinfeldt is out.”

That should fix the problem right there...

1330 UPDATE: Someone must have found the pictures that San Diego Chargers head coach and GM AJ Smith had of the Spanos family, because they're now both gone as well...

Turner knew it in his postgame presser yesterday, and now it's official...

"My only goal is the Super Bowl, and that is why I have decided to move in a new direction with both our head coach and general manager positions," Spanos said in a statement. "I am committed to our great fans, and we will do whatever we possibly can to achieve that goal.”

1345 UPDATE: Add Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt and GM Rod Graves...according to Adam Schefter...

Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt and general manager Rod Graves have been fired after a 5-11 season, a league source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Whisenhunt, 50, was 45-51 in six seasons with the Cardinals after being hired in 2007. Graves couldn't find a replacement for Kurt Warner and will be known for trading for Kevin Kolb...

The Cardinals, who started the season 4-0, lost their next nine games.

The team also fired the following assistant coaches: Russ Grimm (Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line), Mike Miller (Offensive Coordinator), Chad Grimm (Offensive Quality Control), John McNulty (Quarterbacks), Frank Reich (Wide Receivers), and Tommie Robinson (Running Backs).

1430 UPDATE: Once again from Rapoport...

#Raiders coach Dennis Allen announce the firing of OC Greg Knapp, ST coach Steve Hoffman, OL coach Frank Pollack, LB coach Johnny Holland.

Norwegian Kicker Gets Jets Look, Thanks To Youtube

((HT: CNN))

Considering they need all the help they can get, it's all about promotion these days...

And Havard Rugland certainly gets the idea of self-promotion...
Trick shots, accuracy, and the left foot... it's all there...

And, when you put something on the Youtube, anything's possible...
Evidence below...
Very cool evidence below...

Let's hope the guy gets a deeper look along the line, and maybe, gets a gig out of it...
If not on this coast, back home...

NY Jets a team only Benny Hill could love

((ht: bob's blitz))

Okay, this is pretty funny. And yes, we are suckers for anything with the Benny Hill theme involved (we've mentioned this before)

Check out this video that someone with lots of time on their hands made of ESPN's favorite NFL team, the Ultra-Pathetic New York Jets.

Laugh along at such plays as "The Butt-Fumble" and "Mark Sanchez throws another Pick 6". You too will laugh in amazement that a team this BAD actually gets more play on ESPN than, well, just about every team that is playoff eligible.

The Mayan Apocalypse: ESPN's coverage of the Jets

Okay, let's see a show of hands.

Who, outside of people who live in North Florida or in Bristol, Connecticut is tired of hearing non-stop endless stories about Tim Tebow?

And, if you aren't tired of it, I'd love to hear an explanation why....

For those of us who used to enjoy watching Sports on TV, this has now become a topic of conversation. And for the life of me, I have no idea why....

Sports has gone from a business of talking about the wins and losses, the big stories and crazy stories to ones that are now largely irrelevant to anyone outside a major TV market. Like a backup QB who is confused because he's still on the bench. Or the daily soap opera of a 5-8 NFL Team that nobody really cares about.

And there is one entity to blame for it all

ESPN.

No, I'll be critical of them, because at my age, I have no chance of them ever offering me a job. Plus, considering their fascination with things that don't fascinate fans outside of (a) New York, (b) Boston, (c) Los Angeles, (d) Chicago, (e) Miami or (f) Philadelphia, I'd probably be out of place.

What I'm having a hard time understanding is actually rather simple. Why do they KEEP talking about Tim Tebow or...The New York Jets. I turned on SportsCenter Thursday morning, and got 10-plus minutes worth of both.

Mind you, they were babbling on and making every analyst talk about a backup QB who is not of the ability to be a successful NFL QB and a team that is NOT in the playoff picture and is...well...just plain horrible.

But yet it tops Oklahoma City's NBA team winning 12 straight games. It tops the wind down of the NFL season. It tops Notre Dame's head coach winning coach of the year. It tops an ESPN analyst accusing Robert Griffin III of being too white.

Really, I guess you can't blame them for pandering.

Oh wait, yes I can.

Because that's exactly what they are doing. They are assuming that most of the audience is in New York or in the Northeast and will buy whatever they sell them. They also are well aware that when people like me get pissed and post rants such as this, it's free publicity. They know very well when Rob Parker or Skip Bayless make asinine statements on an obscure TV show, it's free publicity. And they know even if they don't source stories that came from someone else, nobody outside Twitter will care. And if they do and post something---again---free publicity.

When you are an "All-Powerful" entity who is basically unchallenged in the business, you get to dictate what is or isn't news. You get to dictate who is a "Big-Time" team and who isn't. You go to the teams or players where you believe "The Ratings" are. Or "The Advertisers".

Which is all well and good if it were something all of America was interested in. But lately, with them, it's not. You'll have to show me the research that says "Tebow" means ratings. I don't totally blame Tebow for this, but ESPN seems to have anointed him as some sort of "God-Like" figure even though he hasn't actually done anything.

Just ask now CBS radio host Doug Gottlieb about that.

And it isn't just ESPN. I know that. Heck, I get pissed off because Good Morning America (owned by same company) is 2 hours long and does 15-minutes of News before we get the latest on Lindsay Lohan. Or whatever other celebrity they deem "Newsworthy".

And, yeah, before you say it, I know I'm being unrealistic.

But am I?

I just don't understand how somebody who hasn't actually done anything warrants the attention that ESPN pays to Tebow? They had (forced) their NFL analysts to sing "Happy Birthday" to the guy. Seriously, it was on NFL Live, they did it. It was the first block of SportsCenter.

Am I being too harsh or cynical here?

Do you really care that much about who the starting QB is for the New York Jets this week? Do you want to know that badly why Jets owner Woody Johnson signed Tebow to a contract? Do you really want to listen to douche-bag extrordinaire Skip Bayless troll on-and-on about how great Tebow is? Is it worth mentioning at all? Arguably. But no more so than any other story of changes on any other football team.

Oh, and I forgot the daily live Sal Palantonio report during training camp. Because by god--the Jets were going to the "Playoffs". That worked out real well, didn't it?

Somehow I've missed the lead story on the collapse of the Bears. Or how the Chiefs are recovering from the Jovan Belcher incident. Or how the Cowboys are handling the Jerry Brent story.

Maybe it is just me. Maybe I am that "Out of Touch". Maybe I am too "Old-School". Or maybe I have a vendetta? Or maybe I just "Don't get it?" After all, TV can't report on stories that interest everyone, right?

It's just really hard for me to get past the "We're ESPN, we'll tell you what you like" mentality. As much as I don't want to watch them, there's nowhere to turn. They own the BCS. All of it. They own NBA hoops, a percentage of it anyway. Thank god I don't have to watch them for NFL or baseball coverage.

Oh, did we mention they are behind all the college football teams changing conferences? Eh...that is another rant for another day....

((NOTE---I'm a 24-year veteran of the TV business. I was a Sports Producer and Photographer for 12 of those years. Just in case you were wondering))