"It's not going to happen..."

Talking just hours before the midnight expiration of the current NFL collective bargaining agreement, Chad Ochocinco predicted the extension (which soon after came to pass) but doubts it will lead to a new labor deal.

Telling Buck and Kincade on 680 AM in Atlanta:

"Before midnight we'll have an extension, guaranteed. I guarantee there's an extension but with that extension, I still don't think a deal gets done. It's not going to happen. I mean let's be realistic. Let's take an owner. Let's take a team. Let's take any team, an owner, a player, his agent, and a contract is up and it's time to redo a contract or discuss getting something done. How long does that take?

It takes 32 owners. It takes the NFLPA respresenting us as players trying to get one deal done.

You have 32 different owners. 32 different egos. You have five who might feel this way about something. You have five who might feel this way...

It's going to be a lot of tug and pull. That's the way it's going to be."

Some questions that I have yet to hear solid answers regarding:

What does either side believe is the realistic deadline in order to conduct a full season? (with a proper amount of practices/preparation leading up to kickoff)

How legitimate is the NFL Players Association ploy to de-certify the union and what negative ramifications could/will come after doing so?

If those questions have been asked at any point in time in the public forum, they haven't been dealt with thoroughly enough.

As for the legitimacy of Carson Palmer's repeated claims he will retire rather than play for the Bengals, Ochocinco thinks the usually reserved quarterback is not backing down:

"When someone like Carson, someone quiet that grows a random beard every now and then. When he speaks, you listen. Especially when it's out of character. It's one of those situations where you know he's not playing and he's frustrated. We call it where I'm from, he's pulling a power move... He doesn't see it getting any better and he just wants out."

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"It was $2000 per show and then they found a loophole to knock it down to..."

Dovetailing a recent column he wrote for Sports Illustrated about his feelings after watching the end of the television show, "Friday Night Lights," Buzz Bissinger spoke with 790 AM in Atlanta about why he felt ill will toward NBC.

I really only pass this along because it's interesting to note the contrast with the six and seven figure deals reported for major stars of television, like when Jerry Seinfeld supposedly turned down $5 million an episode to continue with his television show. "Friday Night Lights" never came anywhere close to the ratings success of "Seinfeld" and it turns out Bissinger had to fight for any morsel of credit for the concept along with a 4 figure thank you note.

Keep in mind that when Bissinger says "suits," he's referring to the slang term for corporate executives and not a legal action:

"When the movie rights were sold for Friday Night Lights, so were the television rights.

I basically was kind of marginalized by the suits in the legal department of NBC Universal. They fought me for months on the idea that I deserved no credit, which was completely absurd.

I mean, I was the originator of the material. Thematically, the TV series was very much based on the book.

They definitely fictionalized it and I know why they did it. They did it because they were afraid of getting sued by someone who had been in the book but once they did that, how are you going to feel? You're going to feel lousy.

This is what elitist executive suits do and there's no surprise that NBC Universal is in the tank.

Everyone thinks I became fabulously rich off this television show. The royalty I got per episode was minimal.

It was $2000 per show and then they found a loophole to knock it down to $1500 per show.

It's nice money to have, but it ain't a lot of money.

I was really hurt by their stance. It was humiliating. Here I am begging basically and having my lawyer fight with their lawyers to get credit for something that, you know, there would've been no television series without me. There would've been no movie without me. There would've been nothing without me.

They waste tens of millions of dollars on actors and bad movies but when it comes to the true creators, they treat them terribly and I didn't want to be any part of it.

Why should I let them pick my brain if they're not going to compensate me or even give me credit?

They finally did and they only did because of the intercession of Pete Berg, who was my cousin, and his producing partner, Sarah Aubrey."

Bissinger praises his cousin and everyone involved in the creative process for what he considered a great show and reserves all his venom for the "higher ups" who tried to marginalize his value to the endeavor.

Smart move by NBC. Why would they want to compensate and more closely associate themselves with a Pulitzer Prize winning author anyway?

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"This is no different than somebody going to Mount Rushmore and defacing one of the heads..."

Jail time may be the least of the worries of the person responsible for poisoning the soil around Toomer's Corner. Bo Jackson wants a piece of him first. The former Auburn running back on WJOX radio in Birmingham, Alabama:

"This is no different than somebody going to Mount Rushmore and defacing one of the heads of the Presidents that's at Mount Rushmore. It is no different than that. This is a 130 year old tree that has never played a football game, has never been in Jordan-Hare Stadium, has nothing to do with what goes on in Bryant [Denny] Stadium or Jordan-Hare Stadium. Has nothing to do with that. And then to sit and brag about it.

This person, it doesn't matter if he's an Auburn fan or Alabama fan, needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If it was my own child, and I'm not just saying this but if it was my own child I would expect him to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But first the authorities need to let me spend five minutes with him in a room."

The "fullest extent of the law" for being found guilty of criminal mischief, a class C felony in Alabama, would be 10 years in prison and a $5000 fine according to this website.

Good luck to the lawyers trying to find a good precedent for this case leading up to trial. I'd guess it never reaches that point and the person responsible agrees to a plea deal with plenty of probation and very little time behind bars. Perhaps his biggest concern will be once he leaves prison if he attempts to resume a normal life in the state of Alabama.

"What I took away from it, it was incredible to see and it was very empowering to see..."

The world traveling Ricky Williams managed to find himself in the middle of history on his recent off-season trip to Egypt, arriving in Cairo just as the revolution in that country was beginning.

Williams recounts the experience to Sid Rosenberg on WQAM in Miami:

"The first night as we drove to the hotel, we saw a bunch of people gathering and our cab driver said, 'We don't like our government. We don't think it's fair and so we're demonstrating.'

It was so obvious that people were gathered that he offered the information. He wasn't clear on whether it would be dangerous or not.

What I took away from it, it was incredible to see and it was very empowering to see."

Over the course of the trip, the Miami Dolphins running back says he heard gun shots, observed looting and rioting, and yet says he never felt in danger. He even considered an experience with tear gas to be 'enjoyable.'

"We walked out of the store and it was dusty because it's Egypt and it's kind of dusty. So we walked out and my eyes started to burn a little bit and my nostrils started to burn. And I was thinking, it's just the dust but I didn't want to be like a wimp so I didn't say anything.

And my friend, AJ, was like, 'Are your eyes burning?'

I was like, 'Yeah.'

He said, 'Are your nostrils burning?'

I was like, 'Yeah.'

And then we looked around and were like, 'I think it's tear gas.'

And so I take my shirt and I try to put it over my nose and my mouth and he looks at me and he's like, 'We're never going to be in tear gas.'

And I'm like, 'You're right.' So I put my shirt down and say, 'Let's enjoy this.'

And so we rode through the tear gas and we enjoyed it."

"The most tension or anger that I experienced weren't the Egyptians. It was all the Americans trying to get out of Egypt."

Hopefully he considers that less a fact about the situation and more a matter of luck.

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"I wanna get outta here..."

If you stuck around past the game clock hitting zero, you saw a wonderfully awkward exchange between Roger Staubach, Terry Bradshaw, and Roger Goodell. Staubach was designated as the local dignitary in charge of handing the Lombardi Trophy over to Goodell who would then hand it over to the Packers.

The whole process, including Staubach's long walk to the stage accompanied by triumphant music is supposed to give that extra air of importance to the trophy itself. Except all it really does is give players lining the route a chance to clown with Staubach and the trophy as well as show off those silver Flip cameras that were clearly handed to them seconds before for product placement purposes.

When Staubach finally made his way to the stage, he engaged in some small talk with Bradshaw that was quickly cut off by the commissioner:

Bradshaw: You alright?
Staubach: You look good. You haven't changed.
Goodell: You gotta give it up.
Staubach: I'm supposed to give it to you, right?
Goodell: You gotta give it up.
Staubach: I want to get out of here.
Bradshaw: Alright...

Bradshaw then got the program back on the rails by continuing the post-game ceremony, Staubach handed the trophy over, and quickly got himself off camera.

Just an awkward moment in time that seemed to indicate more tension between Staubach and Goodell than Bradshaw... until Curt Schilling, of all people, offered his inside perspective on the relationship the morning after on WEEI radio:

"Roger Staubach wanted off that stage because he despises Terry Bradshaw. Hates him."

"Staubach went off the stage because he can not stand Terry Bradshaw. And I've talked to a couple people about this. He's a guy who hates everything Bradshaw stands for and hates the fact that Terry Bradshaw gets even remotely half the credit for being a great quarterback that he does."

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"That was amazing how that just happened to come out on the morning of National Signing Day..."

"New" information was leaded this past week about potential violations being investigated by the NCAA during Lane Kiffin's time at Tennessee.

Instead of answering the new report, Kiffin wonders about the timing of the leak when he joined the Petros and Money radio show in Los Angeles:

"That was amazing how that just happened to come out on the morning of National Signing Day, huh? Just crazy.

It's something that we have dealt with for a while. We've given all the NCAA information months and months ago, starting when we were there. About everything from there. We have not heard anything from them."

Kiffin and his staff did an effective job of bracing for the coming NCAA scholarship reductions. While the case is being appealed, USC was not restricted from signing a full class which included 22 on signing day and an additional 8 players who enrolled in January that count against the previous year's class.

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"I just have a problem with what people are selling me about Al Golden..."

Al Golden arrived in Coral Gables vowing to unite the Hurricanes and bring former players back into the fold but one of Miami's most famous alums says he has yet to hear from the new head coach.

Warren Sapp tells 680 AM in Atlanta:

"Al Golden would have to extend an invite to me and I'm easily found. I keep hearing about this, 'He wants to bring everybody back. He's extending his hand.'

I've yet to see his hand and I'm one of the easiest Canes you'll ever find on God's green Earth so I don't understand.

I haven't changed my phone number in 15 years. I tell people, 'Don't call me no more,' if you're on my line and I don't want to speak to you. I got people on this line that I love and endear that need to speak to me so if you are unwanted on this line, get off of it. My phone number don't change, boss. I haven't heard Al Golden. I haven't heard a call.

I got a call from Kirby (Hocutt), the athletic director. I didn't call back. I was busy yesterday. I was a little busy today too with you guys to start my morning.

I don't have any problems with Al Golden. I just have a problem with what people are selling me about Al Golden. Don't sell me that you won at Temple and didn't win anything. Don't tell me you won at Temple and beat UConn. This isn't women's basketball. I'm from Miami, you understand? I went to 'the U.'"

Seeing as Golden was knee deep in recruiting from the moment he stepped foot on campus and that alums are very limited in what they can do during that process, Sapp can probably expect the phone to start ringing now that National Signing Day is in the books.

In fact, by his admission, it already has and he just hasn't bothered to pick up.

As always when Warren Sapp is involved... to be continued...

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" I don't know who's got it out for me but..."

Jim McMahon rarely offers much in the way of details when asked about his days at BYU. He did, recently, provide a brief anecdote regarding his relationship with Lavell Edwards while playing at BYU.

As told to KNBR radio in San Francisco:

"I didn't leave on the best of terms. I didn't feel like I had a good college experience. Let's put it that way.

But I loved playing in that offense. It was the best offense I played in my whole career, pro's included."

The hosts then ask if it was true that BYU head coach Lavell Edwards asked him to just, 'Take the parties to Park City.' For those unfamiliar, Park City is the small, trendy ski town a little less than an hour north of Provo where the Sundance Film Festival is held every year.

"Oh yeah, we had many discussions. Every Monday morning, actually, I got called into his office and he would tell me all the stories that he'd been hearing all weekend and I'd share with him some of the stories I'd heard. I don't know who's got it out for me but I said, 'I wasn't even in Provo this weekend.'

I never spent a weekend in Provo. I always --- after the game -- I'd head up to Ogden and there I would be having fun, having the parties but not in Provo."

McMahon would learn that the BYU Honor Code does not include geographical boundaries when he was asked to leave campus shortly after his senior football season ended.

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Why can't any other part of the Super Bowl buildup live up to those follicles...

Listening to sports talk radio interviews can be mind numbing enough during a normal week, but somehow the stage of the Super Bowl only enhances the stupidity along Radio Row and beyond.

If you hear a media member use the word "redemption," they should be Tased.

Not only is it a tired word in general but it applies to no one playing in the game on Sunday.

It doesn't matter if you're talking about Ben Roethlisberger this year or Ray Lewis 10 years ago.

Misconduct off the field is not "redeemed" with touchdown passes or sacks. "Redemption" is also not achieved by taking a more outgoing approach with the media.

It's something that is garnered over the long haul through proper activity off the field and away from the cameras. When Pittsburgh area waiters and waitresses run out of anecdotes for what a malcontent you are.

But that doesn't happen fast enough and can't be captured in an 8 second sound bite so instead the steps are skipped and an athlete or politician or entertainer is magically granted the crown of the "redeemed" when they gain professional greatness. An accomplishment that has no direct correlation with who they are or how they've evolved as a person.

And Another Thing

A lot of Pro Football Hall of Fame nominees are being interviewed on Radio Row this week. For the love of all that is holy, radio slobs, stop asking them which team they're going to enter the hall of fame with.

That's the Baseball Hall of Fame. In Cooperstown, the plaque of the inductee has a cap with a logo on it chosen by the Hall of Fame. A silly tradition that should be done away with if only because it's useless and divisive.

You'll notice the bust for a Pro Football Hall of Famer does not include a helmet, thus there is no need to attach a team to the player.

By the way, it's also not the "NFL Hall of Fame" and if you don't understand the need for the distinction, please seek out the nearest NFL media relations representative and kindly hand the credential back to them.

In fact, if you are a credentialed member of the media and learned anything new from this blog entry, please just get it over with already and go into PR.

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"I don't know whether you're naive or stupid, that God just takes care of you..."

Herschel Walker, among many unique rituals, contends that he only eats one meal a day. While that seems somewhat plausible, he ups the ante when talking about a stretch of time while at the University of Georgia where he says he ate nothing but Snickers candy bars for about 6 weeks.

As told to the Dan LeBatard radio show on 790 AM in Miami:

"I remember when I was at the University of Georgia, I started eating Snickers bars. I actually loved candy bars and I ate Snickers bars.

For almost a month and a half, that was my one meal of the day was Snickers bars. And I was fine. Nothing ever changed. I worked out. I had the energy.

I went out and did what I was supposed to do and I don't know whether you're naive or stupid, that God just takes care of you because I wasn't thinking about all the cholesterol, all the calories, all this. All I was thinking about was getting my job done.

It was probably about 10 Snickers bars. My one meal was probably about 10 of them. So it wasn't just one, I had a bunch of 'em."

Jared from Subway just killed himself.