Whether you believe that Tony Kornheiser was ousted from MNF because he wanted to lessen his travel or ESPN just thought it was time for a change, one thing is certain. ESPN seems pretty content with their choice of John Gruden as his replacement. And now we know why. Because they really didn’t have many other choices. And when I say “many other choices”, what I really mean is Matt Millen was one of their choices.

[ESPN's executive vice president of content, John] Skipper said ESPN brass “talked internally” about recent hire Matt Millen and other candidates but didn’t “interview” anybody but Gruden.

We’re always looking to make our lineup better. We were talking to Gruden. He was trying to figure out what he was going to do,” Skipper said. “He did very well on the draft for NFL Network. I know sometimes people think we’ve got research and have been doing this for three months. This all happened in the past 10 days.

First of all, Matt Millen? Come on ESPN. We’ve just gotten over the fact that he will actually be in the studio and you had the nerve to even think about having him in the booth for MNF? I’m glad that it was only a thought.

Secondly, are we really supposed to believe that there were other candidates? My guess is that it was Gruden or bust. Why else would you give us Millen as a candidate and no one else. You didn’t seriously think we would be impressed, did you?

And finally, you took a measly 10 days to make this decision? This is Monday Night Football we’re talking about here. You already forced Kornheiser down our throat, so this Gruden experiment better work. If it doesn’t, we’ll be talking about his replacement this time next year. And if it does, we’ll still be talking about his replacement this time next year.

ESPN considered, but didn’t interview, Matt Millen for MNF job that went to Jon Gruden (Game On)

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Of all the guys in the world, ESPN chose former Raiders and Bucs coach Jon Gruden to replace Tony Kornheiser as an analyst on Monday Night Football.

Why is Kornheiser leaving? Well, apparently he has an innate fear of flying, so he’s leaving the show behind, he’ better on PTI anyway.

Gruden’s former players coined him as fiery guy that lacks people skills, will take the stage on Aug. 13, a preseason game, and try to warm the hearts of Americans everywhere. Will he succeed? I don’t think so. He knows football, but honestly is not a likable guy. I give him 2 years and then you’ll see on the sidelines again, that’s where he belongs.

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For those of you that have been salivating at the chance to get your hands on the new Chad Ocho Cinco jerseys, you’re gonna have to be content with a Chad Ochocinco jersey. Why? Because of a mistake made by Mr. Ochocino, of course.

The NFL had agreed to let the player formerly known as Chad Johnson wear his new name on the back of his jersey this season. There’s one catch for the receiver: It’s not exactly how he wanted it.

Instead of Ocho Cinco, he’ll be “Ochocinco” because that’s how he wrote it when he submitted his name-change form last August in Florida.

So after a wait that lasted almost a year and a $5000 fine, Ochocinco still won’t be known as “Ocho Cinco”. Which means we can throw that “my last name means 85″ stuff out the window. Which also means that this whole charade was completely useless (Not that I thought it was useful prior to this). I’m sure before it’s all said and done Ochocinco will have an utterly ridiculous story about how this happened. Just another thing to look out for on this season’s edition of HBO’s Hard Knocks.

Bengals receiver has yet another name (AP)

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We knew it was coming sooner or later. We just didn’t know when and from whom. Well, second year running back went ahead and did the honors last Wednesday.

I won’t make a prediction about how many games we’re going to win, but I will say this: We will definitely make the playoffs this season.

Believe it or not we weren’t far off last year. Almost every game we could have won, we were one play or one player short. Except for Tennessee on Thanksgiving, they just came out and beat us to sleep. They manhandled us, but nobody else did.

Just some quick observations and then I’ll allow you to head over to his blog to send your laughter filled emails.

It seems that he is in denial that his Lions lost EVERY SINGLE GAME last season. All this “we could have won and we weren’t far off” crap doesn’t matter. If you couldn’t win ONE measly game last season, what makes you think you will win 9 or 10 this season? And nice touch not going on record about how many games the Lions will win this season. I know what you’re thinking. But trust me, you guys won’t get in the playoffs at 5-12. So get that out of your mind.

You see what happens when a team finally gets to change their logo? They start talking crazy.

We’ll be in the Playoffs (Smith34.com)

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Brett Favre retired for a second time after the 2008 season after playing a mediocre season with the New York Jets, but as the 2009 season grows nearer he’s getting the itch to play again.

According to ESPN’s NFL insider, Chris Mortenson, Favre will meet with Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress later in the week to discuss a possible return to the NFL at age 39. So now we know who will be the first head coach fired following the 2009 season, remember Mangini.

Favre is one of the greatest QB’s to ever play the game, but his legacy will continue to diminsh with each interception and sub par game he has in his golden years. He’s already played 18 seasons, most of which were outstanding, but it’s time to walk away.

Like Michael Jordan, Favre has too much pride and is too competitive. Reality has proven that we all have to move on sometime and his time is now. I sure hope he stays retired.

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For those of us that thought that swine flu is relatively new, we were wrong. In fact, Faniq has taken the time to chronicle the history of the illness. We’ll leave the teaching to them and we’ll just marvel at this great PSA done by former Green Bay Packers safeties Johnny Gray and Steve Luke.

I wonder which current Packers players we can get to do this now.

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If you want a guy to feel enormous amounts of pressure try giving him $41.7M guaranteed bucks before he’s taken one NFL snap. Oh, I almost forgot, the notoriously terrible Detroit Lions did give their #1 draft pick ,Matthew Stafford, that type of loot.

Am I bitter he got millions before he’s played one NFL game? No, although I believe the NFL, like the NBA and MLB, should cap rookies salaries. Its almost ironic that guys in the NFL that prove themselves year after year have to fight to get contracts like rookies drafted in the top ten. Makes no sense at all.

Hopefully the NFL’s players association will get owners and the league to changed this practice. In most professions you’re giving an entry level salary and in time, if you succeed and your performance is solid, then the big bucks start rolling in. Obviously the NFL has never observed that practice.

Matt Stafford may be a great quarterback in five years or he could be another Joey Harrington, Alex Smith or David Carr who knows. Stafford started nearly 40 games in his collegiate career and the Lions have decided to make him their savior on that basis. Is Matt Millen a consultant for the Lions? Because this is exactly what he would have done, and recent history has proven that Millen type decisions lead directly to failure.

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In a move that depicts the title perfectly, HBO is set make the Cincinnati Bengals the subjects for the 2009 season of “Hard Knocks”. I for one, have no doubt that this season will be rather entertaining, but I do have a few ideas that the producers should explore. And just in case they make it here before shooting begins, I’ll supply them (and you) with my suggestions free of charge. Next season I’m expecting straight cash homey.

Chronicle the daily care of Chad Ocho Cinco’s grill
Daily grill cleaning is both interesting and educational. I’m sure there’s a dude out there somewhere wondering how Ocho Cinco’s grill stays gleaming.

Make Andre Smith practice shirtless
Worst case scenario – Kids will go outside and play more often in fear of growing up to look like this. Best case scenario – We get many more photos like this one.

Open each show with a monologue from Cedric Benson explaining the night of this mugshot.
There has to be a great untold story to go with this mugshot. I would like to hear it over and over again.

Chronicle the “Battle of Best Hair in Camp” between J.T. O’Sullivan and Rey Maualuga
Just sit back and let it happen.

End every show with Keith River’s reaction to the hit that broke his jaw last season.
You remember your reaction to this hit. We never really got his. I expect some shows to end in laughter, some in crying, and some even in anger. All in all, it sounds like Emmy worthy programming to me.

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Meet the Gilmore family. The guy with the red hair, that’s Dave. And that’s his wife, Colleen and their three daughters, Courtney, Zowie, and Saydee. Now that we’ve all been introduced, let’s get to the important things that Dave is doing with his life.

Dave is the founder and president of the Arizona Cardinals Fan Club. He has launched the Big Red Army and it’s fine little website right here. I know, this seems very trivial, but I wouldn’t advise you to tell that to Mr. Gilmore. To him, this is serious business. So serious, that he quit his job to embark on a journey in fan clubbery.

I started my quest on building a fan club, and at first I thought it was just getting a bunch of guys together and having a good time, Gilmore said. It is a full-blown company. It is my job, my full-time job.

Gilmore quit his job as a regional director of sales for a national hotel chain to start the Cardinals fan club the day he flew out to watch Super Bowl XLIII, and he was determined to make the fan club happen, win or lose.

This is not about the money, Gilmore said. It is about what I love to do. I am very passionate about the Cardinals.

Passionate is definitely an understatement. The man quit his job to captain a fan club for one of the worst franchises, historically in the NFL. That can’t be anything but love. And even after the love has gone, he can be passionate about that $60 annual fee that he’s charging. Hey, the man has to eat, right?

Big Red Army of Cardinals fans building ranks with fan club (AZCentral.com)

* Photo courtesy of Tatiana Hensley/The Arizona Republic

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