Ocho Cinco Feels "Mistreated?"

In a season where Chad Johnson was supposed to be "bringing sexy back," the Bengals had one of the worst seasons in recent history - drawing criticism of both the coaching staff and the players involved.

An ESPN interview with former loud-mouthed receiver Keyshawn Johnson caught the ire of many fans as the pot was calling out the kettle in many instances, as the retired Johnson was targeting the All-Pro Johnson for his team's demise.

Well, in a recent interview on ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning, Chad Johnson exclaimed that he felt mistreated by the Bengals organization, as no one stepped up to his defense when fingers were being pointed.

Johnson went on to say that the team should then "further itself from the problem," hinting that a trade demand was on the horizon, if not already on the table.

In 2006, Johnson signed a six-year deal for $35.5 million. Though hauling in 93 passes for over 1,400 yards this season, it has become evident that "CJ" was not the go-to receiver for the Bengals anymore, as teammate T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught 112 passes for 1,100 yards and 12 touchdowns (Johnson had eight).

Recent news of Houshmandzadeh's contract has hit the wires as the Bengals reportedly plan on reworking his current deal of four years and $13 million, which was signed back in 2005. The final straw for the organization, as well as Johnson, may have been the fact that Houshmandzadeh was named to the Pro Bowl this season, and Johnson was not, despite being third in the NFL in receive yards.

(Cincinnati Enquirer)

Your Halftime Entertainment Will Be...

If you had the chance to catch the Browns/Jets game from a few weeks ago, one thing you may (or may not) have noticed were the empty seats that littered The Meadowlands during halftime.

Typically, I try to get whatever it is that I need right before halftime, as I'm not a huge fan of shoulder-bumping thousands of fans while attempting to get a refill or whathaveyou. Not the case for your average Jets fan.

At least until this week.

A longstanding tradition of halftime harassment at Jets home games ended Sunday when the Jets and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority banned the sale of alcohol and blocked access to the two spiral ramps at Gate D during the season finale against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Banning the sale of alcohol at a professional football game is nearly unheard of. Banning the sale of alcohol, something used to ease the pain of watching the Jets is a totally other subject.

Leave it to the New York Times to ruin something that was only shared by Jets fans with camera phones as well as those with a keen sense of YouTube navigation.

On Sunday, there was a beefed-up security presence at all eight of the stadium’s ramps, but only access to the Gate D ramps was blocked off by metal bicycle racks from five minutes before halftime until the start of the third quarter.

Reportedly, there was no warning of the alcohol ban, though sales typically end right after halftime. This is in comparison to other stadiums, most of which stop sales at the end of the third quarter. Fans can breathe a sigh of relief as this was only a "one game ban" and things should be back to normal come next season. Perhaps, aside from the ritual of Gate D.

Thanks, Munch!

Good morning, everybody. I just wanted to give a quick "Thank you" to Mark "Munch" Bishop over at 850 WKNR - Cleveland.

It had been brought to my attention that a caller mentioned Brady Quinn's kind act on the radio a few days back, but it had been discounted a bit due to the fact that the story had broke on a blog.

Understandably so, Mark preferred to fact check a bit before putting 100 percent of his emotion behind the story. Munch was kind enough to correspond with me via email yesterday, and even went as far to mention not only First And 10 Inches, but my name as well - a very classy move.

Of course, none of this would be possible if it were not for Brady Quinn himself. If I ever get the shot to meet him if only for a second, this will be surely conveyed. But for now, a big high five to Munch. Make sure to catch his show if you're in the Cleveland area on 850AM between 3-6p EST. If you're not able to get 850, you can stream the show on ESPN Radio. Whether it is an impromptu Bernie Kosar phone call you want to hear, or even Munch shooting the shit with former Browns tight end Aaron Shea, give it a shot! It is the perfect afternoon drive-time sports show.

YouTubeness: Jay Cutler Makes It Big Time

Big high-five to Fan IQ for tipping me to this video of Jay Cutler on South Park.

No excuse me while I call my buddy Matt to see if he was invited to the party. I'm pretty sure he quit his job to play Guitar Hero. I'm sure he played a few downs as our quarterback for the intramural flag football team...



Stan Thinks Jay Cutler Sucks [Fan IQ]

Enough With CBS Already*

Even when the Colts/Pats game is over, we're still inundated with the game itself. No, not the outcome. The sound system.

Everyone and their brother has voiced their opinion on the whole Colts-Pats-Crowd-Noise issues that supposedly took place this past Sunday. I say "supposedly" as I live in the Cleveland market, and did not get to see the game. But I digress.

While we can all have our opinions on both teams and their possible cheating reputations, the NFL's response to this mess has me thinking.

Via the Boston Globe, NFL Spokesman Greg Aiello states:

"CBS has informed us that the unusual audio moment heard by fans during the Patriots-Colts telecast was the result of tape feedback in the CBS production truck and was isolated to the CBS broadcast. It was in no way related to any sound within the stadium and could not be heard in the stadium."

If this is the case, CBS just needs to give up their whole coverage of football all together. Not only can the network not get the video portion of their coverage right, now they go ahead and jack up the audio? Do we ever have this with Fox? ABC? The WWL? While we may have are issues with some of the commentary within each of the networks, do any of the others get the actual transmission of the game any worse than CBS?

Not having a full stable of High Definition cameras in the year 2007 is completely absurd. Using tapes for audio sources may just be worse. Even recordable compact disks would be pushing the envelope in today's era of digital music, sound recording and editing.

Yes, I know the almighty dollar decides who gets to broadcast what games. However, networks should spare some of the money and reinvest it into the firm. Small market day-time radio shows use digital clips for their sound bites. CBS, a multi-multi billion dollar corporation, however? Nope, they go with tapes. Skipping tapes that absorb all of the NFL-related news on a Monday. CBS should thank all of sports coverage for the free publicity today - even though it just shows their further inadequacies as a sports broadcasting network.

*Entire post spoken as wishful thinking

They Don’t Sell iPods in Indianapolis? [Signal To Noise]
Fake Crowd Noise [Sports By Brooks]
CBS Checks In [Boston Globe]

Gearing Up...

For the weekend, that is.

A few pieces of note worth mentioning before we all head out for a few days.

If only every team had an HBO Special. The Browns one would definitely feature Ted Washington - and would take a lot more time. And a wide screen. [Arrowhead Addict]

Wait, the Patriots will be under the microscope this week? Get out. [Ghosts of Wayne Fontes]

Wade Wilson will still be at home this weekend. At ease, sir. [FanIQ]

Eli may actually play this week. Feel free to take Jared Lorenzen out of your fantasy lineup. [The Fifth Down]

Deltha O'Neal may want to invest in leashes. [With Leather]

That's about all for the week. Next week will be live and in color for the whole span. Oh...and for you gamblers out there... Chargers +3.5 seems too good to be true. Not that I condone it, I'm just saying.

Until Monday...

NFL Players Hate Commercials

Memo to athletes. Any time a commercial depicts an athletic event, there's typically someone that wins as well as someone that loses. Do these always directly represent perception? Of course not. If you're going to display competition, someone has to lose...it's the way it is.

Where am I going with this? Remember the LaDanian Tomlinson commerical in my last post? Well, apparently the Chicago Bears are upset that it depicts them looking like swiss cheese as Tomlinson tears them apart one by one. When asked of reaction, Tomlinson replied with the following:

"In fact I read something somebody sent me that Urlacher said to ask me how many yards I had the last time I played them four years ago. There you go. That tells me how they feel about it."

NFL.com reports that Tomlinson was "held" to 61 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries in 2003. While nearing four yards a carry isn't exactly what the video shows, its still not bad.

This all goes back to Dallas Clark crying about his Madden character getting nearly beheaded in a commercial. Apparently, EA Sports should be more careful with who they select to get lit up in an advertisement. Of course, when the Colts played the Eagles, Clark did go down with an injury, so maybe the Bears are just looking out for theirs.

Nike will now have to create commercials of all athletes having fun, but not at the expense of anyone else. We wouldn't want anyone's feelings being hurt in the meantime.

Bears and Chargers Subplot [NFL.com]
Dallas Clark Is Not Happy With You, John Madden [Mr. Irrelevant]
School Says Game Of Tag Is Out [Fox News]

Cat Fight In The Meadowlands

He may not be is older brother, but Eli Manning can exchange media blows with the best of them.

The Newark Star-Ledger is reporting some verbal hair-pulling between Manning and former Giants running back Tiki Barber.

Shortly after Barber questioned Manning's leadership skills, Manning jabs back with the following:

I'm not going to lose any sleep (over) what Tiki has to say. I guess I could have questioned his leadership skills last year with calling out the coach and having articles about him retiring in the middle of the season and (how) he's lost the heart.

Touché, Eli. Manning has historically been a guy who is known more for living in the shadows of his brother, Peyton, and not living up to the hype of the first overall selection only a few years ago. If anything, Giants fans should definitely be happy that the kid is standing up for himself. While this may not exactly translate in to more wins, the "respect" category should at least get a small bump.

Your move, Tiki.