Majestic Realty’s managing partner John Semcken came out recently with a statement specifically identifying their first two targets in this new invigorated relocation campaign:  The Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Both of these teams meet a set of monetary and performance indicators that make them suitable and willing candidates for a possible transfer to the West Coast:  both franchises are underperforming financially, they’re both located in small media markets with limited national exposure and funding, and they both have virtually no chance of getting new, expanded, or updated stadium contracts anytime soon.

There have even been widespread rumors on more than one occasion that the Buffalo franchise is unofficially for sale and that the Bills could be acquired lock, stock, and barrel for the right price.  Lending credence to these rumors is the the fact that Buffalo has even started to play some of their home games in Toronto in an effort to expand their fan-base beyond the limited confines of upstate New York and gauge potential outside interest in the team.

With the Stadium Project’s previous contention that it would be a necessity to obtain a controlling interest in whichever NFL franchise agrees to relocate to Los Angeles, Buffalo would seemingly fit the bill in all regards.

Also meeting the Los Angeles financiers’ specific requirements for relocation are the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Like Buffalo, Jacksonville has been struggling amid stiff competition with other in-state rival teams for local attention, funds, and fanbase.  One of a number of monetarily underperforming franchises, Jacksonville has consistently faced local media blackouts due to insufficient attendance at games and they have no real prospects at increasing their profitability without some kind of new or updated stadium (which is a virtual impossibility) or a potential relocation to a larger market like the one Los Angeles offers.

With the Bills and the Jaguars meeting all of their ideal preset requirements, Majestic Realty has singled them out as the top two priorities from the list of the seven original franchises that were targeted for relocation: a list that still also includes the Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, and St. Louis Rams.

While the Stadium Project’s plan is to exhaust all possible avenues with Jacksonville and Buffalo before seriously pursuing negotiations with any of the other remaining five franchises, that approach could quickly and easily change with the alteration of some of the surrounding circumstances.

The NFL owners recently voted to void the continuation of the league’s revenue sharing policy, meaning smaller market, lower earning teams will face even further financial burden and strain starting in 2010 because they’ll no longer be subsidized by the big ticket, top dollar squads.

This will cause the potential loss of millions upon millions of dollars for lesser NFL franchises, especially those like the Minnesota Vikings who were one of the program’s biggest financial benefactors.

With an estimated loss of between five and twenty million dollars in annual revenue from the program, the Vikings ownership has recently been provided with a huge motivating factor to consider entering into the relocation sweepstakes for a possible move to Los Angeles.

And since the Minnesota organization is in the bottom echelon of earning and attendance, located within a small market which has a stadium contract expiring in 2011 and no real replacement in place, the Vikings meet all of Majestic Realty’s preset requirements as well.

However, since Minnesota is still currently involved in live game action in the playoffs, the franchise would likely be unable and unwilling to risk entering into costly relocation negotiations that could affect income and attendance figures in the post season.  Thus, the Stadium Project would be wise to wait until Minnesota has been eliminated from playoff contention before expanding the list of targeted priority franchises to three.

Even the San Diego Chargers still remain a viable back-up plan and dark horse candidate if no deal can be reached with the top three most likely options.  Obtaining the Chargers however would require a substantial buyout to release them from their current stadium’s contractual obligations, and this significant extra investment of capital would probably only be considered if all of the more cost-effective relocation efforts with other franchises reached an impasse.

While the steam may finally have picked up on the football front in Los Angeles and the field is finally being narrowed to a select and realistic few, there’s still plenty of work to be done and plenty of stumbling blocks to avoid before the return of the National Football League to Los Angeles once again becomes a reality.

But it’s getting close.

Chris Henry

A supremely talented but often disturbed football player who had recently gotten his life back on track after multiple miscues early in his career was lost to us recently as Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry passed away after sustaining massive head injuries during a fall from a truck while involved in a domestic dispute.

Henry was infamous for his early career run-ins with the law and mulitple arrests that almost cost him his future in football and actually led to NFL imposed disciplinarly action on more than one occasion.

Originally part of the ill-advised, ill-mannered, and criminal element that seemingly permeated from the Benglas organization in recent years to make the team the butt of illegal conduct and activity jokes, Henry had worked hard this year to turn his life and reputation around both on and off the field.

He was helped in this venture by his fiancee Loleini Tonga, who he often credited as being the driving force behind his redemptive efforts and a positive presence in his life.

Unfortunately, the same inspiration that may have  helped save Henry’s life may also have helped take it.

Henryand his fiancee reportedly got into an argument at her family home outside of Charlotte and Tonga drove off.  As she did, Henry jumped into the back of the truck and continued the argument by pounding on the back window for half a mile before falling out and suffering a severe head wound that ultimately proved to be fatal.

While Tonga hasn’t been arrested or cited for her role in Henry’s death and the tragic and unusual circumstances that led up to it, the poilice are still currently conducting an investigation into the matter.

No matter what happens, Henry’s apprent regression back to his old confrontational ways has already caused untold grief and pain to the people that surround the couple, most notably their three young children, not to mention the legions of friends, family, teammates, and fans that Henry had.

As we are all confronted by yet another prominant and tragic NFL death with causes tied so closely to personal relationship issues on the heels of Steve McNair’s death early in 2009, the question of how hard it is to conduct, maintain, and process personal and romatic problems on an NFL scale and stage is raised.

With fame and fortune, status and celebrity, travel and physique, the life of an NFL player is riddled with opportunities for personal  misconduct, complications, and mistakes.

Not only in the physical transgressions that are so often made, but also in the detatchment that is experienced by so many players from their personal support structures for such long periods of time.  And the 24 hour mental and emotional  focus and investment that football requires during the season so that players sacrifice significant portions of the time, energy, and effort that should be spent personally.

Where young men are thrown into the lights and cameras and money and action and taken away from everything and everyone that has the potential to ground them for weeks and months on end, dysfunction and tragedy are sure to follow.

The best we can hope to do in this warped and corrupting system is minimize the effects of this lifestyle by substituting those missing support structures in locker rooms and club houses around the league by providing some sort of emotional outreach and counseling programs.

In their approach of focusing solely on the bodies and actions of modern day players to determine their readiness and well-being, the NFL overlooks and ignores the mental and emotional states of its constituency.

And while we demand 100 percent from every player that steps on the field in every game, we don’t respond in kind.

It’s time the league started giving something back to these battered and bruised players besides paychecks and bandages so that maybe in the long run we can help the next Chris Henry work through his problems before he dies as a result of them.

After dominating the line of scrimmage during the Panthers Week 10 upset victory over their rival Atlanta Falcons, Beason apparently decided to celebrate by attending an Atlanta area strip club where he was accused of running afoul of the law in a most raucous manner.

Beason was accused of punching a man (identified as Gregory C. Frye) in the face after the individual told other Panthers football players that he witnessed Beason partaking in an illicit substance (namely, cocaine).

When the superstar player found out about these allegations, he confronted the victim and struck him with such fierceness, effect, and ferocity that he collapsed Frye’s nasal cavity, causing bruising, swelling, and fractured bones in his face that potentially required neccessary reconstructive surgery.

See pics of the damage here.

Beason was then subsequently arrested for misdemeanor aggrivated assault on November 30 and released into his own recognizance while the police continued their investigation into the matter.

A civil suit was also filed against Beason by the victim on December 2nd seeking monetary compensation for the pain, suffering, and medical costs incurred as a result of the incident.

Then, just this week, Beason found out that he was going to be able to avoid the hassle and haggle of court proceedings and save a boatload of cash in the process when the criminal charges against him all but disappeared.

Citing a lack of evidence, the authorities decided to drop the misdemeanor charges filed against Beason because they couldn’t be upheld with only the alleged victim’s statements representing evidence of the assault.

Especially when it was revealed that Frye had purportedly had multiple criminal misconduct incidents of his own in the past which would make him a less than reliable witness in any court proceedings.

So the stud linebacker ever famous for making hard hits and crushing blows legally on the field of play apparently got away with making a hard hit and a crushing blow legally off the field as well.

And any cocaine allegations, collapsed nasal cavities, or strip club attendances all seemingly fall by the sinful wayside as nothing more than the illicit rumors and insignificant details of a closed-case legal incident that no longer matters to the public eye or interest.

Until it happens again, that is…

“The Blind Side,” an inspiring and uplifting story detailing the rise of offensive lineman Michael Oher from a homeless minor living on the streets of Memphis to a multimillionaire first round NFL Draft pick, earned a suprising $34.5 million dollars in its opening weekend despite going up against the much ballyhooed juggernaught teen vampire flick.

Even more impressive, bolstered by its strong word of mouth recommendations and the widespread positive critical reviews it received, The Blind Side was actually able to up its financial intake on its second weekend to an astounding $40.1 million and become the fastest sports movie ever to cross the $100 million dollar mark.

Starring blockbuster actress Sandra Bullock and newcomer Quinton Aaron (who plays Oher himself) and featuring supporting roles turned in by country music superstar Tim McGraw and Oscar-winner Kathy Bates, there’s no doubt that the football-based film had the names and notoriety able to acheive the measures of success that it has received, but very few thought that it would be able to reach these heights so soon.

With an operating budget of just $29 million and a main star whose biggest first week gain was the $33 million dollars that The Proposal pulled in, almost no industry insiders believed that “The Blind Side” would become the financial windfall for Sandra Bullock (who took a paycut and earned a percentage of the film’s profits instead) and Warner Bros that is has.

Yet somehow, the combination of humor, heart, hard-luck, and football has proven to be an effective combination able to stir the moviegoing public and entertain the fan base, while placing the Baltimore Ravens rookie right tackle (and the 23rd overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft) squarely in the spotlight in the process.

And with seemingly fewer and fewer football-related fare for us to choose from on the big-screen each year, finding a quality, feel-good family film like ”The Blind Side” is a rare sports gem that is worth seeking out.

So plan to spend a couple of hours and a couple of bucks escaping the pressures of this holiday season with a drama that can also help serve as an effective reminder of what the true holiday spirit is supposed to be about: love, support, generosity, and family.

A truly wonderful and moving message for this or any time of year.

I’m thankful that the NFL schuduled three games on Thanksgiving (and only mildly disappointed that not one of them was competitive or compelling enough to be watchable).

I’m thankful that no team will go winless this year, and that two of the classiest organizations in football still have a chance to go undefeated (Let’s go Colts and Saints!).

I’m thankful that I’m not a Browns, Bucs, or Rams fan.  And I still thank god every day that I wasn’t born a Lions fan (Sorry Detroit).

I’m thankful that the NFL is starting to seriously look into the long term effects that concussions are having on its players.

I’m thankful that little guys are starting to show up big on the NFL scene (Maurice Jones-Drew, DeAngelo Williams, and Ray Rice, three of the top five fantasy running backs are all between 5′7 and 5′9.  Midget status by normal NFL standards).

I’m also thankful that grizzled old veterans keep on representing well in this young man’s game (Randy Moss, Hines Ward, Donald Driver, and Derrick Mason are all between 32 and 35 years old and are all top-20 PPR wide receivers.  And Kurt Warner and Brett Favre are both top-8 fantasy quarterbacks despite being 38 and 40 respectively).

I’m thankful that second chances sometimes end up working out to create elite fantasy production in unexpected places: Cedric Benson (who knew!?!) and Ricky Williams can both attest to that.

I’m thankful that Jake Delhomme isn’t my quarterback in real life or fantasy football.  And I wouldn’t be thankful to own anyone he has to throw to.

I’m thankful that I didn’t use a top-5 pick on Matt Forte, or a first rounder on Brian Westbrook or LaDanian Tomlinson.

I’m thankful that you can wait on the Tight End position in fantasy drafts and still snag overlooked prospects who put up top-5 numbers like Vernon Davis and Brent Celek.

I’m thankful that no-name wide receivers always pop up out of the woodwork to help save our fantasy season (This one’s for you: Sidney Rice, Mike Sims-Walker, and Miles Austin).

I’m thankful that I don’t play for Eric Mangini.  Or the Browns.  Or Eric Mangini.

I’m thankful that I don’t coach for the Buffalo Bills.

I’m thankful that Al Davis doesn’t do any of my NFL team’s drafting.  And I’m truly sorry if he does any of yours.

I’m thankful that I wasn’t on either side of the Jay Cutler for Kyle Orton trade.

I’m thankful that my remote has a mute button so I don’t have to listen to Jon Gruden exclaim “that guy is just a football player” on Monday Night Football ever again.  Though I still have to look at Chucky’s scowl while he says it.

I’m thankful that I live in a place where football is so popular, growing so continuously, and so engrained in our media and culture that fantasy football can exist and grow and thrive.

Most of all, I’m thankful that I have such a wonderful outlet like the Oasis which lets me spout off about football non-stop and live in this pocket fantasy universe that we’ve all created together 24-7.

Thanks guys.

They pimped their channel and coverage, counting on a captive and willing football-starved audience to support their exclusive right to continuing live games on the NFL Network for the remainder of the season (minus only Thanksgiving and Week 17).

In fact, the NFL pushed its recent expansion of the Thursday Night Football premise to a record six weeks this season, no doubt in a continuing effort to bolster the status and significance of the NFL’s fledgling cable channel while increasing their advertising revenues and charge rates in the highly desirable Thursday night prime time scheduling slot.

Lost in this concept of a captive audience with no legitimate competition for coverage of these games however, is the fact that the NFL seems to have overlooked one very key determining factor in audience attention, retention, and expansion:  Quality.

Unwilling to compromise the marquee teams and match-ups from being able to rake in the unfathomably large amounts of dough that ESPN and NBC dole out annually for Monday night and Sunday night coverage rights respectively, the NFL has set their Thursday night line-up so that their underwhelming coverage contains no premiere games and no significant two-sided playoff implications.

The result of this lackluster exercise in scheduling futility is likely to be a high number of reoccurances of the sloppy, uninspired play that we witnessed between the Chicago Bears and the San Francisco 49ers with very little at stake in Week 10’s TNF debut, coupled with the occasional blow-out between vastly uneven teams organized in completely lopsided match-ups.

Gone are the flashes of competitiveness that were actually seen in the contested Miami/Carolina game, unfortunately unlikely to be replicated for the rest of TNF’s scheduling season.

In fact, the NFL has made an almost inherent point of refusing to acknowledge or reward those NFL-action seeking on-lookers who go out of their way to acquire and support the television services that actually carry their luxury NFL Network (and many providers require costly package upgrades to obtain the privilage of watching the NFL channel).

Instead the NFL offers cast-off competition under narrow terms and then expects to be praised for even the strictly controlled opportunity to watch any professional football on their Thursday night platform.

Yet a vast number of NFL purveyors and football connoisseurs can’t even watch these rigidly regarded garbage games because of the NFL’s financial and contractual disputes with some of the nations largest television service providers (Time Warner for example), who refuse to offer the NFL channel until better monetary terms can be negotiated (a situation Comcast just recently overcame this season).

In these cases, terrain, environment, and living situations which dictate that only a limited number of television signals and service providers are available, effectively discriminate against and alienate masses of potential viewers who actually wish to be subjected to the contrived mediocrity that is Thursday Night Football by making it impossible for them to acquire the NFL channel.

Those lucky few who are willing and able to traverse all of the multimedia obstacles to obtain the NFL Network in all of its bespoiled glory should then be justly rewarded by exciting and enthralling professional football on a weekly basis, instead of being faced with mere meaningless match-ups and one-sided affairs.

In a contracting financial era where individuals across the globe are trying to maximize their entertainment dollars by getting more value and production for less cost and investment, the NFL would do well to seriously reconsider their arrogant approach to Thursday Night Football.

For instead of relying on their monopolization of the presentation of professional football on Thursday nights to net them a large enough captive audience of hardcore and mainstay football fans willingly and knowingly partaking in a subpar product, the NFL would be better served by trying to enhance the overall experience through the scheduling of marquee, must-see match-ups on an expanded public stage where the on-field product has a broader opportunity to be the sole, center, and primary focus.

In doing so, the NFL could turn a cast-off concept that exploits its base fans by serving up leftovers into an expansive viewership feasting on a main course focal point with the social relevance and professional significance of Monday Night Football in terms of mainstream American media and culture.

But it all starts with quality.

It all starts with putting the best possible product out on the field so that you can put the most possible butts in the seats.  And when it comes to Thursday Night Football, if you build a better schedule, they will come.

In the show, the world of fantasy football is explored through the viewpoints of a handful of select characters: the cool guy reigning champ, the whipped family man with no time, the lucky stoner with no memory or motivation, the geeky bachelor with no cool who tries too hard, and the uptight working stiff with no clue.

Uniting this cast of characters is the long-run fantasy football league that they all share, and the audience is provided with a glimpse of just how FF pervades the lives of these semi-obsessed players and affects them both personally and professionally.

Whether it’s the champ breaking up with his long-term baby-obsessed wife so he can stay in the league and defend his title, the working stiff lawyer giving up the number one pick so he can get a better plea bargain agreement for his client, or the clueless wonder practically kidnapping a 12 year old fantasy football prodigy just to get draft tips, there’s enough interesting and humorous fantasy football related goodness happening here for fans to warrant watching and supporting.

The show does come off as fairly formulaic though, and while the premise is definately unique, the execution of the gags on the whole is not.  So while the target audience might be too specific to be able to fully support a continuing basic-cable sitcom by itself, it may be hard pressed to garner enough outside viewers to make it successful in the long-run.

Nevertheless, “The League” is a decent first effort as a concept and it speaks volumes as to the pervasiveness of fantasy sports in modern popular culture.  From work leagues to family leagues to online leagues to money leagues, fantasy football is fast becoming a regularly and universally accepted activity participated in and enjoyed by all.

And with that acknowledgement and the continued support of the football and general public as a whole, media representation of, by, and for fantasy football purveyors is only sure to grow.

So Thursdays at 10:30pm, give FX’s “The League” a shot.  Far from perfect, it’s definately tailored to us and our universe.  And that fact alone makes it worthy, worthwhile, and supportable.

That fact alone makes it ours.Fantasy Football TV a Reality

After undermining head coach Todd Haley in a series of profane and inappropriate Tweets that included homophobic references, Johnson’s Twitter account was privatized then pulled as the Chiefs investigated his conduct.

Johnson then shot off a verbal assault directed at media members behind closed doors at a team press junket where he blamed reporters for inciting more controversy and again dropped homophobic slurs.

Kansas City has since comdemned Johnson’s actions and suspended him from team activities for two weeks, including their week nine road match-up against the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars.  Johnson will be replaced in the starting line-up by sophmore running back Jamaal Charles while the team considers even further disciplinary action pending Johnson’s behavioral reaction to the move.

LJ responded by publicly protesting his suspension and formally filing an appeal of the action, prompting mulitple team and NFL insiders to predict that he and the Chiefs will soon part ways permanently as they expect the team to release Johnson with extreme prejudice in the coming weeks.

Johnson has been an undercover malcontent on the Chiefs for quite a while and has repeatedly tried to force his way out of Kansas City in a vain attempt to net himself better circumstances with a more winning franchise.

With his most recent deplorable actions, Johnson may full well finally get his wish and find out what the market truly holds for a running back with attitude issues who turns 30 this month and is on the downswing of his career.

Whether a running back-needy contending team like the Patriots is willing to invest monetarily in the emotional baggage that comes along with Johnson as a short-term solution will ultimately decide if this abrasive, annoying, and offfensive stunt by Johnson eventually works out to his benefit.

But in a league where talent rules all and second chances are almost always forthcoming, here’s hoping that the standard NFL trends are bucked and karma finally catches up to the classless.

The information gleaned from these texts is interesting and noteworthy in that it paints a fairly clear picture of the foundational concerns that affected and influenced Sahel Kazemi’s ultimately fatal decision to end the lives of the undercover couple, while also providing interaction details from the very final night that they were together.

Not only was Kazemi facing what appears to be fairly substantial financial difficulties and the resulting stresses that occur from those situations, she was also apparently spotted actually stalking one of McNair’s other mistresses (Leah Ignagni, who acknowledges seeing Kazemi’s vehicle multiple times at her residence), and had been in contact with her eventual gun dealer for weeks before the purchase that preceeded her final depraved act of desperation.

Thus, McNair’s propensity toward complicated female companionship, which played a direct and consequential role in his ultimate dramatic demise, continues to haunt him even after his death, and now even stretches beyond the two currently recognized and acknowledged mistresses that existed immediately prior to his passing.

For a long-engrained and disturbing lifestyle trend is now slowly being revealed in the star quarterback’s existence as a third female has just stepped forward claiming that McNair supposedly illegitimately fathered her 17 year old daughter in his old stomping grounds of Mississippi.

Since McNair unfortunately died without the reference to a will, if these new allegations are proven accurate, they include an inherent financial inheritance challenge that could threaten a fairly sizable portion of the almost $20 million dollar estate that was scheduled to be transferred to the previously recognized and established McNair family.

While these new biological claims are being tested and investigated, the on-going details of a dramatic and complex life continue to slowly seep through into the public consciousness in this still tragically continuing saga, making it difficult for anyone involved to gain any semblance of emotional closure.

And now even more than three months after the original incident occurred, a family that has already experienced such enormous grief and pain and loss must again be put on hold while they continue to endure the heartbreaking dishonor that comes with reliving a lifetime of a loved one’s faults and flaws under the watchful eyes of public scrutiny and media attention, while their very futures and livlihood lays on the line.

For after being held catchless during the Browns Week 4 overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Braylon apparently took all of that pent up energy and frustration that he wasn’t able to exercise on the field, and found what he considered an apt and appropriate replacement outlet for it off the field: namely, another man’s face.

While there is some dispute as to whether Edwards was actually the one who threw the punch, there is no doubt that the incident that led to Edwards being accused of assaulting an 130 pound Cleveland-area club promoter named Edward Givens, who also happens to be a personal friend of the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar forward Lebron James, was also the breaking point in the very stormy relationship between Braylon and the Cleveland Browns franchise.

Apparently, you don’t get to piss off your organization and Cleveland’s prodigal son and still stick around.

So, two days after the assault charges (and Lebron’s response to the charges) became public, Cleveland announced that it had indeed shipped off it’s headache-inducing headcase pass-catcher to the wide receiver-needy New York Jets.

The package that Edwards was traded for included a conditional third round pick, a fifth round pick, wide receiver Chansi Stuckey, and line backer/special teamer Jason Trusnik.

Basically, the Jets traded a handful of crap for a heaping helping of hope.

And while New York was willing to place all of their hope and trust in a wide receiver who’s currently under both police and NFL league investigations, their gamble on the supremely talented diva seems to have paid off already in the form of immediate returns on their investment.

For in his first game action with Gang Green, after residing in New York and practicing with the team for all of four whole days, Edwards went out and displayed good hands, solid route running, and great chemistry with Jets franchise quarterback Mark Sanchez en route to a 5 catch, 64 yard, 1 touchdown debut.

In a performance that seemingly steadied the nerves and steeled the resolve of Jets fans, Edwards proved invaluable to a New York franchise that will now be without it’s top pass-catcher in Jericho Cotchery for this week’s upcoming divisional match-up with the basement-dwelling Buffalo Bills.

And in a town that’s no stranger to drama, or attention-seeking, or even troubled wideouts (as the cross-town New York Giants can recently attest) Edwards will now step into the big-city spotlight of the #1 role in the Jets passing game only a week and half after he exited the small market mediocrity of the Cleveland Browns.

While his presence does surely provide the promise of potential to a developing offense and team, still bubbling just below the surface, however, are those same nagging questions and concerns waiting to pop up once again:  How hard will he work?  How much will he focus?  How long will it last?

And it’s the answers to those questions, and the attitude and demeanor with which Edwards addresses them, that holds the key to the long-term success or failure of the Braylon Edwards experiment in New York.

That, and whether or not LeBron James decides to sign with the Knicks in 2010.Brawlin’ Braylon Bounced from Cleveland

And they weren’t trying to appeal to a more broad female fan base by using it as a marketing ploy, or making a metrosexual fashion statement about the future direction of NFL apparel (that failed attempt was left to the horrid lime-green alternate jerseys displayed by the Seattle Seahawks).

What the NFL was trying to do by incorporating pink into its regularly scheduled apparel on Sunday was make a very visible, public, and uniform show of solidarity with the cause, supporters, and survivors of breast cancer.

A noble goal and cause to be sure.

While the move did create some particularly hideous and laughable color-combinations on the field, seeing the stark contrast between pink cleats, gloves, hats, and mouthpieces and the modern, streamlined, athletic uniforms that they were accentuating did serve as an effective visual model to drive home the desired underlying social message.

The ploy worked so well in fact, that the NFL should look into expanding the concept to incorporate an even larger list of socially relevant and worthy causes that it could support in this manner.

Red accessories to highlight the struggle against AIDs and raise money for the research and treatments of the disease.  Yellow accessories for a week in which we honor our troops and pay homage to those that serve at home and abroad.  The list of worthwhile causes goes on.

While the league wouldn’t want to overwhelm the game being played on the field or overshadow their own marketing tools and devices related to NFL apparrel by incorporating these types of uniform alterations every week, adding a few more select dates to expand this charitable endeavor definately seems feasible.

And the expansion of a united social conscience in the NFL could benefit the public image of professional football at a time when it’s almost exclusively associated with thugs and crimes and negativity, while at the same time raising funds and awareness for noble and needy causes.

Under a regime in which NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been looking to crack down on the socially inappropriate, illicit, and illegal activities of the NFL’s employees, this kind of positive public social reinforcement could serve to assist the negative, punishment-oriented tactics he has currently employed by creating a two-pronged attack on bad behavior.

Punish the wicked and promote the positive.

By defining not only what types of behavior are unacceptable to the league, but also reinforcing what socially-relevant ideals are valued, the NFL could enhance the effectiveness of their approach and broaden the scope of their message, providing honorable examples for players and audience members to emulate.

And by allowing a little more color to be incorporated into their rigidly regulated uniforms, the NFL could actively color the thoughts and actions of the players they employ on the field while also influencing future generations of of players and fans off of it.

Now that’s a pretty idea.

Claiming scheduling conflicts and distance issues were pulling them apart, the high-profile couple parted ways two months ago in what was described as an extremely mutual and cordial break-up.

Turns out though, that breaking up adds even more distance issues to a relationship because it keeps you completely seperated from the person you genuinely want to be with.

With this cold, hard fact now truly hitting home for the recently parted couple, Bush and his B-list diva have finally decided to reunite in hopes of working through their demanding careers and time-constraint issues.

Adding to these conflicts is the fact that the New Orleans Saints are undefeated and almost certainly playoff bound, which will require Bush to be focused on football for a month more than he’s been used to in recent years.

Kardashian too, has her reality television show to maintain and the high-profile growth of her family to incorporate into her now divided attentions.  Kim’s sister Khloe recently wed Los Angeles Lakers star forward Lamar Odom after a very public month-long courtship.

With two of the Kardashian sisters now engaged in serious relationships with sports star celebrities in two different sports, there will certainly be no shortage of microscopes analyzing their every romantic move.

Whether this attention will ultimately help or hurt Bush in his relationship, or detract from his on-field focus or performance is debatable.  For while his personal role has now increased in Kim Kardashian’s life, his professional role for the New Orleans Saints has diminshed significantly.

And while he may be suitor #1 with a bright future off the field, he’s definately become RB #2 with a disappointing showing on it.

With a vote of 3-1, Walnut’s City Council agreed to accept the undisclosed settlement and reimbursement terms of the stadium project’s financiers in exchange for no longer pursuing a cease-action on the over $850 million dollar project situated in the Los Angeles suburb of Industry.

With this final legal dispute settled, the stadium is now scheduled to be completely legally and legislatively approved by all involved parties by mid-October.

The chief financiers spearheading the project, Majestic Realty, will then begin actively recruiting existing NFL franchises with the support of the league in an attempt to relocate a team to the second largest media market in the country.

The primary candidates targeted for relocation due to their small market financial situations and/or current stadium contracts are the Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers, St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers, and Oakland Raiders.

However, the L.A Stadium’s chief investor has also gone public with his intent to require the purchase of a large, vested interest of 40 percent or more in any team that agrees to move to Los Angeles be included in the relocation agreement so that team ownership could be held and managed locally.

This requirement may limit the viability of some available franchises, as only the St. Louis Rams are currently and publicly for sale (although teams like the Buffalo Bills would also most assuredly be open to negotiation on the subject).

The L.A Stadium Project will not break ground until an NFL franchise agrees to relocate, but current estimates have the project’s readiness tentatively scheduled for the start of the 2013 season, with construction beginning as soon as next year.

In the interim, any team moving to Los Angeles would be temporarily housed in either the Rose Bowl or the Colliseum, and would play their home games at those venues.

When completed, the L.A Stadium will have the capacity to house over 75 thousand people and contain enough facitilites to accomodate two seperate home franchises should the NFL look to expand even further into the L.A market in the future.

With the legal foundation now laid and the legislative groundwork done, the more difficult public relations portion of the process begins.  Facing nation-wide economic hardship and a potential uncapped season next year, the financial backers of the Stadium Project will likely have their work cut out for them if they are to successfully woo an NFL franchise with promises of an untapped market, new luxury boxes, and a heavy dose of national media spotlight and saturation.

Whether this approach works and what teams are most likely to be tempted is something we’ll have to monitor in the coming months.  Rest assured, we’ll keep you posted with any and all further developments as they become available.

Those three words cost Houston Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson $25,000 dollars last Sunday.

After months of lobbying Texans general manager Rick Smith for a long-term contract following the organization’s decision to franchise-tag Robinson and pay him $9.957 million dollars for the 2009 season (the average of the top-5 players at his position), Robinson decided to take matters into his own hands feet and have “PAY” and “ME RICK” inscribed on his game-day Nike cleats for the season opener.

Only instead of getting his general manager’s attention during Sunday’s loss to the New York Jets, Robinson got the entire franchise’s attention to the tune of a $25,000 dollar team-imposed fine for the unauthorized message and uniform alteration, and a rebuke for his unprofessional appeal.

While the fine is a relative drop in the bucket for someone making just a shade under $10 million dollars this year, it did have the desired media-relations and publicity effect by spotlighting Robinson’s campaign for a new contract.

Unfortunately, it also drew direct attention to the horrendous play of Robinson and his defensive backfield mates who got outplayed and outclassed by a rookie quarterback seeing his first NFL game action and an inexperienced and mediocre Jets receiving corps.

So while the high-profile media-stunt may have had the desired attention-garnering effect for Robinson and his ongoing negotiations with Smith, it may have actually had a detrimental effect on his contract potential.

Trying to cash in big in the long-term, Robinson spent $25,000 in one game.  And in doing so, he may have just cost himself millions.

Superstitious proponents of the much ballyhooed Madden Curse didn’t have to wait long to get another strong shot of ammunition for their far-out claims as Madden 10 cover-boy and Pittsburgh Steelers all-pro safety Troy Polamalu suffered a major injury in his first game of the season on opening night last Thursday.

Polamalu, one of the stand-out leaders on the best defense in football in 2008, helped lead his team to a Super Bowl victory before co-starring with Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald on the much-hyped cover of the ultra-popular video game series that recently underwent a nation-wide release.

After enjoying a dominating first half in Pittsburgh’s opening night victory over the Tennessee Titans, which included an amazing behind the lines tackle of running back Chris Johnson and a highlight-reel one-handed interception of an underthrown Kerry Collins pass, Polamalu came up gimpy after having his leg rolled up on by a pile of players late in the first half.

The result:  A sprained MCL knee ligament that sidelined him for the second half of the season opener and will likely keep him out of game action for up to six weeks more.  In which time Pittsburgh’s defense will lose its biggest playmaker on defense.

While it’s still much too early to declare Polamalu’s season a bust, the all-star safety’s injury has definately afforded Madden Curse supporters the opportunity to point out yet another amazingly fateful coincidence between Madden video game cover-models and the injuries and underwhelming performances that seemingly follow them.

Larry Fitzgerald owners be warned.  You’re next.