It's usually pretty inappropriate for a man to rip another man's shirt off in public, but to do so at a charity even is even more so. Boomer Esiason did just that to Mark Sanchez, at Samsung's 8th Annual Four Seasons of Hope Gala, but that wasn't even the awkward part. No, that would be the gentleman in the crowd, trying to catch the subsequent pass from the Jets' QB. Via Hot Clicks....

Now that is funny....I don't care who you are. As far as Boomer goes....I think I'll pass on that one.

Sports Video Of The Day (Hot Clicks)

I know all of you saw Aubrey O'Day's Playboy spread that just came out recently, but if you didn't you can click on this very NSFW link if you would like to see them. What does this have to do with anything you ask? Well the Danity Kane singer (who knew?) and Puffy confidant, called into the Boomer and Carton Show today, and decided to hang up on the hosts.

According to Sports Radio Interviews, Carton asked O'Day a series of questions that we're obviously too personal, one about dating Puffy, and she got pissed and ended the call. Here's the audio of the hangup, and the aftermath....

Ah good times. You're famous for being on a reality television show, and (allegedly) hooking up with Puffy, but you don't want to talk about it. Too funny.

Playboy Cover Girl Hangs Up On Sports Radio Station (Sports Radio Interviews)
Aubrey O'Day Interview (WFAN: Boomer & Carton)

Troy Aikman made an appearance on Boomer Esiason's MSG show last night and the two former QBs wasted no time in addressing the topic of their feud over the past few weeks. Via Barry Horn at the Dallas Morning News....

Boomer: "All right, joining us now is my new bias, I mean best friend, Troy Aikman from Dallas. First let me say this publicly Troy, in front of everybody: I do apologize for our little tiff about two weeks ago. I'm sure your week has been a little calmer than it was two weeks ago."

Aikman: "Yeah, you know it was a bit calmer and hey, I appreciate it. We both know we've been in the business long enough, we say things we regret, maybe wish we hadn't have. I will tell you though, for a couple of old, washed-up, has-been quarterbacks, it was kind of nice being back in the headlines again."

Boomer: "Yeah, it made us relevant, for all the wrong reasons, though."

Well isn't that special? See how boring things are when people are nice to each other??? Get back to talking trash and the accusations you two! Seriously though, I'm surprised that Aikman isn't holding a bit of a grudge because in the broadcasting world, the homerism claim is about as serious as it gets. He's a bigger man than I.

I'll also try and find the video at some point to see if there was actual kissing. Glad that's over....I can finally get some sleep.

Esiason to Aikman: "I do apologize" (Sports Media Blog)

I meant to get this up last Friday, but for some reason Comcast Cable decided to randomly shut my service off for a day and a half. Boomer Esiason finally addressed the "Esiason Affair" at the end of last week and ultimately stood by his comments on Troy Aikman (as he should have). The topic of the "raging debate" came up on PTI on Thursday evening, and Boomer and radio host Craig Carton decided to listen to that audio and comment on the whole
"affair" after the clip.

I agree with just about everything on Boomer's end, buuuuut the part where he and Carton question why Aikman is so pissed. I don't believe he's trying to be pro-Cowboy, but rather that it just comes out from time to time. I think him firing back shows that he certainly tries to not favor the team, and if someone called me out like that....I'd have done the same thing.

Neither Boomer or Aikman mentioned the debate on-air yesterday (not that they should have), so that's probably the last we'll (and you'll) hear about this.

PTI on the "Esiason Affair" (WFAN)

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has taken this little spat and just ran with it over the past few days. At first, Troy Aikman decided to take the high road, but after mulling it over another day he has decided to add a little fuel to the fire. Troy was on during his weekly spot with the Dunham & Miller Show on The Ticket in Dallas, when the topic of Esiason came up. Here's what went down as relayed by Horn....

It took a couple of brow-beating, hard-nosed reporter types to get Troy Aikman stirred up over what is now referred to as "The Esiason Affair."

As much as I tried the other day, I couldn't instigate anything. But on his weekly stop with The Ticket's Dunham & Miller show Thursday, Aikman said he would have been upset if criticism of his work during the Cowboys-Cardinals game came from someone he respected. I can't quote Aikman verbatim because I was driving carpool when he said it and Plano police take a dim view of those who write and drive.

Aikman actually has taken Esiason's shot pretty calmly considering Aikman has thrown everything he has into this broadcasting thing. If anything, I would wager he bends over backwards not to favor the Cowboys when they are on Fox. There's really no harsher criticism of a broadcaster than saying he is not honest.

So much for that high road. I would love to get you the exact quote and/or audio but The Ticket's audio and podcasts are all jacked up at the moment, but I'll get it to you as soon as I can. Also, be on the lookout for an apology of sorts from Boomer Esiason come this Sunday. I haven't heard anything per se, but Boomer has yet to mention the feud on his show over at WFAN, and I'd be surprised if this thing went any further. Both networks will probably put a kibosh on the whole thing.

Aikman finally disses Esiason (Dallas Morning News)
Aikman Responds To The Notion That He's "Pro-Cowboys" (Awful Announcing)

Early this morning, Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News talked with Troy Aikman about the notion that he's biased when calling Cowboys' games. The ex-Dallas QB, and current FOX analyst, seemingly took the high road on the whole issue and had this to say back to Boomer....

"Well, I'm glad Boomer is watching the NFL on Fox. I take great pride in not showing a bias towards any team that I am broadcasting and I'm confident the teams that I have covered over the last eight seasons would agree that I've been balanced and fair with my coverage. Also, I never much got into critiquing other quarterbacks when I played and I don't get too wrapped up in critiquing broadcasters now."

Again, I don't necessarily think that he would do so on purpose, but he definitely caters more to the 'Boys over any other team. Hopefully he'll at least take notice now, and pay just a little more attention when he calls their games. As far as Joe Buck.....he might be a lost cause at this point.

Aikman's unbiased response to Esiason (Dallas Morning News)

I honestly thought that Troy Aikman did a pretty good job of keeping the pro-Cowboys talk down during the Redskins game, and maybe it's because he knows people are paying attention, but last Sunday's call was just way heavy with praise for Dallas. You wouldn't have even known the Cardinals were playing if it was just the audio of the game, and apparently I'm not the only person who thought so.

Boomer Esiason was on WEEI's Dennis and Callahan Show yesterday to talk all things Football, and he pulled no punches with bringing up the FOX analyst....

I couldn't agree more, but there are two really interesting things that this little tiff brings up. First, is that you rarely here two ex-players from the same position ever call each other out. As if that wasn't enough, it's almost equally as rare that an analyst would even bring up another analyst's name up. Nevermind the fact that he works for a rival network.

With that said, I'm all for people holding each other accountable in the Sports Media World. Buck and Aikman have honestly improved as a team, but they seem to regress every time they call a Cowboys' game. Another Cowboy, Daryl Johnston, is calling the Dallas-Rams this week, but he'll more than likely be on the call for weeks 8 (TB-DAL) and 9 (DAL-NYG).

Dennis and Callahan: Boomer Esiason (WEEI)

(Thanks to AJ for the link)

Normally when you bring up "radio wars", they are between competing stations and/or shows. Well not at WFAN. Following Chris "Mad Dog" Russo's move to Sirius, they've been going through a bit of issues within their own ranks. Everyone knows that Dog's former partner Mike Francesa has carried on without him, and while he's still upset at the whole breakup situation, he's now aimed his aggression at the WFAN Morning Show, Boomer & Carton.

B&C were joking about who they were going to bring in to be Russo's replacement and Francesa naturally took that as dig at him. Francesa then shot back yesterday at the Morning Show. Via Watchdog....

After saying he would not be dragged into a verbal war, Mike said "there is a meanness" to Carton. He also said, "If I want to take care of him I could do it in five minutes. It wouldn’t even take me five minutes. He can’t kiss up enough when he’s around here. If he wants a war, bring it on, it won’t be a long one."

After saying he would not be dragged into a verbal war, Mike said "there is a meanness" to Carton. He also said, "If I want to take care of him I could do it in five minutes. It wouldn’t even take me five minutes. He can’t kiss up enough when he’s around here. If he wants a war, bring it on, it won’t be a long one."

Oh but it doesn't stop there. Of course this got back to Carton and here was his response this morning....

"We'd like to be able to poke fun at Mike, and we'd like it if Mike pokes fun at us. We have thick skin and can go back and forth. But yesterday's attack was an uncalled-for, vicious, personal attack, which we're not going to tolerate. And I hope that Mike has come to his senses somewhat. If he wants a war, he's got it, 100 percent. We will indulge him in that starting today. I assume he doesn't want it. We're not looking forward to it, but we'll engage him in it if he wants it. And hopefully from this point on we can all just get along and do our own thing."

Good grief. You rarely see a fights between shows breakout on the same network, but I guess the stresses of the past few months have taken their toll. I really want to see WFAN get back to the way it was before Dog left, but I don't see this ending very well. I enjoy both shows in their own way, but hey.....if you're going to go down you mind as well go down in flames. Let's hope things get personal!

Craig Carton calls Francesa rant 'vicious,' 'uncalled-for' (Watchdog)

Jose Canseco was on WFAN's Boomer and Carton this morning and it didn't appear to go so smoothly. The ex-MLBer and author of Vindicated was talking about A-Rod when Craig Carton seemed to say something that upset Canseco. Here's the transcript and the audio link....

Jose Canseco Interview (WFAN)

Carton: “You claim that you have a love affair with baseball; why bring baseball down if you love it?”
Canseco: “I’m not trying to bring baseball down. I’m trying to bring baseball to where it used to be.”
Esiason: “It seems to me in reading the book ... that your quotes about Alex Rodriguez, it sounds to me like you’re trying to bring him down.”
Canseco: “Those were more for personal reasons, issues I have with Alex ... Alex is not who people perceive him to be. He’s a completely different person. I did have a lot of issues with Alex.”
Carton: “Who is the Alex Rodriguez you know that we don’t know?”
Canseco: “Well, a hypocrite. An individual who is constantly being politically incorrect. A liar. And I do believe in the past a steroid user, and an individual I trusted in my home and went after my wife, Jessica.”
Carton: “You say you believe he made a pass at your ex-wife.”
Canseco: “He absolutely did.”
Carton: “How can you reconcile in your head why it was not O.K. for him to make a pass at your wife, but O.K. to show your wife’s new breasts to Debbie and Roger Clemens?”
Canseco: “Now you’re talking stuff that never happened. Guys, if you’re going to be attacking me on this book that’s the absolute truth, I’ll hang up on you right now, so you better start respecting me. As a matter of fact, goodbye.”

Awkward! Bravo to Carton for not bowing down to Canseco. I'm not saying I believe him or I don't (I don't), but I'm tired of the media pandering to the guy. The one time he gets a hard question he hangs up. That's pretty telling if you ask me.

WFAN Interview Ends With a Click (New York Times)

I missed this yesterday, but it is absolutely hilarious. Dan Marino obviously doesn't know how to turn off his cellphone when on live television.....

Ha, Boomer actually looks pissed. I can understand once, but letting it right three times? Come on Daniel.

(Many thanks to MM for the better quality video)

10. “I misread the memo, they played in England today and I came with you to NEW England.”- Kenny Albert (Not funny AT all)

9. “He has the opportunity to tune up for next week’s game with the Redskins.”- Keyshawn on Tom Brady (Kinda nitpicky, but he was so adamant when he said it)

8. “It was in the front, first row.”- Randy Cross (This was after saying a pass landed in the third row)

7. “Roethlisberger comes on the field again.”- Dick Enberg (Coming from a guy named Dick...that's pretty nasty)

6. “He wasn't untouched, but he wasn't touched enough."- Dick Stockton (Via Tim....Too funny)

5. “And that was over in an eyelash.”- Dick Stockton

4. "Feels like a playoff game, a Super Bowl!"- Thom Brennamen (A Playoff game with the Dolphins?)

3. "He's got pictures of somebody there."- Boomer Esiason on Rex Grossman being the Bears’ QB next year (I hope it's more drunken shots of Orton)

2. “Nobody was sure if they’d be playing Football in San Diego today with good reason. Fires continue to burn throughout Southern California.”- Chris Berman (See Chris....that's NOT a good reason)

1. “The shot clock was running down and managed to call a timeout before it ran out.”- Dick Stockton (I give up on you Stockton lovers....I just can't take him anymore)

I have video on the Dick Stockton debacle, but I'm having trouble getting it edited. Dick was basically on fire yesterday. The Shot Clock comment came within the first two minutes of the game, and it was just down hill from there. The funniest part is that Brian Balldinger immediately felt the need to call it a Play Clock and went into a diatribe on how hard it is to see it in Metrodome. It was downright hilarious.

Hopefully I'll get another 10 from the Monday Night Live-Blog, and feel free to add any I missed.

I've got two for you today...one radio, one boxing.

It appears via SbB and NY Daily News that Boomer Esiason will get a week long tryout on WFAN starting next week.

Esiason is based out of NYC, which is important since KC native "Big Sexy" Jason Whitlock turned down the station. I've heard Boomer on radio in DC before and he's not bad....there are obviously worse choices that could have been made. If you live in NYC let me know how it goes.
___________________________

In Boxing News it appears that longtime HBO analyst, and Scorecard Guru, Larry Merchant will be benched for good starting with the June 9th Miguel Cotto-Zab Judah fight. Larry will do two more fights (De La Hoya-Mayweather, Taylor-Spinks), and then give way to....get this.....

Ex-ESPN Around the Horn Host...Max Kellerman.

Kellerman is a boxing aficionado, and was a former host of ESPN's Friday Night Fights. The thinking is that he would be able to provide a younger perspective to the telecasts. If this is the case it appears that Max would come out on top after a contract dispute with ESPN led him to Fox Sports and then the cellars of HBO.

I could never stand Larry Merchant (and rarely agreed with him), but when he was involved you knew it was a big fight. At least HBO didn't hire someone who knew nothing about what he/she was covering (*ahem* ESPN).


Merchant Appears Destined For Final Rounds at HBO (Philly Daily News)
Boomer Esiason to try out for Imus Radio Spot Next Week (SbB)
Boomer to QB FAN Mornings for a Week (NY Daily News)

So we're on to the grading today, and after that two-hour debacle of a quotes post I'm going to mail this one in a bit. I "blew my load" a tad so we're going to the.....Lighting Round!

James Brown:

The quintessential host. He does everything right, but he has the tendency to use the same words over and over again. Try this for one broadcast. Drink every time he says the word "indeed"....I counted them one time and I got to 26. I was hammered by that point, so it could have been more. Love JB though....he's the perfect ringleader. He takes the fat jokes in stride and just has fun...plus he's got jesus on his side.

Grade: A-



Dan Marino:

He's apparently psychotic, but I would be too if I took the "he never won a Super Bowl" jokes for 6 hours a day for an entire season. He strikes me as a bit too serious though, which gets to be kind of annoying after awhile. At least Boomer can put on a Belichick costume and get a laugh.

Grade: C+



Boomer Esiason:

I like Boomer.....don't know what it is about him though. He gets a little too demonstrative at times, but I think that's only because a little Marino is rubbing off on him (eww...you have a dirty mind).

Grade: B+



F'ing Shannon Sharpe:

I hate him so much. He's not funny and he overacts like a champ (that "I'm going to the Super Bowl" crap was just too much). He is one of the culprits perpetuating the stupid laugh fests that have plagued the pregame shows as of late. He laughs at his own jokes, and you can't understand what he says. When he does the highlights he is about four games behind.

Grade: "You fucking passed the test, but barely. You know what you got? F+. *click*"

Your 2007 Highlights and Lowlights.....well mostly Lowlights......

Week 1:

• "I fully expect Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman to get off to a good start this week. Grossman has been criticized by those in the media who would like to create a quarterback controversy in Chicago, but his talent – and the talent around him – will be enough to prevent that from happening."- Phil Simms
• Shannon Sharpe: When you left you were a 42 Long. Now what are you, 48 Regular? James Brown: At least it’s all natural.
• "I've got to believe that Seattle is going to go back to the Super Bowl. Look at their schedule. They've got the coach, the quarterback, the running back, and they added Julian Peterson. That team looks like they're set to get back to Miami."- Boomer Esiason
• "I was on a round table discussion with Jerry Jones and he said the one thing that led to the T.O. demise in San Francisco and Philly was money. He gave him $10 million the first year and $25 million over the three years. T.O. got what he wanted. It was the money. I don’t think T.O. is going to have a problem. They will get along the entire season."- Shannon Sharpe
  
• "Deion Branch doesn’t want advice. He wants the cheese."- Shannon Sharpe
• SUPER BOWL XLI PICKS: BOOMER ESIASON: New England vs. Seattle, SHANNON SHARPE: Denver vs. Carolina, DAN MARINO: Pittsburgh vs. Carolina

Week 2:

• "Jake “The Mistake” is a terrible name to give to any quarterback. Now let’s see, Jake Plummer last year leads the Broncos to the A.F.C. Championship game. They go 13-3. “Jake the Mistake” throws only seven interceptions the whole year, 18 touchdowns. If any other quarterback in the NFL did that last year, he would not be talked about in this way."- Phil Simms
• "I think that Denver Broncos fans want to see more out of their quarterback position. They want to see John Elway. They want to see a guy throwing the ball down the field and not throwing interceptions in the big games. I know he has a rookie behind him so I don’t expect him to be benched."- Boomer Esiason
• James Brown: How long before Tony Romo takes over? Marino: Until they’re out of the playoffs or unless Drew Bledsoe falls on his face, you go with a guy with the best chance to win and that’s Drew Bledsoe. When you think about him, last year every time he lost game he came back, won and had a good game. Get off Drew Bledsoe.
• "Peyton Manning is definitely going to miss Edgerrin James."- Rich Gannon

Week 3:

• James Brown: Dan and Shannon picked Carolina to go to the Super Bowl. Are the Panthers overrated, Boomer?

  Boomer Esiason: I think Dan and Shannon are overrated. I picked Seattle because I know what I'm talking about. Carolina was the chalk pick because everybody goes back to the way that they finished last year and that's the wrong thing to do.

• "Back then, personally, I would have taken Eli Manning. Today, I would take Eli Manning."- Charlie Casserly (and you wonder why you don't have a job?)

Week 4:

• "We know for sure that there is one gunslinger. And with the way Chad Pennington has started on the other side by throwing the ball all over the stadium, my initial reaction is that, yes we’re looking at two gunslinging quarterbacks in this game"- Dan Dierdorf
• "I had a chance to talk to my son last night, and he wants to thank everybody for the cards, the phone calls, the flowers. All those feelings really help a guy in his situation. They’re helping him recover. He did come home from the hospital yesterday, so he's happy about that. He's sitting on the couch today watching the pre-game show. I don't know how happy that's going to make him, but he's looking forward to getting well."- Phil Simms
• "I am amazed at the tremendous fascination there is with covering Terrell Owens' every move. He's obviously a marvelously gifted athlete who just as obviously has some issues. We might never know what really happened there in Dallas but I do hope that T.O. gets whatever help he needs. And I also hope we won't allow ourselves to be held hostage to a story that was raised to the level of a national crisis."- JB

Week 5:

• Simms: Well first off, maybe Brett Favre should quit listening to the radio. I'll just say this, I think he's playing well so far this year. And, I believe he will break Dan Marino’s record. Dan Marino: And I can't believe Brett Favre doesn't have anything better to do in his life than to listen to Phil Simms on the radio.
• "Little T Learns to Share” on what his next book should be - How about, “Little T Learns How to Con Billionaire NFL Owners.”…I can’t wait for the book tour…It is amazing to me the world we live in."- Bommer Esiason

Week 6:

• "The Oakland Raiders, the Tennessee Titans or the Detroit Lions, all in the same bunch. All three needed quarterbacks. I know Tennessee took Vince Young, but I do think Matt Leinart is going to end up being a better professional."- Boomer Esiason
• "The Bears are one of the few teams I’ve seen in quite a few years that can have breaks go against them, be emotionally out of it, play not even close to an “A” game, and they’re still going to win. For a team to beat the Bears this year, it will have to play its best and get a few breaks along the way."- Phil Simms
• "If the Bears are the class of the NFC, that begs the question as to who is the second-best choice. This is where things get more difficult. St. Louis might be my surprising second choice. The Rams offense has been excellent with Marc Bulger, Torry Holt, Kevin Curtis and Steven Jackson."- Shannon Sharpe

Week 7:

• "The Falcons do some unique things with Michael Vick at quarterback, and it’s no surprise that they capitalize on his strength as a runner"- Phil Simms
• "The guy that is developing into ‘fun television’ is JP Losman. The guy has a little Fran Tarkenton in him. He runs around back there and is quick on his feet. He’s not Michael Vick. Vick looks to run downfield. Losman looks to run around to buy time to throw. He is as elusive and as quick a guy running around at the quarterback position that I’ve seen in a long time."- Dan Dierdorf

Week 8:

• "I don’t care what you think of Michael Vick – whether you think he’s being mistreated or misused, or just think he’s not that good, whatever. He can play for my team any day"- Phil Simms
• "When I look at tricks, I look at Michael Vick."- Dan Marino
• "I asked Ben if he had any reservations about taking a hit in this game, his response was, ‘After being hit by a car this summer, it’s all relative.’"- Rich Gannon

Week 9:

• "I agree with Rich in the sense of Eli Manning because he has the perfect personality for the New York Giants team"- Dan Marino
• "There is still an awful lot of talk in New York, Chad Pennington hooking up with Chris Baker"- James Brown
• They should have fined him $5,000 for that dance and $10,000 for that mohawk he had going on for the first six weeks of the season. You can't dance any more until you get two touchdowns and win a game.- Shannon Sharpe

Week 10:

ON CHANGING SUPER BOWL PICKS FROM BEGINNING OF YEAR

Dan Marino (Carolina-Pittsburgh): Carolina still has a chance because in the NFC there are a lot of teams that are 4-4. If you let me change (AFC pick), maybe I’ll take Indy.

Shannon Sharpe (Carolina-Denver): I’m not changing. I still like the Broncos because in the last two weeks Jake Plummer has done a better job of taking care of the football and they are still formidable…Carolina is still in the thick of things…I’m sticking with Carolina and I’m definitely staying with the Broncos Nation.

Boomer Esiason (Seattle-New England): I’m going to ride Tom Brady all the way down to Miami. I am not changing, especially when you look at their schedule. As the season goes on, their schedule is one of the easiest in the AFC. So, I expect that they will win the AFC East. They will have to go on the road to win a couple of tough playoff games, but I think Tom Brady and Bill Belichick can do that. As far as Seattle is concerned, they may lose today against St. Louis, but a look at their schedule - they’ll get Hasselbeck and Alexander back - I am not jumping off that train just yet either.

• "A lot of blame has been placed on Michael Vick, but his wide receivers are just downright horrible. With all these dropped passes, Michael Vick, I suggest you file a missing person’s report on their hand"- Shannon Sharpe
• "I know drops are subjective, but to whip out my calculations, sometimes I use scratch paper, sometimes my head and sometimes a calculator, he has between 8-10 dropped passes."- Shannon Sharpe

Week 11:

• "Randy Moss is not a leader. He doesn't deserve to be the captain of the Oakland Raiders. He's the one who said he wanted to be traded. He's not happy. His effort is lacking. That's a disgrace to the uniform. I don't care what uniform you have on."- Boomer Esiason

Week 12:

• "The first change I would make would be to tell Arthur Blank to stay up in the booth. You barely know the difference between a screen porch and a screen play. And you only know about a screen porch because you worked at Home Depot. Stay up in the booth and let Jim Mora do his job. Second of all, no, I don't think they're going to make the playoffs."- Shannon Sharpe
• It may look like one of those old games between Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason - whichever quarterback has the ball in his hands at the end - he's going to get a chance to throw that winning interception.- Steve Tasker (on the HOU-NYJ game)

Week 13:

• "If you're a Cincinnati Bengal, you take care of business, everything is right in front of you. If they go 3-1 at the end of the year, they'll get a wild card."- Dan Marino
• "I think you stay with Rex Grossman. He's a young quarterback. He has made mistakes. Early he played really well. He was getting a lot of support from his running game when he was playing well earlier in the year. Yes, the last six games he has the turnovers and mistakes. This is a guy that can win for you and get them to the Super Bowl"- Dan Marino

Week 14:

• "If he doesn't improve his play, he's going to be on the bench and Brian Griese is going to be the next quarterback of the Chicago Bears."- Charlie Casserly
• "I have to disagree with you. What I saw was a jittery, deer-in-the-headlights quarterback-type back there. I think Mike Shanahan is playing with fire here. They're with seven wins right now in the AFC. They have a chance to get to the playoffs. By removing Jake Plummer, you take that out of the equation right now. I think this is a big mistake."- Boomer Esiason
• "Absolutely not. To be successful in the postseason, you have to be able to stop the run. And right now the Colts' defense cannot do that…They're giving up over five yards a rush. It's not good. They have to get it straightened out if they have any aspirations of playing in Miami in February."- Rich Gannon
• "If anybody can do it, it could be Peyton Manning because he'd have to play perfect. He's capable of doing that. [They are] a team that can't stop the run…They have a drug problem. They're getting drug up one side of the field and drug back down the other. That is a real problem. You can’t do that in the playoffs, so, I say no."- Dan Marino

Week 15:

• "Spitting in the face of DeAngelo Hall, and let me preface this by saying Congress is not in session, but they would have had to call an emergency session and pass special legislation to get me off T.O. if he had done that to me. T.O., you being from the South, I myself am from the South, you know that's one of the greatest taboos that you do not do to another man. And for you to be smug with a cavalier attitude in saying you’re sorry… Don't apologize to the public. Don’t apologize to us at these desks."- Shannon Sharpe
• "At least we know he's an equal opportunity offender. He will offend anybody: his own teammates, his own coaches, his owners. He will sabotage a particular season or franchise, and this time, now he goes across the line and spits in the face of an opposing player."- Boomer Esiason
• "Home Depot does not sell enough nails and plywood to fix what's wrong them. Even with Ed Reed pushing the umpire into the running back, they still couldn't stop the run. Indy, you're in trouble and no team has ever gone to the Super Bowl lower than 20th in run defense. You need to get it fixed and I don't see how you can get it done with the personnel you have."- Shannon Sharpe
• "He will be fine. He will be fine. Trust me. There are a lot of happy women out there now that Tom Brady is a single man, I can assure you that."- Shannon Sharpe

Week 16.......Stangely missing from the archives. Did something happen that week that I missed?

Week 17:

• It hasn't changed. I thought it was going to be the New York Jets and the Denver Broncos...So Denver is going to go play New England in a rematch of last year's playoff game and the Jets will go to Indianapolis in their opening playoff game. So, the Jets and Denver make it in.- Boomer Esiason
• I do agree with you, Phil, of how great Peyton Manning is...but he's not going to the Super Bowl. This team is severely flawed. You cannot win a Super Bowl with a running defense like the Indianapolis Colts have. Dan Marino lived through this in Miami and now Peyton Manning is living through it in Indianapolis- Boomer Esiason
• All right. Let's start with Tony Romo. He's 1-2 in his last three games. He's gone from Jessica Simpson to Carrie Underwood, so he's not winning the Super Bowl.- Boomer Esiason
• "Michael Vick, I'm going to keep it real. You guys are not that talented. And talent alone does not win football games. The team that plays the best together on that particular Sunday, that's the team. You make no one around you better. You are a better football player. You run the football. You got 1,000 yards. You're so proud of that, but that's like LaDainian Tomlinson saying I lead all in running back passes. That's what you're there for to run the football. You're there to distribute the football and make that team better - and you have not done that."- Shannon Sharpe

Playoffs!??!?! Playoffs?

• Boomer Esiason wearing a Bill Belichick-like hooded sweatshirt on who he thinks will win: "You know I'm sticking with it, JB. This man has a Ph.D. in NFL coaching. Other coaches that he plays against make mistakes. He never makes a mistake. Plus he has Tom Brady. In order for the Indianapolis Colts to win this game, they've got to get some of that confidence back that they're missing on offense. But I don't think that's going to happen."
• Eli Manning knows no matter what happens, he’s going to be the starting quarterback for the New York Giants next year. Tom Coughlin knows if they lose this ballgame, there’s a great chance that he's not going to be coach of the New York Giants next year. That’s a lot of pressure.- Shannon Sharpe
• If I’m Lovie Smith, he doesn't make it to the playoff game. He's on the bench and Brian Griese is in.- Shannon Sharpe
• Marino: You never tell anybody you're not giving 100%. Even if you don’t feel it, don't tell anybody. Boomer: He's the Paris Hilton of NFL quarterbacks. (On Rextasy)

Well I'm glad you made it to the bottom of the list. You better have read every single one because I spent two hours on this damn post!!!!!