As reported on "NFL Live," the group, led by St. Louis Blues chairman (and ex-Knicks boss) Dave Checketts, has come to the not unreasonable conclusion that the NFL will never allow Limbaugh to buy into their league, even as a minority partner, so if they want to have a successful bid they will have to remove him from their plans. After Commissioner Roger Goodell's statements that he did "not want to see those [divisive] comments coming from people who are in a responsible position in the NFL" that pretty much sealed his fate.

Limbaugh has been fighting back against the "state-run media scum" who he claims are fabricating quotes to smear him and conservatism in general. Of course, as Limbaugh himself clearly understands, the truth of what he did or didn't say is irrelevant. He creates a giant PR headache that the NFL does not want and if Checketts wants to own the Rams, he knows what he has to do.

Limbaugh said this earlier today on his radio show:

"I'm not even thinking of exiting. I'm not even thinking of caving. I am not a caver. None of us are. We have been betrayed by too many who have caved. Pioneers take the arrows. We are pioneers. It's a sad thing but our country over 200 years old now needs pioneers all over again, but we do."

Luckily for Rush, someone else will do the caving for him.

Sources: Rush Limbaugh to be out of bid for St Louis Rams [ESPN]
State-Run Media Scum Smear Rush Using Fabricated Quotes [RushLimbaugh.com]

There's at least two who say they won't and that's, like, conclusive evidence, right? Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka misses his old coordinator Steven Spagnuolo, but he recently told the New York Daily News that he would never play for his Rams if Limbaugh became a co-owner. Ditto Jets' linebacker Bart Scott who called him a "jerk" and an "ass." "I can't be bought," he added. Throw in Donovan McNabb and it's a bona fide trend!

Limbaugh, of course, makes it a regular habit of making racially charged comments on his show, particularly when it comes to sports. He has compared basketball players to violent gangs—because NBA violence isn't as polite and dignified as football's?—and giggled over songs like "Barack, The Magic Negro." So even if he managed to get approval to buy into the St. Louis franchise, many NFL players—who if you haven't noticed, are mostly black—might have a problem with that.

On the other hand, professional sports are filled with plenty of despicable owners who have had no problem signing players that might otherwise object to their personal beliefs. The funny thing about the world is that there are plenty of people who, unlike Bart Scott, can easily be bought.

Black NFL players crush prospect of playing for a Rush Limbaugh-owned St. Louis Rams [New York Daily News]
NFL Should Slam and Lock the Door on Rush Limbaugh [Sports Climax]

The Baseball Prospectus book is the staple of every March — I try to find someplace warm and read it cover to cover, like a novel — and in August, it's the Football Outsiders Almanac. The Football Outsiders' crew's takes are sometimes ridiculous — they love the Rams this year, for some reason — but always well-researched, smart and compelling. I find it the perfect way to prepare for the season; reading makes me feel like I know what I'm talking about, when I really, really don't. It's indispensable. Buy it.

I talked to FO editor-in-chief Aaron Schatz about the book, about the woes of the book publishing industry, the non-split with Baseball Prospecuts (the book is self-published this year, for the first time, and you can't get it in bookstores) and why he's so down on my Buzzsaw.

So what happened with Baseball Prospectus? You're still a part? Or no? Why's the book self-published? Was there some sort of fight? What happened?

We're fine with Baseball Prospectus, actually. Football Outsiders has always been a separate company, so there's no "divorce" or anything like that. We had a deal with them to produce a football book provided
they had a contract with a publisher, but their publisher, Plume, made the decision to no longer publish Prospectus books in sports other than baseball. By the time Plume made this decision, it was too late
for us to go with another publisher. In addition, once we had to do the book on our own anyway, it made sense not to pay for the promotional value of the name "Prospectus." But we are still friends with those guys, we still link to their site and they link to ours, Will Carroll is still writing for both sites, and I want to see them succeed. I especially want Basketball Prospectus to succeed because I think Kevin Pelton is a really good guy.

We have other publishers who are interested in the 2010 book, so we'll have to decide if we go back to standard publishing or do it this way again. Self-publishing gave us an extra five weeks or so to finish the
book, we didn't need to have it done until the end of June, and that was just HUGE from a sanity perspective. My wife is perfectly happy if I never go back to a schedule where the book is due by Memorial Day.

Football Outsiders has had a few staff changes of late too. (I remember when my college pal Michael David Smith wrote for you all the time.) Has this whole process been different than you were expecting when it started kicking in? How has it progressed?

Heh. Well, I started the site as a side gig when I had another job, and the only other people working on it were some of my old fraternity brothers. So yeah, this is a bit different than what I expected six years ago. The site has grown fairly organically, which has led to some of our infamous server issues, but it's also kept me from growing eyes that were far too big for my own stomach, if that makes any sense. I didn't ever want FO to grow too fast and then crash and burn. It's cool that some of our writers have gone on to bigger and better things. I mean, MDS had written on the Web before FO, but it was his work with FO that hooked him up with AOL and gave him the opportunity to do this for a living now, even though that means he can't work for us anymore. I wish more people could work for FO full-time, but that would probably entail taking almost all the content on the site to a subscription model, and I'm just not ready to do that right now. So for now, it's just me and Bill Barnwell.

I've always wondered if you'd start seeing Football Outsiders people working in the NFL the way you see old Prospectus people working in baseball. That doesn't seem to have happened yet, but you see little changes seeping in, most notably with Jim Schwartz, the new coach of the Lions and first real head coach to embrace advanced statistical principles. You've worked with him in the past, right? Is he a referendum on what you guys, and others, do?

Yes, I've worked with Jim in the past, and I hope to work with him in the future as well. I do want to say I would hate to have anything regarding the Detroit Lions become a referendum on what FO does. The
fact is, while FO people aren't working in the league, there are plenty of people in the league who do the kind of statistical analysis that we do. Historically, empirical thinking has always been far better accepted in the football world than in the baseball world. Many more of the management people in football have come from the business world rather than from the playing field. The most statistically oriented organizations in the NFL are probably New England, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Things have not gone well for the 49ers, obviously, but I think the Patriots and Eagles have been fairly successful over the last few years. So as far as I'm concerned, stat analysis has already proven itself. Eventually, there will be people working in front offices who grew up reading FO. They're already there, it's just that right now they are at the intern level. One of those guys will be running a team in ten years.

The other thing I should point out is that when I started Football Outsiders, the goal was never the better management of NFL teams. It was always the better coverage of NFL teams by the media. The guys in the NFL front offices are smarter than fans give them credit for, and certainly they're smarter than those guys in the booth on Sunday babbling on about how the team is 8-1 when running back X runs for 100 yards. I'm here to improve analysis of the NFL, to make fans feel like they are a) more knowledgeable and b) more entertained. If teams read our work and apply that to managing their franchises, that's pretty
neat, but I'll always see myself as a writer first and foremost.

How mad will you get if I ask you about Kevin Jones? (Note: FO has been predicting stardom for Kevin Jones since he was three years old. It hasn't happened.)

Not that mad. Guys who look good as rookies fall in their faces as second-year players. It happens. All the signs that caused us to project him for such a great second season are still signs that players will improve in their second seasons. If we had a player now with the same stats that Jones had as a rookie, we would probably make a similar projection. Kevin Jones carried the ball 241 times for 1,133 yards, 4.70 yards per carry. Terrell Davis as a rookie carried the ball 237 times for 1,117 yards, 4.71 yards per carry.

To this year's book: I'm not upset that you think my Buzzsaw will flop, because you have figures and research behind it, rather than emotion. (Unlike me.) But don't you think there are certainly things that can't be predicted from past performance? No matter what happened during the regular season, can't you tell SOMETHING about how that team will do from that playoff run?

Sure, there are things that can't be predicted from past performance. That's why we do "mean win projections" based on running the season 10,000 different ways, rather than just saying "Arizona is going to go 5-11." The book says OAKLAND has a two percent chance of winning 11 or more games, for crying out loud. All kinds of strange, unexpected stuff happens in the NFL. On the other hand, when it comes to sitting down and writing the chapters, and doing things like fantasy football projections, we concentrate on what is likely, not what is possible.

I wish I wasn't predicting such a bummer season for the Buzzsaw. I was really annoyed when the projections came out, because the Arizona projection is based on a lot of little things rather than one or two big trends that could be easily explained. I didn't want the Arizona projection to be SO different from conventional wisdom, and I played around with the projection system constantly to try to figure out what variables I was possibly missing that might explain why Arizona should be expected to have another winning season. But there was no way to improve the Arizona projection without making the whole projection system much, much less accurate overall. So we go with what we've got.

The fact is, there just isn't a lot of history of teams that massively improve in the playoffs carrying things over to the next regular season. The 2007-2008 Giants are a big exception, which is what makes them so remarkable. The 2002 Patriots missed the playoffs. So did the 2004 Panthers and the 1981 Raiders.

You seem to imply you think the Rams will win the NFC West this season in the book. A few things have happened since your deadline. Do you still think they're underrated?

Well, first of all, I don't think we imply the Rams will win the NFC West. I think we're pretty clear that we think that Seattle will win the NFC West. The Rams' mean projection in the book is for 8.2 wins, compared to Seattle at 9.9 wins.

I'm concerned about the Rams' early injuries — I mean, without Donnie Avery that team really has an unknown group of receivers, and the idea of Kyle Boller at quarterback gives me hives — but the trends that we identify in the book are still there. The strongest trend in identifying "surprise" teams is still drafting an offensive lineman in the first dozen picks, like last year's Dolphins and the 2007 Browns. This is still a team that is likely to be much healthier and nowhere near as bad in the red zone [as last year]. The NFC West didn't suddenly get any better over the last few weeks — Seattle's dealing with even worse injury issues.

We know that every year some team that has been losing for a couple seasons will come out of nowhere to have a winning season. Everyone wants to figure out how to predict that team, and we're no different. We looked closely to try to figure out what trends pointed to a team about to break out. What we're saying is that St. Louis is the most likely team to do that this year — more likely than Buffalo or Oakland or San Francisco or Detroit or whoever else. We're not guaranteeing a playoff spot or anything. Given how much the Rams sucked last year, they could improve significantly on both sides of the ball and still end up 7-9.

You guys make a very convincing argument that the Broncos are going to be horrible this year. Is there a way for guys to account for 32-year-old maniacs who desperately want to be Bill Belichick?

Wait, is that supposed to be a good thing that leads to wins?

Did you guys ever do any Arena League statistics? Actually, now that I"m thinking about it: Don't you think some enterprising UFL coach could make a name for himself by using FO principles? Like, why not, ya know? It's the UFL.

No, we've never done anything with Arena or CFL. I've thought about doing UFL. It would likely be easy with just four teams playing what, six games each? I'm happy to talk to any UFL coach who wants to speak with me, and we've considered the possibility of a weekly UFL column covering that league, maybe looking at what players might be able to move up to the NFL (or, more likely, move back to the NFL).

In the book, you say if Brett Favre comes back, he's roughly the equivalent of Sage Rosenfels anyway, so it doesn't alter much. Does Michael Vick on Philadelphia change any calculations?

No, he's a backup. Unless Donovan McNabb gets hurt, he isn't going to matter much. Vick's return is more of a news story, whereas Favre's return is more of a sports story, if that makes any sense...

Which movie are you more likely to see: Moneyball, or The Blind Side?

Moneyball, because Demitri Martin is supposed to play Paul DePodesta, and I love me some Demitri Martin.

Note: After this interview, Schatz read Drew's Buzzsaw screed yesterday, in which Drew said, "Schatz was upset the Eagles lost the NFC title game because they failed to prove his metrics correct. But the reason you look to compile interesting stats isn't so that your predictions come true and you look like some big swinging dick. That's Mariotti shit." Schatz had this response:

First of all, I never, ever said I found the Pittsburgh Steelers lackluster in any way. NEVER. Do not besmirch my reputation with Steelers fans! The Cardinals fans are allowed to hate me, but I say lots of good things about the Steelers.

Second, the problem I had last year was not the Cardinals, per se. It was the Cardinals after the 2007 Giants after the 2006 Colts, and so on. It was the trend where the regular season seems to becoming less and less important. It's not about proving my numbers right and it isn't about hating Arizona or wanting Philadelphia to win. Of course the numbers will be wrong sometimes. They just shouldn't be wrong every year, because that would indicate that the regular season is totally pointless, and then the NFL has become hockey. Do we really want the NFL to become hockey?

That was, of course, the year the Rams won the Super Bowl with some other guy, and eventually the Pete Best of football went elsewhere. After a whirlwind of teams and head traumata, Green found himself back in St. Louis, playing just a little quarterback for the Rams in 2008 while Marc Bulger regained his ability to not be frightened at the thought of a defensive blitz. Once someone in the Rams front office noticed he was still on the roster, they released him in February, and he made the announcement last night that he's done. What, no one-year Raiders contract?

That has to be quite a cathartic career. He accomplished quite a lot for a football player, and yet he's always going to be known for that torn ACL in 1999, ensuring Kurt Warner would never have to bag another grocery ever ... unless he shopped at Aldi. Green may have thrown for tons of yards and even made the Pro Bowl, but how many MVPs and Super Bowl starts has he had compared to Kurt Warner? Moreover, how fair is it to weigh Warner's career against Green's? Of course it's unfair, and yet I just made that comparison. Think about that.

Green says he wants to pursue a career in broadcasting, something every concussed quarterback wants to do, because they know nothing else than to be the center of football attention by any means necessary. He'll do a satisfactory job, as he always does, until such a day in which Green contracts bronchitis, can't talk, and needs Kurt Warner to perform emergency football analysis.

Former Chiefs QB Green Retires [Kansas City Star]

Here's hoping the Rams took the football one. Or the gyno. You never know when those guys come in handy.

• Super Bowl Prop Bets: An Analysis. Over-under on length of time it will take Jennifer Hudson to sing the National Anthem: 1 minute, 57 seconds. [Stock Lemon]

• Citizen Soldier Indeed. NFL will not allow the military color guard to stay and watch the Super Bowl. This news is going over well as you might imagine. [The Thunder Run]

• Steelers Fans Getting Cocky? What? One blogger lists 10 reasons the Steelers cannot lose the Super Bowl. What a rebel. [Five Tool Tool]

• Super Bowl XLIII As Predicted By Madden 09. The surprise isn't that the Steelers win or that Roethlisberger throws three TD passes, but rather that the Cardinals cover. [First Cuts]

• Coo-Coo For Kurt: Confessions Of A Bandwagon Cardinals Fan. "Am I a long-suffering 'Zona fan? No. don't have a Neil Lomax throwback or a homemade tattoo of their less-pissed looking logo. My loyalties toward the Perching Birds of Arizona didn't begin until My Beloved Kurt Warner™ started taking the snaps every Sunday." [The Typing Makes Me Sound Busy]

• Fun Steelers-Cardinals Facts. Yes, one day long ago, the Cardinals and Steelers played as the same team. [Steelers Today]

• Steelers Fan Mocks Cardinals Fan. We Never Could Have Seen This Coming. "The Cards have been around for 60+ years and have tortured three different cities with their sad and pitiful ways. The most recent victim has been Arizona, where the Cards have finished in the bottom third of the league on a regular basis since moving there in 1988. They’ve done nothing but maintain a position as the doormats of the league until this year. And now their fans don’t how to react." [Nice Pick, Cowher]

• Mmm, Mmm It's Norwoodlicious. Bills lose Super Bowl yet again, courtesy of Campbell Soup. [Chunky.com]

The other, actually important thing was that he was the shiniest pony in the NFL's coaching carousel this year. Well, the music has finally stopped playing, and it looks like Spags is heading to the St. Louis Rams. The NFL Network cited Adam Schefter as reporting that Spagnuolo has signed a 4-year deal worth 11.5 (pinky to lip) MILLLLLION DOLLARS!

How many donuts can you buy with that kind of money? A lot.

Two years ago, when Chicago came visiting the Trans Jones World Dome, Bears over ran the place, making it feel like a road game for St. Louis. Running back Steven Jackson complained about being booed in his own stadium and called the situation "embarrassing." Since it's probably going to happen again this Sunday when Chicago comes back into town, Rams guard Richie Incognito (great name, btw) announced that he prefers it that way. Boos or no boos, at least someone is cheering.

“It seems like our fans aren’t coming to the game, so it’s fun when the other fans come in and start hooting and hollering. At least someone is in the Dome yelling,” Incognito said after practice Thursday. “When we played the Giants (Sept. 14 at the Dome), they had the whole lower bowl filled up (with Giants fans). We know how our fans feel about us; that’s fine.

“It’s nice to have the other fans here. At least they cheer. Our fans get in their seats, they don’t know how to cheer, when to cheer. We get the other team’s fans coming in, and they cheer real nice for us. It provides for a good football atmosphere, having the Chicago fans down here.”

Translation for Rams fans: You guys suck. Of course, it didn't take the fans long to point out that the football product ain't too hot, either. To which Richie can only respond, "Touché"

They're waiting for something to cheer about, exactly," Incognito said. "We didn't give them much to cheer about."

So we're all agreed then? Everything in St. Louis is horrible. The end.

St. Louis Rams' Richie Incognito says Chicago Bears fans likely to outcheer Rams fans + Richie Incognito takes his turn ripping St. Louis Rams fans [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Memo from Rams fan to Richie Incognito: give us something to cheer about [Turf Show Times]
Hey Richie Incognito FU [Ramblin' Fan]

The decision was made at 2 a.m. today after a lengthy meeting involving owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez, team president John Shaw, general manager Jay Zygmunt and others. The move to oust Linehan appears to reflect the sentiment of most fans. For example, in an online poll conducted Sunday night after a 31-14 loss to Buffalo, more than 4,400 STLtoday.com readers responded. Ninety-two percent of them said Linehan should be fired.

What's amusing to me is that Haslett, the former Saints head coach, is now in charge; if anyone is more culpable for the Rams' stinky 0-4 start, it's the red-headed one. It's his defense, after all, which gave up 147 points in four games. Fun fact: Haslett played most of his NFL career for the Buffalo Bills, and it was the Bills who beat St, Louis 31-14 on Sunday, giving Haslett the job.

Rams Fire Linehand, Name Haslett Interim Coach [NBCSports]
Linehan Out, Haslett In [St. Louis Post Dispatch]

"You know I was shocked, I was really shocked," Holt said. "First and foremost, I went up to Marc and I immediately apologized to him as a receiver and for our receiving group and for our offense for not making enough plays to give him an opportunity to stay on the football field with us as we move forward in the fourth week."

How does Holt feel about the move to go with Trent Green? Is the entire team on the same page as Linehan has stated?

"I'll keep those thoughts to myself and just go ahead and move forward with what we have," Holt said. "Trent is the quarterback for Sunday, and we have (Leonard Little) back, so let's talk about some of the positives."

That doesn't sound exactly like a ringing endorsement of your new starting QB.

The win-less Rams will have their hands full with the unbeaten Bills on Sunday. If Holt thinks things are approaching madness speed now, just wait 'til they're 0-4. That'll take them right to ludicrous speed.

>>Torry Holt Apologizes to Marc Bulger for Scott Linehan's Incompetence [FanHouse]

Green is 38-years-old and in his second go-round with the Rams. He is a master of the quarterback slide.

Winless Rams shake things up, will start Green at QB vs. Bills [ESPN]

Today: The St. Louis Rams. Your author is "Slow Jerk".

Slow Jerk from StreakingTheQuad, a college sports blog run by four assholes from Missouri. Slow Jerk has been a Rams Fan since Jerome Bettis forgot how to play football for a season to get out of St. Louis.

I remember it clear as day. Mike Jones made the tackle that pretty much got me laid that night. The Rams won the Super Bowl (the effing Rams, man!). Being a native of St. Louis, I clung to the Rams right off the bat. We had season tickets, so we would go see our brand new team get absolutely embarrassed by real NFL teams. But we dug it. It was NFL football. I was able to make fun of Carl Pickens in person! It was a novelty at first, and then you just started feeling bad for Isaac Bruce. Fast forward to the fragile Trent Green snapping his leg in a preseason game. I thought I had been shot. He was our chance, man.

"Well, I guess we can watch the other teams we play."

Enter a religious grocery boy from somewhere in Iowa. The Super Bowl was ours – I couldn't believe it. We had risen to grace at a speed unlike anything the SEC has ever seen. Then comes along that piece of shit Tom Brady. Don't get me wrong, he's a good QB. But I hate him. With every fiber of my being I want him and that kicker that shall not be named to somehow wind up armless and legless. After that, the fall from grace was as staggering as David Caruso's career. Yes – the Rams are the damn David Caruso of this league.

Now, I know I'm writing this piece in lofty company (Will Leitch? Some guy who blogs and works for a paper? That Fatsis guy?), and I hope to live up to their similarly lofty expectations. I'm just a simple dude who blogs about college sports but LOVES football. Deadspin readers, humor me as I try to take you on the Willy Wonka Boat Ride that is the St. Louis Rams. I swear this piece will have more atmosphere than a Rams' home game.

So what does that mean for this season? After 3 whole wins last year (THREE WINS), there has to be improvement. Sure, Linehan is still sketchy at best as a head coach. There are plenty of question marks. But, we play in a terrible division. Looking at it piece by piece – let me run down the Rams for you:

Coaching

Scott Linehan always looks like he's unsure his role in life. The vibe I get is that he has some life threatening decision to make at every second of the day. His gameday coaching seems uninspired and sometimes unprepared. Sure, we bitched about Mike Martz. But dude had balls, bro. He would look you in the eye, call you a homo, and then pass the ball until he could pass no more. Why do you think he always had guys like Trung Canidate back in the backfield? Because he never used 'em! Now, Linehan has one of the best RB's in the game, and he somehow thinks throwing a short out to Randy McMichael is a better option? I'm all about TE's getting in the mix, but sometimes the gameplan makes as much sense as the Jonas Brothers' popularity (seriously, have you listened to that shit?). Al Saunders is about 399 years old and I wouldn't be surprised if he were aware that no one uses the Run and Shoot anymore. Linehan is vanilla – and until he gets smarter on the frontlines, this team will suffer. Defensively, Haslett came in as a specialist. His defense last year was more special ed, and he has a lot of work to do to utilize the talent this team has.

Offense

The skill players have always been the Rams' calling card. And there seems to be a revolving door of talent – until now. The RB situation is fine with Steven Jackson reporting to camp. I'd like to see more out of him this year than last, but we'll get to why that would happen later. The TE position has always been kind of weird for the Rams. Not like the guy at work who is always chewing on a tack weird, but like Keith Richards falling out of a tree weird. It begs the question Why? The Rams have drafted a TE fairly high on more than one occasion, yet rarely do they throw to him. McMicheal is a solid pass catching TE – I'd like to see him see get more catches. Which this offense will need because the WR core is lighter than Michael Jackson. Torry Holt is still one of the best WR's in the league, and he doesn't have to change his name to let you know that. But after that? Drew Bennett? I think I have more catches and yards than he does. Dante Hall? The X-Factor hasn't really been a factor since his KC days. He can still return the occasional kickoff, but has trouble holding on to that pesky slant. Dane Looker has always been a sleeper guy to make a big impact, but hasn't really been able to harness his speed. Remember Kevin Curtis and Mark Furrey? They were both better than Looker, and they prove to be so on other teams. And the name Dane Looker just plain annoys me. Look out for Rookie Donny Avery. Kid can blaze. The Rams definitely need these guys to step it up, because Holt can't do it on his own. At QB, the Rams have two veterans who are made of porcelain. They both look about as tough as the Olson Twins. Marc Bulger is an outstanding QB, when he's on his feet. Which hasn't been much lately. As much as he's on his back you'd expect to see "Spears" on the back of his jersey. And at backup? The aforementioned concussed wonderboy Trent Green. They have potential to succeed – and it all hinges on what was the worst O-Line in the history of modern sports. Note to Richie – how can you be Incognito when you have those ugly-ass tattoos? Anyway, if the line can stay healthy – it takes pressure off of Bulger and Company – and this team can score points.

Defense

Leonard Little still drunkenly kills opposing players. Throw in Rookie Chris Long on the line with Glover and Carriker, and you have yourself a nice little D-Line. The secondary has been an issue in the past not only due to injury but due to the Rams' propensity to draft short guys with long dreadlocks. This year could be different – Atogwe and Chavous are proven solid players, and Witherspoon and Tinoisamoa are two of the harder hitting LB's in the league. This defense was on the field far too much last year, stemming back to the O-Line fiasco. If they can balance themselves out, again, this division is not that hard.

Other Stuff

I'm not going to bore you with special teams. What I will do is give you a quick version of how this season will play out. The Rams will be on the bubble for the playoffs. How is that possible? Well, have you ever trusted Arizona, San Francisco, or Seattle to live up to expectations? Linehan's job is on the line – and maybe he'll actually wake up and coach a few games. So, back to David Caruso. He's doing OK now, right? I mean, CSI Miami is pretty popular, and despite his giant douchebaggery and overacting, people seem to kind of like him. He's kind of a star again, right? So there it is – the Rams are back to kinda being stars even if their Coach is a giant douchebag.

“The Rams would be a great team to have,” Limbaugh told the Business Journal. “I have a lot of friends in ownership in the NFL, and my desire to get involved has not been a secret.”

And if he doesn't want a black quarterback because the liberal media wants them to succeed too much? Maybe Rush can go after Brett Favre. They've got painkillers in common.

Hey Rams, Rush is interested [St. Louis Business Journal]
Rams new Rush strategy? Limbaugh as owner [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
This Rush Limbaugh buying the Rams talk is not going away [FanHouse]

Brad Evans:

So many different angles to go with this, but here's my take:
Jackson's bowel flush lends a whole new meaning to being "light on your feet." That kind of dedication must be rewarded. Based on his intestinal fart-itude, Jackson supplants Brian Westbrook as the Noise's third-best overall pick this year in standard drafts. Where's your colon at, Tom Brady?

Brandon Funston:

An "oil change" can only be good for the system, and it's nice to know that S-Jax is willing to take one for the team. But I have to question the timing. The season is still more than two months away. It's seems like a late August, early September cleansing would have a more impactful carry over into the season. Unless he's willing to step up to the mic again in a couple months, I see his value as unchanged.

Andy Behrens:

First of all, I don't speak for the Big Board. Only Brandon does.

But if I did, I'd have to wonder how significant the poop-letting was. Was it two pounds? Three? Eight? The guy's listed at 231 lbs., and we might feel differently if he slips to 223. That seems a little light.

Advantage, Westbrook.

Thankfully, certain other, far more awesome, teams are taking their Patriots pwnage with a touch more dignity. This lawsuit, of course, is another bold stride toward the eventual state in which every pro sports championship will be like major elections, subject to cries of recalls, legal challenges and boring me to tears.

What might especially stick in the craw of Patriots fans is that these people are suing on behalf of them also.

The lawsuit requests class action status for three classes:

All Rams players, coaches, staff and employees of the 2002 Super Bowl team.

The 72,922 fans who attended the game.

All owners of St. Louis seat licenses in the 2001 and 2002 season.

That's right. Because all 72,922 people who attended that game were Rams fans, right? C'mon, St. Louis, we're enjoying having the moral high ground over Patriots fans. Don't screw this up for us.

LA Times

The Steelers' quest to get back on track hits St. Louis tonight, and they should probably beware: The Rams haven't looked as awful lately. (Just in time to ruin their draft pick.)

This is another NFL Network game, so people are scrambling to figure out ways to watch it. (No NFL Network in Pittsburgh, though it will be on local stations.) Supposedly that NFL Live thing is online, but we remind you that it does not, in fact, show you the whole game, instead giving you "look-ins." Because that's what you want from a football game; those helpless moments of having no idea what's happening sporadically interrupted by two minutes of actions as you scramble to catch up.

Anyway, yeah, pre-Christmas football. Big Ben goes well with the nog.