"Brady should have fun with this... every time he goes out in public he should put a cast on.. and just keep switching from one foot..to another... put a fake cast on his arm.. put a neck brace on when driving to practice.. just to give these so-called reporters something to yap about." — Giuliani For President on Thu Jan 24, 2008 02:08 pm

It would be the best Super Bowl Week story ever — and would exhibit a sense of humor that Bill Belichick simply doesn't possess — for Brady to show up in Glendale in a fake full body cast. OK reporters, guess the injury! It could be anything! And for extra amusement, the middle finger on one hand could be plastered in the upright position. But I like GFP's suggestion as well: Have Brady switch the protective boot from one foot to another on any given day. If nothing else the whole thing would make Tom Coughlin's head explode.

Oh, and as for the original story itself, it's just the usual Belichick I'm-not-talking BS. Don't bother.

Other ways to liven up Super Bowl Week:

• Randy Moss kidnapped, buried alive, busts out of grave using techniques learned from Chinese martial arts master.

• A tiger is loose in the stadium! And Lawrence Tynes has the only gun!

• Michael Strahan kissing booth.

• Al Davis demonstrates the firepower of this fully armed an operational battle station.

• Naked Rick Majerus.

Belichick Refuses To Talk About Brady Injury [The Sporting News]

Actually, it's "Advance Publications," which owns a lot of uninspiring newspapers and, uh, The New Yorker. We expect to see pithy comedic essays about bocce ball by David Sedaris in TSN by Thanksgiving. Seahawks owner Paul Allen has been trying to pawn off the slightly profitable but still-perceived-as-past-its-time magazine since buying it in 2000.

It is unknown what the Conde folks will do with the magazine, but we, for one, encourage them to run 10 pages of two-week-old box scores in the back. Hey, people buy and package nostalgia all the time.

Billionaire Buys Sporting News From Other Billionaire [Radar Online]

(Standard Disclaimer: We once worked for The Sporting News, but it was back in the '90s, and we're not sure that far back necessarily counts. Besides, we left about two months before everyone received bonuses for staying through the Allen purchase, so, you know, we're gonna stop talking about this now.)

Still, as if it wasn't hard enough already, TSN was just hammered with a $7.2 million fine for running advertisments for illegal gambling Web sites and phone betting services. The deal requires 20 the Sporting News to pay $4.2 million and "conduct a $3 million, three-year public service campaign warning against illegal gambling services." (We love this idea; "Caught On The Fly sez, 'Hey, didn't you used to be the experts' choice?")

Hey, at least there's some good news: The Sporting News does, in fact, have $7.2 million. Who knew?

"Sporting News" Fined $7.2 Million For Gambling Ads [AdAge]

(Full disclosure: In a former life, we worked for The Sporting News, liked it there and still have many friends who work there. We feel bad, because we have to think this hurts their chances at a raise.)

(Update: It's worth noting, by the way, that The Sporting News is hardly the only site that ran those ads.)

(Right now, everyone on this site above the age of 50 — both of them — is saying, "Why did The Sporting News get rid of the box scores in the back?" while the rest of us wonder how anyone ever survived on week-old box scores alone.)

The Sporting News [Official Site]