Now that I am on the subject of NFL Television I need to blow off some steam. I think that Tagliabue is making a terrible mistake by doing what he is doing. ABC's Monday Night Football is an American Institution. I like Kornheiser, but he made an appearance in the booth at an ESPN televised Nats game and he seemed pretty stiff over the airwaves. I think he is excellent at PTI, but being buddies with Wilbon helps the two of them to be so good together. Im not sure his charisma on the show will translate into charisma on Monday Night Football. I could do better commentary than Theismann and although I like Mike Tirico as a basketball announcer, I didnt think he was all that good at even College Football games so Im not convinced he will be good on NFL games. Monday Night Football is falling fast. Tagliabue should have left Monday Night Football right where it was on ABC so that Michaels and Madden would stay there, but then added Sunday Night Football on NBC as well. It would be a win-win. We would have our old Monday nights and our new Sunday Nights. We could continue having Michaels and Madden on Monday nights, yet we wouldnt have to listen to Joe Theismann's senseless banter on Sunday Nights anymore. Then let NBC nab Gumble and Collinsworth, and keep the NFL Network out of live football games, they dont belong there. Also in NBC's contract you don't allow them to have that stupid clause that gets rid of NFL Primetime, so we can have Primetime and the NBC pregame show the same way we have the CBS, FOX, and ESPN pregame shows all at the same time in the morning. It would be a perfect world!

While I am on the subject of Theismann, why hasnt ESPN fired him yet? He is one of the biggest morons I have ever seen! Any guy that changes his name so that it will rhyme with college football's most prestigious award doesnt deserve to see the light of day again, let alone be on national television every week. Do they do it just to annoy us? I would rather listen to Dennis Miller talk down to us or even listen to Chris Myers tell us the insightful information that "The Coach's goal today is for his team to outplay the other team" than listen to Theismann and Paul Maguire flirt all night.

Now let me give you my report card on Tagliabue. I really dont think he is near as good of a commissioner as people give him credit for. They cite the fact that he hasnt had any labor disputes in his tenure, yeah its because he gave into every dang thing that the union wanted. I felt betrayed the day he let free agency and the salary cap into the NFL. Who is he to tell a wealthier owner not to spend so much so that it wont hurt the poor little Bidwills, who win no matter how little they try to. If an owner cares enough to spend alot of money to get better players then the more power to them, you shouldn't discourage them. By the way, any of the owners could pay to get qualtity players they are all rich, some are just more cheap than others.

Tagliabue then puts an expansion franchise in Jacksonville, Fla.? Not to mention the fact that he put a Super Bowl in the tiny city. I am for the Packers being in Green Bay because they are one of the NFL's oldest and most prestigious franchises and they get sell-out after sell-out but Jacksonville? The team probably wouldnt even be there any more if it wasn't for getting money out of Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder's pockets every year. Revenue-sharing to the extreme that it is being conducted now is outdated and it needs to be stopped.

Under his watch, the Browns moved to Baltimore and the Oilers moved to Nashville. In response, he gave Cleveland a cheap replacement. But for the city of Houston, he lets Bud Adams get rid of the Oilers completely and gives them this poor excuse for a franchise which is symbolized by what you so-cleverly call "A combination between the Texas Longhorns symbol and the New England Patriots symbol".

There is no disputing the NFL's popularity during Tag's tenure, but I believe this is in association with the fact that he inherited the fans that came to the game during the Rozelle the Great era. Speaking for myself, I dont really approve of alot of what Tags has done the last 15 years or so, but I cant give up my passion for football just because of that. I think he should have stayed steadfast in the position of no free agency, no salary cap. When there were not those two things, you had to actually earn a winning season by drafting well and trading well. Now here is an example of what a team can do to win today.

The Colts scouted well and drafted Edgerrin James a few years back. You didnt know if he would be great or not, he could be an all-pro, he could be a bust. The Colts had a hunch he would be an all-pro. Well, he was an all-pro and he was a major reason for the Colts' recent success. Now, the Colts are the team that took him in the draft and wanted to keep his services and they had the money to do so, but the NFL has a rule that they cant use that money to give him an enticing deal because they scouted so well that they have too many talented players to pay already. So James leaves the Colts, who could have given him a great offer had they been allowed to do so, and signs a lesser deal with the Arizona Cardinals, who did nothing to earn his services except not spend money on good players for a long time so that their cap money would go sky-high, see the success he had with the Colts, and steal him away from the Colts because they were allowed by the rules to spend more money than Indianapolis because they didnt have as good of players. Now, the Colts appear to be slowly sinking into mediocrity while Arizona appears to be a playoff team this season. Once the Cardinals get people into the seats next season, they will inevitably cut James eventually and he will be signed by another lesser team. The Cap and Free Agency are wrong and they should have never been allowed. If Tagliabue was forced into allowing free-agency then he never should have put in the salary cap too.

Thats my take on it, I would like to hear your report card for him. My grade would be a C- and Its only that high because he hasnt lost the success that Rozelle The Great passed on to him.