So I'm perusing the in-box of one of the many e-mail accounts that I own (don't ask, I won't tell) and I see a little note from MoveOn.org and something about the Super Bowl.

Gee, that's funny, I didn't know that the political process would start playing out at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday.  MoveOn was asking its constituency for cash to help get an ad created by VoteVets on the air in the District of Columbia featuring Iraqi War vets speaking out against Pres. George Bush's plan for escalation.

Here is some of the text:

Dear George (isn't it great they feel comfortable enough to call me by my first name?),

The feisty veterans' group VoteVets are back with a message for Congress: if you support escalation, you don't support the troops.

They're aiming to put a powerful new TV ad on the air during the Super Bowl in Washington, DC urging nearby Senator John Warner (R-VA)—a top Republican—to stop the escalation.

To get it on the air they need to raise $91,000 today. Can you chip in $25? To view the ad and contribute click here.

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/votevets.html?id=9811-4603848-L5COxrZqwIQJ5k_XWuyqWA&t=2

First of all, I'm a journalist; I don't have a spare $25.  And yes, I realize it may only air in D.C., but it's Super Bowl Sunday.  It's a de facto holiday.  It's the most frivolous of holidays.  It's a day that means absolutely nothing.  We celebrate violent men in tight pants knocking one another around, consumption of mass quantities of fermented hops, pizza pies overflowing with cholesterol-laden toppings, it's the one football day when significant others don't bug husbands, boyfriends, wives and girlfriends about hanging out with their football obsessed pals.  In short:  it's a day to forget things.

Now mind you anyone who has read my other blog doesn't need to be a Kennedy to figure out which way my politics leans.  However, you don't have to be Jim Brown or Archie Griffin to know that I love football.  There are a lot of serious problems that Americans face on a daily basis - fluctuating gas prices that only serve to fatten the wallets of oil company CEOs, an economy that is showing signs of losing steam and, yes, there's that 20,000 ton gorilla known as Iraq.  Don't we deserve a single, solitary day when we can forget about all of that bullcaca?

That is what the Super Bowl is and, personally, I feel as if MoveOn.org is trying to intrude on something meant to be pure entertainment and escapism with a tragic piece of reality.  They have a right to support VoteVets in the efforts to raise cash to get the spot on television.  This, however, is the one time I am hoping they fall short.

Yup, I come back from vacation only to have to look outside at a foot of snow;  I do so love Northeast Ohio - seriously.

Of course I'd much rather be in Miami right now for a little shindig known as the Super Bowl, but that's not about to happen.  I'll have to be content to impart my wisdom from afar - in 20 degree weather.

Oh where do I start?  Oh, wait.  For those of you who didn't realize it.  I'm what is known as African-American.  In my short 41 years I remember being called Negro, colored, black and now, yes, African-American.  Gee, there's something to be said for variety.  Why do I bring this up?  Well, in case you have been living in some remote cave in the mountains of Colorado, we have not one, but two African-American coaches in the Super Bowl.  And, yes, this fact has been played up by the media, the group to which I belong.

Do I have a problem with it?  Somewhat because it only reinforces the belief that some people still living in the 1930s still think - what a shock!!!  They must be the exception to the rule!!!

But I can also see the other side of this, having grown up with darker skin.  It is a momentous occasion -one that's taken far too long for the NFL - and it deserves recognition.  That being said, a tip of the hat to the Dan Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers for The Rooney Rule, which requires at least one minority candidate to be interviewed for a head coaching vacancy.  Notice that it only requires an interview.  In spirit, it opens doors that's it.  It doesn't require a hiring. 

But funny things happen when you open doors to people you might not have before - you actually find that you like their company.  That's what happened with the Steelers when they granted Mike Tomlin an audience.  Tomlin, a promising 34-year-old defensive coordinator witht the Minnesota Vikings, knocked Steelers management off their feet and boom! (to be Maddenesque) he had the gig.  It was about opportunity - not charity.

That's why what Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith have accomplished merits some attention this week.  They've further shattered decades - maybe centuries - old stereotypes both regarding ethnicity and with respect to the way sports coaches should behave. 

However, it's the first time we've dealt with the issue and it should be the last.  Why?  Because their success should make it a non-issue.

This is why there's no off-season in the NFL, there's always some semblance of drama unfolding with America's favorite sport.

In this case, it's Marty Schottenheimer and the ringing endorsement the San Diego Chargers have given him in a statement from COO Dean Spanos.  Yup, they're willing to allow Marty, the third winningest coach the past three season and fifth winningest active coach in the NFL to work next year and they even offered him a whopping one-year extension.  Yee Haw!!!  Betcha Marty's turning somersaults over that one.  Actually, he turned the Chargers down, according to reports.

At this point in time San Diego, the fans of Cleveland would be perfectly willing to take him.  This isn't a knock on current Browns coach Romeo Crennel - he's only had two seasons - but should the Browns not make significant strides on the field next year, I can't envision a scenario in which Crennel stays.  That makes things very interesting with respect to coaching vacancies next year.

Yes, we all know the knock against Schottenheimer.  Hell we'd better considering it started here - he can't win the big one.  He can't kick it to the next level.  We all know it was Marty who was playing defense when John Elway engineered The Drive.  We all know that he was carrying the ball when its loss soon became known as The Fumble.  Hell, Marty's the reason the Cuyahoga River caught fire decades ago.  We also know that last weekend it was Marty on the field when his Chargers committed four turnovers and at least two idiotic penalties that I can recall.

With all fairness, I'm hoping that the Browns make the playoffs next year.  That's a big hope at this point.  You know - like hoping for world peace and actually getting it.  But allow me to look forward in my mental time machine for a second and the Browns have muddled through another year of mediocrity. 

Schottenheimer and former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher are out there - who do you take? An intriguing possibility isn't it?  When Schottenheimer left the Browns unceremoniously after the 1988 season, I was always under the impression that he left feeling the job was unfinished and he took a lot of flak for what happened in two AFC Championship Games.  As for Cowher, he's a Marty disciple who played here and coached here under him.  Should the Browns find themselves in the unenviable position of searching for yet another coach, either would suit me just fine thanks.  The year of intrigue has begun.

Another reason I stayed away from this space - I'm on vacation.  It's late at night currently and I have no life, this is why I am blogging.

But last night - as a reveled in a stellar hoops display by the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers - I hung out at my local watering hole.  Now as I've mentioned before I rather enjoy having a couple of beers in my off hours.  It's a scary proposition that I have many off hours coming up in the next couple of weeks.  At any rate, the conversation between the bartender, myself and a few other guys turned to who we wanted to see win the Super Bowl.  Having been done in by the curse of Marty Shottenheimer once again (I was pulling for Marty to get his championship), I said that I wanted the New Orleans Saints to win.  Right now, I believe the Saints will go all the way.  No, this isn't based on any inside knowledge.

But the stars are aligned in a funky way in my estimation.  The Saints will be a sentimental choice for a lot of folks and we all know why.   The Saints would be like a do-good from God.  It's as if that omnipotent being is saying:  "Yeah, well, I owe you one for that little storm that leveled the city last year." No, I'm not making light of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, but it feels as if everything is lining up that way.

That lead one person in the conversation to utter the phrase:  "Maybe Ohio could get a tornado so one of our teams can win one."  Such is the discontent on the North Coast that we have to wish for agony before enjoying a little ecstasy.  Is this what it has come to?  Maybe?  Or perhaps, just perhaps, our sense of propriety has gone by the wayside in the quest for sports nirvana.

A lot of my friends knew that I was in Phoenix covering the championship game.  They also know that I am a Buckeyes fan (primarily because I spent a couple of years in my college career there).  I can maintain my objectivity and still be a fan.  They all thought that I'd freak out about the fact that the Buckeyes lost.  No, I did not.  I didn't play the game. And that is one of the reasons I can maintain a level head when writing about the Buckeyes - I remember that it's just a game.

Yes, after last Monday night's game I stayed away from this space purposely.  The Disintegration in the Desert proved a bit hard to digest for a myriad of reasons, but there's little sense in rehashing them.  It's best to just thank the Buckeyes for the ride this year and deal with what's going on around the team.

Well, gee, George, what might that be?

Well, considering that other than Troy Smith, who is graduating, Anthony Gonzalez, Ted Ginn Jr. and Antonio Pittman are all coming out as juniors.  That's gotta leave Coach Jim Tressel wondering who the heck is going to be scoring for him next year.  Yeah, that's a good question.  That will sort itself out in spring practice, I assume.  We shall see, but Bucks fans should probably forget any dreams of a national championship sprint for the next couple of years. But no one should begrudge the three above for pursuing NFL dreams, because they have to believe they've done everything they could to get the Bucks over the top.  All of them, however, should find success playing on Sundays.

What I'm going to be interested in seeing, however, is where they fall.  The only sure-fire first round pick the experts claim is Ginn.  I can believe that, but he may not have been the best receiver on the Buckeyes' roster coming out.  The NFL loves speed and he's got that to spare, but Gonzalez may actually be the better receiver.  Reports say Gonzalez is just as fast as Ginn, but he's also savvy, comes through in the clutch and has reliable hands. Reports say that he would fall to the second round.  With all due respect to those suffering from a case of Homeboyitis (those who want the Browns to draft Troy Smith), I'd take Gonzalez before him, but of course the Browns have too many glaring needs to ever consider drafting yet another receiver in the second round. And they'd best not be casting their eyes on a quarterback either, no matter how attractive and popular he might be.  It's football, not public relations.

Pittman is an interesting case.  He's projected as a second or third rounder.  With Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson coming out, he's going to fall a wee bit further down the draft ladder unless he blows the scouts and execs away with a stellar workout.  We shall see.  If nothing else, this off season is setting up to be an intriguing experience.

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Yes, I heard the Buckeyes talk about the pent-up frustration and just wanting to get things over, but that was a heck of a way to come out of the gate with Ted Ginn Jr. going 92 yards for a TD.  Of course as it showed on Florida's subsequent return, that could work against you as well as the Gators got a decent return also. 

 Update:  It's clear that on Florida's opening drive they're only going to take what the Buckeyes give them and Urban Meyer isn't going to have a problem switching things up as you can see with Tim Tebow getting a carry.

Then on the TD one of the Buckeyes DBs cheated up, leaving Dallas Baker uncovered.  The Bucks D should settle down and play after that.  If you remember the regular season, however, they always gave up points early then proceeded to calm.

 Update II Bucks First Drive:  It's too early in the game to call anything crucial but for the Gators to come out and stop the Bucks' offense on the opening drive only builds momentum for the defense and entire team.  And now they're going to compound things with dumb penalties.  Here's the reality of the situation, about the only thing that can stop the Buckeyes is the Buckeyes.

Update III Florida's Second Drive:  So right now, it's apparently clear that one team showed up in the fist quarter at least as Florida continues to drive down the field.  You want to talk about a momentum shift.  Here it is.  The Buckeyes came in with all the cred in the world, yet here in the first quarter they've given up 14 primarily because of a short field and two dumb penalties.  I wrote a couple of times that they ran the risk of becoming Miami - the team they beat in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl - if they didn't play to their abilities.

Update IV OSU's Second Drive:  You would know that they put me in a section next to a bunch of liquored up Gator fans.  I'm not in the pressbox.  I'm in the spill over media area.  Impressive return by Gonzalez and it's needed too because you know that after that opening kick off the Gators will not be kicking to Ginn again.  This drive is where the Buckeyes just might have to go Woody Hayes on the Gators.  Establish Pittman.  Establish the fact that their O-line is more powerful than their D-line.  Pittman's first down was essential.  Smith loses 10 yards on a sack.  Think that doesn't weaken any momentum that first down gave the offense?

What's that I said about dumb penalties? You think they'd be debating that long layoff between the Michigan game and whatever bowl game the Bucks end up in again?  I do.  Is there a rust factor here? Three dumb penalties and a rare Troy Smith interception says that it doesn't hurt.  And where are the O'line that he thanked in his Heisman speech?

Update IV Florida's Third Drive:  You think that Urban Meyer skipped the Michigan and actually may have studied film from the Northwestern game when Ohio State was hit more than a few times deep and over the middle?  They're giving up chunks of yardage that way and it highlights a glaring weakness the team has had all year.   And it's quite obvious OSU didn't study up on the trickeration.  I don't know if they thought the Gators would come out using reverses the entire game, but the D's heads are not into this game.

Quarter break:  Without a doubt that was the worst quarter of football that the Ohio State Buckeyes have played all year.  There's no offensive flow.  They're borderline comatose out there.  The strength of this team was supposed to be in its veteran leadership.  Well these fifth year seniors - Smith, Datish, Pitcock, Richardson - had best step up real soon or this will have been for naught.

Update IV Florida's Third Drive (continued):  Three for three.  Three possession three touchdowns.  So far the Buckeyes offense left their game back on Nov. 18. 21-7.

Update V OSU's Third Drive:  OSU finally shows some semblance of life with the official's help. Hartline gets a 13-yard grab and a penalty is tacked on.  Troy Smith takes off when the pass isn't there and he may have to do more of that.  And like I said, it's time to go Woody Hayes - start off by pounding the ball, do you really think they expect that? Pittman TD …NUFF SAID.

Update VI Florida's Fourth Drive:  Here is where the defense needs to step up and tighten it up.  The rust had better been shaken off after giving up 21 points.  Someone said something to Aaron Pettrey as he sends a kickoff through the end zone.  The Buckeyes are showing the ability to press Leak. Although he's not made a mistake yet, he did throw 13 picks this year for Florida.  You hit him and you might be able to rattle him. This is a pivotal third and five situation.  The Bucks either make a statement or this becomes a shootout and you don't make a statement with shoddy tackling, they had a chance to prevent the first down.  All right, someone said something to the defense.  That's the best they've looked all night.

 Update VII Buckeyes Fourth Drive:  Smith misses wide on a throw, but the scary part is that he had the entire left side of the field open to run.  I realize that he wants to be a passer, but he cannot be afraid to pull the ball down and run with it if it's there - and he won't be likely to have that much room to rumble again.  A third and 10 and he misses wide. 

Update VIII Florida's Fifth Drive:   Apparently the Gators D won't have to worry about Ted Ginn any longer, apparently he's done.  The Gator placeckicker is mediocre at best, yet he splits the uprights - an ominous sign?

Update IX Buckeyes Fifth Drive:  That's not exactly what was meant by ground it out.  Are you kidding me?  Fourth and less than a yard on the Bucks 31 and we go for it?  What lunacy is that?  I realize that you have a high-powered offense, but that is akin to admitting that you're desperate to build momentum - any momentum.  It also puts a defense that has been less than stellar so far with their backs against the wall.

Update X Florida's Gift:  I can't even call that a drive because any reasonable person would have to question Tressel's decision to go for it on fourth down that deep in your own territory.  There's 1:47 remaining in the half.  If the offense needs to put some points on the board to go into the locker room with any sort of momentum.  Right now Big Mo is on Floriday's side - even more so with that fumble by Smith.

Update XI Florida's Second Gift:  I don't see the confidence, nor do I see the swagger.  What I do see is this team killing itself.  There's little doubt about that and we may very well have watched the game be over right there as Florida scores again.  QB Tim Tebow baited the Bucks into thinking he was going to run only to pull up and throw it. 

The brual reality:  Outcoached.  Outplayed.  That's the only way to put it.  The Bucks showed a lack of discipline on Florida's first two drives getting flagged for 15-yard penalties.  Troy Smith has been harassed for the better part of the half and with his willingness to hold on to the ball until his receivers spring free, he's getting hit.  On at least two occasions he had little but wide open field in front of him.  The Buckeyes had the opportunity to take charge of this on the ground, but have persisted in throwing the ball.

Tressel blew that label of being too conservative into tiny little pieces with that ill-advised fourth down call in the Buckeyes own territory forcing the defense that hadn't performed thus far to hold back the Gators, to their credit they held them to three points.  But what of most of the rest of the half?  Meyer and his coaching staff exposed those holes that everyone thought to be there this year, especially in the passing game.

You play football for four quarters, however.  If Florida had a substantive run game, I'd say this was over - but they do not.  Is this over?  Maybe.  We'll see if Tressel and his staff can adjust and if his players wake up.

 Florida offense: 220 total yards.  Buckeyes:  73.  Florida 34-14.  Remember the 2003 Fiesta Bowl?

You can tell a coach is getting antsy when he opens a press conference with the lines:

"I don't know what else to say except that we've received terrific treatment as always." So said Jim Tressel in his last pre-game press conference before tomorrow's big rumble in Glendale, Ariz. Those words alone suggest he's ready to get this thing over. I know the players have been ready to go for some time, they said as much during the media day in Columbus last month.

Any reasonable football fan would have to wonder how a 51-day layoff would effect the team and even Florida has been idle for more than a month. Fun, fun fun. That begs another question. Has the time lapsed between the end of the season and now led fans to have a ho-hum attitude? You couldn't say thate judging from those that attended the Buckeye Bash at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

But if you look at the on-air advance play on the host network, FOX, there isn't one-tenth the build up we've seen in other games. Remember the game-of-the-century hype for OSU vs. Michigan just this past November? Instant classic they said?

I think that part of the collective yawn that there appears to be out there comes courtesy of a belief by many that the Buckeyes will systematically dismantle Florida. I am going to repeat this one more time. Remember the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. Folks said the same about the Miami Hurricanes. We all know how that ended.

There are significant differences, however. Ken Dorsey was no Troy Smith, he lacked the toughness, mentally and physically, that Smith possesses to spare. This Buckeyes team has too many weapons. Rushing? Antonio Pittman with Beanie Wells backing him up. At receiver? HAH!! Although Dallas Baker, Jemalle Cornelius and Percy Harvin are impressive, if Smith can't hit Ginn, he'll hit Gonzalez. If he can't hit Gonzalez, there's Roy Hall. What, no Hall? There's Robiskie. No Robiskie? Hartline. 'Nuff said.

If there is a weak link, and they've heard this all year, it's the Bucks' defense. This is likely where the game will be won. You have to know that University of Florida Coach Urban Meyer has been studying the film from the Michigan like a teen-ager watching The 40 Year Old Virgin for the 50th time on DVD. Like any football game it's simple. They control the line of scrimmage (along with minimizing the effect of trickeration) and OSU wins.

By now everyone knows that Urban Meyer, the University of Florida's head coach, is a native of Ashtabula, Ohio.  But there's something more relevant about his success.  He's become another branch in a solid as an oak coaching tree - joining the likes of Shula, Noll and, yes, Tressel.

More important he realizes those Ohio roots are important.  He especially remembered the time he spent working with Coach Earle Bruce:

"Everything we do ties into building tradition, the Gator Walk, singing the fight song with the student body.  All those type of things i learned first at Ohio State."

Yes, even in the midst of the Ohio State Buckeyes impending showdown with the University of Florida Gators, I manage to keep up with other stuff.  It requires the use of more gray matter, but I get it done somehow.

News of the day?  Well it's Bill Cowher, of course.  Nick Saban makes a money grab for Alabama and Cowher, another highly respected, well regarded coach, decides he's gonna retire from the NFL while still in his mid-50s because of monetary issues, reportedly.  You know, $4 million a year isn't enough, there is a matter of respect.

There's little doubt that Cowher would get mucho respect from Cleveland fans and, likely, Randy Lerner given his credentials.  Let's fact it folks: as much as Northeast Ohioans hate the Steelers, we want to be the Steelers.  It's the smash mouth football, the over powering offensive line and the display of sheer confidence that drives that feeling.

And with the Steelers coach's impending retirement, it ain't gonna happen.  Not this year.  Cowher is a guy holding all the cards.  He's got the attitude and credentials to build another team.  This won't be a case of lowest bidder wins. If you want the Jawed Wonder, you gotta pay.

The Browns have an owner in Randy Lerner, who given that he just paid a European soccer player $200 million, cares about winning.  But Lerner is bound by something else - to at least make this an effort to allow Romeo Crennel to see this monstrosity out until the bitter end (not that it can be anymore bitter).  That should mean one more year.  Crennel fails in his next year, he's gotta go.  And Browns fans can dream about Cowher's jutting out on the the sidelines at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

That image too much to believe?  I don't know why.  Cowher played here and coached here.  Pittsburgh may be home, but when you bleed for a city and its fans, that's something different.  I vividly remember his animated moments as coach of the Browns special teams.  He'd look good there again.

But Browns fans will have to be patient -  it takes one more season with an almost full team, complete and utter mediocrity on the Browns part  and at least one more year for the experts to pass judgment.

I never knew what a spaceship looked like while on the ground - until yesterday at the media circus for the Tostitos BCS Championship Game. That's what University of Phoenix Stadium looked like from the outside. Or for you Star Wars geeks think of those round buildings at Mos Eisley (you know the wretched hive of scum and villainy). Either way it was hideous. But looks can be deceiving - very deceiving because from the inside it was impressive.

But I digress. Friday was the first day that we got to see both teams up close. And the first thing that struck me - NCAA football, a multi-billion dollar business - is in the hands of a bunch of guys who can barely shave. Well that's not entirely true. They don't exactly run it, but if you consider that without them there is no show then you can see my point. That's why statements this week by Anthony Gonzalez in which he endorsed some form of compensation for college athletes isn't completely wacko.

Despite the fact that they were so young, I was kind of in awe of some of these players - on both teams - and their ability to field questions and answer them with reasonable skill - especially Percy Harvin and Brian Robiskie. Harvin apparently got into trouble on the field while he was in high school and arrive at the University of Florida with a slight rep. As for Robiskie, his father Terry was recently fired by the Cleveland Browns from his position as wide receivers coach.

I may not agree with Harvin's assessment of his situation:

‘’I was put in some tough situations it was a lot of news people who took the stuff they heard and wrote about it,’’ he said, ‘’and didn’t really know the inside story. So when I came here, a burden just got off me. It was a clean, fresh beginning for me and my moms.’’

However, I don't know the entire story either. So hey, who am I to judge?

As for Robiskie, you can read his comments in a story from Marla Ridenour. He could have very easily blown off the questions and refused to address the issue, but he acted like a pro.