Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and players Brian Robiskie and Malcolm Jenkins talking about playing Southern California Saturday night:

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Here's a plea to the powers that be over at the new SiriusXM company, that newly minted company created by the merger of two struggling satellite radio providers. Do. NOT. I REPEAT. DO.NOT. MAKE. SPORTS.FANS.HAVE.TO.SWITCH.SERVICES.

Like approximately 18.5 million folks out there joined with moi over the years and chucked terrestrial radio for the commercial-free comfort of satellite radio. Trust me, many people I know asked if I was crazy to be paying for radio.

But with the evil Clear Channel empire laying its insidious plot to stamp out originality in local radio broadcasting for the past decade, it was a no brainer for me. Commercial free music, most cable news networks (although I'm still pissed that XM ditched MSNBC from its lineup), and sports, sports and more sports. I was in my version of Nirvana. I could listen to any baseball game I wanted or most any major college football game that I wanted. All I needed was the NFL. Unfortunately, I backed the wrong horse in that race. I had XM and Sirius lured the nation's No. 1 sport to its satellite waves.

But I never wavered, primarily because I'm normally working Sundays during football season anway, but now, I'm hoping that this new behemoth will see the light. How so?

The deal is too complex for my brain at this hour of the night, but here's the gist of their new packages. You can find XM's here.

The plan that most sports fans will likely be interested? the XM and Select Sirius and Sirius and Select XM plans for one simple reason - SPORTS.

With XM having the MLB package and Sirius the NFL and NBA, this is a marriage made in sports heaven. And personally I have little doubt that those packages are among the most popular for each service.

So here's a tip should muckety mucks for either company should be reading (yeah, right), do the right thing and make sure sports fans are taken care of in this deal.

Yes, Alan and Larry, much to your dismay, disdain and disgust, I have returned. I could go into the myriads of reasons about why I stayed away, but I get heckled enough already. I don't really need to give you guys anymore ammunition now, do I.

Anyhoo, on to the business of the day. Or the soap of the month that is - the continuing saga of one Brett Favre. You know that guy - former NFL MVP, Super Bowl quarterback, most durable guy to every play the position. He has a new name now - Man Without a Team.

You see, Ted Thompson, who runs the Green Bay Packers franchise had decided that the future of one of the NFL's most storied franchises is in the hands of one Aaron Rodgers. Yeah this guy:
Rodgers of the 35 completions in 59 pass attempts fame. Yeah, that guy. Listening to the Packers' Thompson earlier today it's clear it's all about his team moving on to the future. Excuse me? Unless you're the New England Patriots, in the NFL the future is now.

When it comes to the Favre soap opera, Thompson should be asking himself one question: Which quarterback gives me the best chance to win the Super Bowl this year? It's not a difficult question to ask and it's not a difficult question to answer. If anyone out there answers anything but "Brett Favre" I want to party with you.

The Packers came within one game of the Super Bowl last year for two big reasons - a young, ferocious defense and a rejuventated Favre. Thompson, may believe that he's doing his fans a favor by moving forward. With all due respect, until Rodgers wins anything any reasonable fan will view it as a general manager who may be allowing his best chance to win a Super Bowl get away.

Do we even need to wait for the final game before we begin to debate what it is the Cleveland Browns need?  Santa certainly didn't bring them what's essential this week.

So once again, Browns fans have to wade through the disappointment, suck it up and deal with a "wait until next year" attitude.  Ummmm…yeah…My thoughts exactly - same ol' song and dance.

Shall we look at how since the team's return how the Browns have gone about building their football team?  No, it's not depressing…completely…At least by the last three choices - although the jury is out still on Braylon Edwards.  Now that he seems as if he's got his head and mouth straightened out, it looks as if Kellen Winslow is everything advertised.  Personally, I like Kamerion Wimbley more and more each time I see him.

But here's my very public plea to the Browns powers that be; that's you Phil Savage.  It looks as if you're going to have a top five pick once again.  This team has never, ever seriously addressed the left tackle position.  And it would seem that there will be a stud LT available in the upcoming draft, so say the experts.

Mel Kiper Jr. calls Wisconsin's Joe Thomas, "huge, quick, athletic with a logn wingspan."  How about dominating on a team that went 11-1?  He's used to the weather (although moving from Cleveland from Wisconsin might be considered a trip to the tropics) and smashmouth football.

When you look at how the Browns have been put together since their return, on offense it's been all wrong.  I only played a couple of years of organized football, but even I know that the game is won in the trenches - in this case the lines.  Yes, they tried to address the lines with the likes of Brittle Courtney Brown and Gerald "Ten Cents" Warren.  Last I checked, Brown was injured once again and Warren was still guilty of collecting a paycheck.

But the offensive line - especially at the left tackle - position has gone virtually ignored, an amazing feat considering that they made Tim Couch, a quarterback, the first pick of the 1999 draft.  I wondered who they sincerely believed would protect him behind a sieve of an O-line that leaked worse than the levees meant to protect New Orleans.  Scarier still: the problem still exists.

Why can't Reuben run?  Why are the Browns down to Ken Dorsey at QB.  Why doesn't the offense go?  If you have to ask, you haven't been paying attention.

And apparently neither has the Browns brain trust.  Hopefully that changes on April 28.

And yet there's plenty that's been going on.  Forgive me folks, but I've been trying to find my sports voice on this blog.  Movies are one thing; I'd been doing them for ages.    Sports.  Well sports are something that I'm knowledgeable about and I'm used to bellying up to the bar with a few folks and just dishing.

I think I finally found the solution…Anyone want a beer or whatever beverage you choose to consume at your local watering hole and we can finally talk some sports.  Again my apologies.

While shivering in the pressbox at Byers Field in Parma covering the Massillon Tigers-Toledo Whitmer Panthers game, I listened in a couple of conversations that a stadium staff member was having with several members of the press. He's basically heard through whatever grapevine he had privvy to that the neutral sites expecting to host high school playoff games Saturday were having a difficult time finding staffers because no one wanted to miss the Bucks play the Wolverines.  And this is surprising how?

You know.  Ohio.  Cradle of football.  Home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  The state that gave footbal Paul Brown.  There would be little interest in a game that would between the two greatest rivals in college sports that would decide who got a trip to Glendale, Ariz. to the BCS National Championship Game.  Me, heck, I'd rather watch endless reruns of Providence than OSU vs. Michigan. 

No, I'm not nuts and neither is OHSAA because the organization wisely shuffled its playoff schedule to accommodate the fever that's likely to grip this state in the coming days.  For this, they deserve more than a heaping dose of credit.

A co-worker at the paper messaged me with a little tidbit from the world of cyberspace - apparently the entries for Ohio State University and the University of Michigan have been the target of cyber vandals.  As she so aptly put it - "I guess it's the Internet version of TPing.

Vandalism?  As part of OSU-Michigan Weekend.  Nooooooo….that would never happen in this yearly exchange of pleasantries. Not being able to remember the two OSU-Michigan weekends when I ummmm…errrr…ummmm…matriculated (yeah, that's what I will call it) at the Columbus campus, I can safely say that something such as that would never ever happen in this series.

Of course, that's only because I don't remember it happening during my two years there.