4 Quarters Radio: October 28

The first-quarter curriculum for October 28:
--Athlon Sports' Steven Lassan rejoins Scott for a little college football talk, starting with how many teams will finish unbeaten at year's end.
--Scott continues to bemoan the system being rigged against Boise State, and Steven is somewhat sympathetic.
--South Carolina's chances going forward are assessed, starting with the Tennessee game.
--The possibility of Vanderbilt hanging with Arkansas is weighed.
--Scott wonders where Purdue's best chance of getting their sixth win lays, and Steven offers what could be a surprising answer.
--Stanford-USC looked like the irresistible force and the immovable object, and Steven breaks down that matchup.
--Steven offers some appreciation of one team's tremendous freshman class, and how likely a reliance on freshmen will lead to a late-season stumble.
--Scott and Steven handicap what a steel cage match between two battling coaches would look like, and which of their teams is a better fit for a new conference.
--A behemoth 32-team conference draws a little bit of discussion, and Steven shares how likely he sees such an arrangement coming to fruition.
--Steven offers a prime example of why there are too many bowl games.
--Finally, a moment of appreciation for Case Keenum.

Featured music: "Watch Me Dance" by Roots Manuva.


The second-quarter curriculum for October 28:
--Bobby shows up just in time for Scott to realize that they haven't talked any kind of UFC action in a while. But, unfortunately, there hasn't been any can't-miss action to discuss, and the trend continues through Penn-Diaz and beyond.
--Moving on to NFL action, Scott and Bobby get into examining the eight divisions to see which is the league's best and worst. They're in somewhat surprising agreement overall.
--In Whodaman, Bobby gives love to Adrian Peterson and the Vikings. Meanwhile, Scott spreads it around like he's the guy on Sister Wives. An MTSU alumnus, a surprising Cardinal hero, and a pair of Cougars (not the female variety, unfortunately) get shoutouts.

Featured music: "Mr. Nice Watch" by J. Cole and Jay-Z.


The third-quarter curriculum for October 28:
--Bobby's kind of down over the impending final episode of 4Q, but to take his mind off it, Scott kicks off a game of Medal Stand. The topic: the top three teams that could use Terrell Owens. The two have kind of different views toward which teams would bother with the hassle.
--Eli Manning's comments about manipulating the NFL Draft and advising Andrew Luck are discussed. As one might expect, El Prof is not keen on the idea.
--Scott and Bobby ponder who is the NFL's most underrated running back. Bobby goes small, Scott goes with a total breakout candidate.

Featured music: "For My Friends" by Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa.


The fourth-quarter curriculum for October 28:
--Scott's all alone again, and pretty much running on fumes. He makes a valiant effort to talk about the World Series, Game Six. Injuries and pitcher rest come into focus.
--Scott also powers through some historical perspective on the Game Six comeback.
--As his voice starts to give out, though, it's time to draw to an early close. Scott manages to get through the Epic Fails and present some compelling evidence that Canadians are a little too into their hockey.

Featured music: "Talking to You (Is Like Talking to Myself)" by Daryl Hall.

Click here for a look at the (in progress) 4QR music archives. Please help the show out by buying a track or two.

Randy Moss Retires: Does Canton Clock Start Now?

The agent for former Vikings and Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss announced that Moss was retiring Monday, potentially calling an end to one of the most famous, and infamous, careers of any receiver in NFL history.

The news comes as a surprise, just weeks after the same agent, Joel Segal, claimed that Moss was in "freakish shape" as a result of "two-a-days, all spring and summer in West Virginia."

Players pondering retirement rarely put themselves through grueling two-a-day practices at home, which leads to speculation about Moss's "retirement" being a ploy to avoid a team's training camp.

The possibility remains that a team could offer Moss a contract if they suffer a rash of injuries, but for now, no offers appear forthcoming. Moss "retiring," therefore, is his way of telling the 32 NFL clubs, "You can't fire me, I quit."

If Moss does fade into the shadows in the same way Marvin Harrison did after his release from the Indianapolis Colts in early 2009, the Canton Clock starts now, counting down the five-year waiting period for his enshrinement.

Moss could become eligible for the Hall at the same time as another veteran wide receiver with eye-popping stats and equally impressive off-field baggage, Terrell Owens.

Like Moss, Owens has spent his last few seasons bouncing from team to team in search of the next big highlight. Their career numbers are similar, down to both catching exactly 153 career touchdowns to date.

So, if you had to make one wait to get into Canton, which would it be? The man who bagged 17 touchdowns as a rookie, or the one who took the torch from his 49ers predecessor, Jerry Rice? The player who immortalized the phrase "straight cash, homie" or the one who gave us the tearful "that's my quarterback"? The guy who tried to run over a meter maid or the one who liked to call press conferences in his driveway?

First, the numbers. T.O.'s advantages over Moss are 124 catches and 1074 yards in 17 extra games. Sizeable, but a motivated Moss could easily put the yards up. Catches are less likely. As said before, touchdowns are dead even. ADVANTAGE: Push.

Playoff performance: Moss erupted in his first several playoff games, recording nine scores in seven games. Only Gary Anderson's inexplicable case of the yips kept Moss from appearing in the Super Bowl as a rookie. From there, indifference took over. His best game from 2005 on was 5 catches, 62 yards and a score in Super Bowl XLII, when Eli and the Miracles snatched a ring from his grasp.
T.O.'s production was much more pedestrian, save lighting up the Giants in 2002 and his 122 yards for the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, when he made a stirring return from a broken leg. ADVANTAGE: Moss

Team performance: Neither man won a Super Bowl, and each only appeared in one. Interestingly, though, the Patriots' loss to the Ravens after the 2009 season was the first time that Moss had been on a team that lost its first playoff game. Moss was on six playoff teams, Owens on eight.
Still, the Dallas teams that T.O. was on had to rank with some of the most disappointing groups in NFL history. Those Cowboy teams had great talent, but small results. ADVANTAGE: Moss

Public opinion: Moss is a physical freak who played at 80-percent effort. T.O. is an unrepentant attention hound who personifies the "diva receiver" stereotype. Moss's off-field baggage occasionally skirted the edges of legality, with the meter maid incident and frank admissions of marijuana use. T.O.'s issues were minor in comparison, save a hotly denied suicide attempt. ADVANTAGE: Owens

Both men provide classic case studies of why some football fans clamor for the return of the Wing-T formation, back before wide receivers were paid handsomely to do wind sprints for most of the game. They're polarizing figures, making fans choose between shaking their heads at amazing feats on the field and doing the same at boneheaded actions off of it.

Still, if forced to choose between one, this writer backs T.O. because of one old saying.
"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." We can say what we want about Terrell Owens, but it was hard to outwork him on the field.

4 Quarters Radio: October 14 4th Quarter

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The fourth-quarter curriculum for October 14:
--Scott continues the line of discussion on Brett Favre's penis, wondering if any women would really respond positively to receiving texted pics of a man's junk.
--Following that, who is the biggest idiot in sports: Roger Clemens, Brett Favre, or Tiger Woods?
--Finally, the Lil' Brett discussion ends with the question of whether Scott or Bobby would lay the hammer down and suspend Big Brett.
--Back on the field and out of people's pants, the guys try to sift through the rubble of the NFC and figure out which teams are actually threats to win the Super Bowl. (Hint: not many.)
--Bobby loves the AFC South right now, and the guys try to decide who pulls away and falls off in that division.
--In the Epic Fails, Bobby reminds one of his fantasy players to get the hell off of Twitter, while Scott unleashes both barrels on a god-awful quarterback and a guy who just doesn't learn that fast cars can be somewhat dangerous.

Excised music: "Life is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back" by Meat Loaf.

4 Quarters Radio: September 9 4th Quarter

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The fourth-quarter curriculum for September 9:
--Bobby shows up, and the two compare their NFL playoff picks. They discuss how smart the Titans may be for trying to reacquire Albert Haynesworth and all the people trying to sue him. They're eagerly anticipating The T.Ocho Show, in all its car-crash glory, even comparing it to an actual car crash. In the Epic Fails, the fellas ponder what kind of women still want to nail Dennis Rodman. Excised music: "King of Anything" by Sara Bareilles.

4 Quarters Radio: August 2 2nd Period

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The second-period curriculum for August 2nd:
--The Big-Ass NFL Preview begins with looks at the AFC and NFC South. Hint: don't be surprised if the Colts and Saints get back on track for the Super Bowl.
--Scott observes the whooshing noise made by the frenzied rush of first-round draft picks sprinting to camp.
--Remember, you can't spell "rut-roh" without T.O. It's not too early to predict some serious Cincinnati migraines.
--Finally, there's some love for Mike Shanahan for breaking his foot off in Albert Haynesworth's backside.
--Excised music: "Funk de Umbigada" by Saravah Soul.

4 Quarters Radio Episode 9: 2nd Half

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The second half of March 16's episode starts off with NFL free agent chatter, including the Browns' search for a QB, Terrell Owens' search for a team, and LT distrusting the word of a guy who may or may not have ever been a teammate of his and running to a different team. In the fourth, Scott seeks consolation for the Mavs tanking against the Knicks and Bobby discusses UFC's debut on Versus. And of course, Epic Fails abound. Excised music: "Bittersweet Symphony" by the Verve and "Butterfly" by Crazy Town.

It's Attitude, Not Color: When Did "Prima Donna WR" Become a Racist Term?

I'll be the first to tell you that listening to Jim Rome's radio show is like watching some terrible comic who thinks that if he repeats the same shitty joke twelve times, it'll magically become funny the thirteenth time. And then listening to a lot of the sounds of silence in between.

That said, I still make a focused effort to try and catch his ESPN TV show in the afternoon, for reasons I think I'll discuss in a future post.

On this particular afternoon, I heard an argument that was, to borrow a phrase, pants-on-head retarded. Not from Rome, as might be expected, but from one of his Forum guests.

In a discussion about whether or not Terrell Owens fit into Buffalo, Buffalo native Vincent Thomas of SLAM Magazine had an interesting theory. For one thing, Thomas essentially put his hometown on blast for being racist, or at least "a place where there's still an undercurrent of racial tension."

Okay, fair enough. But he didn't stop there.

Thomas then proceeded to put the entire NFL-covering media and fanbase on blast for the very same condition. Vince has apparently decided that because most of the NFL's wide receivers are black, and many of them are seen as being "prima donnas" or "divas," that these terms are now veiled racist slurs.

Guh?

Did I miss a memo?

Here I'd always thought that diva is as diva does. T.O. being a perfect candidate for this conversation has nothing to do with his skin, any more than Chad "Future H.O.F.er" Johnson Ochocinco or Randy "Yeah, I Take Plays Off" Moss or Plaxico "OW, MY FUCKING LEG!!!!!!" Burress catch grief over their race.

These guys get blasted for being goofballs because (news flash) THEY ARE GOOFBALLS. TO's Sharpie, Chad putting the pylon, Joe Horn making a phone call from behind the goalpost...hell, let's go even older-school and bring up this literary classic. All of these are goofball actions. In terms of obnoxiousness, they fall somewhere between Matt Leinart's hot tub club and Jeremy Shockey passing out poolside.

Shockey's a fine example of a white player whose act generates even more annoyance than TO or Chad Machogrande could ever muster. The big difference between Shockey and a guy like TO is that we only hear Shockey's line of BS in post-game interviews and ambulance-chasing pictures on TMZ. He's not begging people to watch a reality show of his life...although the producers of "Celebrity Rehab" are probably on line two right now.

These players act in the most "Look at me" ways they can possibly muster, and when they're not showing up on the SportsCenter highlight reels, they're trying to take over other media. Ochocinco's been waging a Twitter war with Mark Schlereth. T.O.'s pissing and moaning at Rome (yes, over Twitter) for justly pointing out that "The T.O. Show" is D.O.A. in the ratings.

Who are the great white hopes at WR these days, anyway? There's Wes Welker, the king of the seven-yard slant (and the occasional car-wreck hit). When he scores (which doesn't happen nearly enough for his fantasy owners, myself included), he knows how to act like he's been there before. Same with guys like Kevin Walter, Greg Camarillo, and Dallas Clark. (Yeah, I know Dallas is still listed as a TE, but he's as much of a TE these days as I am a nose tackle.)

As a Buffalo native, Thomas of all people should know that not all black wide receivers are considered nutjobs, since his team employed one of the best and classiest wide receivers ever. Maybe you heard of him.

Andre Reed didn't have to turn every touchdown into a sub-Carrot Top prop comedy show. Jerry Rice scored more touchdowns than anyone, and he just tossed the ball to the ref and said, "Okay, now I'ma get another one." Cris Carter never had tearful news conferences where he said, "That's my quarterback, man," then turned around and eviscerated said QB weeks later for being BFF's with the tight end.

Celebrating scores is all well and good, and I'm one who thinks the No Fun League needs to loosen the noose a bit in that regard. But I'm there to watch football on Sundays, not a Saturday Night Live skit or a Greek tragedy in three acts.

Even Vince Thomas's fellow forum guest, longtime columnist Terence Moore, laughed off Thomas's attempt at calling down the thunder Whitlock-style. Terence even got off the line of the day when he scolded Thomas with, "You know, I've been black for a long time." He then proceeded to, in not so many words, politely tell Thomas that he was full of it.

Terence gets it. Just like Forrest Gump got it. Trying to make every NFL fan or media member who pokes fun at or is tired of TO or Chad Quesotampico into a racist is a blatant play for attention by someone who's obviously not gotten enough through his writing. Well, congrats, Vince, here's a little attention for you. Enjoy it.