4 Quarters Radio: September 30 1st Quarter

The first-quarter curriculum for September 30:
--Scott's all alone in the studio, but he's still locked and loaded. Being a solutions-oriented sort, he offers the perfect center for Mike Vick and his banged-up hand. He then moves on to note that everyone involved with the story is protesting a bit too much.
--Scott is able to cite some statistics that can defuse anyone who's inclined to call Vick's problems racial in nature. Several other teams have their QB's getting hit more often than Philly.
--Logan Propst, who should be in the studio, instead turns up on the phone and offers his thoughts on Vick as well.
--Los Guys turn to Minnesota and ponder the real culprit for the Vikings' epic second-half failures. This, naturally, leads into a discussion of Madden etiquette.
--Scott starts an impromptu game of Medal Stand, ranking his top three teams most likely to Suck for Luck. Logan's not in the mood to play, but Scott's more than able to rise to the occasion.

Featured music: "From a Table Away" by Sunny Sweeney.

4 Quarters Radio: April 29 3rd Quarter

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The third-quarter curriculum for April 29:
--Bobby gets some time to stretch out on his UFC 130 picks. Also beginning: the Great UFC Wing Wager Part II.
--The fellas examine the Madden cover bracket and discuss Peyton Hillis's upset win. A potential nomination for another EA Sports title's cover comes up in the conversation.
--In Medal Stand, Los Guys talk trash, and the people who did so better than anyone else. Unsurprisingly, someone busts out a total homer pick, but at least he can back it up.
--The guys start into some NBA playoff conversation, weighing the possibility of the Memphis Grizzlies ending the Spurs prematurely. One host still was not convinced, and therefore, we now call him "wrong."

Featured music: "Electric Love" by Dirty Vegas.

4 Quarters Radio: February 11 3rd Quarter

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The third-quarter curriculum for February 11:
--The fellas consult a list of guys who had to replace legendary athletes, and decide which ones were their personal favorites. New intern Mack Burke gets himself in on the action for the first time, as well.
--The Yankees and the Nazis come in for an interesting comparison.
--Mark Buehrle's comments about wishing harm on Michael Vick get a round of ridicule. Logan's honest in his occasional desire to see sand in a player's vagina, but even he can't stand to wish maiming on an athlete.
--Both the MTSU men's and women's basketball teams celebrate wins over Western Kentucky this week, one of them somewhat historic.

Excised music: "Cold Blooded" by Rick James.

4 Quarters Radio: December 9 4th Quarter

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The fourth-quarter curriculum for December 9:
--The Denver Broncos' coaching position comes available, and the usual suspects get consideration. Also, an unusual suspect is rumored to seek rehab for Tebow withdrawal.
--Los Guys deliberate on who should be the MVP, and Scott has a surprising dark-horse candidate, especially considering his feelings on the player's team.
--Scott gives respect to Bobby's Raiders and other teams that will decide division races other than their own.
--The guys also check in on Grampa and the Vikings, wondering if anything short of death will end The Streak.
--The Boxing Hall of Fame inductees get a look, from the dominant fighters like Tyson, Chavez, and Balboa to...wait, Balboa?
--In the Epic Fails, Bobby piles on a local icon and Scott piles on a national plague. You know, the usual.

Excised music: "Standing on the Verge of Getting It On" by Funkadelic.

4 Quarters Radio: November 18 2nd Quarter

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The second-quarter curriculum for November 18:
--Scott and Logan discuss their definitions of excessive blowouts. (Hint: Wisconsin 83, Indiana 20 doesn't qualify.) The bigger question is why college football's system encourages blowouts.
--For a bonus, the granddaddy of all blowouts gets a mention.
--The College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon gets analyzed, and winners/losers get called out.
--The Sun Belt conference gives some postseason respect to the MTSU volleyball team, including Logan's girl Izabela. Logan offers congratulations in his own distinctive way.
--In Whodaman, Logan gives mad love to Mike Vick, and Scott suggests mad security for his Canton-bound jersey. Scott's Whodaman nominees include a QB fighting through the firing of his dad and a former NFL offensive lineman not letting paralysis stand in the way of his wedding.

Excised music: "Maneater" by Nelly Furtado.

4 Quarters Radio, Episode 8: 1st Half

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A very different sound to this week's episode (original air date: March 10). Scott flies solo (mostly) with Joseph and Bobby off on Spring Break. In the first half, there's a lot of discussion on NFL free agency and how the moves are starting to affect teams' draft plans. Special emphasis paid to the Bears' wide-open checkbook, and which move is even bigger than their signing of Julius Peppers. Later in the second, some brief discussion of the NBA and how the Dallas Mavericks' hot streak could show signs of them threatening the Lakers. Also, Whodaman and RIP Corey Haim. Excised music: "War Machine" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and "Stylo" by Gorillaz.

Breaking the Chain: Is NBC Right to Separate Dungy From Vick?

NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol is putting the media on notice: Michael Vick is no longer Tony Dungy's pet reclamation project.

Characterizing Dungy as "a mentor to get [Vick] through that transition from prison to his re-entry to football," Ebersol is trying to remind everyone that Dungy is now a journalist first and a camp counselor, spiritual advisor, puppeteer, whatever you want to call him, second. Which is all well and good, as it's simply Ebersol looking to protect the investment he's made in Dungy.

But it begs the question: How closely does this jibe with Dungy's personal priorities?

If it all came down to Tony having to choose between an athlete needing some spiritual guidance and his Football Night in America analyst's chair...who's to say that Dungy wouldn't just tell Ebersol, "Go with Christ?" (Which is devout-Christian for "Get bent," or so I've heard.)

One thing that struck me after reading Dungy's first book, "Quiet Strength," was how little of it really ended up as a "football book." So much of it was based around more spiritual concerns that it made Tony seem like the kind of guy who would simply walk far away from football after his coaching days concluded. It was also clear that Dungy never intended to be a coaching lifer, feeling instead like he had some kind of higher purpose than implementing new zone blitzes.

The mere fact that he became an NFL analyst was a bit surprising, and honestly, it doesn't seem like a job that fits him very well. He's not an attention-getting, demonstrative analyst, like other ex-coaches such as Jimmy Johnson or Mike Ditka, and that can work against him in a time crunch like we find at halftime, where each game gets shoehorned into 20 or so seconds.

Football has given Dungy a platform from which to convey his spiritual views to a mass audience, and keeping his foot in the door of the NFL makes it seem like he's afraid of losing that name recognition. The cynics are already deciding (see post-article comments behind this link) that Dungy attached himself to Vick for his own benefit much more than Vick's, anyway.

There's no doubt that a journalist's having an advisory connection to an active player constitutes a conflict of interest. That's another perfectly legitimate reason for NBC to make sure that he distances himself. But the operative phrase there should be, "distances himself." A statement of future-endeavors well-wishing from Dungy to Vick needs to come from Dungy himself. Ebersol making the announcement of Tony scaling back his work with Vick carries a very confrontational tone, almost like the announcement is as much to Dungy as about him. Kind of a "back away from him or you're fired" sort of vibe comes off this fairly terse statement.

I'm sure there are several other former coaches that would queue up in a second for a chance to fill Tony's chair on Sunday nights, and personally, I'm not sure I would mind seeing some of them do it. Tony Dungy DOES seem like a man who has greater things on his mind than whether Matt Ryan's learned to carve up zone defenses, and it may be time for him to concentrate on some of them.

He seems a better fit as a minister than a talking head, anyway. And Lord knows he'll do greater good that way.

Full Moon Fever: Has the NFL Gone Completely Mental This Season?

I've been actively following football for twenty-five years. I like to think I've seen quite a bit from the game in that time. But, to be honest with you, I don't think I've seen a season get ramped up with this much goofiness since the players were walking in off the street in 1987.

First, it's Michael Vick the Eagle. Supposedly, it's all Donovan McNabb's idea, giving the offense another weapon to play with. Fair enough. If Vick's half the player he was when he went inside, he's dangerous. And not just to your pitbulls.

Then, we have McNabb being his usual candid self and saying it'd be great to have a target like Plaxico "O,MFL!" Burress. On one hand, it seems like the usually character-driven Eagles are in danger of being turned into Raiders East, the new halfway house of the NFL. On the other hand, it seems like McNabb's more interested in lobbying for sainthood than polishing his resume for the Hall of Fame. St. Donovan, the patron saint of NFL lost causes. If anyone asks Donovan about Pacman Jones, Philly fans need to run for the hills.

Speaking of the Raiders, they can always be counted on to be some kind of goofy, even boiling down to players fighting in camp. See Williams, Marcus and Romanowski, Bill (the fellas to the left...guess who won the fight).

Now, we have assistant coach Randy Hanson allegedly playing Glass Joe to Tom Cable's Little Mac...even though Cable bears more resemblance to King Hippo, honestly. I love Cable's answers to questions about the incident.

"Sure, I can address it. It's an internal issue that we're dealing with, and that's all I'm gonna say."

Translation: I can address it...but I'm not going to address it. Unfortunately, Tom, once someone got sent to the hospital and the police got involved, it kinda stopped being internal.

If we think we're going to get answers from anyone Raider-affiliated, keep dreaming. The Mafia and Fight Club take tips from Al Davis on ways to keep people from talking. Randy Hanson is, according to the San Jose Mercury News's Tim Kawakami, Al Davis's boy on the staff. As a key witness in Davis's legal war with Lane Kiffin, Hanson may be enjoying the equivalent of diplomatic immunity. He's not been at work since the incident on August 5th, but I'd be quite surprised if he's no longer on the payroll. Knowing Al, he may just pay Hanson to sit home and eat Bon-Bons until the Kiffin case gets settled.

Meanwhile, Cable may get whacked. Figuratively, literally, either way. Depends on Al's mood that day.

Finally, we have Brett Favre allegedly taking career advice from his ten-year-old daughter. Seriously, is his daughter Dakota Fanning? The entire "do what you have to do" speech sounds ripped straight from an Oscar consideration reel. Either your heart melted when he recounted this story, or you rolled your eyes and threw another layer of BS on top of the already sizeable pile that's come out of both Favre and Brad Childress over the last several months. And you might be able to guess that I haven't had to call the mop crew.

And yes, I said several months. Meaning more than three or four. This situation has been in the works for a lot longer than anyone will admit, and it'd shock me if there was no tacit understanding that Brett would show up as soon as he could without going to Mankato State University and bunking in a dorm for training camp.

I do have to give Brett one thing, he didn't do too terribly wrong by the Jets. The Packers had slipped a poison pill into their trade with New York that would have sent three first-rounders to Green Bay if the Jets had traded him to an NFC North team. Favre retired again, let the Jets release him, and got them off the hook for those picks. Good show there. And yes, it's rather sad that I have to applaud a guy for not actively screwing his old team.

Speaking of getting screwed, how long before Tarvaris Jackson goes on Vince Young suicide watch? He and Sage Rosenfels got lied to for months. They may have been the only guys thinking that there might be a chance that Favre would stay retired. But every Viking player needs to pay close attention here, because there but for the grace of God goes every player in that locker room. "We're moving on, we're closing the book, Sage and Tarvaris are our guys...whoops, sorry guys, gotta skip out for a little bit of practice so I can go pick up a GOOD quarterback from the airport." Good luck getting the guys to play to the whistle for all 16 games, Coach.

I'll put it down here, the Vikings go either 7-9 or 8-8, miss the playoffs, and Brad Childress gets fired. The final month of the season, Favre's chucking it 40 times per game, AP's getting 12 carries, and they wonder why the defense starts giving up more points. All that, of course, if the rotator cuff doesn't disintegrate.

If we're going to get any loonier, I think it'll have to entail someone ripping Tom Brady's arm off and letting loose nothing but a shower of sparks and dangling wires. Or Bill Belichick turns out to be one of those Hulu aliens. Or Jared Allen shows up to a game in nothing but a loincloth. Actually, considering the source, that last one just might happen.