What about Bob?

There was some talk in Philly that Jerome McDougle had done enough to stick, despite his history of injury and ineffectiveness of the years. In fact, he was one of the team's most consistent linemen during camp.

But McDougle was released on the final cutdown, and the Giants signed him in about 30 seconds to serve as a valuable backup to ends Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka. Sure takes some of the sting out of the Osi Umenyiora injury.

So, why didn't McDougle make it in Philly? Because the Eagles invested heavily in free agent defensive end Chris Clemons, who earned a $4 million signing bonus. Clemons was hurt for much of camp, and didn't do too much when healthy.

But because of the large signing bonus, the Iggles opted to keep him over McDougle.

I realize we're a football blog here, but I'd like to take just a moment to wish our fellow Americans along the Gulf Coast a safe journey as they prepare for Hurricane Gustav.

Our thoughts and our prayers are with you.

Now that Chad Johnson has changed his last name to "Ocho Cinco," it got me thinking about my own name change. The blog name, that is.

Not that there's anything wrong with "What About Bob," since that is my name and since Bill Murray did a heck of a job in the movie with that name. But I dunno. There's a bit of a dweeb factor in there, too.

I mean, it's football. There has to be some catchy name out there to latch onto, no? La Monica, who gave us "What About Bob" in the first place, suggested "Fourth and Glauber," although my personal preference is "First and Glauber." (If you've reached fourth down, you've essentially failed the first three, no?)

Anyway, we're in the midst of a web re-design, so any suggestions will be considered. The Internet folks need to know by Tuesday, so I505, Sandy, Craig, Black N Gold, BBiB!, Tony A., or even Rock & Boland, or whoever else is out there with nothing else to do, I could use your help.

Prediction: Hookslide will come up with something ... possibly unprintable, but catchy nonetheless.

It's that time, people. The regular season is nearly upon us, and so is the Beat Bob Glauber NFL picks contest.

Sign up here, and join in on the fun. Simply pick the games, and at the end, we'll see who wins. There are goodies like a 42" high definition TV and more.

That's an adage I first heard from legendary New York Times columnist Dave Anderson, my idol growing up in this business.

Anderson used it when he was a beat reporter covering the Jets, whose quarterback was a fellow named Joe Namath.

Now that Brett Lorenzo Favre is the Jets' quarterback, the adage applies just as much. So take a look at Boland's fine piece from today's newspaper on Favre talking about any number of things, including his bitter divorce from the Packers.

Regardless of what Favre does on the field, the man is a quote machine. Please, do not stop talking, sir.

At least not with the Giants.

The rookie quarterback out of Kentucky didn't survive the final cuts, due in part to an absolutely abysmal performance in Thursday's preseason finale against the Patriots. After two fumbled snaps, Woodson was actually replaced by starter David Carr, who is now the only backup on the roster.

It's possible the Giants go into the regular season with two quarterbacks on the roster, which is becoming somewhat of a trend in the NFL. But it's also possible they scour the wires in hopes of a decent backup coming along.

... no one.

At least not yet.

With 8 days to go before the regular season opener, Ken Whisenhunt still hasn't decided whether it will be Kurt Warner or Matt Leinart.

Sheesh.

UPDATE: Apparently, Whisenhunt read our post and saw our reaction to his delaying the announcement of a starter. It's Warner.

Nothing we haven't known before, but Chad Johnson has made it official: He is no longer Chad Johnson. He is now Chad Ocho Cinco.

Really.

Like, legally.

As in, he changed his last name to Ocho Cinco so he can have the moniker placed on the back of his jersey.

Is there some sort of contest we can run with this? I dunno. An over-under on when Johnson draws his first penalty for excessive celebration? A prediction on when he flips out in the locker room? A prediction on when head coach Marvin Lewis' head explodes?

The Chargers' All Pro linebacker has two torn knee ligaments, and has been advised by four different doctors to undergo surgery rather than risk a career-threatening injury by playing on it. Merriman has decided to play, because he believes the Chargers have a realistic chance to go to the Super Bowl.

I'll be weighing in on this for Sunday's newspaper, but I'm curious to see if there are any thoughts one way or the other out there.

Charlie Chilkoot, you're up.

How's this for being different.

Quarterback Daunte Culpepper, the former Vikings star who is now out of football after being spurned by several teams, believes there's so much confusion and misrepresentation about what he's looking for that he wrote an explanation of his situation in an open letter to Profootballtalk.com

I can't recall a player ever doing something like that, but Culpepper has always been one of the more independently minded guys to come through the NFL. He's also one of the few players who is not represented by an agent, something that has probably hurt him in his quest to find a team willing to sign him.

In any event, here's the text of his missive. Sounds like DC wants to sign up with someone soon. Like, now.

Memo to Daunte: Get an agent. Like, now.

... when he found out he had been fully reinstated to the NFL by commissioner Roger Goodell?

He was at a local Hooters in Dallas eating a chicken sandwich.

Insert appropriate one-liners in comments section. Perhaps you will earn a citation for the "comment contest winners."

With Best on vacation and all, I thought I'd pass along this missive from the famous movie critic, who works at the Chicago Sun-Times, the newspaper that Jay Mariotti resigned from this week. Ebert was moved to publish an open letter that you may find interesting. After reading this, my sense is that Mr. Ebert will be getting a few pats on the back from his colleagues in the newsroom.

An open letter to sports columnist Jay Mariotti, who resigned from
the Sun-Times and lashed out during a TV interview announcing that
newspapers were dead:

Dear Jay,

What an ugly way to leave the Sun-Times. It does not speak well for
you. Your timing was exquisite. You signed a new contract, waited
until days after the newspaper had paid for your trip to Beijing at
great cost, and then resigned with only an e-mail. You saved your
explanation for a local television station.

As someone who was working here for 24 years before you arrived, I
think you owed us more than that. You owed us decency. The fact that
you saved your attack for TV only completes our portrait of you as a
rat.

Newspapers are not dead, Jay, although you predicted the death of the
Sun-Times and the Tribune. Neither paper will die any time soon. Job-
hunting tip: It is imprudent to go on TV and predict the collapse of a
newspaper you might hope would hire you. Times are hard in the
newspaper business, and for the economy as a whole. Did you only sign
on for the luxury cruise? There's an old saying that you might have
come across once or twice on the sports beat: "When the going gets
tough, the tough get going."

Newspapers are not dead, Jay, because there are still readers who want
the whole story, not a sound bite. If you only work on television,
viewers may get a little weary of you shouting at them. You were a
great shouter in print, that's for sure, stomping your feet when
owners, coaches, players and fans didn't agree with you. It was an
entertaining show. Good luck getting one of your 1,000-word rants on
the air.

Bob Glauber answers your NFL questions today in a live chat at 3 p.m.

We'll do another live chat this afternoon at 3 p.m.

We'll talk about anything you like: Shawne Merriman's dunderhead decision to play with two torn ligaments, Brett Favre, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Jets/Giants PSL's, the night Neil Best and I shared a hotel room.

Whatever you like.

See you then.

My big brother Rich Glauber celebrates his special day out in Eugene, Ore., the land of Kellen Clemens.

If you're in need of a folk singer with a passion for teaching young kids about the Jewish faith, RichieG is your man. He even has his own website.

Happy birthday, brother.

The Colts haven't officially said so, but the closest person in the world to Peyton tells me Manning will be in the lineup when the Colts open next weekend against the Bears at home.

Eli Manning says Peyton will be there for the opener. In fact, he told me there was no doubt in his mind that his older brother would be ready to go. The Manning brothers chat regularly, and the way Eli answered so quickly when I asked him about his big bro made me think Colts fans should be very optimistic about their quarterback being there from the start. Peyton Manning has never missed a game in his previous 10 NFL seasons.

The figuratively you already know about. My fascination with scatalogical humor has been a staple of this blog - i.e. the grossest thing I've ever seen at a football game, health club etiquette, etc. I sincerely appreciate your indulgence in this matter. In fact, a few of you have even played along with your own bathroom humor.

But today, I'm literally a 2-year-old - i.e. this is the 2-year anniversary of the start of this here blog. It's been a blast.

Here's a look at the first post on Aug. 28, 2006.

Appropriately, it includes a comment from none other than Black N Gold, who was convinced back then that I had a personal vendetta against his beloved Steelers because I occasionally knocked them in my Power Rankings. Here's his comment on our maiden voyage:

"Bob, Nice to see you haven't lost your anti-Steelers bias. Any team that's more than 50 miles from the ocean is automatically out of contention in every poll you've ever posted."

B N G has since provided a brilliant display of comments and anecdotes from his Steelers' experience, and we are indebted to him and the rest of Glauber Nation for everyone's contributions to our little slice of the blogosphere.

As always, thanks for reading.

... at least in tonight's preseason finale.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt has yet to name a starter for the regular season, although Matt Leinart's abysmal performance last weekend against the Raiders might ultimately sway him to name Warner as his No. 1.

That's LT as in LTmeansLawrenceTaylor, our very own commenter whose opinion we value greatly. LTMLT thinks we haven't seen the last of Michael Strahan, even though MS said from his villa by the Aegean Sea that he's done with football.

Here's LTMLT's take:

And please check up on him to see about his work outs.

Here's what I think, LTMLT:

There is merit to what you are saying, but in this case, I believe Strahan is done. I'm not saying 100 percent done, but I don't see it happening. Even if he does work out regularly (as he did last year before finally reporting a few days before the opener), he will not be in football shape. So if the Giants are making a playoff run in November, and they can use his help then, they'd still have to factor a month into getting him into football shape.

Again, not an impossible scenario, but I think you will be seeing MS on Fox for the entire season.

There has been a question/concern about the Jets' PSL policy sent in via e-mail and comments on the blog, and I reached out to the team to get an explanation.

Some have wondered whether the seats they now have at the Meadowlands will be the ones they are assigned by the Jets for the new stadium. Not necessarily. Say you are in a mezzanine seat at the Meadowlands, and the corresponding area at the new stadium requires a hefty PSL fee. You are NOT required to take this seat, nor will the team assign that seat to you.

If you have enough seniority as a season ticket holder and want to move to, say, the upper tier in the new stadium (an area that does not require a PSL), you are free to do so and the Jets accommodate the request based on your seniority.

There is certainly a chance that enough people will choose to go to the non-PSL area, which will theoretically bump other season ticket-holders who prefer to sit there. But the Jets believe that when it all shakes out, there will be an appropriate seating arrangement for everyone.

They're not guaranteeing it, but the studies they've done indicate that most requests will be fulfilled.

Another reader wondered if his current seats - which are in the area that in the new stadium will be the Coaches Club seats at the new stadium - mean that he will have to join the bidding process and theoretically get shut out of the seats. Again, not necessarily. If the ticket holder wants to move to another area, and if he has enough seniority, he will be accommodated. In other words, just because his seats are now in an area that will feature prohibitively expensive PSL's because of the Coaches Club amenities doesn't mean he will be kicked out of the stadium.

Any more questions, let me know and I'll do my best to get an answer.

... from himself.

After seeing four orthopedic surgeons, all of whom recommended that he repair two slightly torn knee ligaments, Merriman says he will play this season, despite the risks.

Wow.

If the Chargers don't step in and convince Merriman to get the surgery, regardless of how it impacts the team on the field, they're nuts. Unless there's something we don't know as far as Merriman's condition is concerned, there's no way in the world they should risk a 24-year-old franchise pass rusher like this.

The Giants had a couple pics of Eli Manning hanging in the locker room from the most recent edition of Men's Vogue. The pics were taped to the ceiling near a corner of the room where a bunch of offensive linemen hang out. That includes backup center Grey Rueggamer, who is the class clown of the room. He was merciless in ripping the man he is paid to protect from very large men bent on tackling him.

The biggest yuks the linemen got out of the pics were about Manning's hair. It does look somewhat out of character for the aw-shucks kid from N'Awlins.

(-photo by Men's Vogue)

Could be. The LPGA's insistence that all players show an ability to communicate in English - or else face suspension - strikes us as ... well, the dumbest thing we've ever heard.

I understand the need to promote your sport to the people who speak the language of the world's biggest consumer nation. But really. Is this the way to go about doing it?

Silly.

If you're a Yankees fan, just be glad that Major League Baseball doesn't have this rule. Otherwise, you'd have no chance to appreciate the performance of a player like Hideki Matsui.

Ok, back to football. We've got a special section to put out, and Dave W. will not be happy to see us talking about the LPGA when we've got to write about the greatest sport in the history of Western civilization.

In the meantime, you can read an excellent column on the subject by Newsday's Mark Herrmann on the subject. Thanks for your time and page view.

I admire the guy for making the decision not to come back.

He could easily have surrendered to the moment, decided his old team needed his help, and ditched all the plans he had carefully made during a very deliberate process in the off-season. Strahan would have been welcomed back to the team with open arms, and it would have been an insanely interesting story regardless of how it turned out.

But the guy has been retired in his own mind for a long time now, and to suddenly ignore what his heart was telling him throughout the process would have been unfair to himself and, ultimately, to the team.

Too often we see athletes not know when it's time to hang it up. Strahan was different, because he was in touch with himself more than most. Kudos to him for sticking to his plan, regardless of the tug he felt from his old team who could have used his help in the wake of Osi Umenyiora's season-ending injury.

And well done to his agent, Tony Agnone, for helping to sift through the madness with some sound advice during the process. He spoke frequently to Strahan, who has been vacationining in Greece.

"I said, 'Here are the pros, and here are the cons,'" Agnone said. "The cons, to me, outweigh the pros, but you've got to sit down and sleep on it and look over the Aegean Sea and think about it. One thing I love about him is that when he goes out to perform, he wants to perform to the ultimate level. At this point, I don't know if he was ready in his heart to do that."

Agnone told me that he told Strahan to think past the swirl of events generated in the immediate aftermath of Umenyiora's injury.

"I told him to think about the reality, that in two months, how are you going to feel. Everything is worn off, and now you're in the battle again. Do you really want that when you've been working on your other career? At that point, we came to the conclusion that it didn't make a lot of sense. He loves the Giants and he loves the fans, but it just wasn't the right thing."

Talked to Tony Agnone, the agent for both Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, about Strahan's decision to retire, as well as Osi's physical condition in the wake of surgery to repair cartilage in his left knee.

One interesting thing that Agnone said was that he didn't necessarily expect Umenyiora to ask to re-do his contract in the near term. You will remember that Umenyiora had wanted to re-work the deal, which has three years remaining on it, before this season. Ultimately, he decided not to when it was clear the Giants had no intention of renegotiating.

"We'll see," Agnone said, explaining that there was a good chance Umenyiora would play next year and then see about re-doing the deal after the '09 season. If he has a monster year, then he will look for a monster contract.

A loyal reader who has been in regular contact with us over the years regarding all things Jets offers an interesting take on the Jets' decision not to institute a personal seat license plan for all upper tier seats. It's a move that was met with general approval from fans, especially because of the Giants' decision to charge $1,000 for PSL's in upper tier seats.

But here's a potential downside, as our reader sees it:

"Giant season ticket holders in the Upper Deck are guaranteed of keeping their seats as long as they pay a $1000 PSL. Seniority of holding tickets is not a factor in their PSL plan. However, the Jets are basing seniority of their PSL plan. Therefore, existing season ticket holders in the Upper Deck are at risk of being displaced by ticket holders sitting downstairs who possess more seniority and wish to move to the Upper Deck in order to avoid paying no PSL at all. So the end result would be that current upper deck season ticket holders lacking seniority could actually be forced to pay for an expensive PSL that is tied to lower or mid level seats.Or their seat location in the upper deck could be significantly downgraded (for the first row in the upper deck to the last row)."

It's a very interesting point, and we'll be interested to see how it all plays out once the ticket/PSL-purchasing process begins. Chances are Best will be paying a bit more attention to this, seeing that the regular season is about to begin and the only concern he has about Brett Favre is any endorsement deals he might be coming across.

And, of course, if you have any information on which corporation might be sponsoring a corner of the new football stadium, please let him know. If you get any leads on the name of the sponsor for the whole she-bang, Best will do back handsprings in Times Square if you tell him.

Steve Kern of Boonton Township, N.J. who organized a rally last Saturday at the Meadowlands protesting the introduction of PSL’s, said today's announcement was a mixed bag.

“The good news was that there are no PSL’s in the upper deck,” said Kern, a Jets’ season ticket holder the last 15 years. “Supposedly the revenue they’re generating ($370 million in PSL’s) is the same as the Giants, which means that the remaining PSL’s are all increased in cost to make up for not having PSL’s in the upper deck.”

For Kern personally, the news was not good. If he were to purchase similar seats in the new stadium to what he has now, he would pay $10,000 per ticket and $140 per seat per game. Under the Giants’ PSL plan, those seats would cost $5,000 per PSL and $120 per ticket.

Kern's situation is one reason the Giants decided to go with the $1,000 per PSL fee for all upper tier seats. The Giants had determined in other stadiums that spreading the PSL burden more equally among more fans would lessen the blow overall; the Jets' plan to not have PSL's in the upper deck, yet still generate the same revenue, means they would have to charge more for the PSL's located in more desirable seats.

What's the phrase: a riddle wrapped in a conundrum?

Sorry for the delay. After Woody J. briefed us on PSL's, went to visit T Rock's locker room a few floors down. Eli Manning and the Giants are doing quite well these days, even in spite of Mr. Umenyiora's issues.

Anyway, here's the Jets' pricing plan for seats. We'll start from the upper bowl and go on down:

NO PSL
Upper Prime - $125 per ticket
Upper Sideline - $105
Upper Endzone - $95

PSL OWNER
Area / PSL cost/ Ticket cost
Lower prime $20,000 $150
Lower sideline $15,000 $140
Lower corner $10,000 $140
Lower Endzone $5,000 $120
Mezzanine $4,000 $120

CLUB MEMBER PSL
Area / PSL cost / Ticket cost
Coaches Club (Auction/tbd) $700
Great Hall Club $25,000 $700
Club Prime $25,000 $500
Club Sideline $15,000 $500
Club Redzone $7,500 $400
Club Corner $5,000 $400

Just about to wrap up press conference on the Jets' announcement of PSL's, and here's some encouraging news, all things considered.

Unlike the Giants' plan, in which every seat will require the purchase of a personal seat license, the entire upper bowl of the new stadium will be PSL-free for Jets' games.

That's 27,000 seats that will not require a PSL. The average ticket prices will be between $95-$125 for those seats.

More details to follow ...

T-minus 2 hours and six minutes until we find out details of the Jets' personal seat license (PSL) program.

It will be very interesting to see just how much the Jets will charge for the right to purchase seats, the cost of which will increase exponentially over today's pricing plan.

I will bring you details as soon as I get them.

In the meantime, if you have any thoughts about how it might feel to plunk down $20,000 or so for the right to purchase a single ticket for $500 or so, please feel free to let us know.

I got to thinking about this while reading Gil Brandt's interesting piece on whether some NFL team should take a chance at turning Usain Bolt into a wide receiver.

If you were to do a look-a-like of Bolt and another NFL player, whom would it be?

No one knows whether the Olympic 100 and 200-meter champion can translate his speed onto a football field. But the man who drafted Bob Hayes in Dallas wouldn't hesitate bringing Bolt to the NFL.

"Someone asked me the other day what I thought about the idea of making Olympic gold-medal sprinter Usain Bolt a football player," former Cowboys personnel director Gil Brandt writes in a column for NFL.com. "Let's put it this way: If Hall of Fame general manager Tex Schramm and I were still running the Cowboys, we'd be in Jamaica right now waiting for Bolt's plane to land."

To the surprise of no one, Chad Pennington has been named the Dolphins' starter.

Pennington vs. Brett Favre in Miami on opening day.

Can't wait.

The Giants and Michael Strahan have had preliminary discussions about a potential return to the team, although it's premature to say whether Strahan would be willing to come back. It depends on whether he wants to actually play, and how much he's willing to play for.

If the asking price is too high, the Giants will respectfully decline. But if they get a sense that Strahan would return at an affordable rate (probably the estimated $6 million they were talking about paying him if he came back this season) then there's a much better chance a deal gets done.

Well, like any good poker player, he isn't saying. The only thing he acknowledges is that he will consider all options as the Giants move forward without Osi Umenyiora.

But one thing keeps coming back to me that tells me the Strahan deal WILL NOT get done.

If it's true that Strahan would need a pile of money - again, we're talking $10-12 million - then why would anyone think Reese is ready to make that kind of investment and swallow up just about all the team's remaining salary cap space?

And I ask that while thinking back to last year, when Reese was a rookie GM and he stared down Strahan during his absence from training camp. With reports swirling that Strahan would only return to the Giants if they upped their offer from the $4 million on his contract, Reese did not blink. He didn't offer a penny more.

Strahan was the one who ultimately decided to keep playing, and he did so at his designated salary.

So, I ask: Why would Reese suddenly more than double the $4 million on the final year of Strahan's contract, especially after moving Kiwanuka back to right end in Umenyiora's absence? For a 36-year-old defensive end who announced his retirement 77 days ago?

Just askin'.