Aerosmith, arguably the greatest American rock band in history, is said to be looking for a new lead singer.  Formed in the late 1960's and signed by Columbia Records in 1972, Aerosmith sold over 150-million albums worldwide and has been one of the top touring musical acts for decades.  Their inside feuds and outside addictions caused band changes and a hiatus in the early 1980's but they re-established themselves as rock 'n roll legends with a 1987 comeback called Permanent Vacation.

Steven Tyler, who fronted the band for almost 40 years, has reportedly left his "toxic twin" (Joe Perry) and band mates in Aerosmith to pursue a solo career.  If true, my suggestion for Steven would be to find a band in the same division so he can compete directly with them.  This way he can show everyone who the real star was, including his former band, their management and the fans.

Oops, wrong front man.

 "Change is good", a famous man once said (and an ordinary man just quoted in a blog) and things, over time, can became stale.  In honor of Steven Tyler's decision to cut the cord and move forward, these are my Top 3 Sports Figures should also take a 'Permanent Vacation' from the outfits they helped make successful.

1. Bobby Bowden and Florida State

With 2 national championships and 12 conference titles, Bobby is a coaching legend.  But according to my calendar, his success in the late 1980's and early 1990's occurred in the previous century.  Since 2001, Florida State has lost at least 4 games in all but 2 seasons.  On the all-time list, he is currently 7 wins (21 if you vacate the wins from 2006-2007 for NCAA violations) behind Joe Paterno.  More revealing, however, is that he actually led JoPa by a handful of games before the 21st century slide began.  And Bobby lost playing in the ACC (a BASKETBALL conference) while Penn State plays in the Big Ten.

Years ago, the Seminoles have fallen to being the 2nd best college football team in the state (Florida Gators), recently to 3rd best (Miami, Fla), now, arguably 4th (South Florida) and eventually 5th (UCF).

Dadgumit, Bobby!  It's time to move on so FSU can move ahead.

2. Larry Brown and NBA

  Since he was always looking ahead to his next job, this separation needs to be from an entire league.  While Brown often improved the teams he coached, he needs to be judged in the same, harsh fashion that others are critiqued - by how many championships he won (in the NBA, for Larry, that's 1).  His supporters will brag that Brown has won more than 1,000 regular season games but then overlook that his winning percentage is hardly extraordinary (.557).

He hasn't made the NBA playoffs since leaving Detroit in 2005 (2 teams ago).  His Charlotte Bobcats finished fourth in their division last season and, in 2006-2006, he led the New York Knicks to only 23 wins.  Almost as many teams as he's coached during his career.

3. Al Davis and Oakland Raiders

When you own a team that plays in the same league as the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions, and still your team is considered the joke of the NFL, you have issues.  A proud franchise that once would boast 'Just win, baby!", now begs "Just win, please?"  The Raiders have not won more than 5 games in a season since 2002.

His draft picks are atrocious and his coaching hires are head-scratchers.  Some are confusing to Al, himself.  In 2008, when at the press conference to announce his most recent head coach (Tom Cable), microphones were able to pick up Davis asking his public relations department for information since he barely knew the man he had just hired.

Sadly, only one thing will give the football fans in the East Bay area a permanent vacation from this buffoon.