Digesting Turkey & the Bengals....December 27, 2005 column

• We lost one-third of our participants in the Win or Die Pool to the Bengals this weekend. That's right, the Bengals, 11-3 on the season, lost AT HOME to the lowly Buffalo Bills, who were 0-6 on the road this season, including losses to New Orleans (who does not even have a home) by 12 and Oakland by 21. At least Chad Johnson was giving out Christmas gifts when he scored. Assuming each of the 16 losers (which included me, so yes, this is ALL about sour grapes) spent 1.25 hours each week researching, debating, and discussing their pick, and then 3.25 hours sweating out the game itself, then another 30 minutes relishing in (bragging about) their win (or in this case, crushing loss), each of the 16 Bengal selectors has spent 80 hours this season on the win or die pool. That is a collective 53+ days, or almost TWO MONTHS, of collective time chasing the dream, of becoming Dils Win or Die Champion, all crushed in three short hours by a team that was evidently too focused on making team videos and handing out footballs in the end zone to worry about actually trying to secure a first round bye. So, yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, but he doesn't live in Cincinnati, and he does not wear #85.
• If Santa Claus doe not live in Cincinnati, then by definition he did not attend the game when fans threw snowballs in the field and Sam Wyche yelled "You Don't Live in Cleveland, You Live in Cincinnati."
• There have abeen a couple good bowl games so far, with Nevada beating George O'Leary's UCF Knights in Overtime on a missed PAT, after Central Florida rallied from down 10 in the final minute of regulation to tie it. Last night, Memphis hung on to withstand a spirited rally by Akron behind the last underrated, tremendous performance in an amazing career from D'Angelo Williams. Look for some NFL team to be very pleased they drafted this kid as he will be a star on the next level.
• Nobody got back to me on Johnny Greer's whereabouts, which proves one of two things: 1) Nobody knows what the hell happened to Johnny Greer, or 2) Nobody reads these columns!!!
• I love my iPod, but I have to tell you, they do not have good fail-safes for people like me from screwing their system up. I accidentally deleted my entire iPod library of over 1,200 songs over the weekend (songs I spent hours/days downloading from my CDs or paying for from itunes). I think this happened right after the Bengal game. Needless to say, I had a joyous Saturday.
• '24' is the best show on television. It is simply riveting and action packed for all 24 of its episodes. For any of you who haver not yet gotten hooked, I urge you to set aside two hours on each of January 15th and 16th to watch the first four episodes of the new season on Fox. I would bet every one of you who gives this show that chance will be hooked. Personally, I cannot wait to see Jack Bauer back in action. Keifer Sutherland does a great job in that role.
• Sirius has not done a good job surrounding the consumer with Howard Stern messages. This is their $500 million gamble. Anyone who has ever been in brand management and launched a new product knows that you only get one chance and a very small window after a product launch to build momentum or you are doomed. I figured we would be seeing a barrage everywhere we looked with Howard Stern offers, but it has been relatively quiet (yes, some ads, but they are not hitting you over the head with it). There should have been messages everywhere, including paid media, public relations, promotions, etc. Maybe they have no money for this stuff after paying Howard. I am guessing that subscriber growth will be less than analysts are looking for. I hope not, as I am looking forward to January 9th, and Howard's debut!
• Question: who is in line for the first pick in the draft if Houston beats San Fran this week (obviously the Texans get the pick if 49ers win)? I think the Jets, New Orleans, Green Bay, and San Francisco could all somehow get it, but nobody seems to have clarified it....
• Great college hoops game tonight with Gonzaga facing Memphis. Look for the Tigers to win at home. Mark Few seems to ghave gone to the Tom Izzo school of scheduling, as their schedule has been brutal to date. With their conference being weak this year, it will be interesting to see how that helps them with seeding and on the court in March.