Monday S.P.O.R.T.S. Cam: Bad breaks, worst football state wrapup

A lot of fans whine about the two-week layoff between the NFL championship games and the Super Bowl, but it's for the benefit of players, coaches and team officials who need to make ticket arrangements and hotel accommodations for their mistresses. Consequently, this extra week is here to stay. All fans can do is grin and bear it and wait for the first player to get arrested in Tampa.

This two-week layoff is perhaps the most unbearable down time in sports, but by no means the only one. Here are some other times that try men's souls:

• The Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday following the first weekend of the men's NCAA basketball tournament: Arguably the first four days of the tournament are the most exciting stretch in sports, with games from noon to midnight, the occasional upset, and just about everyone discussing their brackets. But then it's over, and then we have to wait through Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to call out sick again.

• The day AFTER opening day in baseball: I know why the teams schedule an off day between opening day and the second game of the year; it's in case opening day is rained out. I also know why some people pay for that extra insurance on their rental cars. Like Bud Selig, they live in fear.

• In baseball, the two-plus weeks of interleague play every June: In 2009, the Red Sox play the Phillies, Marlins, Braves and Nationals -- and then the Braves again! Oh, boy. If John Smoltz is healthy, he'll be the only person who cares!

• The All-Star break in baseball: We've been watching our teams play every night for three-plus months and now we get nothing meaningful for three consecutive days. Meanwhile, one unlucky Royals player has to cancel his fishing trip.

• The period between your Fantasy draft and the start of the regular season: Usually you try to schedule your Fantasy football and baseball drafts for as close to the start of the regular season as possible, but it doesn't always work out that way. Consequently, you draft your team and then pray for several weeks, hoping the guys you drafted don't get arrested at an Atlanta nightclub, thereby ruining your chances to look like a genius.

• The Friday and Saturday after the Thursday night kickoff to the NFL season: This is like holding Christmas Eve on a Thursday, teasing your kid by giving him one present, then holding Christmas Day three days later, at which point your frustrated child simply wants to kill you and burn the remaining presents.

• When your team closes out its series and has to wait for another series to finish: This happens in the NBA and the NHL all the time, but the most publicized layoff in recent sports history involved the Colorado Rockies in 2007. Following a stretch when they won 21 of 22 games, including back-to-back sweeps of the Phillies and Diamondbacks, the Rockies had to wait eight days while the Red Sox and Indians finished a hard-fought ALCS.

If you can find a Rockies fan, don't tell them that momentum is a myth.

• The layoff before bowl games: Hey, instead of playing games, let's bitch about the BCS for 51 days.

• Jan. 1-Dec. 31: For Seattle and Cleveland fans.

Wow, there were some great substitutes for football yesterday. After four-plus months of gridiron goodness, we had these Sunday options to choose from:

On CBS: Motocross, men's college basketball (Florida/Vanderbilt, Michigan State/Ohio State).
On NBC: Skiing, international auto show, figure skating.
On Fox: Two movies -- Out of Sight and The Missing.
On ABC: NBA basketball -- Mavericks-Celtics, Spurs-Lakers.
On ESPN: Bowling, Winter X Games, Rockets/Pistons.
On some channel I never watch: NHL All-Star Game.

Even heroin addicts get weaned off with methadone. Hopefully you spent Sunday with loved ones, compensating for all those Sundays you ignored them to watch football. Or maybe you spent yesterday catching up on TiVo.

Same difference.

I don't have much respect for online sportswriters who don't let readers comment directly on their articles. If you're gonna opine about athletes or sports issues, or crack wise about Iowa and their lame football tradition, you ought to let people take shots at you directly -- and not just through e-mail, which you can filter out or keep to yourself, but right below your article.

At CBSSports.com and FoxSports.com, readers can comment directly on every article without exception. Consequently, writers like Gregg Doyel and Jason Whitlock cannot present a false image of universal public adoration.

At ESPN.com, readers can comment on every columnist except two -- Bill Simmons and Rick Reilly, two front-page columnists. So, what makes these humps so special? I couldn't think of a good reason, so I decided to ask Paul Melvin, ESPN spokesman. Here's our e-mail exchange:

Me: "Paul, I had a question about ESPN columnists that I was going to address in my CBS column on Monday: Why can't readers comment on Rick Reilly and Bill Simmons columns? And why is it only them? Is it to protect the idea that these two columnists are universally loved? Jemele Hill and DJ Gallo and Scoop Jackson and Gene W get hammered by some readers. Why isn't that same courtesy extended to Bill and Rick? Seems disingenuous. Thanks, Cameron Martin."

ESPN: "Cameron, Bill and Rick's accessibility to fans has always been part of their style, and they both have developed long-standing practices of engaging their fans. Bill has a history of using his interaction with his readers as part of his voice and has, through the years, developed a regular, robust 'mailbag' style column that is a favorite of readers. Rick's connection to the personal stories of people in all walks of life has helped give him his signature voice. With respect to those traditions, we've chosen to continue to present their interaction with readers through those avenues."

(As non-answers go, that's pretty good. Unfortunately I wasn't looking for a non-answer.)

Me: "Paul, thanks for the reply. Quick follow-up: In this new era of change, transparency and accountability, isn't it a bit antiquated and un-American to try to control feedback from the public? What if President Obama wanted to comment directly on one of Rick Reilly's stories? Shouldn't he be able to announce to the world, ‘Rick, you're an inspiration to millions everywhere'?"

ESPN: "Hi Cameron. Appreciate the follow up, but I think our earlier comment is all we're going to have to offer here. Paul Melvin."

Got that, sports fans? If you want to tell me I suck, you can go to the bottom of this article. If you want to tell Rick Reilly he sucks, you can go to hell.

Next summer on Spike, 12 contestants -- six receivers and six defensive backs -- will compete for the opportunity to make the Cowboys' 80-man training camp roster. No word yet on the name of the show, which will be hosted by Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, but producers released the identities of at least two of the 12 contestants:
• North Dallas' own Phil Elliott.
• One-time Shelly Marcone associate Billy Cole.

I love living in New England, but man, we suck at football. I'm not talking about the Patriots, of course; I'm talking about Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine – four of the 14 states that have never produced a Hall of Fame football player.

Given the new format of this column, I doubt I'll ever get to finish my series called Worst State for Football. I addressed Iowa, Arizona and Maryland, but the other 11 states will probably never get the full treatment. That said, we need to identify them.

Again, the Hall of Fame lists its inductees according to birthplace, so here are the remaining states that have never sent anyone to Canton: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wyoming.

So, which is the Worst State for Football? Personally, I'd vote for Maryland. It's an old state with a big city (Baltimore), so it's rather sad that Marylanders spend more time developing boys for a useless sport like lacrosse. I mean, have you ever watched a professional lacrosse game? Oh you have? Then you're probably from Maryland.

Should Heath Ledger win an Academy Award for playing the Joker?   66%  Yes     34%  No     Total Votes: 469

How bogus is it for actors like Robert Downey Jr., who have to compete with Heath Ledger for acting awards this season? No disrespect to Ledger, but the guy's going to win an Academy Award for playing the Joker, a role that's been played by how many other people on film and television? If Daniel Craig dies, will he be nominated for his role as James Bond?

Heath Ledger didn't win an Oscar for Brokeback Mountain, but now he's going to win one for The Dark Knight, which will serve one purpose: to make self-congratulatory Academy voters feel good about themselves. "Oh, look at me, I voted for a dead guy. I'm so hip and compassionate."

If you want to honor his legacy, give Ledger a lifetime achievement award and let his family accept on his behalf. But don't give him the Oscar just because he's dead. That's just completely stupid.

And frankly, "everybody knows you never go full retard."