The Media Circus - where Roger Goodell provides double-talk

Last week it was news that the NFL is hoping to take the Super Bowl to London. Since then, Roger Goodell has said the topic has never been discussed and the league as a whole maintains that London is pushing for it — not the NFL. If you say so, NFL.

Whatever the case, the idea of a Super Bowl in London is enticing to some media members because it’ll be more fun for them. People like the San Diego Union Tribune’s Nick Capena …

Seriously. London would be a marvelous Super Bowl town. The game has been held in Jacksonville, where they recently discovered the luxury of indoor plumbing, for heaven’s sake. Why not the best place I’ve been?

So they go to Miami and Tampa and back to Miami and then to a new stadium town like Dallas and Indianapolis and then back to Miami. I’ve been to 25 of these things now. Pretty boring. Let’s liven it up.

If you would like to contact Nick Capena and tell him what a selfish media slob he is, do so here. ###MORE###

So about that whole London/UK thing …

The NFL is wanting to take a second regular season game overseas.

“The fan reaction we’ve had in London has been extraordinary. We would like to feed that passion. We have a great fan base in the UK. There have been discussions of taking the second game and playing it in another market in the UK. That’s something that we’ll evaluate.”

But that whole rumor about a Super Bowl in London was just mumbo jumbo.

Some NFL players immune to Favritis

The one good thing in the eternal Favre flirtations is that some players like Vikings’ linebacker Chad Greenway aren’t afraid to go against the rule of the chosen one:

“He’s retired a couple of times, so you wonder where his loyalties lie.”

“For us, we’re moving forward with what we’ve got here. We have a team that can obviously win at a high level, and we have a team that, moving forward, we think can really compete for an NFC North title again and get to the championship game and hopefully further.”

“As good as something may sound, we have a great team to play with right now, and there is no sense in looking outside of what we have.”

And then there’s an anonymous Jets player

“I wish somebody would come out and tell the truth about the guy. I’m sick of him. He just came here to give it a try? My career is too short for that.”

Bless the players living in reality.

Athlete-Media crossover providing unlimited entertainment

As the line between media and basement-blogger continue to blur, athletes are adding their own flavor to the mix to make things more confusing. Facebook, Twitter and personal sites are giving athletes their chance to join the fray.

One such athlete is Lions running back Kevin Smith, he of the ridiculous comments prior to the 2008 season.

“If I can come in and we can win the Super Bowl, that’ll mean more than anything thus far in my life up to this point. For us not to have been in the playoffs for a little bit of time now and for us to go straight to a Super Bowl my rookie year? You can’t ask for anything else.”

If you’re wondering, Kevin Smith stopped asking for a Super Bowl. An 0-16 record can have that effect on a person. He hasn’t, however, stopped making idiotic statements. At his official site, smith34.com, Smith avoided the trap of predicting how many games the team will win, but he did promise a playoff birth for the Lions in ‘09.

I won’t make a prediction about how many games we’re going to win, but I will say this: We will definitely make the playoffs this season.

It gets better. Much, much better …

Believe it or not we weren’t far off last year. Almost every game we could have won, we were one play or one player short. Except for Tennessee on Thanksgiving, they just came out and beat us to sleep. They manhandled us, but nobody else did.

WEREN’T FAR OFF LAST YEAR!?!?!? Kevin, you were 0-16! That’s the worst record in the history of pro football in America. And what about this theory that only Tennessee clobbered you guys last season? The following scores would indicate you were more than far off last season.

34-7 loss to Chicago

31-13 loss to San Francisco

38-14 loss to Jacksonville

38-20 loss to Tampa Bay

42-7 loss to New Orleans

Regardless of all that hullabaloo, Lions fans can rest assured that Kevin Smith is ready for 2009 …

But this is definitely my year. I’ve been thinking about how it’s been kind of similar to my experience in college, which would make this a breakout year for me. I’m working toward a Pro Bowl, working toward a championship.

Uh, yep. And before signing off, Smith wanted to provide a lasting contradiction …

Last year we didn’t play a lot of football. We gave games away as soon as we went to practice.

Thanks, Kevin. Good luck.

This just in … Drew Rosenhaus is full of crap

While athletes are Tweeting and blogging, so to are the agents. Revel in some of Drew Rosenhaus’ comments via his Twitter page. Drew apparently Tweets for those player he represents who don’t have a Twitter account. Gee, what a nice guy.

I’m confident Mike Jenkins will excel as a starting cornerback this year for the Cowboys. Mike is ready to assume a starting position @CB.

With the addition of Terrell Owens, the Bills may have the deepest group of receivers in the NFL. They will be tough to cover this year.

Look for Greg Jones to contribute as a runner this year for the Jags. Jones can be a #1 RB and he will get a lot of carries this season.

Despite drafting a WR, I expect the Vikings to take better advantage of Sidney Rice’s talent this season. Rice is ready to step up in 09.

The media has made a big deal about Thomas Jones missing voluntary workouts. Let’s see if they take the same approach with Leon Washington.

Shockingly, Rosenhaus doesn’t represent Leon Washington.

A parting gift for the NFL

Since this entire column has wrapped its claws around the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, we wanted ease up on the mockery and give the NFL an idea for it’s London Super Bowl.

It’s a match made in Heaven.

The Media Circus is written by Josh Bacott and Patrick Imig. They swear this stuff is real. Email them at [e-mail].