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Yea, I took a week off - just like the Packers and Steelers.

Joe Thomas is outright stealing money. Not only did he get named to the Pro Bowl after having getting all three Browns’ QBs hurt, as we noted a few weeks ago, but he picked up another cool $1.5 million doing it. What genius front office wizard agreed to that little incentive in his contract and is he still employed by the Browns?

We like the Steelers 27-20 over the Packers – too physical and too much experience. How the Packers are favored over a team that’s been there done that, comes from a better conference, had a better record (12 wins to 10) and is a number #2 seed overall compared to a #6, is beyond me. The Steelers should be laying 3 1/3 in my book.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, we totally missed on Clay Mathews’ kid coming out of USC. We got it wrong. My apologies. Like I said several weeks ago – you never make the same mistake twice. His kid at Oregon will be an overachiever at the next level.

The Browns hired Dick Jauron (this is a correction - last week I wrote Dick Labeau) as their D-coordinator. Whoopie fizz! Until they get a couple pass rushers and a linebacker or two who play downhill, it won’t matter. You can dress up a pig, but it’s still a f%$#@ing pig. For example, both D-coordinators in the Super are considered outstanding at what they do, but it helps their resumes immensely having MVP-type players on the roster playing for them (i.e. Mathews/Harrison).

I hear the Lakers are old and done because they have a lousy record against very good teams. So what? It’s only the beginning of February. They will likely be left standing at the end. That’s who I would put my money on still. And you can probably get some decent odds taking LA right now in Vegas.

Why do they even play the NFL Pro Bowl? I have never watched more than 5 minutes of that game in my life. Moving it prior to the Super Bowl was a good idea – and we suggested it years ago – but now I want it abolished. It’s still unwatchable. You want to know when you have a gambling problem? You have a problem when you put $ on the Pro Bowl or which Super Bowl team wins the coin flip.

Some local talk show wizard stirred up conversation last week asking fans if the Browns should take Cam Newton because Cleveland has passed on Flacco, Big Ben, etc…, and now they have to face these “top tier” QBs in their division twice a year. First of all, they also passed on a ton of QB busts. And secondly, Flacco is better than average, Ben is going to the HOF, but no one is his right mind would say he carries teams like Manning and Brady do, and Carson Palmer is just about done. So stop the madness – no Cam Newton, please. This team has a dozen holes to fill. The Texas rancher proved he can play some. Now let’s find out how good he can be, starting with getting him a couple professional receivers and a pass rusher or two who can get him a few more possessions each week. By the way, I hear from the local media the Browns need a pass rush and some receivers. Really? Welcome on board fellas. It took you nearly 40 years on the pass rush. But look at the bright side – it only took two full seasons to figure out they were lacking at WR. Like I said several times, Mangini should have been canned based on his drafting second round busts alone.

The Indians’ equipment truck went west this past week without any fanfare. That organization went from the model of the mid-market MLB teams 10 years ago to an afterthought during the Mark Shapiro era. Meanwhile, their PR head was on the radio the other day spinning how they have been mostly competitive the past 10 years if it wasn’t for injuries and the loss of two Cy Young Award winners. Really? The last time I checked, had you allocated your funds properly you could have signed at least one of those two (CC). We gave you the blueprint a year in advance – use the money you were going to allocate for Hafner and add it in to what you offer CC. You can always get a decent DH, but you can’t find 20 game winners hanging on trees. As for the injuries – come on. The Packers lost ¼ of their roster early on this season and they are in the Super Bowl this week. Perhaps if you hadn’t blown so many draft picks over the past 10 years, you would have had some depth in the organization to withstand injuries better. Of course, the host never questioned DiBiasio. He didn’t know any better.

I almost feel sorry for Byron Scott. And I never feel sorry for a professional coach making several million dollars a year. But this guy went from thinking he was going to coach LBJ to coaching a CBA team. How that team never had a plan B in place is still beyond me. We begged and demanded they have one in place back in May of last year.

As for the Egyptian crisis, our friends/allies around the world must be thinking “Wow, this is how the U.S. treats a strong ally after 30 years?” Hosni Mubarek, the leader of Egypt, has been arguabl the United States’ strongest ally in the Middle East, this side of Israel. The guy is no wallflower. He’s an autocrat. We know. But he’s our autocrat. Now, the current administration wants him to high-tail it out the door yesterday, leaving a potential power vacuum behind. Nice. I’m not saying we should be telling this guy he should stay in power indefinitely, but the messages we are currently sending are the wrong ones and show off how naïve this administration is when it comes to foreign affairs. Then again, this is the same President who has said on numerous occasions he envisions a world without nuclear weapons. Right – and I believe in the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny.