A Fine, Owens-free Existence.

Here’s an article that ranks the Broncos’ non-hiring of Terrell Owens as the number one good non-move of the offseason.

Owens wasn’t the final piece to a Super Bowl title, Elway reasoned. His baggage was too vast. A few weeks later, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen had already started to back away from the prospect. Though he had once suggested the Broncos would be interested in taking a look at the troubled Eagles wideout, the more real the prospect became, the less certain Bowlen sounded. And by the time Owens was released in March, practically the entire franchise had dug in its heels in hesitation.

Seven months later, it might have been the best thing to happen to the Broncos this season.

Playing master surgeons, dissecting all the moves that have shaped the postseason landscape, has become fans’ and the media’s favorite midseason habit in the NFL. But rarely does anyone consider that sometimes building a Super Bowl team is about avoiding the wrong moves. And as evidenced by Denver’s “Say No to T.O.” campaign this offseason – which kept the door open for the acquisition of Javon Walker – preventing bad acquisitions can be the difference between pacing your division and struggling to keep the franchise together.

Yeah, boy.

I’m Not Talkin’ About Legally Actionable...

Just because something isn’t illegal doesn’t make it right. OJ Simpson’s upcoming book, If I Did It, is disgusting enough as it is; who hasn’t come to expect this kind of demented publicity-mongering from the former football player? I can only hope that some of the proceeds go to pay the millions of dollars that he owes from the wrongful death lawsuit.

What bugs me most about this story is the publisher’s remark.

Judith Regan, whose ReganBooks imprint is publishing the book, declined to reveal further details of the book’s contents.

“This is an historic case, and I consider this his confession,” Regan told The Associated Press.

What kind of profit motive would encourage me to give a man like OJ Simpson a platform from which he could discuss the details of the murder? If she truly believes that this is OJ’s confession, how can she feel like anything other than a pimp for a murderer?

In a sense, it would seem that OJ got away with the perfect murder. He killed and got away with it, he still has some strange celebrity, and he can now, according to the article, talk about the murder all he wants with no fear of repercussions.

One expert noted that the justice system’s protection against being tried twice for the same crime means Simpson’s book, explosive as it may be, should not expose him to any new legal danger.

“He can write pretty much whatever he wants,” said Laurie Levenson, a Loyola University law school professor and former federal prosecutor who has followed the case closely. “Unless he’s confessing to killing somebody else, he can probably do this with impunity.”

The publisher should be ashamed; OJ is obviously well beyond any messages his conscience might be trying to send.

Mark Lanegan’s Birthday is Coming Up

What should we get him?

I’m Always Happy When Kansas Loses...

I’m extra-special happy when it comes in a way designed to make the Jayhawks look sort of bad. Like, for example, when they lose to Oral Roberts University.

I feel sort of guilty about this since my dislike of the Jayhawks is directly related to a difficult relationship. I can’t help it, though. The feeling comes straight from the gut.