TVSquad

Anyone who's followed the NFL over the last fifteen years knew what Michael Strahan's plans were going to be after retirement: TV, TV and more TV. It was a given; during most of his career with the Giants, Strahan loved to be in front of the camera, and often did commentary and studio gigs on his off-weeks or during the playoffs.

Now, with a Super Bowl ring in-hand, the newly-retired defensive end is making his move. Not only has he joined the FOX NFL pregame show, but he also just completed filming a cameo on the NBC geek adventure comedy Chuck. He plays Mitt, the manager of the sporting goods store that's in the same shopping center as Buy More, the store where Chuck works. He and his crew take over the home theater portion of the store during lunchtimes, playing Madden '09 and making a mess. My guess is that we'll set up a geeks vs. jocks scenario with retail being the venue, instead of the locker room.

I love a parade as much as the next guy. I especially love a parade that celebrates a championship for a team that I've been following since 1980. So, I was ready and eager to watch my beloved New York Giants float down New York's "Canyon of Heroes" for the first time ever, a just reward for beating the "perfect" Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

But, of course I couldn't completely enjoy it. Why? because, no matter what channel I tuned in to (and, here in the New York area, the parade was on every channel), I heard something that made my head rattle and my ear hair stand on end.

It was people. Talking.

The move by the NFL to exclusively air this weekend's game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants on their own NFL network, which reaches only 40% of US households, was met with much criticism and frustration. With a win this weekend, the Patriots would become the first team to go undefeated in a 16-game season (the Dolphins did it in the 14-game '72 season).

Now it looks like pressure from Washington has changed their mind and suddenly the game is airing on NFL Network and both NBC and CBS. Of course, several local affiliates to the two teams had already negotiated exclusive rights to the game and sold ads at inflated rates, so they can't be too happy about having to share the game now with CBS and NBC.