A fantastic and illuminating column by Phil Sheridan on the plight of Brian Westbrook and how circumstance and NFL economics can combine to cheat a player:

Westbrook really has been shortchanged by the NFL’s system. Because he was a third-round pick, he didn’t get a big signing bonus in his rookie contract. Because he played for the minimum salaries in his first three years, he truly “outperformed” his contract, to borrow a phrase from Drew Rosenhaus. And because the Eagles still have the right to slap a franchise tag on him next winter, Westbrook may not get to unrestricted free agency until 2007 or even 2008.

You can see why the man is frustrated. He could go his entire career without getting the big guaranteed bonus that establishes his financial security. And it’s all because of where he was drafted and the position he plays.

Consider his fellow members of the Eagles’ 2002 draft class. Lito Sheppard was a first-round pick, so he got nearly $4 million in his rookie year, even though he barely played behind Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor. Last year, Sheppard signed an extension that featured an $8.7 million signing bonus and $15.1 million in salary through 2011.

So Sheppard has already banked nearly $12 million. For a first-round cornerback, life is sweet.

Second-round pick Sheldon Brown got paid $2.25 million from his rookie contract before getting a $7.5 million signing bonus on an extension last year. That means he has banked roughly $10 million.

Westbrook, taken one round later, has made a total of about $1.3 million in bonus and salary. He is scheduled to make $1.43 million on his restricted free agent tender this season.

That sounds like a lot of money to the average person, and it is. But for a guy who has been the second-most important offensive player on a championship-caliber team, behind only the quarterback, it’s a pittance.

If ever there was a time to side with a player over management, this is it.

If I was the editor of Movieline or GQ or Foreign Affairs, I’d hire Brendon Donnelly to do Hollywood industry analysis. Today’s defense of Scarlett Johansson is pretty excellent:

“The actress was too good” might be the laziest excuse for a movies failure ever. It’s like saying “I could have won Daytona if only my car had been slower.”

Has anyone out there tried a Bodum vacuum coffee maker?

I’m a sucker for kitchen gadgets and while, strictly speaking, I don’t need a new coffee maker, I’m always open to new things.

Sad, disturbing news: The great Marc Cohn was shot over the weekend after a concert in Denver. Poor guy. Not only does he have to endure watching his best songs turn into hits only when they’re covered by more famous acts, but now he gets carjacked and shot.

Pour one for him tonight.

Andy Ferguson’s long piece on the many problems afflicting the National Mall is smart, sad–and funny! To wit:

The Park Service’s ultimate desire was made public, indiscreetly, by John Parsons, associate regional park director for the mall. In 2000 Parsons told the Washington Post he hoped that eventually all unauthorized traffic, whether by foot or private car, would be moved off the mall. Visitors could park in distant satellite lots and be bused to nodal points, where they would be watered and fed, allowed to tour a monument, and then reboard a bus and head for another monument. “Just like at Disneyland,” Parsons told the Post. “Nobody drives through Disneyland. They’re not allowed. And we’ve got the better theme park.”

Anyone who has tried to visit the Mall recently will experience a shudder of recognition at these words. But then Ferguson moves onto a cultural problem:

When the [Vietnam] memorial was finished, the interest groups only metastasized. The sculpture, once installed, faced charges of sexism. Why, among the three soldiers, were there no women? The memorial’s sponsors pointed to the granite inscription, which dedicates the structure to the “men and women” who served in Vietnam. Some nervy officials even dared to mention that of the 58,000 military dead in the war, only 8 were women, and that the 10,000 women who served in Vietnam constituted 33/100 of 1percent of the total American force. Needless to say, there is now a Vietnam Women’s Memorial too, in a stand of trees thirty yards off to the side.

Place this profusion next to the Iconic Law of Longevity and you’ve got real problems:

These things are eternal. A memorial placed on the mall nowadays, no matter how initially offensive or widely criticized, can never be undone. Before too long it takes on the neutrality of the familiar. Then it becomes popular, then beloved, and then, inevitably, beyond criticism; the unavoidable word is “iconic.” In time, the original criticism will even be used as proof that any criticism of a new project must be misbegotten, too. (Hard to believe, but even the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was controversial when it was first proposed . . . ) Both the World War II and Vietnam memorials are fully as obtrusive and tasteless as their early critics feared. But they’re here to stay.

It’s a wonderful piece of work when a writer can educate you, paint a picture of unavoidable catastrophe, and still give you laughs along the way.

That’s Ferguson for you. God bless the mainstream media.

From my blog crush:

Oh, I know, I hadn’t heard about it either, but these pics lead me to believe that Britney might be expecting. She’s a bit of a recluse who prefers to live her life with a quiet dignity rarely seen today, so I’m not surprised news on her has been hard to come by. These pictures perfectly illustrate her famous understated humility. I can only imagine what brilliant witticism she’s regaling her party with here. Although, if I know Britney – and I like to think I do – they probably chartered this 100 foot yacht to find a quiet spot and share their feelings about the passing of Peter Jennings.

Follow the link to see the pictures to experience the full funny.

I’m just saying that the headline “MONROE DISAPPOINTED BY SEXUAL ENCOUNTER WITH CRAWFORD” really misses the newsiness of the story, which is:

Monroe said, “We went to Joan’s bedroom… Crawford had a gigantic orgasm and shrieked like a maniac.

“Next time I saw Crawford she wanted another round. I told her straight I didn’t much enjoy doing it with a woman.”

I mention all of this not out of prurience, or a desire to point out that the Babe of the Century tried out the hot girl-on-girl action, but simply because I’m shocked at the poor of news judgment you see today out there in the MSM. It’s called burying the lede.

Where’s CJR when you need them?

TV Newser is suggesting that Peter Jennings has taken a turn for the worse. Keep him and his family in your prayers.