If you are a BC fan, you might want to watch Jeopardy at least once before the end of the week. I do not offer the suggestion because of any particular contestant, but because it's the College Tournament and it's being held at USC's Galen Hall. The producers have arranged for the school's marching band to play its fight song at the beginning of each show. In the wake of a recent announcement, I think that BC fans might want to accustom themselves to hearing that song. Come 2011, they'll be hearing it all too often.

In case you haven't heard, Boston College has grown tired of playing in the Who Gives A Damn Bowl evey year. Apparently they have reached the conclusion that a non-conference schedule replete with MAC also-rans and New England's finest 1-AA schools isn't going to get them the into big money games. So now BC is planning to venture from it's cushy lair and play a real, honest-to-goodness, no-foolin' powerhouse, the Trojans of the University of Southern Cal.

BC must be desperate to make a move like this. Leaving the Big East hasn't exactly panned out the way they'd hoped. Rutgers, Louisville and West Virginia have all garnered more national attention playing in the conference where Eagles no longer dare than BC has received in the new ACC. Stuck up on their island in New England, BC's football program is facing a crossroads.

The school they wish to consider their big rival, Notre Dame, doesn't feel compelled to play BC. And it has nothing to do with the fact that BC has beaten Notre Dame in the last four meetings. Notre Dame has huge rivalries with USC, Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue. The Irish have played these teams year in and year out for decades. Even the longstanding series with the Naval Academy has roots in the fact that the US Navy used Notre Dame as a satellite officer training facility, enabling the then all-male school to stay open during World War II.

BC has yet to build a rivalry with any school because they have a mediocre program in a region not known for producing great high school football players. And the best high school player the region turned out in the last 30 years, Mark Bavaro, played at Notre Dame. I am aware of the midget QB who drop-kicked conversions in the autumn of his years. But Bavaro's run while dragging the 49ers defense including the great Ronnie Lott is still more impressive than one long pass, all the Grey Cups in Canada and the cereal war with Jimmy Johnson.

And yet that is not the only football related story on my mind these days. I wonder sometimes why Crystal Pepsi is hardly ever remembered these days while New Coke is a comedy staple for every tool who thinks he's ten times funnier than he is. I realize that New Coke was a worse idea implemented on a much bigger scale, but can we get a moratorium on New Coke references? They tell me variety is the spice of life, people. So can we have at least one other soft drink included in the common store of bad jokes?

I say that to point out that one NFL team has placed the franchise tag on an important piece of its defense and been killed in the media for that decision. Meanwhile, another organization which has long been deemed the benchmark of excellence in sports has also franchised a malcontent from its defense. Both players are threatening to hold out this season, but only the first team is being pilloried.

On the remote chance that I have been too subtle to this point, the first player is Lance Briggs of the Chicago Bears (sort of). The second player isn't Justin Smith who needed to step up his game to earn a franchise tag, but since he's yet to be arrested, he was incredibly valuable to the Bengals. It's Asante Samuel, whose ten interceptions would have tied him with Champ Bailey for the league lead if three of Samuel's picks hadn't come against Rex Grossman so they can't be counted. Now Asante has been tagged as the Patriots franchise player, and he's not happy about it.

I think part of the vast surplus of attention paid to Lance Briggs is due to the Drew Rosenhaus factor. Who of us can forget the fake phone call with Willis McGahee from the 2003 draft? Or the memorable afternoon where he fielded questions while TO did callisthenics in his driveway? Or any other situation where Rosehaus used his client's situation to get himself on TV?

At this point, I'm not sure what value Drew Rosenhaus brings to the table. He gets his clients lots of money, but I am not convinced that he gets the best possible deal for his clients. I think that any competent agent could have gotten TO a truckload of guaranteed money, even after the McNabb situation in Philly. Rosenhaus and the circus atmosphere after the Eagles deactivated TO hurt his client's image more than it helped. If TO had been even slightly less talented, that could have been an eight figure mistake.

But back to Lance Briggs. The Bears have an All-Pro middle linebacker at the moment, and Hunter Hillenmeyer is as good a strong-side OLB as there is in the game, even if you may not have heard much about him. They have a great secondary, even if it did take a step back when they picked up Adam Archuletta. Their defensive line is very good at the moment, and it could be great even if Tank Johnson doesn't get his head out of his ass, provided Tommy Harris (the best defensive lineman in the league) stays healthy and Dusty Dvorcek proves them right for letting Ian Scott get away. The Bears can survive without Briggs, probably better than he will going to a team with fewer players for more guaranteed money.

The Patriots aren't so fortunate, even though they have the best offense that any one has seen for many years on paper. Ellis Hobbs just isn't that good, and he's the best player in the secondary at the moment. Brandon Merriweather needs to demonstrate that he can do more than kick a man when he's down (bullies, particularly of the gutless variety, are a better fit for the local baseball team). Rodney Harrison is one injury away from losing a limb or being featured in an NBC documentary entitled A Nation's Strong Safety.

The rest of their defense consists of a very good defensive line, a high-priced group of outside linebackers and a group of inside backers who are decrepit, on a good day. I don't mean to be unduly harsh, but can you really tell me that if this were one of those Animal Planet shows, the wolf pack wouldn't be eyeing Teddy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel? They'd last about ten minutes on the Serengeti. The Patriots need Samuel more than the Bears need Briggs.

I think the final part of the puzzle to explain why the Bears have taken more heat than the Pats for their respective potential holdouts is the media itself. The Bears play in a big market with an independent and aggressive media. The Patriots play in a big market with a complicated media environment, those who aren't wholly owned subsidiaries of the franchises are lazy and unimaginative. The small amount of effort and thought I put into this post might kill a guy like the CHB. He confined his critiques of the Patriots to the Tom Brady-knocked up ex situation and Randy Moss, bad guy material.

But remember this, New England, the Patriots will live to regret the Samuel situation more than the Branch situation if they let it get out of control. They will also live to regret the Samuel hold out more than the Bears will regret the Lance Briggs mess. When it happens, I'll be there to say I told you so. I may not be here for the beatings USC will apply to BC since that's three years away at the earliest, but we can spare an I told you so for the Eagles too.

We have a slight delay before we can get to the tool of note segment. Bill Simmons shamelessly picked Holy Cross to defeat Southern Illinois. Perhaps it comes from living under the blanket of smog which, according to Ray Bones in Get Shorty is the reason for the beautiful sunsets in LA. Or maybe it comes from attending a school starved for any athletic achievement since Tommy Heinshon tore it up on Mt. St. James back in the 1950s.

I have seen Southern Illinois play. And Holy Cross has more chance of winning the BCS national championship than they have of winning this game. Watching the Holy Cross game against Bucknell, I got a reasonable idea of the strengths and weaknesses of Tim Clifford. In my stream of consciousness post on Friday last, I described him as a cross between Quentin Tarantino, Boo Radley and the Missing Link. I stand by that. There is no way he can handle Randal Falker on the SIU front line.

Falker gave Patrick O'Bryant a tough time in last year's MVC Championship game. O'Bryant was a lottery pick in last season's NBA draft. Tim Clifford won't be a lottery pick, unless of course you mean the state lottery. Or Ainge is even worst than I think and overreacts when the Cs lose out in the lottery. And the idea that the RA can handle Jamaal Tatum is totally preposterous.

People can sell the MVC short all they want, and against the power conferences you might be right. But Holy Cross comes from the Patriot League. So Bucknell caught Kansas by surprise a couple of years ago, and statistically speaking the odds of lightning striking the same place twice are no worse than the odds of it striking at all. Nevertheless, if HC loses this game by less than 15, I will regard it as a minor miracle.

But enough about Holy Cross, it's time for the tool of the note. I hadn't really expected to do this, but this mess has gone on too long. I am sick to death of Lance Briggs. At first, I thought it was going to be a big loss for the Bears when he demanded to be traded or else. Now I'm not so sure.

First of all, how do you whine about $7.2 million for one year's work and expect the fans to sympathize with you? Maybe you would command a lot more guaranteed money on the open market, but most of the fans would play for the Bears for $7.20. And yes, you could get hurt and risk losing the $20 or $25 million in guaranteed money, but you could also slip in the shower or hurt yourself working out or fall on some ice while you're holding out.

I liked Lance Briggs before this situation developed. I was on his side as far as the franchise tag was concerned, but after he came out in the ESPN interview and started talking about taking out loans to sustain him through the holdout, I'm out. I'm sure Lance won't lose much sleep over losing my support. It is his right, and his choice, but there are a lot worse things than playing out a season on a one year deal worth the average of the top five salaries at your position.

Yes, he led the Bears in solo tackles this past season and went to his second consecutive Pro Bowl. But none of that justifies the massive ego he shows the world on his website and in his recent interviews. The highlight montage is depressingly narcissistic. And ordinarily I don't have a problem with massive egos (just look at my continual defense of Terrell Owens). But I usually like to see a little bit more to justify that ego than what Lance Briggs has turned in to date.

His numbers are good, but I can't remember a single defining postseason moment, and I watched every minute of the Bears loss to Carolina last year and the Super Bowl run this year. Terrell Owens, whose massive ego is undeniable and whom I have defended so often that a friend joked that I would probably defend him even if he came to the door and kicked me in the groin, has two major defining postseason moments. First, there is the huge TD catch that beat the Packers when he was with the 49ers (which also redeemed him from several big drops that day). The other is the day he totally outplayed Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch when Philly lost to NE.

I think the real villain in the Lance Briggs saga is his agent and well known archtool, Drew Rosenhaus. For the record, I am aware that Rosenhaus is also TO's agent, and Rosenhaus has an extremely well-publicized record of getting big deals for his clients through (or in spite of) this type of saber rattling. It's just that I find myself wondering whether he could get his clients good contracts without getting his face on TV so often.

And in the interest of fairness, I had to go to TO's website. I know those of you who read this probably won't believe this, but it's my first visit. I have to say, as much as I love to watch him play football, TO sucks as a rapper. But then, I'm not the best judge of music. I think it might be good thing that BIG and Tupac died young. Make no mistake, the manner in which they departed was deplorable, and I do not condone violence in any way, shape or form. I just think that people who look at what might have been and say why not (with apologies to the late Robert Kennedy) are a little bit optimistic for my taste.

Listen to any track off The Chronic (especially Deep Cover, my personal favorite) and tell me it doesn't kick ass on Dre's later work. And can you tell me that asking a little mama to show you what she's got in ever so slightly different ways over and over is an artistic achievement on par with Hard Knock Life, but I must thank Shawn Carter for not murdering everything moving since his subsequent material (only part of his situation) did not improve on that particular track. Very, very, very few people keep getting better with age in any profession.

The list of people who lose whatever fleeting, ephemeral quality that makes them phenomena is a mile long. Dennis Leary was the first to bring this trend to my attention in No Cure For Cancer, and it applies to him too. What has he done that was as funny (but he does great things for fallen firefighters and their families)?
But I digress. After all, no one comes to Sedition in Red Sox Nation for their perspective on the history of hip hop, or at least I hope they read me for other reasons like my gentle sarcasm and kind words for tools.

PS - In case you care, my response to the Owens kicking me in the groin joke was that I would, and I'd assume I had done something to deserve it. Unfortunately, I can't promise that I would be as eloquent as George C. Scott in Man Getting Hit By Football from one of the all time great Simpsons episodes. And I'm sorry if I misspelled the name of Torey Thomas (HC point guard and RA) in last Friday's post. I would wish I had a better excuse than laziness if it were more important to me that I knew his name in the first place.