NFL buffalo Bills

It seems like everybody has a distinct memory of what Michael Jackson meant to them, particularly those of us in our 30s, who grew up listening to him. For me, it was convincing my parents to buy the "Thriller" album (33 RPMs!), and listening to it for hours at a time on our sweet Curtis Mathes all-in-one home entertainment system that looked a lot like this.

For a college buddy of mine (who shall remain nameless to spare him the shame of what I'm about to write) it was probably attending breakdancing classes as a chubby preteen while sporting one sparkly glove and a backpack stuffed with his Cabbage Patch Kid. (Amazingly, he now holds down a full-time job and spent very little time in therapy.)

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And for Terrell Owens, the enigmatic NFL wideout currently with the Bills, it was a Michael Jackson dance contest. Via BuffaloBills.com's Chris Brown:

At the end of his youth football camp last week in Dallas, Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens said he was inspired by a 16-year-old football player named Corey Borner.

Last Thursday, Owens, along with Bills teammate Donte Whitner, visited Borner at the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation. Borner suffered a severe spinal cord injury during spring practice on May 6 while playing for DeSoto (Texas) High School.

After surgery to prevent further damage, he is currently recovering at the rehab center. Borner can move his arms but not his legs, but hopes to eventually.

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On Tuesday, Brinson posted the video of Polish model Joanna Krupa clowning Terrell Owens on Superstars, the original reality show (now you know who to blame).

Something about T.O. hurting the team's chance to win. It was all very made-for-teevee in that it was candid, awkward, and forced. Good times.

Anyway, a day later, Owens issued a blanket apology for, well, everything he has done, or might do in the future. The apology was tongue-in-cheek and funny. And, for me, that's what differentiates T.O. from, say, Chad Ochocinco. He'll wreck your team, sure, but he also has the self-awareness to know he's doing it, and will even make jokes about it in the process. Don't get me wrong: I don't want him on my team, but the sideshow is wholly enjoyable from afar.

(Video after the jump.)

Leadership is a funny thing, Tony Romo said a few weeks ago.

When you're winning football games nobody says anything about it. When you're losing, everybody talks about the lack of it.

Thursday afternoon, Terrell Owens made note of the lack of leadership in his last season with the Cowboys -- a year that ended with a 9-7 record and no playoff berth. Notably, Owens singled out Romo, his quarterback of the last three seasons for not being a leader.

It's funny, but Owens never questioned Romo's leadership abilities before. But now, Owens is of the belief that the quarterback had something to do with him getting released by the Cowboys.

Terrell Owens has made many a teammate unhappy in his time as a professional athlete. (49ers, Eagles, Cowboys. Oh my.) But it's never his fault! Of course, when he appears on the reality show (reality, right?) known as "Superstars" and still manages to cheese off Polish model Joanna Krupa ... well, maybe it's time we see a pattern, no? Enjoy that, city of Buffalo. Should be a fun season.

Video is after the jump. (Punte's got a NSFW version over at With Leather.)

If there are two phrases/names/things that are relevant to all things important in the world's culture right now, it's pretty obviously: "J.P. Losman" and "United Football League." No, no. Seriously. That's because today, Losman transplanted Tim Rattay as the most relevant non-ex-felon to potentially hop to the new league.

But, all sarcasm aside, this is kind of a big deal from a football fan's perspective simply because Losman is a pretty huge name when it comes to the UFL. Again. Seriously.

Like all of us, Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens just wants to have a home. Unlike most of us, he needs that home to be in the Buffalo area.

As was reported by ESPN, who apparently follows T.O.'s tweets, Owens thought he finally had a home lined up, but was unhappy that his leasing agent provided details about it to the media. ESPN says the agent talked about the home to AP, giving some details, but didn't disclose the address. A local TV station later showed video of the inside of the house.

Which led to T.O. and I tweeting about defamation after he called his leasing agent out on Twitter.

His contract says Dick Jauron is the Bills coach until 2011. The fact is he might not last the 2009 season.

Last year, the Bills finished 7-9 for the third consecutive season and Jauron was given another opportunity to prove himself when he received a contract extension in October. The man hasn't produced a winning season of football since the 2001 season when he led the Bears to a 13-3 record.

All he's done in upstate New York is get criticized for the way the team has performed.

For most Buffalo Bills fans, Terrell Owens is a welcome distraction. He's a ticking time bomb, sure, but if the organization can find a way to placate him, he has the ability to help the Bills get back to the playoffs and make them relevant again in the process.

That's worth the potential headache. Plus, if history is any guide, T.O. will be a model citizen during the 2009 season; he only acts out after at least one year in a new town. So there's that.

Unfortunately, the fine folks in the posh suburbs surrounding Buffalo (well, as posh as suburbs can be in an historically industrial, mostly blue-collar Upstate New York city) aren't convinced. Via his Twitter tabulator, Owens relays the trouble he's having finding a place to stay.

Levi Jones' reputation is as one of the better left tackles in the league, the knock is that he struggles to stay healthy -- he missed the final five+ games last season with a leg injury, and he's also missed most of three games in 2007 and 10 more games in 2006. He's battled leg, foot and knee injuries throughout his career.

But to get an idea on whether Jones would be an impressive upgrade for a team in need of a left tackle, I went back and watched Jones play three games from the 2008 season. What I found is that unless he's significantly more healthy in 2009, Jones looks to be a bargain-basement version of his former self -- a left tackle who now struggles with leverage and speed rushers, two things that used to be some of his strengths.