Wednesday Links

- mike florio says every party is to blame, and it's this confluence of events that lead us to where we are now. (see his post on 10:50 a.m. EST, November 9, 2005)

- les bowen on TO's apology. i think he captures it just about right. what was the real motivation behind the apology? when you combine TO's apology with rosenpuke's positioning, that performance was clearly not aimed at the philadelphia eagles. that performance was for the arbiter and other teams. (incidentally, whenever people mention "arbitration" they always use it in combination with "arbitrator" instead of "arbiter." why use a word with more syllables and more letters? it's extra work for no added benefit. "arbiter" is more efficient, just like "use" is more efficient than "utilize" and "sate" is more efficient than "satiate".)

Rosenhaus angrily denied reports that he would like to divorce his high-maintenance client. He was hired in April with the idea that he would be able to pressure the Eagles into revising Owens' 7-year, $48.97 million contract. But while Rosenhaus was proclaiming how proud he was to stand "110 percent" behind T.O., it wasn't clear that the opposite was true - when Channel 6's David Henry asked what Rosenhaus has done for Owens, other than get him suspended, Owens, standing behind Rosenhaus and out of the agent's view, winked and smiled.

It seemed somehow typical of T.O. that he finally showed he was capable of remorse, and even of introspection, only when it was too late to save his Eagles career. Eagles sources have said that if Owens had been ready to stand before his teammates and express contrition on Saturday, he never would have even been suspended. But Owens is said to have refused to speak to the team on Saturday, provoking what was then a suspension of undefined length, and he apparently had nothing to say on Sunday, when the Eagles struggled through a 17-10 loss to the Redskins without him.

- john smallwood's take

- phil sheridan's take. this may be the best column he's ever written.

Here's what the mayor of Doesn't-Get-It-Ville needs to understand. Sorry for the consequences is not the same as sorry for the actions. Feeling bad about your poor outcast self is not the same as taking responsibility.

It will take more than firing Owens to remove the toxic cloud he has left behind. McNabb, his primary victim, will have to operate under that cloud long after Owens has moved on to whatever team is next seduced by his talents.

That's the real injustice here. It's not what happened to poor Terrell Owens. It's not the hole he leaves behind in the Eagles' offense. It is the damage he did in the months before he suddenly, miraculously got a conscience yesterday.

- ashley fox (who is also jim castello's neighbor btw) on the owens/rosenhaus relationship.

No one is writing off Rosenhaus, but yesterday certainly was a watershed day for him. Today should be another. Owens was dismissed from the Eagles for "conduct detrimental to the team." He should dismiss Rosenhaus for "mismanagement of a superstar."

- chad lewis may be taking TO's place on the roster. it's official, chad is back with the team.

- handzus will be centering the checking line while primeau is out

- pitkanen more than made up for his giveaway that gave the bruins a two goal lead

- an old friend is sidelined indefinitely after taking a puck to the face