Cano was apparently so intrigued by the prospect of joining the hip-hop mogul’s new agency, Roc Nation Sports, that he dumped baseball’s most powerful, outspoken, popular and demanding agent, Scott Boras. The decision could increase the Yankees’ chances of signing Cano to a new deal — as Jay-Z is an avid Yankees fan — but we shouldn’t be so quick to make that assumption.

What we can assume, though, is that Cano’s popularity and prominence outside of the baseball landscape is about to skyrocket. And before long, other ballplayers will follow in his footsteps.

Ask anyone about Jay-Z’s exact function with the Brooklyn Nets, and what you’ll likely hear is someone talking out of their keister. Aside from the known fact that he’s part owner, it’s always been a little unclear as to what exactly Jay-Z does within the NBA franchise. And frankly, it doesn’t matter.

Jay-Z’s mere connection to the Nets has played a huge role in what’s transpired over the past few years. Even with just a tiny stake in the franchise, Jay-Z has been instrumental in the Nets’ move to Brooklyn and the team’s emergence as a desired destination for NBA superstars. (See Dwight Howard, who’s consistently been linked to the Nets.)

“He is it,” Bruce Ratner, developer of Brooklyn’s new, state-of-the-art arena, said in an interview last year. “He is us. He is how people are going to see that place.”

When Jay-Z was brought in, it was a move centered on building up the Nets’ image, both inside and outside of basketball. The results have been tenfold, as many athletes nowadays want to transcend the sport that they play, and who better to bring them into the spotlight than one of the most decorated celebrities on the planet?

Now that Jay-Z has decided to tackle yet another business endeavor, his star power will once again be on display. Even if Jay-Z plays a minimal role in dealing with his sports agency’s clients, the connection is there, and thus the potential is there for benefits that even Boras can’t provide.

Cano is one of the best all-around players in baseball, yet he’s not even the biggest superstar on his own team. That honor instead belongs to Derek Jeter, or even Alex Rodriguez. With both of those players seemingly nearing the end of the road, Cano seems like a logical heir, but hiring Jay-Z guarantees that the All-Star second baseman will become a much bigger name outside of baseball circles.

This isn’t to say Cano is some unknown, but rubbing elbows with Jay-Z immediately has the potential to mean TMZ and People Magazine in addition to ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Many athletes long for that potential, and understandably so, as it makes them much more appealing to potential sponsors.

Would Cano achieve the same star status with Boras? He might come close. After all, he is the best player in baseball’s biggest market. But Jay-Z guarantees icon status, and for an impending, big name free agent who hasn’t yet achieved that social standing, hiring the hip-hop star is a logical — albeit bold — move.

When Jay-Z said “diamonds is forever,” he wasn’t referring to the baseball diamond. There comes a time when players must step away from the field, and Cano will likely do so as a rock star now that he has Jay-Z on his side at the bargaining table.

Have a question for Ricky Doyle? Send it to him via Twitter at @TheRickyDoyle or send it here.

Jay-Z photo (right) via Flickr/Adam Glanzman

After 47 years of publication, on Thursday The Boston Phoenix announced that the March 15 issue would be its very last, killing Boston’s primary alternative weekly. While it’s true that the industry of journalism as a whole is currently undergoing complete upheaval, this decision comes only months after the magazine radically redesigned its format, more closely imitating a glossy magazine after merging with Stuff Magazine.

Without getting overly sentimental, The Phoenix was the kind of place where Bob Ryan could get a quote printed that he couldn’t in The Globe. It was where George Kimball made his name, Bill Simmons began his career and Charlie Pierce developed his voice.

And now, it’s gone.

“I honed my chops,” Pierce wrote on Friday for Grantland. “I became a generalist. I learned everything I know about being a journalist, and almost everything I know about being me in the world.”

“… What’s important is that we all were part of the outlaw spirit of Boston journalism, the one that went back to colonial pamphlets and the Liberator.”

If anyone tries to tell you that journalism is dying, well, that’s not exactly accurate. In many ways, there’s more thirst for knowledge of the world than ever before, and more interesting stories out there in a world that’s growing ever more complicated by the day. Even the aggregation business models — which we’ll get back to — which are said to be a direct threat to journalism, have only commodified facts even more.

However, the problem is that many of the traditional print publications, that for so long saw only incremental changes in their business model, just weren’t capable of dealing, for whatever reasons, with the sudden changes brought on by the digital age. The Internet, in general, has become what Napster was to the music industry — if you want a certain product, you don’t have to obtain it from the source trying to sell it to you.

But the plain fact is that there’s no less of a demand for that product, the news, in this case. In fact, that demand is only higher than it was during the heyday of print, whenever that was. And while outlets like The Phoenix, The Sporting News and SPIN Magazine flail about, other sources for information like The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed and Gawker thrive.

And it all goes back to a simple lesson: adapt or die.

Take Sports Illustrated, for instance. Seeing the writing on the wall, about a year ago the company drastically reorganized its online presence and implemented the Tracking Blog, which is basically an aggregated website following sports news trends. Basically, the attempt is to be much more timely, as opposed to the magazine’s more highfalutin journalistic aims.

“The Phoenix was the first place that paid me to write in my own voice, and gave me enough space to do my thing,” Simmons wrote on his Facebok page. “I can’t believe they screwed it up so badly that they couldn’t even turn it into a successful website, that’s almost impossible. … Print is dying because just about everyone in power for newspapers/mags from 1999 through 2010 failed to understand that the Internet wasn’t going away, and they either had to adjust or die. They didn’t adjust.”

If even Bill Simmons gets it, these concepts shouldn’t be so difficult to grasp. And he’s absolutely right that it’s absurd that someone couldn’t turn The Phoenix’s brand into a viable website with at least some of the same journalistic goals as its predecessor. It’s hard not to figure there was some incompetence there.

Either way, for no other reason than the inability a publication so set in its business model that it was incapable of adapting to the realities of the times, we’ve been robbed of one of the few publications keeping the “outlaw spirit” of journalism alive.

And we are all worse off for it.

Photo via Facebook/Boston Phoenix

These two seemingly barely related events ought to say much to the world of journalism.

The Sporting News had printed a weekly magazine for 122 years before switching to a biweekly format in 2008. It originally developed a reputation for its baseball coverage before expanding to other sports in recent decades. The Sporting News joins Newsweek as a major American magazine to cease its print publication to go all-in on the Internet and emerging technologies.

In a statement, the company said, “Unfortunately, neither our subscriber base nor the current advertising market for print would allow us to operate a profitable print business going forward.”

The Daily has a much shorter history, obviously, but a very similar end. NewsCorp published the first issue of The Daily in February 2011, and it remains the only daily publication designed exclusively for the tablet format. However, The Daily was said to be losing $30 million annually, and early this month NewsCorp announced that it was ceasing publication, with Murdoch saying The Daily “could not find a large enough audience quickly enough to convince us the business model was sustainable in the long-term.”

Now, aside from the fact that both of these publication can be put under the tag of “journalism,” they otherwise aren’t so connected. One was a well-respected source of sports news and analysis, the other an experiment in new technology with a format that rode the line between tabloid and news. But their stories together are a gauge for where the world of news, journalism and publication are at.

No matter what the format is — whether it be print or digital — it all seems to be failing. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that journalism as a whole is failing, or even that bloggers and other sources of “news” have made significant inroads to taking their audience.

But what it does mean is that the industry is stuck between two worlds right now, and it’s a complicated cycle as to how the shift from old media to new is occurring. In short, advertising — where media sources make most of their money — isn’t worth nearly as much online as in print. At the same time, digital is sucking eyeballs away from print publications, devaluing that market.

So, the result of this vicious cycle is that the entire business of journalism and publication is flailing. That’s why seemingly valuable brands such as Newsweek or The Sporting News can’t make their business viable in print, but the most cutting-edge publications in terms of taking advantage of new technologies are also failing. Those formats haven’t been effectively monetized yet.

Now, the answer is that print is indeed a living relic of the past, and that all publications will probably be all digital at some point in the (not too distant) future. This is inevitable insofar as it just makes logical sense — just as we’re seeing the revelation of the complete irrelevance of music in physical form, there is no need to print something on paper when it can be delivered in an electronic format.

However, this transition will never be able to be fully realized until digital advertising is fully monetized. One would expect that this will eventually happen, as eyeballs will follow convenience as soon as the technology becomes more affordable. However, in the meantime, journalism suffers through rough days.

So, is The Sporting News a dying brand or ahead of the curve? The answer is both. But, the thing to keep in mind is that, as this monumental industry flux occurs, the brands we grew up trusting may change hands, change focus or what have you. The Sporting News as a name will probably survive, but it’s very much up in the air — and dependent on the individuals running it — to ensure that the brand maintains its luster.

Even if that brand is now a digital one.

Photo via Facebook/The Sporting News

FOX Sports is reportedly making a strong push to hire Andrews, who is best known for her work on ESPN’s College Gameday. Her contract expired at the end of June.

This is a sad day not just for ESPN, but for all of its viewers. College football fans welcomed Andrews into their homes on Saturdays for football coverage because she was, and still is, the best reporter on the sidelines.

She showed her appreciation for her career during every performance and this is a loss for ESPN. Andrews was a favorite to watch on ESPN not just because of how beautiful she is, but because she excelled at her job. When she co-hosted College Gameday with Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit, people raved about these four and how entertaining they were on Gameday.

Andrews is always a dazzling star on the set and that sets her apart in the sports journalism industry. It is quite possible that many of ESPN’s viewers watch their programs just to see the 34-year-old Andrews.

Andrews, a graduate of the University of Florida, leaves a gap that ESPN has always tried to fill -– an attractive female sideline reporter. Jenn Brown, also a former Gator, appears to be the one who will be filling that gap.

It will be interesting to see if ESPN’s college football program ratings decline in the post-Andrews era. Will FOX Sports’ ratings sky rocket when Andrews officially joins them? We will only know this fall when Andrews’ daily on-air tenure with FOX begins. Yet again, ESPN isn’t suffering from this loss. Brown cannot fill the shoes of Andrews in the looks department, but she isn’t far off on her reporting.

Put very plainly, ESPN’s suffering a minor tear to the heart. While Andrews was the best sideline reporter for them during her time there and their numbers may decline, Brown is the best option to fill her spot. Brown, like Andrews, has the looks and the skill to do a great job for ESPN.

Photo via Flickr/Neon Tommy

But despite the fact that his life is essentially the real-life version of the classic baseball flick The Natural, to immortalize Josh Hamilton on the silver screen now as a present-day version of Roy Hobbs seems awfully premature.

Yet that seems to be precisely what tentative producer Basil Iwanyk and writer/director Casey Affleck are planning on doing, even as Hamilton is still in the midst of his remarkable career. Iwanyk, who has produced such films as We Are Marshall, Clash of the Titans and The Town, and Affleck, who has made his mark mostly in acting, but directed the Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary I'm Still Here, are said to be currently pitching the story around Hollywood.

Hamilton admittedly did sell the rights to his life's story to Iwanyk and Thunder Road Pictures, so it's not as if he did not sign off on this idea. But the plan to bring Hamilton's as-yet unfinished story, as movie-ready as the narrative is, to a cinema near you still does not seem quite right.

The overwhelmingly important question stemming from the fact that he's still playing, of course, is where and how would the movie end? Arguably the most important decision to be made in a movie based on actual events is when to cut the narrative off. Without a clear and logical ending point, the movie ends up meandering around from event to event until it just kind of ends. It's not so much a narrative as a collection of anecdotal scenes all strung together.

And in Hamilton's case, to this moment in time, there is no clear and logical ending point. He has seemingly reached the pinnacle of his comeback so many times that it has become effectively impossible to ever declare his redemption fully completed, at least from a narrative standpoint.

Maybe Affleck would decide to end the story after Hamilton's successful comeback season with the Reds in 2007. That, however, would be to ignore his eruption the next season with the Rangers, when he finished seventh in MVP voting and put on that legendary show in the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium.

Maybe Affleck would decide to end it after that season, as many writers declared at the time that the book on Hamilton's journey back was closed. As it turned out, however, 2008 was merely just another chapter, as Hamilton's brilliant 2010 MVP season topped even that.

So maybe Affleck halts the movie there. You can't get much higher than winning the MVP and going to a World Series, right? Again, wrong — Hamilton nearly pulled off a Hobbsian miracle by hitting a potentially World Series-winning home run in the 10th inning the next year, and with a strained groin no less, in yet another Natural parallel.

That would have been a perfect Hollywood ending, if Hamilton's two-run bomb to center hadn't been rendered moot by the Cardinals' eventual comeback. But it was, and that simply opened the door for 2012 to top everything that had come before.

With Hamilton currently making a serious run at the Triple Crown, and Texas looking poised for yet another World Series run, this may prove to be the year that would provide a good stopping point. But if it's not, then what?

Where could you end it then? End it too soon and you ignore his much-publicized alcohol relapses, which illustrate the struggles he still faces. End it too late, and you run the risk of having wasted a logical conclusion halfway through the narrative.

Some may argue that there is nothing wrong with this approach, citing The Blind Side as an example of a movie made while the main character's career was still being played out.

There is a major difference, however, between Hamilton's story and that of Ravens offensive tackle Michael Oher. Oher's story focused mainly on the relationship between him and his adoptive family, so it made sense to end the movie roughly around the time the offensive lineman headed off to college.The focus of Hamilton's story — his fall from grace and subsequent dramatic rise from the ashes — demands a much more comprehensive look at the events in his life.

If Hamilton's story is made into a movie now, before his career is actually over, it would be rushing into a movie that would likely be made more powerful and compelling with the perspective of Hamilton's entire career. That rushed version might make more money and better capitalize on Hamilton's current popularity — but it would be doing a disservice to his life's remarkable story.

Or is it? And what can Madden '13 cover boy Calvin Johnson do to avoid it, if it really does exist? Let's take a look at past cover players to find out.

Garrison Hearst, Madden '99: Hearst was first player to appear on the cover, and also the first one to suffer a stroke of bad luck afterward. He broke his ankle before the start of the 1998 season, missed the next two years, and was never the same again. The verdict? Cursed.

Barry Sanders, Madden '00: Sanders was within 1,500 yards of breaking Walter Payton's career rushing record, but he abruptly retired just before training camp in 1999. He walked away at age 30, perfectly healthy and coming off a solid season. The verdict? Not cursed. While the motivations are still murky, the decision to retire was his and his alone. You can't say he's cursed for that.

Eddie George, Madden '01: George's numbers actually went up the year he appeared on the cover, rushing for 200 more yards and scoring five more touchdowns. The knock on him is twofold: he bobbled a pass in the playoffs that year while trailing late in a game against the Ravens, which Ray Lewis picked off and took all the way back, and he never averaged more than 3.7 yards per carry in a season again. The verdict? Not cursed. One play — however crushing — doesn't outweigh an entire season of production, and George was never much of a yards per carry guy anyway.

Daunte Culpepper, Madden '02: In his first five years in the league, Culpepper had three great seasons and two lousy ones — including one in which he not only threw for 23 interceptions, but also tied the single-season record for most fumbles by a quarterback. Perhaps not coincidentally, those two years were the year that he appeared on the cover and the year after. The verdict? Cursed.

Marshall Faulk, Madden '03: Faulk had more than 400 less rushing yards and four fewer touchdowns the year he appeared on the cover, as well as significantly lower receiving stats. The downward trend continued for the rest of his career as knee injuries took their toll. He was 29 years old when he appeared on the cover. The verdict? Not cursed. Faulk played all his home games on turf — which is murder on the knees — and running backs generally begin to decline around that age anyway.

Michael Vick, Madden '04: Vick broke his fibula in a preseason game and missed the first 11 games of the regular season. There's not much more you can say about that. The verdict? Cursed.

Ray Lewis, Madden '05: Lewis injured his wrist in the penultimate game of the season and was forced to sit the last one out. It was also his first year as a pro without an interception. The verdict? Cursed. Either the injury or the lack of an interception on their own wouldn't have been enough evidence of a curse, but both together suggest it.

Donovan McNabb, Madden '06: McNabb not only missed the last seven games of the year with a torn ACL and meniscus, but he also had suffered a sports hernia in the very first game. The verdict? Cursed.

Shaun Alexander, Madden '07: Alexander experienced both a huge drop off in stats (both raw and per game) and a foot injury in the 2006 season. The statistical regression can be traced back to Alexander's ridiculous 2005 season, when he rushed for nearly 1,900 yards and tied the single-season record of 27 rushing touchdowns. The injury, however, was a fluke. The verdict? This one can go either way.

Vince Young, Madden '08: Young's stats — outside of his horrendous 9:17 touchdown-to-interception ratio — actually mostly went up across the board the year he was on the cover. It was the year after, however, when he suffered a knee injury that shelved him for a few weeks and then was relegated to back-up duties the rest of the season, that the curse seemed to strike. The verdict? This one can also go either way, based on the statute of limitations that you place on the curse.

Brett Favre, Madden '09: In what was essentially the inverse of Sanders' experience, Favre unretired shortly after being placed on the cover. This turned out to be a bad move, as he had a poor year statistically with the Jets, injured his ankle and was embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal. The verdict? Cursed.

Larry Fitzgerald/Troy Polamalu, Madden '10: Fitzgerald suffered no ill effects from his appearance on the cover, posting his usual tremendous numbers and staying healthy. Polamalu, on the other hand, sprained his MCL and missed four games before returning only to miss a few more with a PCL injury. The verdict? This one goes both ways — Fitzgerald wasn't cursed, but Polamalu was.

Drew Brees, Madden '11: In between two seasons with QB ratings above 109, Brees had a very atypical year. He still threw for over 4,000 yards, but tossed a pitiful 22 interceptions. For good measure, the Saints were upset by the 7-9 Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs. The verdict? Cursed.

Peyton Hillis, Madden '12: After a monster 2010 campaign that came out of nowhere, Hillis was admittedly due for some regression to the mean — but he did not so much regress as plummet. He missed six games between a bum hamstring and strep throat. He engendered a large amount of animosity in the clubhouse as a result of his contentious contract negotiations. Even when on the field, Hillis was nowhere near the same running back that had plowed over secondaries at will the previous year. The verdict? Cursed.

So does the Madden Curse really exist? From this little survey, there are nine cursed players, four safe ones, and two that could go either way based on how you're feeling. So for all intents and purposes, yes, the Madden Curse exists.

Now how can Megatron go about avoiding it? For starters, he — like Fitzgerald — should not fall prey to a sudden drop in production. He has a startling blend of size and speed that allows him to catch balls seemingly at will over smaller defensive backs. He has an elite quarterback throwing to him in Matthew Stafford. Not only that, but Johnson is the undisputed number one receiver in the Detroit offense. He'll get plenty of balls thrown his way.

Injuries are a much trickier thing to predict and avoid. But at only 26 years old, Johnson shouldn't be old enough to start having chronic injury problems like Faulk did. He has played in nearly every game in his career, so he seems to be durable enough to withstand the rigors of a typical NFL season.

Barring an unforeseen traumatic injury or making Ndamukong Suh overly angry, it doesn't seem to be too much of a stretch to predict that Calvin Johnson should be one of the lucky Madden cover boys.

Photo via Facebook/Calvin Johnson

The Falcons have decided to decline the invitation to partake in this year's version of the show, according to ESPN.com. Atlanta reportedly wants its focus to be solely on the football field this season, which is understandable considering the Falcons got bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Super Bowl champion Giants last season.

But as welcomed as the denial might be for enthusiastic Falcons fans who care more about their team's success than the glitz and glamour of a reality series, Atlanta passing on the offer is equally as awesome for football fans everywhere.

Call me crazy, but following last season's series that featured Rex Ryan and the dysfunctional Jets with a season headlined by Matt Ryan and Mike Smith doesn't exactly have me running to set my DVR. That's not to take anything away from the Atlanta organization, but it seems as though HBO has consistently tried to pinpoint franchises that feature intriguing storylines and potential. And while the Falcons could very well finish on top in the NFC South this season — especially considering the whole Bountygate/Drew Brees contract fiasco down in the Big Easy — there isn't anything that really pops when it comes to the Falcons.

Unless Deion Sanders is bringing back "The Dirty Bird" or Eugene Robinson shows up and starts soliciting prostitutes like it's 1999, there are far better options available for HBO.

Obviously, a team's participation has to be agreed upon by both sides, and surely there are other franchises that would also decline the offer in order to keep focus solely on the task at hand, but one has to wonder why the Falcons were on the top of HBO's list in the first place.

Ryan is one of the league's quieter signal callers, and a typical dinner coversation with Smith is probably riddled with cliches.

Instead, the obvious — and best — choice would be for the Jets to return to the show for Round 2. It'd be understandable if the network wanted to switch things up to avoid alienating any viewers, but with the Tim Tebow Circus getting added to a team that's already in disarray, Jets and Hard Knocks just seem like a perfect marriage.

You'd be hard-pressed to find another option in which there exists the realistic possibilty that the head coach goes bonkers over Dunkaroos or that a legendary quarterback shows up looking to lay one on Suzy Kolber.

But if the Jets were to deny an opportunity to appear on Hard Knocks for the second straight year, there are other options that could make for intriguing television as well — at least more intriguing than a potential Falcons series.

Peyton Manning has proven he can be a pretty funny guy when he lets loose, so following him around as he gets acquainted in Denver would have a few eyes glued to TV sets. In fact, even Manning's former team could be interesting. Not only would following Andrew Luck's first season as the most hyped rookie in the history of sports — I'm exaggerating a little bit — be fun to watch, but Colts owner Jim Irsay has proven time and time again that he's a little wacky.

And when it comes to Hard Knocks, wacky is good. The Falcons just weren't wacky enough.

After hearing that porn star BiBi Jones tweeted pictures of her and the Patriots tight end, and then later hearing Jones describe the two’s relationship — or lack thereof — on 98.5 The Sports Hub, never did it seem to me that Gronkowski had done something for which he needed to apologize.

But, for some strange reason, the whole situation has become more than a quick story simply pointing out the latest instance of ‘Gronk being Gronk.’ It instead led to him meeting with owner Robert Kraft, after which the second-year pro insisted he never meant to hurt the reputation of the organization.

I could be wrong, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find many people who felt he was hurting the team’s reputation. And while saying that Mr. Kraft was offended by photos would be pure speculation, clearly it was a big enough issue that the two needed to sit down to discuss it.

Hanging out with a porn star on your bye week might seem a bit unconventional, especially when you’re part of the New England Patriots, an organization for which you’re expected to remain on the straight and narrow path. But while Jones might be involved in an industry that’s viewed differently, if not unfavorably by some, when it comes to any wrongdoing, how is Gronkowski posing for a photo with her different than him posing for a photo with a butcher, or a florist, or a waitress, or a teacher, or whatever?

It might be more noteworthy, given Jones’ (somewhat) celebrity status, but she’s not a criminal (not that I’m aware of) or some menace to society (again, not that I’m aware of). And Gronkowski isn’t doing anything incriminating in the photos, making it a bit unclear where he’s diverging from that aforementioned path.

The problem likely lies in that Jones was wearing Gronkowski’s Patriots jersey in the photos posted on Twitter. But, even then, did bringing a jersey into the picture really tarnish the team’s reputation? I’d venture to say no, but Gronkowski’s apology indicates there was a sense amongst the higher-ups that he was a bit out of line with his bye-week behavior.

Sure, photos of Gronkowski with his head buried in a playbook or running sprints at a local high school field might have been a bit more welcomed by Mr. Kraft and Co. But we’ve got to look at the situation for what it is: a real-life, young, popular professional football player enjoying his week off.

It’s easy to understand Kraft wanting to keep tabs on his players, but the whole fiasco is such a non-issue from a football perspective that it’s difficult to imagine why Gronkowski came under the gun.

Once the Patriots square off with the Steelers on Sunday, the entire debacle will be placed on the back burner back, and it’ll be back to business for the Pats. But a similar situation can and will arise with another athlete. It might not be photos with porn stars, but we’ll surely see some athlete catch heat from his team for something posted on Twitter.

Twitter offers a unique glimpse into an athlete’s world — the world we don’t typically see. But with that luxury comes situations in which some fans, or employers, get offended. If a team feels that risk is far too high, it should implement clearly laid-out guidelines for Twitter use. Or people should stop getting offended — but that’s a lot to ask.

Until we see the wheels put in motion on such changes, though, there shouldn’t be any reason for teams to get up in arms over harmless photos.

If BiBi Jones suddenly shows up on the Patriots’ sideline, then the Pats might have a reputation problem. For now, let Gronk be Gronk. No apologies necessary.

ESPN announced on Monday that it has agreed to a contract extension with Jon Gruden that will keep him on TV for the next five years.

The biggest news to come of the announcement is that it likely means Gruden won't be snarling on NFL sidelines any time soon. That's probably good news, considering Gruden's name is tossed around like tomatoes at La Tomatina when it comes to every head coaching position that becomes available. The extension should suppress such rumors for at least the time being.

But as much alleviation as we'll get from that headache, we'll be faced with even more bewilderment with Gruden remaining up in the booth for Monday Night Football telecasts. Yet while he's a commentator you either love or hate, America should embrace his unique presence on Monday nights.

Because of his intensity, which contributed to his Chucky-like persona, Gruden was a polarizing figure as an NFL head coach. And since entering the broadcast booth in 2009, he's been every bit as polarizing as an ESPN analyst.

Gruden knows the game of football, and he knows it well. His knowledge helped him begin his professional coaching career as one of the NFL's first quality control coaches under Mike Holmgren when he was just 27. It later helped him guide the Tampa Bay Buccanneers to a victory in Super Bowl XXXVII — although many attribute that success more to what Tony Dungy helped create before his departure.

And now we get to see that knowledge on national TV on a weekly basis, as long as we're able to wade through the countless Gruden-isms that are sure to infiltrate every telecast.

Gruden consistently uses wild idioms, dishes out bizarre nicknames and alter egos, and makes bold proclamations that sometimes leave you scratching your head until your scalp bleeds, Other times, he'll simply let you know that a certain player is "a football player" or "here to play football" — both of which you know simply by watching the game itself.

But all in all, here's a guy — pun very much itended — who is clearly filled with such fervor for the game of football that he needs to be involved in some way. And he brings that passion and energy to his position at ESPN.

"Maybe at some point in time I will come back to coaching," Gruden said on Monday. "But I stay close to the game and this [broadcasting] scratches that itch, so to speak."

And just as broadcasting scratches that itch for Gruden, the former NFL head coach scratches America's itch for a "what the hell is this guy talking about/this guy is nuts" personality on Monday nights.

Dating back to the days of Monday Night Football on ABC, which concluded in 2005, we've seen an attempt to infuse some personality into the broadcast.

Dennis Miller assumed the role in 2000, beating out Rush Limbaugh and Tony Kornheiser, among others. But simply put: Miller stunk up the joint, turning the broadcast into a sideshow with his overall lack of knowledge and jokes that appealed to maybe four or five people, tops. I guess that's why his stint was shortlived.

Kornheiser later got his chance from 2006-2008, bringing with him more sports credibility, as well as a more relatable personality. But it was clear that he's more suited for the back-and-forth debate nature of PTI rather than the live game action of Monday Night Football.

Gruden, meanwhile, strikes the balance that we've longed for — whether people are willing to admit it or not.

Some of what Gruden says leaves you with that "huh?" feeling, while some of his other comments leave you thinking to yourself, "no kidding." It's that unpredictability that makes him great. Not only do you never know what he's going to say, but the unpredictability often rubs off on play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico and analyst Ron Jaworski, whom Gruden called his "team."

But even amidst the colorful nature, boldness and bluntness, Gruden still has the head coach in him, which is intriguing when breaking down X's and O's. While that's typically Jaworski's department, as I'm pretty confident Jaws watches more film than Ebert & Roeper, Gruden is just as involved, frequently sparking some back-and-forth between the two.

Then, when it comes to broadcasts on ESPN outside of Monday Night Football, Gruden is again a guy who causes you to watch to see what he's got up his sleeve. His "QB Camp" this past offseason, during which he drilled prospective NFL quarterbacks with questions while making them feel uncomfortable was great television — great, ruthless, entertaining television.

For true football junkies, Gruden's a guy you might get annoyed with from time to time. For football novices, he might make your head spin. But for most of America, he's a guy that you can't wait to hear what he has to say — because you'll either come away from it more informed or you'll be texting your buddy to see if he caught Gruden's most recent comment.

This guy, is our guy.

Tiger Woods

And on the weekends, he'll need a caddie, but who is up for the challenge?

The planet's former top golfer recently fired his longtime caddie, Steve Williams, and is in need of someone to schlep around his bag once he returns to the links.

While Woods — the spitting, swearing, womanizing golfer — probably isn't the easiest athlete to work with, we've come up with a group of worthy candidates for him to choose from.

Leon Phelps, also known as "The Ladies Man" of 1990s Saturday Night Live fame, is a front-runner. This character, played by Tim Meadows, is a no-brainer, as he's likely out of a job and certainly enjoys women just as much as our man Tiger.

Romeo Posar, played by actor Cheech Marin in "Tin Cup." Not only was Romeo smart, funny and a good party partner, he … Okay, this is kind of a stretch, but if you don't agree that it's one of the greatest sports movies of all time, then you should go hit yourself with a 3-iron. Old Romeo deserves a shot.

Another caddie — who may very well run away with this thing — is Cosmo Kramer's dear friend and confidant, Stan the Caddie, from Seinfield fame. Although he's not good for legal advice, and likely won't be a popular wing man at the club, Stan sure knows his way away around a golf course. If Stan's not smooth enough, there's always the slickest caddie on the block, Tony D'Annunzio from "Caddyshack."

A guy who is used to the chilly outskirts of a spotlighted teammate or partner, much like Steve the caddie, is Chris Bosh. The Miami Heat "star" likely has caddie experience — double-bagging for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on off days in South Beach, to be exact. Bosh needs the employment, too, as it sounds as if the NBA won't get its act together for quite some time.

Former fling Rachel Uchitel owes Tiger his $10 million in hush money back, so maybe she can make up for it in loops?

Speaking of professional athletes in need of a job, the NFL has a handful of guys scrambling to pay some bills. And if you're Antonio Cromartie, father of nine children, you've got a lot of bills to pay.

Who should Tiger Woods hire to be his new caddie?

Sylvester Stallone made a name for himself in the film Rocky as Rocky Balboa, an underdog boxer from South Philly who refuses to quit, and eventually takes on Apollo Creed in the heavyweight championship.

The story is symbolic of the American ideal of perseverance and fortitude, and was especially relevant in 1976 (when the movie was released), as the U.S. had just ended its fight in Vietnam and the country was in an odd transition phase.

Rocky, the character, became an icon. Not just for boxing, but for the entire world. He's fictional, though. When you think Rocky, you think Stallone.

Perhaps that's why Stallone, a longtime actor who's been in 50 different films other than the Rocky series (there were five sequels), was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Stallone has never been an officially sanctioned fighter, but he, or his persona, at least, has arguably had a bigger impact on the sport than any other person over the last 40 years. He was even given the "Lifetime Cinematic Achievement in Boxing" award by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

There has been criticism of the Hall of Fame's decision to allow Stallone to be enshrined. The Sacramento Bee's Victor Contreras thought the idea of his induction was laughable, and compared it to Mike Tyson winning an Academy Award (for his role in The Hangover, one would presume).

But obviously, Stallone is respected among the boxing community. And it's not like there isn't precedence for this sort of thing.

In the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is an entire wing dedicated to entertainers. Abbott and Costello will forever be enshrined in Cooperstown for "Who's on First."

No one is arguing that Stallone is a Hall of Fame boxer, nor is anyone making the same case for Rocky Balboa. But Rocky's impact on the sport cannot be understated, and it, along with Stallone, deserves to be recognized as pivotal members of the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Do you think Sylvester Stallone deserves to be in the Boxing Hall of Fame? Share your thoughts below.

But the greatest baseball movie of all-time fulfills none of the three, and because of this, it fell all the way to No. 36 on Fantasy Baseball Dugout's Top-50 baseball movie list.

Though unlike Field of Dreams, this film actually plays out the fantasy of every nerdy 12-year-old kid that just wants to be close to the game he/she loves.

Little Big League is the most fascinating baseball film in existence. It follows the story of Billy Heywood, a 12-year-old baseball nut who is awarded ownership of the Minnesota Twins after his grandfather, the former owner, passes away.

One thing leads to another, and Billy ends up tossing out the fiery skipper and takes over as manager. And even though he's 12, and still has to create projects for his seventh grade science class, Major League Baseball still allows this.

But who cares? Billy takes a rag-tag group of unseasoned youngsters and washed-up veterans and gets them within one game of reaching the postseason. And on the last day of the season, the Twins face off against none other than Ken Griffey, Jr. and the Seattle Mariners.

"Junior" steals the show at the end of the movie, as he's portrayed as the villain you just can't seem to dislike. The Twins have one final shot to beat the M's, when Minnesota star Lou Collins steps up to the plate to face legendary (and real) Mariners lefty Randy Johnson with a runner on first and all the marbles at stake.

Collins blasts one the opposite way, but Griffey makes his patented 1994 leap to the fence and robs Lou, Billy and the Twins of a trip to the postseason.

From a trio of montages, to quite possibly the best soundtrack in the history of cinema (featuring classic songs like "Runaround Sue" by Dion), to Billy's unseen oh-so-imaginable lunch with Reggie Jackson at Houlihan's, Little Big League delivers from angles never seen before in American filmmaking.

But the best part about this movie is the awesome amount of real major league ballplayers that make cameos. Of course, former big leaguers Leon "Bull" Durham, Brad Lesley (as John "Blackout" Gatling) and Kevin Elster all take on pivotal roles in the film — but several other former stars are in the movie as well, including Johnson, Griffey, Jr., Ivan Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Carlos Baerga, Sandy Alomar, Jr., Paul O'Neill, Tim Raines, Dave Magadan, Lou Piniella, Alex Fernandez, Mickey Tettleton and Wally Joyner.

There's pretty much no question about it — Little Big League is the best baseball movie of all time, and rivals Gone With the Wind for the premier film in the history of American cinema.

What do you think is the best baseball movie of all time? Leave your thoughts below.

The Boston native’s new movie The Town premiered at Fenway Park this week. The film –- Affleck’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, is based on Chuck Hogan’s novel, Prince of Thieves.

The story is set in Boston’s Charlestown area and follows a gang of four, led by Doug MacRay (played by Affleck), as they hold up multiple banks and attempt to outrun the FBI.

The movie turns into a mudslide after the first heist, however, when Doug realizes that he is attracted to the bank teller, Claire (played by Rebecca Hall), whom they just held hostage. He actually starts meeting with her and seeing her regularly.

His bank robbing crew likes this romantic development as much as moviegoers who are partial to car chases and shootouts.

But like true Red Sox fans, keep the faith. The Town doesn’t look like the second coming of Fever Pitch or Gigli.

The film opens Friday night in U.S theaters.

Do you think The Town will be a home run? Share your thoughts below.