Chevy must have focus groups and research that tells them that Howie Long is a good spokesperson for their products. As a Fox NFL anaylst, he's fine alongside the likes of Jimmy Johnson and Terry Bradshaw. That said, I can't stand Howie Long in his commercials.

Long is smug and arrogant in all of 60 seconds. He's supposed to be selling the advantages of Chevy products -- while dissing those of Honda in direct jabs at the Japanese company -- but he rubs me the wrong way. Perhaps it's his smile. He just acts like he has no humility. He's all confidence and self-assuredness. Those two qualities should make him an excellent pitchman. That's what Chevy is trying to project.

Boom! Faster than you can say, "Tough actin' Tinactin," NFL Hall of Famer John Madden, the legendary voice of Monday Night Football and the creator of EA Sports video game Madden NFL Football, has decided to take himself out of the game. Madden's retiring from broadcasting. He'll be leaving NBC's Football Game of the Week as the color commentator; Al Michaels is continuing at the play by play voice.

The fact that Madden has retired at 73 is not really a surprise. This is the same guy that walked away from the Oakland Raiders head coaching position (when it still was a prestigious gig) after winning a Super Bowl and while he was still a young man.

Will Warren Sapp get that slot on Dancing with the Stars like he predicted? We won't know till next Monday when ABC makes the live announcement on Good Morning America.

However, the former defensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders has landed a new TV job. Sapp is joining Inside the NFL on Showtime, taking a seat beside fellow former NFL players Cris Collinsworth and Phil Simms, as well as CBS broadcaster James Brown.

As a player, Sapp was a force to be reckoned with, albeit as a run stopper in the middle of the line. He also has a reputation for being savvy and a big time talker, a guy who has an opinion about everything and anything. Hmm...smart and loud. That will probably make him a real asset on Inside the NFL. In fact, he might have some of NBA commentator Charles Barkley's charismatic appeal.

Let me start this rant by saying that I like sports. No, I love sports. I'm a fan. I get the DirecTV NBA package and the major league baseball games. I can talk to you for hours about stats and players and great games. That said, I hate the way Sunday sports programming drifts over into primetime. This happens primarily on CBS and Fox with the NFL games in the fall and winter, but the other networks have been guilty of staying with the game and then still insisting on showing the primetime schedule after the game is over -- even if that means that an 8 o'clock show begins at 8:45 and your DVR gets all screwed up and you wind up with only 15 minutes of a show you wanted to see!