Berry was scheduled to make $4 million in the last year of the five-year free-agent contract he signed with the Cardinals in 2004.

He led the NFC in sacks with 14 1/2 in his first season with Arizona, earning his first Pro Bowl berth.

But his past three seasons have been cut short by injuries. Berry missed eight games in 2005 with a torn pectoral muscle, six games in 2006 with a torn triceps and seven in 2007, again with a torn triceps.

The Cardinals were believed to be considering releasing Berry unless he agreed to the restructuring. The new deal is largely based on incentives.

The agreement helps the team’s salary cap situation. The team is trying to restructure the contract of two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald to free more salary cap room.

Real friendly, real peaceful.

A minute later, Pierce went ballistic. His trash talking with Quentin Richardson of the Knicks escalated, and both of them were ejected.

“With the Super Bowl, with New York Yankees-Red Sox, that’s just the way New York-Boston sports are,” Pierce said. “For some reason when we play the Knicks, it’s a heated game.”

Oh, for the record: Pierce hopes the New England Patriots beat his buddies Sunday.

Be it on the field, court, diamond or ice, that’s how it is between Beantown and the Big Apple.

Goes beyond Babe Ruth, Bucky Dent and Bill Buckner, too. Way past Spygate or when Bruins rabblerouser Mike Milbury climbed into the stands and banged a Rangers fan with his own shoe.

Feb. 10 — Pro Bowl, Honolulu.

Feb. 20-26 — NFL scouting combine, Indianapolis.

March 30-April 3 — NFL annual meeting, Palm Beach, Fla.

April 26-27 — NFL draft, New York.

May 19-21 — NFL spring meeting, Atlanta.

“I just want to start by saying I’m awfully excited to be sitting in this chair,” Garrett said.

No, Garrett wasn’t being introduced as Phillips’ replacement. He was merely explaining Thursday why he decided to pull out of consideration for coaching jobs with Baltimore and Atlanta to remain offensive coordinator in Dallas.

Still, the symbolism was hard to miss — especially for a guy who has been viewed the coach-in-waiting since he rejoined the organization last year.

Garrett held a news conference to discuss his decision to stay, which included a promotion to assistant head coach and, presumably, a raise, perhaps approaching the $3 million per season made by Phillips. He insisted that he seriously considered the other jobs and didn’t just see what was out there for the experience of going through the process.

“They weren’t exercises,” he said. “They were great opportunities. … I think maybe this decision to stay here has a lot more to do with the Dallas Cowboys in 2007 and what the Dallas Cowboys can be in 2008.”

Garrett gave thoughtful answers to all questions but one. Asked if he was promised he’d replace Phillips, Garrett said, “No,” then turned his head to seek a question from the other side of the room.

League rules prevent team owner Jerry Jones from anointing Garrett as the heir to Phillips, but the way things have played out sure seems to indicate the likelihood.

After all, Jones hired Garrett before hiring Phillips last year. And when Garrett returned Wednesday night from visits with the Ravens and Falcons, he huddled with Jones to figure out his next move. Hours later, he opted to stay in Dallas, being part of a club that just went 13-3 and sent seven offensive players to the Pro Bowl.

“We’re thrilled that Jason will be with the team in 2008 and moving forward,” Jones said in a statement. “We believe that what we accomplished in 2007 is just the beginning of many productive years ahead. His vision and direction on the offensive side of the ball will only help us improve and get to where we want to be.”

In Garrett’s first year of building a game plan and calling plays, the Cowboys averaged the second-most points, third-most yards and fourth-most yards passing in the NFL. Tony Romo shattered team passing records, Terrell Owens set various receiving records and Jason Witten had one of the most prolific seasons by a tight end in league history. Running back Marion Barber even made the Pro Bowl despite being a backup.

“We made great strides this year,” Garrett said. “We didn’t achieve all of our goals, but we’re heading in the right direction. When (wife) Brill and I looked at each other we said, ‘Boy, we have a great chance here in Dallas.”‘

Phillips said the importance of having both coordinators back is something “I don’t think you can emphasize enough.”

“That familiarity allows us to build upon what we were able to teach last year and puts us so far ahead of where we were at this time a year ago,” he said. “The players learned and accepted two new philosophies on both sides of the ball last year. We will now be able to build upon that.”

Tony Sparano, who had been Dallas’ assistant head coach and line coach, was hired as the Dolphins coach on Wednesday. He worked closely with Garrett last season, helping ease him into the coordinator’s job. Replacing Sparano — and, perhaps, other coaches who follow him to Miami — is next on Jones’ offseason to-do list.

Phillips said the hiring of a line coach would happen “real quickly.” A front-runner is Hudson Houck, who had the job from 1993-2001. He became available when Parcells took over the Dolphins and swept out the assistants.

Some press releases given by the NFL have actually stated that the most recent games of the Super Bowl have been made available to a billion potential audiences worldwide. However, there have been a couple of independent studies that have been done which have suggested that the total number of international viewers on the average is a little over 100 million - and a majority of this number are American viewers.

And because of this great fame of the Super Bowl, you may be astonished to learn that there are completely no videotapes of the first two Super Bowl telecasts. It is particularly surprising for the Super Bowl I, since it has been covered by CBS and NBC, which are two of the biggest television networks. Sports Illustrated has stated that the only first telecast footage that existed was the first game’s two-minute video clip. This is because during the earlier days of the television and sometime in the 1960s, the copies of the TV broadcasts were erased routinely, as nobody ever thought that there would be anyone who would want to replay a show that they have already seen. Also, during those days, videotapes were significantly expensive.

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Alan Faneca

Ben Roethlisberger

Willie Parker

Troy Polamalu

James Harrison

There are three parts to Pro Bowl voting; the fans players and coaches all account for one third of the election process. I’m not sure how Polamalu made the Pro Bowl, he’s missed several games to injury this year. Roethlisberger is clearly the third best QB in the AFC, possibly in the NFL, and in time could rise to the Brady-Favre-Manning level, especially if the Rooney’s shell out some cash for a few linemen who can block, and another wide receiver who can catch. Harrison is making good on the teams decision to let Joey Porter walk. He’s been somewhat quiet lately, but then again so has the defense as a whole.

I’m somewhat amazed Faneca made the team, as the O-line has been porous at best this season. It’s clear many players make the team based on reputation, but to give Faneca the benefit of the doubt, I’ll conclude he’s probably had to cover for Mahan a lot this season. While it’s hard to tell on TV who is missing their assignments, generally a lineman is told to take the inside-most rusher on passing plays, so if Mahan is beat to Faneca’s side, Faneca is supposed to take the guy to his right who just blew threw Mahan. The Steelers generally run to the left side, behind Faneca and Willie Parker does lead the league in rushing.

Obviously, a good line has to work well together, profound football insight I know, but just as stark, is the realization that this Steeler’s line is not greater than the sum of its parts and should be dismantled and reassembled this off-season.

I’m not sure about the intricacies of the Steelers run blocking schemes, but I do know Mahan is terrible, and should be cut after this season. The blame I place on the coaches goes back to the off-season, when Mahan, a guy who played for Tomlin in Tampa Bay, was signed instead of either a good center, or a wide receiver. I know Tomlin’s not the GM, but he obviously thought Mahan was the guy to replace Hartings and he clearly is not. One could argue Faneca has been the beneficiary of playing next to all-pro centers for his entire career.

Becker Lynn is a blogger at http://www.SteelerManiacs.com which is a fansite for diehard fans of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers

While the top-ranked Buckeyes looked awfully good in a 37-17 rout Saturday night of Penn State, potential pitfalls await in their quest for a second straight berth in the national title game.

Wisconsin visits Columbus on Saturday, followed by a Nov. 10 visit from Illinois and its potent offense.

Finally, there’s the annual season-ending rivalry game against Michigan — this year at the Big House.

“It’s a big step winning on the road at any time,” coach Jim Tressel said after the Buckeyes improved to 4-5 at Beaver Stadium. “Now we have to so see how good we are at home.”

AP Top 25 voters were impressed enough with the win over Penn State (6-3, 3-3) that the Buckeyes (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten) gained two first-place votes in this week’s poll. Ohio State notched its eighth double-digit win of the year.

Detractors had worried how first-year starting quarterback Todd Boeckman would fare in his toughest test to date at one of the rowdiest venues in the nation. The Nittany Lions had the nation’s seventh-best defense coming into the game.

Up until Saturday’s confrontation at home against the Ducks, the Huskies had pretty much lost it coming out of the locker room for the second half.

The media coverage following the loss concentrated mostly on the Huskies giving up 661 yards to Oregon’s high-scoring offense, 465 rushing yards and a career-high 251 rushing yards to Duck tailback Jonathan Stewart, a product of Timberline High School in Lacey, who should have been a Husky.

Instead of acknowledging the fact that Oregon gave up 34 points in their win, the media drew attention to the fact that the loose rushing defense caused the Huskies to drop to 118th in rushing defense among 119 major college teams, and rank 107th overall in defensive yards allowed.

Heck, at least half if not three quarters of the teams in America would be exactly where the Husky defense is ranked if they had played Washington’s schedule through the first seven games. Washington has played the toughest schedule for the last five weeks among 242 Division I teams.

The Husky defense is not as bad as the statistics would suggest. For one thing, Washington has no depth anywhere and by the 4th quarter, not only were too many players out of position, they were winded from being on the field with Oregon’s offense for more than 34 minutes.

For another, Washington has played 5 nationally-ranked teams straight up halfway through those games, leading in 3 of them against Ohio State (only the current No. 1 team in the country), USC (then ranked No. 2) and No. 12-ranked Arizona State.

Here is a news flash: Washington was supposed to lose to Oregon. I predicted it weeks ago.

Rather than focus on everything that was not happening against Oregon, let’s recognize what did happen:

1) Redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Locker threw an 83-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Anthony Russo, the 4th-longest TD pass in Husky history. Russo now has at least one reception in 31 consecutive games.

2) Jake Locker threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Marcel Reese.

3) Jake Locker threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to senior tailback Louis Rankin, the longest reception of his career.

4) Jake Locker threw another touchdown pass to Marcel Reese, this one for 38 yards.

5) Louis Rankin racked up 238 all purpose yards, 132 in kickoff returns, 73 in rushing (a 6.6 yard average per carry) and 43 receiving.

6) Jake Locker added 78 yards rushing at 6.0 yards per carry.

I fully expect Washington to lose to California for its 6th loss of the year, after all, California is not like playing against the scout team in practice.

On the plus side, I fully expect Washington to beat Arizona, Stanford, Oregon State, Washington State and Hawaii to end the season with a 7-6 mark and play in a bowl game.

I do not care if the Huskies win in the last minute or if they win by a field goal, a safety or an extra point. If flat does not matter. I do not care if the Huskies finish dead last in rushing defense or overall defense.

Hawaii has won games by 45-44 in overtime against Louisiana Tech, 42-35 in overtime against San Jose State, 52-37 against Utah State, 63-6 against AA Northern California and 66-10 against AA Charleston Southern. Hawaii is 7-0 and currently ranked No. 16 in the AP Top 25 Poll.

If Hawaii can pull off such wonder I think Washington can do the same against better competition.

The Huskies have been through hell and back and have survived. They are getting better and better offensively.

If you think things cannot get worse, check out Minnesota. The Gophers are 1-7 in the Big 10 and still have to play Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. Their lone win came against a mediocre Miami of Ohio team 41-35 in overtime. My guess is they drink an awful lot after games at Minnesota.

Dennis Erickson and his Sun Devils are 7-0 and riding high, but they still have to play California, Oregon, UCLA, USC and Arizona. Have fun, and good luck Dennis.

Who would you rather be now, Arizona State or Washington?

The fun for fans in Huskyville is just beginning. Strap on your shoulder pads, paint your face and put on your helmet because things are going to get better.

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Ed Bagley’s Blog Publishes Original Articles on Current and Past Events with Analysis and Commentary on 5 Subjects: Sports, Movie Reviews, Lessons in Life, Jobs and Careers, and Internet Marketing. My intention is to inform, educate, delight and motivate you the reader. Find my Blog at: http://www.edbagleyblog.com
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Sixteen of these 20 games were not noteworthy despite the score:

Oklahoma State at home outlasted Texas Tech 49-45, you choose whether these are two great offensive or two really lousy defensive teams (94 total points).

Navy at home beat Duke 46-43 (89).

No. 13 Oregon (in the AP Top 25) traveled to Stanford and won 55-31 (86), we expected as much. The Ducks are now 4-0.

No. 4 Oklahoma traveled to Tulsa and won 62-21 (83).

Bowling Green at home beat Temple 48-35 (83).

Troy traveled to LA-Lafayette and won 48-31 (79).

Northern Illinois traveled to Idaho and won 42-35 (77).

Purdue traveled to Minnesota and won 45-31 (76). The Boilermakers are now 4-0.

Arizona State at home beat Oregon State 44-32 (76). The Sun Devils are now 4-0.

UCF (the University of Central Florida) at home beat Memphis 56-20 (76).

Auburn at home beat New Mexico State 55-20 (75).

Tennessee at home beat Arkansas State 48-27 (75).

UCLA at home beat Washington 44-31 (75).

No. 6 California at home beat Arizona 45-27 (72). The Bears are now 4-0.

No. 7 Texas at home beat Rice 58-14 (72). The Longhorns are now 4-0.

Toledo at home beat Iowa State 36-35.

Four of these 20 games were noteworthy beyond the 70-plus combined score:

No. 21 Kentucky traveled to Arkansas and won 42-29 (71). The Wildcats are now 4-0.

I still think Kentucky is not as good as its record. They are going to have to beat better competition to convince me.

Syracuse (an 0-3 team) traveled to No. 18 Louisville and upset the Cardinals 38-35 (73). Syracuse led 31-14 after the 3rd quarter. I have been saying for three weeks that Louisville has no defense worth talking about. The Washington Huskies traveled to Syracuse in their opener and beat The Orangemen 42-12.

No. 19 Hawaii at home beat AA Charleston Southern 66-10 (76). The Warriors are now 4-0 after another cupcake opponent.

No. 24 Nebraska at home beat Ball State, yes, THAT Midwestern powerhouse, 41-40 (81).

The bottom line: Would the sportswriters who vote in the AP Top 25 Poll get over it and move Louisville, Hawaii and Nebraska right out the poll. All three teams deserve to be booted out.

The 4th week saw two other upsets: Miami (FL) at home easily handled No. 20 Texas A&M, and Michigan at home held off No. 10 Penn State 14-9. Michigan was favored in the game, but I think Penn State should have been a visiting favorite if the Nittany Lions are truly the No. 10 team in the country.

Along with Louisville, Hawaii and Nebraska, Texas A&M should be voted out of the Top 25 to make room for better teams.

No. 1 USC easily slammed Washington State 47-14, No. 2 LSU beat No. 12 South Carolina 28-16, No. 22 Georgia traveled to No. 16 Alabama and won with a perfect touchdown pass and catch on the last play 26-23, No. 3 Florida slid by a weak Mississippi team 30-24, and No. 9 Wisconsin managed to beat a weak Iowa team 17-13 with a last quarter touchdown.

No. 5 West Virginia, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 14 Boston College, No. 15 Clemson, No. 17 Virginia Tech, No. 23 South Florida and No. 25 Missouri all won.

The bottom line: USC, LSU, Florida, West Virginia, Ohio State, Boston College, Missouri, Clemson, South Florida and Wisconsin all remain unbeaten.

I still think Wisconsin is not the 9th best team in college football. Reality finally hit Indiana as it lost its first game to Illinois.

Among the unranked and still unbeaten, Kansas at home beat Florida International 55-3, Michigan State traveled to Notre Dame and won 31-14, Connecticut traveled to Pittsburgh and won 34-14, and Cincinnati at home beat Marshall 40-14.

Among new coaches, Mark Dantonio of Michigan State is 4-0, Dennis Erickson at Arizona State is 4-0 and Nick Saban at Alabama lost his first game with the Crimson Tide and is now 3-1.

Here are some of my thoughts on some of the issues and highlights of the 2007 college football season.

Conferences - How do they compare?

It’s pretty well understood in the college football world that the SEC fields the best teams and players Saturday after Saturday. Florida proved last year that the best of the SEC was way too much for the best of the Big 10. It would have been interesting to see USC compete for the national title with the Gators last year, but they lost to UCLA, who then went on to get handled by Florida State, who last season was not even an also-ran in the ACC.A recent MSN poll had 50% of respondents choosing the SEC as the best conference, followed by the Big 10 (17%), Big 12 (11%), the PAC-10 (9.2%), the Big East (7.6%), and lastly the ACC (5.4%). As a Florida State fan, it’s difficult for me to see our conference perceived so lowly. The inclusion of Virginia Tech, Boston College, and Miami a few seasons ago into an already somewhat competitive conference was supposed to put the ACC on the same level as the SEC, but Miami and Florida State have been major disappointments recently, and other ACC teams haven’t performed well out of conference either. I expect that to change this year, with Miami and Florida State regaining their places in the Top 10, and the competitive level of the whole conference moving up a few notches. By the way, how did the Mountain West Conference get left out of that poll?

Heisman Race

As a former defensive player, it’s difficult for me to concede that the Heisman Trophy is supposedly given to the “best” college football player, but scoring and offense make the highlight films more than hard hits and tough defense. True to tradition, the top contenders for the Heisman this year are all running backs and quarterbacks. Over the past twenty years, 11 times the Heisman was given to a quarterback, 6 times it was awarded to a running back, twice a wide receiver got it. So, quick trivia question: Who was the only defender to receive the award in the past twenty years? Answer: Charles Woodson won it as a cornerback at Michigan in 1997. Good luck to the guys on the tougher side of the ball, but I’m predicting a quarterback will win it this year - either John David Booty or Colt Brennan.

Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno

The battle continues this year between these two great-grandpas. I guess something has to be said about their competitive natures, but on the other hand their programs are both suffering because Bowden and Paterno haven’t learned how to find hobbies that are as fulfilling as walking the sidelines during major college football games (And heck, Paterno can’t even walk the sidelines anymore). Apparently neither of these coaches intend to stop coaching until 1) the other one retires, or 2) he dies of old age. I personally think that they could learn a lesson from LaVell Edwards. By the time he retired, there were Cougar fans who thought his time had passed, but the fatigue was nothing like what has been experienced at FSU and Penn State over the past five or six years. Bowden’s relations with disgruntled Florida State fans and, most importantly, financial supporters have soured as legitimate accusations of nepotism have been made. However, he has a new supporting staff that appears much more likely to effectively use the talent that has been loitering around Florida State the past few seasons. Paterno’s health is in obvious decline, and his team isn’t predicted to pick up any wins on Bowden. The race to the finish for these two may come down to wins and losses (wins essentially - same difference) this season, and it will be difficult for Paterno to overcome the three-game defficiency. I’m hoping that Paterno will announce his retirement this year, and that Bowden will follow shortly after.

Find a good seat on the couch…

College football looks to be as exciting this year as it ever has been. As of April, we’ve recovered the 14 plays that were taken away from each game last year. That will mean we get to see more late-game rallies and more football generally. Coverage of games continues to be broadened so that a fan almost has to discipline himself to keep from overdosing on the game throughout the week. College football fans everywhere now have a fresh 0-0 start for their favorite teams. It will be quite the roller coaster ride between now and January.