Tragedy on T-GIV

Shocking news off the wire early today on Thanksgiving. It has been confirmed by both their publicists that Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson have officially split up. I typically could care less, but I just had to note that Nick Lachey is coming out better than the Red Sox in the Josh Beckett deal.

We learned two things from the early seasons of Newleyweds: a) Jessica was an intolerable idiot, and b) despite that they did seem to be in love. So while there may have been a spark there, let's face it, the real pot sweetener for Nick marrying the avowed virgin was the opportunity to boldly go where no man had gone before. To consummate things if you will. In that sense their marriage can be viewed as an NBA contract. Sure, the $4 million per year is nice, but it's the $10 million signing bonus that really gets the mouth watering.

Add to that the stories of Jessica's carousing in recent months and Lachey also falls under the injured fawn corollary. He certainly seems to be victim, true or not, in this break-up and I'm certain ladies are going to be lining up to nurse him back to health.

And, we can't forget he was in 98 Degrees and that show essentially prolonged a career that was headed for nowhere. It kept him in the spotlight and this high-profile breakup will keep him there for months to come.

Let's recap: Nick Lachey got to sleep with Jessica Simpson, he doesn't have to put up with her looney antics anymore, everyone thinks he was the victim, and he has a career again. Now if only the Cincinnati Bearcats could regain some of their college hoops swagger and Matt Leinert wins the Heisman, things couldn't be better for Mr. Lachey.

Hope everyone enjoys their Thankshaving feasts. For once, I'm actually excited about todays NFL games. You have Michael Vick in the first game, which is excitement enough. (If the Falcons don't wear the throwback red helmets though, I'll be enourmously disappointed.) The second game might actually be a contest between Denver and Dallas, also an appealing throwback uni game with the Caboys wearing the cool star-on-shoulder togs and the Broncos hopefully reviving the orange crush uniforms of the Elway era.