Is there a difference between a player like T.O. and a player like Ron Artest?  I think there is.  Certainly T.O. was a complainer and malcontent in San Francisco, but his latest tirade against the Eagles and his idiotic stance on his contract are, in my opinion, the result of listening to some terrible advice from his agent.  Ron Artest on the other hand, well he's just not right in the head. 

If both my basketball and football teams were looking at these two players I would feel much more comfortable picking up Owens than I would Artest, provided Owens fired Rosenhaus.  With no one telling him (wrongly so) that he's being taken advantage of, Owens would go on doing his job, doing it well and smiling for the cameras.  With Artest, you never know when he's going to decide that his "music" is more important than basketball or to go running off into the stands after fans.  As I said, the man is just not right in the head, never was, never will be.  Unimaginable talent, pehaps one of the two or three best small forwards in the game, but about as predictable as a rabid pit bull.

Speaking of people who are not right in the head, in case you missed it, Saints coach Jim Haslett has asked the Saints for a contract extension.  He wants 5 years and GM control.  Now I'm all for gutsy moves and providing for your future and all that, but this is just a bit insane?  What Haslett did is akin to me getting a job at FoxSports, walking in my first day, setting fire to the offices and then turning to a boss who is looking on in disbelief and saying, "by the way, I'm going to need a raise."  The Saints have, for this entire year, blamed every loss on Katrina, but what excuses do they have for the past few years.  Haslett's teams have had one thing in common with the exception of his first year, each team quit on him.  That's not the fault of the league, it's not the fault of a storm, it is the fault of the head coach and the players.