March Madness Musings and More

CBS obviously has to pay the bills for its 11-year, $6 billion rights fee investment made back in 1999, but there's got to be a better way.

Another Bad Move

How sad to see that the Redskins decided not to bring back Chris Helein as director of public relations next season, yet another entry on Dan Snyder's long list of big-time mistakes since he purchased the team in 1999.

Helein did not have an easy job the last two seasons as the man mostly in the middle between the football operation and the local and national media. But he did it as well as anyone possibly could working for a frequently dysfunctional organization that often treats loyal employees (remember Gregg Williams) putting in 80 hour weeks 12 months a year with such utter disdain.

Helein, now the fifth Redskins PR director in nine years by my count, was viewed as Joe Gibbs' guy, but I'm also told Jim Zorn also liked having him around. But when Helein essentially was kept as much in the dark over the team's bizarre coaching search as the media covering the team, surely he had to know his future with the club might just be in jeopardy.

Helein performed admirably this past season in the aftermath of the Sean Taylor tragedy and probably should have been given a raise instead of the boot. Several sources in and out of the organization also say they sensed the meddling hand of Vinny Cerrato in Helein's departure. If so, shame on him and the Redskins for not having the good sense to keep one of their more valuable front office assets on the payroll.

The only good news here is that at least someone in the organization had the good sense to hire equally competent Zack Bolno, the Washington Wizards public relations director the last four years, as Helein's replacement this week. Bolno worked for six years in the Tampa Bay Bucs PR department before joining the Wizards and is generally held in high regard by the local sports media. Perhaps this time, the Redskins will do the right thing and make this a long-term move. Then again¿

More MMA

As expected following last week's column concerning the CBS decision to air four mixed martial arts Saturday night specials, we got lots of responses, including the anticipated vile "you ignorant, fat, bald, out of touch moron" e-mails and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban weighing in on his personal blog under the headline "This Guy Proves Anyone With a Keyboard Can Be Stupid."

You might say the same clearly holds true for Cuban, who couldn't even spell your faithful correspondent's name right. In any case, we'll give the other side their say in some of the more thoughtful e-mail responses printed below.

E-Mails of the Week

I understand your trepidation but rest assured that in the respectable promotions the brawlers never have lasting success. This is because the more technical JuJitsu, Muay Thai and Wrestlers prey on their weaknesses and are able to quickly show that they do not belong in the technical art of MMA.

But CBS made the deal with Pro Elite, which puts on EliteXC which I would not consider respectable. With dancing models everywhere, even right behind the corners in between rounds, and putting Kimbo Slice and David "Tank" Abbott up as a main event in their last event on Showtime. Both fighters would not stand a chance against a technical fighter of any discipline and gained their renown from their brutal natures and illegal street fighting.

I am hoping this alliance will not put MMA back a few steps by putting one of its worst feet forward. I hope CBS and ProElite are very strategic with how they present the event and who they include in order to show that MMA is not street fighting or Roman gladiators.

Samuel McBee