Welcome to another edition of The Chat House where Post columnist Michael Wilbon was online Monday, Dec. 5, at 1:15 p.m. ET to take your questions and comments about the latest sports news and his recent columns.

The transcript follows.

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Virginia Beach, Va.: Hey Wilbon! My Redskins are terrible. Could they turn it around with two simple changes? Hire a GM and get rid of Al Saunders. Gibbs is fine when he calls the plays. Keep it simple. What do you think?

Michael Wilbon: The Redskins are terrible. I've been saying for seven years -- and you can check the archives if you want -- the Redskins need a real GM who is not the coach. And the Al Saunders experiment is a disaster. The playcalling was dumb beyond words yesterday. To ask a kid QB making his third start to throw the ball 38 times is stupid. There's no other word for it. You're up 14-0 and your primary back -- Betts -- is en route to a 155-yard day or whatever it was...It should have been 255 and Duckett should have been given 20 carries, too. I don't know what I'm more surprised by, the arrogance of it or the stupidity...or both.

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Poconos, Pa.: I haven't seen much of Campbell, being out of D.C. and not having the NFL package on DirecTV. Give an honest, no-bones assessment of his play thus far.

Michael Wilbon: He's been pretty good for a rookie. That's about it. He had two real good games to start and a bad game yesterday. But if you can get your rookie quarterback to be decent 2/3 of the time, that's pretty good. It's better than Rex Grossman, I'll tell you that. Look, any quarterback is going to experience growing pains. So Campbell isn't going to light it up every week. He's going to have peaks and valleys. But for the coaching staff to ask him to win the game after getting a 14-point lead yesterday is dumb beyond belief. It's almost treason. Whoever called those plays ought to walk over to that kid in the locker room and apologize. It was that stupid.

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D.C.: Speaking of Duckett...will we re-sign him and let Betts go this summer? I'm guessing Betts will want more coin then he deserves? If not, where will Duckett go? If I'm him I am getting OUTTA TOWN the second the season is over...the Redskins have KILLED him in a contract year!

Michael Wilbon: Duckett is a valuable player...for a team that has the sense to use him. But he's not a lead back. Betts is. Now, you're not going to see Betts and Portis here next year...well, you wouldn't for a team that has any idea of what it's doing in terms of personnel. But you shouldn't see all three of them. And if I'm Duckett, why would I want to stay here and play for people who don't think anything of me even though I'm averaging about 5 yards per carry.

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Maryland: Did you ever have any hatred when you were younger (teen age/twenties) towards other teams or players?

I love the 'Skins and Orioles. I hate the Red Sox with passion as well as Dallas. And now can't stand Romo.

Michael Wilbon: It's sorta well chronicled. And Tony won't let it die even when I try to move away from it. I hated Notre Dame and Michigan football. Talk about a great week for me last week: When USC beat Notre Dame and moved ahead of Michigan in the BCS poll. That was one of the great two-for-ones in my life! I hated Carlton Fisk as a kid, when he was with the Red Sox...told him years ago...and have had the great fortune of getting to know him and spend some time with him and his wife as a grown man...He's a wonderful guy...it was a thrill to spend a couple of hours with him one day a couple of summers ago after a golf tournament. Who else did I hate? All the Packers. But I got out of that silliness by the time I was 15 because I started to then appreciate sports and great competitors for what they were...And my dad simply wouldn't allow stupid "I hate him" statements in the house. My brother Don and I had to argue our positions persuasively and logically...so "I hate him" couldn't hold up for long.

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Rockville, Md.: Mike, Wizards make the playoffs -- yes or no?

Michael Wilbon: Hmmmm. It's so early. Right now it looks like no. But we're not even five weeks into a 24-week season. They'd better make up their minds to play some kind of defense between now and the All-Star break. They talked a good game in the preseason then came out and did the same old junk. You can't let Charlotte shoot 50 percent against you in your own gym. That's dreadful. And then the Bulls, who must be in the bottom-third of the league in field goal percentage, shot 50 percent against the Wizards a couple of nights later. I don't know whose defense is worse, the Redskins or the Wizards. And the Wizards problem is Orlando is much better. The Bulls, after that dreadful start, have won four or five straight and are starting to get it together. Cleveland, Detroit and Indiana are better than they are...The Wiz should still make it, but what's the point of finishing 7th or 8th...You just get swept out by the No. 1 or No. 2 seed. The Wizards have to have more ambition than just getting into the playoffs.

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Washington, D.C.: The Saints were a good team anyway, but how good do they become now that Reggie Bush is starting to look like the USC version of himself? Can they go to the Super Bowl? In the AFC you wouldn't give them much of a shot, but in the NFC, they're legit contenders aren't they?

Michael Wilbon: Yes, yes, yes the Saints are Super Bowl contenders. Look, we're talking four teams in the NFC that can really contend: Bears, Cowboys, Saints, Seahawks. That's it, that's the list. And not one of those teams is so much better than any of the others. They're all pretty equal. The Bears have the biggest upside, but also are the most vulnerable because of Rex Grossman's dreadful play...If the Saints can have Joe Horn, Deuce, rookie Colston, that new receiver who took his place (Henderson?) and Reggie Bush all in the lineup? Drew Brees knows exactly how to utilize a bunch of weapons. I can't wait to see this Saints-Cowboys game...Isn't that this coming Sunday in Dallas? I root for the Saints every single game...I think a lot of us do because of what the Gulf region has had to endure since Katrina.

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The Shoe: Will you be covering the BCS Championship game? And what are the repercussions of Tressel not voting in the Coaches Poll? Thanks Michael!

Michael Wilbon: Yes, I will be covering the BCS game. And Tressel, to me, did the classy thing. He had a major conflict of interest and instead of voting in a manipulative way (which would have been understandable) he said, "No, that's not ethical." Tressel went way, way up in my estimation. And Lloyd Carr (remember, I just admitted to hating Michigan football) sounds like a Neanderthal questioning Tressel for, essentially, not voting for Michigan. As if Tressel owes Michigan anything. Lloyd Carr is a very good coach...and also capable of such buffoonery.

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Atlantic City, N.J.: Is there a tougher sports city than Philadelphia? After all, its the same city that boo'ed Santa, pelted Jimmy Johnson with snowballs (which was started by now-governor Ed Rendell), and boo'ed the selection of the classy and great Donovan McNabb...My all-time favorite quote about Philadelphia comes from Mike Schmidt when he said where else can you "experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day."

Michael Wilbon: That is one of my all-time favorite quotes, too. I love covering games here in Philly, which is where I am now...in the photographers room of The Linc, just outside the locker rooms...It's so passionate, so loud. The cheers and the booing here is so from-the-gut. You can feel what it is people feel. I wouldn't want to work or live here for any price. But they love sports here. No discussion of the great sports cities in America could leave Philly out of the top five.

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Dan from your hometown: Hey Mike: Just a dumb question, unrelated to anything . . .

When I see coaches on the sidelines talking into their clipboards, I wonder if there really are spies out there actively reading the coaches lips and reporting back to the opposing sidelines. The whole idea seems implausible to me, and I feel coaches are being overly paranoid. Or am I just being naive, and incognito lip-readers are a team's 12th man?

Michael Wilbon: If you had a person you paid to watch TV and was also on the phone with the coaches on the sideline and in the booth...well, it could work. But my first inclination is to say that it looks unbelievably stupid.

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Bethesda, Md.: Cure for the Wizards' ills:

Kevin Garnett for Antwan Jamison, a big man and draft picks?

Michael Wilbon: So, you think the Timberwolves people are simply retards?

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Baltimore: Grossman not only looked lost on the field yesterday, he looked REALLY shaky talking to the press. The guy looks like his confidence is simply shot. Do you sit him?

Michael Wilbon: I should have said, "Do you think the Timberwolves people are morons." I regret my previous word choice and apologize. Grossman is beyond shaky. That's why I like Lovie Smith standing there and saying, "Rex is my quarterback." I wouldn't sit Rex; I'd start him. But I'd bring Griese into the game sometime in the second half. The Bears simply are not going to win the Super Bowl with Rex Grossman playing the way he is now. I'd get Griese ready and try to coach Grossman out of this. The thing I was encouraged about, as a lifelong Bears fan, is that the kid stood there and said something to the effect of, "My game stinks, and I'm going to find it." I liked that about him yesterday.

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Washington, D.C. - hate: I hate LeBron, but only because as a Wizards fan I have this recurring nightmare of his teams knocking the Wizards out of the playoffs for the next 10 years. (I'm kidding about the "hate" of course)

Michael Wilbon: Well, that could happen. LeBron could be to the Wizards what Michael Jordan was to the Cavaliers in the 1980s and 1990s. On the other hand, if the Wizards don't pull themselves together they could be so far back in LeBron's rear-view mirror he might not even see them.

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Reggie Bush: Even though Marques Colston missed yesterday's game, he still is the Rookie of the Year for the Saints with Reggie Bush a distant second.

The comparisons to Gale Sayers baffle me. In size, speed and career, I think Bush will have a career more similar to Eric Metcalf. What do you think, Mike.

Michael Wilbon: Bush is spectacular, and I think he'll be more of an impact player for longer than Metcalf, who (you're right) was a sight to behold with the ball. Sayers? Bush isn't close to Sayers and the comparison doesn't hold. But there are still four weeks to go...Colston was the rook-of-the-year for the Saints. But Bush could pass him by. And by the way, as good as Colston, Indy's Joseph Addai and the Patriots' Maroney are, the rookie of the year in the NFL is Vince Young. Backs don't have to run a team. And those two can simply be plugged into offenses that were great before they arrived. Vince Young has to run a team, which was nothing when he took over and is 5-4 in his nine starts, 5-2 in his last seven. How silly, by the way, do the Houston Texans look now?

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D.C.: Finally saw some clips of Greg Oden in a college game. Man, he was impressive, but looks like he's Shawn Kemp's older brother.

Michael Wilbon: I know. He doesn't have the youngest face in the world, does he? (Good Shawn Kemp comparison, by the way). Did you see the results of his first game. Still wearing that brace on his right wrist, the kid scored 14 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked five shots. Did you see him swish the free throws with his left hand? He shoots better free throws with his left hand that Shaq does with his right. Whoever wins the lottery and drafts this kid is going to win the NBA Championship within three years. My GOODNESS, did you see the blocked shots? He blocks with either hand, doesn't foul, and directs the blocks to himself or teammates. Are you kidding me?

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Baltimore: Re: sports fans in Philadelphia: As great as that Mike Schmidt quote is, I prefer one from the late, acerbic sportswriter Jim Murray: "Philadelphia would boo a cure for cancer."

Michael Wilbon: Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times was one of my three all-time favorite sports columnists (Shirley Povich, Sam Lacy and Jim) and anybody who can sit and read a collection of his columns should do so. It's a shame we've lost them all, but they live on through their words and ideas.

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Washington, D.C.: You used to be my favorite sports columnist, and then I just read this line:

"So, you think the Timberwolves people are simply retards?"

Wow. One of the best sports writers in the country goes to "retards." Oh well. Guess I'll stick with Wise.

Michael Wilbon: I apologized once, if you kept reading, and I'll apologize again. And you can be unforgiving if you're perfect. And I doubt it. I apologize again, because it was a stupid word choice and I know better...No excuses. It was beyond dumb.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Hey Michael, thanks for the candid points about the 'Skins, whom I love, I (sadly) agree with you wholeheartedly. Here's my question for you: What's your take on Michael Irvin's rant regarding Tony Romo and his, um, lineage? I don't know if I've missed the coverage of this, but I haven't seen it brought up at all. Thanks Michael!

Michael Wilbon: Michael Irvin's rant was even more regrettable that my word choice a few minutes ago. It involved all kinds of stereotyping and...well, I'm not going to recount it. I cringed when I heard it, and I might talk to Michael about it tonight...I might not. I haven't decided yet what, if anything, I should or will do. And Michael and I have a great relationship...I don't think there should have been any punishment because I believe people can say insensitive things about their own and others cannot. That's simply the way I feel. I can say the "N" word 100 times a day and often do when I'm with my friends who are black. That doesn't mean someone of another race can use it. Similarly, if people of other races want to use certain phrases or words about themselves, fine. But that doesn't mean I can jump in and use that word or phrase. It's off limits to me. I'm sure others don't feel as I do, but that's my approach to dealing with it. Tony can crack jokes about Jews. I do not...not ever. I can say certain things that he cannot...not ever.

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Best Jim Murray Line Ever:" John Wooden is so square, he is divisible by four."

Michael Wilbon: Murray has probably 100 "best lines ever."

Did my long answer on Michael Irvin get published? Did you guys see that yet or did it disappear from the page or never show up? Anybody who could answer...it would be appreciated.

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Rob---Philadelphia, Pa.: Is either of tonight's MNF teams good enough to make a run in the playoffs?

Michael Wilbon: Yeah, Carolina is. But it's getting more and more difficult to trust the Panthers. Every time it seems as if they've righted themselves, they stumble again. And Jake Delhomme is playing pretty poorly right now. He needs to have a good game tonight against the Eagles. I don't believe the Eagles are good enough. Yeah, I know the NFC is dreadful after those four division leaders. But without Donovan McNabb it's going to be very difficult because the Eagles are constructed absolutely around Donovan's talents. They don't have a real every-down back. They throw the ball too much for my tastes. The Eagles need to spend some money and get some players in the offseason, even if Donovan comes back whole from his knee injury.

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Coaches and Clipboards: I always thought that they were trying to block out any excess sound that might make it harder for those on the other end to understand what the coach was trying to communicate.

Michael Wilbon: Okay, that makes sense. And I hope that's the reason...I really do.

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Washington, D.C.: I read a comment by Jason Whitlock last week where he said that Dick Vermeil looks more and more like an offensive genius every time leaves a job. Martz got exposed after he left St. Louis and Saunders is a disaster now with the 'Skins, but both of them were thought of as offensive gurus when they worked under Vermeil.

Would you agree with this?

Michael Wilbon: That's a very thoughtful point by Mr. Whitlock. Jason played college football and he knows football, period. I should call him and have a long listen about Saunders.

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Cape Coral, Fla.: After yesterdays game should the Packers admit the Bret Favre era is over and make the hard decision to start preparing for next year by letting someone else play?

Michael Wilbon: You know, the people who started waxing poetically (are you listening Tony?) three weeks ago about how Favre can play five more years need to just hush up now. Favre has been one of the great quarterbacks in NFL history, period. And he's been as great a showman as he has been a quarterback. He's been worth the price of a ticket his entire career, by himself. But it's over. If the Packers want to contend again, they've got to get started with the program of ushering in a new quarterback. It's just the way of the world and I'm sure Favre understands better than almost anyone. His days of carrying a franchise on his back to the playoffs is over and done. Canton waits him, but not the playoffs.

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Anonymous: We saw the Irvin thing.

Michael Wilbon: thanks.

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Richmond, Va.: Michael:

First off, I'm so happy you mentioned Judy Pace the other day on PTI! You and I are the exact same age, and the exact same race, and apparently we were carrying the same torch for Judy Pace as youngsters. Unlike you, though, I'd somehow forgotten about her -- and she roared back into my head as soon as you said her name. So thank for that.

My question is something of an "inside baseball" question: Why is it that you seem to have a different clothing aesthetic for NBA Nation as you do for PTI? Is there some sort of network mandate on ABC? Or do you perceive the two viewing audiences differently and therefore adjust accordingly? I prefer your PTI clothes, personally, but I am curious about the difference.

Michael Wilbon: First, thanks for mentioning the Judy Pace thing from PTI. I LOVED Judy Pace. About three or four years ago, after mentioning the late great Curt Flood on PTI, I got a phone call from Judy Pace. I nearly fainted. I always thought she was THE most beautiful woman I'd ever seen...Anyway, the clothing: I said going into PTI I wouldn't wear ties, and rarely do. I wanted a somewhat more relaxed feeling, but not T-shirts or anything stupid like that. I love clothes. Well, I'm addicted to clothes. But PTI is my show. NBA Nation is not. Redskins Report and Full Court Press are not MY shows. So, it's more the audiance than what the code is for those shows. And I'm happy to wear ties and dress shirts, but thankful I don't have to do it every day.

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Silver Spring, Md.: I don't want to hear any whining from Michigan on this one. They had a chance to be national champion and lost to Ohio State. Now someone else should get a chance. I think the BCS worked this year ... you?

Michael Wilbon: I'm okay with Florida. I'm not wild about it. It's short of a playoff, so it's inadequate for me. But Michigan did have a chance (albeit on the road). Florida played a difficult schedule, won the toughest conference in the nation...I've got no problem with selecting the Gators. But I do sorta feel for Michigan...and that's a lot for me to go there for the Wolverines.

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How 'bout them 'Boys?: Okay, the 'Skins are dead for this year. Time to move on. What's your thought on the NFC playoffs? Dallas looks good, but against Chicago or Seattle? And will the AFC (Pats or Colts) beat whoever comes out of the NFC?

Michael Wilbon: Right now, my Super Bowl pick of Indy vs. Giants ain't lookin' too good, is it? If I had to pick off of what I'm watching now, these last three or four weeks, I'd have my final four in the AFC consist of Indy/Chargers/Patriots/Ravens...and I'd have an NFC final four of Bears/Cowboys/Saints/Seahawks.

If we stretch this out (and I don't know that the seedings will hold) I'd go Bears vs. Cowboys in the NFC and Patriots vs. Chargers in the AFC...but luckily, we've got a long way to go. The Bengals, by the way, might be back to where they were in January of last year before Carson Palmer got hurt. That would make for hellacious first and second rounds of the AFC playoffs.

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D.C.: Michael, I feel you're missing a point on the Irvin/Romo issue; you said: "I don't think there should have been any punishment because I believe people can say insensitive things about their own and others cannot." But what about Mr. Romo in this? Irvin's implication is that only blacks can be impressive athletes, and that an extramarital, backyard affair is what separates Romo from having Bledsoe's lead feet. Maybe I'm more sensitive having been a white ballplayer in college who used to have to hear this in locker rooms constantly, but it's an offensive stereotype.

Michael Wilbon: It is offensive, the notion that white people can't be athletic. I agree with that. I write about that occasionally. But the brotha-in-the-barn imagery is something I see as stereotyping blacks...I could be wrong. We see all these things with our own sensitivities and bias...I admit that going in...As I said, I cringed when I heard it. Maybe it offends a wider range of people than I initially thought.

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DC: Are you aching right now with the emergence of Tyson Chandler and the funk of Ben Wallace? I don't recall Tyson every complaining about headbands.

Michael Wilbon: Yeah, the Ben Wallace start has been rocky. Luckily, since the head band drama, the Bulls are 4-0...though they beat the Knicks twice and the Wizards once so I'm hardly throwing a parade. Tyson Chandler starts off every season a house afire when it comes to rebounding. But he fouls, he gets hurt because he plays so hard yet is so skinny...I hated parting with Chandler and thought the Ben trade was going to be a good one for the Bulls. I've backed off on my optimism lately.

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Kalamazoo, Mich.: Since you are already in D.C....how about a Wilbon/Kornheiser 2008 run?

Or would it have to be Kornheiser/Wilbon 2008 ?

Michael Wilbon: Wilbon/Kornheiser run to what, the golf course? Or the buffet?

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Knoxville, Tenn.: Any chance this will convince the Big Ten it is now time to add another team (Notre Dame)(hint hint) and finally add a championship game like the other conferences have so they will still be playing at the first of December ?

Michael Wilbon: Notre Dame has been invited and has turned down the Big Ten's advances more than once, as I recall. The Irish make too much money from NBC to join anybody.

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Bowie, Md: Judy Pace? Help the rest of us ...

Michael Wilbon: You got Internet? Google Judy Pace. She was an actress in the 1960s and 1970s, probably into the 1980s...a very brown-skinned African-American woman with a smile to die for amd curly black hair...a dream for guys in their early 40s and older. She was never a lead because she was of an age (I'm guessing late 50s now, maybe 60) when black women weren't cast a leads (not that they are now, for that matter). She appeared in all manner of sit-coms. I bet she must have 100 credits from appearing in sit-coms over the years. I think (and my memory may be failing me) that she played Gayle Sayers' wife in "Brian's Song." Can somebody help me out here? Anyway, if television was inclusive and black women were rewarded with TV jobs as beautiful white women are, Judy Pace would have been, say, one of Charley's Angels. Or 10 years later in a slightly more welcoming climate...perhaps Claire Huxtable. Now, I'm curious about her work. I have to Google her and go back and see what she was in...Anyway, Curt Flood endured a lot of garbage in his life, but wasn't he rewarded when he got home...just to have Judy Pace open the door.

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Arlington, Va.: I admit it, I am a die-hard Wolverines fan, so I am completely biased in my feelings over the latest BCS debacle. Nonetheless, let me say that I am taking some solace in the fact that the voters will get what they wanted in the championship game -- an OSU rout that you can turn off after the first quarter. Much better than a rematch of one of the best games of the decade on a neutral cite. Way to think it through, voters.

Michael Wilbon: I seriously, seriously doubt Ohio State is going to rout Florida. The Buckeyes won't have played in 52 days. Florida has played twice since Thanksgiving. And as we've seen so many times in the Rose Bowl, the Big Ten team is at a disadvantage going out to play in relatively warm weather (should be in the 60s all that week in Arizona, maybe 70) while the Florida kids are accustomed to the weather. And more important, Florida and California schools always always always have a big advantage in speed. Ohio State has closed that gap more than other Midwestern schools as we saw when they won the championship four years ago. Still, Florida's speed on defense is something to behold. I see it as a pick' em game.

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Bowie, Md.: Pretty bleak assessment by Bos of how far Campbell has to go to become a first-rate NFL QB. What has he been doing while waiting his turn, reading comic books? I thought the whole point of his apprenticeship was to have him well prepared before handing him the ball.

Michael Wilbon: I disagree mostly with Tom Boswell's take on Jason Campbell. If Bos thinks Campbell was supposed to have three straight really good games to start his career, he's crazy. Who does that? Elway? No. Aikman? No. Bradshaw? No. Okay, maybe Marino. But the list is a short one. Romo is 5-1 but he's been around for four years. One bad game where the coaches called plays like morons means Jason Campbell is somehow tragically flawed. That's Bos's logic, not mine. I think we still, mostly, have no idea what Campbell can do. Just as the Giants still don't know about Eli Manning and he's been starting since midway his rookie season.

Okay, gotta run and prepare for PTI...Jaws and Tony are heading to makeup so I'd better jump, too. Thanks for chatting. We'll see if the Redskins bounce back next Sunday against the Eagles...Boy, did that game lose it's luster. How many of you had the Eagles and Redskins making the playoffs this season? I had the Redskins as a wild-card team! How off base was I? Have a great week everybody. MW

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Judy Pace: Yep - she played Linda Sayers in "Brian's Song"

Michael Wilbon: Thanks for confirming...My memory isn't totally gone just yet! MW

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