Craig Ironhead Heyward or Cedric Benson? You make the call.

Cedric Benson is at it again. I guess we should have  expected that Benson wouldn’t just be able to let his play do the talking next Sunday in the Bengals’ tilt against the Bears. Perhaps anticipating laying an egg this week, Benson came out firing today alleging that the Bears organization spread rumors and only told the Bengals negative things about him prior to his signing.  I don’t know what was exchanged between the two organizations, but I’d imagine they revolved around “colossal bust”, “busting waistline”, “wasted draft pick”, “pick a time when he was wasted”. Sorry Cedric, but these aren’t rumors. These certainly are not positives, but come on, you would struggle to come up with positives from your stay in Chicago.

I’d like to think the Bears organization dealt with this situation with a certain amount of class, and listened to Virginia McCaskey, who always advised that “if you don’t have something good to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.” Following this advice, maybe they simply provided a flip book of some of Benson’s feats.

This is going to end poorly.

Told you so.

Fastest 40 time all year.

• Deng will be out for the rest of the year unless the Bulls make a lengthy playoff run.  So yeah, see ya next year Luol. [Sun-Times]
• Your ‘ceps is on fire!  Sorry, had to.  Soto will miss at least two more games with inflammation in the biceps area.  Hopefully we’ll see him in the home opener.  [Tribune]
• Bulls win.  Boom, playoffs. [ESPN]
• Chris Getz is moving to the top of the lineup and Wise is moving down to eighth.  Who the hell are these guys?  [Tribune]
• Looks like Fenway Park may be the next venue to host the Winter Classic.  Wicked awesome.  [ESPN]
• Some very sad info on Nick Adenhart’s accident.  Good move by the Angels to postpone last night’s game by the way.  [3:10 to Joba]
• Just days after signing Tank, the Bengals are trying to keep up the PR blitz.  Corner Leon Hall got picked up for DUI.  [Slow Breaker]
• Here’s to hoping for the Bulls to face the Celtics in the playoffs.  Oh, and to play some defense.  [Pippen Ain't Easy]
• Gatorade with yet another ad campaign.  This one features an animated Tiger Woods; not animated like fist pumping, but you know, drawn.  Check it out.  [HHR]

The Bengals continue to make their impression on NFL fans everywhere.  They just have an amazing ability to keep on letting us know they have a commitment to crime.  Around this time last year the team released criminal mastermind Chris Henry, only to re-sign the wide receiver a few months later; they also went on a nefarious streak of 10 arrests in 14 months a couple years back.

Well, they are at it again, signing ex-Bear and ex-con Tank Johnson after the Cowboys decided they didn’t want him.  The same Cowboys who thought TO was a good deal for a while and signed Pacman Jones last year.  I suppose it might boost team morale to have some players with a lot in common, but you have to start worrying when every story told in the locker room starts with “when I was in the joint…”

And what’s with the Bengals scooping up all of the old Bears’ players that have gotten in trouble?  I swear if Rex Grossman gets picked up for something, say assault with a deadly weapon when he’s whipping footballs at the elderly, the Bengals will be all over him.  That assumes that they haven’t made a push more Mike Vick yet.

What an embarrassment this organization is.  I know I have plenty to be ashamed of as a Lions fan, but as far as I know we are way, way behind Cincy when it comes to jail appearances.

So what’s next for the Bengals and their offseason plans?

• Donte Stallworth.
• Plaxico.
• Maybe hire Bernie Madoff to run the team.
• Maybe Drew Peterson as a player scout of some sort.
• Ryan Leaf as Public Relations Director.