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And the most bizarre sports story of the year goes to…

I almost didn’t post anything about this but it was just too bizarre not to.

Deadspin recently posted a report that shows a number of videos with a woman that looks very much like Rex Ryan’s wife. In the videos, the woman is showing off her feet while a cameraman, who sounds very much like Ryan, talks to her about her feet. (You can watch the videos here.)

ESPN.com now reports that Ryan won’t address the report.

“I know you need to ask, it’s a personal matter,” Ryan said, according to the Chicago Tribune, when asked if the situation could snowball into a distraction.

He said it was between him and his wife and he would not elaborate beyond that.

The Jets had already issued a statement: “This is a personal matter and Rex will have no comment.”

The story already made the front page of the New York Daily News and has gone viral. Ryan is scheduled to meet with the New York media Wednesday afternoon, although he’ll probably repeat what he said above.

On one hand, I almost feel bad for Ryan. He’s not the only one in the world who has a fetish like this (uh, assuming of course that that is him and his wife in the videos) and now he’s going to be judged by people who would die if their personal obsessions got out too. It’s not fair to judge.

That said, don’t post the videos online if you want to keep the matter private. The sheep essentially invited the wolves to dinner in this instance and the entire situation could have been avoided with a lot less candor. I still don’t think people should judge, but then again everyone isn’t posting videos on YouTube of their personal fetishes either.

Of course, is anyone really surprised by this? When I read the story I thought, “Yeah, I could see it. Oh, that Rex Ryan…”

Eli Manning’s one-man press conference [video]

This clip is making the rounds, but this wasn’t as unusual as the Monday Night ESPN crew made it out to be. The footage shows Eli Manning waiting around for the media to arrive at his post-game presser.

But, per ESPN, this was nothing unusual:

But this wasn’t a slight by the media or a case of reporters ignoring Manning, who didn’t have to wait too long. And it was nothing unusual. Following every game, Manning and other Giants stars such as Justin Tuck conduct their news conferences at the same time as the rest of their teammates are talking in the locker room.

Reporters in the locker room are alerted by the Giants public relations staff multiple times when Manning is heading to the podium. Although the players can walk directly to the podium area from their locker room, reporters have to take a roundabout route.

And Manning typically walks into a near-empty room at the start of his postgame news conferences and patiently waits for reporters.

Ok, so you’re straight — the ESPN Monday Night crew made a big deal out of something that wasn’t a big deal, per ESPN.com. Glad that’s settled.

Will Ochocinco be back with Bengals in 2011?

On Tuesday night’s episode of the “T.Ocho Show,”Chad Ochocinco discussed the possibility of not returning to the Bengals. He sees “significant” changes being made for the 2011 season and he doesn’t know if the team will retain him.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Says Ochocinco about next season: “I’d love to see Terrell come back next year. As far as myself, I don’t even know if I’ll be back next year. … Changes will be made and they’ll be significant.”

Some pundits believe that the Bengals are unlikely to pick up Ocho’s $6 million option for next year. The team has to make decisions about whether or not to retain other key offensive players such as Cedric Benson and Carson Palmer and may not want to spend $6 million to keep a receiver when a makeover is paramount.

Offensively, the Bengals have been inconsistent the past two years. The one thing they had going for them on that side of the ball last year was that they could run. But after spending the offseason trying to upgrade the passing game with the additions of T.O. and rookie tight end Jermaine Gresham, the entire offense has taken a step backwards. Now Cincinnati is to the point where it has to consider gutting the whole thing and starting from scratch.

Will that require jettisoning players like Ochocinco and Palmer? Maybe.

Aaron Rodgers cleared to play on Sunday

The sound you hear off in the distance is coming from Green Bay; it’s the sound of utter jubilation as Packer fans celebrate quarterback Aaron Rodgers (concussion) being cleared to play against the Giants on Sunday. (Somebody may be running a blender, too.)

ESPN Milwaukee reports that Rodgers has gained clearance from team physician Dr. John Gray, as well as an independent neurologist to play. Rodgers could still suffer a setback between now and kickoff, but for the time being it looks like he’ll suit up for the most important game of both Green Bay and New York’s seasons.

If the playoffs were to start today, the Giants would own the sixth and final spot in the NFC. But the Packers control their own destiny from here on out so if they beat New York on Sunday and then Chicago in Week 17, they would go to the playoffs and the Giants would be left out. (The Bucs are also in the mix, but their fate was essentially sealed last week when they couldn’t beat the Lions at home. Sinners.)

On Monday, Eli Manning apparently held his first players-only meeting since being drafted by the Giants in 2004. The team needed somebody to perform damage control after their fourth quarter collapse against the Eagles last Sunday, and Eli took it upon himself to step up. We’ll see if the little pow-wow pays off.

Strength of Schedule (SOS): Week 16

What am I looking at?

Below you’ll see a table with a list of team names on the left and a list of positions (including PPR data) along the top. If a square is pink, it means that the matchup is tough. If it’s green, it means it’s a favorable matchup.

It’s important to note that this is NOT straight fantasy points allowed. I removed the bias of schedule by looking at the opponents of each defense and how they fared in their other games. For example, if a particular defense faced a series of great QBs, then that is taken into account in these tables.

How do I use SOS?

Generally speaking, I use strength of schedule as a tiebraker between two similarly ranked players. Let’s say I’m trying to decide between starting BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Cedric Benson. All else being equal, these two players are very close in my mind. But if BGE has a great matchup and Benson has a bad matchup, the choice is clear. In fact, if BGE just has a mediocre matchup while Benson has a bad matchup, I’d probably go with the Law Firm.

Be careful not to read too much into these tables. You aren’t going to bench Chris Johnson in a bad matchup unless you somehow have Arian Foster waiting in the wings.

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