If Tiki Barber succeeded on NBC's 'Today' show he likely wouldn't be looking to make NFL comeback

Since Tuesday, when he announced his desire to return to football, Tiki Barber has had little to say. There is plenty of irony here. During the 2006 season, when he prematurely announced his retirement from the Giants, he couldn't keep his mouth shut.
And for good reason. His mouth was going to make him a television star. A star so bright he would shine not only as a "regular" on NBC's "Today" show but also as a featured player on "Football Night In America."
See, if Tiki Barber had made it in TV, made it so big NBC would have added years and dollars when his three-year, $6 million contract expired in 2009, there would be no need to put the pads back on and be reduced to a one-word punch line.
Barber's comeback motives are being questioned. Is it born out of passion for the game or does he simply need the money? Ironically, his ultimate broadcasting agenda led to his TV demise. It's an ending built on Barber and NBC's unrealistic evaluation of his talent.
After Barber told Fox's Jay Glazer he wanted to play football again, the analysis began. Those moments when Tiki was critical of the Giants, whether it be Tom Coughlin or Eli Manning, were rehashed. The calendar pages were turned back to August 2007, when many who pay attention to such matters believe Barber's TV career started tanking. That's when he debuted on NBC's "Football Night In America" during halftime of a Giants-Ravens exhibition game.
In an instant (one minute, 15 seconds, to be exact) Barber created controversy. He questioned Manning's ability to lead, punctuating his measured analysis with what he thought was a throwaway line: "Sometimes it was almost comical the way he (Manning) would say things." Those words turned into headlines. Manning shot back a few days later, giving the story legs.
Barber was branded an ingrate by the Giants organization. Fans, who already perceived him as a phony, were further angered. NBC Sports suits were ecstatic. If Barber had tarnished his Giants legacy it was of no consequence to them. Barber was doing exactly what he was paid to do, offer a strong opinion. All the better that it generated controversy.
This was Barber's first, last and only great on-camera moment. His TV career was already headed down the tubes when he insisted on emphasizing his commitment to "Today" and setting his sights on becoming the next Matt which amounted to science fiction.
Still, Barber, in nearly every interview, expressed his goal. From the outside looking in this reinforced the notion his lucrative NBC contract was being driven by the network's news/entertainment division, not sports. The sports component was only used to justify his $2 million per year salary.

GOP confident of chances in Florida Senate race

The National Republican Senatorial Committee says a newspaper story that the GOP is trying to recruit MSNBC's Joe Scarborough for a Senate bid in Florida is incorrect.
Brian Walsh, communications director of the community, said NRSC chairman John Cornyn had a "casual conversation" during the 2010 election cycle with Scarborough about the ex-congressman possibly running for a Senate seat -- but in New York.
This morning, we linked to a story in The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress, that said Cornyn had talked to Scarborough about being a candidate in the Florida Senate race.
Florida will be a factor in the 2012 election cycle, as the GOP targets Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who is running for a third term. Republicans need a net gain of four seats to win majority control in the Senate.
"We already have plenty of great candidates looking at the Florida Senate race and we're confident any one of them can beat Bill Nelson in 2012," Walsh said
Scarborough, who served in the U.S. House from 1995 to 2001, has been talked about as a potential candidate and recently told PARADE magazine that he "may feel the need to run for office again" at some point

Relativity to sell DVDs, Blu-ray discs through Fox

Relativity Media LLC, the privately held movie studio backed by hedge fund Elliott Associates, said Thursday that it will sell DVDs and Blu-ray discs of some of its movies through News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.
The multiyear deal gives Relativity a way to tap into the U.S. home video market and market its self-financed and self-distributed films. It expects to put out about 12 to 15 films per year under the Rogue Pictures and Relativity labels.
Other films that Relativity co-finances with Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures or Comcast Corp.'s Universal Pictures are sold domestically by those studios' home video divisions. Internationally, Relativity sells distribution rights to partners abroad.
One of the movies to fall into the new deal, a thriller starring Bradley Cooper titled "Limitless," comes out in theaters next week.