So who benefited from the Sandusky, Penn State child sexual abuse scandal story?

I know that that judge in Texas who beat his daughter silly disappeared pretty quickly.

But my, that Sandusky story has legs, wheels in fact. That audio interview with Bob Costas was fascinating, especially the pauses and language used by the one-time defensive coordinator, trying to mix the truth with the omissions that will land him in prison for the rest of his life.

He touched their legs....but without sexual intent. He is passionate about young people, especially boys.

These are very carefully worded confessions, I feel.

I think he actually believes that he is normal and that his actions are only misunderstood.

I also must say I am in no way offended by Sandusky-inspired humor. I've heard of someone raising eyebrows by naming their bar trivia team "Touched: The Jerry Sandusky story." Funny.

SNL's bit on even the devil being offended was funny.

And somewhere, I think on Facebook, I saw a reference to Joe Paterno death watch. That's funny. You know how occasionally long time married grandparents will die one after the other, sometimes just days apart. Wonder how Paterno will live without football.

At least he won't be like Jon Gruden, annoying television viewers as another ex-coach thinking a second profession is easy.

I would like to see Oprah get Paterno in the hot seat, though. Not just to listen to but to watch him squirm.

Yes, we Lions have finally made it.... to the second-tier level of popularity?

Everyone is excited about the Detroit Lions playing a real Monday Night Football game, in October and against the Bears. I'm afraid, though, the people who should be most happy are from Chicago, as they can travel a short distance to see their team. I don't know if the Bears will crush the Lions, but based on recent years, early bets are the Bears. As for the night of the week, it's not that big a deal anymore.

But hey, it's still a night game, so a little bit of primetime celebration is in order.

I was at the last Monday Night Football hosted by the Lions, back in 2001 when a young Marty Mornhinweg was 0-2 and ready for his first win. New team president Matt Millen was ready to reinvent team leadership. I didn't watch the game; didn't need to, it turned out. However, I covered the fans excitement over being on the real MNF on ABC. It was the team's last season at the Pontiac Silverdome, so I ended up covering a few finals .... final Thanksgiving tailgate, final night game, final game.

The Lions ended up getting smoked by Mike Martz and Kurt Warner, 35-0, I believe. They would lose 10 more games before Marnhinweg got to celebrate a victory as a head football coach in a professional league. He didn't ride his Harley to practice to celebrate after that eventual win.

Of course, Mornhinweg's inaugural season ended 2-14. He improved with a 50 percent increase in wins in 2002, the first season in Ford Field in downtown Detroit, ending his career with a 5-27 record for a .154 winning percentage - lower even than Rod Marinelli's .200 career record with Detroit (which included the infamous 0-16 record).

Mornhinweg went on back to Philadelphia, where he leads the Eagles' offense. The Lions went downtown, where they have wowed the world with losing.

And MNF, well, it went to cable, where it is now the second-tier NFL showcase. Not to knock ESPN, but, they aren't like ABC or NBC. Instead of all the rowdy friends coming over on Monday, they come over on Sunday's now, where NBC has led a successful reinvention of how America watches football. It's not important on Monday; it's Sunday that is "football night in America."

But like every Lions fan believes, this is a new season. This could be the year. However, MNF isn't any kind of 'making it' or show of respect. That comes if we're still playing in January.