FanHouse John Madden

Boxing publicist Bill Caplan has known George Foreman forever.

Caplan was there when an 19-year-old Foreman won the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics, and through Foreman's two stints as world heavyweight champion.

Caplan was there when a 45-year-old Foreman became the division's oldest champion by stopping Michael Moorer 15 years ago this coming Thursday. And of course, Caplan was there in Zaire, 35 years ago, when Foreman was dethroned by Muhammad Ali's "Rope-a-Dope" in Kinshasa, Zaire.

After the jump, Caplan, 74, talks about Foreman's journey to, and their experience in Zaire, and how it ties into his achievement against Moorer.

And now something for the discerning fan: Collinsworth NFL 10.

It makes perfect sense, really. Cris Collinsworth replaced John Madden in the NBC Sunday Night Football booth, and Madden is responsible for changing the face of gaming. So naturally, Collinsworth should have his own video game too.

It doesn't have the bells and whistles of the latest Madden offering, but if you're partial to old-school, hard-nosed football, it'll be right up your alley. It also helps if you still have an Atari 2600 laying around.

Video preview after the jump.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Comedian Frank Caliendo is a premier impressionist. And he's made a mark in the sports world through his work on FOX NFL Sunday, and his spot-on imitations of some of sports biggest stars.

Caliendo recently stopped by to grace FanHouse with his comedy stylings. He tackled all the issues, from what Charles Barkley thinks of Lamar Odom's wedding, to John Madden's Super Bowl prediction.

Video after the jump.

It's easy to mock Dick Vitale for his over-the-top on-camera antics, particularly if he's working a Duke game. But for all the perceived homerism, he's seems like a good guy.

Sort of like John Madden in that his exuberance can sometimes be distracting to the point that you want to throw a brick through your television. But what separates them from most of their colleagues is that they seldom utter a malicious word about the players or coaches they're covering.

And if you need more confirmation that Vitale is a swell dude, this should do it (via the Tampa Tribune):

In 1988, Electronic Arts released a computer game called John Madden Football. The unlicensed game featured no NFL teams or players, and while it had some customizable features like difficulty and weather, you couldn't even play a full season.

In 1994, the sixth release of this video game series would change the world of sports gaming forever. It was then that EA first acquired a license from the NFL to use team names and logos in the game. They added a license from the NFL Players Association so they could use real names in the 1995 version. Every year since, EA Sports has rolled out a new Madden game in time for football season.

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It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Atlantic Division.

It will be an interesting summer for the five teams in the Atlantic. Four teams made the playoffs, including the eventual Stanley Cup champion, and the one team that didn't make it -- the New York Islanders -- holds the first pick in Friday's draft, which isn't a bad consolation prize. All around it was a pretty successful season for these five teams.

And the Matt Millen Redemption Tour rolls on.

The former Lions general manager and team president, who had cornered the market on Detroit's hatred until Sidney Crosby sauntered along, will be the new analyst on the NFL Network's Thursday Night Football broadcasts.

Millen will replace Cris Collinsworth -- John Madden's successor on Monday Night Football -- and will team with Bob Papa in the NFL Network booth.

Tony Kornheiser gets very mad when I sit in his chair, pick up his personalized bobblehead from the studio set and shake the doll. In fact, even when I don't have the privilege of sometimes subbing for him on ESPN's Pardon The Interruption, he seems to dislike me -- maybe because I have a full head of hair or, more likely, because I'm intellectually beneath him.

That's OK. I am grateful anyway.

I thank him because he did the sportswriting profession proud in his three years on Monday Night Football. Kornheiser technically isn't a sportswriter anymore, having escaped the dying newspaper business like many of us, but when he was hired for one of the most high-profile assignments in sports television, he was dismissed by many viewers and critics as a columnist painfully out of his league.

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If you're Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the last year hasn't been so bad. Think about it: You had 96 catches for 1,431 yards and 12 touchdowns during the regular season; you had three touchdowns in the NFC Championship Game, you had two more touchdowns in Super Bowl XLIII (so what if you wound up losing the game?), and you're named the MVP of the Pro Bowl. Not a bad year, right?

Well, things just got a little bit better for Larry on Friday, as it was announced that he was the cover guy for EA's Madden NFL 10 (along with Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu).

So what does Larry think about being on the cover? Why is he sure he's going to reverse the Madden Curse? What's the latest on Anquan Boldin's contract situation? And why does he think Matt Leinart is the next Steve Young? I asked Larry all of these questions and more during some time here in New York. Read the full interview after the jump.

When talking about John Madden's legacy, MDS has it right: he's an "American original", and football will be worse off without him. NBC has already named Cris Collinsworth as his successor, and that softens the blow, but no one will ever replace Madden.

It's not all bad news, though; Madden video games will live on, and Frank Caliendo's impersonation of Madden will not. Via CNBC.com's Darren Rovell: