The Petty Bowl

And, no, not Richard Petty, or his son Kyle Petty, or any and all other NASCAR Pettys.

We're talkin' petty, small "p", which is the subject of a contest the Annoying Terrell Owens (a Blob trademark) and the Pro Football Hall of Fame are currently waging. It's not the Super Bowl, this Petty Bowl. It's not even the Pro Bowl. But it's some battle of wits-less we've got going on here.

On one side is Annoying Terrell, who, apparently miffed he wasn't the first-ballot HOFer he frankly should have been, became the first the first inductee in history to turn down the HOF's invitation to attend the induction ceremonies. Instead he will give his induction speech at his college alma mater, Tennessee-Chattanooga, where presumably no one will be listening but Annoying Terrell and his family and friends, and perhaps a passersby or two.

("Who is that man and why is he standing at a podium talking?" the passersby might think).

This is, yes, incredibly petty of Annoying Terrell, if perfectly in character. He was kind of a jerk when he played, and now he's being kind of a jerk about this.

OK, not "kind of a jerk." A jerk, period.

The Hall of Fame could have responded to this by going high, the way you'd expect a Hall of Fame to. Instead, it chose to join Annoying Terrell in a race to the bottom.

Last week, see, the HOF honchos announced it would not honor Terrell at the ceremony. He'll get his bust, and he'll get his canary-yellow jacket in the mail, but there'll no mention of him at the ceremony, no career highlights on the videoboard, nothing. It'll be as if he doesn't exist.

Some people think the HOF has to do that to ensure future Annoyings won't pull the same stunt Annoying Terrell did. The Blob thinks it's incredibly petty, and beneath the HOF. Sort of like "You're gonna take your ball and go home? Fine! See if we care! Who needs ya, ya big baby!"

Which, of course, only reveals that the HOF is being a bunch of big babies, too.

Somebody find a playpen for these people. The Petty Bowl needs a venue, after all.