Business is business. The cold, harsh reality is that Dexter Jackson is not the type of person that makes someone grab a magazine off the newsstand and plunk down their $4.00 or more for it. No offense towards the newly-crowned Mr. Olympia, but he was basically not controversial enough to warrant any good (or bad, depending on which way you’re looking at it) press. Thus, he didn’t warrant any covers in the world of bodybuilding magazines.

For right or wrong, Jackson is too ‘vanilla’ and this industry survives and strives by the ‘wow’ factor, which Jackson doesn’t bring. Is he a champion bodybuilder that deserves cover features? Absolutely, but a publisher has to look at the bottom line. The main selling point of print industry is the cover and headline. Why do you think piece of shit rags like the New York Post and the National Enquirer have made such an impact?

Jay Cutler brought an air of controversy with him due to the blocky look that attracted so much criticism. Was he a great champion? That is debatable, but he was and still is a face and body that sells. Like him or not, Cutler’s popularity cannot be disputed.

Perusing the newsstand shelves and the covers of the latest bodybuilding mags, ‘Muscular Development’ has Dennis Wolf; ‘Flex’ gives us a UFC-theme with Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar; ‘Muscle & Fitness’ stayed in the octagon with Frank Mir; ‘Iron Man’ has a faceless bodybuilder and ‘MuscleMag International’ shows Johnnie Jackson with a sub-heading of “Who Got Robbed at the Mr. Olympia?” Interesting indeed.

As far as Wolf is concerned, he may be the most overrated bodybuilder of today’s era. Because so many people try to compare him to Arnold, he receives a hell of a lot of attention that he really doesn’t deserve. Jackson is a decent guy, but an odd choice for a cover and not one that would make a difference as far as star power is concerned. Oddly enough, his name doesn’t even appear on the cover. The UFC angle is something that is a good cross-over market, but to have not one, but two publications from the same company go in that direction is a bit odd. There must be more to the story or at least some type of agreement in place.

So, there are many reasons why our new Mr. O is getting pushed to the back pages of even his own industry publications. And that is a shame, indeed.

As I write this, the Giants just extended their lead over the Redskins 23-7 in the fourth quarter, a moot point when you’re speaking about the NFL’s best team, by far. A muddy field in Landover, Maryland didn’t slow down a team that appears to be on a mission to repeat as Super Bowl champions. Neither did the possible distraction of Placixo Burress and his latest episode of “As the Asshole Turns.” The wideout kept everyone in the dark, including the investigating officers from the NYPD, following his self-inflicted accidental gunshot wound early Saturday morning at a Manhattan nightclub.

Through his lawyer, the announcement was made that Burress will turn himself in on Monday to face Criminal Possession of a Weapon charges. He also plans to plead not guilty. Bottom line – he was carrying a firearm in New York with an expired permit from Florida. Not only is Burress going to play stupid and say that he was unaware of the expiration date and the fact that the permit is not recognized in New York, but surely bring up tragic incidents such as the one involving Sean Taylor, which we were sadly reminded of before the game between the Giants and Redskins when the slain player was added to the team’s ‘Ring of Honor.’

The way the series of events were reported, it is difficult to see any other side of this – especially Burress’s. Out on the town with his wife and two teammates (Antonio Pierce has been named as one), Burress popped himself in the right thigh after “fiddling with the gun” before handing it to a security guard in a VIP section, according to a report in the New York Post. Burress then was treated and released at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Hospital, but they did not notify the police, as is the procedure for hospitals when it comes to gunshot wounds. Let your imagination run wild to figure out why this step wasn’t taken. Star status? Little envelope left on a chair? Whatever, the bottom line is that the cops didn’t find out about this until much later and didn’t have a chance to get near Burress until nearly 15 hours later. After banging on his $4 million mansion door for over half an hour, Burress’s wife refused the police entrance or a chance to speak with her husband.

Hoping for a second ‘shot’ at Burress, police came back that evening and didn’t even get the courtesy of having their knock answered.

This is just the latest in a whole slew of problems that Burress has brought upon himself. Two domestic incidents over the summer, going AWOL, faking injuries to sit out during training camp and the preseason until signing a new contract and a two-week suspension (which he didn’t have a any remorse over and stated that he enjoyed his time off) give more than ample material to show that the Giants would be better off without this clown trying to ruin their team.

Big Blue has done quite well for themselves after losing stars like Tiki Barber, Michael Strahan, Jeremy Shockey and Osi Umenyiora. Domenick Hixon has performed more than adequately taking the place of the thug Burress. No one will miss him, especially the nonsense he brings to the table.