Random notes on an uneventful Friday, more than a week away from the Super Bowl:

THEY'RE OLD SCHOOL: According to a Globe survey, fans easily prefer the old Pat Patriot logo to the Flying Elvis unveiled at the start of the Bill Parcells era. The team yesterday unveiled a special logo to mark the Patriots' 50th season that features both images. While I kind of like both the old look and the new, I would be in favor of the Patriots trotting out the red, white and blue throwbacks a couple times a season, at least.

50 YEARS IS NOT ENOUGH: Even after three Super Bowl championships, the Patriots did not land a representative among the top five in Bill Burt's list of Boston's 10 greatest sports heroes. Bill Belichick, at number six, is the top Patriot on the list.

A WINNING FORMULA: Land an interview with Tom Brady, and get results for your web site. That formula has certainly worked for Toronto's Fan 590, which said its web site saw a 28-percent increase in traffic as a result of the interview, in which Brady said very little of interest.

RISING STAR: Jon Tomase of the Herald spoke to former Duke quarterback and Massachusetts native Zack Asack about his old coach, Bill O'Brien. He says the two of them talked all the time about their mutual admiration for Brady, the man O'Brien will now be tutoring as quarterbacks coach of the Patriots (Boston Herald).

NEVER MIND: ProFootballTalk reported this morning that, according to an industry source, the Patriots may be laying off employees for the second time in recent months. Part of the problem, according to the report, was underperformance at Patriot Place, the big restaurant and retail complex that now surrounds the stadium and that would appear particularly vulnerable in these tough times. But by this afternoon, the site had corrected itself, saying that according to team spokesman Stacey James there were no additional layoffs coming in Foxboro.

IT FOLLOWS YOU: Working for the Dallas Cowboys means that you have to put up with some pretty obnoxious characters, and now we have reports that those associations can foil your future attempts to move on with your life. John Czarnecki of FoxSports.com believes that Terrell Owens had a role in offensive coordinator Jason Garrett not getting the head coaching job with the St. Louis Rams. The irony in that, of course, would be that Owens is not a fan of Garrett. But when tearing people down is what you do, it's hard to see a potential win-win situation when it presents itself.

SAD IRONY: Giants wide receiver Taye Biddle, who replaced Plaxico Burress on the Giants roster when Burress was suspended for a game in September, is recovering gunshot wounds suffered while he was visiting family in Alabama.

OPEN INVESTIGATION: Two weeks after ESPN's "Outside the Lines" highlighted former Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones' alleged role in a shooting outside a Georgia strip club, authorities are taking another look at the evidence.

SORRY IS THE HARDEST WORD: Anquan Boldin continues to dismiss as wrong-headed the questions about his behavior during the NFC Championship Game, and as I noted earlier this week, Boldin does not deserve to be treated like just another spoiled wide receiver with an attitude problem. But Scott Bordow of the East Valley Tribune says that all Boldin really had to do to preserve his reputation was apologize.

PLAYERS UNION CONTENDERS: The Chicago Tribune's Dan Pompei reports that four former players -- Jim Covert, Trace Armstrong, Troy Vincent and Ben Utt -- and attorney DeMaurice Smith are the possible successors to Gene Upshaw as executive director of the NFL players union.

COACHING MOVES: The National Football Post's Mike Lombardi reports that Titans secondary coach Chuck Cecil will be promoted to defensive coordinator.