Soon after this photo was taken, Dick Ebersol berated this peacock and spit in its face.

Longtime NBC executive Dick Ebersol today referred to Conan O’Brien in a New York Times article as an “astounding failure” for his brief tenure as Tonight Show host. But what are the most astounding failures of Dick Ebersol’s career? We’ll just examine the top three (without even mentioning the financial debacle the Olympics have become on his watch):

●The XFL: Perhaps the biggest debacle in the history of the network, this horrible football league that Ebersol launched with wrestling kingpin Vince McMahon combined terrible sports with worse sportsmanship. The players, coaches and announcers were encouraged to act like misbehaved children to give the league “attitude.” It was a colossal failure both creatively and ratings-wise. When you further consider that Ebersol has been in business with McMahon for years despite the promoter running a company whose stars consistently die from drug abuse, it’s even more shameful.

●Deborah Norville: When Ebersol was Senior Vice President of NBC News, he pushed the popular and intelligent Jane Pauley out of the Today Show to make room for his handpicked successor, the young, hot and vacant Norville. The new host was a flop and Ebersol lost control over the Today Show because of the terrible publicity that ensued.

●Saturday Night Live, 1981-1985: The “Tony Rosato Years” as we like to call them. Ebersol presided over an edge-less, dumbed-down SNL that would have been cancelled had Lorne Michaels not returned to run the show in 1986. Say what you will about Michaels, his SNL in any era is markedly better than Ebersol’s brand of lameness.