Here’s one thought: There has been much speculation that Haddad’s departure had something to do with “Hardball’s” weak ratings. But our guess is that, with Haddad out and with Matthews taking greater control over the show, you will see very little difference in the program. Do you really see Matthews saying “Okay, guys, we need flashier graphics, cooler, hipper guests, and — ooh! — a regular blog feature or something like that! And I hear that Facebook thing is really hot. Let’s do something with that.”

No.

We don’t either. We suspect that Matthews likes the format of his show just fine as it is. So if nothing changes, will ratings change? Who knows. But it does throw a bit of a wrench in the argument of “bad ratings caused Haddad to leave” since “Hardball” is likely to continue the status quo in her absence and MSNBC isn’t sweeping in to make drastic editorial and production changes in her absence.