Friday Tidbits - 12/1

It's Tidbits time again. Michael Vick will be my press secretary in case anyone disagrees with what I say. Just kidding. The NFL wasn't though when it slapped a $10K fine on Ron Mexico. No word on whether on not his brother Marcus helped with his finger flipping technique. You want a way to get your female companion to tune into more football games? Tell her about the soap opera that's going on in the Giants organization. Michael Strahan, Tiki Barber, and Jeremy Shockey have mouthed off. Plaxico Burress is doing his Randy Moss impersonation by not given a full effort. Eli Manning has the inferior younger brother part nailed. The "stupid kicker" Mike Vanderjagt was given the boot by the Cowboys. I can't say I blame them. He has been anything but consistent. When he almost missed a PAT on Thanksgiving, I knew his time was numbered. The Texans brought Olympian Justin Gatlin in for a tryout. Sure he's fast, but I doubt he has good hands. The NFL already has their speedy WR that can't catch in Troy Williamson. Oh yeah, Gatlin is banned from the Olympics for testing positive for steroids. If they would welcome him into the league, it would speak volumes of the NFL's concern for PEDs. It would be hypocritical too because the NFL think the CFL should allow Ricky Williams to play since he violated their substance abuse policy. Speaking of substance abuse, Shawne Merriman returns from his steroid vacation.

In baseball, the big story is whether or not Mark McGwir* deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Yes, he hit a ton of home runs (583 to be exact), but he's a career .263 hitter. You know he used steroids. Would he have reached the 500 mark without juicing? I don't know. While I don't think he should be the scapegoat for the whole Steroid Era, I really don't know if I'd punch his ballot. I'm kinda glad I don't have to make that decision. Barry B*nds will actually be easier. I think he was a HOFer before he started juicing. While I dislike B*nds, I would vote for him. The Yankees weren't going to get shut out of Japan entirely this offseason. They won the rights to negotiate with Kei Igawa. His bid was a little over half of what the Red Sox bid for Matsuzaka. Speaking of Matsuzaka, the Red Sox have until December 14th to get a deal done with him. If not he goes back to Japan. We'll find out in two weeks if they meant business or just abused the system. Adam Eaton is the latest to cash in with a big contract. The teams have more money to spend, as evident by the 3 year, $24.5 million deal Eaton signed. He has 54 wins in seven seasons, and has been to the DL 6 times. Going to a hitter's park won't help matters.

The biggest story in the NBA right now is whether or not Ben Wallace can wear a headband. It sort of became part of his trademark with the Pistons. He would come his hair out and sport a headband for big games. The Bulls knew this when they signed him. They should have mentioned it then. Dirk Nowitzki left a game in the first quarter on Wednesday with blurred vision. I have left plenty of bars in that condition in my day, but hopefully Dirk will be OK. New Jersey leads the Atlantic Division with a 6-9 record. How pathetic is that? Utah leads the way with a 13-4 record. There are some streaking teams chasing them down. Orlando (5 straight wins) is now 12-4, Dallas (11 straight) is 11-4, and Detroit (7 straight) is 10-5. The Spurs (11-5), Lakers (10-5), and Houston (10-5) are the other teams with double digit wins thus far. Allen Iverson (31.7) has nudged Carmelo Anthony (31.5) out of the scoring lead. Dwight Howard leads the way with 13.6 rebounds/gm. I expect Howard to lead that category the rest of the way. Once again, Steve Nash leads the way with 10.8 assists/gm. I also expect Nash to lead this category all season.

Phoenix Coyate rookie Enver Lisin got sent down to the minor leagues. He didn't want to hear that. Instead he opted to play in a Russian league. I'm sure that decision will work wonders for his career. The Penguins waived John LeClair. They are looking to trade the once high scoring veteran. James Ulmer, part of the Rick Tocchet gambling ring plead guilty to gambling charges. Things aren't looking good for LeClair. A look at the standings shows Anaheim (44 points) with a healthy 4 point lead over Buffalo (40). San Jose (38.), Atlanta (36), and Nashville (36) make up your top 5. Marian Hossa regained the scoring lead with 39 points. His 20 goals also leads the way. Jaromir Jagr leads the NHL with 25 assists. Minnesota's Niklas Backstrom leads the NHL with a 1.92 GAA, but he's only played in 8 games (started 5). San Jose's Vesa Toskala and Detroit's Dominik Hasek are next with 1.98 GAAs. Anze Kopitar is the rookie scoring leader with 22 points.

USC bombed Notre Dame last week, virtually setting up a date with Ohio State in the title game. Only UCLA stands in their way. Another big defeat last week was #5 Arkansas falling to #9 LSU. Any chance for Arkansas to play Ohio State died on that field. #11 Texas got bumped by Texas A&M, #7 West Virginia lost to South Florida, #16 Georgia Tech lost to Georgia, and #24 Clemson lost to South Carolina. This week #4 Florida faces #8 Arkansas. Florida has an outside chance at OSU if USC can lose. Other big games are #8 Oklahoma vs. #19 Nebraska, #13 Rutgers vs. #15 West Virginia, and #16 Wake Forest vs. #23 Georgia Tech.

In college hoops, Butler knocked off Gonzaga last Friday to win the NIT. There was a good share of upsets with #12 Kansas knocking off #1 Florida in the Las Vegas Invitational, #6 LSU falling to Wichita State, and #7 Wisconsin falling to Missouri State. Florida rebounded from their loss to hold Southern University to 27 points. Georgetown coach John Thompson III defeated his kid brother Ronny Thompson, Ball State coach, on Monday. It was a whinefest though as John Thompson and John Thompson III were complaining about the brothers having to coach against each other. Grow up. It was good exposure for Ball State. Should Peyton and Eli Manning complain if they have to play against each other? I know they are pro athletes, but the Thompson brothers are professional coaches. It's part of the game. Big games this weekend are #10 Duke vs. #23 Georgetown, #14 Syracuse vs. #22 Wichita State, and #21 Gonzaga vs. #25 Texas.

That concludes the Tidbits. As always, feel free to add any stories you liked this week in sports or discuss any of the stories I mentioned. Thanks again for supporting my blog.