Friday Tidbits - 12/15/06

How can I start anywhere but San Diego. LT is fresh off dropping 3 TDs on Denver to break the NFL touchdown record. After 13 weeks he has 29 TDs, not to mention the two he's thrown. He's a machine. He has nine multiple TD games (three with 2, three with 3 and three with 4 TDs). He's been kept out of the endzone only twice in 12 games this year. He's easily the best offensive player in the league. The best special teams player has to be Devin Hester of the Bears. He took two kickoffs for TDs on MNF to help the Bears knock off the Rams on the road. He has 3 punt return TDs, 2 kickoff return TDs, and 1 on a miss Field Goal that he caught and returned the distance. The Colts have been bad against the run this year, but Sunday was ridiculous. Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew ripped them for over 130 yards each. Even the 3rd stringer got into the action. Turn 180 degees and you see the Vikings held the Lions to -3 rushing yards. Their RB Kevin Jones left the game with a foot injury, and he could miss a lot more if it's as serious as feared. Finally, the flavor of the month for QBs has been Eli, Grossman, and Romo. Somehow Drew Brees has slipped by most of the media. However, his eye popping 5 TD game on SNF changed things. In fact, John Madden accidently stumbled on that fact. He was talking about Romo...wow, imagine that. Anyway, he said that Romo was the flavor of the month, and before that it was Grossman. You could actually hear his brain churning as he came up with the phrase, "maybe we should be talking about Drew Brees". Kansas City Chiefs owner, Lamar Hunt, passed away Wednesday night. He coined the term Super Bowl. He succumbed to cancer at the age of 74. When you open The Stupid Book and turn to page 43, you'll see a picture of Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson. He is already on probation after pleading guilty to a gun charge, and he was charged with possessing six illegal firearms on Thursday. Now flip to page 83 and you'll see Joey Porter. He was fined $10K after using a derogatory term for gay men to describe Kellen Winslow, which is ironic because in the NFL opener it was Porter who was trying to nuzzle on Bill Cohers neck.


Eric Gagne has found a new home in Texas. He joins Kenny Lofton as recent Ranger signees. Jose Mesa signed on with the Tigers, who also extended Brandon Inge four more years. Jason Jennings will have a new home next year. He'll no longer have to deal with the altitude at Coors Field. Instead, he'll be pitching in the Lone Star State for the Astros. He'll be asked to replace Andy Pettitte, who bolted to the Yankees. Looks like Miguel Batista became the latest to cash in despite mediocre statistics. He signed a three year, $24 deal with Seattle despite the fact that he'll be 36 when the season kicks off. He had his first 200 inning season last year, and won a career high 11 games. The Blue Jays have offered Vernon Wells a 7 year, $126 million dollar deal. I thought the Twins were crazy for extending Torii Hunter one year for $12 million, but in this climate, that's a steal. Detroit pitcher Joel Zumaya doesn't have tennis elbow. No, he has right wrist and forearm inflammation from Guitar Hero. He's been ordered to stop playing it. That reminds me of when I was like 15 and I stayed up all night playing Tecmo Football. Those were the days. Jeff Bagwell will finally retire. He has been milking his big contract with the Astros for the last few seasons. Oh yeah, some Daisuke Matsuzaka guy signed a deal worth $100 million. Yes, it's a lot of money, but half of it doesn't count on the books. Gil Meche will actually be worth more of the cap than Matsuzaka is. The Red Sox will also generate revenue from Matsuzaka in Japan. It was nice to see Scott Boras being held by the short hairs for once. He wanted twice as much as Matsuzaka signed for, but realized he had no leverage. It wasn't an open market. It was reach a deal with the Red Sox or wait another year.


Allen Iverson has been the biggest story in the NBA. He demanded a trade, and the Sixers quickly agreed. They have been shopping him heavily, have cleaned out his locker, and have not allowed him to play. It's just a matter of where he'll land. David Stern is finally admitting his new basketball idea was foolish. The league will go back to the new balls on January 1st. I think New Coke lasted longer than Stern's Folly. Speaking of follies, James Dolan has said Isiah Thomas has this year only to show progress. Really. You mean totally destroying a team, taking on huge contracts, assembling an entire team of guards, and paying a coach $40 million to quit only buys you a year. Isiah should have a lawsuit on his hand if he's dismissed. Lamar Odom (knee) and Tracy McGrady (back) could be on the shelf for a while. Carmelo Anthony is donating $1.5 million to a Baltimore youth center. It's refreshing when a player is in the news for the right reasons. Utah (17-5), San Antonio (18-6), and Phoenix (15-6) are your top three teams thus far. Phoenix is riding a 12 game winning streak. On the flip side Memphis (5-17) and Philadelphia (5-16) are the worst teams. Philly is riding a 9 game losing streak.


Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey lost his daughter to a tragic accident. She was working on a sailing ship when a wave took her overboard during a storm last week. She was only 25. Five years ago, he lost his wife to brain cancer. Former Minnesota Gopher hockey great and Boston Bruins rookie Phil Kessel underwent cancer related surgery. Let's hope the 19 year old has a speedy recovery. Sidney Crosby had that breakout game on Wednesday night. He had a goal and five assists. He leads all players in All-Star voting. Joe Thornton leads the Western Conference. Jeremy Roenick and Wayne Gretzky aren't seeing eye-to-eye. Roenick thinks he can still play at a high level. Gretzky doesn't think the six points Roenick has accumulated in 28 games is impressive and replaced him in the lineup. Anaheim (56 points) and Buffalo (50) are the first teams to cross the 50 point barrier. Sidney Crosby is the new scoring leader with 47 points. He has a league leading 32 assists. Marian Hassa and Brendan Shannahan lead the way with 22 goals. Dominik Hasek (1.90) and Evgeni Nabokov (1.97) lead the league in GAA. Evgeni Malkin (15 goals, 15 assists) leads all rookies in scoring.


--- Morris Almond ---------------- Trey Johnson ---
UCLA and Texas A & M played an instant classic last Saturday. #1 UCLA slipped past #6 Texas A & M 65-62. #18 Gonzaga had little difficulty defeating #8 Washington. #12 Wisconsin got past #20 Marquette. Indiana State upset #14 Butler. UNLV ran past #19 Nevada. Greg Oden put on a clinic against Cleveland State going 8 for 8 from the floor for 16 points. He also grabbed 4 rebounds and blocked 3 shots in 22 minutes. He shot his free throws with is left hand again, missing all three of his attempts. Sunday was a tough day for ranked teams as #11 LSU fell to Texas and #22 Maryland dropped on to Boston College. Big games this weekend include #2 Pittsburgh taking on #7 Wisconsin, #18 Butler taking on 8-1 Purdue, #4 Ohio State facing 6-2 Cincinnati, #16 Gonzaga taking on 6-1 Georgia, and #9 Alabama looks to hand Southern Miss their first defeat. Morris Almond of Rice and Trey Johnson of Jackson State lead the nation in scoring at 30.1 pts/gm. Nevada's Nick Fazekas leads with 13.1 rb/gm while Marist's Jared Jordan leads with 8.5 assists/gm.


Miami and Florida International are going to square off again next year. Hopefully, they will not brawl again. Montana State cornerback Andre Fuller was suspended after being charged with selling cocaine. I'm sure his parents are proud. The AP All-Americans were named. Heading the list is Heisman winner Troy Smith, Heisman runner-up Darren McFadden, and two time winners Paul Posluszny and Dwayne Jarrett. Speaking of the Heisman, Troy Smith had to have his shipped home because they would not allow it on the plane. The last time a Buckeye won, Eddie George's trophy was damaged in the X-Ray machine. Maurice Clarrett is changing teams. No he's not leaving the Broncos for the Giants to replace Tiki Barber. He got traded to the Toledo Correctional Institution.

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.