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.

Friday Tidibits - 12/8/06

You've waited patiently all week for the Tidbits. Wait no longer.

The Jay Cutler Experience didn't go as well as Shanahan would have liked. I don't know about you, but I was glad it blew up in his face. Why you make a change at Quarterback while you're in the playoff hunt is beyond me. Heck, even Chicago is sticking with Rex Grossman despite his horrific play of late. Clinton Portis went under the knife this week to repair his broken wing. He should be good to go next season. Brett Favre may also have to have surgery this offseason on his ankle. I'm sure we'll hear plenty about that this summer. Vince Young has taken the NFL by storm. Many questioned his mechanics and intelligence heading into the draft. He has showed everyone that he has the poise and the "it" factor to succeed in this league. Hats of to VY. Jake Delhomme has ligament damage in his thumb. He injured it early in the MNF game. He played pretty well despite the injury. If you read my Fantasy Football Forum entry on Tuesday you know I wish he would have left the game when he got hurt. I have to commend his toughness, but I would be breathing easier this week if he just gave into the pain on Monday. Vikings coach Brad Childress is being coy about naming a starting quarterback against the Lions. Hey, Brad. Your team sucks. Detroit's even worse. Nobody cares if you bring Fran Tarkenton in to lead your team. Willie Parker had his way with the Cleveland run defense to the tune of a Steelers' record 223 yards on Thursday night. It's the second time he's eclipsed the 200 yard barrier this season. Pretty impressive work.

The shopping spree has continued in MLB. The Red Sox ponied up $70 million to J.D. Drew for five years (ahem...overpaid) and $36 million for Julio Lugo. Jason Schmidt is moving down the coast from SF to LA for $47 million over three years. Greg Maddux is getting $10 million to pitch for San Diego next year. The A's landed Mike Piazza. It makes sense for Piazza to play in the AL. He can DH and handle the occasional catcher duty. They A's are hoping he can replace Frank Thomas, who departed to Toronto earlier. Thomas received a one year $8.5 million deal. Andy Pettitte will be back next year, but he hasn't decided where he's going to pitch. I'm guesing a return to the Yankees. Moths flew out KC's wallet as the Royals signed Gil Meche to a five year $55 million deal. The White Sox traded Freddy Garcia to the Phillies for Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez. Barry B*nds is coming back to steal the record from Hank Aaron. The Giants feel it's worth $16 million to have a side show all season. Mark my words. The Giants have just been eliminated from playoff contention with this signing. I was hoping if he would be blackballed, but I'll have to ask Santa for something else. The Cardinals supposedly expressed interest in baseball's most notorious steroid abuser before the signing, but I'm guessing it was a ploy by his agent. My guess is their thoughts were LaRussa has had McGwir* and Cansec*, so what's one more cheat? In positive news, my brother (not really) Jon Lester is cancer-free.

In hoops, the tyrant David Stern shocked the heck out of me. His quote "But if our players are unhappy with it, we have to analyze to the nth degree the cause of their unhappiness. Everything is on the table. I'm not pleased, but I'm realistic. We've got to do the right thing here. And, of course, the right thing is to listen to our players. Whether it's a day late or not, we're dealing with this." surprised me, but this one "In hindsight, we could have done a better job. I take responsibility for that." nearly floored me. Is our little tyrant turning over a new leaf? I doubt it, but it is refreshing for him to take a step down from his self-appointed pedestal for a change. Steve Nash didn't seem to mind the new ball when he dished out 20 assists Tuesday night. When he is rolling, he gets everyone involved making the Suns hard to beat. Stephen Jackson is going to have to stand trial for his roll in the OK Corral shootout at a strip club. He's facing a felony charge of criminal recklessness and misdemeanor counts of battery and disorderly conduct. Kings forward Maurice Taylor did his Bob Marley impression. The league didn't look to kindly upon it. They suspended the pot smoker for five games for his third marijuana violation. U.S. House of Representatives honored the late Red Auerbach by passing The Auerbach Resolution. Want to feel old? Larry Bird turned 50 this week. Want a reminder of what the league used to be like? The Suns dropped the Nets 161-157 in double overtime. Steve Nash fired in 42 points. Jason Kidd made his fantasy owners proud with his 78th career triple-double. His 38 points, 14 rebounds, and 14 assists were pretty darn impressive. Ray Allen will be on the shelf for a while with a bone bruise in his ankle. The top three records in the league are Utah (15-4), San Antonio (14-5), and Orlando (14-6). New Jersey and Toronto share the lead of the Atlantic division at 7-11. That's a .389 winning percentage. Dreadful. Carmelo Anthony is back in the lead with 32.2 pts/gm, while Howard (13.5 rb/gm) and Nash (10.8 a/g) maintain their rebounding and assist leads.

In hockey, Scott Niedermayer leads the league in All-Star voting. Joe Nieuwendyk ended his 20 year career this week because of back pain. He leaves with 1126 (564 goals and 562 assists) career points. Buffalo's Daniel Briere netted his first career hat trick this week. The Edmonton Oilers are going to retire Mark Messier's number next year. It will be fitting because they will be playing Gretzky's Coyotes when they hang his #11 in the rafters. In other number retiring news, the Blues retired Brett Hull's #16 this week. Martin Brodeur tied Eddie Balfour with his 461st victory between the pipes. Only Patrick Roy's 551 wins are greater. A quick look at the standing shows Anaheim (48 points), Buffalo (44), Atlanta (40), and San Jose (40) as the top teams. Marian Hassa and Jaromir Jagr are tied with 41 points apiece. Hossa and Brendan Shanahan have the most goals with 21 each. Jagr's 28 assists are a league high. Dominik Hasek is the only sub-2.00 GAA goalie at 1.88. "Being" Evgeni Malkin leads all rookies with 25 points.

In college football, USC dropped the ball and blew their National Championship hopes. Florida leapfrogged Michigan to take a run at Ohio State. Michigan loses out on the BCS game, but will face USC in the Rose Bowl. The Fiesta Bowl matches up Oklahoma and unbeaten Boise State. Louisville and Wake Forest meet in the Orange Bowl. Finally, the Sugar Bowl pits Notre Dame (ahem overrated) against LSU. Bernie Kosar is throwing his hat in the ring for the Miami head coaching position. Maybe he should get some coaching experience before he takes on one of the nation's most prestigous programs. The Cleveland Browns want to name him their president. Again, a little experience would probably help. Too bad for Bernie, Randy Shannon is taking the gig. We will soon know who the 2006 Heisman winner is. The choices are Ohio State's Troy Smith, Notre Dame's Brady Quinn, and Arkansas Running Back Darren McFadden. Brady Quinn took home the Maxwell Award (Outstanding Player). Troy Smith took home the Walter Camp Award (Player of the Year). Darren McFadden took home the Doak Walker Award (Best Running Back). They all have an award to be proud of, but I'd be shocked if Troy Smith doesn't bring home college football's biggest award. Other award winners are Patrick Willis - Ole Miss (Dick Butkus Award - Best Linebacker), Joe Thomas - Wisconsin (Outland Trophy - Best Interior Lineman), Paul Posluszny - Penn State (Chuck Bednarik Award - Defensive Player of the Year), Troy Smith (Davey O'Brien Award - Best QB), Calvin Johnson - Ga Tech (Fred Biletnikoff Award - Best WR), Aaron Ross - Texas (Jim Thorpe Award - Best DB), Matt Spaeth - Minnesota (John Mackey Award - Best TE), Art Carmody - Louisville (Lou Groza Award - Besk K), James Laurinaitis - Ohio St (Bronko Nagurski Award - Defensive Player of the Year), Daniel Sepulveda - Baylor (Ray Guy Award - Best Punter), and Dan Mozes - W Virginia (Rimington Trophy - Best Center).

In college hoops, Ohio State center Greg Oden has arrived. He would have been the #1 pick in the NBA draft if there wasn't an age limit. In his first game, he went 3-4 from the field, 8-15 from the charity stripe for 14 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and blocked 5 shots. He shot his free throws lefty because his right wrist was still bothering him. Here I thought Shaq taught him to shoot free throws when I read the box score. Role Model Bob Knight tied Adolph Rupp for 2nd on the all-time wins list with his 876th victory. He's three short of Dean Smith. Since the last tidbits, Depaul knocked off #5 Kansas, North Dakota State beat #9 Marquette, #10 Duke beat #23 Georgetown, #22 Wichita State beat #14 Syracuse (boo), #21 Gonzaga beat #25 Texas, Florida State beat #4 Florida, Notre Dame beat #19 Maryland, Miami beat #24 Georgia Tech, #11 LSU beat #6 Texas A&M, Washington State beat #18 Gonzaga, #24 Oklahoma State beat #21 Syracuse (boo hoo), Tennessee beat #17 Memphis, and Notre Dame stunned #5 Alabama. Good matchups this weekend are #1 UCLA vs. #6 Texas A&M, #8 Washington vs. #18 Gonzaga in a battle of Washington, and #12 Wisconsin vs. #20 Marquette to see who reigns supreme in the Land of Cheese.

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.

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.

Black Friday Tidbits - 11/24/06

Well, Thanksgiving is over. Hope you got your fill of turkey and other goodies. Today is known as Black Friday because it's one of the biggest shopping days of the year. In actuality, it's must closer to Christmas as many of us procrastinate until the last minute. Well, in between shopping and turkey leftovers, I hope you have a little room for your weekly helping of tidbits. In honor of the shopping day, I'll do the tidbits QVC style.



First up we have Larry Johnson. He is listed at $99.99. Such a bargain for the NFL rushing leader with 1202 yards (1551 total) and 15 combined scores. It's amazing that such a spectacular season is flying under the radar. That' because LaDainian Tomlinson has 23 combined touchdowns already (14 his past four games). Next up is Tony Romo. He was originally found in the bargain racks, but after polishing him off, he is proving to be a gem. His 306 yard, 5 TD performance on Turkey Day will undoubtedly add to his luster. He has averaged 281 yards his past four games while sporting a 9 to 1 TD/INT ratio. It does make you wonder why he wasn't turned to earlier. His value is bound to rise (especially with the rumors he's dating Jessica Simpson), so waste no time getting your Romo for $34. Joey Harrington was found in the dollar menu for most of his career, and now finds himself leading the Dolphins to four straight wins. He returned to the town he was ran out of and delivered an impressive three touchdown performance. Lions fans were booing and mocking him. Did they not realize their team is still AWFUL? Good for Joey. He can be yours for $12. Last week featured a lot of heartaches. The 1972 Dolphins popped their champagne last week as the Cowboys handed the Colts their first loss of the year. You can have a bottle of that champagne for $20. Call now before the supplies run out. You can have a case of Chunky's Soup deliverd to your home for $20 plus S & H. I'll have to warn you, you could find yourself injured like Donovan McNabb (Terrell Davis, Kurt Warner, Big Ben, Brian Urlacher, and Michael Strahan are other victims of the Curse). Perhaps LaMont Jordan, Kevin Jones, and Marques Colston also had it as their pregame meals last week. What can only be labeled as tragic, Philadelphia Eagle Andre Waters took his own life on Monday. The hard hitting DB was one of my favorite Eagles.


Now we'll go to our baseball items. Take a look at these shiny MVP awards. The first one belongs to 2nd year phenom Ryan Howard. He shrugged off the notion of a Sophomore Slump by following up his Rookie of the Year season with 58 home runs and the NL MVP. Justin Morneau has become the topic of debate for baseball fans all over the country with his upset win over Derek Jeter in the AL MVP. You can have your replica MVP awards for $50 each or $80 for the set. A few baseball stars have come off the market with the Cubs signing Alfonso Soriano to a $136 million dollar deal. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California, United States, North America, Earth signed Gary Matthews away from Texas for $50 million. Juan Pierre won't be welcoming Soriano to the outfield he roamed as he moved out west to the Dodgers for a cool $44 million. You can bid on Carlos Lee, but it's going to cost you a pretty penny in this silent auction.


The NBA is featuring two executive sales. Isiah Thomas and Kevin McHale were Hall of Fame players. They have become Hall of Shame execs though. New York is off to a 4-9 start with Isiah coaching the garbage he assembled. Minnesota has the 2nd worst record in the Western Conference (Memphis is worse, but only because Gasol got hurt in Internation Play). You can have a 2-1 special on these two for $5. They were originally marked at $100 each so this is a real bargain. Hurry up and call. At these prices they can't last long. Jerry Sloan is listed at $40. He always seems to slip under the radar. However, his 11-1 start with the Jazz has to earn him plenty of praise. This time Karl Malone and John Stockton aren't around to get the credit. The Spurs (10-2) and Lakers (8-3) are challenging them for the NBA's elite. Carmelo Anthony doesn't mind the new NBA basketball, which you can order now for $99. Call in the next 15 minutes and we'll throw in free S & H. Carmelo leads the league with a 31 pts/gm scoring average. Dwight Howard leads with 13.8 rbs/gm, and Steve Nash leads with 10.9 assists/gm.



The NHL did some holiday collections this week from Capitals Coach Glen Hanlon ($30K) and Thrasher Coach Bob Hartley ($10K) for a fight between the clubs. Donald Brashear and Brian Sutherby of the Capitals and Scott Mellanby of the Thrashers were suspended for their involvement. Teemu Selanne scored his 500th goal this week. In an NHL special we're selling team t-shirts a dollar per point. Buffalo is leading the way and you can have their shirt for $37. Anaheim ($36), San Jose ($32), Dallas ($30), and Nashville ($30) round out the top five. Columbus ($12), Philadelphia ($13), Phoenix ($14), and St. Louis ($15) are the best bargains. We're also featuring Jaromir Jagr hair extenders for $15. He leads the league with 34 points. Rod Brind'Amour (32), and Marian Hossa (31) are right behind. Brendan Shanahan leads the league in goals with 17 while Jagr leads with 23 assists. Ray Emery is your GAA leader at 2.01. Dominik Hasek trails at 2.06. Evengi Malkin leads rookies with 20 points. He's only played in 16 games, which makes it that much more impressive. The Penguins and the Metallurg Magnitogorsk are still fighting over his rights and retribution.



Last week was the epic Ohio State-Michigan battle. You can buy a DVD of the instant classic for $15. There is bonus coverage of the past five meetings. Act now and we'll throw in a highlight DVD of Cincinnati's upset of #7 Rutgers, #19 Virginia Tech's upset of #14 Wake Forest, and #4 USC's defeat of #17 Cal. For $50, $75, or $100 you can order college football food packages for the quality games this weekend: #3 USC vs. #6 Notre Dame, #5 Arkansas vs. #9 LSU, or #11 Texas vs. 8-3 Texas A & M. In case you missed it between turkey, stuffing, and the NFL, Miami knocked off #18 Boston College yesterday.



Gonzaga knocked off #2 North Carolina. They will face Butler, fresh off an upset of #22 Tennessee in the NIT Season Tip-Off. For $20,000 you can have Adam Morrison watch the game with you. Another $5000, and the mustache will come along. UCLA defeated Georgia Tech to take the Maui Invitational. Call now for half price pineapples and poi. Upsets of the past week: #25 Creigton lost to Nebraska, #8 Georgetown lost to Old Dominion, #8 Duke lost to #17 Marquette, and #19 Georgia Tech knocked off #11 Memphis.


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.

Friday Tidbits - 11/17/06

It's Friday. That means it's payday for many, Casual Friday for some, and Friday's Tidbit time for my faithful readers.


I'll start with the NFL. Congress is looking into the NFL Network's plans to air live games starting on Thanksgiving. I ask myself, why is Congress wasting their time and our money on this, and if there are valid reasons, why wait until a week before the Thanksgiving game (Denver vs. KC by the way)? NFC East running backs took a beating last week. Clinton Portis broke his hand and Tiki broke his thumb. It appears Tiki will fight through his injury, while CP and his many personalities take a spot on the shelf for the year. Trent Green is getting his gig back. Damon Huard did a great job in relief. If the Chiefs would have beat Miami last week, I bet Huard would be starting this week. Another disaster out of Garrard and Leftwich may be found suddenly healthy by Jack Del Rio. Apparently the Patriots need someone to buy beer for the younger players as they have signed Vinny Testaverde. I don't know if it's a common practice to have a player that's older than the head coach and the owner, but the Patriots can check that off their list. Testaverde is eligible for Social Security next year so don't think this is a long term arrangement. It appears Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander are close to returning. Do they become the NFC favorites again when they get up to speed? The hoopla this week will be surrounding the Colts-Cowboys game. ESPN must be falling all over themselves for this matchup. They always have to start a broadcast by telling us what's happening in Dallas, what MeO had for breakfast, and how long it took for him to digest it. They also love the undefeated run the Colts are having again. They'll be in their full glory when MeO takes on Archie's boy.


I'll skip to MLB only because of the buzz surrounding my beloved Red Sox. The Red Sox dropped a cool $51.1 million for the chance to speak with Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Seibu Lions. My memory can be fuzzy at times, just ask my wife, but I seem to recall the Red Sox saying they didn't have the money to compete with the Yankees last year when they failed to do ANYTHING to help their team before the trading deadline. On top of the $51.1 Matsuzaka could get around $10 million per year for four or five years. If I dot the i and carry the one, I put Matsuzaka at roughly $20 million per year to take the mound every five days. I realize they will probably make money in merchandising, advertising, and TV rights, but that sure seems like a lot of money for a team that was supposedly trying to live on a smaller budget. Could they have signed Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt for the same amount? Dan Patrick brought up an interesting point. Maybe they are going to lowball Matsuzaka so they won't be willing to make a deal. Then the Sox are off the hook for the $51 million, he can't sign with another team for a year, the Yankees or Mets can't have him this year, and they can focus on signing other free agents. Hanley Ramirez and Jason Verlander won Rookies of the Year in their respective leagues. If you recall (Baseball Awards) I pegged both ROYs in October. Brandon Webb took home the NL selection (I was hoping Trevor Hoffman would bring home the hardware). His 16 wins aren't overly impressive, but the starting pitching in the NL was far from dominant this past year. Johan Santana took home his second Cy Young after a brilliant season. I feel it should be his third straight Cy, but they don't give me a vote. Punks. Despite not having a gig, Joe Girardi took home the Manager of the Year in the NL. He's just waiting for the right job opening. In the AL, Jim Leyland beat out Ron Gardenhire. I think Gardy deserved it a touch more because of the pitching injuries he had to overcome. He had a lot less to work with than Leyland had. Punto, Tyner, Bartlett, etc. Not striking fear in anyone's hearts. Despite signing free agent busts like Rondell White and Tony Batista, Twins GM Terry Ryan took home the Major League Exec of the Year award. His trade of A.J. Pierzynski to the Giants for All-Star closer Joe Nathan, next year's #2 starter Boof Bonser, and Francisco Liriano, who finished third in ROY voting despite an elbow injury that will cost him half of this year and all of next year clearly helped Ryan's cause. Drafting catching stud Joe Mauer also helped. Not bad for a guy with champagne tastes on a beer budget.


Darius Miles had surgery on his knee and he'll miss the remainder of the year. He truly is the Bizzaro Kevin Garnett. They look very similar, KG is always healthy while Miles is always hurt, and KG never gets into trouble while Miles occasionally finds himself there. NBA's ironman Kenyon Martin is also out for the year. He has five years, $66 million left on his contract. At that rate he earned $6.6 million a game for the two games he logged this year. Not a bad gig if you can get it. Mr. Moustache Adam Morrison scored a career high 27 points Wednesday night. No word on whether he cried afterwards. Joking aside, it is nice to see someone play with the passion that Morrison plays with. Milwaukee forward Charlie Villanueva is on the shelf for 4-6 weeks with an elbow injury. The second year forward out of UConn was off to another good start. Chris Webber has been benched for the entire 4th quarter two of the seven games this year. He is scoring half his career average. Is this the beginning of the end or does he need a new home? I'm guessing a little bit of both. Baron Davis had one of the best games of this young season Thursday night. He scored 38 points, grabbed 8 boards, and handed out 18 assists. Pretty impressive game. A quick look at the standings shows Utah leading the way with a 7-1 record. San Antonio and Cleveland are next best at 6-2. The Hornets and Warriors are early surprises at 6-3. A look at the leaders shows Michael Redd leading the league in scoring at 31.3/gm (no doubt his 57 point eruption helped vault him to the top), Chris Bosh leads in rebounding at 13.9/gm, and Steve Nash leads with 10.9 assists/gm.


In the NHL a judge ruled that Evgeni Malkin could stay with the Penguins. No word on whether "possession is nine-tenths of the law" was muttered during the arbitration. It would be a lot cooler if it was. Florida's Olli Jokinen scored a hat trick in a 5-1 victory over Montreal Thursday night. The NHL announced a deal with YouTube to show video clips of NHL games. Looks like the NHL is going after a younger audience. This is a smart move for both parties. The NHL's reigning goal scoring champion Jonathan Cheechoo left Wednesday's contest between San Jose and Colorado. No word yet as to how long he'll be out. A peek at the standings and you'll see Buffalo still leading the way with 31 points. Anaheim is next with 30. San Jose (28.), Atlanta (27), and Toronto (26) make up the top 5. Marian Hassa still leads the league in scoring with 31. Jaromir Jagr is right behind with 30 points. Hoss is your goal leader and Jagr is your assist leader. Dominik Hasek leads the league with a 1.76 GAA. Ray Emery (only 6 starts) is next at 1.88 followed by Marty Turco at 1.92. Leading all rookies in scoring is Anze Kopitar with 17 points. Malkin is on his heels with 15.


In college football there is really only one game this weekend. Bowling Green vs. Toledo. Oh wait, #2 Michigan travels to #1 Ohio State. The winner can punch their invite to the National Title game. If it's close, the loser has a chance of a rematch with higher stakes. There are actually some other good games this weekend. #4 USC takes on #17 Cal, #10 Louisville takes on 7-3 South Florida, #14 Wake Forest takes on #19 Virginia Tech, and #20 BC faces #21 Maryland. Last week's upsets: #3 Louisville lost to #15 Rutgers, #4 Texas lost to Kansas State, #5 Auburn got crushed by Georgia, #8 Cal got beat by Arizona, and #24 Texas A&M lost to Nebraska. Joe Paterno may be back at Beaver Stadium for their game against Michigan State. He won't be roaming the sidelines, but hopefully he'll be able to call some plays from a press box. Not taking a hint from Bob Barker, JoePa will be back on the sidelines next year despite turning 80.


The college basketball season has slowly started rolling. I must take this time to thank Bobby Knight for popping me in the chin so I could focus on finishing this entry. His former team got off to a rocky start when Butler beat Indiana in the NIT Season Tip-Off. Preseason All-American Tyler Hansbrough got off to a nice start by scoring 29 points on 11 of 14 shooting. #3 Kansas must have thought it was NCAA tourney time. They got upset by Oral Roberts. Either that or they thought they were going to the dentist and didn't prepare. #19 Texas fell to an unranked Michigan State team. At 4-0 now, the Spartans will be ranked soon enough. USC scored a huge victory when O.J. Mayo signed a national letter of intent to be a Trojan. He has played varsity basketball since he was 13.

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.

Friday Tidbits - 11/10/06

We're at the midway point an the Colts are still unbeaten. It must be Groundhog Day because I vaguely remember this same scenario last year for the Colts. Until they play like the Colts and not the Ponies in the playoffs, nobody cares what they in the regular season outside of running the table. That being said, I am so impressed with the way Peyton Manning plays. He is really on a different level than most everyone else. Some injuries popped up this week. Amani Toomer is out for the season. It's surprising because he's never gets injured. Willis McGahee has three cracked ribs. I imagine that has to be a little painful. Byron Leftwich appears healthy, but he's not getting back on the field pretty soon. It seems David Garrard has played well enough to earn an extended look at what he can do. The same scenario may be going on in Kansas City where Damon Huard has done an amazing job in relief of Trent Green. KC is winning so the "don't mess with success" motto could be popping up there too. The Niners are thinking of moving to Santa Clara. It seems like it's becoming too expensive for sports teams to be located in major cities. Nearby suburbs are much more affordable options. I'm sure they would keep their same name though because the Santa Clara 49ers would make little sense.


Speaking of making little sense, LeBron James walked off the court with a few seconds remaining in an overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Yes, the sorry Atlanta Hawks beat the Cavs. He was frustrated by the 9 point loss in overtime. While I don't think it's a practice he should be making a habit, I think the media needs to lighten up a bit. This is the first negative thing I've heard about LBJ since his senior year of high school. Larry Brown is about the smartest person in the league. He signed a mega deal with the Knicks. He did an awful job. He got paid $18.5 million to walk away. How the Knicks let him word his contract knowing his track record is beyond me. This guy probably only eats at buffets because he can't make his mind up. Minnesota swingman Ricky Davis put his foot in his mouth when he called the Trailblazers "a pack of roaches". If you're going to make such statements Ricky, follow it up with a win. It's the dumbest he's looked since trying to shoot at the other team's basket to get a rebound and complete a triple-double. A quick look at the standings shows the Jazz, Hornets, Spurs, and Clippers are tops with 4-1 records. Your scoring leader is Allen Iverson at 31.4, your rebounding leader is surprisingly Paul Pierce at 13, and your assist leader is Steve Nash at 11.2.


In hockey news, Patrick Roy finds his name back in the headlines. Not for outstanding play between the pipes, but for insulting Guillaume Latendresse ,a 19 year old Montreal Canadien rookie. He said the only reason he's with the Canadiens is :because he's a francophone". He also said if the youngster played for the Remparts, the team co-owned by Roy, he would have traded him. The 19 year old shrugged off the criticism and made Roy look silly. The Anaheim Ducks remain unbeaten in an NHL record 16 straight games to open the season topping Edmonton's 1984 mark. A quick look at the standings shows Anaheim leading the way with 28 points. They are followed by Atlanta's 27 and Buffalo's 25. Dallas and San Jose round out the top five with 24 points each. Nashville is the league's hottest team going 9-0-1-0 in their last ten games. Philadelphia 2-8-0-0, Chicago 2-7-0-1, and LA 2-6-1-1 are the coldest. Marian Hossa is the league's scoring leader with 27 points. He's tied with Ilya Kovalchuk with 13 goals. Jaromir Jagr leads with 18 assists. Anze Kopitar is the rookie leader with 16 points. Marty Turco (1.84), Ray Emery (1.86), and Dominik Hasek (1.90) are the top goalies thus far, although Emery has only started 5 games.


It's pretty quiet in the baseball world. The MLB All-Stars pulled off the first sweep in the Japan All-Star Series. Ryan Howard continued to mash hitting .556 in the series along with four homers and eight RBIs. The A's are another California team that could be sliding out of the Bay Area. They are loooking to head to Silicon Valley by setting up shop in Fremont, CA. The price tag hasn't been set yet for Japanese import pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. First his Japanese team needs to be bought out, and then his pockets will need to be lined. His agent is Scott Boras so don't expect a bargain. Doc Gooden was released from prison. Hopefully, his 138th chance will be the one he needs to get his life back in order.


The biggest news in college football this week happened away from the field. Miami Hurricane defensive lineman Bryan Pata was gunned down outside his Miami apartment. The Hurricanes plan to play in his honor. The BCS picture got murky last night when #15 Rutgers defeated #3 Louisville. The game was tied 25-25 when Rutgers kicker Jermey Ito shanked a 33 FG. Louisville jumped offsides and Ito didn't waste his second chance. He pointed to the camera and got all cocky after the game. You just missed a kick and got lucky because your opponent had a mental mistake. How about a little humility. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is an intense dude. This win was good for the program, but I doubt it will be enough to vault them into a BCS game. It opens up a bunch of options for the title game. The Ohio State-Michigan winner will likely grab one spot barring something bizarre happening. Now the loser of that game, Texas, Auburn, Florida, USC, and Notre Dame hope things fall in line so they have a shot at the title. Other good games this weekend include #7 USC vs. #21 Oregon, #11 Arkansas vs. #13 Tennessee, and #24 Texas A & M vs. 7-3 Nebraska. #23 Maryland looks beat Miami, dropping the Hurricanes to 5-5. It's hard to say how they are going to play following the loss of Pata.


College Hoops are underway. The preseason All-Americans have been named. UNC's Tyler Hansbrough, Florida's Joakim Noah, Alabama's Ronald Steele, LSU's Glen Davis, and Brandon Rush of Kansas hold that distinction. Bobby Knight needs 11 wins to become the NCAA's all-time victories leader. He'll pass Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith along the way. Florida holds the top spot in the poll. UNC, Kansas, Pitt, and LSU round out the top 5. My Syracuse squad starts off #20. One team that will not be sniffing the top 25 is the University of Minnesota. They dropped a preseason game to Division II Winona State. Yes, Winona State it the D2 champions, but that's pretty sad.

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.

Friday Tidbits - 11/3/06

Well, the baseball season has come to a close. The St. Louis Cardinals are your World Champions. I'm amazed at the way they were able to turn things around after the way they finished the regular season. The same can be said for Detroit, although that layoff proved costly. The mental errors were just too much to overcome. If your team didn't make it, don't fret. Spring training is only a few short months away. Until then it will be plenty of player movement, and even more speculation about player movement. A-Rod and Manny Ramirez are probably the least likely to be mentioned in trade rumors. Nobody ever talks about trading these guys. Barry B*nds, Nomar Garciaparra, and Frank Thomas are some of the guys who could find new homes for next year. Those three are all coming off bounceback seasons. Barry Zito and Alfonso Soriano will probably command the biggest price tags. The Roger Clemens watch has officially started. Excuse me while I vomit. Former pitcher Joe Niekro passed away last week. One can hope he got the call to the "Big Leagues!" where he's dazzling with his knuckler again. Guillermo Mota was suspended for 50 games for a failed steroid test. Doesn't he know about HGH? If you fail the drug test, it's because you are sloppy (sarcasm).

Speaking of failed drug tests, Shawne Merriman dropped his appeal and will begin serving his four game suspension. Too bad for St. Louis that he waited until after their game to drop the appeal as he sacked Bulger three times. To me they should wait until the player declines or loses the appeal before the suspension is revealed. Chad Johnson (I refuse to call him Ocho Cinco) shaved off his mohawk...who cares? Pacman Jones was suspended by the Titans for spitting in a woman's face. That must be a new mating call I'm not aware of. The Titans are making a run at the Chargers as the #2 worst behaved NFL franchise. Sinsinnati has the top spot locked up. Albert Haynesworth threatened to stomp Jeff Fisher for suspending Pacman. The Colts and Pats lock horns this weekend. Can Peyton solve the Pats D? Only time will tell. Shaun Alexander is still at least a week away from returning. John Madden has sure angered a lot of fans with his curse. David Garrard is starting again for Jacksonville this week. Has Leftwich lost his starting gig? I saw a funny headline in the Sporting News football section. "Bucs QB Simms could land on IR". No kidding. He had his spleen removed. I'm surprised he hasn't gone on it sooner.

The NBA is underway. The season kind of sneaks up on you. It's not like football and baseball where you count the days. Instead you open up the paper and notice there are basketball boxscores available. Miami got pounded in the opener by 42. The Lakers are now 2-0 without Kobe Bryant. In a new rule that the Tyrant David Stern introduced Mike Bibby, Carmelo Anthony, and Rasheed Wallace were tossed for complaining. This is one decision I actually support. The whining has gotten beyond old in recent years. I'm shocked they didn't pull any punches with the stars. Set the tone early I guess. I "Guaransheed" this isn't the only time Rasheed gets an early exit. Jason Kidd proved he still has it with his 76th career triple-double. Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves have won their 12th straight home opener. That's pretty impressive. The Celtics had a great turnout to celebrate the life of Red Auerbach. Unfortunately the C's couldn't win for Red despite Paul Pierce's 19 rebounds.

Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin scored goals in his first six games tying the record held by Joe Malone, Newsy Lalonde and Cy Denneny who accomplished the feat in the 1917 season. He goes for the record Saturday night against San Jose. In a scene that you would usually only see in a movie, Minnesota Wild RW Brian Rolston fired a slapshot past Canuck goalie Roberto Luongo on a penalty shot. What makes this even more surreal is Wild Coach Jacques Lemaire told Rolston he had a dream about him using a slapshot on a penalty shot. The man is coaching in his sleep even. A quick look at the standings and you find the Buffalo Sabres on top with 23 points. They are perfect no longer, picking up a shootout loss against Atlanta last Saturday. Anaheim is next with 22 points. They have yet to lose in regulation having 1 overtime loss and 3 shootout losses. Dallas and Minnesota follow with 20 points, and Atlanta rounds out the top five with 19 points. Jaromir Jagr leads all scorers with 20 points. Brendan Shanahan leads the league with 13 goals. Jagr leads with 16 assists. Kings goalie Mathieu Garon leads the league with a 1.72 GAA. Ray Emery, Manny Fernandez, and Martu Turco also sport sub-2.00 GAAs. Anze Kopitar leads all rookies with 13 points. One would think Malkin will occupy that top spot soon.

I just discovered my long-lost brother Brad Lester plays at Auburn. The freshman has 15 touchdowns this year. Every 10.3 times he touches the pigskin he reaches paydirt. Wish I scored that frequently in college. Last week Va tech knocked off #10 Clemson, Ohio State squeaked by Minnesota, Oregon State beat USC, #19 Oklahoma showed #23 Missouri who's boss, and Okie State pounded #20 Nebraska. This week the big matchup was #3 West Virginia vs. #5 Louisville. Louisville pulled off the "upset" behind Brian Brohm's 354 yards in a 44-34 defensive struggle. The offenses really had a tough time sustaining any sort of drives, frequently stalling out in the endzone. It's kind of nice to see the Big East in the spotlight, especially after you consider the defections they had a few years ago. Louisville now finds itself in the previously unlikely position of facing the winner of the Ohio State-Michigan game for the National Championship! In other matchups #8 Tennessee takes on #13 LSU, #16 Boston College takes on #22 Wake Forest, #18 Oklahoma faces #21 Texas A&M, #4 Texas battles Okie State, #17 Wisconsin takes on 6-3 Penn State, and #19 Clemson faces 6-2 Maryland. Things are heating up college football fans.

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.

Friday Tidbits 10/27/06

Well, the World Series has been much more eventful than most would have guessed. The Cardinals have avoided the sweep that many predicted. Now they find themselves one game away from popping the champagne open and celebarting like it's 1982. Anthony Reyes kicked the series off with a gem to outshine his rookie counterpart Justin Verlander. Game 2 will go down in infamy with the Kenny Rogers Filthy Finger Incident. Was it a case of cheating or perhaps careless wiping after Taco Night? We'll never know. If Kenny has to take the mound again in this series, I'm sure his hands will be inspected closely. Game 3 was all Chris Carpenter. He bounced back after not pitching up to his standards against the Mets in the NLCS. Game 4 saw the first rainout in 10 years. When they took the field the next day the offensive hero was none other than David Eckstein. Jeff Weaver tries to put the Tiger away tonight. Justin Verlander and the Tigers stand in his way. It's funny that most of the major shows last night were repeats. They did not want to compete against the World Series. The problem is nobody is watching it. It's too bad because it's been a pretty good series. In other baseball news, the Yankees picked up Gary's Sh*ffield's $13 million option. I think Steinbrenner dug through his couches to come up with the dough. However, the whiny steroid using Sh*ffield doesn't want to play first base. He can't come up with 13 million reasons like MeO would. Francisco Liriano could possibly be heading to elbow surgery. What looked like a promosing 1-2 punch with Johan Santana will most likely have to wait a while! For some reason the Red Sox brought back 40 year old Mike Timlin for next year. I guess they need someone on the staff to blow leads so Papi can hit walk off home runs.

Michael Vick proved everybody wrong...for one week at least. Vick exploded for 4 TDs last week against Pittsburgh. I've knocked Vick a lot of the years so I figured I should give him credit when credit is due. The new trend in the NFL seems to be whining. Matt Hasselback thinks the Vikings intentionally hurt him. Big Ben got taunted by the Atlanta Falcons. It's football Ben. The opposing team is going to try and get in your head. Speaking of heads, Shawne Merriman wasn't using his when he decided to use steroids to get ahead. Maybe Todd Sauerbraun could let Merriman know about HGH and it's undetectable qualities. It's a shame because I liked "Lights Out". Funny you didn't hear much about it though. I'm sure you all heard about Tony Romo taking over for Drew Bledsoe. Unless Romo is beefing up the offensive line, I don't see this move making much of a difference. Games are won in the trenches. Having a good offensive line and/or defensive line makes a team great. What good was the MeO signing if his quarterback doesn't have time to get the ball to him? If he had the option, do you think Parcels would have fixed his O-Line or signed MeO? You don't have to answer that. It looks like Big Ben is going to take the field again this weekend for Pittsburgh against Oakland. His body has been beat to hell. I don't know why he doesn't sit this one out. Charlie Batch has proved to be very capable this year in his absence. It's OK to rest up against a creampuff to be ready for the run you'll have to get back in the hunt.

The tyrant David Stern want NBA players to leave their guns at home. It's actually one of the smarter things he's said in a while. Will the players heed his advice? I doubt it. The Nets cut Jay Williams, who was attempting to make a comeback from a motorcycle accident. I applaud him for getting himself back to where he could even attempt a comeback. Hopefully, he'll continue to work and get another shot at it. Put your guns away Stephen Jackson. I wasn't talking about that kind of shot. Tuesday is Halloween. Perhaps the scariest thing that will happen that day is the release of Ron Artest's new rap album. CD players all over the world are coming up with mysterious ailments to avoid having to play it. Some clown in Orlando got a tounge lashing and an escorted trip to the parking lot after calling Dikembe Mutumbo a monkey. What a classless jerk. Mutumbo is one of the classiest people in the NBA. His charity work is extensive. He is a brilliant man speaking numerous languages. I'll speak for most of America and apologize to Dikembe for his remarks.

The Buffalo Sabres are 10-0. 10-0. It's so impressive that I had to say it twice. They tied the 10-0 start the 1993-94 Toronto Maple Leafs started the season with. They take on Atlanta on Saturday to try for the best start ever. Martin St. Louis needed only 6 minutes and 17 seconds to fire three goals between the pipes. Impressive stuff. Besides Buffalo's 20 points there are some other teams off to excellent starts. The Atlanta Thrashers have 17 points and the Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, and Anaheim Ducks each have 16 points. Anaheim's only two losses have been the shootout variety. Sabres RW Maxim Afinogenov and Thrasher RW Marian Hossa lead the league with 16 points. Sabres C Chris Drury and Hossa lead the league with 10 goals apiece while Sharks C Joe Thornton leads the league with 13 assists. Kings C Anze Kopitar leads all rookies with 12 points. Wild goalie Manny Fernandez leads the league with a 1.53 GAA. Sabres G Ryan Miller leads the league with 8 wins.

Michigan avoided the curse of the #2 last week although it was only 10-6 after three quarters. Texas squeaked by Nebraska 22-20 on a late FG by a walk-on kicker. Tennessee scored a late TD to avoid losing to Alabama. Notre Dame knocked off UCLA with a last minute 45 yard TD pass from Brady Quinn to Jeff Samardzija. Clemson rolled over Georgia in a battle of the #12 and #13 teams. Washington State knocked off #16 Oregon. In the Game of the Week, Minnesota knocked off Division I-AA North Dakota State 10-9 on a blocked FG attempt. Playing a powerhouse like NDSU should get the Gophers ready to take on #1 Ohio State this week. This week features games between #19 Oklahoma and #23 Missouri, #10 Clemson vs. 5-2 Viriginia Tech, #8 Tennesse vs. 5-2 South Carolina, #9 Florida vs.6-2 Georgia, and #21 Georgia Tech vs. 5-2 Miami. Speaking of Miami, the suspended Hurricanes are going to do some community service. The funniest thing is their program includes "After-school visits with South Florida youth to both tutor and discuss values such as sportsmanship and behavior". Hello! Isn't the lack of values, sportsmanship, and good behavior why they got in trouble in the first place? They are about the least credible people I can think of to preach these values. If they were doing this on their own, maybe they would have some credibility, sort of like the recovering addict talking to those battling addiction. However, when you are told you have to do it, you are just going through the motions. Incidently, all but one of the 13 suspended Hurrican players are eligible to play again this weekend. However, 16 of the Florida International players are suspended indefinitely. That concludes the Tidbits.

Feel free to add any stories you liked this week in sports or discuss any of the stories I mentioned.