• "I'm responsible. I’m the head coach." After claiming ignorance despite video evidence to the contrary after the game, LSU coach Les Miles took full responsibility Monday for his team's inexplicable clock management gaffe at the end of its 25-23 loss at Ole Miss. Miles admitted "we had no second play called prior to the Hail Mary" on the 4th-and-26 play that set up anticlimactic finish, because that pass was supposed to go into the end zone. It was letting 17 seconds tick away before calling timeout prior to the fourth down heave, though, that brought the most scorn -- from critics and from Miles himself: "I let the clock get away from me. That was my fault, my mistake. ... At that point in time, I had lost the opportunity for the team to win by squandering seconds."

• What? We all know it's coming. Monday's best headline, courtesy the Associated Press:

Oh, but they will, right AP? Nothing in the subsequent article suggests Rodriguez is in any immediate danger, but they will.

• Good luck with that. Winless Western Kentucky was the first team to let its coach go earlier this month, and Monday became the first team to fill its vacancy by hiring Stanford running backs coach Willie Taggart, a WKU alum and Jim Harbaugh's brother from another mother. Fired coach Dave Elson will stay on for the Hilltoppers' final two games in search of one last (and, this year, first) victory.

• How much is firing Ralph Friedgen worth to us? Word to the Washington Post over the weekend was that Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen's $4 million buyout wouldn't be an obstacle to ditching Fridge as the 2-9 Terps hurtle toward one of the worst finishes in school history. The Baltimore Sun doesn't quite think so: With the general budget crunch at UMD, Friedgen will either have to resign or be targeted by deep-pocketed boosters to get around that number.

• Godspeed. Good luck to N.C. State offensive coordinator Dana Bible, a longtime hand at several schools who has been diagnosed with leukemia. Bible missed the Pack's game at Virginia Tech Saturday and won't coach against North Carolina as he undergoes tests in Boston and begins his fight.

Quickly ... Urban Meyer insists he's not going to Notre Dame. So is he just waiting until after the SEC Championship game to take the job, or what? ... Rich Brooks has had enough of this retirement crap. ... Forbes explains how Doug Flutie changed the game. ... The Mountain West reprimands a BYU player and assistant coach for criticizing Air Force's cut blocks. ... And I-AA Northeastern drops its football program after 74 years, leaving the Red Sox and Patriots with one less obstacle in commanding the attention of the Boston sports scene.

Mike Bresnahan, L.A. Times: "Andrew Bynum, forgotten man? Amid all the attention heaped upon the return of Pau Gasol(notes), the Lakers' 22-year-old center served notice that, um, he's still playing too. Bynum had 25 points on nine-for-11 shooting in the Lakers' 101-85 victory Sunday over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He also had nine rebounds and made all seven of his free throws in almost 29 minutes. Toronto forward-center Chris Bosh(notes) is the only player in the league averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, though Bynum is close to being there too. He is now averaging 19.9 points and 11.2 rebounds. Are the All-Star voters paying attention? 'I hope to make it,' Bynum said. 'That's really a goal I had coming into this season. I think I'm playing at the level I need to be playing. All I can do is get votes now. I've got to keep it up.'"

RealGM: "Things have gone from bad to worse in Washington after Gilbert Arenas(notes) pointed the finger at Caron Butler(notes) for the team's struggles. Arenas said on Saturday that many of the team's players have 'hidden agendas.' The star guard continued his critical comments on Monday, singling out Butler. 'For the most part, we all get along,' Arenas said. 'There are, what, 15 players on the team? Fourteen do. ... At the end of the day, if 15 players don't want to go and it's only 14, you've seen 'Remember the Titans.' It's the same thing. We've just got to play.' When asked who was responsible for ending the in-fighting, Arenas said, 'Me and Antawn [Jamison]. That's our jobs [as captains].' He conveniently left Butler, the third co-captain, out. Butler wasn't as direct as Arenas and said that a few wins might cure everything in Washington."

Marc Berman, New York Post: "Eddy Curry is so enthusiastic these days, the Knicks center volunteered to defend a certain Lakers guard tonight at Staples Center. 'I'm so happy to be back, doesn't matter to me,' Curry said. 'I'll guard Kobe [Bryant].' Curry has gotten lighter, but not that light. Curry's emotion got the best of him Sunday against Boston when he pushed down Rajon Rondo(notes) to the floor, drawing a flagrant 1 foul. The league reviews all flagrant 1s, so there's a small chance Curry could face a suspension tonight. Coach Mike D'Antoni will pass on Curry's offer to guard Bryant. Perhaps next season LeBron James(notes) will check Bryant for the Knicks. For tonight, Larry Hughes(notes) has the assignment as the Knicks (3-10) face the defending-champion Lakers (10-3) to kick off their three-game Western swing."

Jason Quick, The Oregonian: "For a night, at least, order was restored within the Trail Blazers. Brandon Roy(notes) was back at shooting guard and controlling the pace and precision of the offense. Andre Miller(notes), steadfastly saying he is accepting the reins of the second unit, played perhaps as hard and determined as he has all season. And the inside combination of Greg Oden(notes) and LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) was dominant like never before. [...] Roy and Miller played a combined 19:30 together, during which the Blazers outscored Chicago 58-39. 'That's great,' Roy said. 'I'm good with it. I hear everybody is getting mad at me now over this whole Andre thing. I don't know why. ... I never did anything. I've never wanted anything but what's good for the team. It makes me a little sad. But I'm cool.' Miller said he intends to make his shift to the second unit work, and if his effort and play Monday were any indication, the Blazers will be a tough team to defend. [...] 'Individually, I'm going to be fine,' Miller said. 'I'm not going to get caught up in all the rest of this stuff. Everybody everywhere has to adjust to something, so I will be fine.'" 

Charles F. Gardner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "A hot Milwaukee Bucks team ran into the savvy San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. The Spurs splashed cold water on the upstart Bucks, using a big third-quarter push to grab a 112-98 victory at the AT&T Center. [...] The game also marked the return of Bucks guard Michael Redd(notes), who had missed the previous nine games due to a left patella tendon strain. Redd admittedly was rusty as he scored four points in 11 minutes and was 1 for 6 from the foul line. 'It was important to be out there today, just to get something going,' Redd said. 'It's just a rhythm thing.'"

Ronald Tillery, The Memphis Commercial Appeal: "Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi(notes), the first NBA player from Iran, and Omri Casspi(notes), the first Israeli player in the league, met at midcourt and shook hands before the game. Haddadi had never faced an Israeli player on the court because teams from Iran, which does not recognize the Jewish nation, are not allowed to play Israel. Haddadi, who didn't play even though Casspi did, has said none of that bothers him. 'It's just a sport,' Haddadi said."

Tim Buckley, Deseret News: "Jazz center Mehmet Okur(notes) pedaled a stationary bike prior to practice and made it through the session without any problems Monday, marking his return from a stomach virus that caused him to miss three straight games. 'I'm feeling better now,' said Okur, who plans to play when the Jazz face Oklahoma City Tuesday night. Okur said he 'started to feel a little bit weird' after returning to Utah following a four-game Eastern road trip earlier this month, and it caught up with him a few hours prior to the Jazz's Wednesday win over Toronto. 'I felt good,' he said, 'and all of a sudden I went home after shootaround (Wednesday) and it got worse, because for some reason I couldn't even move.' Okur wound up missing Thursday's win at San Antonio and - after initially thinking he'd be good to go — Saturday's victory over his ex-Detroit Pistons club as well. But Korver, who backed up (Ronnie) Brewer at shooting guard last season, said Monday he hopes to perhaps be ready to return by week's end. 'It's possible, I think,' he said. 'But we'll see how it is.'"

Paul Coro, The Arizona Republic: "The Suns are like all basketball players. Given a ball and an open floor, most gravitate to the 3-point line for a shot. The Suns just do it better. Like a team exceeding expectations, Phoenix is the NBA's top 3-point shooting team at 44.4 percent and is on an NBA-record pace of 10.4 makes per game. Of the 42 NBA players making at least 40 percent of their 3-pointers, seven are Suns. They ended last season with only Steve Nash(notes) at better than 40 percent, not counting pre-trade Raja Bell(notes) (46.8) or Amar'e Stoudemire(notes) (3 for 7). In 2007-08, only Nash and Bell hit 40 percent. This group did not figure to be the Suns' best 3-point shooting team, but it is beating them all. Jared Dudley(notes) was a career 33 percent 3-point shooter and is the team leader at 49 percent, ranking eighth in the NBA. Channing Frye(notes) made 20 3-pointers in four seasons with a 29 percent clip but is now at 44 percent, with 38 made. Goran Dragic(notes) ranked 11th in the NBA at 46 percent after making 37 percent as a rookie. 'We do have a lot more weapons from 3 than we thought,' Nash said."

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe: "As much as he wants to blend in with the rest of the guys at the Sports Authority Training Center, Glen 'Big Baby' Davis realizes things are different. His teammates have labored through 14 games, absorbed elbows, collided with mammoth men setting screens, and withstood criticism en route to a rocky 10-4 start. Davis, on the other hand, has spent the past month rehabilitating a broken right thumb sustained in a fight with a friend the night before the season opener and has been unable to play. Davis has been working arduously with his left hand and trimming down his weight. And his exile is coming close to an end. The burly forward said yesterday he is set to get his cast removed Dec. 2, and from there he will work to strengthen his hand and return to the court. 'It's tough to watch the games, knowing that you can help, knowing that you could be the deciding factor of the game,' he said. 'It's tough man, so I am excited to get back and get this cast off and start helping my teammates out.'"

Kate Fagan, The Philadelphia Inquirer: "If you listen to Gilbert Arenas — and sometimes it's hard not to — this 76ers season might be like trying to fit a round basketball through a square rim. After yesterday's Washington Wizards practice, Arenas, Washington's all-star guard, spoke with reporters about the offensive system of Sixers coach Eddie Jordan. 'You need five passers, five shooters,' said Arenas, who played in Jordan's system for five-plus seasons. 'Athletes don't work in that offense, to be honest.' And if you're honest, right now, that's what the Sixers have: athletes. [...] So the question for the Sixers is not whether the offensive system should be working already — it seems there's enough evidence proving it's too early — but whether the Sixers have five passers and five shooters. That is, if we are to believe Arenas' assessment. The Sixers are 5-8, and appear to need a few more shooters."

Josh Robbins, Orlando Sentinel: "Back-to-back games are the NBA's equivalent of a one-two punch — a commonplace, but taxing, reality of the sport. Back-to-backs test more than a team's athletic skill. They also test a team's physical stamina and its mental toughness. These next few days will be especially demanding for the Magic, who will host the Heat on Wednesday, immediately fly to Atlanta and then face the Hawks on Thanksgiving night. The weekend then will offer another double-whammy. Orlando will play at Milwaukee on Saturday night, fly to New York City and face the Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Sunday — all within a span of 21 hours. 'I think that's the toughest part of the job,' said Magic shooting guard J.J. Redick(notes). 'It's the travel. We'll be in four cities in five nights. It's going to be challenging.' It's a challenge the Magic had better get used to handling, because they will play a total of 38 games this season on consecutive days."

Doug Smith, Toronto Star: "It takes an almost telepathic connection for the play to work, a feeling, maybe a sideways glance, some impeccable timing. It's not something that comes overnight but as the Raptors are showing every now and then, it's coming and it adds another weapon to an impressive offensive arsenal. It's a lob pass from point guard to a backdoor-cutting forward racing along the baseline and as Jose Calderon(notes), DeMar DeRozan(notes) and Sonny Weems(notes) are showing every now and then, it can be an electrifying moment that shifts momentum in a game. 'It's all instinct,' said DeRozan, the rookie shooting guard who's been on the finishing end of a couple of lob passes from Calderon over the past handful of games. 'You just read the plays, read the defender and everything.'"

The Wall Street Journal today focuses on a question of growing national importance: has the president ditched hoops in favor of golf?

Putting aside the resounding "who cares?" contingent, it's not an inconsequential question, at least from a public relations perspective. President Obama gained notoriety on the campaign trail as a regular guy who'd throw on some sweats and run up and down the court just like any other aging ex-jock. He apparently still has enough game to knock off the NCAA women's champion UConn Huskies in an impromptu game of P.I.G. 

But since he's taken office, he's played much more golf than basketball -- 25 rounds to seven games, according to the poor soul whose job it is to keep track of such minutiae. And that's apparently upset some people who'd like to see the president playing more basketball. (Really, though, can a president do anything without upsetting somebody?)

"The fact that he isn't playing [basketball]...is a metaphor for those people who think he's gotten soft, backed off of his promises, sold out," the WSJ quoted Claude Johnson, founder of the website Baller-in-Chief. "When President Obama goes back to basketball, that will be a sign that we haven't lost the original guy."

Yeah, perhaps. Or perhaps this is reaching just a wee bit too much for a story. Thing is, presidents golf. A lot. Dwight Eisenhower played Augusta National so frequently he's got a tree named after him. Bill Clinton enjoyed the game, though -- make of this what you will -- he took so many "extra" shots that his playing partners began calling them "Billigans." George W. Bush played plenty of golf early on in his administration, though he took grief for mixing pleasure with business (the infamous "now watch this drive" moment) and later stopped playing during wartime.

I understand the need for a president to be discreet about these kinds of activities; the last thing that someone who's struggling with his or her day-to-day life needs to see is the Commander-in-Chief strolling a golf course and laughing. Not quite the tighten-the-belt-and-work-harder image you want to project, you know? 

Still, I'm all for the president getting out and playing a few rounds. Guy's got a tough job; least he ought to be able to get out of the gig is a couple hours on the course. If I were president -- and this is one reason of many I'm not -- I'd have tee times on call at Pebble Beach, Augusta and Sawgrass. Any president has earned the right to big-time his way onto the country's marquee courses. 

Having said that, President Obama may not want to give up on hoops entirely. Put aside the whole "break the ankles of your opposition" thing; the Wizards are awful this year, and he could surely get a gig as a swingman coming off the bench. Would make more money than his current job, too.

Okay, your turn. Which sport should the president play? Or should he leave the games to others and work, work, work?

Quietly, the President finds that golf is no slam dunk [Wall Street Journal]

Well done, "House" writers. The Tomlin/Epps resemblance was something I first noticed on about, oh, I don't know ... January 20th, 2007 at 3:30 p.m. It had sort of faded from memory recently. They say comedy is all about the timing.

Gracias, Morning Freak Show, via With Leather.

Welcome to 'Duk's Dozen, a streamlined selection of 12 morning-fresh links and items to start your baseball day. It welcomes your email submissions and tips here or via Twitter.   

1. It's admittedly a very loose comparison, but Joe Mauer(notes) and Mark Prior(notes) have become the Michael Jordan and Sam Bowie of the 2001 MLB draft. Star Tribune
2. Why baseball needs Mauer and Albert Pujols(notes) to stay put in their "small markets." Newsday
3. A Twins fan writes condolence letters to those who didn't win the AL MVP. Twinkie Town
4. Mauer beats out Brett Favre when it comes to Turkey Day guests in the Twin Cities. Star Tribune
5. In advance of today's NL MVP coronation, the Dodgers website provides a nice chuckle. MSTI
6. Hey, how would Dan Uggla(notes) look in a Giants uniform next season? Bay City Ball
7. The terms of Ken Griffey's new deal can again be described as "incentive-laden." Seattle Times
8. Jermaine Dye(notes) is open to playing first if it means getting another contract. Circling The Bases
9. I love that John Halama(notes) is still plugging away and trying to get back to the bigs. MLBTR
10. Weighing the possibility of replacing Mike Lowell(notes) with Adrian Beltre(notes) in Boston. Fire Brand
11. That was fast. MLB has already released the Yanks World Series film. Scott Proctor's Arm
12. In case you missed the Derek-Minka pics from St. Bart's last week. Bronx Baseball Daily

His role apparently calls for shooting a big gun, making throat-slashing gestures and falling out of windows with Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme. I doubt he'll win an Oscar for the role -- unless I missed a moving soliloquy about his secret pain -- but it should pull in some box office dollars. 

Thanks to Cage Potato

There was plenty of hype for the Florida Panthers last night, coming back to BankAtlantic Center after an undefeated road trip and facing the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. They even had a 2-0 lead on Pittsburgh, but the Cats eventually lost in overtime, 3-2.

But the real hype for the Panthers and their fans was the unveiling of the team's new third jerseys, which they will wear a dozen times this season. After speculation about whether the team would go retro like the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, or create a new look that would have fans reaching for their wallets, the Panthers decided on a two-tone blue scheme and a redesigned logo.

Along the same line of thinking as FanHouse, my first thought was that the Panthers new duds are the end result on a Conan O'Brien "If They Mated" sketch featuring the Penguins' and St. Louis Blues' third jerseys.

The other thought, as Puck Daddy reader Shae and the Miami Herald's George Richards pointed out, is that Florida new design was inspired by the Hockey Night in Canada jerseys that came out a few years ago (and a similar template that the Colorado Avalanche used):

With the crop of new jerseys debuting this season, it's becoming noticeable that navy blue is becoming the new black around the NHL. Formerly all the rage among NHL teams, navy blue can now be found with the Panthers, Blues and Nashville Predators third jerseys. Is this the start of the trend away from the black jersey?

But back to the topic at hand here ...

Pass or Fail: The Florida Panthers' new third jerseys.

According to my physics education by Google, 10.78 g is significantly more force than Apollo 16's reentry to Earth and more than twice what the body can typically withstand for any sustained period (in a fighter jet or roller coaster, for example), but in football terms may be fairly tame: In Malcolm Gladwell's much-discussed New Yorker article on the debilitating long-term effects of head injuries, linemen are routinely recorded sustaining hits well above 60 g, and the general threshold for concussions seems to be somewhere between 50 and 75 g. So either there is some significant disconnect in those calculations and the ones scrawled out by Professor Dahlberg here, or you should shake it off, Decker (when your foot heals, I mean).

 

No. 1 star: Dwayne Roloson(notes), New York Islanders

Usually, goalies who give up three goals aren't going to be the No. 1 star. But those goalies usually don't face 61 shots. In fact, Roloson's 58 saves in the Islanders' 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs are the most since Ron Tugnutt's 70-save game in March 1991, according to the AP. (Phil Kessel(notes) had 12 on his own.) Not bad for a 40-year-old. Josh Bailey(notes) had the game-winner in overtime, after the Leafs rallied from a 3-0 hole. 

No. 2 Star: Marian Gaborik(notes), New York Rangers

After the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets took a 2-0 lead, the Rangers used a John Tortorella timeout "just relax" chat and exploded for seven straight goals in a 7-4 victory. Gaborik had two goals (18 on the season) and two assists, including a beautiful helper on Sean Avery's(notes) second of the night. Also beautiful: Michael Del Zotto's(notes) Leetch-like solo effort for goal No. 3.

No. 3 Star: Patrice Bergeron(notes), Boston Bruins

Four goals for the Bruins, four assists for Bergeron, including two primary helpers on power-play goals by Mark Recchi(notes) and Blake Wheeler(notes). The Bruins won their third in a row, 4-2, at the St. Louis Blues.

Honorable mention: On another night, Jeff Deslauriers's shutout for the Edmonton Oilers (36 saves) makes the cut for the top three. Oilers win, 4-0, over the visiting Phoenix Coyotes. ... Mike Fisher's(notes) deflection of Chris Phillips'(notes) pass gave him his 10th goal of the season and the Ottawa Senators a 4-3 overtime win over the Washington Capitals. The Sens have won four in a row, rallying from a 3-1 deficit. ... Nathan Horton's(notes) errant stick earned him a minor penalty in overtime for the Florida Panthers, and Sidney Crosby(notes) cashed in a rebound off Evgeni Malkin's(notes) shot for 3-2 win for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Thomas Vokoun had 42 saves for the Panthers in their fancy new uniforms. ... Martin Erat(notes) scored two goals, including the game-winner, as the Nashville Predators won their sixth in a row with a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Pekka Rinne(notes) turned away 16 shots in the third. ... Jamie Benn(notes) and Brad Richards(notes) scored power-play goals and Marty Turco(notes) turned back 22 shots for a 2-0 Dallas Stars win over the Carolina Hurricanes. ... David Jones(notes) had two goals and Craig Anderson(notes) needed to make 17 saves in the third to preserve a 5-4 Colorado Avalanche victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Danny Briere(notes) had a four-point (2 goals, 2 assists) night for the Flyers. ... Jarome Iginla's(notes) goal with 18 seconds left tied the game, but the Anaheim Ducks won in the shootout on a Teemu Selanne(notes) goal, 3-2. Jean-Sebastien Giguere(notes) made 41 saves for his first win of the season. ... Finally, Brian McGrattan(notes) overcame his awful hair with a giant punch that knocked down George Parros(notes).

Did you know?: Corey Perry(notes) extended his point-scoring streak to 15 games with an assist against the Flames.

Dishonorable mention: Pascal Leclaire's(notes) tremendous good luck continued, as the injured Senators goalie was hit in the jaw by a deflected puck on the Ottawa bench, forcing him to the locker room. ... Rick Nash(notes) was a minus-4 with zero points for Columbus. ... After Steve Mason(notes) was pulled following four goals on 18 shots, the Rangers scored on their first two shots against Mathieu Garon(notes). ... Ray Emery(notes) was yanked by the Flyers after yielding four goals on 17 shots ... Finally, an odd scene in which Vesa Toskala(notes) appeared to ask out of the Leafs' game after giving up three goals on 15 shots turned out to be a groin injury that forced him out in favor of Jonas Gustavsson(notes). Who knew deafening boos could injure one's groin?

Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen was involved in a fight outside a South Bend bar early Sunday morning, according to a report Monday evening by WGN-AM's David Kaplan.

According to Kaplan, Clausen has two black eyes from the altercation at around 2:30 a.m. Sunday. ... The Tribune's Brian Hamilton reports that a South Bend police spokesman said Monday no police reports were filed over the weekend that involved Clausen. The particulars of the confrontation are thus unclear, though a person answering the phone at CJ's, the bar in question, said the incident "absolutely did not take place inside the bar."

The Worldwide Leader's Joe Schad also confirmed Clausen has a swollen eye, at minimum, after being "sucker-punched" outside a bar. If true, it follows Clausen's citation for underage possession as a freshman and starring role in the '08 "Beer Olympics" to keep his career average for minor off-field incidents at one per season.

On the bright side, everyone may be too busy examining Clausen's face for the rest of the week to concentrate on the growing speculation that he'll follow coach Charlie Weis into the NFL by tossing his name into the pool of early entrants for the draft following Saturday's regular season finale at Stanford. If there's anywhere a highly visible party hound can go to keep his after-hours exploits under wraps, it's the NFL, right?

On Sundays, I watch football and take notes. On Mondays, I come here and whip up a ghoulash. Sit down for a spell and let's digest Week 11.

• There's a lot of fantasy frustration buzzing about with the Pierre Thomas(notes) situation in New Orleans, but don't pin all the blame on Sean Payton. Save a little bit for yourself, PT owner.

Our numbers racket isn't limited to scouting the players – our make-believe thing is about situations, game flow, coaching tendencies and the like. Yes, Thomas sure looks like the best back in New Orleans, he's jumped off the screen for two years now. But let's stop acting surprised when Thomas doesn't get a host of carries in any given game. Thomas is averaging just 13 carries per start in 2009, and he hasn't hit the 20 mark yet. For whatever reason, Payton doesn't want to burden Thomas with a heavy workload, and he keeps funneling scoring chances to his other backs (that's Mike Bell(notes) leaping to glory above, and Reggie Bush(notes) was on a touchdown binge before sitting out in Week 11).

Mind you, if Bell keeps doing the airborne thing 2-3 times a game, he'll have a hard time staying healthy for the balance of the year. And perhaps Payton is just looking to keep Thomas fresh, mindful of the fact that the Saints might have to play full-out for all 17 weeks to secure the NFC's top seed. Heavier touch counts might be ahead for Thomas if things break right, but at this point in time, it doesn't look like Payton will go in that direction by choice. Accept it for what it is.

• Kansas City's victory over Pittsburgh was a fun game and it added some juice to 2009 Survivor, but let's not misread the flukiness factor at play. Pittsburgh had 27 first downs, KC had 13. The Steelers outgained the Chiefs, 401-214. While you credit the Chiefs for forcing three turnovers and scoring on special teams, it's more important to be able to matriculate the ball down the field (or stop the other guys from doing the same). Look for order to be restored next week – San Diego will beat Kansas City soundly.

• Be careful not to overstate a possible "shutdown corner" matchup as you're choosing your fantasy receivers. Yes, Darrelle Revis(notes) did follow Randy Moss(notes) for most of Sunday, but that didn't keep Moss from collecting 11 targets and a touchdown. The previous week, Mike Sims-Walker(notes) was pretty much held down by Revis, but he was able to score on a play where Revis wasn't covering him. It takes more than one good coverage man to present a nasty matchup.

Also consider that a lot of star cornerbacks stay on the same side of the field and cover whomever lines up opposite them, and every team plays zone coverage much of the time. Forget the days of the 1-on-1 matchup, all day, every snap – that's very rare in the current game.

• Jeff Fisher took a lot of heat for waiting so long to get Vince Young(notes) back in the starting lineup, and it's easy to jump on that delayed decision as the Titans play well behind Young (3-0 so far, and tied with the Texans at halftime as I post this). But keep in mind the shift from Kerry Collins(notes) to Young is a radical shift in offensive personality – heck, it's really a 180 for the entire organization – and in order to have Young best prepared to play and be successful, the move really had to wait for Tennessee's off week. The NFL is a "fix it now!" sort of league, but I'm starting to accept that Fisher was right to wait on the change.

Chris Johnson's recent rampage is partly due to the switch as well; defenses have to scheme differently when the mobile Young is in the game. Obviously Johnson is going to be a star in any system, but it sure looks like his best form comes out when it's the Young offense on the field.

• It's important for a quarterback to take care of the ball, but you can't do it at the expense of big plays. Said another way, Jay Cutler's(notes) line Sunday night (24-for-43, 171 yards, one endgame pick) does not represent progress.

• Did you catch Buffalo absolutely butchering the clock at the end of the first half at Jacksonville? Interim head coach Perry Fewell comes from a defensive background, not that there's any excuse for how the Bills handled that situation.

• Roy Williams should donate his hands to the diamond industry.

• Let's look at the facts with this Antonio Gates(notes) situation. In 16 of his last 18 games, he's been held out of the end zone. In nine of his 10 starts this year, he's posted fewer than 10 points in a basic scoring league. He's had 10 targets or more in just one game this year, and he's had a modest 32 targets in his last five starts. It doesn't make him a stiff, of course, you're still starting him every week. But the Chargers aren't doing anything special to get Gates the rock in the end zone, and it's also worth noting that San Diego still treats LaDainian Tomnlinson like a red-zone weapon, even as his skill set no longer demands it.

• The Cowboys better straighten out their offense against Oakland on Thursday, because the schedule gets significantly harder after that (Giants, Chargers, Saints). Tony Romo's(notes) crew has just two scoring drives over the last two weeks, and that slump occurred against a pair of struggling defensive units (Packers, Redskins). The Pokes are having problems sustaining drives, with third down a particular problem; Romo had a 79.1 rating on the money down, while the offense is converting a pedestrian 38.7 percent on third down.

• Someday, I'd like an explanation as to why DeAngelo Williams(notes) sat behind Deshaun Foster(notes) for multiple seasons. The baton should have been passed during Williams's first year – remember this showing at Philly? Instead, John Fox and friends made Williams wait two full years, and then they drafted Jonathan Stewart(notes) to overload the position. Talk about misjudging your own talent.

• It's hard to be underrated when you play on a team as visible as the Patriots, but Wes Welker(notes) is one of the most underrated commodities in football. Go back and re-read some of the web jabberwocky back from Week 2 when the Jets upset the Welker-less Patriots; some scribes insisted Julian Edelman(notes) wasn't all that different than Welker. In Week 11, with a healthy Welker and a confident Tom Brady(notes) in the mix, order was restored in the AFC East.

• Mark Sanchez(notes) remains a messy work-in-progress for the Jets. Be careful of system quarterbacks who play for a dominant offense in college; Sanchez was seldom rushed at USC, and it's held back the development of his pocket presence.

• Let's cut Matt Millen a break and let him settle in as an announcer. Yes, he was a joke as a general manager. No, he never should have gotten that position without any front office experience. But that doesn't mean he can't be decent in his second go-round in the booth. Millen's best game isn't going to come out working with Stuart Scott on ESPN, but Bob Papa is an excellent partner on the NFL Network games.

• Brad Childress doesn't get a lot of props in this blog but it was very wise to give Brett Favre(notes) a quick hook against the Seahawks. The Seattle offense isn't built to come back from 28-point deficits (especially on the road), and heck, getting Tarvaris Jackson(notes) some snaps (and some confidence) probably wasn't a bad idea.

I gotta give it up to Favre, too – I thought I was "Favred out" for life, the never-ending story, but he's forcing me to root for him. He's no worse than No. 2 or No. 3 in the MVP debate right now, and if you want to give it to him, I wouldn't complain. I'd probably go Peyton Manning(notes) 1, Favre 2, Drew Brees(notes) 3 at the moment; obviously there's a lot of play ahead of us.

• It's time to throw Devil Ray rules at Jon Gruden – every time he says "football player" on a telecast, fine him $5,000.

Prefer your brunch on Sundays? I post my in-game reactions in real time on Twitter; click here to follow along.

Unless Colin Campbell and Co. needed nearly a full business day after Laraque's morning hearing to deliver a verdict, it's your classic end-of-day dump for news that's bound to be vetted, debated and decried by a great numbers of fans and pundits.

EJ Hradek of ESPN wrote that "if the league wants to clean up these types of plays, they can send a message by tagging Laraque with a double-digit suspension." Adam Proteau of The Hockey News wanted an example made of Laraque:

Time has taught us to expect the NHL will abdicate its responsibilities in providing a reasonably safe workplace through the application of supplementary discipline. But if the league ever did decide to grow a pair and use Laraque as the cautionary tale that makes players think twice before reacting knee-first, fist-first, head-first, skate-first or butt-end-of-the-stick-first, I'd break out a line in all seriousness that I don't normally use unless there's extreme sarcasm involved: Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

The outrage from Red Wings fans on this is justified, because they saw some fourth-line goon take out a guy who's fourth in average ice time (21:18)  for Detroit and an essential part of their blue line. I'm not one who believes in the eye-for-an-eye Wheel of Discipline, so the duration of Kronwall's injury is immaterial to me. The intent of Laraque to injure him isn't; neither are Laraque's previous offenses. Based solely on that, Laraque deserved more than five games.

But not because the NHL needed to make "an example" of Laraque.

Intentional knee-on-knee hits aren't the epidemic hits to the head are. They're illegal and injurious. They'll always be illegal and injurious. And they'll always be suspendable. Whatever Laraque was given here, it wasn't going to deter someone from doing it again.

Hits to the head, open-ice blindside hits ... if you want them out of the NHL, then legislation and/or supplemental discipline can actually make a difference at this point in history. But a suspension for a knee-on-knee hit isn't a deterrent against the actions of other players; it's keeping a cheap-shot artist off the ice, if only for a few nights.

With the decade winding down, Fourth-Place Medal will look at some of the greatest Olympic moments of the past 10 years. Today, the top 10 swimming moments of the 2000s. (It's a list dominated by Americans and Australians (one in particular), mainly because it's a sport dominated by Americans and Australians.)

10. Amanda Beard gets her gold -- After a silver in Atlanta and a bronze in Athens, Amanda Beard needed a gold in Athens to complete the trifecta. Her competition: former world record holder Leisel Jones, whose record Beard had lowered just weeks earlier. Jones shot out to an early lead but, much like in the 100 breast in 2000, the Australian weakened down the stretch as an American topped the medal stand.

9. Bernard's revenge -- Days after choking away the 4x100 freestyle relay, France's Alain Bernard got his gold in the individual 100 free, besting world record holder Eamonn Sullivan (who took the mark away from Bernard earlier in the meet) and his relay nemesis, Jason Lezak.

8. Eric the Eel -- As David Wallechinsky recounts in his essential tome "The Complete Book of the Olympics", the IOC encouraged countries to enter swimmers in events, even if they didn't have a qualifying time. Equatorial Guinea took advantage, holding a trial in a 20-meter hotel pool. It was won by 22-year old Eric Moussambani, who competed in the 100-meter freestyle despite never having swam in the distance in his life. He finished 50 seconds behind the next slowest competitor, but became an overnight sensation in the process.

7. Ervin, Hall tie in 50 free -- In a race that saw Aleksandr Popov going for his third straight Olympic gold and Pieter van den Hoogenband trying to win the sprint triple, two Americans stole the show down under. Gary Hall Jr. and Anthony Ervin both touched in 21.98 in the 50 free at the Syndey Olympics, becoming the first men ever to share swimming gold in the Olympics.

6. Thorpe avenges 200 free loss, wins "fastest race ever" -- In Athens in 2004 Pieter van den Hoogenband, Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett and Michael Phelps competed in what was known as the fastest race of all-time. The four were the four quickest ever to swim the 200 free (back before suits made such distinctions obsolete) and the race was the most anticipated of those Olympics. Avenging his loss in front of the home fans in Sydney, Thorpe stormed back for a victory.

5. Coughlin v. Coventry -- The two best female swimmers in Athens happened to compete in the same event, the 100 backstroke. After a disappointing 2000 (in which she failed to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team), Natalie Coughlin held off Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry in the final 15 meters for gold.

4. Phelps bests Spitz -- It was the single greatest achievement in Olympic history, but the ending was anti-climatic. Short of disqualification, there was no way the American relay team was going to lose the 4x100 medley on the final night of the swimming competition in Beijing. They didn't and Phelps became the most prolific champion of all-time.

3. On home turf, Aussies upset Americans -- The U.S. men's 4x100 freestyle relay team was seven-for-seven in Olympic competition before running into a keyed-up Australian squad on the opening night of the 2000 Olympics. Spurred on by a rabid crowd in Sydney, Ian Thorpe caught Gary Hall Jr. on the final lap (after being passed on the first 50) to give the Australians a .21 second victory.

2. Phelps wins by .01 seconds -- One man stood between Michael Phelps and history: Milorad Cavic. (So did Ian Crocker, but he ended up swimming a poor race.) Phelps had already won six gold medals in Beijing and, as mentioned in moment No. 4, his final race wasn't supposed to give him much trouble. It all came down to Saturday morning's 100 butterfly. The early lead was taken by Cavic, an American swimming for Serbia (his parents immigrated shortly before his birth), and it appeared he'd derail Phelps' Olympic dream when the two approached the wall. But Cavic glided into the wall, while Phelps took what appeared to be a furious, ill-advised half-stroke. Somehow Phelps got to the wall first, beating Cavic by one-hundredth of a second, the closest margin in Olympic swimming history. I still have no clue how he got in there.

1. The comeback: Jason Lezak keeps Phelps' quest alive -- Phelps' quest for eight was almost over before it began. On the first morning of finals, the French relay team was headed for a gold medal when world record holder Alain Bernard was nearly a full body length ahead of Lezak on the anchor leg of the 4x100 freestyle relay. On NBC, Rowdy Gaines started analyzing the loss. On my couch, I began typing the lede to a blog post about how the Phelps dream was over. Then, all of a sudden, Bernard tightened and Lezak began to catch up, blazing past him in the final five meters to give the U.S. a most improbable of victories. Lezak's split was the fastest in history. For my money, it was the greatest sports moment I've ever seen.

About those fat jokes, though -- whether or not the hecklers, Photoshop artists and ruthless commenters ever considered the impact on their target, the endless digs haven't exactly been rolling gracefully through the years like water off a duck's back. From the sound of it, it's more like they penetrated Weis' heart and coalesced into a dense, black, malignant amulet of bitterness that he vows to carry with him forever:

"The damage to Maura and Charlie Jr. is irreparable," says Weis, referring to the personal nature of the attacks he has been subject to for years now. "It's watching me get hammered. I'll never forgive the people who character-assassinated me without even knowing me. Those people did irreparable damage to my wife and son, and I'll never forgive them."
[...]
"They have the right to criticize the coach for being 6-5," says Weis. "They have that right. It's all the other stuff. You think I don't know that I'm fat? Duh!"

Asked if he should be gone, where would Charlie Jr. would go to college, the coach reponded: "I know where he won't be going to college."

I'd like a precise statistical estimate of Weis critics since 2005 who are actually asking for forgiveness for their juvenile cruelty. Because I know I can name a few who are proudly standing by it.

I'm no kind of "insider" like Walters, who does his best in the service of a positive spin. But when the still-technically employed head coach bitterly promises that his emotionally wounded son won't be following in his footsteps at the old alma mater, it's hard to pretend this split is going to go down amicably.

Catch Vince Young(notes) 2.0 in action here tonight, as we'll be here all night with running commentary on the game, observations, insights, polls, blatant lies and a high level of interactivity with you, the reader. We'd love it if you joined us. Kickoff is set for 8:30. We'll be here a few minutes prior.

Preview: Boston Bruins at St. Louis Blues, 8 p.m. EST. OK, so a three-game winning streak isn't exactly shattering NHL records. But for two underperforming teams like the B's and Blues, it's a pretty big deal, and one of them will have a three-gamer for the first time this season after tonight. Marc Savard(notes)? In! Tim Thomas(notes)? Backup! T.J Oshie's dad? Still blogging!

Preview: New York Islanders at Toronto Maple Leafs, 7 p.m. A bittersweet moment, as the savior of the Maple Leafs franchise steps onto Air Canada Centre ice wearing some other team's jersey.

Preview: Philadelphia Flyers at Colorado Avalanche, 9 p.m. It's the triumphant return of fan favorite Ian Laperriere(notes) to Denver. The Avs are on a 3-6-1 plummet while the Flyers have lost their last two on the road. Mile High Hockey sets the bar for the home team" If the Avalanche lose in regulation tonight, they could get passed by as many as 3 teams in the standings (Columbus, Calgary and Phoenix)." Watch The Game Live Via Hockey Night on Y!

Check out previews and updated scores for all of today's games on the Y! Sports NHL scores and scheds page.

Evening Reading

• If you'd like to know who the Player of the Decade was for the 2000s, you may want to check back here in the morning.

• Five games for Georges Laraque(notes). More in a bit on this. [TSN]

• In a trade that threatens to create a vowel shortage on the new wire, the Minnesota Wild traded Benoit Pouliot(notes) to the Montreal Canadiens for left wing Guillaume Latendresse(notes). The latter player is already excited to meet the Minnesota media, which is usually a sentiment shared by Habs players who don't live up to their potential in Montreal. Now watch him become the next Mike Ribeiro(notes) ... [AP]

• Finally, Sergei Kostitsyn(notes) has come back to Montreal. [Habs]

• Analyzing the Peter Mueller(notes) trade rumors that made the rounds on the HNIC Hot Stove. [Five For Howling]

• Elliotte Friedman's massive column with the 30 items at the end really is one of the best reads in hockey every week. [CBC Sports]

• Interesting moves in the NCAA concerning Michigan, as Robbie Czarnik leaves for the Plymouth Whalers and goaltending recruit Jack Campbell appears headed for the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL "at some point." [WCHB]

• The Tampa Bay Lightning are getting in on the Black Friday sales. Not in, like, a half-off Ryan Malone(notes) kind of way; in a ticket kind of way. [Raw Charge]

Puck Buddy Comment of the Day: From 'CC' in the Puck Headlines today -

I think I speak for millions when I say that whatever other lousy things happen to me today, I can fall back on having seen "Bettman" and "resign" in the same sentence.

Amen to that.

Bold Prediction: Florida beats Pittsburgh in the Panthers' spiffy new uniforms.

As we hit the end of the decade, Yahoo! Sports is taking a look back at the past ten years in sports. Here at Fourth-Place Medal, we're looking through the best and the worst of the last five Olympics. Today, the most memorable moments in gymnastics.

10. 33-year-old Oksana Chusovitina wins silver in Beijing: Women's gymnastics is dominated by petite teenagers, but that didn't bother Chusovitina, who first competed in the Olympics in 1992. A mother and a cancer survivor, Chusovitina won a silver medal for her vault. 

9. The introduction of the trampoline: The Olympics were in need of a sport that looked ridiculously fun. Trampoline fit the bill. Introduced in 2000 at Sydney, it was first won by Russians Alexander Molaskenko and Irina Karavaeva, and has become a permanent part of the gymnastics lineup for the Olympics. 

8. Carly Patterson rejuvenates American gymnastics scene with all-around gold: In 2000, the U.S. didn't bring home a single gymnastics medal, and questions were raised about the future. That was changed in one fell swoop with Patterson's all-around gold in Athens, as well as a team and balance beam silver.

7. U.S. men take a medal in Beijing: Without any experienced stars on the team, the U.S. men pulled out consistent, error-free routines that won them a bronze medal. 

6. American women sweep all-around in 2008: Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson shook off the competition to go 1-2 in the all-around. Liukin sealed her gold with a near-perfect floor routine. 

5. Alexei Nemov of Russia rules Sydney: A male gymnast has eight chances to win a medal at the Olympics. In 2000, Nemov took home six: gold in all-around and high-bar, silver for floor exercise, and bronze in team, pommel horse and parallel bars. 

4. China's men dominate at 2008 Olympics: Few teams have ever been as dominant as the Chinese men's gymnastics team in Beijing. In front a loud, raucous home crowd, they won nearly every gold. Only one non-Chinese athlete won a gold in Beijing, Leszek Blanik from Poland in the vault.

3. Svetlana Khorkina's graceless swan song: Khorkina, the Russian gymnast who defied the odds by medaling in three different Olympics, was expected to win all-around gold in Athens, her final Olympics. When she won the silver behind American Carly Patterson, Khorkina said that the competition was fixed. 

2. The young but strong Chinese women's team: China's women's team in Beijing was dominant. They beat the heavily favored U.S. team with a nearly perfect meet. However, questions still remain if they meet the age requirement of 16 years old. 

1. Paul Hamm wins controversial gold: In 2004, American Paul Hamm came out on top of a tight men's all-around race, beating out South Koreans Kim Dae-Eun and Yang Tae-Young. However, the judges gave Tae-Young an incorrect start value on his parallel bars routine. Without that error, Tae-Young would have been the champion. The controversy surrounding this gold went all the way to the Court of Arbitration on Sport, but in the end, Hamm was allowed to keep his medal. 

Agree? Disagree? Tell us in the comments. 

Andre Caldwell(notes), Kick Returner, Cincinnati Bengals

Hank Poteat(notes), Cornerback, Cleveland Browns. When Matthew Stafford(notes) scrambled out of the pocket before his desperation heave into the endzone yesterday, Hank Poteat thought, "Hey, I better not let Calvin Johnson(notes) catch this." That part was good. But Hank Poteat also thought, "If the quarterback leaves the pocket, it's okay for me to run around and indiscriminately tackle wide receivers at my own whim. Wheee!" Unfortunately, this rule exists only in Hank Poteat's head. He shoved Calvin Johnson out of the back of the endzone, got flagged for it, and Stafford made the Browns pay.

Chris Simms(notes), Quarterback, Denver Broncos. Kyle Orton's(notes) ankle wasn't healthy enough for football activity yesterday, so the Broncos started Chris Simms. By halftime, Josh McDaniels decided that a one-legged Kyle Orton was a better option than Chris Simms. The Broncos still got pounded, but Simms was bad enough for McDaniels to decide that it was worth risking the long-term health of his starting quarterback. I never understood why McDaniels didn't go back to Simms when it was clear that the game was decided, though.

Mark Sanchez(notes), Quarterback, New York Jets. The up-and-down season continues for the rookie quarterback, with yesterday being his second worst game of the season. Sanchez completely Jamarcus'd out against the Patriots, going 8-of-21, with four interceptions and just one touchdown. When it was all said and done, his quarterback rating in the game was 64 points lower than it was in his first outing against the Patriots.

Brandon Gibson(notes), WR, St. Louis Rams. Gibson dropped a pass in the endzone that would've given the Rams a chance to tie the Cardinals and force overtime. Here's a related stat for you: Tied for the lead this week in times targeted were Wes Welker(notes) and Brandon Gibson, both with 17. Welker had 15 catches. Gibson had five. I'm sure Marc Bulger(notes) shares a lot of the blame on that, but it's still an awful, awful percentage.

Quiet. Too quiet.
The BCS hoi polloi remains at a standstill, with TCU and Boise State hanging onto their No. 4 and No. 6 slots, respectively, in the latest Series standings. BYU is also still ranked in the top 20, for reasons beyond even the good Doctor's understanding, and Utah and Houston linger down there in those 20-something slots that go to teams no one knows quite what to do with. Click the above link for more on why these standings are unlikely to change in the next couple weeks, but the short version is this: TCU is a virtual lock for one of the at-large bids, but Boise State may be on the outside looking in for another, for reasons that have nothing to do with the Broncos' march to another undefeated regular season on the field.

It's all local.
Moving from the national picture, then, to the conference championship races, where we have some excitement:

• The main event will be another Friday WAC night showdown on the blue turf, where Boise puts its perfect record and four-year home winning streak on the line against streaking Nevada, winner of eight straight and home to the most statistically dominant rushing attack in any conference in recent memory. The Wolf Pack are by far the greatest threat to the Broncos' in-conference dominance and BCS pretensions, and can walk away with their first WAC crowd since joining the league with a very plausible road upset.

• Central Michigan has locked up its half of the MAC with a 7-0 run in league play, but the East Division comes to a head this weekend when first place Temple (7-0) heads to second-place Ohio U. (6-1) in a rubber match that could provide the Owls one of the most unlikely 10-win seasons in history and their first trip to the conference title game in Detroit.

• Conference-USA is a mess of 5-2 teams on both sides, but East Carolina, the only six-win squad in the bunch, gets Southern Miss at home Saturday in a winner-take-all tilt for the East Division title. Houston reassumed the lead in the West Division with SMU's loss at Marshall and ought to be reasonably certain of handling Rice to sew up the other berth in the C-USA title game.

• Troy went ahead and clinched the Sun Belt title for the fourth year in a row with a convincing dismantling of Florida Atlantic. Middle Tennessee and Louisiana-Monroe will be at it this weekend for runner-up honors, with a likely bowl bid dangling from the arena ceiling for the first team to the top of the ladder.

Coaches! Get your coaches! Fresh coaches, bought and sold!
Texas A&M cast-off Dennis Franchione to UNLV? Sure, why not? To crib a little Dave Eggers, we are ardent admirers of the rich and insane, and as such are fully behind the constant employment of Fran-Fran, Jackie Sherrill, Barry Switzer and all the Bowdens. Make us proud, short-sighted athletic directors, and more importantly, keep us entertained with an endless supply of secret newsletter jokes.

In actual coaching news, Stanford running backs coach Willie Taggart has been named head coach at Western Kentucky. Before you start wondering why on earth anyone would want this job under an administration that fired its head coach before the end of its first official season in the I-A ranks, please note that Taggart's a former Hilltopper player and assistant coach. Whatever else happens on the field, a familiar face stands a chance of putting more warm bodies in seats, which we suppose is a start.

The Field is Their X-Box.
Our first order of business in the offseason will be the assembly of a boy band composed entirely of mid-major quarterbacks with ridiculous, arcade-caliber numbers spiraling joyously to the sky. Between them, Houston's Case Keenum, Boise State's Kellen Moore, Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour, Nevada's Colin Kaepernick, UAB's Joe Webb and BYU's Max Hall averaged just a shade over 300 total yards this weekend, and if they can do that to opposing secondaries individually, just imagine the havoc they'll wreak on the hearts of teen girls everywhere when you put them all together. (Want some ground guys? We got your backup singers right here: Nevada now has three 1,000-yard rushers after Luke Lippinccott's 162-yard performance against New Mexico State, joining Kaepernick and Vai Taua as the most prolific single-season trio in NCAA history.)

Mini-Major Meltdown Watch.
Chattanooga and Florida International were short on drama in predictably grisly blowouts at the hands of top-ranked powerhouses Alabama and Florida, respectively, but for fans of the really little guys there's always the Harvard-Yale fake punt and Bethel-Sterling bouquet affairs. Don't say we never did nothing for ya.

Profiles in continuing ineptitude.
One more out the cellar! New Mexico finally broke the seal on the win column by beating free-falling Colorado State, 29-27, on a field goal with 12 seconds on the clock to hand the Rams their eighth straight defeat. Still-winless Eastern Michigan, on the other hand, put up no kind of fight against Toledo, and hopeless Western Kentucky (mercifully) had the week off before resuming its quixotic journey for a 'W' this week at Florida Atlantic.

What should have been ...
How are the mighty haka-dancers fallen: We like it when Hawaii's good simply because the Warriors on television more, and their pregame psych-out routine is truly glorious to behold in HD. The Warriors aren't going to be ready for primetime again any time soon, however, if they keep letting lame-duck teams like San Jose State take them to overtime with bowl-eligibility at stake. Hawaii can scrape into the postseason with upsets over Navy and Wisconsin on the islands, but don't hold your breath.

... and what never had a prayer:
Nevada beat New Mexico State like a two-dollar, redheaded, rented mule in one of the Wolf Pack's patented late-night routs, rolling up 671 yards of total offense for Kaepernick & Co. in a 63-20 obliteration.

Player of the Week: Martevious Young, QB, Southern Miss.



For throwing a 60-yard touchdown on USM's first offensive snap, for following that up with three more scores (including a 95-yard bomb), for refraining from turning the ball over while being apparently determined to match points-happy Tulsa's total all by his lonesome in a 44-34 Golden Eagle win, for doing all this despite not taking over for injured starter Austin Davis until halfway through the season, and for attending the same fine institution as the good Doctor himself, we salute you, sir. (Also, being named "Martevious" doesn't hurt.)

(A Somewhat Arbitrary) Mid-Major Top 10
1. TCU (11-0) Even the Doc is getting in the Horned Frogs' corner.
2. Boise State (11-0) What, couldn't crack 60? It's Utah State! (Kidding. Kinda.)
3. Central Michigan (9-2) Did we mention the vast majority of quarterback Dan LeFevour's season-high numbers were accumulated in the first three quarters?
4. Temple (9-2) Even when the wins kept coming, we never really thought we'd see Temple in a conference championship game. But here the Owls go, if they can get past Ohio, and good on 'em.
5. Nevada (8-3) If any pollsters are set on dropping Boise State for an actual reason, now's your chance to hop on the Wolf Pack wagon.
6. BYU (9-2) Bumped for a convincing win over Air Force, a team we think is not terrible for a change.
7. Navy (8-3) Off this week, which should help with the upcoming time-zone hopping en route to Hawaii.
8. Utah (9-2) After Saturday's game with BYU, both Beehive State powers will somehow still be ranked in the top 25. Just you watch.
9. Houston (9-2) That's a nice victory margin, but it's still just Memphis.
10. MTSU (8-3) A decided pantsing of Arkansas State puts the Blue Raiders in the Sun Belt two-spot.

Stay Tuned.
On tap for Thanksgiving weekend: Northern Illinois at Central Michigan, Temple at Ohio, Nevada at Boise State, Southern Miss at East Carolina, UCF at UAB, Utah at BYU, and Navy at Hawaii.

• Most Realistic Upset: We're calling for Ball State to upset Western Michigan, because Western Michigan is not that good, and because the idea of Ball State following up an undefeated regular season in 2008 with a single, lonely win in 2009 makes us feel sad in the black voids where our hearts should be.

• Most Unrealistic Upset: Nevada at Boise State. The Broncos are favored by ten, but they've also got a vague facsimile of a defense. And forget Northern Illinois at Central Michigan. They're only 10-point underdogs, but they're not going to spoil LeFevour's final home game.

• Most Inevitably Gruesome Blowout: New Mexico at TCU. Seriously, it's not even fair what's about to happen out there.

Scoreboard.
Florida International was the only school carrying a mid-major flag against one of the big boys this week, and came back bearing the wounds of a 62-3 shredding in the Swamp for its trouble. After 12 weeks, mid-major programs are 19-92 against BCS conference schools.

- - -
Holly welcomes your adulation and veiled threats at nastinchka-at-yahoo, etc.

Ari Fleischer Communications, a sports public relations firm headed by the former press secretary for President George W. Bush, has been hired by BCS officials to help remodel the tattered image of college football’s postseason system.
[...]
[New BCS executive director Bill] Hancock said in a statement the goal of the hiring was to help highlight the positive aspects of the BCS, which he called the best way to match college football’s top two teams, while preserving the bowl system.

It might seem slightly counterintuitive to hire the spokesman of an administration that ended in a state somewhat below "tattered" to un-tatter an unpopular system that's come under more and more fire each successive year of its existence. Let's not forget, though, what a public relations ninja Fleischer was in his days in the White House -- here, after all, was an ordinary-looking man who frequently bickered with members of the press corps, who once suggested publicly that citizens should "watch what they say, watch what they do," and who said adding additional information to the "mountain of evidence" that Saddam Hussein had accumulated and was planning to use weapons of mass destruction "is like adding a foot to Mount Everest" ... and who basically won. Fleischer was integral in selling the war in Iraq, and he was smart enough to exit the building before it self-destructed soon after.

So if anyone is equipped to deal with a few grandstanding Congressmen, a nascent playoff lobby and even a playoff-stumping president, it's one of the very few guys who got out of the Bush years relatively unscathed. And if Fleischer's firm is partially responsible for keeping Major League Baseball's head above water over the last few years, too, maybe there's some hope for the Series yet. I know I'm starting to like it more already.

Could Denny Hamlin take over the Memorial Carl Edwards "Dude Who's Going To Unseat Jimmie" role for 2010? We shall see, friends, we shall see...

This weekend, though, there was nobody else even close to Westwood, and he made sure that he was the last man standing at the Dubai World Championships. He claimed both the tournament and the winner's check for the Race to Dubai, easily getting past Rory McIlroy along the way.

Spurred on by his caddy's advice to "go out and bully other people," Westwood did exactly that -- well, as much as you can bully somebody on the golf course.

And he got all up in McIlroy's head. The 20-year-old wunderkind couldn't come close to hanging with Westwood, and eventually got so ticked at the way his round was going that he plowed his club through a sign. And it helped; he reeled off six birdies over the next nine holes. But it wasn't enough, and now Westwood owns the day.

"Rory is only 20--I can't even remember what it was like to be 20--and he will have many more chances ahead of him to win the money list," Westwood said. 

True enough. Plus, Westwood has that killer trophy. Swing that thing around, and he'll be a better bully than ever.

Lee Westwood of England wins Dubai, money titles [AP via Yahoo! Sports]

No, the interesting thing here is not which team will win -- Texas will, easily -- but the margin of victory therein. In past years, Iowa keeps this competitive. At the best times in the Steve Alford era, they might even have beaten some of Rick Barnes' Texas teams.

These are not the best times for Iowa. After three of Todd Lickliter's best players (the term best being used relatively here, because Iowa was bad in 2008-09, too), things are looking very down for Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 1-2 on the young season. The season debut was a loss to Texas-San Antonio by 12 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The next game was also at CHA, when Iowa lost 52-50 to Duquesne. The Hawkeyes managed to bounce back and handily beat Bowling Green on Friday night, but those two early losses don't bode well. And any observer can look at the 2009-10 Hawkeyes and see a team made up of sophomore Matt Gatens and absolutely nothing else.

Meanwhile, Texas is ranked No. 3 in the country. They're loaded with returning and transferred talent, and have one of the best recruiting classes in the country. In other words, they're Texas.

Which means there's an awfully good chance Iowa gets absolutely crushed. The current Vegas odds -- not that anyone would gamble on collegiate sports, of course -- have Iowa at +15.5, which seems drastically low. Texas could win by 40. The disparity in talent is just that great.

So, go ahead, math whizzes. Predict the final outcome in the comments, and get a respectful nod from yours truly after the fact if you manage to call the final score correctly. Either way, this could get ugly.

OK, this does move around a bit, so let's try to keep up.

Tim Duncan(notes)? In. Andrew Bogut(notes)? Out. Michael Redd(notes)? Out. Manu Ginobili(notes)? Out. Tony Parker(notes)? In. Luc Mbah a Moute? Out, possibly. Richard Jefferson(notes)? In, with the Spurs.

Brandon Jennings(notes)? So, so in.

This could be a pretty solid matchup. The Spurs haven't been up to their usual stuff defensively this year, but they have been able to put points on the board. The Bucks have been stellar defensively since the outset, and though losing Bogut will hurt them in that area, replacement pivots Dan Gadzuric(notes) and Kurt Thomas(notes) are hardly slouches in that area.

Just four games tonight, including a trip to Portland for the Bulls, and a pair of lesser pairings (Kings and Grizzlies, Clippers and Timberwolves) that are bound to put NBA basketball back at least a decade. Which would be fine by me, because I'd be in better shape, and I didn't mind using a 28.8k connection.

Comment away, cats.

Milwaukee Bucks: 8-3, 94.3 possessions per game (11^th-most in the NBA), 104.9 points scored per 100 possessions (19^th), 99.2 points allowed per 100 possessions (second).

San Antonio Spurs: 5-6, 90.3 possessions per game (27^th), 109.5 points scored per 100 possessions (fifth), 106.9 points allowed per 100 possessions (17^th).

All statistics courtesy basketball-reference.com.

Last year's record: 23-13, 9-7 SEC

2009-10's toughest games: at UCLA, Kentucky, at LSU, Tennessee

Primary attraction: As Rick Stansbury deals with Renardo Sidney (or the lack thereof), can the Bulldogs fulfill their promise?

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Re-nar-do! Re-nar-do! Re. Nar. Dooooooo! Uh, Renardo? Much of the 2009-10 season will hinge on whether Rick Stansbury's great gambit -- signing Renardo Sidney amidst eligibility suspicions after Sidney's attempts at landing at USC and UCLA failed -- works or not. Thus far, things aren't looking good. The Bulldogs are two games into the 2009-10 season, and Sidney is still ineligible. The NCAA wants more documents from the Sidney family in order to prove they weren't receiving money for their mortgage while they lived in California; meanwhile, Sidney's lawyer, Don Jackson, seems more intent on making a name for himself than doing right by his client, whose best interests involve playing basketball as soon as possible. Whether Sidney can't get eligible and Jackson knows it or Jackson is merely stalling in an attempt to raise his own profile is as yet unknown. What is known is that the Bulldogs need Sidney, and Sidney needs the Bulldogs. They need each other, and soon.

2. Meanwhile, MSU's frontcout is just fine. Of course, Sidney would merely be the icing on an already pretty tasty Bulldog frontcourt cake. Mmm. Bulldog frontcourt cake. This cake is primarily composed of Jarvis Varnado, who led the country in blocks and block percentage last year. Varnado is a future NBA draft pick who -- get this -- offered to give up his scholarship, play his final year as a walk-on, and pay the $5,000 or so for tuition so Stansbury could have enough scholarships to sign Sidney and fellow center John Riek, a four-star recruit in 2008 who couldn't play at Cincinnati last year thanks to academic issues. Varnado's family's selflessness gave Stansbury the chance to load his team just in time for his senior's final farewell. At least Riek is cleared to play; Varnado's gift hasn't been a complete waste.

3. Distractions. Already, distractions. Look at the content of this Hunt. Thus far, the interesting things have been about Rick Stansbury and Jarvis Varnado's equally risky decisions to open their Bulldog arms to a player who may or may not even be eligible to play. This is a shame, because the Bulldogs -- with or without Sidney -- are legitimate SEC contenders. Only Kentucky and Tennessee have better talent, and Varnado's ability to change team's game plans defensively, along with a trio of outside three-point shooters (Barry Stewart, Ravern Johnson and Phil Turner combined for 36 percent from the field last season), give the Bulldogs a legitimate chance at SEC supremacy. Look at it this way: Mississippi State returns all five starters, and the only Bulldog anyone talks about might never put on the uniform.

Stansbury did this to himself. He tweaked the formula, got greedy and went for it all. Let's see if it pays off.

Bonus: This is what Jarvis does.

Varnado is the sort of shotblocker who can stop powerful drives with either hand, and who doesn't just try to swat the ball into the stands. He does only what it takes to stop the shot, and then he gathers it if possible. Your high school basketball coach would love Jarvis Varnado. Then again, who wouldn't?

Ryan's an RFA next summer, looking for a raise after his entry level contract expires. He's followed his Calder-quality rookie campaign with 15 points in 21 games this season; a decent total on a disappointing hockey team, but no where near the pace of linemates Ryan Getzlaf(notes) (22 points) and Corey Perry(notes) (27 points, and a criminally underreported 14-game scoring streak that has him tied for fifth in the League in points.)

But as an RFA on the team that drafted him, Ryan's leaving Anaheim doesn't seem all that likely, as least to someone following the Ducks from the other coast. That was until OC Register columnist Randy Youngman dropped this nugget at the end of a column on Sunday night:

If the Ducks continue to struggle, most likely trade bait will be forward Bobby Ryan, who has been inconsistent this season (15 points in 21 games) after contending for NHL Rookie of the Year honors last season.

Trade bait? When Anaheim Calling did its "who are the scouts looking at on the Ducks?" post last week, Ryan's name didn't come up. The notion that the Ducks would move him, even as their season slips deeper into mediocrity, hasn't exactly been voiced all that often -- well, until now.

Still, the suggestion gets you wondering ... would the Ducks be better off trading Ryan, with his value still relatively high and before having to commit significant salary (and years) to a player that's gone from failing to meet expectations to becoming a future NHL start to failing to meet expectations again?

If the Ducks need to seriously retool, is trading Bobby Ryan one way to dramatically achieve that goal?

It's hard to see Ryan leaving the Ducks for financial reasons. But we're sure the same was said about Chris Pronger(notes) as some point in the recent past, too ... and now he's on the verge of an "historic" Norris Trophy bid.

As the decade winds down, Busted Racquet will celebrate the past 10 years of tennis with various top 10 lists. We get things started today with a look at the 10 best matches of the 2000s.

10. Andre Agassi d. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5, second round, U.S. Open, 2006

It's the match so grippingly detailed in the opening pages of Agassi's autobiography "Open". With Agassi serving at 4-4 in the final set, the pair played an eight deuce game in which the eighth-seeded Baghdatis had four break points. Agassi held, and went on to win. Later, as they laid on the training room waiting for medical attention, Agassi and Baghdatis watched the replay on SportsCenter with their hands clasped together. It was the last match the eight-time Grand Slam champ would ever win.

9. Venus Williams d. Serena Williams, 6-2, 6-4, final, U.S. Open, 2001

The match itself was forgettable. The moment was not. In the eight years since Venus and Serena played in their first Grand Slam final together, it's become easy to take for granted how amazing it is that two sisters meet so frequently to decide major tournaments. In 2001, nobody did. The first all-Williams Grand Slam final was a major event that happened to coincide with the first time the women's final was played in prime-time. It generated huge ratings and was a seismic event for the game, even though the tennis was mediocre, at best.

8. Fabrice Santoro d. Arnaud Clement, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 3-6, 16-14, first round, French Open, 2004

At 6 hours, 33 minutes, it's the longest match in tennis history. Play was suspended for darkness on the first day after four-and-a-half hours. Clement had two match points (one on each day), but Santoro held at 13-14 in the fifth and went on to win three straight games. For his part, Clement didn't care too much about setting a longevity record, saying, "what do I get, a medal?"

7. Goran Ivanisevic d. Patrick Rafter, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7, final, Wimbledon, 2001

In a rare Monday final, the 125th-ranked Ivanisevic bombed it out with No. 3 seed Patrick Rafter. There were big double faults, untimely unforced errors, foot faults and racquet-throwing, but the combination of the different crowd and tense action made it an unforgettable match. John McEnroe called it the greatest Wimbledon final  he's ever been a part of, but I'm starting to realize he says that a lot.  

6. Jennifer Capriati d. Martina Hingis, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2, final, Australian Open, 2002

In her third, and final, Grand Slam victory, Capriati continued her storied comeback by besting Hingis in an epic final in Melbourne. After dropping the first set, Capriati went down 0-4 in the second and faced match points at 4-5 and in the tiebreak (four in all). Hingis never recovered from the meltdown (literally -- it was 107 degrees on the court) and lost the third set without much of a fight. Capriati became the first woman since 1962 to win a Grand Slam after facing match point in the final.

5. Roger Federer d. Andy Roddick, 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14, final, Wimbledon, 2009

Lengthy? Yes. Great? Well, yes ... But not that great. In our rush to celebrate every great sporting event as the "best ever", this match took on epic proportions solely because of its epicosity. (Not a word? It should be.) Though it was close, one never got the sense that Roddick could ever actually win the thing. Federer's serve was so crisp as the match progressed that it would have felt like a miracle if he got broken. Throw in the fact that the two biggest points of the match were won because of horrid Roddick unforced errors and there's your No. 5 ranking. 

4. Venus Williams d. Lindsay Davenport, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 9-7, final, Wimbledon, 2005

Bud Collins described the match thusly:

"More female bang for the bucks had never been seen in this arena. Two ladies in white were red-hot blasters. Witnesses would treasure what they'd watched during a chill, glum afternoon. Their go-for-broke shot-making illuminated the gray sky."

What he said.

3. Justin Henin-Hardenne d. Jennifer Capriati, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4), semifinal, U.S. Open, 2003

Truth be told, we could have added one more Capriati match to this list too (her 2001 French Open win over Kim Clijsters), but this late-night affair earned the vote for best women's match of the decade, even though it was only a semifinal. Capriati, at the tail end of her career, battled it out with the diminutive Belgian for a record three hours and three minutes. She served for the match at 5-4 in both of the final two sets and was two points from victory a whopping 11 times. All night she yelled at umpires, demonstratively celebrated points and exchanged classic rallies with Henin-Hardenne. When it finally ended, at 12:27 a.m., the women could barely make it to the net to shake hands.

2. Pete Sampras d. Andre Agassi, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), quarterfinal, U.S. Open, 2001

Before the fourth set tiebreak, the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium gave the two American stars a standing ovation, an appreciation of both the match (nobody broke serve through 52 games) and the greatness of the champions on the court:

1. Rafael Nadal d. Roger Federer, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7, final, Wimbledon, 2008

It was, quite simply, the greatest match of all-time. 

A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: NBA FanHouse. Should Rashard Lewis(notes) have been suspended during the playoffs?
PF: STF. NBA stars of our youth have fathered sons who are starting to make their college debuts.
SF: Nets Are Scorching. A statistical look at Sean Williams(notes) and why he should play more.
SG: Philadelphia Daily News. When was the last time you were at a Sixers game, Philly?
PG: NQTC. Some statistical analysis of Derrick Rose's(notes) shot selection.
6th: KevinDurant35.com. Durantula be bloggin'.
7th: Strotty's Blog. In case you weren't convinced, Brandon Jennings(notes) is looking like the real deal.
8th: CelticsHub. A video breakdown looking at all the factors that go into a massive run.
9th: Third Quarter Collapse. Who needs Jameer Nelson(notes) when you have Jason Williams(notes)?
10th: Basketball-Reference.com Blog. How good would Len Bias have been?

Got a tip or link for Ball Don't Lie? Hit me up at jeskeets [at] yahoo.ca or follow me on Twitter.

The news is still trickling out on Brock Lesnar's condition and future. Dana White dropped the bombshell just after UFC 105 on Nov. 14. According to White, Lesnar's problem is a perforated intestine which was crushing his immune system and causing him to be consistently worn down. It's still up in the air when and how the problem will be fixed but the prognosis is more positive today. White said Lesnar had minor surgery in Bismark, ND but it's unknown if the hole was actually closed.

Now White was told by Lesnar to respect his privacy but the UFC president still felt an obligation to release some information. People worked up a speculative lather when White said it wasn't HIV or cancer. It all made Cagewriter wonder if the generally cantankerous Lesnar flipped out on White after he spilled the beans (5:56 mark):

"Dude, that's my job," White told Cagewriter on the eve of UFC 106 in Las Vegas. "Brock Lesnar is a UFC fighter. He's under our umbrella and people want to know. If it was up to Brock Lesnar nobody would know. Nobody would even know this happened."

At 6-foot-4, 285 pounds, Lesnar may be the scariest guy in all of fighting, but even this one spooked the UFC's heavyweight champ:

"This was a [expletive] scary thing for him. He was worried about his future. It's not only his fighting, he's got a family."

White revealed that doctors told Lesnar, he's been dealing with the condition for over a year and that he's only been operating at 60-percent of his potential:

"That's a lot [expletive] scary. He's at 60-percent of his potential? What's going to happen when he comes back? How much faster can you beat people? Hopefully we can get though this."

White also spoke about his new working relationship with Tito Ortiz and his lack of control over the officiating. Referee Steve Mazzagatti is going to work Nevada and California fights whether White likes it or not. And frankly the more White rips him, the more likely it is "The Stache" may work all 11 fights on the season 10 "Ultimate Fighter Finale" (sarcasm).

Since Cagewriter is always looking out for the fans, we also asked about improving the viewing options at the arenas. The UFC has multiple screens where you can watch the action but it really needs to steal an idea unveiled by boxing at the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight. Top Rank invested $150,000 in a 360-degree big screen that hung over the ring (0:04 mark). much like what U2 used during its shows in the United States. Good idea or not?  

Great success! After a few months of the intangibles crowd being threatened with severe online mockery by the rest of us, Minnesota's Joe Mauer(notes) was rightly awarded with the first American League MVP of his career on Monday afternoon.

The stud Twin Cities catcher received 27 of 28 first-place votes and it isn't hard to see why. Despite missing the beginning of the season with a back injury, Mauer won the AL batting title (.365) for the third time in the last four years while also leading the league in OBP (.444) and slugging (.587). That's a slash-line Triple Crown that hasn't been achieved in the AL since George Brett took it for the Royals in 1980.

Throw in some Gold Glove defense behind the plate, career-best totals for homers and RBIs and the Twins' late surge to take the AL Central from the Tigers and Mauer easily earned enough support to outpace the Yankees' tandem of Mark Teixeira(notes) and Derek Jeter(notes) that finished behind him. He's the first AL catcher to win the award since Ivan Rodriguez(notes) in 1999 and Thurman Munson in 1976.

The MVP award always seemed inevitable for Mauer, but it's not as if he needed this to validate his ascension into the league's elite. The 26-year-old has long been part of that top group and the rest of the league is already salivating over the sweet-swinging backstop possibly becoming a free agent after 2010.

Which is exactly why Minnesota should make plans for an escort of no less than 12 Brinks trucks when Mauer makes his way to the MVP's press conference.

Talk of a possible contract extension is certainly nothing new — whispers surfaced earlier this month — but Minnesota needs to follow Colorado's actions in the wake of Jim Tracy's NL manager of the year win and sweeten Mauer's win with a few more years, commas and zeroes.

Look, if terror-filled columns like this one continue to be published in the Twin Cities newspapers past Christmas, there's a huge problem. Mauer is a hometown boy who's on his way to becoming the greatest player in franchise history. He has said his personality doesn't fit New York and he doesn't seem like a guy motivated solely by dollar signs.

The Twins, meanwhile, are on the verge of opening up a new ballpark that will presumably generate more revenue and they'll have plenty of seats to sell. If there's a better time for the team to sit down with Mauer, ask him what would make him happy and then give it to him (so long as he's not requiring the lost city of Atlantis), I don't know about it. 

On a day when Mauer beat out the Yankees to create a bright day in Minnesota, the Twins need to respond in kind. Get it done and get it over with.

Pay that man his money. 

Patient viewers may have caught the best part of the interview that didn't involve a frog trying to crawl out of Meyer's throat: Because of the impact Tim Tebow has made on college football, "it's almost like selflessness is now a cool thing."

At last, after the toil and strife of Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, countless obscure and impoverished humanitarians, teachers, clergy, parents and the fundamental moral basis of the overwhelming majority of human societies throughout the history of civilization, selflessness is finally "in" -- all thanks to Tebow. Now the Ayn Rand crowd knows on exactly which door to nail its next 95-page theses.

- - -
Hat tip: SBN

Mike Sims-Walker(notes), the Jacksonville Jaguars receiver who had a nice game of his own (eight receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown), celebrated his score by stretching his arms out to make the shape of a "T", and then putting them above his head for an "O", in tribute to Owens.

After the game, Sims-Walker even asked Owens for his jersey.

“When you speak of Terrell Owens, you speak of greatness,” Sims-Walker said. “He’s been doing it for 10 or 11 years. I place him up there with the Torry Holts, the Jerry Rices, those great guys – the Randy Mosses. He’s one of the best in the league.”

Owens took Sims-Walker’s request for his jersey as a compliment.

“Everyone wants my jersey after every game,” Owens said. “I take it as a compliment that I can still play this game.’’

Either that, or Mike Sims-Walker has a lucrative second career as an eBay power seller of game-worn sports memoribilia. One of the two.

I kid, I kid. Sims-Walker is right when he refers to Owens as one of the greats of all time, and he collects the jerseys of great players. It's nice to see a relationship where a young receiver has so much respect for a veteran.

Other popular football stories on Yahoo! Sports:
• CBS doesn't replay gruesome injury during NFL game
• Coach's awful fourth-and-22 decision costs team
• Total disaster for one-time Super Bowl contenders

Puck Buddy Will, a.k.a. "hockeymaster4789" (sounds like a cyborg Lou Lamoriello unleashes to make players with fat contracts disappear) decided to waste the better part of a morning to meet that challenge, a least for the last two seasons.

What he found are a couple of examples in which a player in the penalty box at the end of the 4-on-4 helped win the game for his team in the shootout; and yes, one of those examples is a certain goaltender for the Dallas Stars pictured here.

Here's what Will found for the 2009-10 season:

When the winning team ended the game a man down:

October 31: Florida 6, Dallas 5 - Bryan McCabe(notes) for elbowing, Rostislav Olesz(notes) wins it.

When the losing team ended the game a man down:

November 21: Nashville 4, CLB 3 - Rick Nash(notes) for hooking, David Legwand(notes) wins it.
November 12: DAL 3, San Jose 2 - Kent Huskins(notes) for hooking, Stephane Robidas(notes) wins it.
November 11: Chicago 3, Colorado 2 - Wojtek Wolski(notes) for cross checking, Patrick Sharp(notes) wins it.
October 30: Pittsburgh 4, CLB 3 - Jakub Voracek(notes) for hooking, Sidney Crosby(notes) wins it.
October 24: Boston 4, Ottawa 3 - Anton Volchenkov(notes) for tripping, Patrice Bergeron(notes) wins it.
October 20: Montreal 2, Atlanta 1 - Slava Kozlov(notes), 5-min major for checking from behind, Scott Gomez(notes) wins it.
October 6: Carolina 2, Tampa Bay 1 - David Hale(notes) for tripping, Sergei Samsonov(notes) wins it.

For 2008-09:

When the winning team ended the game a man down:

April 11: PHX 5, ANA 4 - Shane Doan(notes) for holding (actually, Andrew Ebbett(notes) was already in the box for tripping, so it would have been 3-on-3), Viktor Tikhonov(notes) wins it.
April 8: CBJ 4, CHI 3 - Fedor Tyutin(notes) for hooking, Fedor Tyutin wins it.
March 24: TOR 3, WSH 2 - Pavel Kubina(notes) for hooking, Jeff Hamilton(notes) wins it.
March 19: ANA 3, PHX 2 - Chris Pronger(notes) for holding, Bobby Ryan(notes) wins it.
February 24: LAK 2, MIN 1 - Sean O'Donnell(notes) for slashing, Drew Doughty(notes) wins it.
February 16: DAL 3, CBJ 2 - Marty Turco(notes) for tripping, James Neal(notes) wins it, Marty Turco in net.
January 21: BOS 4, TOR 3 - Martin St. Pierre(notes) for tripping, Michael Ryder(notes) wins it.
December 11: PHI 6, CAR 5 - Philadelphia bench minor for too many men, Simon Gagne(notes) wins it.
November 18: MIN 2, PIT 1 - Brent Burns(notes) for high-sticking, Marek Zidlicky(notes) wins it.
November 8: PIT 4, NYI 3 - Mike Zigomanis(notes) for high-sticking (double minor), Petr Sykora(notes) wins it.
October 21: BUF 3, BOS 2 - Teppo Numminen(notes) for hooking, Thomas Vanek(notes) wins it.
October 20: PIT 2, BOS 1 - Jordan Staal(notes) for slashing (Marc Savard(notes) was already in the box for hooking, so it would have been 3-on-3), Evgeni Malkin(notes) wins it.
October 10: BUF 2, MTL 1 - Jaroslav Spacek(notes) for tripping, Ales Kotalik(notes) wins it.

When the losing team ended the game a man down:

April 9: NSH 4, DET 3 - Henrik Zetterberg(notes) for hooking, Jason Arnott(notes) wins it.
February 14: EDM 3, LAK 2 - Jack Johnson(notes) for hooking, Sam Gagner(notes) wins it.
February 13: BUF 6, SJS 5 - Christian Ehrhoff(notes) for kneeing AND Marc-Edouard Vlasic(notes) for slashing, Derek Roy(notes) wins it.
February 10: LAK 4, NYI 3 - Bill Guerin(notes) for hooking, Jack Johnson wins it.
November 18: CHI 3, PHX 2 - Ed Jovanovski(notes) for high-sticking, Jonathan Toews(notes) wins it.
November 12: COL 2, VAN 1 - Alexander Edler(notes) for hooking, Marek Svatos(notes) wins it.
November 7: CBJ 4, MTL 3 - Tomas Plekanec(notes) for hooking, Kristian Huselius(notes) wins it.
October 18: MIN 1, TBL 0 - Andrej Meszaros(notes) for hooking, Antti Mietten wins it.
October 17: NYR 1, TOR 0 - Mikhail Grabovski(notes) for hooking, Fredrik Sjostrom(notes) wins it.
October 13: STL 5, TOR 4 - Pavel Kubina for tripping, Brad Boyes(notes) wins it.

If penalties carried over to the shootout, there would have been some pretty good players that wouldn't have been options in the skills competition. Zetterberg, like Nash on Saturday, had his shootout attempt against Pekka Rinne(notes) and the Nashville Predators despite the penalty (though he was unsuccessful).

On the other hand, it appears the majority of the penalized players were defensemen, and ones that aren't exactly known for their shootout prowess. (No disrespect intended to Sean O'Donnell.)

Thanks to Will for his quick (and god-willing, accurate) research. The bottom line: Close the loophole on this shootout oversight. That this situation played out 23 times last seasonis reason enough to address it.

Good news, Hornets fans: Superstar point guard Chris Paul(notes) is no longer walking with the aid of a plastic boot on his injured right ankle. Word has it he also ditched Kuribo's Shoe after completing World 5.

Paul attended his team's shoot-around Saturday morning at the New Orleans Arena, and was seen wearing a tennis shoe or two at Saturday and Sunday night's games.

He severely sprained his ankle 10 days ago against the Blazers.

"I still don't know," Paul said of a timetable for his return, which has been left open-ended since the team announced results of an MRI exam that was performed on the ankle Nov. 14. "(Saturday) was my first day without the boot. As long as I'm walking, I'm good."

That said, Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune reports there is still a slight limp in CP3's gait, so Hornets fans are encouraged to mail in all the 1-Up Mushrooms and invincibility stars they can.

He mentions in a radio interview that his orders say he will be a part of Operation Enduring Freedom, which means he is likely headed to Afghanistan. He also says he will use his 400-day deployment to try to lose weight and improve on his conditioning. 

"At first I was kind of pissed," he said. "I've already served my country for four years and been out for almost two years. I'm getting my fighting started and getting the ball rolling on that. I was kind of mad, but the very next day, I just accepted it."

Before he joined the cast of TUF, he put together a 10-0 record, and served in the Army for four years. Schoonover said he was concerned about being recalled when he first heard that 40,000 troops were going to be sent to Afghanistan. 

Schoonover has become the subject of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's teasing this season, giving Schoonover the nickname "Titties." Schoonover got his revenge when he choked out Rampage's fighter, Zak Jensen.

It looks like Schoonover is showing up Rampage all over again. Jackson bowed out of a fight with Rashad Evans to film a movie, despite the fact that the fight was part of Jackson's agreement to coach on "The Ultimate Fighter." Schoonover is living up to his responsibility, serving his country despite the fact that he will have to step away from his MMA career at a time when it is ready to take off. Who is the real man now, Rampage? 

Thanks to MMA Fanhouse

Matthew Stafford(notes), Quarterback, Detroit Lions

Nnamdi Asomugha(notes), Cornerback, Oakland Raiders. Someone from Oakland deserves to be in here. I could go with Bruce Gradkowski(notes), but I figure JaMarcus Russell(notes) doesn't need another swift kick to the self-esteem right now. I'll take Nnamdi, who shut down Chad Ochocinco(notes) yesterday. Chad had four catches on the day, with only one of them coming against Asomugha. It was a fantastic day all around for the Oakland defense, as Carson Palmer(notes) was held easily in check, and the Raiders got more pressure on the quarterback than they usually do.

Eli Manning(notes), Quarterback, New York Giants. Welcome back, young man. Instead of a big explanation, here's a handy graph illustrating Eli's quarterback performance by game this season:

Graphs are fun and educational.

Andy Studebaker(notes), Linebacker, Kansas City Chiefs. Studebaker's two interceptions of Ben Roethlisberger(notes) yesterday were the biggest factors in the Chiefs' shocking upset of the Steelers. The second-year man out of Wheaton College made the first start of his NFL career yesterday, and I'm predicting that he'll keep his two-interceptions-per-game pace up for the next ten years or so. I don't think that's unreasonable to expect at all.

Leigh Bodden(notes), Cornerback, New England Patriots. His last name might be as fun to say as Studebaker's, but Bodden actually topped him with three interceptions yesterday against the Jets. As a sidenote, how insane was yesterday? This was probably the most talked about game through the week, and we had so much other crazy stuff go down yesterday that no one's even talking about the Patriots' spanking of the Jets.

Barring a colossal upset at the top of the polls this weekend, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that undefeated TCU doesn't have a chance of overtaking Texas or the winner of the SEC Championship game for one of the two slots in January's BCS title game -- and the Frogs may not even make it even with the benefit of a shocker, depending on how the dominoes fall. Assuming TCU finishes off 1-10 New Mexico to complete a perfect regular season, here's why that should bring out the rhetorical torches ad pitchforks (again) against the BCS' "two-team playoff":

• Quality wins. The Frogs have as many wins over teams in the current BCS top 25 as Alabama (three apiece) and more than Florida and Texas (one apiece) combined. In fact, TCU's best wins -- at No. 18 Clemson and No. 19 BYU and in a home romp over No. 21 Utah -- give it as many wins over ranked teams as any team in the country, and puts the Frogs' overall strength of schedule within a hair's breadth of the Tide's, Gators' and Longhorns' according to BCS computer gurus Jeff Sagarin and Anderson & Hester.

• Dominance. It's easy to knock the Frogs' schedule, but they pound lesser teams into dirt at the same grisly rate as more storied heavyweights: The last six games (including the 31-point win at BYU and 27-point win over Utah) were all out of hand by halftime and eventually decided by at least four touchdowns; TCU has only trailed in the fourth quarter once, in the comeback win at Clemson, which has only lost one game since en route to the ACC title game. The average margin of victory (27.1 points per game) is right behind Texas' as the most lopsided number in the nation.

This is the biggest difference between TCU this year and last year's undefeated Mountain West darling, Utah, which was a master of the squeaker. The Utes won four games in '08 by three points or less (including a stunning, last-second comeback over TCU in which they were outgained by 141 yards), and employed an All-American kicker who was 11-for-11 on field goals in those four games. Against an arguably identical schedule, the Frogs are blowing the doors off and haven't left anything up to the kicker.

• No weak links. The lopsided scores are a direct result of uncanny across-the-board production. TCU only has one real star, defensive end Jerry Hughes, but is good at everything -- literally everything. The Frogs currently rank in the top 10 nationally in pretty much every conceivable facet of the game:

• Scoring Offense (No. 5)
  • Total Offense (5)
  • Scoring Defense (6)
  • Total Defense (4)
  • Rushing Offense (5)
  • Pass Efficiency Offense (9)
  • Rushing Defense (6)
  • Passing Defense (3)
  • Pass Efficiency Defense (5)
  • First Downs Gained (7)
  • First Downs Allowed (1)
  • Third Down Defense (3)
  • Kickoff Returns (1)
  • Sacks Allowed (6)
  • Time of Possession (10)
  • Blood-squirting Mascots (1)

For the general ethos, look no further than the nation's fifth-ranked running game, which has three running backs over 600 yards on the ground for the season -- two of them freshmen, running behind a largely rebuilt offensive line -- but none over 700 yards. Exceptionally efficient quarterback Andy Dalton has chipped in nearly 500 rushing himself.

• They're not a one-hit wonder. Not that anything outside of this season's resumé should explicitly count toward anything, but TCU has obviously established itself as one of the most consistent, bankable programs on any level. The Frogs are the only team in the country to win conference championships in three different leagues this decade, taking the WAC (2000), C-USA (2002, with a co-championship in a near-BCS run in 2003) and Mountain West (2005 and 2009); since hopping to the MWC, they've reeled off four 11-win efforts in five years, matched only by USC and Boise State. Under Gary Patterson since 2001, the program ranks right alongside the elite in terms of year-in, year-out excellence. This season is only the first time the Frogs have put it all together at once, without a hiccup.

None of which is to argue that TCU is necessarily better, has a better resumé or is more deserving than any of "The Big Three" obviously on a collision course for Pasadena. It's only to argue that any system that doesn't even allow the likes of the Frogs* the chance to compete for a championship on the field doesn't deserve to bear the term.

- - -
Or Cincinnati, as we'll see later this week.

After the jump, Jrue, the comedian.

Winner, devin c:
Moderator: "OK, Mr. Holiday, your word is 'hydration.'"
Jrue: "Hydration. H-Y-J-R-A ..."
*DING*

Co-runner-up, Mr. J:
"Jrue. Jrue got what I need. But you say she's just a friend ..."

Co-runner-up, wonder_mike:
"Why did Ron Artest(notes) leave the game early? Because he wanted to beat the crowd!"

• Fancy pants! George Richards gives us a teaser of what the new Florida Panthers third jerseys will look like by showing us their spiffy new bottoms. The new duds are set to debut this evening. [On Frozen Pond]

• Georges Laraque(notes) had his hearing with the NHL this morning for his knee-on-knee hit with Niklas Kronwall(notes) that'll sideline the Detroit Red Wings defenseman for at least a month. According to TSN: "Because the meeting was still considered an in-person hearing by the NHL, the league can suspend Laraque five or more games if it so chooses." [TSN]

• Brian Burke appears willing to take veteran defenseman Brent Sopel's(notes) contract from the Chicago Blackhawks, provided the 'Hawks kick in a draft pick in the salary dump. Spector has more on Fadoo. [Globe & Mail and Toronto Sun]

• San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton(notes), Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price(notes) and Ottawa Senators center Mike Fisher(notes) have been named the NHL 'Three Stars' for the week ending Nov. 22. [NHL]

• Speaking of Fisher, he had an interesting chat with the Sun about his celebrity relationship with Carrie Underwood, ranging from marriage plans to Regis Philbin calling him a "good-looking brute." Which has to be somewhat life-fulfilling. [Sun Media]

• Making excuses for the Ottawa Senators' attendance issues this season. [Cornwall Standard]

• NHL Fan Association co-founder Jim Boone has asked Gary Bettman to resign in an open letter to The Hockey News, and for some reason it's getting some play today. It's sarcastic "go out on top" tone clashes with its occasional indictments of his tenure as commissioner, making it ineffective as a call to action. The logic behind the NHL becoming as chaotic at the top as the NHLPA for the sake of labor peace is lost on us. But hey, give it read; maybe you think it's the rhetorical right hook to the jaw that could be delivered three dozen ways based on Gary's fumbles. [THN]

• Preparing for the glories of "Uwe Krupp Night" at the Pepsi Center for the Colorado Avalanche. He played three seasons with that Avs; or nearly two more than that No. 77 hanging from the rafters. [All Things Avs]

• Mike Rathje(notes) and the humungous salary cap loophole Puck Stops Here believes the Philadelphia Flyers continue to exploit. [TPSH]

• Looking at Daniel Carcillo's(notes) first 40 games with the Flyers. After a rocky start, he's starting to come along. And no, we didn't go with "Rocky start" because of Philly. [The 700 Level]

• Markus Naslund(notes) on returning from retirement to help "save" Modo in Sweden: "They were in dead last place and they were struggling financially. It's just one of those things where both me and Peter felt that it was a good thing to do." [CP]

• Fun with stats: "Because of the vagaries of the NHL's OT/SO system, even though Montreal has played just as badly as Toronto, they're tied for 8th in the East with 23 points, while Toronto's in last place with 14 points." [Behind The Net]

• The Edmonton Oilers are falling into bad habits, and Pat Quinn is not a happy man: "You don't have to be a giant to play hard in this game and we had some guys that didn't work very hard. It's evident, they can all see it ... If we learned from that and say 'I'm going to make some changes,' then we have a chance. But we abandoned the game plan, we lay a game plan out and we go where they want. 'Breakouts?' We're too skilled to worry about getting in the right spots, 'I'll just take the puck around myself, and oops, by the way I turned it over.' It was an awful easy game for them (Blackhawks) to play tonight." [Sun Media]

• Jay Feaster gets p'wned. [Five Hole Fanatics]

• From the Images We Found While Searching for All-Decade Art Dept: "PHILADELPHIA - MAY 02: A fan of the take a ride on the Zamboni during the game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres in game six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2006 NHL playoffs on May 2, 2006 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Sabres defeated the Flyers 7-1 and advance to the Semifinals." A.K.A. the most outstanding duo for the Flyers since Lindros and LeClair. [Len Redkoles/Getty Images]

• Phoenix Coyotes Assistant General Manager Brad Treliving announced today that the Club has relieved Greg Ireland of his head coaching duties with the San Antonio Rampage, the Coyotes' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, effective immediately. [Coyotes]

• Should the Carolina Hurricanes move Eric Staal(notes) to the wing when he returns? And if so, will he call Jordan in Pittsburgh to learn about the effectiveness of guys named Staal playing out an unnatural position? [Canes Country]

• Bruce Boudreau isn't looking to use injuries as a crutch for the Washington Capitals' recent struggles. [Capitals Insider]

• Steve Begin(notes) of the Boston Bruins recalls the "freaking cold" that was the Heritage Classic in preparation for the 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway. [NHL]

• As he does so well, George Malik collects your NHLPA news and views from the weekend. [Snapshots]

• Crap-tastic news for Minnesota Wild fans: Brent Burns(notes) has another concussion. [Russo]

• Finally, a goal controversy from the NCAA ranks, as North Dakota's Brad Malone appeared to tie the game against Denver but the goal was waived off. Well not so much a controversy as a reminder that for all the "intent to blow" stuff from last weel, replay still serves a purpose. [WCHB]

Since rookies tend to have about as much success in NASCAR as turkeys on Thanksgiving, the rookie of the year award isn't quite the big deal it is in some other sports. Even so, the award is a harbinger of future success; in the last ten years, only two winners -- Regan Smith last year and Jamie McMurray in 2003 -- have not made the Chase at one point. Winners have included Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin. (Not winners: Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr.)

Logano had a strong rookie season, notching one win  -- a rain-shortened one, but still -- along with three top-5s, seven top-10s and about 250,000 jokes about shaving and voice-cracking, half of which were made right here. He finished the year in 20th place, ahead of Casey Mears, McMurray, Earnhardt and many others.

Congratulations, Joey! And to honor your win, we promise not to make any more "little kid" jokes. Go ahead, have a chocolate milk to celebrate! (Whoops.)

You can't call CC Sabathia(notes) a fair weather NFL fan. The Yankees ace has always shown his love for the silver-and-black and he was rewarded on Sunday when he showed up in Oakland to watch the Raiders steal a game from the Bengals. Today he'll hand out 500 Thanksgiving turkeys in Vallejo, Calif., as his busy offseason as a World Series champion continues.

Sabathia, of course, isn't the only baseballer enjoying his time off after a longer-than-long season. Check out what a few others did over the weekend we just closed.  

* * *

No that wasn't a dream that included you chloroforming Pau Gasol before goosing Khloe Kardashian and throwing an alley-oop to Kobe Bryant: Will. I. Am., Fergie and A-Rod really did take in a Thunder-Lakers game together on Sunday.  Then they all went to the AMAs. 

* * *

"I don't know if you've heard, Mr. Benedict, but I won my first World Series this year and would like to be comped the finest suite in your casino." 

* * *

Chien-Ming Wang(notes) was back in Taiwan, doing what he did best in 2009 (ie: getting paid a lot of money to do some rehab exercises).

* * *

Johan Santana(notes), Pedro Martinez(notes) and Carlos Beltran(notes) show Marc Anthony how to raise his OPS.

* * *

Kurt Warner tells Albert Pujols(notes) that choosing to wear a St. Louis Cardinals jersey would have worked on more than one level Sunday afternoon. 

* * *

Finally, this baseball blogger traveled South for a weekend of Ole Miss football, City Grocery shrimp and grits and some Pappy Van Winkle.  NL ROY winner (and Rebel grad) Chris Coghlan(notes) had a similar plan and was honored during his alma mater's big win.

So have you ever thrown a party at your place and there's one guest who just ... won't ... leave? I mean, you've hustled everybody else out the door, you're starting to pick up the spare beer cans and empty pizza boxes, you're maybe even brushing your teeth, and there's still one guest there, talking about how awesome the party was and looking very much like they're going to crash on the couch ...

Well, that hangaround guest is the LPGA. The PGA, the Champions, the Nationwide, even the little ancillary tours have all packed it in for the winter, but the LPGA hangs around, not quite ready to leave. And in a way, you can't blame them -- with a new commissioner and Michelle Wie's win, it's like they got their second wind right around the time everybody else is heading for the exits.

Still, there's drama afoot at the LPGA Tour Championship, which seems like it's been going on forever but has only been rolling since last Thursday. And believe it or not, the second round didn't even finish until this morning thanks to the heavy rains that have pounded the Houstonian course in Texas and shortened the event to 54 holes.

So here's where we stand heading into the third and final round.  Kristy McPherson leads the field at -8, just one stroke ahead of Jiyai Shin and two ahead of Lorena Ochoa and others. But while it's interesting that McPherson is looking for her first LPGA win, it's the battle between Shin and Ochoa that's the real focus of the day.

Shin and Ochoa are neck-and-neck for the player of the year title. As laid out here, Ochoa must either win the event outright, or place no lower than third and hope Shin falls out of the top 10.  That spot is only three strokes below where Shin now sits, so it's not out of the question. The two are also dueling for the Vare Trophy for the year's lowest scoring average, and a swing one way or the other would dictate that as well.

Hang tight, folks; this should all wrap up today. If not, we're gonna start charging these ladies rent. And since Thanksgiving is approaching and they're gonna have a hard time getting flights, they may not have a choice.

On today's show, Skeets and Tas round-up the weekend's big winners and losers. Congratulations to Hornets' fans, the Magic's defense, Elton Brand(notes) and Kobe YouTube editors. Try again next week Nets, Nate Rob, Vincent Lamar and the Wizards. All that, plus possible first time All-Stars and the league's best clutch shooters.

Welcome to the working week! (Sigh.)

Subscribe to the video show on iTunes | Download the .m4v directly
Subscribe to the audio show on iTunes | Download the .mp3 directly

Young Grizzlies' guard O.J. Mayo(notes) helped make Thanksgiving a little more complete for families in West Virginia over the weekend when he gave away some harvest festival essentials at his old stomping grounds.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal sets the table:

Mayo has donated 500 turkeys and 500 hams so 1,000 families in the Huntington, W.Va., area can have a better Thanksgiving.

The food was distributed Saturday at the A.D. Lewis Community Center, where Mayo honed his athletic skills as a youngster.

His mother Alisha said it was her son's way of expressing his love for his hometown and the people who live there.

In September, the Grizzlies guard paid for food and personal care items that were given to 400 families in Huntington.

Mayo played at Huntington High his senior season before spending one year at Southern California.

Great stuff, kid.

Depression. Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson: Your team has lost five straight games after Saturday's 23-13 loss to UCLA, and seven straight to teams from outside of the state of Washington, securing back-to-back losing seasons at ASU for the first time in 62 years. What do you tell your team to keep the locker room positive and psych them up to salvage the season with an upset over hated rival Arizona?

"The good news is, there's only one game left," Erickson said.

Uh, thanks for the pep talk, coach. Other terms used by Erickson to describe various aspects of the Sun Devils' performance over the last two seasons: "Horrifying" and "frickin' ridiculous." No wonder his charges looked like they were in cut-myself-just-to-feel mode after coughing up six turnovers and two defensive touchdowns to the offensively-challenged Bruins. For Devil fans, the longer the Erickson era drags on, the worse it's beginning to smell.

Anger. Les Miles has brought two division titles, two BCS bids, four straight bowl victories and a national championship to LSU. But bungling a two-minute drill in a game with nothing but regional pride on the line? Tiger blog And the Valley Shook has seen enough:

That was immediately after the game, before the video surfaced showing Miles clearly indicating to his offense to spike the ball with one second left over post-game audio of the coach insisting "I don't know who told [quarterback Jordan Jefferson] to spike the ball," which ATVS finds "inexcusable." Tiger message boards wholeheartedly agree, if the much-longer-than-usual barrage of "Miles is on the hot seat" posts is any indication.

The good news for Les, relatively speaking: At least the mob will have the "throwback" uniforms to complain about this week at Arkansas.

Acceptance. Seven losses in eight games, six straight losses to a hated rival, two consecutive losing seasons after 40 years without even one sub-.500 effort: Some fan bases would be levitating with rage at such a rapid descent. Michigan, clearly, is not one of those fan bases.

Immediately following the Wolverines' calamitous finale against Ohio State, the Big House Blog congratulated the team on a hard-fought loss and expressed hope that the effort was enough to impress potential recruits; Maize and Blue Nation offered props to the beleaguered defense, in the process making the first recorded use of the phrase "Great job Greg Robinson" in the history of the Internet; and Spawn of MZone even tossed up a congratulatory shot of some saucy-looking OSU coeds along with best wishes to the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl. Has the whole world gone mad?!

In fact, it has: Just three posts later, Spawn of MZone's "faith in humanity is restored" by Detroit's second win of the season, a 38-37 thriller over the lowly Cleveland Browns. This is not a typo: The people of Michigan have now been reduced to looking to the Lions for gridiron inspiration. At long last, Rich Rodriguez, how much can one state be expected to take?

Denial. We haven't checked in with the Vanderbilt fan base at all this season, which at first glance seems awfully negligent of us -- remember, these guys did win a bowl game last year before returning to their familiar role as SEC doormats -- but on second thought, maybe we needn't have bothered after all: Going from "First bowl win in more than 50 years" to "winless in the SEC" barely seems to have raised a pulse in anyone associated with the Commodore program. A sparsely populated open thread for the Vandy-Tennessee game at Vanderbilt Sports Line seems more focused on potential success in the upcoming basketball season than anything else, and indeed, VSL has been all basketball since, with nary a hint of a post-mortem on the loss itself or on the dismal 2-10 season as a whole.

At least the commenter "Vandywatch" has maintained enough pride in the program to call for the head of one of the most respected coaches in the conference, Bobby Johnson:

"Put up a good fight." No. It was embarrassing. Our record since the Auburn victory LAST YEAR is 4 wins and 17 losses. Among those losses are several 'good fights' and Army. As I've repeatedly said -- IF this performance had occurred in a classroom, the professor would have been fired. Time to fire the coaching staff and bring a young, dynamic, exciting coach in here who can inspire his team, the fans and the community into filling 'little' Vanderbilt Stadium.

Yes, Commodores, one of your own fans just called for the firing of the coach responsible for half the bowl wins in your program's history. Yor team may have gone oh-fer in SEC games in '09, but let no one say you don't belong in this conference.

Elsewhere in Disillusion: Following Georgia's second-half self-immolation against Kentucky, Bulldog bloggers have visions of weedeaters. ... Arizona Daily Star columnist Greg Hansen bemoans what might have been in the Wildcats' double-OT loss to Oregon, and thankfully doesn't skimp on the melodrama. ... And speaking of double-OT losses (and melodrama), Notre Dame's loss to UConn was enough to make the Blue-Gray Sky get sentimental over the firedest coach in the country.

It was just a few weeks ago that Syracuse fans were lamenting a loss to Division II LeMoyne in an exhibition game. Friday night, they watched as the Orange not only beat but beat up North Carolina, the No. 4 team in the country. This win was just after Syracuse's demolition of the No. 12-ranked Cal Bears. Neither game was close, and if ESPN didn't have those little numbers next to each team's name during broadcasts, casual viewers could be forgiven for thinking the Orange were the best team in the country. For two nights, they looked the part.

Are Syracuse fans appropriately excited? Why, yes. Yes they are. Allow Sean at Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician to show you the ways:

We're really f***king good, you guys.

See? Told you they were jacked.

Honestly, right now there isn't a team with a better resume so far than the Orange.  Because of the stupid preseason polls and the way everyone is a moron about them, the Orange will end up ranked No. 12 or something like that on Monday.  But as far as I'm concerned, they're the No. 1 team in the nation.  Kansas, Duke, Michigan State...they haven't done jack sh*t compared to Wes Johnson and the Orange.

Speaking of Wes...wow.  The rumors?  True.  The potential?  There.  The excitement?  Palpable.

Yes, 'Cuse fans are mighty pleased, as they should be. Their favorite college basketball team is your Week 1 winner -- and a pretty good argument for waiting to rank college hoops teams until the fourth or fifth week of the season. Oh well. The basketball is good enough.

But our therapist keeps asking us to learn to live with the shootout, so we've offered some suggestions here and there to improve it.

Sometimes it's about increasing the fun factor, like the "superstar provision" discussed recently. Other times, it's bringing some level of competitive fairness to the proceedings, like our contention that the NHL should increase it to five shooters for each side.

But there's a complete, total, absolute, change the League should have already made to its overtime format but hasn't; something that was on display in the Columbus Blue Jackets' game against the Nashville Predators over the weekend.

Why are players serving penalties at the end of the 4-on-4 OT allowed to participate in the shootout?

Puck Buddy Cory S. explains:

At the end of OT, Rick Nash(notes) still had time left in his penalty but was allowed to participate in the shoot out?

Now, I am by no means a fan of team games being decided in a shootout (that's another ongoing debate), and of course the fans/League want to see their stars on the ice for the shootout, but I have to say I think its highly unfair for a player who has been penalized to still be allowed to have a turn in the shootout when his penalty has not yet expired. In this case, it had no impact on the outcome, but surely it would have left a rather bad taste in the Preds fans mouths had Nash scored the winner. It would be interesting to see just how many penalized players with time remaining to serve have then gone out to score in the shoot out.

Well, until we find some poor college kid to be a Puck Daddy intern, no dice on that research project. But Cory's main point stands: Why should Nash, one of the Jackets' most lethal shootout performers who ended up scoring against Pekka Rinne(notes) on Saturday night, be allowed to participate if he's technically still in the box? It's just another oversight that pushes the shootout from a reasonable mechanism for determining a winner into a sideshow.

Why hasn't this been addressed by the League? As Cory notes, the NHL wants Rick Nash in the highlight reel, so why endorse something that would keep him out, right? Stu Hackel of the New York Times wrote about this loophole in our "5 Ways I'd Change The NHL" feature last summer, and suggested a compromise:

The offending player could end up being a shootout hero who has escaped serving a full penalty because, chances are, the guy who committed the penalty is pretty good or he wouldn't be on the ice in that situation. So if a minor penalty occurs inside the last two minutes, the offending player and his team should still be penalized by making the fouling player be the last guy in line to take part in the shootout for his team.

How about this instead: If a player is serving a minor penalty at the end of the 4-on-4 OT, he has to sit out the first three rounds of the shootout but can participate if it goes beyond that. If he's serving a major (a rarity in OT), he can't participate at all.

Either way, it's a simple change that should be made; but since neither the players nor the GMs have any intangible reason to lobby for it, we're guessing it won't be made.

Here's your Eagles-Bears recap in 100 words or less, because the blogger would like to move on. L'Ours est mort. Vive l'Ours!

Jay Cutler(notes) threw four fewer interceptions in Week 11 than he did in Week 10, but Chicago finished on a disturbingly similar note. Cutler's final pass was picked, guaranteeing a four-point loss. He overthrew Greg Olsen(notes), Devin Hester(notes) and Johnny Knox(notes) on routes that should have gone for touchdowns. Eagles RB LeSean McCoy(notes) had an excellent game (20-99-1), despite losing a fumble. DeSean Jackson(notes) scored again from 40-plus. Asante Samuel(notes) suffered a stinger that requires an MRI. The turf was in terrible shape for no obvious reason. For the fifth time this season, Matt Forte(notes) gained less than 3.0 YPC. 

There. Hope you learned something. Let's bullet…

Steve Slaton(notes) will start for Houston on Monday night against the Titans. For now, Ryan Moats(notes) returns to the sideline. You probably won't believe this, but Slaton fumbled twice against Tennessee back in Week 2 and he ran for just 2.0 yards per carry. [Houston Chronicle]

Ladell Betts(notes) reportedly tore both his ACL and MCL in the loss to Dallas, ending his season after a pair of useful games. Clinton Portis(notes) (concussion) is not expected to be active in Week 12, so veteran Rock Cartwright(notes) becomes the week's most obvious fantasy pickup. Expect Washington to add some uninteresting depth at running back this week. [Adam Schefter]

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin referred to Ben Roethlisberger's(notes) injury as "a concussion-oriented thing" during postgame comments. Roethlisberger himself said that he felt OK, so there's reason for cautious optimism. The Steelers travel to Baltimore in Week 12. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Kurt Warner(notes) was also mildly concussed on Sunday, but he sounds as if he also intends to play in Week 12: "I feel good. I think I'm going be just fine, but we'll take it day by day." He'll undergo neurological tests this week; if he's neurologically competent, expect him to start against the Titans. [Arizona Republic]

We don't yet know the severity of Marshawn Lynch's(notes) shoulder injury, but Fred Jackson(notes) is worth a speculative add if he happens to be available. Jackson is currently 64 percent owned. He had a touchdown negated via penalty in Sunday's loss. Here's the early (non-)news from Buffalo on Lynch: "While heading toward the team bus, Lynch said he won't know how serious the injury is until more tests are done today." [Buffalo News]

The following paragraph from the Times-Picayune tells you everything you need to know about the current health of the Saints' defense:

New Orleans was without starting defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis(notes) and starting cornerbacks Jabari Greer(notes) and Tracy Porter(notes). They also kept new cornerback Chris McAlister(notes) on the bench, deciding that he's not quite in football shape yet. During the game, cornerbacks Randall Gay(notes) and Leigh Torrence(notes) were injured, causing the Saints to use backup safety Usama Young(notes) as an emergency cornerback.

For those keeping score at home, that's four injured cornerbacks. Rookie CB Maclom Jenkins was terrific against Tampa (seven tackles, one interception, two PDs), but he's just one guy. New Orleans hosts New England next week, in a game that might end 59-56. [New Orleans Times-Picayune]

If Matthew Stafford(notes) entered Week 11 needing to win over any Lions teammates, then his fifth touchdown pass – thrown while he was in excruciating pain – should have done the trick. These were Kevin Smith's(notes) postgame comments:

"That's how tough he is," Lions running back Kevin Smith said. "And it makes me feel good, I almost want to cry – knowing you've got a teammate out there like that, he's willing to put it all on the line and there's no telling what his injury is, how serious it is. You define the type of player you are, the type of person you are. It comes down to one play with everything on the line. He could've easily let Daunte (Culpepper) come in and take the play. But he wanted to be out there."

Stafford's non-throwing shoulder was "heavily bandaged" following the game; we don't yet know his status for the Thanksgiving game against the Packers. Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz was characteristically guarded:

"The initial X-ray looks OK. There is a lot more that needs to be done. The thing we wanted to eliminate was a broken collarbone or one of those things. I'm not going to comment other than that."

Under normal circumstances we wouldn't recommend a Lions QB in a matchup with Green Bay, but the Packers lost both Aaron Kampman(notes) and Al Harris(notes) to ACL injuries in Week 11. Those two are likely done for the year. [Mlive.com]

It wouldn't feel like a Monday morning without the Rams Report Card. If they can't boost their GPA significantly in the final semesters, the Rams are basically gonna need to ace the GRE. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

---

Photo via US Presswire

Welcome to 'Duk's Dozen, a streamlined selection of 12 morning-fresh links and items to start your baseball day. It welcomes your email submissions and tips here or via Twitter.  

1. Chicago closer Bobby Jenks(notes) thinks he's being scapegoated after a season of injuries. Ozzie Guillen, meanwhile, thinks his portly pitcher "has to stay in shape if he wants to play for the White Sox." Remember when these two were baseball's odd couple? Sun-Times
2. Andrew Reilly thinks being mad at Bobby Jenks for being fat is like being mad at a dog for leaving hair on the couch. It all goes with the territory. 35th Street Review
3. Jenks may not be with the White Sox in 2010, but Omar Vizquel(notes) may be. FanGraphs
4. An Angels fan makes an emotional plea for the return of John Lackey(notes). Halos Heaven
5. Where does Elvis Andrus'(notes) rookie season rank among young shortstops? Lone Star Ball
6. The Red Sox are trying to pawn Mike Lowell(notes) off on someone else. Surviving Grady
7. Some think Jon Garland(notes) would be a good innings-eater for the Yankees. Pinstripe Alley
8. A closer look at Manny Acta's wish list for the Cleveland Indians The DiaTribe
9. The wait for the Nationals to complete their "ballpark district" will likely continue. Nats320
10. The Mariners are going to give Dustin Ackley a whirl at second base. Circling The Bases
11. The Cubs are back in the business of battling certain rooftop owners. Chicago Tribune
12. Oprah did not show Kate Hudson our A-Rod as a centaur photo. Subway Squawkers

The complaint: Jimmie Johnson wouldn't have won four championships if we were under the old points system.

The reason behind the complaint: NASCAR fans worship at the altar of Earnhardt and Petty -- justifiably so, I might add -- but now that Jimmie Johnson is edging into their territory, many are getting nervous. The "new" championship format, with its end-of-regular-season points reset, provides an easy out. The thinking goes like this: the old guys won their championships under the equivalent of a full-season playoff, but Jimmie Johnson has won all his championships under the new, 10-race system. Therefore he only wins because of the new system, right? Not so fast.

The truth:  First off, it's called the "old" system for a reason -- it's old and it's done with. So on one level, the complaint is irrelevant. You race under the system you've got; we don't hear many people complaining that they should take away many of Richard Petty's wins because they came against less-than-full fields or against cars with far less technological muscle than his. Times change, like it or not.

But more importantly, this is something that can be easily disproven just by looking at statistics. Let's illustrate, for Johnson's four championships, the breakdown of points under both systems.

2009
Chase format: Johnson, Mark Martin (-141), Jeff Gordon (-179)
Old system: Johnson, Jeff Gordon (-66), Tony Stewart (-71)

2008
Chase format: Johnson, Carl Edwards (-69), Greg Biffle (-217)
Old system: Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson (-16), Kyle Busch (-252)

2007
Chase format: Johnson, Jeff Gordon (-77), Clint Bowyer (-346)
Old system: Jeff Gordon, Johnson (-353), Tony Stewart (-706)

2006
Chase format: Johnson, Matt Kenseth (-56), Denny Hamlin (-68)
Old system: Johnson, Matt Kenseth (-4), Kevin Harvick (-320)

So there you go. Johnson would have won two of his four championships outright, and he obviously wouldn't have raced the same way at Homestead last year (he casually cruised to a 15th-place finish while Edwards won) had the points been as tight under the old system. (Of course, the reverse holds true for 2006, where Kenseth was only four points back under the old system.) Only in 2007 did the Chase really benefit Johnson.

What you need to look at, though, isn't just the numbers, it's the names. Note that while there are twelve drivers named above, only one shows up in the top three -- heck, top two -- every year under both systems. After Johnson, only Gordon and Stewart even show up twice on those lists. And with the exception of this year, look how far back the third-place guy is under the old points scenario. It's been a two-man race every year since 2005, and Johnson's always been one of those two.

Whine verdict: Almost baseless. The Chase may have shuffled the competitors, but it doesn't change the fact that Johnson dominates under any scenario. At least two, and probably three, of the last four championships would still have been his under the season-long system.

Okay, your turn. Post your take below. Got a whine you want us to break down? Add  it below or email me at jay.busbee@yahoo.com. 

This loss is on Al Harrington(notes).

OK, an open shot that turned into the game-winning shot ... that's on Al Harrington. The near-win for the Knicks was almost on Harrington, but, let's be dramatic. It's November, after all. Crunch time. Every game counts.

So, THIS LOSS IS ON AL HARRINGTON!

David Lee(notes) is supposed to shade and follow Paul Pierce(notes), who had scored 33 points in the win and has hit more game-clinching shots than I can remember. Kevin Garnett(notes) is Lee's man, but with less than two seconds to go, you help your teammate follow Pierce on a screen-and-roll.

Harrington is supposed to move over to Garnett because K.G. can't get a pass off, and K.G. can't set up another teammate to get a shot off 20 feet away with less than two seconds to go in overtime.

Al was slow to recover, though, and Garnett hoisted a jumper with about a second to go, from where he'd hit a few minutes earlier in the game (despite going 4 for 15 at that point), and the C's won. It's not much to be proud of, on the road against a three-win team in overtime, but Boston will take it.

Now, Harrington (30 points) had New York in the game to begin with, and he was a catalyst down the stretch. And also in the first half when the Knicks began their comeback. New York made a game out of this by taking shots the C's didn't expect them to take, which had Boston talking and angry, but ineffective. Boston's real problem was on offense, though.

The Celtics are a veteran team that knows how to pass. They can't score 110 in their sleep, but they know how to move and trust and finish and score in the proper way. The team reminds me of champions of old (your Spurs, your Bulls) that were pretty good offensively, but mostly made their hay defensively, and it was obvious that the C's just weren't aggressive enough on the O-end to pull apart.

Meanwhile, the Knicks were just screening and chucking and while they weren't exactly pulling SSOL-styled maneuvers, they were keeping the C's on edge. While Boston, meanwhile, extra-passed its way into seventh options and low-percentage shots with the shot clock dwindling down.

What resulted was a fabulous game, somehow. Boston picked up the intensity offensively as the game moved along, while New York kept nailing shots. And the last 10 minutes of game time was quite the watch.

Boston had it, though. They hit a few more free throws (Pierce, mostly, who finished with 33 points), which made the difference. Nate Robinson(notes) (finally) had his best game of the season (19 points, and of course, Hollywood's Will Ferrell was in the house), but it wasn't enough.

Also, Rasheed Wallace(notes) missed all three of his attempts from behind the 3-point arc, and he's now shooting 27 percent from long range, despite taking almost six a game off the bench. My unspoken-and-unwritten-because-I-didn't-want-to-seem-too-severe-a-Rasheed-critic-worst-case-scenario has come true, less than a month into the season.

Six a game, 27 percent, off the bench.

***

Orlando 104, Toronto 96

It seemed like this could have been a 120-118 contest.

Neither side could stop penetration. Jason Williams(notes) vs. Jose Calderon(notes)? With Jarrett Jack(notes) and (to a lesser extent) Anthony Johnson(notes) backing things up? This began as a pairing of the two worst defensive point men in the league, and acted like it, early on.

Then the Magic started getting what felt like one offensive rebound for every two offensive misses, and that was that.

Orlando managed only 14 offensive rebounds all day (so to speak), enough to make a difference. The Magic shot worse, from every area, only had two fewer turnovers and really seemed right for the upset as the Eastern Conference's finest rivalry (since 2005-06) spun on.

Of course, if we're honest, it felt as if the Magic should have won by a lot more.

The go-to story involves Vince Carter(notes), who was an absolute prat in forcing his way out of Toronto. Carter deserves more enmity than any other ex-player gets from any other ex-crowd, combined, and that noted go-to story involves him playing well in Toronto. That works, actually; because though Carter shot 9 for 24, there were probably six shots that rimmed in and out or bounced out while he was fouled (and didn't see a call). Not V.C.'s biggest fan, but I can't slough that off.

So, he played well, despite 24 points for 24 points for Carter. Meanwhile, the Magic essentially got whatever they wanted, and just happened to miss a ton. Same for the Raptors, while we're at it, but who won? Whose story is this, dangit?

Dwight Howard(notes) had 17 points and 12 rebounds while playing a lazy, unintelligent game that allowed for him to whine about calls that could have gone either way, without taking the time to think about how he could have avoided those 50-50 whistles. J.J. Redick(notes) was money -- 19 points on 10 shots in under 30 minutes with five assists and zero turnovers -- with every jumper looking Ray Allen(notes)-pure.

Williams (19 points) got layups whenever he wanted; it was pretty pathetic (Jose, mainly), and Mickael Pietrus(notes) played the sort of boneheaded game (on both ends of the court) that he's become known for this season. Sorry for being such a jag when it comes to MP and Howard, but it's become clear that Pietrus' head really took the summer off, and that Howard is trying to cut corners.

Toronto just couldn't stop anyone. Had the open shots fallen, this would have been a 20-point loss.

Andrea Bargnani(notes) had another good rebounding game, the Toronto center pulled in nine, but he missed a few good looks and took a few bad looks (21-footers under duress and off the dribble; no reason for those) before fouling out with 11 points and nine boards. Jarrett Jack had 11 points to zero turnovers, with seven boards and eight points, but his defense was miserable (and, actually, somewhat better than it's been so far this year), and Hedo Turkoglu(notes) (11 shots to score 12 points) was crap down the stretch.

Chris Bosh(notes) played a cerebral, quick, adaptive game, but he couldn't get the ball to save his life on a team full of "shooters," and finished with 22 points on 14 shots.

Amir Johnson(notes) (14 points, eight rebounds) worked quite well off the Toronto bench.

***

Phoenix 117, Detroit 91

Unless you watched -- actually, even if you watched -- this was a bigger rout than you'd think.

Just 87 possessions in this game, so Phoenix managed 134 points per 100 possessions, which is a white hot total. Detroit started the year quite passable on D, but that's clearly fallen apart.

This was never a game. Detroit lost in overtime in a different time zone on Saturday night, and while it was the last game of a tough road trip, the Pistons didn't look good even adjusting for the outside influence. Detroit has lost five straight, and that no-good defense that we pegged them for to start the season (which seemed a stupid accusation after the team started the season locking teams up) seems to have reared its ugly head.

Phoenix had 25 assists on 42 made field goals while shooting 57.5 percent. Lots of good looks. Lots of turned heads.

Meanwhile, the Pistons continue to struggle mightily, and this was more or less a decision in Phoenix's favor midway through the second quarter. And Ben Gordon(notes), who I like (someone who made half of his 20 attempts on Saturday night, by the way), has made just 25 of 74 attempts from the floor during this swoon. He's better than that.

Steve Nash(notes) had 20 points on eight shots (with nine assists) in 28 minutes, because he's awesome. I would totally let him cut in line at Golden Tee. I don't even like bars that have a Golden Tee, as a rule, but given the chance ...

***

Miami 102, New Orleans 101

I'm not going to get into some lame "theory" (New England was better because Tom Brady was more of a threat in the pocket than a Marino-like Drew Bledsoe; the Knicks were better because with Ewing healthy they went to Patrick way more times than he deserved, while they mixed it up in his absence amongst more efficient players), but the Hornets are clearly more focused with Chris Paul(notes) on the pine.

Strike that.

The Hornets are clearly more focused with Byron Scott clearly more focused on what he clearly loves the most -- playing golf.

Without Scott standing on the sidelines, desperately trying to give off the stink of culpability and capability with his arms folded and eyebrows furrowed, the Hornets are actually running plays, moving into sets quickly and passing the ball as if they have an idea as to what comes next.

Paul can be a part of this. But we'll delve into that closer to his return.

As it was on Sunday, the Hornets lost on the road to a better team. But that doesn't mean you can't laud this lot.

And Miami?

Udonis Haslem(notes) banked in a game-winner, which isn't fair. It makes him seem lucky to make a shot like that.

Actually, he was lucky to make a shot like that. But he was also fouled, blatantly, while shooting that 16-footer, and a lucky bank resulted. Haslem's a better shooter than that, and he deserved the call.

Didn't matter, though. The Heat prevailed, Dwyane Wade(notes) dropped 31 on 21 shots (finally), and Jermaine O'Neal(notes) played sound defense throughout. I made a joke about him looking like a Collins twin, last year, but on Sunday he looked like a Collins twin in the finest regard. Moved his feet, made an impact. Great to see.

Marcus Thornton(notes) had 24 points off the bench for New Orleans while Darren Collison(notes) had 11 points, six assists, five boards and just one turnover starting in Paul's place.

This can work. Let's just get the NBA's MVP (thus far) back on the court, first.

***

Charlotte 104, Indiana 88

Nazr Mohammed's(notes) per-minute stats have been great all season, and while he isn't in perfect shape, he's clearly in the best shape we've seen in years from this talented (though routinely disappointing) center, so Sunday's outburst wasn't that much of a surprise.

Nazr has always had talent and touch, but he's also been lazy, he hasn't been in shape, he hasn't made smart decisions on the court, and he's rarely been aggressive enough to make that talent work for him. Not even in contract years, though he's received some pretty nice contracts.

Still, 18 points, five boards, two blocks and two steals in fewer than 18 minutes for Nazr in this win. The Pacers fell behind early, couldn't hit a shot from any angle and Mohammed put the Bobcats over the top on the other end.

Ugly game. The Pacers went 5 for 22 from 3-point range, and couldn't find anything offensively (save for Dahntay Jones'(notes) 19 points, more on him later in the week). Charlotte's D had quite a bit to do with it, but the Pacers also missed their fair share of makeable ones, with heaps of poor decisions to boot.

Despite missing 9 of 10 3-point looks, Charlotte nailed half its shots, with Boris Diaw(notes) (17 points, seven boards, four assists, zero turnovers) also turning in a nice game. Boris and Nazr, two of my favorite bigs over the last decade. They usually play like crap, and actually got it together for this game.

And, somehow, it still didn't feel right. Both of them just wasted what could have been fantastic careers.

***

Los Angeles Lakers 101, Oklahoma City 85

The Lakers dominated this game from the outset, it was never really close, as Los Angeles' offense was just too quick for the usually great Thunder D to handle.

Too many options, the passes were too quick, the reactions were that sound. The Laker reactions. Which brings me to Kobe Bean Bryant.

As you likely know, Kobe hit a series of first-quarter shots that left just about everyone astonished. Though we shouldn't have been.

Anything you see out of this guy, he's worked on. Any attempt he takes the time to put together, he's tossed it up 600 times in the gym. Seriously. I was going to write "1,200," as a random number, but then decided to actually attempt an accurate guess. And part of me wants to write "tossed it up 600 times in the gym, this year alone."

This is why you need to respect this man, to no end. He might make you feel uneasy with his past, or the way he seemingly calculates everything as if his life were one great SportsCentury episode, but you can't deny his sepia-toned brilliance. Brilliance of his own design. Nobody finds the calculated stuff to be more distasteful than I, but you can't deny the work Kobe puts into the game we love, and if you love this game, you have to respect him.

Others may jump higher. They may be taller, they may have longer arms or bigger hands. I don't want to demean the work others have put in. LeBron James(notes) didn't come out of the womb dribbling a ball. He worked.

But Kobe worked. And there's a reason why a left-handed banker off an offensive rebound without a dribble seems so natural to him. Even if he's preening after he makes it. When you work, and it pays off, you deserve to preen. Even if it seems unseemly and show-offy and annoying.

Andrew Bynum(notes) (25 points, nine boards, two blocks) is a stud, and you were wrong to have ever doubted him.

Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka(notes) (13 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks off the bench) is your favorite player, it's been that way for weeks, and you don't even know it yet. Give it time.

Tito blurted out that he "won" between the two of them during the press conference (8:25 mark) and also said it during an interview with DC and The Sunshine Man on ESPNRadio1100 on Thursday. Maybe it was an unfair fight. Adam Hill from the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote:

The insults hurled at former friend and manager and current UFC president Dana White? The shots at the company's pay structure? The joke about Chuck Liddell's speech? Even the shirt with a derogatory term about White that Ortiz wore to the weigh-ins before his most recent fight? All part of the plan.

How did Ortiz win? Because he's smart:

"(You) have to understand, it's all negotiations. It's all a tactic. I'm slick, man. I'm smooth. I know what I'm doing. I've been doing this a long time. I'm smart," Ortiz said. "I went to college and got educated. I understand negotiations. I understand what you've got to do to make your brand better. That's why I'm Tito Ortiz. There's no one like me."

Ortiz said he forced himself to say nasty things in spite of his love for White:

"It hurt to say the things I did say and to do the things that I did, and, you know, I (missed) Dana as a friend," Ortiz said. "You know me and him, we got along very, very well, so it's really cool to be able to pick up the phone and just talk to someone who was always my friend."

Do you believe any of that?

Ortiz can negotiate. He got himself a deal at UFC 106 that didn't require him to win. Tito got $250,000 to show and there was no win bonus regardless of the outcome. He'll likely receive some sort of backend pay-per-view bonus as well. UFC fighters are strictly forbidden to speak about such contract terms. Ultimately, Ortiz was screwed a bit when Brock Lesnar dropped off the card. The card with a Lesnar main event would have done in excess of one million buys. With Ortiz-Griffin as the main event, the UFC is probably thrilled if it eclipses 500,000. 

• Choose your late night cruising friends wisely. As suggested by his quick release and ongoing status as "Tennessee football player" when his alleged accomplices were summarily booted from the team earlier this month, Vol safety Janzen Jackson has been effectively cleared of armed robbery charges by Knox County prosecutors, who dropped charges against Jackson and the alleged getaway driver in the high profile stick-up. The investigation determined that neither Jackson nor the driver not only didn't have any advanced knowledge of a robbery, but were still unaware anything had gone down when they started to pull out of the parking lot.

Legal clearance opens the door for the hyped freshman's official return to the roster, possibly in time for a bowl game. Booted teammates Nu'Keese Richardson and Mike Edwards, meanwhile, are scheduled for preliminary hearings this morning on felony counts; the driver will still face charges for marijuana possession. [Knoxville News-Sentinel]

• Wolverine arrested, not charged. Even with a strong vote of confidence from his athletic director, this isn't exactly what Rich Rodriguez needed hours after capping a seven-game conference losing streak with a lopsided loss to Ohio State: An unnamed Michigan football player was arrested for sexual assault Sunday morning on a complaint at a campus party. There are enough details -- the player is 18, a freshman who didn't play at all this year but was apparently expected to start in 2010 -- that Wolverine fans can probably guess the alleged culprit. Note, though, that no formal charges have been filed. [AnnArbor.com]

• No "that's a lot of twinkies" jokes, please. Following Notre Dame's lead, "sources who have been briefed on the financial details" of Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen's contract told the Washington Post Sunday that Fridge's $4 million buyout won't save him from the chopping block on the heels of by far the worst season of his nine-year tenure. The Terps went down 29-26 Saturday at Florida State, their sixth straight loss and a possible prelude to the first 10-loss season in school history with another flop against Boston College in this weekend's finale. [Washington Post]

• This is not what we meant by "slingin' it." Along with his hair, ridiculous fashion sense, insistence on the deep ball and generally off-kilter flair, Miami quarterback Jacory Harris has wormed his way into out hearts despite (and in some sense, even because of) his status as the most interception-prone quarterback in the country. After this weekend, the cult of Jacory may also admire the sophomore's talent for pranking reporters: After passing for a career-high 348 yards with two touchdowns in a 34-16 win over Duke, Harris showed up to the postgame press conference wearing a sling on his throwing arm -- for no reason whatsoever. 'Cane coach Randy Shannon assured the room his quarterback -- who did play with a sore thumb under a layer of tape -- was "fine" and just "getting some of you guys." [Associated Press]

Quickly ... Oklahoma is probably headed for the Sun Bowl, which seems pretty generous at this point. ... Mike Leach says no way is he leaving Texas Tech any time soon. ... Charlie Weis' name still carries weight with the Kansas City Chiefs, apparently. ... And when did Mark Mangino get so nice all of a sudden?

According to Wikipedia, "The Other Guys" is an upcoming 2010 action/comedy film directed and co-written by Adam McKay. The movie, set to star Samuel L. Jackson, "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson, Ferrell, Wahlberg, Eva Mendes and Michael Keaton, is expected to be released August 6, 2010.

I assume it's a dark comedy if the Knicks are involved.

Villanova 79, Ole Miss 67: Villanova was the best team in Puerto Rico, and for most of the tournament, they played like the best team in Puerto Rico. Still, winning this preseason tournament is good result for a team that expects to win the Big East in 2009-10; nothing about Villanova's performance over the past week insinuates the team will perform otherwise. Anyway, Scottie Reynolds had 21 for the Wildcats Sunday night, while Corey Stokes had 18 and Antonio Pena had 17 points and 16 rebounds. The Wildcats had 79 points on 83 possessions and rebounded 41 percent of their misses on the offensive end, which was the deciding factor in the game. Given how high-octane the Wildcats will be in 2009-10, rebounding at that rate offensively will make them incredibly dangerous. Let's see if they can keep it up.

Kansas State 83, Dayton 75: Speaking of teams justifying their preseason hype in Puerto Rico: Dayton. The Flyers entered the season ranked higher (at No. 18) than they have at any time in recent history. They have some proving to do. And they did so in our fine sunny commonwealth to the south, beating a Derrick Favors-led Georgia Tech team before losing a close game to Villanova and Sunday night's loss to Kansas State. Dayton will have to beat teams like K-State if it expects any sort of late-season tourney seed love, but it would also be nice if the selection committee took into account the fact that Kansas State shot an 84 percent free throw rate last night; they went to the line 28 times in the second half and 44 times overall. To illustrate, behold this chart, which tracks the four factors of winning:

Dayton could have done more on the offensive rebounding front, but they didn't play that poorly. They just ... gave up a ton of free throws. It happens, I guess?

Georgia Tech 85, Boston U. 67: Hey, there's the Georgia Tech we all know and love. A team with Derrick Favors, one of the best recruits in the country, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds. A team with depth, with Zachery Peacock, who scored 22 points off the bench. A team willing to play pressure defense. And so on. Georgia Tech's stock might have slid after their loss to Dayton Thursday, but there's still plenty of time for this team to figure things out. Once they do, look out. Derrick Favors is totally going to dunk on your head.

Elsewhere: Indiana fans are starting to kind of/sort of freak out about their team's three losses this weekend, as the Hoosiers fell 69-66 to George Mason Sunday night ... Louisville played a perhaps-too-offensive game with Morgan, winning 90-81 ... Iowa State continued its high-flying ways, scoring 95 on Missouri Valley State ... James Madison handed another loss to Isiah Thomas and FIU ... and Purdue easily handled St. Joe's in the Virgin Islands. But I want to go to the Virgin Islands! Totes not fair, you guys.

Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend's events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it.

Prior to the start of the season, everyone was just brimming with optimism. Hockey was, after what felt like a painfully long summer, almost back. The glee was palpable.

As so many pundits do, I made what I called 20 bold predictions (where "bold" usually either meant "sarcastic" or "painfully obvious" but occasionally bordered on "somewhat daring").

Now that every team in the league has played at least 20 games and we're more than a quarter of the way through the season, I figure it's as good a time as any to see how those predictions are coming along.

My guess: Not well. Feel free to hold me accountable.

[Coming up: Your ol' pal Lambert looks at his miserable failures, Anaheim needs to hire new doctors, Kyle Okposo(notes) loves him some mediocre AHL players, the best ever fight between two French Canadians, St. Louis will keep but maybe not keep Alex Pietrangelo(notes) (I swear), Rick Nash(notes) goes on a European Vacation, the top 10 reasons it hurts to watch the Avs, and Evgeni Nabokov(notes) doesn't like your line of questioning.]

1. John Tavares(notes) will be a big disappointment and only score 40 points.

I got chirped on Twitter for this prediction a week or so ago. The kid is by far the Isles' best player and has 19 points from 23 games. Great call, stupid.

2. The Coyotes will make the playoffs but the Ducks won't.

The Ducks are 15th in the West, the Coyotes are tied for sixth, and just two points out of third. Lookin' good on this one.

3. Someone actually challenges Alex Ovechkin(notes) for the Rocket Richard.

Granted Ovie's missed some time, but Dany Heatley(notes) leads him by two (18 to 16), Marian Gaborik(notes), Jarome Iginla(notes) and like five other guys are within three of him

4. Vesa Toskala(notes) gets his job taken from him before November. Possibly by a koala.

His line is 3.82/.869. Enough said.

5. Alex Kovalev's(notes) stay in Ottawa is an unmitigated disaster.

He has the same number of goals and one more point than Jarkko Ruutu(notes). You figure it out.       

6. Brent Sutter will strangle Dion Phaneuf(notes) to death, or at least decrease his minutes significantly.

They got in a shouting match last week, so it counts!

7. The Lightning will still be really bad.

If the season ended today, they'd have a playoff spot, and that's with Vinny Lecavalier being genuinely bad for most of the season. D'oh.

8. Mike Green(notes) will win the Norris despite his haircut getting progressively worse throughout the season.

He leads defensemen in points and he's not a minus-12 or something. Chris Pronger(notes) has probably been the best defenseman in the league (18 points, plus-13, dragging Matt Carle(notes) kicking and screaming along with him), so count this as a loss, I guess? You tell me.

9. Marian Gaborik will miss at least half the season (I didn't say it had to be a shocking prediction).

He's only missed two of 22. That's not half, but I still have time here. Too early to tell but a loss for now.

10. Patrick Kane(notes) will beat up an airline pilot, a train conductor and ship captain and help the Blackhawks win the division. Meanwhile Jonathan Toews(notes) will make a series of hilarious faces.

Patty's been on his best behavior, but I present this in defense of my Toews predication:

Also the Blackhawks are killing it. Good call by me.

11. The Flyers will set a franchise low in match penalties (with 128).

I looked at all their box scores and I didn't see any yet this year. Crazy!

12. Cal Clutterbuck(notes) will finally dump the visor to earn Don Cherry's respect.

Looks like this isn't going to happen. Sissy.

13. Dany Heatley will lead the league in power play goals and make the Sharks power play hum along at 26 percent.

He's got a two-goal lead over Gaborik (9 to 7) to pace the NHL, and the Sharks' power play is currently at 25.5 percent. I'm very proud of myself for this ultra-specific guess.

14. Regardless of how well the season finishes, Red Wings fans will be aggrieved by some perceived slight.

Ask a certain G. Wyshynski about this one.

15. Bob Gainey will get the ol' heave-ho.

Hasn't happened yet but it's looking possible. I feel good about this one certainly, but it's a push for now.

16. Mike Comrie(notes) will have a pretty good year, like 60 points or something.

Comrie had eight points in 16 games (so on pace for 41 then), but now he has mono and will probably miss significant time as a result. Oops.

17. Buffalo will miss the playoffs and both Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier will be fired. No, I'm kidding, of course they won't be fired.

Buffalo doesn't look especially likely to miss the playoffs, no.

18. Evgeni Malkin(notes) will walk away with the league lead in points. Sid Crosby will barely crack 90 like the lay-about that he is.

Geno's not exactly swimming in points (19 in 16 games), but Crosby's on pace for less than 80. Push.

19. Marty Turco(notes) will cost an otherwise good Dallas team a playoff spot, and will keep his starting job regardless.

Dallas isn't bad or anything (though they are currently out of the playoffs on a tiebreaker), and Turco's only playing so-so hockey. Wanna call this one a push?

20.  The Central will be the best division in hockey.

The Atlantic, Northeast, Pacific and Central all have three teams in the playoffs, so I guess not. And the Atlantic is the only one without a team in the bottom five. Make of that what you will.

Anyway, I counted it all up and I'm considering myself 8-8-4. I'll take .500.

What We Learned

Anaheim Ducks: So Ryan Carter(notes) missed four games with a bruised foot and didn't seem to be getting better. They ran a second x-ray and found out the foot was broken. He's out another month. But it begs the question: How the hell did the first x-ray miss a fracture?

Atlanta Thrashers: After Matt Cooke(notes) clearly slew-footed (sleeeeeeeew) Ilya Kovalchuk(notes) on Saturday, the two fought, but Kovalchuk was given the instigator penalty and the gate. He picked up 19 penalty minutes on the play. The Thrashers got a late goal, but they ended up losing 3-2.

Boston Bruins: Great news for the Bruins -- Marc Savard(notes) should be back tonight after missing five weeks with a broken bone in his foot. And that extension should be signed this week.

Buffalo Sabres: The Sabres got pretty well trounced by the Senators on Saturday, sure. But things aren't so bad, at least not now. This is the first time they've had a three-game losing streak this season, and one of those was in OT. It's not all doom and gloom just yet is my point.

Calgary Flames: I'm not sure what's more amazing. That Jarome Iginla has 12 goals in his last nine games and is two off the league lead after a sluggish, ineffectual start, or that the Flames are 7-1-2 on the road despite being utter dross at home.

Carolina Hurricanes: What'd I tell you last week? The Canes have either won or gotten a loser point in four straight. Oh yeah, it's all turning around.

Chicago Blackhawks: I'm saying it right now -- This is the best team in the league. They've won their last seven games, scoring 27 goals and allowing just 11. Their wins over both Calgary and Edmonton Thursday and Saturday were effortless. Effortless I say!

Colorado Avalanche: This list of the top 10 reasons the Avs game was brutal to watch made me laugh. "7. Chris Stewart(notes): 0 shots in the last 4 games. That's an average of roughly zero per game." Perfect.

Columbus Blue Jackets: It's been confirmed that the Blue Jackets have been offered one of the slots to play in Europe at the start of next season.

Dallas Stars: Stephane Robidas(notes) had some kinda night Saturday. Two goals, two assists. That's a career high for points in a game. He also had eight hits(!) and two blocked shots. Brad Richards(notes), meanwhile, only had four assists. What a bum.

Detroit Red Wings: Remember how people thought Pavel Datsyuk(notes) was having a bit of an off season and had a slow start and all that? Yeah, he has 16 points in his last 14 games, including a goal and a shootout winner on Saturday.

Edmonton Oilers: Here's how bad it got in Edmonton Saturday night -- Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers gave up three goals on the first six shots he faced, and some were actually wondering if he'd get the hook. Why that's strange: The Oilers were without Nikolai Khabibulin(notes) and had to call up Torrie Jung, a goalie from the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings. Jung's stats? He's 5-11 with a 3.29 GAA and a .903 save percentage.

Florida Panthers: How's this for a turnaround? Florida won two of its first 10 games, and is now on a hot streak, winning eight of 11, including beating the Red Wings, Sabres and Rangers to get above .500.

Los Angeles Kings: Speaking of turnarounds, the Kings went from pretty damn good to losing five of eight in a hurry. Terry Murray's solution to this problem is a long, hard practice. No days off if you're playing like garbage, I guess.

Minnesota Wild: It's very strange that Andrew Ebbett(notes) gets put on waivers so often. Granted he has jut one point this season, but the Wild are Ebbett's third team this season already. He scored 32 in 48 with Anaheim last year, he's defensively responsible and he's a center. What's not to like about the guy?

Montreal Canadiens: This is a very Georges Laraque(notes)-type shift right here. High-stick a guy in the mouth? Check. Knee-on-knee hit? Check. He's getting suspended for sure.

Nashville Predators: David Legwand(notes) had a good Saturday. Goal, assist, shootout winner, and a son. Aces.

New Jersey Devils: So decimated by injuries are the Devs (I can think of five off the top of my head) that defenseman Matt Corrente got his first game in the NHL on Saturday, but not on defense. The Devils dressed seven defensemen in the game, which is why Corrente got a go at right wing.

New York Islanders: It's not every day that a sensational young forward like Kyle Okposo goes far out of his way to praise a 36-year-old career AHL journeyman, but the kid falls all over himself to praise Mark Wotton of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Sounds like the guy made a hell of an impact on Okposo in just half a season. Great to have guys like that in the organization.

New York Rangers: It says here that the Rangers lose all the time because they lack passion. If true, that's on John Tortorella, who should be able to pump the boys up more than, say, a Tom Renney did.

Ottawa Senators: Gotta wonder how long Pascal Leclaire(notes) will be out after getting hurt in the second period on Saturday. They say he's "sore" but they said that about Alex Ovechkin too, so who knows? If he misses even a week, that's not going to be very helpful to the Sens.

Philadelphia Flyers: What a heavyweight tilt on Friday night. Briere. Vlasic. Should've headlined UFC106.

Phoenix Coyotes: Dave Tippett likes rewarding good play with additional ice time. This is apparently some sort of novel approach to hockey.

Pittsburgh Penguins: The Pens' new arena is coming along swimmingly.

San Jose Sharks: Someone was dumb enough to ask Evgeni Nabokov if beating the Ducks on Saturday made it any easier to swallow losing to them in the first round after winning the Presidents Trophy. "Thanks for the reminder. So what does it mean?" Nabokov said. "Honestly, I don't like those questions." Noooooo kidding.

St. Louis Blues: "Alex Pietrangelo is here to stay, but it's not guaranteed he will stay." That is one confusing lede that basically means the Blues will keep him around so that his rookie clock starts after he plays his 10th game. But they might send him back to juniors at any point. Or something. I dunno.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Said Rick Tocchet of Zenon Konopka(notes), who hasn't score a goal in three seasons and is without a point this season but has apparently been positioning himself well and just not finding the net: "I don't think he's a natural goal scorer." That's why he gets big money.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Some Leafs fans are wondering just when, exactly, Brian Burke is going to start calling up some kids to get them time in the NHL. Y'know, since they're not going to make the playoffs anyway.

Vancouver Canucks: Hooray, Daniel Sedin(notes) is back!

Washington Capitals: Bruce Boudreau admitted Alex Ovechkin came back from his shoulder injury too early, and said Ovie would play better come the Ottawa game tonight. Well, I'd hope so.

Play of the Weekend

You saw it yesterday. You'll see it again at the end of the season. So why not watch it once more before then?

David Perron(notes) what is up? (By the way, Stamkos' was better.)

Gold Star Award

Dany Heatley and Joe Thornton(notes) combined for five goals and six assists this weekend. The Sharks won twice. That'll work, eh?

Minus of the Weekend

What's going on with the Caps? Losses to Montreal and freaking Toronto? Only three goals in those games? That's not how you win a division. I wouldn't have guessed playing without Alex Semin would hurt that badly.

Perfect HFBoards trade proposal of the week

User coolbean04 really wants to pry Eric Staal(notes) from the Hurricanes so he can.. ahem, help the Rangers.

Dubinsky, Sanguinetti, a 1st round pick (say it's around 10th overall)

This is contingent on the Rangers finding someone to take Michal Roszival off their hands. Good luck with that.

Start with the misdemeanors and then we're gonna push right on through to the lighter treasons.

Ryan Lambert publishes hockey awesomeness pretty much every day over at The Two-Line Pass. Check it out, why don't you? Or you can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter if you so desire.

So with the Race to Dubai and the LPGA season now (almost) complete, we can all call it a round and head to the clubhouse to dissect our every shot. Even though the golf season is sort-of done until January, we'll still be hanging here at Devil Ball, talking anything and everything golf every day. Later today, we'll continue our "Best of the Decade" series, and after Thanksgiving, we'll start a complete breakdown of the 2009 season. We'll also be running podcasts and plenty of other fun stuff to get you through those lonely winter weeks. 

Come hang. We'll buy the first round.

Any lingering questions about his mental state were finally answered on Saturday night, first with his win over Tito Ortiz and then officially when  Griffin sought out Silva following the UFC 106 press conference:

"I’m sorry I ran out on you, it was no disrespect," The Las Vegas Sun heard Griffin saying to Silva towards the back of the media center. "I just wanted it to be a great fight and I was really disappointed when it wasn’t."

Griffin trainer Jimmy Gifford said the Ortiz win was huge physically and mentally for Griffin. Sun writer Brett Okamoto pointed out that Griffin had pinched a nerve in his neck, a rib injury and broken foot in the weeks leading up to the fight. 

Anyway, even though the racing is done for the year, we're not going anywhere. We'll be posting plenty every single day, and we'll continue with our regular weekly chats throughout the offseason. We'll also be continuing the podcasts -- remember to call in and you too can get on the show. We'll also be kicking off a couple new features starting today, including our "Best of the Decade" series (one guess as to what that will focus on) and "Stale Whines," in which we take on the different complaints about NASCAR and its drivers and, one by one, put stakes through their hearts. (The complaints, not the drivers.) It's going to be just like the regular season, except without the races -- and considering the quality of some of the races this year, that might be a good thing. 

We'll do a complete season recap after Thanksgiving, but for now, post your thoughts below -- favorite moments of 2009? Least favorite? Best storylines? Have your say ... and then get ready. After all, it's less than three months to Daytona.