Mon Nov 23, 2009 1:30 pm EST
Thunder star Kevin Durant says "hi" to the cameras/celebrities during Sunday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center in California. Best caption wins some frozen green peas. Good luck.
After the jump, Jrue, the comedian.
Mon Nov 23, 2009 1:23 pm EST
Here are your Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• 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 had his hearing with the NHL this morning for his knee-on-knee hit with Niklas Kronwall 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 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, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price and Ottawa Senators center Mike Fisher 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]
Mon Nov 23, 2009 1:04 pm EST
In news that surprised exactly no one, Joey Logano has taken the Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year award, knocking off Max Papis and Scott Speed. Stiff competition there, huh?
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.)
Mon Nov 23, 2009 12:36 pm EST

You can't call CC Sabathia 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.
Mon Nov 23, 2009 12:33 pm EST

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.
Mon Nov 23, 2009 12:30 pm EST
Monday to Friday, The Basketball Jones look at the big games and story lines from the night before with a mix of in-depth analysis and irreverent humor. As always, questions and comments are appreciated.
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
Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:55 am EST
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.
Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:49 am EST
Profiles in Disillusion follows the weekend's conquered favorites and other notables through the stages of grief.
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:
Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:42 am EST
Because through a week or so of hoops, your team has the best resume in
college basketball, and no one can take that away from you.
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.
Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:15 am EST
Once more, with feeling: You're never going to convince us that a skills competition, which doesn't feature a pass attempt or a defenseman on the ice, is an equitable manner by which to determine the victor of a professional hockey game; or, indirectly, the teams that eventually make or miss the postseason.
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?
Edited by MJD
Edited by 'Duk
Edited by J.E. Skeets
Edited by Greg Wyshynski
Edited by Matt Hinton
Edited by E. Brennan
Edited by Jay Busbee
Edited by Jay Busbee
Edited by Chris Chase
Edited by Chris Chase
Edited by Andy Behrens
Edited by Steve Cofield