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. Lesnar's got a hole in his 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 than when the news first leaked.

Now White was told by Lesnar to respect his privacy yet the UFC president was still goaded into divulging some of the details by troublemakers like Neil Davidson from the Canadian Press and MMAJunkie's John Morgan. It 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 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) than finished behind him. He's the first AL catcher to win the award since 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 to nail its next 95-page theses.

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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 side note, 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
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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.

Everybody was too busy writing Charlie Weis' obituary at Notre Dame to pay much attention to Randy Edsall -- his emotional postgame interview with NBC's sideline reporter immediately after the game, one of the best moments of the season, hasn't even been uploaded in any of the usual places -- but it's hard to imagine a much more uplifting counterpoint to the grim reality in South Bend than a beleaguered coach soaking in what he kept insisting was the biggest win in the history of the program he guided from obscurity.

Consider first where UConn has come from under Edsall, who brought a run-of-the-mill I-AA program into the I-A ranks in 2000, to its first bowl game in 2004, to its first co-Big East title in 2005 and now to a win on one of the most hallowed pitches in America, more recent indignities notwithstanding.

Then consider what UConn has endured as a team over the last month, toiling under the constant pall of the grisly homecoming murder of teammate Jasper Howard: Over the subsequent three games, the Huskies blew a fourth quarter lead at West Virginia in a game that wasn't decided until the final minute, then boarded a plane directly for Howard's funeral in Florida; blew another fourth quarter lead at home on an 81-yard touchdown reception by Rutgers' Tim Brown, one of Howard's best high school friends from Miami; lost its starting quarterback for the season; and scored twice as many points as any other team against undefeated Cincinnati on the road, pushing the Bearcats to the brink in a two-point loss that secured UConn's longest losing streak in three years. Before finally overcoming the Irish in overtime in South Bend, the Huskies had to endure watching two game-winning touchdowns negated by a pair of bogus holding penalties and then a game-winning field goal attempt sail wide on the final play of regulation, moments dripping with the "here we go again" doom Edsall referenced after the game.

That was where Edsall was when NBC's cameras caught him on the sideline after the final gun, struggling against the most deserving wave of tears any coach has ever choked back on national television. Here's to holding it all together when it counts, coach, and may all your International Bowls be sweet.

The momentum builds with each close fight. Many fans and media members are looking for answers on how to fix what they think is a problem, inconsistent judging in mixed martial arts. That's if there is a problem. Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz engaged in a back and forth fight for two rounds before Griffin rolled in the third at UFC 106. The decision (30-27, 29-28 and 28-29) went to Griffin. Frankly it wouldn't have been outrageous had it gone to Ortiz. When fighters don't try to finish fights these things happens. Boxing has a long history of close fights and close decisions don't always mean they're controversial, yet for UFC president Dana White the complaining hurled his way is getting old (2:15 mark):

"I don't even know, I'm so exhausted by this whole thing," White said during the postfight press conference. "It's tiring. It's terrible. These athletic commissions need to start looking at this and figure out what they're going to do."

White said fans should contact the head of the nation's leading commission, Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

"It has nothing to do with me. You should see the emails I get, 'you scumbag, you're just like Don King.' That's what people think. People think that we pick who's going to win or lose and tell the commission to do it."

Ron Kruck from HDNet, one of the loudest critics of MMA scoring, complained again on Sunday with a tweet:

Reacting to the Lyoto Machida decision win over Mauricio Rua at UFC 104, Kruck exploded on Twitter saying White needed to fix things. Maybe he meant Kizer. Kizer told Cagewriter on Thursday that there are no issues (4:05 mark):

"These fights are very well-matched. It's incredible. Plus you only have three or five rounds at most so there's not a lot of room for variance. So you have one close round, that could make a big difference."

Kizer said there's always going to be issues where the outcome of a sport is subjective. He's pleased with ongoing effort by the judges to improve their knowledge and said competitive, close fights are a good thing for the sport.

Tim Price, NBA.com: "Emotions on the Washington Wizards seem to be boiling over ... The Wizards (3-9) have lost eight of nine games. Against San Antonio they shot a season-worst 33 percent. Perhaps more embarrassingly, they had just as many turnovers as assists (nine) heading into the fourth quarter before finishing with 12 assists to nine turnovers by the end of the game. Gilbert Arenas(notes) said players on the team had 'hidden agendas,' noting that eight players on the team are free agents following the season. 'I guess when you start losing everyone wants to start pointing fingers everywhere else,' Arenas said. 'I converted my game to try to get people involved, but at the end of the day, to be honest, this is the same team since three years ago. We added a couple of pieces, but everybody else is basically the same player. I'm sitting here thinking 'Do I have to go in attack mode like I was two years ago to get us over this hump?' I hope not. I hope we're strong enough mentally that we can get over this.'"

Brian Schmitz, Orlando Sentinel: "Not surprisingly, Vince Carter(notes) quickly turned down the opportunity to be, ahem, honored by his former team, the Toronto Raptors, on Sunday. He didn't turn down the chance to beat the Canadian club again and remind Raptors fans of his bittersweet legacy with some live highlights. Carter led the Magic to a fifth consecutive win with a 104-96 triumph against the Raptors, ultimately silencing a crowd that has booed his every return to Air Canada Centre the past five seasons. [...] The Raptors have been celebrating their 15th anniversary as a franchise by honoring former players and coaches with video tributes during timeouts. Given the acrimonious back story of the relationship, the Raptors contacted the Magic to see if Carter might be a willing participant (or target) for the tribute. George Galante, director of communications for the Magic, said he asked Carter if the Raptors could honor him, but Carter declined. 'Why would I want to do it? You heard it out there,' Carter said. 'They came to me. It just didn't make sense. Actually, it wasn't as loud as it has been. It used to be deafening.'"

Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times: "In a wide-ranging 30-minute interview, [Lakers owner Jerry] Buss revealed why he was willing to spend a league-high $112.7 million to satisfy the Lakers' soaring player payroll demands. Hint: The Boston Celtics might be part of it. Although he acknowledged being somewhat uncomfortable about shelling out such a sum, Buss also touched on his desire to keep Kobe Bryant(notes) and Coach Phil Jackson in the fold for years to come. he Lakers will spend $91.3 million in player salary this season and an additional $21.4 million in luxury taxes if their roster is still the same on the final day of the regular season, assuming they make no trades or minor free-agent acquisitions between now and then. [...] 'We want to win as many championships as we possibly can,' Buss said. 'We're still a few shy of our rival and our intention is to catch them. . . . My son Joey, when he picked up the trophy, he announced our clear-cut rival, and it's kind of obvious our whole family feels that way.'"

Jimmy Smith, The Times-Picayune: "First, it was the baseless report out of Sacramento that the New Orleans Hornets were shopping center Emeka Okafor(notes). Now in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer, there's rampant speculation that the Hornets are willing to deal just about everyone but Chris Paul(notes). According to high-level team sources, the Hornets won't be moving anyone anytime soon. The club is going to stick with this group to see what it can do. So any movement this far away from the February trading deadline is unexpected."

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald: "Had the Celtics somehow managed to lower themselves and limbo to a loss against the three-win New York Knicks, much of the talk would have been about Kevin Garnett(notes). Fortunately for himself and his friends, Garnett found an interesting way to say, 'Shhh.' After spending most of his Manhattan afternoon bricking jumpers and having Al Harrington(notes) roar past him, Garnett hit a 19-footer at the overtime buzzer to give the Celts a 107-105 victory. So ended a 4-for-15 day that would have been utterly regrettable for KG and the seemingly wobbly — even at 10-4 — Bostonians. 'I was just rushing everything,' said Garnett, who made just one of his first 10 shots. 'I could never get a steady beat and a nice flow. I'm still dealing with that. But a lot of times it's not how you start; it's how you finish.'"

Marc Berman, New York Post: "Nate Robinson slowly crawled out of D'Antoni's doghouse with a season-high 19-point outburst (7 of 12). Before the game, D'Antoni still seemed disgusted by Robinson's shenanigans Saturday in Jersey when he shot at his own basket at the first-quarter buzzer and made it. (Time had expired, barely). Though Robinson shrugged it off, thinking he had waited for the buzzer to sound before hoisting it, D'Antoni wasn't pleased. 'That would be nice — to attack our basket,' D'Antoni said. 'A little pet peeve I have. When you're 2-9, which we were at the time, any distraction is bad. Our focus is to trying to win and turn this thing around. It's not right.' Robinson was benched in the second half Saturday because of his poor play. Yesterday, he still committed a couple of overemotional sins - chest-bumping with Chris Duhon(notes) after making a 3-pointer with Boston bringing the ball upcourt. And after blocking Rondo, Robinson posed as Paul Pierce(notes) grabbed the offense rebound for a putback."

Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times: "... on Sunday, shooting guard Eric Gordon(notes) was finally able to scrimmage with his teammates, taking part in almost all of the practice. Gordon, the team's second-leading scorer, has been out for seven straight games with a strained left groin, getting injured Nov. 7 against Memphis. He ruled out returning today against Minnesota but he left open the possibility of coming back against Indiana on Wednesday, which, incidentally, would be in his hometown of Indianapolis. 'It was good progress today,' Gordon said. 'Finally getting up and down there a little bit. I wouldn't say I feel exactly 100% but just made great progress the last couple of days. I'm starting to run a little bit more. The treatment has been helping a lot.'"

Dave D'Alessandro, The Star-Ledger: "The coach is not likely to survive an 0-fer week, but this week is really about The Boss. We keep getting the question, 'Shouldn't Lawrence Frank be worried about his job?' And our answer is the same as it was in '06 and '08 and at the end of last season: Maybe he should. But he doesn't. As this silly season drags on, his job becomes less relevant. Everyone knew all along that he was set up to fail. Everyone knew they told him he'd have the pieces to compete — until they decided not to touch the roster or spend a dime after draft night. Everyone knew they told him he can choose who gets to play, until they told him who has to play. Everyone knew they told him it that wins really wouldn't matter — until they would matter. Everyone knew they told him he'd learn to live without Vince, but that he should still figure out how to win a two-minute game without his only closer. Sometimes you even wonder whether having a coach even matters around here."

Michael Wallace, The Miami Herald: "After being convinced to sit out the previous two games with a strained left shoulder, Heat forward Udonis Haslem(notes) said the medical staff would have to drug him to keep him off the court Sunday against New Orleans. Turns out, it was Haslem who left the opposition feeling a bit woozy. Haslem's desperation jumper off the glass with 15.4 seconds left delivered the final blow and the Heat's defense shut down the Hornets in a 102-101 victory at AmericanAirlines Arena. David West(notes) missed a short jumper in the lane with 1.9 seconds left for the Hornets (6-9), who overcame an 11-point deficit to pull ahead late in the fourth but couldn't finish off the job. 'I would have been real, real frustrated if they told me I couldn't play today,' Haslem said. 'I wanted to go out and help my team win.'"

Jeff McDonald, S.A. Express-News: "The past six months have been a half-year of change for Richard Jefferson(notes). He has changed addresses, changed uniforms, changed roles. Jefferson, however, is happy at least one thing remained the same after his June trade from Milwaukee to the Spurs. 'The paycheck doesn't change,' Jefferson joked. Indeed, the $14.2 million Jefferson will earn in his first season with the Spurs is the same $14.2 million he was scheduled to earn with the Bucks. [...] Jefferson welcomed the change of scenery. It rescued him from the cost-cutting in Milwaukee, put him on a team with perennial championship aspirations and gave him a chance to be, as he put it, 'relevant again.' 'I was happy to come to this situation,' said Jefferson ... 'It wouldn't have mattered if I got traded for a bag of chips. I was happy to come to a quality team.' Despite its ups and downs, Jefferson professes himself happy with his half-year of change. If he could say anything to Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles and general manager John Hammond now, it would be: 'Thanks.'"

Kevin Ding, OC Register: "With 8:58 left in the game Sunday night and the Lakers ahead, 86-60, Staples Center got spiced up suddenly. The American Music Awards spilled over from across the street at Nokia Theatre, with Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am stepping into a courtside seat and then performing, "I Got a Feeling," with Fergie and Alex Rodriguez and eventually regular season-ticket holder B-Real from Cypress Hill being brought over to join them. Crazy stuff. Lakers executive vice president Jeanie Buss, sitting near them, described the scene via her Twitter account and added: 'Don't really understand.' But it was undeniably cool. The whole arena got into it, and Kobe Bryant was pointing across the court to communicate with Will.i.am as the timeout and impromptu concert ended. Rodriguez and actor Andy Garcia were embracing on the side for a while. Jay-Z took his turn in the spotlight at another timeout."

Darnell Mayberry, The Oklahoman: "The Thunder's home game against Milwaukee on Friday will be broadcast nationally on ESPN, the NBA announced Sunday. To accommodate the switch, the start time has been moved from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. ESPN was originally scheduled to broadcast the Phoenix-Minnesota game. The change, however, gives the Thunder two nationally televised games on either ABC, TNT or ESPN this season. Oklahoma City's game against Dallas on Dec. 16 is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN as well."

No. 1 star: Steven Stamkos(notes), Tampa Bay Lightning

The 2008 No. 1 overall pick continued his breakout year as his 15th goal of the season in overtime gave the Lightning a 4-3 win over the Atlanta Thrashers. Currently tied for fourth in the NHL in goals scored with Jarome Iginla(notes), Stamkos, along with Ryan Malone(notes), is carrying the Lightning offensive load as Vincent Lecavalier(notes) and Martin St. Louis(notes) struggle with a combined nine goals. 

No. 2 Star: Antti Niemi(notes), Chicago Blackhawks

The 26-year old Finn backstopped the 'Hawks to a 1-0 win in Vancouver by making 30 saves for his second shutout of the season. Chicago swept the Western Canadian portion of their roadtrip and will finish things up with three games in California beginning Wednesday at Anaheim. With the win, Niemi improves to 4-1-1 on the season.

No. 3 Star: Antero Niittymaki(notes), Tampa Bay Lightning

Making 28 saves on the evening, Niittymaki won his sixth game of the season and his 15th straight over a Southeast Division opponent. Atlanta rallied back with three goals in the third period, but was unable to record a shot in overtime before Stamkos won it. Niittymaki currently owns the NHL's best save-percentage at .936.

Honorable mention: Martin St. Louis had three assists including one on Stamkos' overtime winner ... Stephane Veilleux(notes) and Kurtis Foster(notes) both scored their first goals of the season for the Lightning ...  Evander Kane's(notes) seventh goal for Atlanta puts him in second place behind New York Islanders forward John Tavares(notes) among rookies ...  Bryan Bickell(notes) scored the winner for Chicago 1:12 into the third period. It was his first goal in over two years ... Roberto Luongo(notes) did all he could for the Canucks making 16 saves, but was let down by his offense ... Ben Eager(notes) and Rick Rypien(notes) discussed the MLS Cup Final in their own special way:

Did you know?: With his win against Atlanta, Niittymaki is now 15-0-0 against the Thrashers in his career. (AP)

Dishonorable mention: Atlanta ended their homestand by losing their last three games ... Not a good weekend for Thrashers captain Ilya Kovalchuk(notes). A day after earning 19-penalty minutes against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kovy couldn't beat Niittymaki on seven shots and finished a minus-3 ...  Even with the win, Joel Quenneville couldn't have been happy that the Blackhawks were 16-for-42 in the faceoff circle.

Today, another such injury was added to the list. Eric Wood(notes), a promising rookie lineman for the Buffalo Bills, suffered an injury just as sickening as any of those listed above.

CBS, during the game, refused to show a replay of the injury. The internet being what it is, though, it is available for easy viewing online (unless the video gets pulled, which wouldn't shock me). It is, as promised, gross. You can click the play button, or you can not click the play button. Your eyeballs, your call.

Told you.

I do want to add, too, that I'm philosophically opposed to CBS refusing to replay an injury because they've deemed it too graphic for me. We're all watching football, we're all aware that it's a violent sport and we're all aware that things like this can happen. I'm not saying anyone wants to see it happen, but we know it's a possibility.

The fact of the matter is that an injury to Eric Wood is a major part of the game. Networks are supposed to show major parts of the game. They don't have to show it 50 times, and they don't have to celebrate it, but they should give people a warning that it's graphic and they should show it. It's newsworthy. It's as relevant to the game as any touchdown, field goal or interception.

Wood's leg, as you may have guessed, was broken, and he'll have surgery in Jacksonville. He's done for the season. We all with him the speediest and quickest recovery.

Gracias, SN's The Trenches.

In the span of just two minutes, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant(notes): (a) hit a shot from behind the backboard after being forced baseline by Thunder rookie James Harden(notes), (b) nailed a pretty up-and-under reverse layup, and (c) banked home a difficult runner — with his left hand — to beat the first quarter buzzer.

He will accept the My Little Pony/H-O-R-S-E trophy from inaugural winner Kevin Durant(notes), postgame.

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On Sunday night, Jimmie Johnson clinched his fourth straight Sprint Cup championship, and in so doing cemented his place among the greats of the sport. But he's done more than that; he's now propelled himself above and beyond NASCAR. He's the most successful athlete currently competing right now, and it's not even close. 

Were this Tiger Woods snagging his fourth straight Masters, or Kobe Bryant clinching his fourth straight ring, or Tom Brady capturing his fourth straight Super Bowl, you'd be getting their greatness rammed down your throat 24/7. But this is NASCAR; the sports fan public knows they can't throw a pass 50 yards or hit a golf ball 300, but they figure they know how to drive fast and turn left. How hard could it be for Johnson to win some of those little races, huh?

Answer: plenty. Put aside the physical demands -- the intense heat of the car's interior, the physical strength needed to wheel a car for 500 miles. Even running a race -- to say nothing of winning one, or winning an entire season -- requires the mental discipline, ultrafast-twitch reflexes and utter, stone-cold fearlessness that only the best athletes possess. (And don't even start the whole "the car's the star, not the driver" nonsense. Equipment is a key element of every sport. When's the last time you saw a baseball player succeed without a bat, or a football player succeed without pads?) 

So, with the playing field leveled, let's break down why Johnson is the top athlete at work today. For starters, you could argue that the level of competition in every single sport right now is the highest it's ever been. Kids train practically from birth to play one sport; sophisticated training techniques make today's marginal athletes the equivalent of yesterday's All-Stars.

Even so, Johnson has established a four-year gap between himself and his nearest competitors that's greater than any other athlete in any other sport. Nobody in any league is a prohibitive favorite; even Tiger is vulnerable these days.

Plenty of people both inside and outside NASCAR are dismissing Johnson's accomplishments, and that's too bad. They're missing out on history here. Nobody else is riding as high these days, in any sport, anywhere. And anybody who thinks it's certain to end in 2010 ... well, didn't we think that coming into 2007, 2008 and 2009?

Bandwagoners, here's a heads-up: push aside your Yankees caps, Patriots jerseys and Cowboys jackets and make room for some of Jimmie Johnson's gear. (He's the 48.) If you're the type of person who wants to jump on board a proven winning train, you've got one right here waiting for you, ready to roll.

For everyone else, take a moment -- just a moment, that's all -- to applaud what Johnson's doing here. You're not going to see anything like this again anytime soon. 

_______

For more daily NASCAR news & opinion, click here to bookmark Yahoo! Sports' From The Marbles, and follow us on Twitter. 

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Dana White's weigh-in day video blog takes you through the Friday before UFC 106. It's interesting to see the fighters standing in line to enter the Mandalay Bay weigh-in area. Josh Koscheck is standing with no Anthony Johnson present (3:40 mark). When asked where he is, Koscheck says he heard Johnson passed out trying to make the weight. When you finally see Johnson (4:45 mark), he does confirm that he had some issues and says he was "dehydrated."

If he did struggle, it's the second straight fight with weigh-in woes. Back in Los Angeles for UFC 104, Johnson, needing to make 170 pounds could only get to 176. Ninety minutes before the weigh-in, he was being carried through the streets of L.A. back to the hotel. It may be time for the 25-year-old to consider a move to middleweight or he really needs to shed some beef and walk around closer to 190 between fights. Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole tweeted on Saturday night that Johnson was back up to 200. Once Koscheck started working him over on the ground, Johnson seemed to gas pretty quickly in the second round. Johnson lost via rear-naked choke. 

White closed out his workday in the Mandalay Bay Race & Sports Book doing about 80 minutes of radio with MMAJunkie starting around 7 p.m. PT. He also gave away 50 tickets for UFC 106 and then spent another 70 minutes signing autographs and taking pictures with every single person waiting outside the MB radio booth. The Twitter response he got was insane. 

And then came Sunday night.

After a race in which he was leading but lost ground on the final pit -- a stop where he took two tires where everyone else took four -- Kurt took time to offer congratulations to Jimmie Johnson and tipped his cap to all his sponsors. And then he smiled, the kind of grin which has a name that we can't repeat or describe here but the word "eating" is in the name -- stared straight in the camera, and unloaded more dirty laundry than a college freshman home for Thanksgiving break.

"Maybe this is my best opportunity to throw my crew chief under the bus for giving me two tires at the end instead of four," he said. "We probably had a shot at  winning, and I told him he had to keep an eye on the other guys ... Hey, I'm throwing him under the bus because we don't have him anymore and we're looking for a new crew chief."

Boy, with that guy in your ear every Sunday, the candidates have got to be just lining up out the door, right? Busch did throw some thanks Tryson's way -- "we worked great together" -- but finished by saying, "We'll find somebody great, somebody better, and we'll beat the 56 next year."

Between this and all the other little fights starting to break out around the track, it's almost a shame the season has to end, isn't it?

In a perfect world, the Doc would be given carte blanche to publicly torch the Bowl Championship Series in effigy and institute the elaborate, double-elimination battle royale of his dreams. But we live in the world we live in, so each Sunday the Doc looks at what the new BCS numbers mean for the rest of the season. Rooting interest: chaos. Always chaos.

• The more things change ... well, actually, we wouldn't know about that. We knew going into the weekend that there was infinitesimal chances of movement at the top, so to dispense with the formalities: The top seven is identical to last week's top seven, which was identical to the top seven the week before that. Florida, Alabama and Texas have occupied the top three slots in various orders in all six BCS polls this year and have no realistic expectation of relinquishing them, probably even after the Gators or Tide take a hit in the SEC Championship game. The only team that fell out of the top 10 was No. 9 LSU, which was probably overrated with no really quality wins, anyway (and remains so at No. 15 after its loss at Ole Miss, which somehow checks in 10 full spots below the Tigers, at No. 25, despite the head-to-head win, an identical record and a practically identical set of wins. But if we get into the injustices outside of the top 10 -- BYU is still in the top 20? For what? -- we'll be here all night).

The time is coming to roll out some moral outrage on behalf of undefeated TCU and Cincinnati for their pending snubs from the championship game, but by the system's logic, there's less and less point discussing their chances of crashing the Rose Bowl as the chances of any of the top three losing keep going down. (See below.)

The only relevant discussion left, then, is the jockeying for position for the last two at-large spots. TCU and the loser of the SEC Championship are pretty clearly locked into the first two spots, leaving Penn State/Iowa, Oklahoma State and Boise State in line for the last two. If there was any justice, the slots would fall to the two higher-ranked options in that quartet, Iowa and Boise State. But since the at-large process is primarily about tickets, ratings and other financial concerns, Penn State and Oklahoma State are the better bets -- if the Cowboys finish off sinking rival Oklahoma's dismal season Saturday in Norman. If the Big Ten is practically assured of filling one of those slots with the Nittany Lions or Hawkeyes, Boise's only opportunity probably lies with the Sooners knocking OSU from the running. Otherwise, the Broncos become something of a charity case, hoping against hope the Fiesta Bowl committee is more interested in their stellar record and ranking than the much less impressive track record of smaller conference teams when it comes to filling seats and pulling eyeballs.

• For chaos' sake. There are two possible scenarios for breaking up the inevitable Texas vs. SEC Champion showdown and lifting either TCU or Cincinnati into the BCS Championship game, and they're both pretty farfetched:

• Texas loses one of its final two games to Texas A&M or Nebraska.
 • Alabama or Florida loses its regular season finale to Auburn or Florida State, respectively, and that surprise loser rebounds to win the SEC Championship.

In the first case, Texas doesn't quite carry the cachet with its schedule (note that the Longhorns are still ranked below Cincinnati according to the computers) to hold onto one of the top two spots with a loss; if UT falls, TCU or Cincinnati will be waiting to fill the void, depending on whether the Bearcats move up with a solid win over Pittsburgh. The best outcome for the darkhorses is still a Texas loss.

A one-loss SEC champion is a tougher scenario: Even in the extremely unlikely event 'Bama or Florida falls this week, the redemptive hype of the SEC title game is still likely to lift the winner into the BCS Championship, even with a loss. At least in that scenario, though, there would be no end of controversy over the probable snubs, which is much better than the unchanging status quo we've been dealt for the last month-and-a-half.

Four-game teams: DAL, DEN, LAC, MEM, MIL, MIN, NJN, NYK, ORL, PHI, POR, SAC, SAS, TOR

Three-game teams: ATL, BOS, CHA, CLE, DET, GSW, HOU, IND, LAL, MIA, OKC, PHO, UTH, WAS

Two-game teams: CHI, NOR

Also see: Basketball Monster's ease rankings and Rotowire's value meter

Pickups/Plug-ins

• Chris Andersen(notes) – For all the talk of how disappointing Andersen's production has been, he's still averaged 6.8 boards and 1.4 blocks in just 22 minutes while dealing with knee tendinitis. The knee is getting better and, from a matchup standpoint, you can't do any better than the Nuggets in Week 5 (NJN, @MIN, NYK, MIN).

• Anthony Morrow(notes) – Morrow has been up and down since joining the Warriors' starting five, but overall he's been solid in November (13.2 points on 56/56/90, 2.3 threes, 4 boards, and 1.1 steals in 32 minutes) and the playing time isn't going anywhere. Week 5: @DAL, @SAS, LAL

• Mike Dunleavy – Dunleavy could be back on the Pacers' active roster as soon as Wednesday, and now is the time to grab him if he's on the wire in your league. Be prepared for minimal production in the early-going, but the payoff down the line is what we're after here. Week 5: @TOR, LAC, DAL

• Randy Foye(notes) – Foye should get plenty of run while Mike Miller(notes) is sidelined (four to five weeks), even if it's DeShawn Stevenson(notes) who gets the call as the starter. There's only so much usage available after the team's big three get their share, but his playing time should be largely unchallenged. Week 5: PHI, @MIA, CHA 

• Beno Udrih(notes) – Different week, same story here. In seven games as a starter, he's averaged 17.1 points on 52-percent shooting, 1.3 threes, and 5 assists in 37 minutes, and Kevin Martin(notes) still has a ways to go before he'll return. Week 5: @MEM, NYK, NJN, NOR

• Ben Wallace(notes) – Wallace continues to deliver fantastic defensive numbers (9.7 boards, 1.4 steals, 1.9 blocks over the past seven games) while actually delivering efficient offense, albeit in extremely low volumes (53% FG, 16:4 AST:TO). Week 5: CLE, LAC, ATL 

• Drew Gooden(notes) – Gooden has posted double-doubles in three of his four starts since taking over for Erick Dampier(notes), averaging 14.8 points on 50-percent shooting, 13 boards, and 1.3 blocks in 36 minutes. With Damp's timeframe still an uncertainty, Gooden makes all kinds of sense, especially in the short-term. Week 5: GSW, @HOU, @IND, CLE

• Jared Dudley(notes) – Dudley's versatility has helped him emerge as the Suns' sixth man, and he's averaged 23 minutes over the past nine games. He's made 52 percent of his shots (34-of-65) and a whopping 58 percent of his threes (21-of-36) during that time, leading to averages of 11.3 points, 2.3 threes, 4.1 boards, and 1.3 steals. There are certainly worse ways to use that last bench spot, particularly if he stays ahead of Leandro Barbosa(notes) for reserve minutes. Week 5: MEM, @MIN, @TOR

• Ersan Ilyasova(notes) – Ilyasova has been providing good offense lately (13 points on 48% shooting, 1.7 threes over the past seven games) but it's been his defense over the same stretch (9.1 boards, 1.3 steals-plus-blocks) that has earned him a starting role for Scott Skiles. Andrew Bogut's(notes) injury should mean that he'll continue to see usage even when Michael Redd(notes) returns. Week 5: @SAS, @NOR, @OKC, ORL

• Jason Williams(notes) – Williams faced tough matchups in each of his first two starts (Russell Westbrook(notes), Rajon Rondo(notes)), but things were a bit more friendly on Sunday and he responded with 16 points, two threes, five boards, three assists, no turnovers, and two steals. Nobody should be expecting massive numbers here, but he's the starting point guard for at least another month or so. Week 5: MIA, ATL, @MIL, @NYK

• J.J. Hickson(notes) – Hickson's numbers are starting to come around a bit as he settles in as the starter. Over the past six games, he's averaged 15.7 points on 70-percent shooting, 5.2 boards, and 1.3 steals-plus-blocks in 31 minutes. At the very least, that is elite-level help in one category (FG%). Week 5: @DET, LAC, ATL 

• Thabo Sefolosha(notes) – Sefolosha continues to be something of a Ben Wallace of guards. He's averaged just 6.0 points and 34-percent shooting in 33 minutes over the past eight games, but the supporting stats have been superb: 0.7 threes, 7.1 boards, 2.3 assists, 2 steals, and 1.1 blocks. Keep in mind that James Harden's(notes) production over the past two games, both blowouts, has largely come in garbage time – Sefolosha's playing time is not in jeopardy. Week 5: @UTH, MIL, HOU 

• Martell Webster(notes) – Webster is back in the starting five and went for 21 points, four threes, and 13 boards on Saturday. While the matchup with the T-Wolves couldn't have been more ideal, it's a good sign nonetheless and the three-guard experiment in Portland has ended. In the six games where Webster has seen at least 25 minutes of playing time, he's averaged 13.2 points, 2 threes, 4.8 boards, and 1.7 steals. Week 5: CHI, NJN, MEM, @UTH

• Ramon Sessions(notes) – Sessions has been seeing more consistent playing time lately (25 minutes over the past six games) and has been fairly productive (10.8 points on 52% shooting, 4.2 assists, 1 steal). While the team is committed to Jonny Flynn(notes), he has been struggling to facilitate the offense (41:46 AST:TO) and Sessions appears to have at least worked himself into a platoon scenario. Now we just need Kurt Rambis to go ahead and let the two share the court on occasion. Week 5: @LAC, DEN, PHO, @DEN

• Andres Nocioni(notes) – There is not tremendous upside here, but there's production to be had off the wire nonetheless and the Kings' Week 5 schedule is a beauty (@MEM, NYK, NJN, NOR). In eight November games, Noc has averged 13.6 points, 1.5 threes, 4.9 boards, and 1.2 steals-plus-blocks.

• Mickael Pietrus(notes) – Pietrus has settled in as the starting small forward since Rashard Lewis(notes) returned, averaging 11.8 point on 50-percent shooting and 2.4 threes in 32 minutes over the past five games. He'll fight an uphill battle for usage, but it's hard to argue with 30-plus minutes per game. Week 5: MIA, @ATL, @MIL, @NYK

• Kurt Thomas(notes) – In a deep league and need big-man stats? Dan Gadzuric(notes) may start while Andrew Bogut is sidelined, but Thomas is clearly the rosterable player. In two games since Bogut was lost, Thomas has totaled 12 points, 17 boards, three steals, and three blocks in 54 minutes of playing time. Week 5: @SAS, @NOR, @OKC, ORL

• Rasual Butler(notes) – Butler has been a roller-coaster of production this season (27 and 6 points over the past two respective games), but he's worth a look during a favorable upcoming four-game week if you need threes. Week 5: MIN, @IND, @DET, MEM  

• Darren Collison(notes) – Collison has been effective in four starts since taking over for Chris Paul(notes) (14.8 points, 0.8 threes, 6.5 assists, 1 steal), but the schedule is a real downer for any Hornets player – they play just twice in Week 5 (MIL, @SAC) and Week 6 (@LAL, MIN). 

• Oleksiy Pecherov(notes) - Deep-leaguers looking for short-term help should take a chance on Pecherov. Ryan Hollins(notes) has been starting at center, but the Wolves' Week 5 schedule (@LAC, DEN, PHO, @DEN) should mean Pecherov's offense is a bit more featured. 

• Rodrigue Beaubois(notes) – This won't seem like much of a complement to most people, but Beaubois is arguably the best option among universally unowned players. He'll continue to start for as long as Josh Howard(notes) is sidelined, and in six starts thus far he's averaged 9.3 points on 62-percent shooting, 0.8 threes, and 0.8 steals-plus-blocks in 17 minutes. Week 5: GSW, HOU, @IND, CLE

Status Updates

• Mike Bibby(notes) - Bibby is day-to-day with a sprained left ankle and not likely to miss any time, considering that the Hawks are off until Thursday.

• Andris Biedrins(notes) - Take heart, Biedrins owners! He'll be re-evaluated on Monday and could be close to returning for an exceptionally thin Warriors squad. 

• Andrew Bogut - Bogut will be out for two to four weeks because of a ligament strain and bruise in his left leg.

• Andrew Bynum(notes) – Bynum did not practice either of the past two days because of a sprained right ankle and will be a game-time decision on Sunday. 

• Erick Dampier - Dampier remains sidelined by a mystery illness that has yet to be made public, although the team has said it's not life-threatening. He's currently undergoing tests and we should see some kind of an update in the coming week.

• Tyreke Evans(notes) – Evans missed Saturday's game because of a sprained right middle finger, but X-rays were negative and he's hoping to be back in the lineup on Monday. 

• Eric Gordon(notes) – Gordon is close to returning from his groin strain, and we may see him back in action as soon as Monday. 

• Blake Griffin(notes) - Griffin remains sidelined by a stress fracture on his left kneecap. He's expected to return to the lineup sometime in mid-December. 

• Richard Hamilton(notes) - Rip was a light participant in practice on Friday but is still not close to returning.

• Josh Howard – Although his ankle is "getting better", Howard remains sidelined on an indefinite timetable. 

• Courtney Lee(notes) – Lee's groin injury has kept him out for seven straight games, but he practiced on Friday and hopes to be back in the lineup on Tuesday. 

• Kevin Love(notes) – Love's broken hand has been healing well, but he's still at least 10 days away from returning to practice and even further removed from game action. The rough target date for his return is currently December 11.

• Shawn Marion(notes) - Marion's left ankle injury has kept him out for the past two games, but he's targeting a return on Tuesday against the Warriors. 

• Kevin Martin - Martin had surgery on his broken left wrist on November 9 and is expected to return sometime in mid-January. 

• Tracy McGrady(notes) – A sore back has added to the drama surrounding T-Mac, who is/was scheduled to practice and have an MRI taken on Monday, in an effort to establish a concrete timeframe for his return. The new issue means he'll have tests on Sunday and his Monday itinerary is not locked in stone. Rick Adelman offered this general statement about McGrady's status:

“He's not ready to play yet. We've set that (schedule) all along. We said he wasn't going to play. He chose to say something else. That has nothing to do with me. My stance hasn't changed at all. It's not going to change. Certainly when he's healthy and ready to play he's a heck of a player. But we don't think he is (ready) right now, and we're following a timetable.”

• Mike Miller - Miller could be out as long as five weeks after injuring his right calf on Saturday. An MRI will provide some definitive details, but Flip Saunders' quote after the game was "He might've popped it."

• Jameer Nelson(notes) – Nelson had surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee on Wednesday and is expected to be sidelined for up to six weeks. 

• Mehmet Okur(notes) - Okur has missed the past three games with flu-like symptoms, although the team has confirmed that he does not have H1N1. Look for updates on Monday in advance of the Jazz's matchup with the Thunder on Tuesday.

• Shaquille O'Neal(notes) - Shaq has missed five consecutive games because of a shoulder injury and his return date remains uncertain. The Cavs are off until Wednesday, so we may see him return to practice in the interim. 

• Chris Paul – Paul's timeframe for a return from a sprained ankle, suffered on November 13, is a bit murky, but general expectations are that he'll miss between two and four weeks. With the team only playing five times in the next 15 days, they'll be able to bring him along a bit more cautiously.

• Tayshaun Prince(notes) – Prince has yet to begin contract drills in practice and remains sidelined indefinitely. 

• Michael Redd - The Bucks are hoping to have Redd back sometime this week and possibly as early as Monday or Wednesday. 

• Marreese Speights(notes) - Speights' MCL injury is expected to keep him sidelined until sometime in January.

• Tyrus Thomas(notes) - Thomas had surgery for a broken arm on November 7 and is expected to return sometime in mid-December.

The following quotes are passed along from Dan Steinberg's DC Sports Bog, your online home for postgame quotes that somehow find a way to further humiliate the Redskins. The Redskins needlessly burned two timeouts in the second half. Here's Jim Zorn explaining the first one:

"Well, shoot," he said. "Yeah. We got caught on a clock, and I really don't know how it happened, because I felt like we got the play in, I felt like we were out of the huddle, and we were down to :01 [on the clock] before we knew it. Absolutely have no idea how that happened. Because we were moving in and out of the huddle pretty well then.

And here's Jim Zorn explaining the second one.

"And then on the second timeout, that use of timeout, that was just so frustrating to me. We hurt Jason on that play. I hurt him, because I didn't have the needed call, and we got caught on time again, where we had a shift and a motion and I had to call timeout because it wasn't gonna be [snapped in time]. It was just totally mine, totally on me. I screwed us out of that timeout. I did everything I could just to maintain my composure, and then it absolutely had an issue at the end of this football game, so it's just on me."

I think we're about two Redskins losses away from Jim Zorn sitting in front of the mic at postgame press conferences, pulling out an acoustic guitar and singing a song he wrote called, "If You Had Any Shred of Mercy in Your Soul, You'd Fire Me Right Now."

Cleveland Browns. You've got absolutely nothing to be ashamed about this week, Browns. Any bad team can be boring. But you and the Lions went out there and made a hell of a football game out of something that should've only drained our collective will to live. That is a contribution. I'm absolutely serious about that. Thank you, Cleveland Browns, for what you did today.

Buffalo Bills. I have no Bills or Jaguars on my fantasy team, I had nothing else riding on the game, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even have noticed if CBS decided not to send a camera crew down to Jacksonville for this one. I realize that that's unfair since the Jags are 6-4 and a playoff contender, but I think on a subconscious level I see that no one in Jacksonville even cares, so that makes me not care myself.

Seattle Seahawks. Brett Favre(notes) completed 22-of-25 passes for an 89% completion rate to go with his four touchdowns. Is that it, Seattle? You're going to let him leave town with just that? What about his hot oil rubdown, or the personal one-on-one concert from Sir Mix-a-Lot?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Josh Freeman(notes) is playing, learning, making mistakes and hopefully learning from these mistakes. That's the good news, slight as it may be.

St. Louis Rams. Way to hang around in the second half and threaten to make a comeback, Rams. Late in that game, you didn't like look like a 1-9 team to me. Somewhere around 3-7, maybe.

Denver Broncos. That makes four losses in a row, and if Kyle Orton's(notes) ankle doesn't get healthy soon, I feel pretty confident that it'll become five on Thanksgiving night. Chris Simms(notes) is a loooooong way away from his 2005 "prime," which wasn't that great to begin with. Orton wasn't himself, either, with the bum ankle. If that doesn't get fixed, a 6-0 start is going to be wasted.

Pittsburgh Steelers. I think Mike Tomlin called Marvin Lewis after last week's game and said, "Listen, that game was tough on both of us. We can keep fighting it out for the division after Thanksgiving, but what do you say we both just take this weekend off?" An agreement was made, and there was joy in Kansas City and Oakland.

Cincinnati Bengals. Honest question: When Bruce Gradkowski(notes) stepped in and won his first game as a starter, do you think JaMarcus Russell(notes) said to himself, "Wow, I've really got a lot to learn" or, "If it had been me in there, we'd have won by 30"?

All four teams in the AFC North lost today in as gut-wrenching a fashion as you could imagine. It'd be bad enough for an entire division to go winless (especially when said division is arguably the best in the NFL), but for each of the four teams to lose games in which they held fourth-quarter leads, well that's a whole new level of disappointment.

Shutdown Corner recounts the carnage, listing the games in order of least to most crushing:

Baltimore Ravens 15, Indianapolis Colts 17 – The box score doesn't look too bad: A two-point loss to the undefeated Colts is nothing to hang your head at. But when you consider that the eventual game-winner for Indy was kicked by Matt Stover(notes), the long-time Ravens vet who was cut in the offseason and that the Ravens replacement for Stover's replacement missed a 30-yarder in the third quarter, then it hurts a bit. Throw in a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line that resulted in a field goal and, ouch.

Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Kansas City Chiefs 30 (OT) – Losing while giving up two touchdown returns of 95+ yards, dropping an interception before the play that put the Chiefs in overtime field-goal range, having another possible concussion suffered by Ben Roethlisberger(notes), outgaining their opponent by 257 yards and holding the ball for 19 more minutes than their opponent would all be bad enough. But when it comes against the woeful Chiefs, that's a whole other level.

Cleveland Browns 37, Detroit Lions 38 – We already recapped this one earlier today on Shutdown Corner. The Browns have the distinction of being the only NFL team to lose this year after the clock hit zero while they had the lead. But a pass interference penalty gave the Lions another untimed down and the rest is another chapter of Cleveland infamy. For any other team this would have rated as the biggest stomach punch of the day. But, for Browns fans, it's just another regular Sunday.

Cincinnati Bengals 17, Oakland Raiders 20 – This game was done. The division-leading Bengals held a seven-point lead with under one minute to go and the hapless Raiders, led by a quarterback (Bruce Gradkowski(notes)) who hadn't thrown a touchdown pass since 2006, were facing fourth-and-10 from near midfield. But, just like that, Chaz Schilens(notes) hauled in a first-down reception and then, on the next throw, Gradkowski hit Louis Murphy(notes) for the game-tying score. So it was going to overtime. Except that Andre Caldwell(notes) fumbled the kick return with 27 seconds remaining and the Raiders recovered and kicked a game-winning field goal 11 seconds later. From one play from victory to one return from overtime to another crushing loss, all in a span of 43 seconds. On the bright side, at least Cincy knows how to deal with late-game disappointment.

Manning also got away with several other throws which were either bad reads or plays in which his receivers were not in the right place. Bottom line is that Manning struggled and the Colts didn't fall apart against a very game Ravens team. In their 17-15 victory, Indy relied on their defense to keep Baltimore out of the end zone, which they did by holding the Ravens to 0-for-4 in red one efficiency. That included a stand when Baltimore had the ball at the Colts' one-yard line and couldn't punch it in with three tries. When Ed Reed(notes) lost a desperation lateral on a punt return with 28 seconds left in the game, the Colts breathed a sigh of relief.

As for the Saints, they kept the "L" column clean in a more typical way -- a productive but conservative day from Brees (who threw for 187 yards and three touchdowns) and great gains from their newly effective running game. Mike bell(notes) scored twice and Pierre Thomas(notes) gained 92 yards on only 11 carries in the Saints' 38-7 walloping of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After the Bucs and first-year quarterback Josh Freeman(notes) impressed with an opening-drive touchdown, New Orleans shut things down and took advantage of Freeman's rookie mistakes. Freeman threw three picks, while Brees didn't have an interception for the first time in five games.

Next, the Saints will welcome the New England Patriots to the Superdome on Monday Night Football, a barn-burner that should leave even Jon Gruden unable to give nicknames to all the primary characters. Meanwhile, the Colts play the Texans in Houston next Sunday. You may remember the Texans as the team that gave the Colts a fairly tough battle with a 20-17 squeaker on November 8. If these two teams are still undefeated after their next games, they'll certainly have earned it.

And Sunday night, Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart decided to get a little froggy with each other. First, Smoke turned into JPM, knocking him off the track and prompting Montoya to scream that NASCAR should kick Smoke out of the race altogether. But JPM's crew diligently worked to get their driver back on the track, and when they did, this happened:

Montoya got tagged with a two-lap penalty, but since he was dozens of laps down already, that was about as effective as tossing ice cubes in the ocean. Neither Stewart nor Montoya spoke immediately after the race, and chances are both are heading home to cool out. Any chance this will spill over into next season? Probably not, but the fact that drivers are getting saucy is a good way to close out the year, yes?

Late last night, a fire alarm was pulled in the Jets' team hotel, rousing members of the team out of their slumber and forcing them to vacate their rooms. Except there was no fire and it was the Jets' team hotel. You do the math.

According to the time stamp on a tweet from tight end Dustin Keller, the fire alarm was pulled around 1 a.m.:

So much for a good nights sleep..the alarm just went off in our teams hotel hahaha grown men walking around the hallway in their draws haha

He's pretty good-natured about it. I certainly wouldn't give one "ha" about getting awakened in the middle of the night, let alone three. Especially if I was wearing "draws." 

Cornerback Kerry Rhodes(notes) also posted a tweet about the late-night wake-up call, but he waited until the morning to share:

you know we are playing new england when in the middle of the night when u r sleep somebody pulls a fire alarm to wake u up!! wow!!

The same thing happened to the Buffalo Bills before a Week 1 game in New England. It sounds like there's a fan (or fans) who still like to pull middle school pranks to help support the team. Or maybe it's not a fan at all. Judging by his past history, I wonder if Bill Belichick has an alibi for last night?  

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The Lions scored a touchdown on the final play of the game to earn a thrilling 38-37 victory over the visiting Browns. But, of course, in true Detroit-Cleveland fashion, the game ended with two colossal errors (each by the Browns). 

On the final play of the game, a Matthew Stafford(notes) pass fell incomplete and the Browns began to celebrate their second win of the year. But Hank Poteat(notes) was flagged for pass interference, which gave the Lions another down with no time on the clock.

There's more: On the Poteat play, Stafford was hit when he released the ball and stayed down on the field in obvious pain. The rookie clutched his non-throwing shoulder as he ran off the field and was replaced for the final play by Daunte Culpepper(notes). With a cold Culpepper under center, the Lions prepared to snap the ball from the 1-yard line with the clock reading zeroes to get the go-ahead score. Amazingly, Cleveland called timeout before Culpepper could get the snap. This stoppage allowed Stafford to come back in the game and he promptly hit Brandon Pettigrew(notes) for the game-tying touchdown. A Jason Hanson(notes) extra point sealed the game.

Not that anyone should expect good coaching decisions by Eric Mangini, but that timeout was borderline criminal. Culpepper had to rush onto the field with no warning, having stood on the sideline for the previous three hours. The Lions had no timeouts and were in the confusing spot of having to run another play after having thought the game had ended. Sure, the Browns had to do the same on the defensive side, but the burden is on the offense. The last thing any coach wants to do in that situation is give an unprepared team time to regroup. 

Among the amazing stats from the rest of the game:

• The Browns scored 13 more points today (37) than they had in two-thirds of their other games combined (24).

• Matthew Stafford (five) and Brady Quinn(notes) (four) combined to throw nine touchdown passes. Coming into today the former first-round picks had a total of nine touchdown passes in their careers. 

• Cleveland was averaging 214 yards of offense per game. The Browns gained 439 against Detroit.

• With the win, the Lions avoided becoming the first NFL team in history to go 2-32 over a 34-game stretch.

• Detroit's defense was statistically the worst in the NFL before today. After today: Yeah, they're still the worst. But how about that offense?!

• Unless they were in attendance, most Lions fans couldn't see the victory. Because it wasn't a sellout, the game was blacked out in the Detroit area. 

As for the Chiefs, coming into their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 2-7 record meant that any win would be nothing more than a feel-good story. But KC held up tough, exploiting Pittsburgh's weaknesses for a 27-24 win the extra frame. This game was the eighth straight in which Pittsburgh allowed a return touchdown, giving up a 97-yard kickoff run from Jamaal Charles(notes) on the opening play. There was also a 94-yard interception return of a Ben Roethlisberger(notes) pass in the end zone by linebacker Andy Studebaker(notes), but that wasn't a score. The Steelers have now gone more than 100 carries without a touchdown from their running backs, and the constant attacks on Roethlisberger finally caught up when Big Ben was kicked in the head in overtime and came off the field with what coach Mike Tomlin later classified as a "concussion-oriented thing".

Backup Charlie Batch(notes) couldn't seal the deal in OT, and the Steelers gave up some big passing plays in the second half without Troy Polamalu(notes) to cover deep. It was Matt Cassel's(notes) 61-yard play to Chris Chambers(notes) that put Ryan Succop(notes) in position to win the game with a 22-yard field goal. The only good news for the Steelers is that the Ravens also lost, which keeps Pittsburgh a game ahead of Baltimore at 6-4. The Steelers and Ravens go at it for the first time this season next Sunday night.

He returned on Nov. 9; the Blackhawks haven't lost a game since then.

So they roll into Vancouver tonight to face a Canucks team that's won two in a row and gets Daniel Sedin(notes) back from injury to play on a line with brother Henrik and Alex Burrows(notes).

It's a heck of a matchup between two increasingly bitter conference rivals -- and hey, you can watch the game live via Hockey Night on Y! -- but that's taken a back seat to Toews vs. Mitchell in the pregame hype.

From the Chicago Tribune:

"I'm not looking for any retribution," Toews said. "I want to play a great game and show them something like that isn't going to change the way I play."

The Oct. 21 hit at center ice was considered clean, but it upset many of the Hawks and afterward several indicated they would remember it the next time the teams played.

Coach Joel Quenneville doesn't expect his team to respond drastically. "Our priority will be to win the hockey game and nothing else," Quenneville said. "Getting even on the scoreboard is the best way to get even."

The Canucks expect much the same, via Canwest:

"It's just hockey, it was on the ice, it was a clean hit," said Mitchell, who's spoken to Toews since the incident. "Ask Jon about it, he'll tell you that, too."

Head coach Alain Vigneault said he thought the two teams will have more pressing business Sunday night.

"At the end of the day that was just a clean hit," said Vigneault. "It was a hockey hit. There was no intent to injure on Willie's part. It was just part of the game. Our focus is going to be on two points and I think that's what their focus is going to be on."

Sure. Two points. Just win the game. Not like there's any previous bad blood between these teams, right? Should be fun.

Thanks to a Baton Rouge television station, however, we do know better:

That clip compounds the already searing indictment of LSU's horrendous clock management on the game-winning drive: On top of allowing 16 precious seconds to tick away before heaving up a desperate fourth-down pass with only nine seconds left, and apparently failing to have any plan for getting the field goal team onto the field or getting off a throw into the end zone when that pass was completed, Miles a) Vigorously signaled for his quarterback to throw the team's only remaining chance to win into the turf, and b) Proceeded to either forget what he was thinking in that crucial moment or outright lie about it, effectively making his sophomore quarterback the scapegoat for the boneheaded decision.

It's not the first time Miles has lost his head in the heat of a crucial moment or seemed to lose track of the clock at the end of a game. It was bound to burn a man whose brain seems to lie entirely below his sternum eventually. But to throw your own quarterback to the wolves -- intentionally or unintentionally, since it's not clear at all Miles was technically conscious when he was frantically instructing his team to spike the ball -- that's hardly the stuff of a $4 million man.

- - -
Hat tip: Sports By Brooks.

The eerie calm reminds me of waiting for a devastating hurricane to come ashore after all the preparations have been made: The windows are boarded up, the pantry is full of supplies, the skies have taken on a greenish-gray hue, the wind is blowing mockingly and everyone is sitting on the porch, laughing nervously until the lights go out and everything begins to rock and howl in the throes of the storm. Weis had the same kind of chuckle amid the grim atmosphere at his regular Sunday press conference, where he insisted he planned to spend what will surely be his final week as Notre Dame's coach focusing on Stanford, trying to enjoy Thanksgiving with his family and refusing to consider resignation. Sometime after that, next Sunday or Monday, he'll be handed his walking papers and the epic storm of the '09 Notre Dame coaching search will land with full force.

I've joked before about having a "Charlie Weis is Fired" post in the can like the New York Times' pre-meditated obituaries of famous people, ready to toss up at a moment's notice when the time comes. The coming week, though, is going to amount to essentially the same thing, to the extent that all that will be left to say when the official word comes is "There it is." Stay tuned, kids, and make sure the pets are inside.

If you read the Puck Headlines every weekday, you've no doubt seen Ryan Kennedy's name before. He's a writer and editor at The Hockey News, and one of those columnists that will generally provide a take on the League's big issues and players that hasn't already been regurgitated throughout the rest of the media. Which is a good thing.

He's also a gear-obsessed, hockey culture guy; his latest venture at THN is a special lifestyle magazine called Fully Loaded, which features the best in hockey streetwear, NHL gear and hockey equipment.

Good writer, good dude. Here are five reasons why Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News loves hockey:

1. Fighting

We have a very tight-knit crew in the offices of THN, but nothing sets off the screaming like the fighting debate. As one of the resident hawks (it's not hard to figure out who the doves are), I maintain that fighting is part of the fabric of the game. Sure, maybe the sport can survive without it, but we all grew up watching fights and that's how we fell in love with the sport. It would be like taking the cheating and dullness out of soccer.

Plus, I just like it.

I love watching fights, and I YouTube them almost every morning. In the us-against-them current that runs through sports, only hockey really comes through in terms of avenging perceived evils against your favorite squad. The instant justice of Wendel Clark destroying Marty McSorley in the 1993 Western Conference final after McSorley's elbow on Doug Gilmour is one of the highlights of my hockey-watching youth.

2. The World of Hockey

Researching Europe for various projects leads to a never-ending source of unintentional comedy, generally provided by Google translator. Alex Ovechkin(notes) had 13 washers in his final year with Moscow Dynamo. Kitchener's Gabriel Landeskog is listed on native Swedish websites as "Gabriel County Forest." Karpat Oulu's cheerleaders are known as the 'Baby Beasts," while KHL St. Petersburg fans are entertained by the "Soul Sisters." Also, there's a team in Latvia called ASK Ogre. Not even a Google translator on that one; that's just what they're called (Ogre is a city).

3. Jerseys

As the resident 'Jersey Hound' at THN, I give a shout-out to a different team sweater every issue and the research for that is very fun. The hockey sweater provides the best canvas of any pro uniform and now that we're out of the pastels from the end of the 20th century, teams are generally looking good.

In my searches, I've found a Chicago Black Hawks sweater so old it doesn't even have red in it, the first-ever Boston Bruins jersey (it's brown, not black) and a picture of Martin Brodeur(notes) rocking a Utica Devils (AHL) uni.

Also, as I point out every time I get the chance, I tracked down a picture of the Springfield Indians jersey Snoop Dogg wore in the "Gin and Juice" video -- a jersey so rare because the Indians were only affiliated with the Hartford Whalers for a short time, and the Whalers only went to darker colors (which influenced the Springfield jersey) for a shorter time.

The fact Snoop Dogg wore that particular sweater practically bends the cosmos in terms of probability.

4. Maple Leaf Gardens

It really was something to experience. Even as a child my knees went flush against the railing in front of my seat and the trough bathrooms were an intimidating prospect. But what I'll never forget (besides a lot of losses and moustaches) is that brief time in history when smoking was banned, but not in the stairwells between floors. That meant that as soon as you turned the corner, an almost literal wall of cigarette smoke would confront you as you made your way up or down. Since I was still a kid, I'm glad smoke rises. I also bootleg recorded a Nine Inch Nails concert there in Grade 10.

5. Working at The Hockey News

At this point, I've literally interviewed hundreds of NHLers. Lil Jon called my house. Don Cherry left a message. I've talked metal with Jere Lehtinen(notes) and Drew Stafford(notes). I've been to every rink in the Northeast Division, plus Detroit and Pittsburgh, where I covered Game 6 of the final last year. I've seen games in the WHL, OHL and AHL. I saw Steven Stamkos(notes) and John Tavares(notes) face off in junior and watched Drew Doughty(notes) single-handedly end a game in Guelph on an end-to-end solo rush with six seconds left.

I know I have one of the best jobs in the world, which is why I push copy every day, just livin' the dream.

With a nickname like "Da Spyder" you'd think fighters would be afraid to go anywhere near Kendall Grove. But that hadn't been the case in some recent fights against the likes of Jorge Rivera and Ricardo Almeida. Once those fights got into clinch situations, Grove was manhandled and easy to takedown. Last night at UFC 106, it looked like Grove turned the corner. In the opening minutes, he was being thrown around like a rag doll and taken down often by Jake Rosholt. The difference this time? Grove was actively looking to stand right back up and making Rosholt work hard to maintain position.

"I just gotta work with it. I can't freak out when I'm down there," Grove told Cagewriter shortly after the win. 

Rosholt, a three-time national champion wrestler at Oklahoma State, is still learning the nuances of submission defense. Grove is pretty slick with his triangle and d'arce choke. The matchup worked in favor of the 6-foot-6 Hawaiian:

"Me and my jiu-jitsu coach Justin McCully right here, we just was working on that same exact triangle from that same position back in the lockerroom right before we went out."

Rosholt slipped for a split second and Grove locked on the choke. He said it was tight and there was no way for Rosholt to escape. Grove was a little emotional during the postfight while remembering his grandmother who passed away on Nov. 12.

Teachers' Pet(s): Jeremiah Masoli and Nick Foles. Oregon and Arizona's rocket-armed quarterbacks put on a laser light show in the 44-41, double-overtime game of the week to reaffirm the Ducks as Pac-10 frontrunners. Masoli was responsible for all six of Oregon's touchdowns -- three passing, three rushing -- and finished with 345 total yards. Foles kept pace nicely with 314 passing yards and four touchdowns that earned the Wildcats the respect of an exhausted but rapt nation. (You were rapt, right, Harris Poll voters?)

Most School Spirit: While the vultures were circling the opposing sideline, it got a little misty as longtime UConn coach Randy Edsall struggled to hold it together while declaring the Huskies' overtime win at Notre Dame -- their first after a series of razor-thin, disappointing losses since cornerback Jasper Howard was murdered last month -- the biggest victory in school history.

Most Unlikely Couple: Charlie Weis and the Cleveland Browns? Still no word this morning on the fate of Notre Dame's top dog, but if the Irish brass are really waiting for the Stanford game to pass judgment ... well, despite the Cardinal's troubles Saturday at Cal, we can't imagine them not dispatching the Domers with ease next week in Palo Alto.

Most Creative: Mike Locksley. New Mexico's punch-happy head coach finally has one in the W column, but only after multiple turnovers, five lead changes and a field goal with 12 seconds remaining to put away equally hapless Colorado State. Honorable mention: UTEP, which once again found a way to lose to a one of C-USA's irredeemable bottom dwellers -- in this case, Rice, which took out the Miners 30-29 despite passing for just 55 yards with a long gain of 17 for the game. Our sincere congratulations to the Owls on their two-game win streak after an 0-9 start.

Mister Personality: Rick Neuheisel. It's probably not how he envisioned his team would get there, and it's certainly later than UCLA partisans were hoping, but the Bruins are bowl-eligible after extending Arizona State's puzzling losing streak to five games. (A nice, round number to correspond to the five fumbles the Devils coughed up to the Bruins in a 23-13 loss, ending their own bowl hopes.)

Most Popular: The Pac-10, for livening up an otherwise wobbly Week 12 slate with a pair of highly diverting, to-the-wire matchups in primetime, keeping things interesting into late night with the aforementioned Arizona-Oregon tilt and a thriller of a Big Game in Stanford.

Grape Job! Les Miles, that old so-and-so, didn't so much snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as he forced a crushing loss to Ole Miss down his own throat, sword-swallower style. This only bears out my theory, by the way, that Miles makes all sideline decisions with a 20-sided die he keeps tucked up under his hat. When you ride with the god of chaos, kids, buckle up. And have a grape day.

Drama Queen: Oklahoma has tried every trick in the book from cutting itself "just to feel alive" (Sam Bradford's shoulder) to sulking in the corner and refusing to score touchdowns (the Nebraska game), and now returns to its wheelhouse by losing a big game it could have handled in embarrassing fashion at Texas Tech. (We will take all this back once it comes out that Bob Stoops threw this game so the punditry would quit touting him as the next head coach at Notre Dame.)

Class Clown: The Big XII North. Stop me if you've heard this one before: With a win over Nebraska yesterday, Kansas State could have clinched the division title. Instead, with a loss in Lincoln, the Wildcats aren't even going to a bowl at 6-6 -- they have the raw win count to qualify, but are only allowed to count one of their two wins over I-AA patsies -- thereby reducing the season from "potentially special" to "over" in a matter of hours. Hilarious!

Most Likely To Succeed: Colt McCoy, the most realistic candidate left standing from the preseason's clean-cut Heisman triumvirate. Saturday's 32-of-41, 396-yard, four-touchdown performance lifted Texas a decisive win over outmanned basketcase Kansas, broke the Division I record for career victories and did nothing to dispel the assumption that the Longhorns will be the team to beat in Pasadena.

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

Click here to submit questions.

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Today, this test is in the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, whose defense is not what it used to be. Edge-rusher Terrell Suggs(notes) could miss up to a month with a knee injury suffered after Browns quarterback Brady Quinn(notes) went into him with a low block last Monday night. Nose tackle Haloti Ngata(notes) will be playing on a sprained ankle if he plays at all. And cornerbacks Fabian Washington(notes) and Domonique Foxworth(notes) have not performed as expected, struggling in man coverage and allowing 7.0 yards per passing attempt, a decidedly mediocre number. The worst thing that can happen to an injured defense is to face a quarterback as conversant with the no-huddle as Manning is -- he will take Baltimore's substitution packages out of the game and limit their ability to switch from base coverage to nickel. This is one of Manning's real gifts: because the Colts go single-back, three-wide so often, and the success of his offense is based more on execution than formation diversity, he's able to bulldoze down the field with his arsenal of calls.

For the Ravens, the best strategy might be the lesser of several evils. When the Colts narrowly beat the Texans on November 8, the Texans bracketed the outside with coverage and let Clark catch stuff over the middle with stud rookie linebacker Brian Cushing(notes) in coverage. It was a mismatch in Clark's favor, but he averaged only 8.5 yards per catch on his fourteen catches and his longest play was for 17 yards. The Ravens have the inside linebackers to stop the dink-and-dunk short, and the offense to keep the game close.