The move sparked instant speculation that Marty Turco's(notes) time in Dallas will come to a end before the trade deadline, with Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet claiming that the Philadelphia Flyers could be the destination. Makes sense, considering the uncertain status of Ray Emery(notes). (Due to injury; not because he's Ray Emery.)

But that's speculation; let's deal with this trade, which is a rather bold move for the Stars on two fronts. First, Vishnevskiy was rated as the top prospect in the Dallas system by Hockey's Future, and would have fit well with a group of young Stars defensemen (assuming the team can retain their services).

Second, this is at the very least a commitment to Kari Lehtonen(notes) as their playoff-push goalie or to the fragile 26-year-old as their franchise goalie, if they re-sign the pending RFA. Dallas began the night three points out of a playoff spot; does this move bring them closer?

Is it a gamble? Sure, but what's the alternative? Let Turco skate for nothing after floundering away a playoff seed? Leave the goaltending situation a major question mark heading into the summer and having bidding wars against rivals? Lehtonen's RFA status means there's a proven, affordable NHL starter as an option on a post-Turco team. Health is a concern, for sure; but it's better than fighting 10 other teams to offer $7 million per season to Evgeni Nabokov(notes).

We'll follow this story as it becomes official and if the other skate drops on Turco this evening. Follow Defending Big D for updates as well. Meanwhile, wrap your brains around Marty Turco playing for, and in front of, Flyers fans.

Marcos Pirchio of Ecuador's Deportivo Quito rides his opponent to the ball during his side's 2-0 Copa Libertadores loss to Uruguay's Cerro on Tuesday and in doing so, revolutionizes the way the game is played. Consider the archaic means of transporting oneself up and down the pitch that is "running" to be a thing of the past. Whips will also become an essential piece of equipment at all levels. Welcome to 2010. 

Photo: Reuters

Paranoid delusions of referees conspiring against YOUR club grip nearly every organized team like a boa constrictor on Adderall, but just like all the rest, Napoli feel exceptionally hard done by. Fueling their fear is their most recent match, where they lost 3-1 to Udinese last weekend on an Antonio Di Natale hat trick that began with a ball that had gone out of play and also included midfielder Cristiano Maggio getting sent off for a non-dive.

Though, Maggio did get slight retribution by shoving the referee on his way off the pitch, Napoli fans feel more action in necessary and they're hoping to spark that with the most disturbing protest they could think of -- wearing Pierluigi Collina masks during Sunday's match against Inter Milan.

Famed former referee and current chief referee designator in Italy, Pierluigi Collina (pictured above, staring into your soul and searing himself into your dreams) is considered a symbol of the high-water mark of refereeing, as well as the kind of insect-eyed gaze that causes grown men to cower and admit the truth of their mistakes.

Meanwhile, Lazio fans have taken up a more direct and arguably less effective form of protest against their own team -- fighting police outside the training ground.

As many as 1,000 angry Lazio fans first blocked players from entering the training ground, then forced them to barricade themselves inside the dressing room as the crowd fired homemade explosives at the police.

Dropping into the relegation zone last weekend was the rational thought-crushing event behind this reaction. Lazio are acting fast to try and calm the tifosi, though. They've hired Edoardo Reja away from Hejduk Split to take over as manager in a move that proves that Eoardo Reja does not scare easily. Although, he hasn't seen those Collina masks yet. 

Photo: Getty Images

The odds of Henderson getting any definitive word on the sanctions (or lack thereof) before April 1, though, are slim; the NCAA usually takes in the neighborhood of six weeks to announce those decisions, and keeps them under notoriously strict lock and key in the meantime. It's not clear that Henderson will have any information by then that he doesn't have now, other than maybe reading the expressions on faces around USC's football offices. Whether he signs with the Trojans or doesn't, putting his name down before he knows the extent of the sanctions (if there are any) is a gamble.

Or, if he's feeling really confident, he can take his sweet time, because the NCAA doesn't require a letter of intent to accept a scholarship and enroll in time to play next fall:

Am I required to sign a National Letter of Intent?
No. You are not required to sign a National Letter of Intent but many student-athletes sign a National Letter of Intent because they want to create certainty in the recruiting process. Specifically, by signing a National Letter of Intent, you agree to attend the institution for one year in exchange for the institution's promise, in writing, to provide you athletics financial aid for the entire academic year.

Back in 2007, Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis wondered why anyone would commit themselves to a completely voluntary process -- "They will simply sign because, well, that's what everybody does." -- but the answer is obvious: For the vast majority of players, no signature means no scholarship; impatient coaches will just move to the next person in line who jumps at the opportunity. Even a player as hyped as Bryce Brown, the No. 1 ranked player in last year's incoming class, was effectively dropped by Miami when his longstanding offer from the 'Canes expired before Brown announced his decision.

But Brown still found plenty of other schools ready and willing to take his signature a full month after signing day had passed -- Oregon and LSU were holding their collective breath when he eventually signed onto Lane Kiffin's program at Tennessee in March -- and Henderson's hype suggests he may very well be worth waiting for well into April or May or however long it takes for the NCAA to come back with a verdict on USC's immediate future; few coaches (with the possible exception of Miami's Randy Shannon) are in the habit of turning down elite talent out of some haughty sense of decorum, and Kiffin and right-hand recruiting mercenary Ed Orgeron, in particular, will never pass up an opportunity to add another blue-chip notch on their belts. Henderson will never have this kind of leverage as a player again. If he plays it right, the only limit he faces is the patience of his many suitors.

- - -
Hat tip: Julian

Ah, yes. You see, some things are seasonal, and some are everyday. Redskins goofiness is everyday.

The most recent bloviation came from formerly interesting and funny running back Clinton Portis(notes), who admitted that he tried to have fullback Mike Sellers benched. Once that was out of the way, Portis took off on former Washington linebacker LaVar Arrington(notes) and the "real" reason Arrington left the team after the 2005 season.

"In D.C., some of the players feel like it was a money situation, who getting the money is a captain. Arrington was the man in D.C. when I arrived, and all of the sudden LaVar felt like it was competition, and he left D.C. He didn't want to be in D.C. any more. He gave back 15, 20 million dollars to leave D.C. because he felt like he wasn't the main money guy, because everybody was getting [paid]."

Erm, OK. That explanation strains credulity, but the real reason for this post is Arrington's reply, which sent chills up my spine. Download the audio here, and listen as you read. It's pretty inspiring stuff, and here are a few excerpts.

"I am looking around a field, and as fate would have it, just listen to some of these names, just listen to some of these names. Champ Bailey(notes). Mark Carrier. Darrell Green. Andre Reed. Dana Stubblefield. Brad Johnson(notes). Deion Sanders. Larry Centers. Marco Coleman. Stephen Davis(notes). Dan 'Big Daddy' Wilkinson. Chris Samuels(notes), my litter mate. Jon Jansen(notes). Irving Fryar. Bruce Smith. I am on the field as a 21-year-old young man that has fulfilled the first part of a dream, to make it onto a professional team and actually be something that I wanted to be my whole life. I'm sitting here as a professional, beside myself that I am actually on the same field as these individuals...

"I respect the game. I would have never argued with Sam Huff. I would have never argued with Brian Mitchell. I would never have argued with John Riggins. I would never have argued with Sonny Jurgensen. I would not disrespect the people who were the forerunners, who were the people who set the bar where it needed to be for us to be willing to dream and try to achieve. I would never disrespect that. I would never take that and spit on that, like that is not something that is as precious as the gold that we all spend money on. I would not disrespect that.

"I protect this with my heart, I protect this with my soul, I would not do that for just attention. Understand the message, because this message is for the ones out there that are our athletes of tomorrow. We are losing a battle here. Our battle is not about who gets the most publicity. Our battle is not about who makes the most touchdowns or makes the most money. Our battle is being someone that the next generation can sit back and look at you and be proud about what you are, what you represent, what you say, what you do ... I am upset right now, because we continue to depict ourselves in a way that is not right. And for what? For some attention? What's your motivation?"

Strong stuff. You can read the transcript from our friend Dan Steinberg at the indispensable D.C. Sports Bog, and I highly recommend you do so. Whatever you may think of Arrington, and that he may have been a relative disappointment for his high draft pick, he's got one heck of a future as a motivational speaker if he wants it.

And as for Clinton Portis? Head back to the wigs and funny glasses, dude. "Southeast Jerome" would NOT respect this, were he still alive ...

Preview: Nashville Predators at New York Islanders, 7 p.m. EST. The slumping Islanders, losers of seven in a row, will look to right the ship by bringing Martin Biron(notes) back in goal. Biron last started for the Islanders on Dec. 27 and has been relegated to the press box after Rick DiPietro(notes) made his return. Pekka Rinne(notes) will be in net for the Predators. Colin Wilson(notes) was recalled today to fill in for Marcel Goc(notes) who is injured.

Preview: Vancouver Canucks at Tampa Bay Lightning, 7:30 p.m. EST. Entering the fifth game of their 14-game trip, the Canucks will be without Pavol Demitra(notes), who has left the team to tend to a personal matter. Lightning goaltender Antero Niittymaki(notes) says that the key to stopping the Sedin twins is to watch the one without the puck. He'll be wise to do so as the twins have been in a "slump," with only Daniel recording a point in Vancouver's past three games.

Preview: Dallas Stars at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m. EST. It's "Tony Esposito Night" at United Center and the Blackhawks are looking to snap out of a two-game skid at home. Brian Campbell(notes) believes the power play is key down the stretch: "A lot of games down the stretch are going to be one-goal games and we have to be ready for that because it's going to lead into the playoffs. Our special teams need to be better. If the power play can add one a game, that will create more scoring for us."

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

Evening Reading

UPDATE: No ligament damage to Ryan Getzlaf's(notes) ankle. He's listed day-to-day and may return to the Ducks lineup before the weekend. [TSN]

-The door may be open again for Johan Franzen(notes) to play for Team Sweden next week at the Olympics. He is expected to speak with Swedish coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson after tonight's game about how he feels after returning from injury. [Freep]

-Edmonton's AHL franchise will be moving to Oklahoma City for the 2010-11 season. The team will play at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City. [AHL]

-A week after the Ottawa Senators expressed interest in one of the upcoming All-Star Games, the Pittsburgh Penguins submitted a bid to host the game next season. It will be their first in the new Consol Energy Center, which is set to open on October. The team also will apply, along with Robert Morris University, to host the NCAA Frozen Four in either 2013 or 2014. [Penguins]

-On hockey equipment being used for more than just the safety of players. [Running with the Devils]

-A take on why building a hockey team from the net out is a bad idea. [Two for Slashing]

Puck Buddy Comment of the Day: Scuuba expresses a sentiment felt by many NHL fans caught in the middle of the DirecTV / Versus mess:

"I shouldn't have to change my television provider from one I love to one I hate (Time Warner) or one that doesn't get my team in HD (fios) to get a major sporting event. The NHL should absolutely get involved in this considering that their television deal is putting its fanbase out of the way."

Bold Prediction: Johan Franzen scored twice in his return to Detroit's lineup as the Red Wings down St. Louis.

OK, no, there aren't actually going to be pony rides. That was a lie. Apologies. (Pretty sure CBS offers 'em, if this no-pony situation is a dealbreaker for you). Let's talk about a few of the free perks we do offer when you register for Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball 2010:  

• Live scoring. Yup, that's right: It's free. $0. Live stats will appear at no cost. For whatever reason, users seem to prefer this pricing strategy over the $9.99 model. 

• Acquisition budgets. Gamers now have the option to replace the traditional waiver process with FAAB-style blind bidding, which is arguably a fairer way to distribute un-owned talent. Managing FAAB dollars is an art. You're encouraged to try it.   

• iPhone application. Honestly, this one has very little direct impact on me, since I prefer to use a man's phone. But it's nice to know that various leaguemates will have easy access to trade offers at all times, and thus no excuse for sitting on deals. 

And now for the most exciting enhancement:

• Auction leagues. Finally, we're auction-enabled. You're free from the tyranny of serpentine drafts! (Although of course we offer those, too). In auction formats, every owner in your league will have the opportunity to acquire every name in the player pool. The auction room will look familiar…

…but you'll nominate players and place bids while a clock ticks.

We'll have plenty of time in the weeks ahead to discuss auction strategy – end-game spending, bid-jumping, varying cadence, etc. – but for now, please just know that auctions are available, they're free, and they're spectacular.

Sign up. Game on. For additional information on other new game features, click here. Blog leagues forming soon…

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Photo via Getty Images

BeFun Opens: Tommy Hanson(notes) is just 23, but don't get too comfortable using the inexperience card against him: Yovani Gallardo is the same age, and Hanson showed little of the typical concerns you'd have with a rookie. His first-pitch strike percentage, according to FanGraphs.com, ranked 10th among all starters (120 IP min.). And he clocked in at a solid 36th among starters in K/BB ratio (2.52), 14 spots ahead of Gallardo (50th).

It's Hanson's ability to locate his pitches that makes his slider and curveball so special. And they were special. Both pitches ranked among the top 22 most valuable among starters (again, we're talking about a rookie), and both were more valuable than any pitch-type offering from Gallardo last season. And while not as impactful as his breaking stuff, Hanson's fastball, at an average of 92.3 mph (same as Gallardo), is far from chump change. 

Special talent can accelerate the learning curve – Tim Lincecum(notes) and Justin Verlander(notes) are good recent examples. Hanson looks exceptional in every way. He's delivered a 3.03 ERA or less and more than a K per IP at each professional stop. He's also got the ideal physique (6-foot-6, 220) and repertoire of an ace.

Gallardo's not going to treat you wrong, but there's a wart or two that can't be dismissed  – he followed up a lost season due to an ACL tear by finishing third in the majors with 94 walks in '09.

With Hanson, there are strong indicators of a cathedral-like ceiling, and I'm willing to chase it.

Pianow Responds:  It's foolish to argue against Hanson's resume and upside, though you can find minor flags in his stat profile if you poke around. He's a fly-ball pitcher who was somewhat lucky with his FB/HR rate last year (6.9 percent), and his BABIP (.280) and strand rate (80.3 percent) were more favorable than league averages. The stats under the hood suggested that Hanson's 2009 ERA should have been in the mid-3s, but instead it checked in at 2.89.

I'm fine to project a strong year from Hanson, but there's no way I'm going to expect Tim Lincecum's 2008 season or Mark Prior's(notes) 2003 campaign. Let's recall a few can't-miss sophomores who have let us down in recent years: Felix Hernandez(notes), Zack Greinke(notes), Brandon Webb(notes), any number of Florida hotshots (Willis, Johnson, Sanchez, Olsen), Joba Chamberlain(notes), Matt Cain(notes). Heck, I'm still trying to get over the 1990s scars that I got from Jason Isringhausen(notes), Bill Pulsipher and Aaron Sele(notes), sophomores gone wrong.

I realize we're presenting Hanson vs. Gallardo as an either-or proposition, but let's see the big picture for a moment. Early ADP returns suggest you can get Gallardo at least a round later, and I bet the gap is wider in some circles. Every logical batch of projections has these guys set to return similar numbers; Hanson might be the better ERA bet, but Gallardo's generally pegged for a better K/9. If it comes down to a coin flip situation, give me the player with less buzz tied to him, the guy who will cost a little less. Maybe you don't concur, but I see Bernie Brewer and the gang at Arnold's nodding in agreement.

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Ball Don't Lie celebrated its two-year anniversary last week, and I regret to inform you that we've yet to feature Ken "the Snake" Norman prominently in a post. This is on us, fully, and on behalf of each of Ball Don't Lie's contributors, I apologize.

The Hawks are in Memphis tonight, fresh off an unscheduled three-day rest that follows the cancellation of the team's Saturday night contest in Washington D.C. Atlanta has been nervous on the road of late, but a chance to get into the "teeth" of Memphis' rather iffy defense could have Mike Woodson's crew licking its chops.

The Grizzlies? They're floundering, with three losses in a row and a bonafide second round team about to attack its home arena. Of course, with this much talent, Memphis is due for a revival, and because the Hawks play such silly ball away from Philips Arena, we could have ourselves a game.

We've got 11 games tonight, actually, as the NBA tries to cram it all in before the All-Star break hits on Friday. Document it all, and share your favorite bird vs. bear stories in the comment section.

Atlanta Hawks: 32-17, 90.9 possessions per game (26th), 111.4 points scored per 100 possessions (fourth), 106.2 points allowed per 100 possessions (11th).

Memphis Grizzlies: 26-24, 93.3 possessions per game (10th), 109.1 points scored per 100 possessions (10th), 109.9 points allowed per 100 possessions (24th).

All statistics courtesy basketball-reference.com.

That's where James Madison walk-on guard Ryan Knight was arrested on Saturday evening after allegedly throwing snowballs at a city snowplow and, you guessed it, an unmarked police car.

Knight and fellow James Madison student Charles Gill, both 21, were charged with throwing "missiles" at occupied vehicles, a felony that amazingly could send them both to prison for up to five years. (Even in a world where spork-wielding 6-year-olds can be suspended from school, a tad excessive, no?)

At about 5 p.m. on Saturday, police responded to a report that two men were throwing snow at the windshield of a city plow truck. When police arrived at the scene to search for the assailants, their unmarked squad car was also bombarded with icy projectiles.

Knight, a sophomore, has appeared in just one game this season for James Madison. Tip of the cap to the The Smoking Gun for the mugshot.

Ivanovic is one of a number of athletes to pose for the issue. Skier Lindsey Vonn also is in the magazine, which hits newstands Wednesday, four days before Vonn will begin competing in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

SI published 45 pictures of Ivanovic on its Web site, including this one which seems to be a pretty apt metaphor for the recent struggles the 22-year old Serbian.  

It was just 19 months ago that Ivanovic was No. 1 in the world and coming off her first Grand Slam win at the French Open. Now she's ranked No. 23 and hasn't reached a Slam quarterfinal since her run in Paris. It's been a staggering fall from the top.

But, hey, we're not here to talk about tennis, we're here to talk about wearing bikinis and high heels while wrapped in a tennis net in a fashion that sort of resembles the way the Smoke Monster kills people on "Lost." If the WTA rankings incorporated the ability to pull off such things (and they're so ridiculous, who knows if they don't), Ana would still be No. 1

Bonus: To those women and men who don't appreciate the Ana swimsuit shots as much as I do, there's something for you after the jump:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott says that if the conference is going to expand, a decision will likely be made in the next year.
[...]
Scott said it made sense to have a decision about expansion before starting to negotiate new television deals that expire following the 2011-12 academic year.

Scott says "serious evaluation" of the topic will go on in the next six to 12 months. He said the primary factor in the decision will be finding schools that fit into the conference culturally and academically and determining whether the benefits of adding extra teams outweigh the costs.

On Monday, Scott named Kevin Weiberg -- a veteran who helped oversee Big Ten expansion from 10 teams to 11 as the conference's deputy commissioner in the early '90s, and returned to help put together the Big Ten Network after doubling revenues during a nine-year stint as commissioner of the Big 12 -- as the Pac-10's new deputy commissioner, a good indication a copycat Pac-10 Network could be in the works. When the San Jose Mercury-News' Jon Wilner asked Scott if Weiberg's addition could be read as a prelude to expansion before negotiations for the conference's critical new television contract heat up next year, Scott admitted "this would be the logical time."

Is a mini-blitz in the media an indication that Scott is necessarily more serious about expansion than he was three or six months ago? He says no: "I think I’ve been consistent on that subject." Is it a starting gun for far-reaching, recklessly sourced theories about how the cards may fall if another heavy-hitting league starts to sprawl in search of fresh blood? Of course it is:

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 Sports) - The University of Utah to the PAC 10? BYU to the Big 12? It could happen.

This is all speculation...but sources are telling ABC 4 Sports that Utah will be invited to join the PAC 10 conference, but not BYU. The Cougars could wind up in the Big 12...or staying put in the MWC.

Several dominoes have to fall first, but here's how it could all play out...

Speculation by anonymous sources indicates it could happen if certain other purely speculative moves happen first. Or not ... Thank you, Woodward and Bernstein. (Unwritten rule of thumb: The reliability of any report is typically in direct opposition to the quantity of ellipses therein.)

Which isn't to say it isn't going to happen: The longstanding fallout plan if the Pac-10 ever started to look outward calls for the league to snatch up Utah and BYU, or to take one of the Beehive State powers along with Colorado, leaving the other (in this scenario, BYU) to fill the Buffaloes' slot in the Big 12 North, which would welcome the addition of the fastest-growing state in the Union to its footprint. The burning question then: Where does the Big 12 turn if the Big Ten snatches up Missouri to fill out its vision of a two-division behemoth? Would it turn to one of the reigning mid-major darlings, Boise State and/or TCU? (Hey, this is kind of fun, actually ...)

Yes, all indications at the start of a new decade point to the emergence of the long-envisioned league of superconferences to leverage themselves for the ever-increasing spoils and put even more distance between the haves and have-nots. But they're still moving verrrry slowly for the foreseeable future. (The unforeseeable future, on the other hand, looks awesome.)

All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award-winning Dirty Tackle...

Uruguayan goalkeeper lets one squirt right between his legs for the double insult that is a nutmeg goal. [101gg]

They're selling football clubs in the newspaper now. [Daily Mail]

Ronaldinho may be overlooked for the World Cup. [Telegraph]

Did Cristiano Ronaldo turn down Barca before going to Real Madrid? [The Offside]

Iker Casillas needs to work on his walk of shame send-off etiquette. [Kickette]

India's richest man might buy up Liverpool. [The Spoiler]

John Terry will be allowed time off during next FA Cup match. [Football 365]

Umbro unveil new England away kit. Looks nice -- simple and clean. [Umbro]

Wolves fans learn obscene gestures young. [Pies]

Drugs fail Adrian Mutu test. [FistedAway]

Benin fired entire team. [Unprofessional Foul]

The last piece of the puzzle for Man United? [Caught Offside]

An NFL vs. Premier League case study. [AMSL]

Arsene Wenger likes things just the way they are, thank you. [Studs Up]

On Friday, the 21st Winter Olympic games will kick off in Vancouver. More than 5,500 athletes will all be competing for some precious steel, but that isn’t the entire reason you should care. Here are 21 reasons why you, kind sirs and madams, should be excited for this year’s Olympic Games.

-- Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, or as you can call him, the Snow Leopard. Kwame is Ghana’s first ever Winter Olympian, and will be competing in alpine skiing. How easy is he to love? “No problem. choo, choo, I’m the train which never stops,” he was quoted as saying. How did he get his nickname? Kwame is being sponsored by an online poker site, and any extra money he makes will be donated to save endangered snow leopards from extinction. Choo, choo indeed!

-- Wives, turn away for a second. OK, guys, do this right now. Go to Sports Illustrated, find pictures of Lindsey Vonn, and smile. She’s the world’s best Alpine skier, she is American and she is absolutely beautiful, and not in that “she’s an athlete so she is pretty for an athlete” kind of way. Nope, this is “she walks in a bar and your buddy is going to nudge you” hot. But it isn't her looks that might make her a star. Vonn could win four gold medals in Vancouver. Now that's hot.

-- You think NASCAR is fast? Take one night to watch skeleton. Seriously. For all the talk about obscure sports in the Olympics, the fact that people actually practice (and become good) at skeleton in insane. It’s like how Jerry Seinfield used to joke about the luge, only tougher, faster and with more risk.

-- Here’s something to ponder. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a man made famous by performance enhancing drugs, will carry the torch on Friday morning in a games that is being tortured by, you guessed it, performance enhancing drugs.

-- Football is over. What else are you going to do? 

-- He was the face of American sports in Turin, and Apolo Ohno will again be competing for medals in speed skating with the flash that has made him a face to remember. He might be 27, but he is still skating well, and needs one more medal to beat out Eric Heiden for most ever by an American man. How is the outlook? In trials, Ohno won the finals in the 500 meter, the 1000 meter and the 1500 meter, although he came in second in time trails to J.R. Celski in the 1000 meter. He has been on record as saying, “This is the strongest team we’ve had,” so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him take the medal stand a couple of more times before he leaves us for good ...

-- And while you’re at it, speedskating in general. What part of Shani David don’t you understand? Seriously, if you’re American, you need to love speedskating like you used to love figure skating. Here is an interesting stat -- since 1924, speedskating has produced more gold medals in the United States than all other sports in the Winter Olympics ... combined! Also, who doesn’t love Stephen Colbert?

-- Unlike the World Cup, the Olympics will not have thunder sticks. Vancouver banned the annoying pieces of plastic, which makes me love Vancouver even more.

-- Just to see if there is more snowfall in the month leading up to the Olympics in Arizona than in Vancouver.

-- To laugh at Russia. See, the country that used to dominate the hell out of the Olympics until the big split has made the claim that they’re goal this winter is to take home 40 (40!!) medals, four more than the most ever by a country (Germany in 2002). To me, Russia has always been the Yankees of the Winter Olympics, so being able to laugh at them when they fall short (they’re projected 21 medals) will be reason enough to tune in.

-- Johnny Weir’s outfits.

-- For Shaun White and his continued dominance in snowboarding. If you didn’t watch the X-Games, you missed White’s brilliant practice crash that even left White in awe after watching his face catch the edge of the halfpipe. White will have tricks in his bag for this event, and anytime he’s in the air, your television should be tuned in.

-- For the curling. Did you know it’s becoming more popular? There are 154 curling clubs in the United States, and like adult kickball, it’ll be gaining popularity. Also, like modern art, curling is one of the few sports people at home on their couch can look at think to themselves, “Heck, I could do this.” That is, until you try and play it.

-- You gotta watch something the Pope endorses. His exact words -- I hope the Olympics can be “a valued building block of peace and friendship between peoples and nations.” I couldn’t have said it better if I was Pope.

-- To actually utter these words for the first time in years -- “I’m watching NBC, and I like it!”

-- To watch Roberto Carcelén, the first Winter Olympian from Peru. He will be competing in cross-country skiing, but his story on how it all worked out is probably the best you’ll hear from Vancouver. Carcelén was planning on running a marathon in the United States, and decided to get online to meet some people before heading to America. Instantly, he met Kate, and the marathon was history. They met in March of 2003, were married in July, and Kate introduced Roberto to skiing. After watching the ’06 Winter Olympics, Carcelén vowed to become the first Peruvian in the Winter Games, and, umm, he did it.

-- Talk about pride ... India’s Shiva Keshavan is the only Olympian from the Middle Eastern country, but wasn’t going to be able to compete because his sled broke and he didn’t have the scratch to fix it. No worries. Five Indian businessmen heard about the luger’s troubles, tossed in $10,000 each and now he is in the field in Vancouver.

-- To see Bode Miller drop the crazy act and just ski. Miller is competing in all five alpine events in Vancouver, even though, you know, he hasn’t even trained for two of them. Call him what you will, Miller will be a big draw at Vancouver.

-- To make fun of the American’s outfits for the Opening Ceremony. I’d say it is Steve Martin mixed with a dash of Michael Cera’s bad character in “Youth in Revolt” coupled with what you used to think was cool in 9th grade.

-- To see Canada win gold in hockey. Hey, it’s going to happen, but if for some fluke reason it didn’t, I win a bet against a very attractive female in Vancouver that will not be very happy with her country’s squad.

-- Because, no matter what you say to yourself about the Winter Olympics, if you are a sports fan, you should care. It is our country competing against other countries in sport, the most universal thing in the world. No languages, no fashions, no styles ... just who is better at that moment, and who can step up on the big stage. It is decades of training, sweat, blood, “I don’t want to” and “I can’t do it.” It is people’s entire reason of being, all wrapped up in 15 seconds of competition. It is what these athletes were meant to be doing, and it doesn’t get much better than that.

Please recall last month where we broke down the race for the Vezina (and Hart) Trophy race between Ryan Miller(notes) of the Buffalo Sabres and Martin Brodeur(notes) of the New Jersey Devils. Well, it must have been a jinx because since Jan. 12, Miller is 4-6-2 and Brodeur has posted a 5-8-1 record. One goaltender that has played himself into consideration but has been over looked due to the dreaded "East Coast bias" is Evgeni Nabokov(notes) of the San Jose Sharks.

A finalist for the Vezina Trophy in 2008 (losing to Brodeur), Nabokov has been one of the NHL's more consistent goaltenders over the past three seasons and a workhorse for the Sharks. Since the 2007-08 season, Nabokov has been in goal for 190 games, winning 120 of them.  This season he's won 33 of the Sharks' 39 victories and is currently second in the NHL in wins, fifth in goals-against average (with the second most played games of the five) and tied for fourth in save-percentage. Nabokov, 34, is doing this in the season before he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. With San Jose seemingly not ready to hand the reigns to Thomas Greiss(notes) or any other prospect in their system, there could be a nice bump in pay for Nabokov as the Sharks would rather chase a Stanley Cup with their experienced netminder as this team is built to win now.

This Sharks team, according to Nabokov, is a much different team than what we've seen in the past:

"We can score, this team," Nabokov said. "Some games when we are not playing well, we are still able to win because of that. Some guys can be having a tough night, but we are still able to get two points."

"I think we are more patient with each other and calmer, off the ice and on the ice," he said. "I think we ... stay more even keel, where in the past, we might get excited too much at certain times."

Damn you Chuck Liddell! We're all going to start siding with Tito Ortiz. Just kidding.

Liddell makes the common man weep about their own existence when he sees him doing photo shoots like the one he did with Anna Trebunskaya, his partner from Dancing with the Stars. It's just Chuck being Chuck. 

When commenting on allegations of Liddell being an alcoholic, Dana White put it perfectly.

"I think Chuck Liddell is a rich guy with a lot of time on his hands," said White. "He's single. He likes to go out and meet girls. Do what most guys like to do. He's a little old to be doing it but that's what he likes to do."

Tip via Middleeasy.com

This picture of Albert Pujols(notes) and Ryan Franklin(notes) holding a looking like extras in a Tom Berenger feature was actually taken during a Cardinals' Navy tour in San Diego last August. But it somehow didn't make the rounds until today, which places it right in the C-a-C crosshairs.

So have at it, amateur Internet copy editors of the world. How should this caption read?

Follow the jump for winners from Bud Selig Create-a-Caption, 64-bit version:

Selig enters third day of N64 binge

1st — Troy J. "What button do I press to piss off the crowd?"

2nd — Aging Dominican. "Hey look guys, I can make the Astros play a home game in Milwaukee!"

3rd — Craig Salyers. "Press A-B-Up for HGH, B-A-Left for 'over the counter supplements,' and A-B-A to call your Balco connection."

HM — Robert L. "Hmmm...a baseball game on tv? How do we black it out?"

You're not going to believe this, but Shaun White is very rich. In fact, according to Forbes he's the richest Winter Olympian in Vancouver.

Joining White at the top of the list is South Korea's figure skating ace Kim Yu-Na. Both White and Yu-Na pulled in nearly $8 million last year from sponsorships, prize money, and other endorsements. Not bad for a 23 and 19-year-old.

After the $8 million dollar kids, the earnings drop off significantly with Sports Illustrated cover girl Lindsey Vonn coming in third with $3 million, followed by Alpine skier Ted Ligety's $2 million. Six more Olympians brought in at least a million last year including Americans Apolo Anton Ohno, Bode Miller, and Gretchen Bleiler.

The list doesn't include salaried athletes because that's not fair. The NHL players who will be competing in this year's Olympics make their money through their teams while these more traditional Olympians earn their living through sponsorships, which have decreased as the economy has tanked. Because of this, and the Winter Olympians' less marketable sports, endorsements have become harder to obtain. Just ask the American speedskating team who needed donations from Colbert Nation to stay afloat. Even the seemingly untouchable White was affected, as he lost American Express and Hewlett-Packard deals last year.

Nonetheless, there's still money to be made as an Olympian. But now it's a little harder to do. Probably not as hard as smashing up your face then winning $40,000 from the X Games though.

Wednesday is the 25th anniversary of Feb. 10, 1985, which just so happens to be the date of Michael Jeffrey Jordan's first All-Star Game. For the first time since the day he was frozen-out, a reissue of that jersey will be ... reissued. This is great news for everyone, even people who don't like Michael Jordan.

Why is that, Trey? For a lot of reasons, Internet.

First and foremost, this is a historic jersey, no duh. It marks the first huge success of Jordan's illustrious career, and also one of the earliest slights that Jordan imagined and used to make himself the greatest player in the history of basketball. Pretty big deal.

Also, these jerseys are the best that the All-Star Game has ever seen. They're so good, in fact, that they could even serve as a reissue for Jordan's last All-Star Game, as an updated version with way bigger shorts was used for the 2003 contest. Certainly better than his 2002 effort, where Jordan missed a wide-open dunk wearing a Wizards jersey. These are the dark times that we don't talk about.

And for the haters, if you're really anti-Mike, you should love this jersey because it symbolizes a time when even the best basketball players in the world were hating on Michael Jordan. It's like a schadenfreude shirt, or maybe a shirt-enfreude.

But really, the best reason to buy this is because it's my birthday in 10 days and you weren't sure what to get me. Come on, it's only $250. I wear an XL.

Ball Don't Lie's Swag Rating: Five Muggsy Bogues ...

*****

Do you like jokes and bobsleds? Check out Trey at Fourth-Place Medal, Y! Sports' Winter Olympics blog.

I won't waste your time -- if you want to see four WAGs in nothing but bodypaint, go here for all the pictures and videos. Even if you've already looked, look again. You won't go blind, I promise.

For those of you at work, or who simply can't bring yourselves to click away from the image above, I'll explain that the geniuses at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue decided to honor the impending World Cup by slapping a thin layer of bodypaint on four international WAGs and putting the photographic evidence of that tremendous occasion in their magazine. The four ladies chosen were:

Sarah Brandner -- girlfriend of Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Abbey Clancy -- fiance of England's robot-dancing giant Peter Crouch.

Bethany Dempsey -- wife of the U.S.'s trailer park hero, Clint Dempsey. This was apparently her first time modeling. Impressive.

Melissa Satta -- girlfriend of former Italian international Bobo Vieri. Now, Vieri will have absolutely nothing to do with this summer's World Cup, but if you're going to debate semantics on Satta's inclusion, you should just go play Yahtzee or something. 

And since I'm quite certain exactly zero of you are still reading this, I'll go ahead and stop typing now. 

"... the federal government will continue to fund both summer and winter sport at $47-million per year. Some $11-million of that goes to winter athletes and $36-million to summer athletes.

"But the minister would go no further than that at a news conference that included Jackson and Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer Chris Rudge, saying it's going to be a 'tough budget.' "

The devil is due to be in the details. It's an easy win for the federal government. It gets to say it is holding up its end of the bargain. The onus gets deflected away to the corporate sector, which doesn't have to worry about regular general elections. It becomes easy to let it slide.

Witness:

Do I ever wish injury upon another man? Of course not. But when watching ski jumping next week will I yearn for a catastrophic fall that miraculously results in only minor scratches? Perhaps.

Thanks, SB Nation

Gray Maynard is a pretty grounded and patient dude. That's why it was shocking to see him lose his cool and throw his gameplan out the window at Ultimate Fight Night 20 against Nate Diaz. With an impressive win, Maynard was in line to get the next shot at B.J. Penn's UFC lightweight title. It was pretty clear during the postfight that Maynard and his camp -- Randy Couture and Gil Martinez -- knew he had fallen behind Frank Edgar in the pecking order to land the Penn fight. Maynard was calm that night and again when Cagewriter tracked him down a few weeks later before Strikeforce: Miami.

Maynard said the timing just wasn't right.

"We can't just jump in there [and say] 'it's mine, let's do this.' It would've been tough to jump right into camp again."

His win over Diaz came on Jan. 11, which means he have roughly two weeks before going into another eight week training camp. Keep in mind, Maynard face got peppered pretty good by Diaz. He also said he's got some nagging injuries he'd like to heal up. Maynard said in the end, the decision is made by Couture and Martinez. His job is to say yes sir, no sir. 

There's also the issue of taking a fight 6,000 miles from his hometown of Las Vegas. Sounds like a lot of excuses but the bottomline is the time wasn't right for Maynard to take on the fight of his life.

Make sure you watch the end of the interview where Maynard talks about some of the NFL players, Patrick Willis and Calvin Pace, who came into Xtreme Couture just before and during the early part of the NFL season. 

Having once tried to copy the windup of every mid-'80s pitcher — from Rick Sutcliffe to Dan Quisenberry — I knew it was only a matter of time before we saw the country's Little Leaguers break out windmilling Tim Lincecum(notes) imitations on their local ball fields.

Now my hunch has been confirmed: Below is a video from a pitching instruction web site with analysis done by former Red Sox coffee cupper Dick Mills. You don't need to watch the whole seven minutes, but it's amusing to see a tiny tot take on the delivery that Tiny Tim and his dad made famous. Have any Little League parents actually seen any kids try this in person?

A couple of weeks ago, I championed the idea of Zach Randolph(notes) making the All-Star team. He eventually did make the All-Star team, a move that most of you, I'm sure, are cool with.

Also, at some point this month, Tyrus Thomas(notes) will likely be traded from the Chicago Bulls.

Chicago had long ago decided not to re-sign the fourth-year forward, and they'll be looking to dump his expiring contract on another team for other expiring deals, looking fully forward to the free agent class of 2010.

These three players are the same guy, you know. The guy's a bit of a lout, a knucklehead; someone who will never get it. Until they do get it, of course.

Jason Williams? He used to look off Peja Stojakovic(notes) behind the arc and Chris Webber(notes) on the trail in order to take a 30-footer from the elbow extended. It wasn't because he was selfish - he also used to force passes where they didn't belong when a stretch lay-up would have worked - but it definitely was because J-Will didn't quite "get it" at a level that most of us would have preferred.

At some point in 2003-04, under the tutelage of Hubie Brown, Williams suddenly decided to place himself amongst the tops in the league at assist-to-turnover ratio. He shot when appropriate. He still used a bit of flash, but he also bounce-passed and made the right move. It continues to this day. Williams turned 34 last September, and despite his advancing years, he actually seems to drive more in 2009-10 than he did in 1999-00.

Randolph? His statistics are right along the lines of his career averages, but he's not taking an entire team out of its offense in order to create this sort of production. He's not holding the ball after grabbing a defensive rebound in order to influence the point guard to slow the pace down. He's not endlessly staying in that triple-threat position; a position every defender and their mother knew was only going to end up with one low-percentage "threat," a flat-footed mid-range jumper. Finally, Randolph is getting it.

Tyrus Thomas?

I can't think of a single player, with the possible exception of New York's David Lee(notes), that has been jerked around more than Thomas. And I can't think of a single player, with no exception, that has acted like more of a prat than Tyrus. A nasty combination.

One doesn't lead to the other, but it doesn't help. Thomas was drafted as a project by the Bulls in 2006, but he was never treated like a project. Instead, he was treated like some four-year college starter that had been on CBS too many times to mention, and someone who was used to the grind. Thomas wasn't used to the grind. He was a basketball scrub until his late teens. He only had one year of slapping the backboards at LSU. He was ready, but he wasn't ready.

The Bulls not only acted as if he was ready, but he was also added to the Chicago roster at the start of Scott Skiles' weird passive-aggressive phase. When Skiles - who often seems like a perfect mix of the best qualities of Larry Brown and Don Nelson - started utilizing the worst qualities of Larry Brown and Don Nelson. The strange rotations. The stubbornness. The attention to obsession, rather than detail.          

Thomas played less than a year and a half under Skiles, but it may have well been two years. Because Skiles was replaced on an interim basis by Jim Boylan, a pointless move in retrospect, because Boylan was Skiles' number two, and he promptly spent the entirety of his obviously-interim gig taking out Skiles' indirect frustrations with certain players out on the kids who had wronged Boylan's buddy the most.

So Thomas would leave the game, for long stretches, for no apparent reason. And, just as much, he would stay in the game for no apparent reason. Almost to a night, the good play would go unrewarded, and the bad play would go unacknowledged. How in the hell was this kid, this man, supposed to learn?

Left to his own devices, the project acted like - and I know you're shocked - a project. Until it was/is time for Chicago to write off another cheapo lottery pick, and take in the savings.

It didn't have to be like this. And, potential suitors? Thomas doesn't have to be like this.

You can make a deal, for a very tradeable contract that matches up with most MLE-salary structures, in its last year no less, and take in 30 games of inspired play. This league is so stupidly ridiculous that, of course, things always seem to flesh in the most obvious of ways. And the obvious expectation is that Thomas will be on a full "I'll show them" kick, and play exceedingly well once acquired by a team outside of Cook County.

He may not get it for good, in true Jason Williams-style, but he can do a team, a bench, a frontcourt rotation, good. He could work for the Spurs. He could work for a quite a few teams. Freed from the "figure it out on your own, kid"-clutches of the Chicago Bulls, for the rest of this year at least, it's an almost certainty.

Make that certainty your own, teams.

The simmering fight between Arsenal and Barcelona for the right to pay Cesc Fabregas rages on. Though the player himself has made his desire known by reportedly turning down a record offer from Arsenal and stating his love for Barcelona, the English club has stepped u their defense by sending Barca a letter telling them to back off their captain. The following is a transcript of what we imagine to be Arsene Wenger's call to Pep Guardiola to make sure the message was received. 

Guardiola: Hello?

Wenger: Yes. This is Arsene Wenger.

Guardiola: Oh, hello, Arsene. How are-

Wenger: Do not speak while I am speaking!

Guardiola: ...I'm sorry.

Wenger: Yes. Now. Did you receive our letter?

Guardiola: Uh, you mean the one that said "Cesc is ours" in what I'm hoping is ketchup and then had what looked like a drawing of me getting impaled by all six of Barcelona's trophies?

Wenger: Yes, that would be the one.

Guardiola: Yeah, I got that.

Wenger: So will you stop your pursuit of my captain?

Guardiola: We're not pursuing him. If he wants to play for us, we'd love to have him. But that's where it ends.

Wenger: Cesc is ours! Stop being so perfect with your Don Johnson beard and non-puffy coats!

Guardiola: Excuse me?

Wenger: No! No excuse you! You have enough great players -- I have Cesc, Arshavin, and then 20 children who are so young they don't even remember the movie Kindergarten Cop! How can they not know Kindergarten Cop?!

Guardiola: Uh, I don't know, Arsene.

Wenger: You have no idea how bad it is. You win trophies like...I don't know -- you just win a lot of trophies! The last time I won a trophy it was from The Children's Foundation because I have so many kids they thought I was running a freaking daycare center. And I'm not running a daycare center! Theo Walcott can cut his own food!

Guardiola: Well, I'm sorry, Arsene. But it's really up to Cesc. If he wants to leave, he wants to leave.

Wenger: I know, but I have a plan for that.

Guardiola: What plan?

Wenger: Finger paintings. The rest of the lads are making him so many finger paintings that he couldn't possibly leave them. Have you ever been presented with a finger painting by a child? It melts your heart like a monkey brain on a radiator.

Guardiola: That was a weird analogy, but OK. Anyway, I should be going. Thanks for the call, Arsene.

Wenger: Goodbye, Peppy. And remember -- you plus Cesc equals a one way ticket to Ouchtown. And I'm the captain of the Ear Punch Express. OK?

[Guardiola hung up 10 minutes ago]

It's been a whirlwind year for Colorado Avalanche rookie Brandon Yip(notes). Last April, he was involved in the memorable NCAA Frozen Four championship game that saw his Boston University Terriers come from behind in dramatic fashion to tie Miami (Ohio) University and then win the National Championship in overtime. Five months later, the 24-year old Vancouver native was making his National Hockey League debut with the Avalanche.

Drafted in the eighth round (239th overall) of the 2004 NHL Draft, Yip starred for the Coquitlam Express of the British Columbia Hockey League before moving on to Boston University for the 2005-06 season. After winning Hockey East Rookie of the Year honors in 2006 and then scoring game-winning, overtime goals in both the Hockey East quarterfinal and Final in 2007, Yip was second in goals and fourth in team scoring en route to helping the Terriers to the 2009 championship.

This past July he signed an entry-level contract with Colorado and after just six games with the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League, Yip got called up the NHL. Through 22 games with the Avalanche Yip has made the most of his opportunity scoring 11 goals and 7 assists and has become an integral part of Joe Sacco's mostly young lineup. Despite living out of a local hotel at the moment, with his current production, Yip will likely soon be told to start looking for a permanent place of residence.

We spoke with Yip last week about that memorable night in Washington D.C. last April; pre-game superstitions; killing time on road trips; and a possible post-hockey career with Shaq. Do enjoy.

How are you enjoying your rookie season?

It's unbelievable so far. Couldn't ask for more, really. It's kind of a dream come true for myself and I'm really excited to be here going along for the ride with the guys.

What's the one thing that surprised you about the NHL?

I think the biggest thing is everyone's ability to skate. There's not a slow guy out there. Everyone's quick and fast. It's pretty amazing how many fast guys that are out there.

Flashback to April and the NCAA title game against Miami (Ohio) University. You guys go down 3-1 with four minutes left. What was the feeling on the bench after that third goal?

For the whole year we kind of faced periods like that and there were a lot of times we were down a few goals and we weren't quite on our game. I think, for the most part, we didn't play our best hockey that particular game until the end and overtime, but we're down 3-1, there's four minutes left and we still had a lot of hope and we knew guys weren't going to give up. We knew our team was capable of scoring two quick goals and it happened for us.

Was that the wildest game you've ever played in?

Oh yeah, by far, it was unbelievable. Just the atmosphere and it being a championship game down 3-1 and then coming back. I still get chills just thinking about it.

Are you aware that there's a tribute video to you on YouTube featuring some of your goals and hits from your time at BU?

Yeah, I think I saw it. [Laughs] Someone made it up, but yeah I saw it.

What do you remember about your first game in the NHL?

Before the game, the guys were getting ready and I sat by myself in the locker room and everyone is doing stretching and getting prepared for the game. I kind of took a quick look around and just had to pinch myself a little bit looking at the [Milan] Hejduks and the Sakic shrine in the locker room; [Darcy] Tucker's stall; [Adam] Foote's stall and it's pretty amazing to kind of sit there and take it all in.

I don't really remember it exactly, but I remember leading up to it in warm ups. I was pretty nervous when I got off for warm ups and I felt pretty comfortable and I just wanted to go out there and maybe make a hit or something, get the puck deep and don't mess up, but after I got through it was a lot of fun.

Do you have any game day or pre-game superstitions?

I keep to kind of the same routine: eat breakfast, go to pre-game afterwards, then usually go to lunch to a few places. If we're winning we like to go to the same spot. Then come back to my place and hang out, lay low, maybe have a nap if I'm tired and just try and think about the game and then take off a couple of hours early and get to the rink and start focusing.

So no putting a certain skate on first or taping your stick a specific way?

No, no, I pretty much just do the same things, but if something doesn't happen it's not a big deal for myself. I try not too superstitious. I used to be like that.

What kind of stuff would you do?

At BU I used to eat spaghetti and meatballs before every game and listen to the same songs in the locker room, but I think it's better to keep that stuff out in case something doesn't go your way you're not rattled about it.

Who on the Avalanche is the most superstitious or has the wackiest pre-game?

No one's actually too bad. I don't see much of the guys before the game and what they're doing because I'm usually in the room and a lot of guys get dressed closer to game time. So I'm just sitting there. It's usually me, Tucker, Willie (Ryan Wilson(notes)), [T.J.] Galiardi and [David] Koci. We just kind of hang out and focus and the other guys are off doing their own thing. A lot of guys play soccer, but I like to sit in the room and focus on the game.

I think Tucks the funniest one. There's not been too many pranks going on lately because we've been losing, but Tucker keeps the locker room loose, he's a funny guy. Him [Cody] McLeod and [Craig] Anderson.

Since you're a rookie, did you have any sort of initiation?

No, not so far. They've been nice to me. I don't think they do that as much as they do in juniors and college, but everyone's pretty professional and we joke around but nothing too harsh.

So they didn't make you stand up in the middle of the locker room and sing the BU fight song?

No, good thing because I don't know it. [Laughs]

You guys have surprised a lot of people so far and are in the mix in the West. Do you think some of the team's success can be attributed to the large number of young guys on the team?

When you have young guys step in like Duchy (Matt Duchene(notes)) and Gali and Willie and [Kyle] Cuminsky and all the guys definitely do a great job and log a lot of minutes. It definitely helps out, but having the older guys there, without them the team would probably be a little bit lost because we've learned a lot from them. They tell us what to do out there, they've been in the League for a long time, they know from experience. Definitely having the older guys and younger guys gives us a really good balance for the team.

What do you think of the job Coach Sacco is doing in his rookie year?

Nothing but good things. He means business. He'll let you know when you're not playing well, it doesn't matter who you are. He'll let you know when you're playing well and things you need to continue to do. I've really enjoyed him being my coach so far.

When you first came up to the NHL back in December, who were some of the guys you observed and tried to learn from?

I think Tuck, a lot. My first 10 or 12 games, we played together. Having a veteran guy like him on your line, he's been around the league for a long time and he's had a lot of success, and for him telling you what to do and where to be at certain spots, it made a big difference on me just learning from it.

You guys have had a couple long road trips already this season. What do you do to keep busy on those trips?

On the bus rides I sometimes play cards if there's an opening, sometimes guys have their spots at the card table. On the plane I'll sometimes pop in a movie. The plane rides are a lot of fun, especially when we're winning.

Are you a big poker player?

I used to be. We don't play too much poker, we play a lot of mixed up card games but I've kind of went away from it a little bit.

Being a Vancouver native, will you be heading home during the Olympic break to experience the Games?

No, I'm actually not going to make it home for the Games. It'll be pretty cool, I'm really happy Vancouver will be hosting and I'm happy for the guys on my team that will be a part of it.

I imagine you'll predict Canada to win the gold medal, so I'll ask you who do you think they'll face in the final?

Depending on how the brackets go I think Russia is going to be pretty strong, but I think all the big teams, the Russians, Swedes, USA, they're all the best players in the world. There's not going to be any easy games out there, so it's going to be interesting.

You graduated from BU with a degree in criminal justice. After your career is over do you want to do something in that field?

Hopefully my career is long enough where I can golf the rest of my days, but if it doesn't work out, it was pretty interesting taking it in college. It's something I'd look into, but now I'm just focusing on hockey.

You think you might team up with Shaquille O'Neal for an athlete's version of COPS? I know he has an interest in police work.

[Laughs] Yeah, maybe, we'll see.

Who were some of your hockey idols growing up?

I had a few, I didn't really have one. Obviously, Joe Sakic(notes) being from Burnaby, a local guy and playing for the Avalanche. Not a bad guy to look up to. I liked the style of Cam Neely and how he played. I kind of try and take my game a little that way: be a big guy and be physical and hopefully help out offensively. And Jarome Iginla(notes). Just watching him over the last 5-10 years, he's just a class act guy.

Other than Colorado, your favorite NHL jersey current or past?

I've always liked the Red Wings jersey because they always stay the same and are very traditional. Also liked the Maple Leafs and the old Winnipeg Jets, for sure.

Last movie you saw on DVD or in the theater?

I think Avatar 3D, it was pretty good. I'm not a big sci-fi guy, but everyone said it was great so I went and saw it and it actually was a pretty good movie. Great effects. 

Your alcoholic beverage of choice?

Grey goose, water with a lime.

Andy Roddick's wife was unveiled as the cover model of SI's annual swimsuit issue on Tuesday's Late Show With David Letterman. Decker has posed for the magazine in each of the last five years, but this issue marks the first time she's the headliner.

Without the swimsuit issue, the 2003 U.S. Open champion and model likely never would have started dating. After seeing Decker in the 2007 edition, Roddick asked his agent to track down the model's phone number. He eventually acquired it, but it took him five months of calls, texts, notes and flowers to get a date.

She later joked to People magazine:

"I was stalked. He'll tell you that.

"It was charming. He was charming. Eventually, I fell for it, and five months later I called him back and that was that."

When Decker showed up to root on Roddick at the 2007 Davis Cup finals, the relationship went public. Eighteen months later, the pair married in a quiet ceremony in Texas. Guests included Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. The couple was also serenaded by Roddick's friend, Elton John.

The 22-year old grew up in Charlotte, NC and was discovered in a local shopping mall. She's modeled for various magazines and fashion retailers including Cosmopolitan, Victoria's Secret and Gap. Decker has also acted on numerous TV shows. She's a staple at her husband's tennis matches and, not surprisingly, often has the camera on her when she's there.

SI's swimsuit issue hit newsstands Wednesday. The magazine also features a pictorial of Olympian Lindsey Vonn.

Not so, this time around. New Orleans police are ordering the women of New Orleans to keep their New Orleans traditions covered. The parade's going to be televised, both locally and online, and apparently, some city officials see this as a reason to keep things G-rated. TMZ reports that 600 police will be there issuing tickets or sending people to jail if they're exposing their, um, upper bodies in exchange for beads.

I see this as an affront to liberty. Telling the women of New Orleans to keep themselves covered is like telling the men of the Jersey Shore that hair should not be spiked, and skin should not be tanned. It's like telling the people of Philadelphia that they need to be demure and polite in the presence of rival sports teams.

Cities, like people, have to be themselves, and this is a time to celebrate and embrace freedom. I think it's our duty as Americans to let the ladies at the parade show their appreciation in that special New Orleans way.

I am still happy for the people of New Orleans, of course, but I didn't expect that their glorious Super Bowl triumph would come at the expense of our treasured personal freedoms. If you'd still like to watch the festivities, you can do so by clicking right here, starting at 5 p.m. New Orleans time.

The sports-industrial complex in Canada can be rather meh if there's not a stick and puck involved, so it's only natural to wonder if Own The Podium will end up as a one-off. That will be a major focus over the next couple news cycle. Michael Grange, The Globe & Mail's fine sportswriter, noted a couple hours ago:

"... lost amidst the impressive build up to 2010 is what might happen going forward.

"The $11 million the feds have pledged still leaves Own the Podium $17 million short of what they had to spend this year now that VANOC - the other funding partner - will cease to exist.

"Athletes don't know what's going to be out there for them after the Games wind up, and it's inevitable that corporate sponsorship will shrink once the Olympic spotlight fades.

"Some of the most important people in the lives of athletes are their strength coaches, massage therapists, nutritionists and sports psychologists. At the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary, where many of the people who fulfill exactly those functions work, 37 staff have been given layoff notices.

"The fear is that some of the very best ... will get scooped up to work for other countries; some already have according to CSCC president Dale Henwood."

In a word, it would be brutal if that came to pass.

In another, made-up word, it would be schadenfreulicious (the sweet taste of schadenfreude) for more than a few amateur sports diehards. They've spent years hammering on the point, mostly to deaf ears and closed minds, that Canada doesn't have a national sport policy. The notion of pulling on one rope to get the most out of a small population has never taken. In amateur sport, it's often like a city council meeting, everyone protecting their own little bailiwick.

What would it say about us if the if the podium is yanked out from under winter-sport athlete? It does not flatter us if we effecitively tell someone on course to hit her or his peak by 2014 or 2018, sorry, your parents should have given birth to you sooner.

The subtext with our sport development is we tend to take after the U.S. model, which works well for a country of 300 million people, but not so much for a northern nation of 33 million. It's bound to happen since they're next door, while Australia and European countries who punch above their weight in the Olympics are out of sight, out of mind.  Small wonder that, as Grange wrote for the dead-tree medium today, in Canada often "elite performance is a collision of accident, will and just enough money to get by."

One would hope, idealistically, Vancouver could make us better define ourselves as a sports nation, and that major corporations would hear that's in their interest not to totally cut their amount of sponsorship (it's bound to drop off somewhat). The optics reverting to form come Sochi in 2014 would be a great excuse for cynicism. Who wants that?

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: ESPNDallas. When it comes to trade talk, Cuban says Beaubois is "pretty much untouchable."
PF: The Journal Times. The Bucks are shopping Luke Ridnour(notes), Hakim Warrick(notes) and Joe Alexander(notes).
SF: The Baseline. No matter the situation, the Knicks' plan for the season is all about enticing FAs.
SG: SLAM Online. Hilarious column from Lang Whitaker on the best and worst of All-Stars past.
PG: CelticsHub. Does Marquis Daniels(notes) solve the Celtics' turnover crisis?
6th: NBA FanHouse. Spurs guard Roger Mason(notes) Jr. stars in "The Buzzer Beater."
7th: SRI. Blake Griffin(notes) says he hasn't been allowed to shoot the ball during his rehab.
8th: NetsDaily. Is the "hard cap" aimed at rich owners like Mikhail Prokhorov?
9th: Get Banged On. Shannon Brown(notes) makes this alley-oop look way easier than it really is.
10th: But The Game Is On. New Orleans basketball has a chance to be special, too.

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

Sergio Garcia: Hey, look who's here! The AT&T marks the stateside debut of Garcia. He's on a typical Sergio path already -- promising starts followed by late-round misfires -- and there aren't many people left with the patience to wait for him to break through. It's a now-or-never thing with Sergio, and with a relatively weak field, it could be now.

Jim Furyk: The Undertaker has a strong record at The AT&T, and he's coming off a tournament in which he ranked first in fairways hit. Always a threat, and like Sergio, could do some damage in a reduced field.

Dustin Johnson: He's the defending champ, and he's got the down-and-dirty game to survive if the weather turns ugly. He's coming off a week in which he tied for third at the Northern Trust Open, so he's carrying some momentum into this week.

Pebble Beach: It's our first look at the host of the 2010 U.S. Open, and you can bet that the pros will be hoping it plays as easily in June as it does this weekend. The golfers will also tour the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club and Spyglass Hill.

The celebs: Yep, there are plenty of 'em. Tom Brady had a miraculous recovery from the injury that kept him out of the Pro Bowl and will play, as will Andy Garcia, Josh Duhamel, Chris Berman and Brandi Chastain, who presumably will keep her shirt on. You can check a full list right here.

All right, your take. Here's the field. Who's your pick for this weekend? Go!

Scattered among the hosts are 18 former Olympians who have won a combined 16 medals. The most experienced commentator will be Dick Button, who is making his 17th Winter Olympics appearance after winning gold at the 1948 and 1952 Games. Several commentators will be making their debuts this Olympics, including Jonny Moseley, Lee Ann Parsley, and Jeremy Roenick who may make people's head's bleed.

Costas, of course, is an Olympics mainstay. He will be returning for his ninth stint as host of the Games. But joining him in the booth this year, after a 22-year Olympics absence, will be Al Michaels, the voice of the legendary "Do you believe in miracles?" call. Here's hoping he's a good luck charm.

As previously mentioned, NBC will be providing 835 hours of coverage in Vancouver. Spread between the 53 announcers, that's nearly 16 hours of talking per person if they never talked over each other. Now might be a good time to invest in a throat lozenge company.

Full announcer list after the jump.

ALPINE SKIING

Tim Ryan
Todd Brooker
Christin Cooper
Steve Porino

BOBSLED/LUGE/SKELETON

Bob Papa
Duncan Kennedy (Luge)
John Morgan (Bobsled)
Lea Ann Parsley (Skeleton)
Lewis Johnson

CROSS COUNTRY & BIATHLON

Al Trautwig
Chad Salmela

CURLING

Andrew Catalon
Don Duguid
Colleen Jones
Elfi Schlegel

FIGURE SKATING

Tom Hammond
Sandra Bezic
Scott Hamilton
Tracy Wilson
Andrea Joyce

FREESTYLE SKIING

Todd Harris
Jonny Moseley
Tina Dixon

HOCKEY

Mike Emrick
Kenny Albert
Eddie Olczyk
AJ Mleczko
Pierre McGuire
Joe Micheletti
Mike Milbury
Cammi Granato
Jeremy Roenick

SHORT TRACK

Ted Robinson
Andy Gabel
Andrea Joyce

SNOWBOARDING

Pat Parnell
Todd Richards
Tina Dixon

SPEED SKATING

Dan Hicks
Dan Jansen
Andrea Kremer

SKI JUMPING

Matt Vasgersian
Jeff Hastings

Fortunately, we don't have to wait, because every other major team sport on every level in America settles its championship via some form of playoff with no significant input from opinion polls on the result. That includes the nation's most popular and lucrative sporting endeavor, the NFL, which just concluded its annual tournament-style championship to stunning levels of dissent according to readers of ESPN's SportsNation this morning:

So, OK, nothing that elicits that sort of rare display of unanimity among sports fans can possibly qualify as "controversial" in the big picture. But maybe the number belie a certain regional nuance, wherein overcrowded, NFL-centric megalopoli overrule the solid, BCS-loving heartland ...

It's safe to say Mssr. Hancock's messages won't be taking any democratic turns any time soon. Only two states -- Georgia at 22 percent and (of course, given the favorable ending in the last BCS title game) Alabama at 30 -- gave the Series an approval rating above 15 percent. That's worse than both George W. Bush's historic low at the end of his presidency and even the permanently detested Congress. I guess it's comforting to know that at this moment of division and low morale, no American institution brings a partisan country together like hatred of the BCS.

Which is why it was surprising to see Kwasniewski list a few reasons why the Boston Celtics should keep Ray Allen and give "The Big Three" one last shot at a title.

Here's an excerpt:

The long regular season. Relax Boston ... I know it's cold and miserable back east and the long winter is getting to you but you really need to be reminded how The Association works. The NBA regular season is a very long 82-games over six months. Mix in preseason and hopefully a long postseason and you're looking at an eight or nine month season. Veteran teams always seem to hit a lull somewhere between Christmas and Easter. It's impossible to bring playoff efforts when your key players are in their 30's ... it's just not possible (and the ones that did, like the Pat Riley Heat teams in the late 90's collapsed in a heap by playoff time). Just ride out this rough patch, usually teams find their second wind around March Madness.

And:

The Big Three deserves one last shot at a title. You're telling me that Kevin Garnett(notes), Paul Pierce(notes) and Ray Allen(notes) only get two shots together to win a title? That's it? Maybe the Celtics fans should cut Allen a little slack after all he was one-third of a group that literally dragged the franchise from the depths of hell. Need I remind you that in 2007 The Garden was taken over by Lakers fans doing MVP chants for Kobe Bryant(notes)? The Big Three saved professional hoops in Boston and they deserve the finish out their third season together with one last shot at a title. You never know how the seeds play out. Maybe the Cavs break down from playing at such a high level, maybe the Magic fold under the playoff pressure because Vince Carter(notes) realizes he's Vince Carter and tanks ... again and maybe Atlanta is still a year away from turning into a legitimate contender. Yeah it's a rough stretch but the C's only have to face two of the top four teams in the east and as with Orlando last year, you never know.

What do you think: Should the C's keep calm and keep "The Big Three" in tact for one last run?

Vonn, a favorite to win three gold medals at next week's Winter Olympics, is featured in a multi-page photo spread in SI's annual swimsuit issue, which was released Tuesday. Inside the issue (and online at SI.com), there are pictures of Vonn in a ski chalet, sitting in a sauna, standing on the slopes and posing with a rescue helicopter, all while wearing various bikinis, of course.

If you were one of the misguided few who were upset with Vonn's semi-suggestive cover pose, then these 45 swimsuit pictures are likely to fan the flames even more. Calls of  objectification and sexism by the media will doubtlessly intensify. It's a tired refrain though. 

Vonn isn't a good looking athlete, she's a great athlete who happens to be good looking. She's Chris Evert, not Anna Kournikova. (The latter once posed for SI, the former did not.) By the end of these Olympics there's a reasonable chance Vonn will become one of the most decorated American Winter Olympians of all time. It will have everything to do with her athletic ability and nothing to do with how attractive she is. So she looks good in a swimsuit. Why shouldn't she use that to help market herself?

To fans of sport, one thing has long been clear. In two weeks, it should become readily apparent to everyone else, including the critics: Lindsey Vonn is way more than just a pretty face.

Other popular Yahoo! stories:
• NFL star now engaged to Carrie Prejean
• Funny video: Totally awkward basketball shot
• Really? Howard Stern could be new 'Idol' judge

-Just a reminder, Wysh is up in Vancouver and will be helping out the Y! Sports Olympic blog Fourth Place Medal while checking in from time to time here. Do check out FPM for all of your Olympic blogging needs over the next few weeks.

-During Anaheim's 4-2 win over Los Angeles Monday night, Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf(notes) got tangled up with Dustin Brown(notes) and tweaked his ankle. He'll be getting an MRI today to determine the severity. Team Canada awaits the results, as do Jordan Staal(notes), Jeff Carter(notes), Vincent Lecavalier(notes), Martin St. Louis(notes) and the other forwards that were left off of their Olympic roster. [OC Register]

-The NHL announced Tuesday that six teams will begin the 2010-11 season as part of NHL Premiere. Carolina and Minnesota will play in Helsinki. Columbus and San Jose will open in Stockholm, and Boston and Phoenix will faceoff in Prague. [NHL]

-According to Tom Gulitti, Anssi Salmela(notes) likely suffered a concussion, broken nose and lost some teeth due to the hit from Jeff Carter Monday night. [Fire & Ice]

-MARIAN GABORIK(notes) INJURY ALERT!!! Andrew Gross reports that Gaborik suffered a knee laceration while jumping over Henrik Lundqvist(notes) during practice. Lundqvist's skate caught Gaborik's knee during play. Rangers' assistant coach Jim Schoenfeld said it was too early to determine if the team's leading scorer would play Wednesday against Nashville. [Rangers Report Twitter]

-Congrats to Boston College after it beat Boston University 4-3 in the Beanpot championship game. It's the 15th Beanpot title in school history. [Boston College]

-The funeral for Brendan Burke is this today in Canton, Mass., and the entire Miami University hockey will attend. The team will also wear a patch on their jerseys for the remainder of the season in honor of him. [Dayton Daily News]

-According to Elliotte Friedman, Bob Gainey's exit from Montreal wasn't a recent decision. [CBC]

-Flyers goaltender Ray Emery(notes) may require hip surgery to repair a torn labrum. [Philadelphia Daily News]

-Johan Franzen(notes) returns tonight for the Red Wings. Adjust your fantasy hockey teams accordingly. [MLive]

-Jonathan Willis on why Patrick Marleau's(notes) lack of a "C" on his jersey hasn't made any difference production-wise this season. [The Score]

-Team USA's Angela Ruggiero is ready to go for gold in Vancouver next week. [USA Today]

-Good news for the Stars: Mike Ribeiro(notes) returns to the ice tonight after missing five weeks due to a throat contusion. Bad news for the Stars: Steve Ott(notes) (appendectomy) and Mark Fistric(notes) (knee) will miss the rest of the week. [Andrew's Stars Page]

-Via the LA Times, Jonathan Quick's(notes) goalie mask for the Olympics features a salute to the troops and a pair of bald eagles:

-Florida GM Randy Sexton says he'll be busy up to the March 3 trade deadline and moves should be expected. [Sun-Sentinel]

-Another team that might make some moves at the deadline is the Nashville Predators, who would like to shore up their depth. [Tennessean]

-The IHL will lose the Muskegon Lumberjacks after this season as the team announced plans to fold. A USHL team is expected to begin play in Muskegon in the near future. [Muskegon News]

-Marc-Andre Bergeron(notes) will miss the next 6-8 weeks for the Canadiens with a knee injury. [Habs Inside/Out]

-Talking Ottawa Senators and the playoff race. [Scarlett Ice]

-While Atlanta has lost Boris Valabik(notes) to an ACL tear, they do get Kari Lehtonen(notes) back and he'll be on their current trip. [AJC]

-Finally, heckuva play by Boston College's Chris Kreider on this goal during Monday night's Beanpot:

We should all be as cool as Miguel Angel Jimenez.

I mean, seriously. The dude plays golf at the highest level on the planet, and he's an aficionado of cigars and fine wine. And he's the reigning champ of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, having knocked off none other than Lee Westwood in a two-hole playoff. 

Now, certainly, with his ponytail and ever-present cigar, Jimenez doesn't look like your typical globetrotting Man of Adventure. Westwood is surely banging his head against the wall since he once again came up short in a bid to win. But Jimenez is a crafty, sneaky old cuss, and as he's said, he's like good wines -- better with age.

Plus, you've got to love his honesty. "I did nothing during the winter, but then almost every day of the last two weeks was in the gym," he said after the win. "We did a little bit of weights, worked on cardio and abs because you need to have good balance." How many golfers would admit to doing "nothing" -- which, in Jimenez's case, probably means every day was a story that you or I would tell for a lifetime -- and how many would be able to rally to win a tournament just a few weeks later?

Jimenez is making a good bid to join the European Ryder Cup team once again, and here's hoping he makes it. He's the kind of gato we can always use. 

Suffice to say, a little added pressure on the home team is part of the host broadcaster's mandate for these Olympics. No one's judging. That's just how it's going to be, for the next 2½ weeks. You really needed to see it to believe CTV's coverage on Monday about who might be the first Canadian to win a gold medal on home soil. There were promos in prime time teeing up Saturday, focusing on Jennifer Heil in women's moguls, Charles Hamelin in short-track speed skating and Manuel Osborne-Paradis in the men's downhill. The second item on the CTV National News was essentially an extended treatment of the same theme (it would be too obvious to put it first).

Look at this way: the CTV Olympic Consortium didn't pay to air a 17-day sports version of Lowered Expectations. (Some would say that is the CBC's job, starting in Sochi in 2014.) So, who is it going to be?

Osborne-Paradis is the AP's pick to win the men's downhill, which begins around 2:45 p.m. EST. If it's not him, then Hamelin and Heil have their events concurrently, beginning in the 10-11 p.m. EST window. That would be something, if they both go off around the same time.

Heil comes into the Games riding a four-event win streak in moguls. It would be fitting, given the female athletes accounted for 16-of-24 Canadian medals in Turin four years ago, if a woman won the first. Meantime, Hamelin is racing in men's 1,500 meters, which isn't his best event.

Honestly, Heil feels like the stone-cold lead-pipe lock of the three. She's been winning, and men's downhill and short track by nature are unpredictable. She's consistent. (Thank you, Joe Morgan.)

Meantime, please don't be indulge that inner fatalist which believes disaster lurks. Too much pressure? The athletes have access to sports psychologists and such 24/7. No worries there.

Stop projecting. Canadians have a collective memory of Olympic hopefuls who fell on their face and quote, unquote dashed a nation's hopes. There is major memory burn associated with  Aug. 24, 2004 at the Athens Summer Games, when in the space of a few hours Perdita Felicien fell in the women's 100-metre hurdles and diver Alex Despatie only got silver in men's three-metre springboard.

It will be different this time. It is best to push out any of our characteristic pessimism. The media has been hammering out the storyline about a Canadian finally winning a medal on home soil, ice, snow for months (cue the cute kids: "It didn't happen in Montreal!" ... "It didn't happen in Calgary!").

It was always romantic when our first gold seemed to fall from the sky, when it was someone unexpected. Well, we are past that now. If Heil comes through, it might seem anticlimactic, but at least that media trope will be buried for good.

Every so often, the two Head Stewards — Kevin Kaduk and David Brown — like to have a little argument over IM. The result is Stewards Debate!, which brings their bickering to the masses.

Today's topic concerns Monday's announcement that the Brewers plan to honor Commissioner Bud Selig for his contributions both to the team and baseball by erecting a statue outside Miller Park. The news elicited a lot of jokes and poorly-done Photoshops like those in this post, so we ask the question: Should the team be considering such a tribute?

David Brown: Well, that figures. Big League Stew takes one little day off in early February and the Milwaukee Brewers announce that the commissioner of baseball, Mr. Alan H. "Bud" Selig will be honored with a statue of himself at Miller Park later this summer.

It will be made of bronze, it will stand 7-foot tall (!) and it will join similar works of art — statues of Hank Aaron and Robin Yount — at the ballpark. The giants of Milwaukee baseball!

Earnestly, if anyone on this Earth is responsible for there being a Milwaukee Brewers, it's Bud Selig. He poured his used-car money into wrangling the Seattle Pilots in 1970, thus bringing Major League Baseball back to Milwaukee after the Braves left town in the mid-'60s. Then Selig twisted enough arms to get the powers that be in Milwaukee County and the state of Wisconsin to construct a retractable-roof ballpark that kept the Brewers in town for the foreseeable future.

Without Bud, there are no Brewers, so I'm sure you agree that a statue is the right thing to do. I just wonder what it would look like.

'Duk: Drats indeed, DB! Our insistence on taking off the day after the Super Bowl made us miss perhaps the biggest blog gold of all time with bloggers and tweeters alike suggest that Bud's statue will be 1) made of cheese from Mars Cheese castle, 2) inspired by his infamous All-Star Game shrug from 2002 and 3) eventually toppled Saddam-style by a cadre of angry Internet-dwelling Expos fans. I can only hope that the offerings we've sprinkled throughout this post will make up for our tardiness.

At any rate, I see where you and Richard "Don't Call Me David" Justice are generally in favor of the erection (heh) of such a Selig statue. And that goes in direct opposition to what I and most other cyber cynics believe. I suppose it's fine if the Brewers want to honor their former owner — a former Milwaukee Brave fanatic who brought baseball back to Milwaukee and then kept it there with the construction of one of baseball's most underrated ballparks.

But my problem is that Selig also happens to be the long-time commissioner of baseball and honoring him in such a way is also a tip of its cap to the up-and-down job he's done over the past 20 years. Because of that reason, I can't fully get on board with this project, even if I'm looking forward to taking a picture by it after a few pops while tailgating.

DB: You need to get off the fence. This is a statue. Either we do it or we don't. If you stare at Selig's record on being commissioner, you'll be missing the forest for the trees. This is a statue for the people of Milwaukee and fans of the Brewers — folks so cool, they in recent years erected (heh) a statue of Arthur Fonzarelli. Aaaaaaay, if we can trust their judgment on that issue, just allow them to honor the godfather of Milwaukee baseball.

Fans of the former Montreal Expos don't have to like it. Those still holding a grudge for the '94 players strike that canceled the World Series don't have to like it. Folks who don't like that the All-Star Game "counts this time" as of 2003, they don't have to like it.

They're not putting up the statue at MLB headquarters in New York, wherever that is. It's going up in Milwaukee — where, admittedly, a lot of people wish Bud would have stayed all along. Besides, even if you don't like Bud, it gives you a focal point at which to direct your rage. I'm not saying commit vandalism against it, but if you ever get a chance to visit Miller Park, bring your kids and show them the guy who helped ruin the '94 season. Point with conviction at Bud, and scoff! See? A Bud statue is actually a vehicle by which one can express free speech! Glory, glory, hallelujah!

'Duk: So you're already settling on the "hey, it will be a fine place for pigeons to poop and Kenoshans to place their empties before they enter the ballpark" defense? Look, as I've said before, I probably like and respect Bud Selig more than most baseball fans. He loves baseball, he loves making money and — unlike most of the sorry saps writing and reading this blog — he's been very good at combining both pursuits during his life.

But as you noted up top, the Brewers already have statues for Hank Aaron, Robin Yount and the three workers who were killed during the construction of Miller Park. If you add Selig, Sesame Street will have a slam dunk "which one of these things does not belong" that any seamhead toddler will get right. Statues should be reserved for those who inspired us through their play and life (think Roberto Clemente in Pittsburgh) and/or brought more fans to the game (think Ernie Harwell in Detroit).

Apart from a successful orchestration of the Wisconsin state legislature and filling the pockets of fellow owners, what has Selig really done that others would not have? Are the Brewers really out of options for statue subjects if they want to hold an unveiling during the 2010 season?

DB: This is because you want a statue of Gorman Thomas, isn't it? It took me a while to figure out your real angle, and that's it. Look, nobody is fonder of Harvey (Kuenn's) Wallbangers than me. Barely in shape center fielders with mustaches make for GREAT statues — agreed.

And Paul Molitor, it's a shame you and the Brewers don't get along anymore. It's arguable he's the best player in franchise history to this point. A Molitor-Yount statue combo would have been nice, but it wasn't meant to be. Personally, I'd also like to see the racing sausages immortalized in bronze, especially before they go bad.

A bigger mystery — and you mentioned Ernie Harwell — might be why Bob Uecker isn't next in line to get a statue. Not every Brewers fans loves "Mr. Baseball" as much as one might think, yes, but talk about a franchise face. And I'd do the statue up in that shirtless pose by the pool while watching JJ Hardy(notes) play ping pong a few years ago. As captured in Sports Illustrated.

But these are all pie-in-the-sky hopes and dreams, Kevin. Is it right or not for the Brewers to put up a Bud statue? I don't think you've shouted it down yet? I'll give you one more chance to state your (sausage) case.

'Duk: I don't know how I can make my opposition any more clearer than likening this venture to your high school considering a parking-lot bust for a long-time driver's ed teacher. Did that guy serve for over 20 years? Yes. Did he teach you how to drive? Sure. Was he generally liked around the hallways? Probably. But at the same time, most anyone could have done just a decent job (if not better) of teaching you the rules in the road. Bud happened to serve as commissioner during one of the biggest economic boom times in American history and it's not as if his stewardship was solely responsible for the success the game enjoys today. If you think he should get it anyway, then I eagerly await your defense of bronzed tributes to Paul Tagliabue, David Stern and Gary Bettman.

(And if you go back to your "he kept the Brewers in Milwaukee" defense, I'll suggest that a George Petak statue would be more fitting. He was the state senator from Racine who went against his constituency and cast the deciding vote to build Miller Park back in the '90s. He was recalled from office because of that switcheroo soon after, but suffice to say there are many tailgating Racinites (Raciners? Racinians?) who are glad that Petak had the courage to vote the way that he did.)

DB: I'm all for a George "Freddie" Petak statue, by the way, if that's what the good folks in Cheeseland want. The NFL probably should make a statue somewhere for Pete Rozelle. As for David Stern and Gary Bettman, they might have to make it with Bettman standing on Stern's shoulders, but if you want to find a park in Secaucus, N.J. and make it happen, I'll cover it with a live blog. But this Bud Selig statue is 99 percent NOT for what he did as a commissioner — even though, as you point out in a roundabout way, MLB's economic growth these past 15 years certainly isn't something one could hold "against" Bud Selig.

But whatever. Milwaukee is one of the best baseball towns in the majors. The man responsible, above all others, is our guy Bud. Glory and statue to him. He's less of a driver's ed teacher than principal or district superintendent — and calling him a substitute teacher is not being honest. C'mon, you're above that! Driver's ed teacher. I throw up my hands at you!

"At this time, we are not optimistic that an agreement will be in place with DirecTV in time for the start of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs."

The Stanley Cup playoffs start in mid-April, meaning that it's unlikely that a deal to get Versus back onto DirecTV will happen in time for UFC on Versus 1: Vera vs. Jones. Not only that, it means that the March 6 WEC card, equally stacked, will not air on DirecTV. 

This is getting slightly ridiculous. Live MMA on non-pay-per-view or premium television is rare, but it's also key to the growth of the sport and the growth of the fanbase. Zuffa, which owns the WEC and the UFC, has been hands off of the DirecTV/Versus negotiations, but it's time to get involved. For the good of the fans, Dana White, the Fertittas and Reed Harris need to speak up, and work with the NHL to push both sides to get the deal done.

Otherwise, both hockey and MMA are going to have cadres of angry fans. I don't know about you, but angry hockey and MMA fans united in hate are not a group I'd want to come across. 

After the jump, Jarrett Jack entertains Tas Melas and friends.

Winner, zipster:
Jack: "Check out my impression of Earl Boykins(notes) skying for a rebound."

Co-runner-up, tmhgrls:
Wealthy Old Man: "Here I am showing everyone my dick-in-a-box, and they're all watching Jarrett shoot an air-ball. Geez! Well, at least Tas has my attention."

Co-runner-up, Joshua S:
Star struck, Tas stares in amazement as Toronto celebs Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard and Mr. White take time off from Clue high jinks to take in a Raps game.

Things aren't looking too great for the United States ski jumping team. The team, who has not been fully funded since 2006, won't be attending Friday evening's Opening Ceremony because they have qualifying jumps that morning at the Whistler location. Even worse, if they don't qualify that morning, they're out of the Games before they start.

It's been a struggle for the U.S. ski jumpers basically since the start of the Olympics. With just a single bronze medal in 1924, the team has not enjoyed a great deal of success. After the 2006 Olympics, the ski jumpers formed their own team out of necessity. Since then, the jumpers have worked odd jobs, found sponsors, and relied on family for the $20,000 needed annually to continue competing. And it hasn't been easy. Team member Anders Johnson told the Associated Press, "It's really difficult to do with how the economy is now...And it's an even bigger sacrifice for our family to work that extra bit to keep that Olympic dream alive for us."

The skiers themselves are optimistic, perhaps a sign of their youth. Ranging in age from 17-21, the jumpers have left high school and put off college to chase their dreams. Nick Alexander, elderstatesman of the team at all of 21, confidently said to the New York Times, "We'll be up there one day."

With the determination they've shown thus far, he's probably right.

Sophomore slumps, like unicorns, El Chupacabra and PED-free late-90s sluggers, are mythical. At least, that's what fantasy MDs Brad Evans and Andy Behrens think. Evidently, neither hoarded overproduced Upper Deck rookie cards of Bob Hamelin. Separated by a mere six positions in average drafts, second-year stars Gordon Beckham(notes) and Andrew McCutchen(notes) are valued similarly by mixed leaguers. But our experts vehemently disagree.

Evans shouts: Whenever the name Gordon Beckham is muttered on Chicago's South Side, Sox fans immediately drop to their knees. Though he's only logged 378 big league at-bats, the 23-year-old is already considered baseball royalty.

Owners who acquire the youngster's services in the middle rounds will also worship him.

Despite a horrifically slow start last year, the former Georgia Bulldog commanded the fantasy masses' attention almost immediately. After the break he batted .269 with 11 homers, 43 RBIs, 41 runs and five steals – a line which ranked one spot behind Pablo Sandoval(notes) among third basemen. Extrapolate his full '09 contribution over 550 at-bats and his numbers were comparable to Ben Zobrist(notes), Lance Berkman(notes) and Torii Hunter(notes).

Based on his uncharacteristically low 16.6 line-drive percentage, his average was artificially low. If his LD rate climbs back to minor league norms, a .285-plus BA is very possible. Playing a full season in the hitter-friendly Cell should also boost his long-ball totals. However, expected to bat second in the Sox lineup, his 90-run potential will come at an RBI cost, similar to McCutchen.

This season, value finds at middle infield are more common than scandalous politicians in Illinois, but Beckham is an incredibly rare talent with a Chase Utley(notes)-high ceiling. Though he's currently only eligible at third base in Yahoo! leagues, his transition from the hot corner to second base greatly enhances his already stellar upside. McCutchen will be a sensational producer, but Becks' flexibility and 20-25 HR production sways the Noise.  

Behrens barks: Let's not pretend this argument is strictly about upside – although if it were, I'd still take McCutchen. We're dealing with a pair of second-year players who are being drafted as fantasy starters. There's downside risk to consider. As a general rule, you shouldn't put yourself in a position where you absolutely need a very young player to repeat or exceed the prior year's production.

Yet this is exactly how early drafters are treating Beckham. What many perceive as his greatest strength – eligibility at two talent-scarce positions – is going to be a significant problem if he happens to struggle in his age-23 season. You'll hate the free agent landscape at 2B and 3B if he fails to produce. If McCutchen disappoints, filling an OF spot won't be nearly as tricky.

But obviously I don't think McCutchen will disappoint. He was immediately fantasy-relevant when called up last June, and his rookie numbers were perfectly in line with his five-year professional track record. Over 2223 career minor league plate appearances, McCutchen had hit .286/.362/.423, swiping at least 20 bases in three straight seasons (and you'll recall that he was always among the youngest players at his level). Then, in 493 PAs for the Bucs, he hit .286/.365/.471 and stole 22 bags. It was basically a typical McCutchen season that happened to take place in Pittsburgh, not Altoona. His BABIP wasn't exceptional by his standards and he never had an off-month. He's for real. McCutchen gets a significant edge over Beckham in both runs and steals for 2010, and a massive edge in risk/reward.

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Images couresty of US Presswire

In March 2007, Helix High School seniors Brandon Fountain and Matt Cobb were presented a $10,000 scholarship from Bush to use for college.
[...]
Fountain attends Cuyamaca College, and Cobb entered San Diego State University. Each received a $2,500 installment on their scholarships in their freshman year. Both ran into problems the following year when trying to contact the scholarship's trustee, Jerry Michaels.

"Mr. Michaels never responded. A couple of weeks later, [Brandon] sent a second e-mail and still no response," said Fountain's father, Bruce.

It was the same story for Cobb, and after weeks of wondering they received an answer they were not expecting.

"That's when we were told he was out of funds and due to the economy he didn't have the money," said Cobb.

Michaels (no relation, presumably, to Michael Michaels, with whom Bush reached a settlement in 2007 to keep him quiet about their alleged pay-for-play agreement at USC) told the television station that "Bush's people" contacted him about funding a scholarship through an existing program Michaels oversees, but never followed up. The existing money in the fund was tied up in investments, and ran out when the stocks tanked; Michaels is on tape saying, "We ran out of funds." Sorry, kids.

Bush is a fat, easy target for populist anger on a subject like this. On top of his multimillion-dollar salary and additional $5 million in endorsement deals, Bush also picked up an extra $500,000 for helping the Doc's beloved Saints win the Super Bowl on Sunday. Maybe, between legal fees, house-hunting with Kim Kardashian and celebrity victory parties, he'll find some way to set aside 2 percent of that championship bonus for making good on his three-year-old promise at home. Based on his track record, I'm sure the check will be in the mail any day now, guys.

That "chatter" has increased recently as the chances of missing postseason hockey because of the dispute theoretically increase.

Bad news on that front. We checked in with Versus on Tuesday about the progress of the talks, and a spokesman released the following statement to Puck Daddy:

"At this time, we are not optimistic that an agreement will be in place with DirecTV in time for the start of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs."

Well, that's no good. The sides are still talking, but a source with knowledge of the negotiations told me that there's a multitude of issues still being debated in the stalemate. The source characterized the talks as "two sides speaking different languages."

The same source said recent optimism that a deal would get done by March, mostly coming from MMA media that are also affected by the DirecTV/Versus dispute, doesn't sync up with the current state of negotiations -- going as far as to say it's status quo from the end of last year.

Now, Versus has attempted to rally its viewers before during different segments of this stalemate, hoping hockey fans would pressure DirecTV into a deal. It hasn't worked before ... but the Stanley Cup playoffs haven't been this close before, either.

At the beginning of this dispute, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told XM Radio that "we have the luxury of some time for the parties to work this out ... Our interest is protecting the interests of hockey fans." Time is running out; and every week, hockey fans are asking us why the NHL isn't protecting their interests in this ordeal, like reader Joseph C.:

I have tried in vain to contact the NHL on this matter and gotten no response, maybe you'll have better luck if you choose to peruse it. Since the beginning on the hockey season Versus and DirecTV have been in a spat that has had the channel black on DirecTV. I understand the business involved in these sort of negotiations, what I don't understand is how the NHL is allowing their small fan base to shrink even further by allowing these entities to restrict the viewership.

The clock is ticking. Time for all parties to get this done for the sake of the fans.

Previously, Jean-Claude Killy is just loungin'.

Gold, Magic32: "Bro! Mammoth will be rizzagin' with honeys, bro! Checklist: Shades on head? Check! Sweater over the shoulders? Check! Teeth whitener? Check! Kardashians will totally be on this, bro!"

Silver, Cursor: "Ski trendy. Ski with style. Ski with a sweater around your neck."

Bronze, Rob R: "This ensemble says, 'Yeah, I'm going skiing and deer hunting ... but I'm going to look good doing it.' "

To paraphrase myself from an earlier post, take the above backward bomb, sprinkle in last week's over-the-backboard and-one circus shot, and mix in this ridiculousness and, well, you've got yourself a scrumptious recipe for the NBA's next H-O-R-S-E champion, ladies and gentlemen.

Oh! What's that? Stern and Co. didn't ask Ellis to participate in H-O-R-S-E? Ah, right, that makes sense.

/bangs head against wall

via SLAM Online

Elana Meyers, a Southerner and the daughter of an NFL player (Falcons RB Eddie Meyers), always dreamed of being an Olympian, and honed her skills as a softball player to make that dream come true. Now, after softball has been dropped from the Olympic slate, Meyers is an Olympian. A bobsledding Olympian.

Meyers is part of the U.S. two-man bobsled team after picking up the sport two years ago. She was invited to bobsledding camp by the USOC after a tryout for the softball national team did not work out. The poor softball tryout ended up being a blessing in disguise after softball was dropped and Meyers took so well to bobsledding.

Now, Meyers finds herself as the only Olympian from Georgia. She has gone on her own personal PR campaign, cajoling Atlanta radio stations over Twitter to interview her. "Did you know there is a Georgian on the roster of the 2010 US Olympic team? Bobsledder Elana Meyers from Douglasville."

• Less than a month after a 2-3 start to league play put Purdue hopelessly behind Michigan State in the race for the Big Ten title, the Boilermakers suddenly have a chance to catch the Spartans with a win at home tonight. One piece of bad news for Purdue: It sounds like reigning Big Ten player of the year Kalin Lucas will be back for Michigan State, though nobody's sure how effective he'll be. 

• Already shorthanded as a result of transfers and the loss of much of its recruiting class to John Calipari and Kentucky, Memphis lost another player on Monday night when one-time starter Pierre Henderson-Niles left the team. The timing of this is certainly strange, but it sounds as if this was a case of apathy and attitude issues – not one where there's a smoking gun. Henderson-Niles did post "Wanna give dis (stuff) up" on his facebook page the day after the Tigers lost to SMU last week. 

• With its TV deal set to expire after the 2011-12 season, the Pac-10 sounds more serious about expansion then it has been in the past. “We’re looking at it very seriously," new Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott said. "It wasn’t something identified for me by the presidents when I took the job. But it’s very natural as you look at the value of the conference from a media standpoint. If we were ever going to look at expansion, this would be the logical time."

• I've given you my take a couple times on what's wrong with Texas. Here's ESPN's Andy Katz addressing that issue and giving a rambling Rick Barnes a forum to address it as well. Says Barnes: "We’re going to fix this. We’ll be where we need to be." Great news, coach, but your fan base probably wouldn't mind some specifics on how you plan to accomplish that.

• The timing of Saturday night's shoplifting arrest of Oklahoma's Andrew Fitzgerald and Steven Pledger is the most disturbing part of this story. Seriously, guys, the best way you could think of celebrating a victory over Texas was to go pilfer a couple shirts from Dillard's? I know Norman isn't exactly teeming with entertainment options, but c'mon. 

• Bogged down by legal trouble and lackluster losses early this season, Arkansas has suddenly emerged from out of nowhere to lead the otherwise unremarkable SEC West. Since losing to Kentucky by 31 a few weeks back, Arkansas has won four straight behind surging Courtney Fortson, beating Mississippi State, Mississippi and Georgia in the process. 

• Thirty-two of Butler's past 34 league games at Hinkle Fieldhouse have ended in victory for the home team, but both of the Bulldogs' two losses came against Loyola. They avoided a third loss on Monday night, rallying from a nine-point deficit for a 62-47 victory that clinched at least a share of the Horizon League championship with a couple weeks left to play.

• Siena also clinched a share of the MAAC title with a narrow two-point win over Fairfield on Monday night, but Stags coach Ed Cooley believes the Saints deserve more respect outside the league. "Why they're not in the Top 25 is beyond me," Cooley said. Well, Ed, if Siena beats Butler in its Bracket Buster, it deserves consideration, but for right now, too many early losses and not enough quality wins.

• How good would Syracuse be if Jonny Flynn had stayed for one more season? The Minnesota Timberwolves point guard says we might have found out if it wasn't for the six-overtime classic Syracuse won against UConn last season. "Without that game, without that Big East tournament, I would still be in school right now," Flynn said. "That game showed scouts what I can do as an all-around player and that I can help an NBA franchise. I am really, really, really, really, really thankful for that game."

• If you're wondering why 13-8 Marquette has gotten 10 votes in the AP Poll the past two weeks, the answer is the ever-creative Jon Wilner from the San Jose Mercury News. I actually agree with Wilner that Marquette is undervalued because of the strength of its schedule and the narrow nature of its losses, though I can't say I could justify putting the Eagles at No. 16 in the poll. 

On today's show, Skeets and Tas furrow through Monday's TNT doubleheader in their final show before heading to All-Star Weekend in Dallas. Do 48 points prove Vince Carter(notes) is back? Has Kobe Bryant's(notes) body finally given him the hint? Why is Darren Collison(notes) this good, this fast? All that, plus the determining factor in LeBron's Ohio future, Richard Jefferson's(notes) facial hair, shady weather and data plans.

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The Situation: Tampa Bay utility man Ben Zobrist(notes) (the BZA) was certainly the most versatile and he may have arguably been the most valuable everyday player in the major leagues last season. Logging time at every position on the diamond but pitcher and catcher, Zobrist slammed 27 homers and ranked 10th in all of baseball with a .948 OPS.

What's more, Zobrist wasn't just versatile, he was legitimately good, with average to above-average defense at every one of his positions. Basically, he has Joe McEwing's(notes) glove with Chase Utley's(notes) bat. (He was equally shuffled up and down the batting order, too, with double-digit starts in the 3, 4, 5 and 6 spots.) Because of that, he actually led all position players in the majors in Wins Above Replacement.

He also came out of nowhere. By the time he turned 28 on May 26, he had logged a grand total of 586 at-bats in the majors — about a season's worth, spread over parts of 2006, 2007 and 2008 — and had a combined line of .234/.301/.416. After his 28th birthday, he hit .300/.409/.522 in 393 at-bats. Zobrist is a true Cinderella story, but you have to wonder if the other glass shoe is getting ready to drop.

The Question: Is Ben Zobrist for real, or was his performance last year a fluke?

The Analysis: Age is the first and last reason to doubt Zobrist. He is a genuine anomaly, never playing a full season till his 28th birthday and then breaking out with a .900 OPS in his first full year. Other than players from the Negro Leagues and Japan's Hideki Matsui(notes), he and Paul Lo Duca(notes) are the only two such players in the last 60 years to have their first breakout at such an advanced age.

But as prospect analyst John Sickels writes, Zobrist wasn't a complete nobody — he always showed good plate discipline and decent power in the minors, walking more than he struck out and maintaining a career minor league OPS of .888. His minor league track record and plate discipline are strong points in his favor going forward.

Also, Zobrist may have just gotten unlucky in small sample sizes earlier in his major league career. He was terrible in the majors in his cups of coffee in 2006 and 2007, but in 2008 he started to came on strong, with an .844 OPS and 12 home runs in just 62 games. Ryan Ludwick(notes) had a similar late-20s breakout after a serious of stops and starts, though Zobrist has much better plate discipline and has been far less fragile in his career.

The biggest change has been his power. Zobrist himself credits his offensive turnaround to swing mechanic Jamie Cevallos, which is hard to prove — but Zobrist has certainly had an impressive improvement in his power production over the last two years. Of course, he was a fine hitter in the minors, in all respects other than power. Before 2008, he was a high-average, high-OBP guy in the minors whose isolated power — slugging minus batting average — was .135, not terrible but very unremarkable. In the majors over the last two years, his isolated power has been .247, which is excellent.

But is this the real Ben, or was it just a one-year spike?

His peripherals indicate a likely decline. As the rest of his numbers went way up, his major league BABIP spiked from .236 to a likely unsustainable .326. Similarly, his line drive rate increased from 17 to 24 percent. (His minor league line drive rate was only 18.9 percent.) But the major projection systems are divided on just how much he'll decline. Bill James — who almost always has the highest numbers among all the projections — expects a modest regression, to an .874 OPS; CHONE is even less optimistic, projecting .832. ZiPS and the Graphical Player 2010 are both projecting right around an .800 OPS. Everyone seems to agree that it was a career year.

But we don't have a whole lot of reliable data to go on, other than the knowledge that Paul Lo Duca never came within 130 points of his career-high 2001 OPS.

The Forecast for 2010: As I said last week with David Wright, whenever there are two extremes that seem equally likely, the projections often tend to split the difference, even though reality rarely lands in the middle. Because of the Akinori Iwamura(notes) trade, Zobrist appears to be assured of a full-time job at second base next season, which may help him focus on his hitting — or it may detract from a successful formula. However, even bottom-of-the-lineup numbers from Zobrist would look fine in the middle infield. Regardless of his power production, it's likely that his OBP will remain relatively high, in the .370-.390 range. But it's pretty clear that the power is gonna come down. Twenty homers seems within reach, but his OPS will likely be closer to .800 than .900.

The Champions Tour may not have the flash and dazzle of the PGA Tour, but every year, it's getting a new crop of recognizable names, names who still have the game to push around their elders.

This weekend, Paul Azinger joins the Champions Tour at the ACE Group Classic at The Quarry in Naples, Fla., just a few weeks after turning the Champions-minimum 50. Azinger is poised to ride nearly as high as he's ever been; he's got the talent and the drive to succeed on the Champions Tour, and he's still basking in the glow of the 2008 Ryder Cup triumph. (Matter of fact, he's got a book coming out in May on that very subject.) 

"A month or two ago, I wasn't even excited about playing," he said late last year. "I think I can be competitive. Let's say a couple of months ago, I didn't think I could be competitive, nor did I know if I wanted to be competitive. I've got a lot of irons in the fire. You've got to be single-minded to be successful as a player." Still, the prospect of romping once again was too enticing to ignore: "I'm starting to make good progress and seeing the potential. I've had a few guys call me and say 'Hey, you're turning 50, it's going to be great.' "

While Azinger hasn't exactly lit up the leaderboard of late -- he's only made the cut in 10 of the 30 events he's played in over the last three years -- he's certainly capable of playing well enough to throw a scare into an over-50 field.

Besides, these cats have to get their wins while they can; Kenny Perry and Vijay Singh are lurking just over the horizon. 

The video is part of a companion piece that McGinley did for the Times called "The Highfliers." The photo series captures high-flying Olympic athletes such as Shaun White, Hannah Teter, and Johnny Weir fighting gravity as best they can. The pictures, as well as the video, are absolutely essential viewing.

(via Hypebeast)

Two weeks ago, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban warned that All-Star Weekend in Dallas could be the biggest party in the country's history.

"The Super Bowl, from a television perspective, is the biggest event of the year," Cuban told to the Dallas Morning News while possibly wearing a monocle and petting an evil black cat sitting on his lap. "But for attendance and partying, All-Star Weekend will make the Super Bowl look like a bar mitzvah."

He wasn't kidding, Omri.

Mavericks president Terdema Ussery said Monday that ticket sales for Sunday's NBA All-Star Game have officially passed 90,000. They're also zeroing in on 92,000, and may not be done climbing yet.

Ussery said the Mavericks, the NBA and the Cowboys are still talking to Arlington public safety officials about what Cowboys Stadium's capacity should be on Sunday. [...]

"At this point, it's a lot of art and a little bit of science," Ussery said. "I would say low to mid 90s is where we have a comfort level right now. ... But literally, at the end of each day we have a conversation of where we are and how people are feeling — because we want to do this right."

In case you were curious, advance ticket sales guarantee the game will shatter the basketball attendance record of 78,129, set on Dec. 13, 2003, by a Kentucky-Michigan State matchup at Detroit's Ford Field.

And yes, that back-row view was just as awesome as it'll be in Dallas.

The results were not what Orr had in mind.

Shelley obviously remembered their last tussle back in February of 2007 when they were both with former teams and Orr got the best of him in that one. Unlike Carkner, Orr didn't have any issues getting up and skate himself to the penalty box. The scrap must have rubbed off on the Leafs as they would opening the scoring in their 3-2 loss just 41 seconds later. 

Looking at Orr's HockeyFights.com scorecard, he's taken on some of the NHL's biggest and toughest fighters this season, but has only been voted winner in four of his 15 scraps, with two of them coming against Carkner. At least you can say that Orr is trying to bring the "truculence" to the Leafs that GM Brian Burke promised. 

The only thing missing from Orr's resume is a NHL fight with Derek Boogaard(notes) of the Minnesota Wild. The two did have a pair of scraps in their Western Hockey League days with Orr handling himself well against an obvious size difference, but that's a fight that will have to wait until next season as Minnesota and Toronto already met back in November.

But are the drivers really going to “have at it” any more than they have in years past? NASCAR knew that it could tell the drivers to be themselves because there was another—much larger—entity policing the sport: Corporate America.

Sprint Cup stars may be drivers first and foremost, but they’re corporate pitchmen a very close second, and given how valuable a big name sponsor is in NASCAR right now, drivers aren’t going to come anywhere close to crossing the line that would make a sponsor very unhappy.

And then there’s Brad Keselowski. NASCAR’s newest bad boy doesn’t really have to worry about pleasing a big name sponsor. There isn’t one on his car.

Sure, it’s understood that Verizon is financing the #12 car — just look at the paint scheme — but it can’t put its name anywhere on the car due to Sprint’s presence as the series’ title sponsor, and it can’t use Keselowski in any of its advertising. (That’s why there are Justin Allgaier commercials.) And since Keselowski isn’t a blatant pitchman of any product, he’s not held to any corporate standards.

It’s obvious that Roger Penske doesn’t mind drivers with character, or otherwise he wouldn’t have made the move to hire Kurt Busch to replace Rusty Wallace. So Keselowski doesn’t even have to worry about pleasing a politically correct owner concerned with his image in the sport.

Will this mean that Brad Keselowski will be an even badder version of the driver who constantly squabbled with Denny Hamlin, ticked off Busch at Talladega or got a rough-driving reprimand from NASCAR at Kansas? Who knows. But in this year of “having at it,” it sure helps a lot to have the newest villain be the perfect test for NASCAR’s belief that the garage polices itself.

Since most sports fans only check in on Olympic sports every four years, Fourth-Place Medal is here to help. Here are the basics of skeleton, a sport that is conservatively called the craziest sport in the history of sport.

What is this sport about? It's about hurtling your body down a bobsled track on a tiny sled, headfirst, as quickly as possible.

Seriously? Yes, seriously. The sliders -- as they are called -- can experience up to 5Gs of force on a run, which is roughly equivalent to a Formula One car moving fully breaking under maximum speeds. Unlike Formula One cars, their sleds have no brakes or steering.

Then how do they keep from flying off the surface of the bobsled track, or, say, the Earth? Their bodies. They control the movement of the sled by making slight changes in body positions. See why this is an Olympic sport?

Yes. So, who is going to win? As in many Olympic sports, the Canadians dominate. Canadians are expected to win gold in both men's and women's skeleton, with Jon Montgomery and Melissa Hollingsworth leading the way. Great Britain is pinning their medal hopes on Shelley Rudman, who won a silver in Turin, and Germany expects to be in the running as well. 

When do I tune in to watch this craziness? Both men's and women's skeleton competitions, including the medal heats, are on February 19.

1. I've long been wondering what planet Lenny Dykstra has been living on and this morning I finally got my answer: The type of planet where he actually believes people will pay $89 a month for his stock tips after watching half of Los Angeles claim he owes them money and then seeing him try to hock his 1986 World Series ring at a pawn shop last fall.

Anyway, ol' Lenny is back in business over at Nails Investments and he's trying to sell us on Dow Chemical stock. It goes without saying, but invest at your own risk. CNBC via Crashburn Alley

2. Hoo boy! Curt Schilling(notes) and Pete Abraham got into a bit of a blog-scrape over the looming possibility of a Josh Beckett(notes) contract extension in Boston. Hey Cage Writer, any way we can get that matchup added to the next UFC card? If not, we'll just broadcast it here on BLS. Red Sox Monster

3. Some guy thinks the Royals should trade Zack Greinke(notes) and Joakim Soria(notes) — two young affordable stars — so they can get even more young and affordable stars. No. KC Kansan

4. Good news for David Wright(notes)? The center field wall at Citi Field — the one below the Big Apple — is being chopped from 16 feet to eight in 2010. NYDN

5. Here's a cool post: Andrew Bucholtz employs WAR to construct a lineup of free agents that would have outproduced some major league teams last season. Sporting Madness

6. Our favorite punk rock baseball blogger is holding a contest to identify the most food-related tweets from beat writers at spring training this year. Winner gets a $25 iTunes gift card and severe cravings for In-N-Out and Chick-Fil-a. Punk on Deck

7. And then there was one: Check out this Saints commercial from 2005 and tell me if Cubs fans should be optimistic or just depressed over the new solitude of their suckitude. YT

8. Dennis Velasco kicks off his new site with a look at all the aspects of Tim Lincecum's(notes) march toward an arbitration hearing. Is a settlement in the cards this week? Fanway

9. I don't quite understand the mentality of the baseball diehards who refuse to watch the Super Bowl, but considering that I haven't watched a minute of NBA action since starting the Stew, maybe I should get where they're coming from. Diary of a Diehard

10. Former Washington Times writer Mark Zuckerman is following the C. Trent Rosecrans plan and is successfully asking loyal readers to fund his spring training plans. As of publishing time, he had already raised almost $3,300.  Nats Insider

11. This 1992 All-Star Game jacket is "satin" and "looks like Elton John threw up on it." In other words, it's something every Stewie would want to win on eBay. .400 in '94

12. Have you seen my baseball? Alex Rodriguez(notes) and Cameron Diaz were spotted being "fun and flirty" (FWIW) at a Super Bowl party this past weekend. OK! Magazine