But on the same weekend that Texas and then Alabama were forced to give everything they had to put away seemingly overmatched instate rivals, it's Florida that finally breaks out the long knives for the hated Seminoles, gashing FSU for vastly more yards (541) than the Gators have put on anyone who's not Charleston Southern, Troy or Florida International, and more offensive points than they've run up since Tim Tebow's concussion at Kentucky. If the knockout in Lexington has had anything to do with the offense's malaise from that point on, count the cobwebs officially shaken today -- Tebow had his best game with a 17-of-21, three-touchdown effort that included 86 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground, and the Gators returned to their explosive ways with six plays covering at least 25 yards on a clearly outmanned and outsmarted 'Nole defense. There was never any chance Florida would have to deal with anything like the drama the Longhorns and Crimson Tide had to endure to get out of their rivalry games unscathed.

One defense that will be neither outmanned nor outsmarted, of course, is Alabama next week, which waits for the Gators with rocks in its glove next week in Atlanta. The narrative of the season has been built around the blockbuster showdown of undefeated powerhouses in the SEC Championship, and both have officially lived up their obligations. Embrace the hype now, children, let it wash over you like a waterfall of champagne and Red Bull, and take in the coming week like a glutton finally getting his round at the smorgasbord. Behold: Florabamageddon is upon us.

They're certainly too high for anyone associated with the program, from high-rollin' sugar daddy T. Boone Pickens on down, to excuse this kind of performance -- not just because it's a loss, but because it's basically impossible to show up to a game and try and come out with zero points, zero third conversions and more penalties (six) than offensive first downs (four, two of which came via Oklahoma penalties themselves). The Cowboys punted on every possession except one, on which senior quarterback Zac Robinson was intercepted to set up a short touchdown, and didn't earn a first down in the second half by any means. Robinson's longest completion of the game covered all of 10 yards, and his final regular season snap ended in a sack, moments before Ryan Broyles added insult to injury with an 87-yard punt return to close the scoring and effectively commence the Brandon Weeden era for OSU's offense.

In other words, Mike Gundy's team had a chance to secure unprecedented spoils in Stillwater, and laid quite possibly the biggest egg of Gundy's five-year tenure. Have fun preparing for the Cotton Bowl, guys.

And on that note, welcome back to the big show, Boise State -- no schmoozing necessary. The Broncos' 44-33 win over Nevada Friday night effectively secured their fourth undefeated season in six years (barring impossible catastrophe against New Mexico State on the blue turf, where Boise hasn't lost in four years), and with it a certain BCS at-large bid, probably in the Fiesta Bowl. That slot might have gone to Oklahoma State, which could promise a bigger fan base for ticket sales and, based on past results, a bigger TV audience for sponsors. But since the Cowboys seem so uninterested in the trip, you can book the Broncos for another shot at one of the big guys.

This list gets whittled down to 15 finalists on January 7, 2010, and the final names will be announced on February 6, the day before Super Bowl XLIV. Current rules stipulate that no more than five current nominees can be enshrined, and that number can go up to seven if both Senior nominees are selected. In my view, LeBeau, Jerry Rice(notes), Emmitt Smith, Cris Carter, Charles Haley, and Shannon Sharpe will make it, though I wouldn't be surprised if a deserving player gets booted by Art Modell or Paul Tagliabue.

Lead-Pipe Locks:

Jerry Rice, WR - 1985-2000 San Francisco 49ers, 2001-04 Oakland Raiders, 2004 Seattle Seahawks; Emmitt Smith, RB - 1990-2002 Dallas Cowboys, 2003-04 Arizona Cardinals

In a word, duh. Smith is the NFL's all-time rushing leader and Rice is the NFL's all-time everything leader. Rice is also the second-best football player I've ever seen (Walter Payton is still #1). Plus, Emmitt's intermeduction speech will be exterifically nortable in its excubulelce.

The Should-Make-Its

Cris Carter, WR - 1987-89 Philadelphia Eagles, 1990-2001 Minnesota Vikings, 2002 Miami Dolphins; Charles Haley, DE/LB - 1986-1991, 1999 San Francisco 49ers, 1992-96 Dallas Cowboys; Art Modell, Owner - 1961-1995 Cleveland Browns, 1996-2003 Baltimore Ravens; Shannon Sharpe, TE - 1990-99, 2002-03 Denver Broncos, 2000-01 Baltimore Ravens; Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner - 1989-2006 National Football League

Carter should have made it in last year, and even with Rice going in and Sharpe pressing his case, a preponderance of pass-catchers won't get in his way. Excluding the guy who's third all-time in receptions, seventh all-time in receiving yards, and fourth in receiving touchdowns would be embarrassing at this point. Haley's key role in five Super Bowl championships should put him over the top. Clevelanders will be too busy trying to rescue their team from Eric Mangini to be overly offended by Modell's inclusion, and Modell was a key figure in the television and revenue sharing concerns that gave the NFL enough juice to get through the 1960s. Sharpe is the best and most productive eligible tight end, and Tagliabue is the kind of safe legacy pick that makes the voters very happy.

On the Precipice

Tim Brown(notes), WR/KR - 1988-2003 Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, 2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Don Coryell, Coach - 1973-77 St. Louis Cardinals, 1978-1986 San Diego Chargers; Terrell Davis, RB - 1995-2001 Denver Broncos; Andre Reed, WR - 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000 Washington Redskins; Aeneas Williams, CB/S - 1991-2000 Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, 2001-04 St. Louis Rams

Brown and Reed are just in a bad year crowded with receivers, but they'll get in soon. Coryell is one of the greatest offensive minds in NFL history, but LeBeau will catch all the coaching love this year. Other concerns here include longevity (Davis) and awareness (Williams -- he's good enough to get in, but he spent too many years with the Cardinals).

Close, but No Cigar

Cliff Branch, WR - 1972-1985 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders; Roger Craig, RB - 1983-1990 San Francisco 49ers, 1991 Los Angeles Raiders, 1992-93 Minnesota Vikings; Dermontti Dawson, C - 1988-2000 Pittsburgh Steelers; Chris Doleman, DE/LB - 1985 1993, 1999 Minnesota Vikings, 1994-95 Atlanta Falcons, 1996-98 San Francisco 49ers; Kevin Greene, LB/DE - 1985-1992 Los Angeles Rams, 1993-95 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1996, 1998-99 Carolina Panthers, 1997 San Francisco 49ers; Russ Grimm, G - 1981-1991 Washington Redskins; Ray Guy, P - 1973-1986 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders; Lester Hayes, CB - 1977-1986 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders; Rickey Jackson, LB - 1981-1993 New Orleans Saints, 1994-95 San Francisco 49ers; Cortez Kennedy, DT - 1990-2000 Seattle Seahawks; John Randle, DT - 1990-2000 Minnesota Vikings, 2001-03 Seattle; Seahawks; Steve Tasker, Special Teams/WR - 1985-86 Houston Oilers,1986-1997 Buffalo Bills

I'm more bullish on Branch, Doleman, Greene, and Kennedy than the other guys here. Branch was the primary target for Ken Stabler and Jim Plunkett during most of the Raiders' glory years, but he's a third-tier guy this year. Doleman was like Forrest Gump in reverse -- he played exceedingly well on a bunch of great teams that either couldn't get over the hump, or didn't do so before or after he got there. Greene's sack totals are as crazy as he is -- 160.0 over his career, which puts him third behind Bruce Smith and Reggie White (Doleman is fourth with 150.5), but I don't know if the voters have caught up to excessive sack numbers just yet. Kennedy was virtually unblockable for a decade on some really crappy, uninteresting Seahawks teams. Had he played for Mike Holmgren instead of Tom Flores and Dennis Erickson, this wouldn't even be open for debate.

Thoughts? Agreements? Contradictions? Anyone who didn't make the list that should have? If you want to get involved, go to fanschoice.com and cast your vote.

At least one Rebel decided to show when the actual team, for the most part, did not. The final score doesn't remotely indicate how thoroughly Ole Miss was run out of the building in the second half, the final insult on a frustrating regular season that began in the top 10, descended into chaos with a pair of losses in ther first three conference games, looked alive again with the emergence of Dexter McCluster and wins over Tennessee and LSU and finally ends with a thud, with a bad loss that will knock the Rebels out of the polls energize their struggling rival's long-suffering fan base for the next nine months. Jevan Snead, the hero of last year's November revival, capped his season by throwing three interceptions, one run back for a touchdown, sealing his fate as the SEC's interception leader for 2009.

None of which should obscure the best overall game Miss State has played in probably 10 years. The Bulldogs have been close all year, with the last second loss to LSU on the goal line and the best defensive effort yet against Tim Tebow, and finally broke through with rare vital signs on offense, courtesy of sophomore quarterback Chris Relf, who clinched his transition from "change of pace/Wildcat" option to "quarterback of the future." Relf, alternating with game but very limited starter Tyson Lee, set up the Bulldogs' only touchdown of the first half on a 22-yard run inside the Ole Miss five, and led MSU on three sustained touchdown drives operating Dan Mullen's spread option full-time in the second half, including two touchdown passes on four attempts -- one of them on an off-balance, 4th-and-10 heave into traffic that broke the game open -- that proved Relf is at least a threat to throw. MSU finished with 300-plus yards rushing for the third time in the last four weeks, and even excluded the defensive touchdown that pushed the final number to 41, the 34-point effort by the offense was the most the Bulldogs have scored against an SEC defense since 2005.

At 5-7, State's record is only one game better, but it couldn't end the season in a more different state of mind today than it found itself in a year ago, when the Bulldogs finished with 24 total yards in a 45-0 rout in Oxford that slammed the coffin on the Sylvester Croom era. By all appearances, MSU has what it bargained for in Mullen -- an offensive mind who can build a competitor people are actually willing to pay to see do something other than drag games into the mud -- and may have its own, poor man's version of Tebow in the 6'3", 235-pound Relf, whose status as a two-star recruit two years ago looks preposterous with his potential as a running quarterback in this kind of offense. If he makes it back with a full offseason as the focal point in Mullen's system and develops as a credible passer to keep safeties out of the box, this could be a dangerous offense in '1o, which may be the first time in my lifetime anyone has floated that notion as a realistic possibility.

 

(No, the first decade of the 21st century doesn't technically end until 2011. Save your bellyaching. But we've had nine NHL seasons and one stolen from us since 1999-2000, and Yahoo! Sports has decided it's time to rank the best and worst of the last "decade." Enjoy, and snark freely in the comments.)

Moments of unjustifiable criminal behavior. Economic despair. Debilitating physical ailments that irrevocably changed the lives of many.

Man, was this a great decade for the NHL or what?

It wasn't all doom, gloom, frustration and desperation. The lowest points for the NHL sometimes led to new heights for the game. But in thinking about the stories that received the most scrutiny, coverage and attention from fans and media over the last decade, there's no question that bad news made the headlines more often than the positive vibes.

Here's a look back at the 10 biggest stories in the NHL over the last decade ...

10. Birth of the KHL

In 2008, the Kontinental Hockey League was born out of the Russian Superleague and sent shockwaves over the oceans to NHL shores. Debuting with 24 teams and impressive financial backing, its intentions to rival the NHL weren't exactly a KGB-protected state secret.

It sought to keep young Russian players from fleeing to North America, while becoming an outpost for former NHL players that sought the large contracts and ice time they were no longer being offered. (In the cases of Ray Emery(notes) and Chris Simon(notes), it offered a professional option for NHL pariahs.) The KHL's profile received an instant boost when Jaromir Jagr(notes) bolted for its riches, although rumors continued to swirl that he wanted to return to the NHL.

A bitter dispute over Alexander Radulov's "defection" from the Nashville Predators to the KHL typified the tense relationship between the two leagues from the start. In its second season, the KHL began announcing European expansion plans that could dramatically change the hockey map heading into the next decade.

9. Bankruptcy protection

We'll remember 2003 as the Year of the Bust, and not just because Nikolai Zherdev(notes) was drafted fourth overall. Both the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators filed for bankruptcy protection in Jan. 2003, with the Sabres owing $206 million (US) and the Senators owing $160 million (CDN).

In both cases, the decision was made to keep the teams operating and to eventually sell them: The Senators to billionaire Eugene Melnyk and the Sabres to a group headed by New York billionaire Tom Golisano. Yet those filings, and the Pittsburgh Penguins' bankruptcy in 1998, contributed to a movement within the NHL that eventually led to some major economic changes. From the Hockey Digest's coverage of the bankruptcies:

The current CBA expires in September 2004. Bettman has yet to utter the words "salary cap" but he has made it clear that ownership wants to put a lid on salaries. The operative term is "cost containment."

The NHL is the only one of the four major pro sports without some kind of drag on salaries (salary cap or luxury tax)--yet it's by far the lowest revenue-generator among them. "We must have a system that enables all of our clubs to be economically stable and competitive," Bettman says. "Do I believe that other franchises are imminent candidates for Chapter 11 [bankruptcy]? The answer is no. However, franchises will continue to struggle until we get a system that works."

And we all know where that eventually led. Or, at least we will when we get lower in the countdown.

8. Concussions

What began as "serious concern" in the late 1990s became a movement throughout the hockey world in the 2000s to curb the violent hits to the head that resulted in an increase of documented concussions and, tragically, careers and lives forever altered.

By 2003, the concussion rate in the NHL had tripled, as players began reporting them rather than "playing through the pain" as had been the tradition. Players like Eric Lindros(notes) became poster boys for their career-altering effects, while retired players like Pat LaFontaine and Mark Messier championed awareness of head injuries and prevention of them. By the end of the decade, the NHL was considering rules that banned hits to the head in an effort to decrease the number of concussions in the League; following the lead of the OHL, which banned heat shots in 2005.

7. Marty McSorley assaults Donald Brashear(notes)

Years before Chris Simon used Ryan Hollweg's head as a piñata, Boston Bruins enforcer Marty McSorley became the symbol of NHL violent irresponsibility when he swung his stick at the head of Donald Brashear of the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 21, 2000. Brashear was knocked out when his head hit the ice. McSorely was suspended by the NHL for the rest of the season, but that was the least of his worries.

McSorely was charged with assault, a rare intrusion by law enforcement into the rink with which the NHL understandably disagreed. McSorley was found guilty of assault with a weapon and served 18 months of probation. His NHL career was over; Brashear ended the decade playing for the New York Rangers.

The incident was a significant moment for the NHL, which had escaped the legal ramifications of its players' actions since Dino Ciccarelli's stick incident in 1988. But it would find one of his players back in court a few years later, as you'll see in a few spots down the ranking.

6. Jim Balsillie vs. the NHL

Three times, the billionaire behind the BlackBerry attempted to become an NHL owner. Three times, he was thwarted for various reasons, though in the end his battles with Commissioner Gary Bettman dramatically altered the League's reputation in Canada and the reputations of some of its franchises in warm-weather climates.

In 2006, Balsillie was set to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins amid questions about whether he'd keep the team in the Steel City or relocate it if a favorable arena deal couldn't be struck. But he pulled the bid, his decision coming when the NHL placed nearly two dozen conditions on his potential ownership late in the process. The Penguins remained in Pittsburgh as a thriving franchise, and will move into a new building next season.

In 2007, it was announced that Balsillie had a tentative agreement to purchase the Nashville Predators from owner Craig Leipold, with the intention of moving the team to Hamilton, Ontario. And by "intention," we mean he was selling season tickets to the "Hamilton Predators" that summer before actually owning the team. The NHL and Leipold eventually balked at his ownership bid, and Leipold turned to an ownership group that included now-convicted fraud William (Boots) Del Biaggio instead.

Balsillie completed the hat trick in Spring 2009, working with Phoenix Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes to purchase the bankrupt franchise and use the courts to circumvent NHL bylaws in an effort to relocate it to Hamilton. A bitter, revealing court battle between the League and Balsillie occurred throughout the year, as the NHL ended up bidding for its own franchise, the other pro sports leagues waited to see if this hostile takeover was legal and the depths of the Coyotes' financial woes were exposed. It continued until Judge Redfield T. Baum rejected both of their bids for the franchise, ending the process for Balsillie.

Balsillie didn't exactly have majority support from fans in his first two bids, but that changed by the third one. His "Make It Seven" campaign rallied angry Canadian fans who felt the NHL was biased towards American markets and foolish for not allowing a franchise in Southern Ontario. The League's fight to keep a financially devastated team in a struggling U.S. market didn't help that. Balsillie lost three battles; might the war continue next decade?

5. Death of Dan Snyder

Snyder was a 25-year-old center for the Atlanta Thrashers who was just starting his NHL career when his life tragically ended in a sad, horrific moment for hockey. From Sports Illustrated in 2003:

Dany Heatley(notes), 22, the star right winger, was driving from an evening meet-and-greet with season ticket holders in his black Ferrari 360 Modena with Dan Snyder, the Thrashers' 25-year-old fourth-line center who was staying at his house. Suddenly, on a curvy road in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood, Heatley lost control and the car, going 80 mph, skidded into a brick pillar and iron fence. Snyder was thrown from the vehicle and fractured his skull. After six days in a coma he died on Sunday night.

Heatley, at the time one of the League's brightest young stars, was also injured in the crash but was charged with a felony count of vehicular homicide, which carried a maximum sentence of 15 years. Snyder's family offered forgiveness and didn't want Heatley to go to jail; the judge took that into account when Heatley pled guilty to four of six charges and received three years probation -- with the felony charge dropped.

The incident has remained a permanent part of Heatley's career and subsequent stardom, including a move by EA Sports to drop him from a video game cover after the incident. Snyder's memory has been honored through awards and an arena name in his hometown.

4. Crosby vs. Ovechkin

The emergence of Sidney Crosby(notes) and Alex Ovechkin(notes), both as rivals and as the two biggest stars in the NHL, propelled the League out of lockout hell and into a new era of global popularity. They posted stellar numbers, collected significant hardware and demanded those previously apathetic to the sport take notice again.

The rivalry worked instantly because of their divergent biographies: Crosby as the smooth-skating Canadian "next one" and Ovechkin as the shaggy, flashy Russian who played the game with an edge. It was a "Bird vs. Magic" for NHL 2.0, and the fans embraced both stars as heroes, anti-heroes or villains (depending on the city, of course).

The NHL wouldn't nearly be as healthy as it is at the end of decade had it not been for these two young stars helping to transform it. They've made hockey cool again for the ESPN crowd, and they're just getting started.

3. Television Hallelujahs and Headaches in the U.S.

The NHL began the decade in the midst of a five-year deal with ABC/ESPN worth $120 million per season. But its promotion and prominence on ESPN was waning, thanks to the acquisition of other properties (poker, anyone?) and the NHL's declining ratings.

After that deal ended in 2004, ESPN wanted to slice the rights fees in half annually and ABC wasn't going to place the Stanley Cup finals in prime time. The NHL secured its broadcast coverage via a deal with NBC that offered no rights fees up front and a "revenue sharing" deal. After the lockout, the NHL struck a deal with Comcast's Outdoor Life Network to become the cable home of the League, securing more guaranteed money than if it had re-signed with ESPN.

Problem, of course, being that ESPN was found everywhere at that time, and there were Korean-language stations available in more sports bars than OLN ...

Rebranded as Versus, its distribution grew as its roster of properties did, although it never landed Major League Baseball or the NFL as was planned when the NHL signed on. Its coverage of the League has been politely applauded by some and ravaged by others. It remains, for better or worse, one of the defining decisions of Gary Bettman's tenure as commissioner.

But sometimes, the television gambles worked: The Winter Classic, first played on Jan. 1, 2008 between the Buffalos Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium, was an instant ratings hit on NBC. Other than the Stanley Cup finals, it's arguably the most viable television property the NHL has.

The NHL continues to make ratings gains in the U.S, especially locally. But the fact remains that the League's television contract doesn't provide the sort of revenue stream other pro sports leagues thrive on.

2. The Todd Bertuzzi(notes) Incident

How infamous was Todd Bertuzzi's blindside punch that ended the career of Colorado Avalanche winger Steve Moore? NBC's "The Today Show" had a segment about it after the March 8, 2004 legendary moment of brutality, and they cover hockey about as often as Haley's Comet does a flyby.

So that's what mainstream America knew about the NHL in 2004. Tragic.

It began a few weeks earlier in Feb. 2004, when Moore gave Vancouver Canucks star Markus Naslund(notes) a hit to the head that drew the ire of the Canucks. From CBC Sports:

The Canucks were unsympathetic, and their threats of retribution came to a head during the third period of a game later that season in Vancouver. Unsuccessful in his attempts to goad Moore into a fight, the six-foot-three, 242-pound Bertuzzi skated up behind his smaller adversary, grabbed a handful of jersey and used his free hand to knock Moore unconscious before piling atop the fallen player.

When the ensuing melee finally ceased, Moore was being carted off on a stretcher and Bertuzzi was on his way to receiving a lengthy suspension from the NHL.

Lengthy as in 17 months, which carried through the lockout and kept Bertuzzi ineligible to play in international events. Moore was hospitalized with three broken vertebrae and a concussion that ended his hockey career.

Bertuzzi pled guilty to criminal charges filed in Vancouver, getting probation. Moore has had multiple lawsuits against Bertuzzi and Canucks coaches and management, some of which are still pending. Bertuzzi himself brought former Coach Marc Crawford, now with the Dallas Stars, into the legal entanglement by allegedly claiming that Moore "pay the price" for his actions.

Simply put: One of the blackest of black eyes for hockey, both in the severity of the injury and the damage the time-honored "Code" suffered as a hockey institution.

1. Lockout

Yeah, we know: Shocking choice for No. 1, right?

As was mentioned in our Best/Worst Decisions of the Last Decade, the labor dispute between the NHL and the NHLPA that forced the cancellation of the 2004-05 season had its determents and its benefits.

The lockout was a point of ridicule for non-hockey fans and writers, a crushing blow to the game's standing and a moment of bitter division between everyone involved in the sport. People lost millions, lost jobs and lost their faith in the men charged with the game's integrity. One look at the timeline of the lockout is a reminder of how awful things had gotten before a new CBA was agreed upon; dear god, replacement players?

Yet there were undeniable achievements from that darkest hour. The new rules opened up the game for a new generation of stars and ended years of defensive-minded hockey that the League couldn't figure out how to market. There was parity found in every division, with playoff races coming down to the wire. The NHL and its franchises were forced to work harder and smarter to win fans back.

NHL 2.0 isn't perfect. The trapezoid stinks, the shootout is inequitable and the salary cap has more loopholes than a crocheted sweater. The climb back up from the depths of a cancelled season was a thorny one, especially at the gate and on television. The beating the NHLPA took -- or was perceived to have taken, as the hockey living wage remains quite comfortable -- left it fractured to the point where the next CBA negotiation could be a chaotic one.

But the NHL is better off in 2009 than it was in 2000. Which is why the lockout is the biggest story of the decade.

Kragthorpe's stint with the Cardinals was one of the more puzzling coaching faceplants of the past decade, as he'd just come off a stunning resurrection of the Tulsa program -- the Golden Hurricane went from two total wins in the two years preceding his arrival to 17 wins, two bowl bids, and a Conference USA title -- and was taking the reins at a program that Petrino had managed to establish as a contender not just in the Big East but on a national level. But Kragthorpe debuted in Louisville with a 6-6, bowlless season in 2007 and managed to get worse by even increments each year -- 5-7 in 2008, followed by this year's 4-8 record. He will be remembered for going 0-3 against in-state rival Kentucky (right on the heels of Petrino's 4-0 mark) and 4-17 in Big East play (including providing Greg Robinson with two of his three conference wins at Syracuse).

Kragthorpe had two years left on his contract and stands to receive a golden parachute worth about $2.4 million; possible candidates for his replacement are said to include Ken Sumlin (17-7 at Houston), perpetually cranky Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach, and perpetually overlooked Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong, any one of which would throw interesting new wrinkles into an '09 coaching carousel already poised to revolve at warp speed.

In the hours since his early-Friday-morning accident, facts, innuendo and supposition have combined to put a minor one-car bump in a cloistered Florida subdivision onto front pages worldwide. Why? Because this story presses all the necessary buttons: celebrity, sex and violence. And if it's left to grow on its own, it's going to get much worse before it gets any better.

Tiger's handlers are in unfamiliar territory on this one. In the golf media, Woods often gets handled with kitten mittens because his handlers have the power to cut off access to any media outlet that gets rough. Everybody plays ball in order to keep the access alive.

But this story isn't in the realm of golf writers anymore. Take a look at that photo at right, which includes graphics done by the Wall Street Journal. When they start bringing in the helicopters to cover your saga, matters have grown beyond the point where a simple "this is a private matter" read by some spokesperson can shut down the story. 

More importantly, TMZ and other gossip media outlets don't care about preserving relationships or access to Woods. As long as they're conceivably staying within the bounds of legality, they can throw out accusations, suppositions and speculation without fear of reprisal. And once a particularly juicy element gets out into the public headspace, it's impossible to pull back. As the old saying goes, you can't unring a bell.

It may already be happening. For instance, Rachel Uchitel, Woods' alleged mistress, is telling a reasonably convincing story that she couldn't possibly be involved with Woods. Even so, her name's already stained -- twenty years from now, her name and Woods' will still be intertwined.

And as for Tiger's wife Elin? The picture that's developing of her isn't a flattering one either. Why did she smash out the back window of the SUV if she was trying to "rescue" Tiger? TMZ is reporting even darker allegations, the kind that can ruin a reputation and stain a marriage permanently.

So for his own good, and the good of his family, it's time for Tiger -- not his faceless handlers via press release, not his attorneys on camera, but Tiger himself -- to step up and address this.  The guy enjoys more goodwill than practically any other human being on earth, and it's time to tap into some of that. We're a forgiving people, but not if we're getting the story from PR flacks.

If he's done wrong, he needs to admit it. If he hasn't done wrong, he needs to deny -- in his own words, in front of questioning -- the allegations against him. At the very least, he needs to get a handle on the stories that are taking root before they get any more outlandish.

Despite his wishes -- he named his yacht "Privacy," and has filed at least two different lawsuits on those who infringe upon his private life -- Tiger cannot ever be a completely private figure. That's the devil's bargain of celebrity. And for a guy whose image is at least partly built on being a devoted family man, a respectful son and doting father, allegations of infidelity and domestic discord just can't be allowed to flourish.

So step up, Tiger. End all this, or at least get control of it. Because right now, you're getting worked over like you've never been before.

Updates:
The blog Nice Ballz picked up on exactly the point of what I was saying above -- this is actually a pro-Tiger post, recommending he get control of his own story. And Gary Van Sickle over at Sports Illustrated is now making many of the exact same points I did.

But Tiger and Elin Woods have declined to make themselves available to police, information which they shared via Woods' agent. So that's how he's going to play this. 

______

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However, the overall task -- beating the Baltimore Ravens on the road in the first of two crucial matchups against their divisional rivals -- will be a very tall order. Baltimore's defense isn't what it's been in previous years (especially the secondary), but head coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged to the media this week that the offense will have to adjust. "I've been very pleased with Dennis's progress as a third quarterback," Tomlin said earlier this week when asked about Dixon possibly starting. "That's different, of course, than playing against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night television. No question that we would have to do some things to help him. If he plays in this game, and plays extensively in this game, we have to do some things schematically."

Perhaps the Steelers will try some of the counter option looks that Vince Young(notes) and the Tennessee Titans have used so effectively in the last month? With increased use of the shotgun formation and option plays in the last few years, the NFL seems prepared to meet quarterbacks like Dixon halfway in ways that would not have been possible before. Dixon flashed arm strength and accuracy at the college level and in pro workouts, but as Tomlin said, facing the Ravens is an entirely different matter. The Steelers beat the Ravens three times last season in closely-contested games, and both teams are in a fight for playoff contention. Baltimore will have a target on Dixon's back, and Dixon's teammates will have to make up the difference in experience and skill level without Roethlisberger in the picture.

The persistent question for Florida throughout the SEC season has been something along the lines of "Can the Gator offense get untracked?" In this case, "untracked" really means "explode" on the order of the '08 attack that averaged 421 yards and 43 points in SEC games. Minus play-caller Dan Mullen and all-purpose ninja Percy Harvin, this edition of the Gator O is averaging 375 and 28, respectively, and has gone off only once against decent competition, with 41 points against Georgia. But UF is still ranked in the top 15 nationally in total and scoring offense, against a sad-sack Seminole D sitting at dead last in the ACC and among the bottom 25 teams nationally in almost every major defensive category. That's a battle Tebow and Co., whatever their relative struggles, are going to win.

That's nothing new for the FSU offense, which seems to have accepted the burden of bailing out the defense a long time, and with some pretty impressive aplomb over the second half of the season: The 'Noles are averaging more than 460 yards and 35 points over the last six games, and won four of the last five since a mid-October bye week, all in wild shootouts, running up 30 points in the season-saving Thursday night comeback at North Carolina, 45 against N.C. State, 41 at Wake Forest and 29 last week against Maryland, the last two with scrambly backup E.J. Manuel at the helm in place of injured MVP Christian Ponder.

Manuel has been mostly fine in his first significant action, hitting two-thirds of his passes with a pair of 200-yard games (and a pair of wins) in his only two starts, but the story of salvaging the season over the last month has been one of balance -- the FSU ground game has averaged more than 205 yards in its last four. There's a reason you haven't heard as much lately about the vultures circling Bobby Bowden: Even with Manuel, this has been a much more formidable attack since that bye week than it was through the three-game losing streak that threatened to send Bowden to a premature retirement.

We'll see if that's enough to buy a generally competitive game in Tebow's finale, which is possible if the FSU defense turns in an expired effort in longtime coordinator Mickey Andrews' send-off. If you're expecting an Auburn or Texas A&M-like effort into the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, though, that's pressing your luck: Even if the rest of the 'Nole offense manages to match up with the Gators, Manuel remains a freshman in his third start, off a three-interception game last week against Maryland, against one of the top two or three defenses in the country. Florida State has consistently needed at least four touchdowns to overcome the defense; the Gators haven't allowed more than two in any game this year, or in any of the last 19 games of their 21-game winning streak. It will be a triumph for Jimbo Fisher's offense if this is still in question at any point in the fourth quarter.

If at first you don't succeed, pummel, pummel again. In a textbook example of the kind of staged fight the NHL may eventually legislate out of the game, Rivet and Carcillo yapped before the faceoff and then dropped the gloves for Round 2. They didn't disappoint this time, even if it was a clear win for the Flyers goon:

Carcillo received an additional 10-minute misconduct penalty for a 20-PIM day during Buffalo's 4-2 win. Unfortunately, Rivet appeared to suffer a fairly serious leg injury late in the game and was helped off the ice. He's third in average ice time (19:56) for the Sabres, meaning his loss would sting more than anything Carcillo landed in their two fights on Friday.

Thanks to HockeyFights.com for the clips.

Each week the Noise will guide desperate, deep-thinking owners into the dark corners of the waiver wire to mine a last-minute diamond. Turn on your helmet light and pack a pickaxe. We're digging for drop-jaw surprises owned in fewer than 10 percent or started in five percent or less of Yahoo! Plus leagues.

When one reflects on the offerings of Montana, mountains, grizzly bears, microbrews and some slaughter at Little Bighorn immediately come to mind.

However, the Treasure State also boasts quality football. The University of Montana Grizzlies have won two Division 1-AA national championships over the past 15 years and punched a ticket for the playoffs in 16 consecutive seasons.

Though Montana isn't a pro football factory like perennial powerhouses Ohio State or Florida, it has produced its fair share of NFL talent, including current Miami Dolphin Lex Hilliard.

Promoted from the practice squad after Ronnie Brown was felled by a devastating foot injury, the former Grizz standout emerged from the deepest recesses of the waiver wire to produce respectable numbers against Carolina last week. On just six touches he totaled 31 yards (5.2 yards per touch), exhibiting excellent downhill power and between-the-tackles burst. With Brown on injured reserve, the former '08 sixth-round pick, whose skill set scouts compared to Marion Barber's, will remain a fixture in the Dolphins backfield, albeit often in a limited role.

But this week in Buffalo, Hilliard's workload could expand.

Ricky Williams lugged the rock 22 times last week, exiting stage left late in the fourth quarter with a minor chest injury. Undoubtedly, the Holistic One will shoulder the bulk of the carries once again, but because of his advanced age and inferior opponent, the 32-year-old may cede a few carries to the younger Hilliard.

Anticipate a mauling.

On the season, the Beefalos have been feasted on by rushers, surrendering 4.9 yards per carry, 195.6 total yards per game and 16 total touchdowns, equal to the most fantasy points allowed. Because of Tony Sparano's ground-pounding philosophy, the Fins will most certainly run down the throat of their AFC East rival. Even if the Bills stack the box, their interior seven is no match for Miami's banged up but still formiddable offensive line. In their first meeting back in Week 4, Ricky (17 touches) and Ronnie (20) combined for 211 yards and three scores. Though Hilliard's workload will likely be lighter in comparison, he could easily accumulate 50-plus yards on 10-12 touches.

For those in desperate deep-league situations, the 14 percent-owned (one percent-started) Montana native could prove to be a rural king.

Week 12 Fearless Forecast: 11 carries, 57 rushing yards, 2 receptions 8 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, 12 fantasy points

Following the rules mentioned in the boilerplate, who is your Week 12 shocker special? Post your pick with projection below.

SILENCE THE NOISE CHALLENGE

Each week one lucky aspiring fantasy prognosticator is chosen to go toe-to-toe against the Noise. If you want to be a guest "expert" submit your Week 13 flames, lames (1 QB, 3 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE for each, 16 total) and shocker special (one player at any position) along with a valid email address and your location here no later than 7 PM central time on Thursday. Oh, and please, no long dissertations to justify your picks. All that's required are your player selections and projections. Winners earn a league spot to compete against yours truly next season. Good luck!

Week 12 contestant:  Alan from Ithaca, NY

Flames:
QB: Matt Cassel, KC, 18-30, 270 yards, 2 TDs, 7%
RB: Justin Forsett, Sea, 21 rushes, 120 yards, 40 receiving yards, 1 TD, 52%
RB: Knowshon Moreno, Den, 17 rushes, 95 yards, 1 TD, 36%
RB: Carnell Williams, TB, 20 rushes, 115 yards, 1 TD, 20%
WR: Chris Chambers, KC, 7 catches, 90 yards, 1 TD, 31%
WR: Mario Manningham, NYG, 5 catches, 85 yards, 1 TD, 46%
WR: Laveranues Coles, Cin, 5 catches, 70 yards, 1 TD, 20%
TE: Todd Heap, Bal, 6 catches, 80 yards, 1 TD, 17%

Lames:
QB: Ben Roethlisberger, Pit, 15-27, 200 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs, 44%*
RB: Jason Snelling, Atl, 18 rushes, 64 yards, 1 FL, 61%
RB: Joseph Addai, Ind, 15 rushes, 70 yards, 0 TDs, 89%
RB: Marion Barber, Dal, 18 rushes, 72 yards, 0 TDs, 85%
WR: Randy Moss, NE, 4 catches, 48 yards, 0 TDs, 99%
WR: Mike Sims-Walker, Jac, 3 catches 32 yards, 0 TDs, 89%
WR: Hines Ward, Pit, 3 catches 40 yards, 0 TDs, 91%
TE: Brent Celek, Phi, 2 catches, 20 yards, 0 TDs, 77%

Shocker Special: Kevin Walter, Hou, 7 catches, 140 yards, 1 TD, 18%*

*Don't exactly qualify, but Alan was selected because his Moreno pick deserved to be recognized.

Week 11 results: Sean from South Brunswick, NJ

Flames (4-5): W - (Jason Snelling, Chris Chambers, Zach Miller, Matthew Stafford (Shocker)); L - (Jake Delhomme, Fred Jackson, Ladell Betts, Davone Bess, Steve Breaston)

Lames (5-3): W - (Tony Romo, Pierre Thomas, Miles Austin, Chad Ochocinco, Jeremy Shockey); L - (Rashard Mendenhall, Thomas Jones, Mike Sims-Walker)

Noisers Season: Flames (30-61, 32.9%), Lames (38-41, 48.1%)

Winners: Matthew in Colden, NY, Micah in Shelbyville, TN, Brian in Colorado Springs, Sean from South Brunswick, NJ

--

Image courtesy of US Presswire

• Our invisible center is way too tall.

• Nick Saban, head coach of the University of Alabama, describes to assistants precisely how to construct his post-game pastrami sandwich.

• Get out of Mark Ingram's hip, foul demons!

• I knew we never should have let coach hold that priceless crystal bust of "The Bear Looks to Heaven."

• At long last the Messiah Recruit is birthed from the spirit realm into my possession!!! Bwahahaha!!

• Patty-cake!

Leave your best guesses below.

• Not much defense in Denver on Friday, as the Nuggets came away with a 128-125 win over the Knicks. The teams combined to shoot 51 percent from the field, make 23 threes, and logged a 59:19 assist-to-turnover ratio. The big winners: Carmelo Anthony(notes) (career-high 50 points, 15-of-16 FT), Al Harrington(notes) (41 points, 4 threes, 10 boards, 2 steals, 2 blocks), Chauncey Billups(notes) (32 points, 4 threes, 8 assists), David Lee(notes) (23 points, 10 boards, 4 assists), and Larry Hughes(notes) (16 points, 3 threes, 9 assists, 2 steals). Chris Duhon(notes) even got in on the action (12 points, 3 threes, 6 assists) now that his starting job is in jeopardy.

• Jrue Holiday(notes) will have to step into the void created by Louis Williams'(notes) broken jaw, an injury that is expected to sideline him for up to two months. Holiday was a mixed bag on Friday versus the Hawks (25 minutes, 2 points, 1-of-8 shooting, 5 assists, 0 turnovers, 2 steals). Best-case scenario for him would be a poor man's version of what Williams was able to accomplish in terms of points, threes, assists, and steals. Holiday is a bit hard to project given his limited college resume, but he won't be lacking for opportunity in the short-term. That is, as long as the Sixers don't sign a particular unnamed recently retired former Sixer. … What made Williams so great for fantasy to this point was his fantastic efficiency (50% FG, 83% FT, 1.8 TO) – the fact that Williams is currently near the top of both the roto and h2h lists for "MVPs" is no coincidence, and he'll be sorely missed by his fantasy owners.

• Elton Brand(notes) missed his second straight game due to a sore right hamstring, but was a game-time decision and could be back when the 76ers take on the Spurs on Sunday. Jason Smith(notes) made his second start, totaling 14 points, five boards, a steal, and two blocks in 28 minutes. Smith is exactly the kind of player that the Princeton offense calls for, in that he's a big that can board, block shots, and step outside and hit the three. He won't get consistent playing time in the present without a major injury or a Samuel Dalembert(notes) trade, but he's one to pay particular attention to when he does get some run.

• Thaddeus Young(notes) had the offense working again on Friday (22 points, 3 treys), even if the supporting stats were nil (2 boards, 1 assist, 0 steals or blocks). He's been mostly up over the past four games, averaging 20.8 points on 56-percent shooting, 1.8 threes, 4.5 boards, and 1 steal in 43 minutes.

• Mike Bibby(notes) had arguably his best game of the season (21 points, 5 threes, 4 boards, 5 assists), and it came on the heels of a five-game stretch where he made 14 of 43 shots (33%) and averaged 5.4 points. Although he could improve on his season averages a bit moving forward (9.9 points, 1.5 threes, 4.1 assists), it's hard to hold out too much hope for him with Josh Smith(notes) and Al Horford(notes) being more assertive on offense and Jamal Crawford(notes) being added to the mix.

• Shaquille O'Neal(notes) returned for the Cavs on Friday and produced a decent line (30 minutes, 11 points, 8 boards, 1 block), but the Cavs' offense was sluggish overall in the 94-87 loss to the Bobcats (17 FTA, 14:16 AST:TO). Anderson Varejao(notes), Anthony Parker(notes), and J.J. Hickson(notes) combined for seven points in 70 minutes.  

• Gerald Wallace(notes) scored 31 points for the second consecutive night and added 14 boards, his fifth straight double-double. G-Wall's averages in the six games since the Stephen Jackson(notes) trade: 19.5 points on 51-percent shooting, 0.8 threes, 9.7 free throw attempts, 11.5 boards, 2.2 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.2 blocks in 40 minutes. Other notable Bobcats in the six games:

Jackson: 41 min, 18.5 pts, 41% FG, 1.3 3pt, 4.8 reb, 3.8 ast, 3.2 to, 1.5 stl
Diaw: 34 min, 10.7 pts, 55% FG, 0.3 3pt, 4.2 reb, 1.8 ast, 0.7 to, 0.7 stl, 0.7 blk
Felton: 29 min, 7.3 pts, 40% FG, 0.2 3pt, 3.3 reb, 4.8 ast, 1.8 to, 1.8 stl
Chandler: 20 min, 4 pts, 43% FG, 5 reb, 1.8 blk
Augustin: 15 min, 3.8 pts, 35% FG, 0.7 3pt, 2.5 ast, 0.7 blk

Wallace's numbers have benefited from the attention that Jackson has commanded, and he's continued to pile up the boards thanks to Chandler's foul trouble and inconsistent availability. Jackson's usage has had a substantial negative impact on Diaw, at least through six games. He's seeing significantly fewer touches in the offense and appears to have lost many of his responsibilities as a distributor. Diaw was averaging 5 assists per game at the time of the trade. Jackson has also limited Felton's numbers and completed the marginalization of D.J. Augustin(notes).

• Nick Young(notes) isn't shy, that's for sure. He took a team-high 23 shot attempts in 37 minutes on Friday, en route to 22 points, four boards, and 5 assists in 37 minutes. Young totaled just 45 minutes of playing time in the Wizards' first 12 games, but has now totaled 42 points in 69 minutes in two starts since taking over for the injured Mike Miller(notes). Young has never had problems scoring, but has struggled to fill out the rest of the stat sheet. He's worth a no-risk add if you are in serious need of scoring help, but keep in mind that he won't typically be asked (allowed?) to handle more of the offense than Gilbert Arenas(notes) and Caron Butler(notes) combined (8-of-16, 18 points on Friday).

• Scoring 103 points against the Celtics is good, and shooting 56 percent from the field is great, but the Raptors had only 15 assists on 39 made field goals on Friday and a 15:25 assist-to-turnover ratio overall in their 116-103 loss. Given the dearth of assists, it's probably no surprise that Jose Calderon(notes) had another stinker (9 points, 0 threes, 4 assists, 3 turnovers). The Celtics shot 63 percent from the field on Friday, and the Raptors have averaged 114 points against over the past seven games.

• Congrats if you rolled with Rasheed Wallace(notes) in the starting lineup tonight (23 minutes, 15 points, 3 treys, 4 steals, 1 block), despite his zero points against the Knicks on Sunday and averages of 6 points on 29-percent shooting and 0.8 threes over his previous six games.

• A sprained left ankle pushed Ben Gordon(notes) to the Pistons' inactive list on Friday. The injury is not thought to be serious, but an official update is expected from the team on Saturday. Austin Daye(notes) started in Gordon's place (33 minutes, 13 points, 1 three, 5 boards). Jonas Jerebko(notes) had his best game of the season thanks to Al Thornton's(notes) defense – Jerebko went for 22 points and made all four of his threes, after having made three of 17 long-range attempts in his first 13 games.

• Chris Kaman(notes) shoot off a shooting slump (34% over his past five games) against the Pistons, converting 11-of-13 shots en route to 26 points in 36 minutes. Although his playing time has decreased slightly in recent games, I'm still worried about Kaman's workload to this point (37 minutes per game). 

• Another huge night from Marcus Camby(notes) (7 points, 9 boards, 3 steals, 6 blocks) pushed his season averages in 17 games to 8.2 points, 9.9 boards, 1.4 steals, and 2.1 blocks in 32 minutes. 

• Mike Dunleavy made his season debut and had pretty solid per-minute line (16 minutes, 13 points, 1 three, 2 boards, 1 steal, 1 block) in a blowout loss to the Mavericks. Although the fact that the Pacers were down by 26 at the start of the fourth quarter makes it tough to read a lot into individual lines, the downward trend for Roy Hibbert(notes) did continue (12 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 0 blocks). It's been a combination of foul trouble, matchups, and Murphy replacing Hibbert at center in the team's small lineup – in five games since Murph returned, Hibbert has averaged 5.8 points, 2.6 boards, and 0.8 blocks in 18 minutes.

• A tough night for the Rockets, as they scored only 84 points and shot 36 percent as a team against the Spurs. Trevor Ariza(notes) and Aaron Brooks(notes) combined to make 11 of 37 shots (30%), while starters Shane Battier(notes) and Chuck Hayes(notes) combined for zero points on 0-of-10 shooting in 44 minutes. Ariza is shooting 37 percent over the past 10 games, while Brooks is shooting 39 percent. While Ariza has put together very good counting stats over that stretch (17.2 points, 2.3 threes, 6.1 boards, 3.6 assists, 2.6 steals, 0.7 blocks), Brooks' overall line has been a real disappointment (14.6 points, 1.6 threes, 1.9 boards, 4.4 assists, 2.6 turnovers, 0.4 steals)

• Antonio McDyess(notes) logged his first double-double of the season (15 points, 14 boards, 2 steals, 1 block in 31 minutes) in his fourth straight start and sixth in the past eight games. I'd love to say that McDyess is ready to start putting up very good numbers consistently, but the Spurs really like to play all of their bigs and Matt Bonner(notes) will continue to get more run when the matchups dictate.

• Manu Ginobili(notes) missed his fifth consecutive game on Friday because of a groin strain but may return to the active roster for the Spurs on Sunday.

• Michael Redd's(notes) return to the starting lineup didn't exactly work out on the stat sheet for him (22 minutes, 8 points, 3-of-9 shooting) or Brandon Jennings(notes) (30 minutes, 12 points, 3-of-11 shooting, 3 assists, 3 turnovers), but plenty of credit should be given to Redd's rust level and the excellent pair of perimeter defenders that they faced (Thabo Sefolosha(notes), Russell Westbrook(notes)). Let's give it a bit more time before we start drawing any conclusions.

• After failing to crack the 10-point barrier in his first 11 NBA games, James Harden(notes) has now scored in double figures in five straight. Friday's line (15 points, 6-of-7 shooting, 3 threes) gave him averages of 16.8 points on 52-percent shooting and 2.8 threes in 27 minutes over the past five games.

• The Suns went deep into their rotation in the 25-point win over the T-Wolves, with nine players seeing between 17 and 27 minutes of playing time. Grant Hill(notes) was a +33 in 26 minutes and Robin Lopez(notes) saw his first action of the regular season and posted a great per-minute line (15 minutes, 8 points, 7 boards, 1 steal, 2 blocks).

• Corey Brewer(notes) followed up 10-of-18 shooting on Wednesday with 1-of-11 shooting on Friday, dropping his season average from the floor back down to 37 percent. Ramon Sessions(notes) actually got some extended run against the Suns, and went for a team-high 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting in 31 minutes. If Brewer continues his putrid shooting, perhaps Kurt Rambis will get a bit more comfortable with the idea of Jonny Flynn(notes) and Sessions sharing the court. That said, there's only so much that can be done to help this team while Al Jefferson(notes) remains below 100 percent and Kevin Love(notes) remains inactive.

• Devin Harris'(notes) return to the starting lineup wasn't enough to help the Nets avoid dropping their 16th straight to open the season. Harris made six of 22 shots (27%) and had three assists (the Nets had only 10 as a team) in 38 minutes, although he did make 13 of 17 free throws. Courtney Lee(notes) played just three minutes in his third game since returning from a groin injury.

• Donte Greene(notes) got the start ahead of Beno Udrih(notes) on Friday – with Udrih returning from a bout with the flu – and followed up his awesomeness against the Knicks on Wednesday (35 minutes, 24 points, 6 threes, 6 blocks) with something a bit more pedestrian (16 minutes, 3 points, 2 blocks). Plan on Udrih being back in the starting five in Greene's place on Sunday.

• Spencer Hawes(notes) was on his way to a great line on Friday (16 points, 1 three, 10 boards, 2 blocks) before leaving in the third quarter with a knee injury. We should have a status update sometime on Saturday.

• A big win for the Grizzlies over the Blazers tonight, thanks in part to a 31-2 (!) first-half run that allowed them to go to the half with a 61-39 lead. Marc Gasol(notes) (19 points, 15 boards, 5 assists) and Zach Randolph(notes) (21 points, 9 boards) continue to be an exceptional fantasy froncourt duo. He's been absolutely massive for fantasy owners this season. 

• Jamaal Tinsley(notes) edged Mike Conley(notes) in terms of minutes (26 to 22) and production (16 points, 5 assists to 4 points, 3 assists) on Friday. While the Grizz are certainly committed to Conley, they've won five of seven while getting very little from him, and his poor production is certainly a trend at this point. Over the past nine games, he's averaged 6.4 points on 32-percent shooting and 4.4 assists. Tinsley has been getting praise from his teammates since his arrival, so this is a situation that is clearly worth watching.

• Martell Webster(notes) was huge on Friday (24 points, 6 threes, 5 boards, 1 steal, 3 blocks) and has averaged 15.3 points on 51-percent shooting, 3 threes, and 6 boards in four games since re-joining the Blazers' starting lineup.

• Greg Oden(notes) filled it up again (13 points, 10 boards, 3 blocks) and is on a real tear. Over the past 9 games, he's averaged 13.3 points on 64-percent shooting, 8.2 boards, and 2.7 blocks. The fouls keep coming too, however – during the same stretch, he's averaged 4.2 fouls in 26 minutes.

No. 1 Star: J.S. Giguere, Anaheim Ducks

The Chicago Blackhawks rolled into Anaheim with an eight-game winning streak, but Jean-Sebastien Giguere(notes) put an end to that with his first shutout of the season. The Ducks won, 3-0, as Teemu Selanne(notes) had two power-play goals and Nick Boynton(notes) added another. Giggy had 28 stops against the fifth-best offensive team in the NHL, and the Ducks have won four of their last five games.

No. 2 Star: Patrick Marleau(notes), San Jose Sharks

There was a lot of fun hockey played in the NHL on Friday night, but few games matched the high drama of Dany Heatley's(notes) visit to the city he refused to be traded to last summer. Yet it was Patrick Marleau who stole the show. Heatley was a plus-2 and had an assist on Marleau's first goal, who later completed his hat trick in the third period with a shorthanded goal from Joe Thornton(notes) at 18:34 to tie the game. Joe Pavelski(notes) had the shootout game-winner for a 5-4 San Jose victory.

No. 3 Star: Miikka Kiprusoff(notes), Calgary Flames

The Flames goalie made 40 saves in shutting out the Detroit Red Wings, as Calgary skated out of the Joe with a 3-0 victory. He made 32 saves in the first two periods. Of course, this being the Red Wings playing in a game officiated by NHL referees, controversy reigns: Dan Cleary had two near-goals waved off on the night, first on a goalie obstruction call and the second when Brad Meier lost sight of the puck. Here's the first call: Does Cleary appear to make contact with Kiprusoff while in the crease? Because Mike Babcock believes he did not. If not, does simply being in the crease interfere with the goalie attempting to make the save?

Honorable mention: We don't often do this, but Chuck Kobasew(notes) is your No. 4 Star tonight. Chucky pulled the hat trick in the Minnesota Wild's 5-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche, clinching it with an empty netter. ... Comeback of the Night, Vol. 1: The Atlanta Thrashers rallied with five third-period goals to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-4. Maxim Afinogenov(notes) (10) had the tying goal and Rich Peverley(notes) (9) had the game-winner. As incredible a win for Atlanta as it was a loss for the Hurricanes. ... Absolutely brutal game between the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers, with big fights and key injuries. Tim Connolly's(notes) two third-period goals helped the Sabres to a 4-2 win at Philly. ... John Tavares(notes) scored the game-winner in an 18-shot third period, as the New York Islanders rallied to defeat the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2. The Islanders hadn't won a game when trailing after two. ... Martin St. Louis(notes) welcomed back John Tororella back to Tampa Bay with three assists, as the Tampa Bay Lightning scored five straight goals in a 5-1 win over the New York Rangers. ... Tremendous goaltending effort from Chris Mason(notes) (37 saves) in the St. Louis Blues' 3-1 victory over the red-hot Nashville Predators, who were wearing spiffy new third jerseys. ... Lauri Korpikoski(notes) scored his first two goals of the season and Ilya Bryzgalov(notes) made 30 saves in the Phoenix Coyotes' 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars. ... Finally, Comeback of the Night, Vol. 2: The Toronto Maple Leafs overcame three Florida Panthers' leads and scored three goals in the third period for a 6-4 win on the road. Phil Kessel(notes) had a goal in that third-period rally, but this earlier goal from the first period was the best of the night:

Did you know?: New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur(notes) passed Patrick Roy (60,235) to become the all-time leader in minutes played. The Devils defeated the Boston Bruins in a shootout, 2-1. Brodeur had 32 saves on the day.

Dishonorable mention: Henrik Lundqvist(notes) was chased by the Lightning after giving up four goals on 22 shots. ... Marty Turco(notes) was pulled by Dallas after giving up four goals on 19 shots. ... Karlis Skrastins(notes) was a minus-4 for Dallas; Sheldon Souray(notes) and Steve Staios(notes) were both minus-4 for Edmonton. ... Patrick Kaleta is going to be hearing from the NHL's disciplinarians. ... Finally, just to restate the obvious: Epic Fail in Carolina.

Things began on Wednesday night when Kaleta took a hit from Alex Ovechkin(notes) of the Washington Capitals in the third period and went face first into the boards at Verizon Center. Ovechkin was given a five-minute major for boarding, a 10-minute game misconduct and ejected from the game. (Strangely enough, Ovechkin's only other ejection also came against the Sabres after a late hit on Danny Briere(notes).) 

Capitals beat writer Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post reported today that the NHL spun its "Wheel of Justice" and it landed on "zero games" for Ovechkin. The only punishment doled out to him was the hefty $200 fine given to all players who receive game misconduct penalties.

This afternoon when the Sabres visited the Flyers, Kaleta handed out a controversial hit to Philadelphia rookie Jared Ross:

Kaleta was give a 5-minute major for boarding, a 10-minute misconduct and ejected from the game. Does he deserve supplemental discipline?

As we've said before, there's no sense guessing because predicting whether or not a hit warrants supplemental discipline from the NHL is a fool's game as we've seen time and time again. After watching the play numerous times, Kaleta isn't skating in at a high speed and the moment he commits to making the check, Ross' body is turned away from the boards. It's midway through Kaleta's check that Ross turns his body towards the boards, causing the ugliness of the hit which was very similar to the Michael Liambas hit on Ben Fanelli from the OHL a few weeks back. 

After the game, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren wasn't calling for a suspension:

“It’s a little bit of a tactic now, where players will turn toward the boards and draw a penalty,” general manager Paul Holmgren said. “I don’t think Jared was trying to do that. But it’s certainly a dangerous area, and [the hit] is going to lead to a lot of discussion.”

Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff defended Kaleta's hit:

"[Ross] knew he was coming," Ruff said. "He took a quick look right before, and then he turned. The difference there is it was a young player called up, he knows he's going to get hit on a heavy forecheck, and at the last second you're asking our player to hit the brakes."

As Matt from The 700 Level wrote, a controversial hit from Kaleta, a player with a reputation, and an end result of Ross leaving the game injured has typically added up to a suspension from the NHL. Buffalo hosts Carolina tomorrow night so any decision would have to be made rather quickly.

Stick tap to DayWalk3r for the video

We've had some good luck with deep-league hockey recommendations in this space (Matt Carle(notes), Nicklas Bergfors), and while I have your attention let's take another shot. Go get Kurtis Foster(notes), defenseman, Tampa Bay Lightning. Hurry. Now. Elbow someone if you have to.

Foster is a tall defenseman with a big shot and he's shown to be a capable power-play asset over the years. Tampa has recently given Foster some run with the man advantage and he's coming through, picking up four points (2-2-4) over the last four games (Friday's is still in progress), with three of the points coming on the power play. Foster doesn't register on the Yahoo! roster count right now, that's how ignored he's been to this point. Time to change that, amigos.

The Lightning aren't going to mess up a good thing, they'll keep running Foster out there on the PP, letting him fire the puck. He's on both of my Yahoo! clubs. Come ride shotgun, pick up some points with us.

The comment lines are open, let's discuss life on the blue line. What's on your plate, puckheads?

I don't know if 'Bama fans will protest that characterization, but this one carried the stench of impending doom almost from the opening kickoff. Auburn followed the same script Utah wrote for its Sugar Bowl upset over 'Bama last January, with nearly identical results. Just like the Utes, the Tigers came out fast, flooring the pedal with a surprise end-around that broke big for a 67-yard touchdown on their fourth snap from scrimmage, immediately followed by a shrewd onside kick and a subsequent touchdown drive that put the Tigers up 14-0 before 'Bama had even had a chance to catch its breath -- or, you know, get its offense on the field.

They weathered the Tide's counterpunch in the second quarter and struck big again to back on top in the second quarter. They literally took the Heisman frontrunner out of the game, limiting Mark Ingram to a long run of eight yards and relegating him to the sideline in the second half in favor of freshman Trent Richardson, who didn't fare much better. They pressured Greg McElroy, dropping him three times. They held the Tide to a pair of field goals to preserve the lead following an interception and punt return on consecutive drives that set up the 'Bama offense in Tiger territory and threatened to turn the mounting momentum. With the lead in the fourth quarter, they forced the struggling Tide attack to start its final two drives at its own three and own 21, respectively.

The Tigers held 'Bama to fewer yards than all but one other defense this year, gained more yards against 'Bama than all but one other offense and outgained 'Bama by more than a yard per play. They hit every note in the script, ticked off every line on the checklist ... and still lost. Whatever else they may be missing in the way of panache, you can't accuse the Tide of lacking resiliency.

What makes this game different and more satisfying than the thriller against Tennessee -- other than coming on a hated rival's home field -- is that the Tide actually had to rise up and seize this victory from the jaws of defeat, rather than hanging on for dear life as the seconds wound down on a narrow lead. The 15-play, 79-yard, seven-plus-minute march for the winning touchdown is a Daniel Moore painting waiting to happen, with McElroy's 7-for-8 effort and touchdown toss to Roy Upchurch surely surpassing Terrence Cody's blocked field goals against the Vols as the defining moment of what may still be one of the greatest seasons in school history.

Well, pending next week's inevitably dramatic, winner-take-all showdown with Florida, of course. Officially, nothing about that game has changed. But after today's eggshell routine, it's going to be an interesting battle in the Yellowhammer State this week between the feeling of "destiny" and "nausea."

Any time a celebrity's name is mentioned in connection with an automobile wreck, there's prurient interest, so the story was guaranteed to blow up. Within minutes, it was all over Twitter, television and websites large and small.

What had happened? Was Tiger hurt? Some outlets began reporting that he was "seriously injured" – based on officials' statements coming out of the area around Woods' Florida home – which ratcheted up the severity of the situation. Could this be even worse than reported?

As it turned out ... no.

It appears now that Tiger suffered only facial lacerations. His was the only car involved in the wreck. And it also appears that Tiger might have already been released from the hospital even before the story broke, as the accident apparently happened in the early-morning hours.

What the heck is going on here? Was Woods at home with an ice pack on his head while ESPN and Co. were speculating on what golf would be like without him?

The Woods camp is stingier with information than the CIA even in the best of times. So with a potential crisis unfolding, it makes sense that they'd batten down the hatches, possibly with the hopes that this wouldn't even make the news. (Fat chance.) But with the story predictably exploding, Tiger's office eventually did release a statement confirming Woods was OK.

"He was admitted, treated and released [Friday] in good condition," the statement read.

But before reports began to filter through that Woods had been released from the hospital (the AP notes that the accident report wasn't released until nearly 12 hours after the incident), speculation ran rampant. And in the post-first, verify-later world of the Internet, it's not surprising that "Tiger bumps a fire hydrant" became "Tiger is seriously injured" within minutes.

But we'll refrain from pointing fingers, and just be glad Tiger seems to be OK.

As far as we know.

UPDATE, 9:14 p.m. ET: Okay, things are starting to get a little stranger now.

New facts are emerging in this story, facts which seem reasonable enough when taken individually but a little more ... curious when taken all together. Said facts include:

-Tiger hit a fire hydrant and a tree in a neighbor's yard at 2:25 a.m. Friday morning.

-Windermere police found Woods laying in the street with his wife Elin beside him. (The AP used the word "hovering," but we're not going to speculate that far.)

-Elin told officers that she was in the house when she heard the accident, then came outside and "broke the back window with a golf club," according to Windermere police chief Daniel Saylor.

-The Florida Highway Patrol apparently was the first to report Woods' facial injuries as "serious," which set off the firestorm noted above.

-TMZ, quoting several local law enforcement sources, said that a "domestic issue" preceded the wreck. (UPDATE: Other sources, by name, have said that there is no indication this is a domestic issue, but that final judgment will have to wait until Woods is interviewed Saturday afternoon by Florida Highway Patrol officers.)

-Woods made headlines the day before Thanksgiving when a National Enquirer report surfaced that linked him with Rachel Uchitel of New York. 

-Waggle Room, doing some good old-fashioned journalism, tracked down Ms. Uchitel, who revealed that she has not been contacted by the mainstream media. Score one for blogs!

-And coming up this week? Tiger's own tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, at which he traditionally holds a Tuesday press conference. If there is one, Yahoo! Sports will be there.

There's surely a reasonable explanation for all this ... and it's now up to Tiger to provide one.

UPDATE 2: 8:58 a.m. Eastern: TMZ is now reporting that Woods' facial lacerations were caused by Elin Woods: "We're told he said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. We're told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV -- but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club."

Which certainly sounds more plausible than "she broke out the back window of an Escalade to drag him to safety over two rows of seats." But bear in mind that there are no names attached to this report.

One place where a name is indeed attached is Waggle Room, where Ryan Ballengeee talked to Rachel Uchitel and she denied any involvement whatsoever with Woods.

______

For further updates and other golf news, click here to bookmark Yahoo! Sports' Devil Ball Golf and follow us on Twitter. 

It's not like anyone was paying rapt attention after the Bearcats went ahead 21-7 in the first quarter, anyway, effectively ending the only chance this game had to be interesting outside of Ron Zook being summoned to midfield by a messenger in grim reaper garb bearing a pink slip. In fact, the only drama at all was ABC color analyst Bob Griese's cryptic aside in the first half that America's Next Top Coach, Brian Kelly, told him before the game that "something will be decided in the next 7-10 days" about his future at Cincinnati -- although Griese seemed entirely in the dark as to whether Kelly was referring to a possible contract extension at Cincinnati, a prospective offer from Notre Dame specifically or a break with UC generally over his longstanding issues with facilities and support. It's not clear who's making the decision, or what they're deciding -- did Griese ask a follow-up question, by any chance? -- but it does put Kelly on the clock for a move that could make his career.

Whether Kelly is or is not bound for South Bend, he very likely already knows it, and the Bearcats' effort in the de fact Big East championship game next week at Pitt probably won't have any bearing on his fate with the Irish. It will mean everything, though, to the Bearcats' wrapping up the only perfect season in school history with another BCS bid, and -- just like Rich Rodriguez in his surprisingly contentious exit from West Virginia after blowing a national title shot against Pitt in the season finale two years ago -- how they handle the storm this week and show up next Saturday with all of the season's tangible rewards on the line could play a big part in how Kelly is remembered at Cincy if he really is on the way out.

No. 10 (tie): J.J. Redick, guard, Duke; Adam Morrison, forward, Gonzaga.The first two players on our list were co-National Players of the Yearin 2005-06; they were also Halo 2 partners and eventual NBA busts. Butin their heyday, J.J. Redick and Adam Morrison ruled the college hoopsworld, Redick with hot shooting and an uncanny ability to find openspots on the perimeter; Morrison with an all-court game that includingrebounding alongside prodigious mid-range scoring, reminding many ofLarry Bird.

No. 8: T.J. Ford, guard, Texas. There is one player in thehistory of college basketball to lead the country in assists as afreshmen. That player is T.J. Ford. Ford's college career was short butlegendary: The Naismith award, the Wooden award, a retired Texasjersey, a regional NCAA tournament MVP, a 2003 season in which he ledhis team in scoring, assists and steals -- Ford was a lightning bolt ofcollege hoops brilliance, one everybody, if only briefly, saw.

No. 7: Juan Dixon, guard, Maryland. Gary Williams'2002-title-winning Maryland team was talented -- Steve Blake and ChrisWilcox are still playing productive NBA minutes -- but Juan Dixon wasits undisputed leader. Dixon overcame an insane childhood (both hismother and father were heroin addicts and died of AIDS-relatedillnesses before Dixon was 17) to become the only player in NCAA hoopshistory to record 2,000 points, 300 steals, and 200 three-pointers. Andin 2001-2002, no one was denying him an NCAA title.

No. 6: Blake Griffin, forward, Oklahoma. Griffin's freshmanseason in 2007-08 was promising, but few could have imagined just howgood Griffin would be. But Griffin's sophomore season was just that, asthe Oklahoma forward tore through the Big 12 and the national collegehoops season with as dominant a season as a college forward can have.For visual evidence -- as if you need any -- see here.

No. 5: Jason Williams, guard, Duke. The only player betterthan Dixon in the country in 2001-02 is the next player on our list,Duke guard Jason (aka Jay) Williams. With the Maryland-Duke rivalry atits most fierce in 2001 and 2002, Williams won an NCAA title in 2001and a Naismith award in 2002, the year that Maryland finally overcomethe Dukies, and everyone else, to win the title. Williams' NBA careerwas cut short by an ill-advised motorcycle accident, but anyone whowatched him play in college would verify his rightful place on thislist.

No. 4: Jameer Nelson, guard, St. Joseph's. Likewise, fewpeople will forget St. Joes' remarkable run in 2003-04, when Nelson andfellow guard Delonte West led the Phil Martelli and company to a 27-1regular season record and a buzzer-beating loss to Oklahoma State inthe Elite Eight. Nelson averaged 20 points, five assists and threesteals per game during tiny St. Joseph's brief moment of nationalnotoriety.

No. 3: Kevin Durant, forward, Texas. In a way, Kevin Durantchanged everything. One of the first NBA-ready players (alongside GregOden at Ohio State) to be forced into a year of college hoops, Durantproved that all leagues are not created equal. As a freshman at Texasin 2006-07, Durant averaged 25 points and 11 rebounds; he went for 28and 13 in games against Big 12 opponents. After a 37-point, 23-reboundgame against Texas Tech, Bob Knight described Durant as "really good."The rest of the country agreed, handing the freshman Durant a NaismithAward, an almost unheard-of honor for a freshman. But who would denyDurant's talent, then or now? Certainly not us.

No. 2: Shane Battier, small forward, Duke. No surprise here.Battier was good before and after the passing of the millenium; he ledthe Blue Devils to a national runner-up in 1999 and a national title in2001, when he swept the national player of the year awards. (Battierhas become universally recognized as underrated in the NBA, but therewas no such trend in college.) In four years, Battier establishedhimself as one of the best college hoops players of all-time.

No. 1: Tyler Hansbrough, forward, North Carolina. And, ofcourse, there's Tyler Hansbrough. If any player defined the aughts, itwas Hansbrough, whose four years at North Carolina were dominant fromstart to finish. Hansbrough averaged 20 points and eight rebounds agame over four years, and the way he got his points -- out musclingopponents inside and getting the free throw at an insane rate -- wereborderline legendary, and Hansbrough sealed the deal in 2008-09,winning his first national title in his senior season. Some would argueHansbrough's place in the college basketball canon, but few would arguehis deserving nature at the top of this list. As aesthically unpleasantas it might be, Tyler Hansbrough was the best player of the 2000s.

Honorable mentions: Stephen Curry, Mateen Cleaves, Kirk Hinrich, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor, Joakim Noah, Kevin Love, Kevin Pittsnogle, Andrew Bogut,Ty Lawson, Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, and a whole host of others we could spend all day talking about.

Tonight's game features two squads that genuinely seem to enjoy playing these days, teams that enjoy each other's company, teams that really seem to want to work hard for their respective coaches. Don't slough that off. Important stuff, mate.

The Bucks just got Michael Redd(notes) back, and while he can't make up for the loss of Andrew Bogut's(notes) defensive presence, he can still put the roundie into the pincushion, if you know what I mean, and I know you don't, because I don't even know what I mean. Great scorer, though, who is still seeking to find a way in Scott Skiles' semi-Brandon Jennings(notes)-centric offense.

The Thunder are still above .500, still one of the better defensive clubs in the league (as are the Bucks), and the team just enjoyed three days "off" (practice and team gatherings still took place, but you know where I'm at, here), Scott Brooks likes his team's attitude, and I like the fact that ESPN decided to give Jennings and Kevin Durant(notes) a national TV presence on a Friday night.

12 games tonight, plenty to talk about, so comment away down below.

Milwaukee Bucks: 8-5, 94.2 possessions per game (11^th-most in the NBA), 104.1 points scored per 100 possessions (21^st), 100.7 points allowed per 100 possessions (fifth).

Oklahoma City Thunder: 8-7, 92.2 possessions per game (17^th), 103.8 points scored per 100 possessions (23^rd), 101.4 points allowed per 100 possessions (sixth).

All statistics courtesy basketball-reference.com.

Generic Profile. Former five-star, all-world recruit turned two-time All-Big Ten pick at a high profile powerhouse and likely first-rounder in next April's draft.

By the Numbers. Graham leads the nation with an absurd 25 tackles for loss, including 9.5 sacks, after leading the Big Ten with 20 TFLs as a junior in 2008. In the Wolverines' biggest games this year, he notched two tackles behind the line against Notre Dame; two at Michigan State; three-and-a-half at Iowa; three-and-a-half against Penn State; and four apiece against both Wisconsin and Ohio State, dominating his half of the line of scrimmage on a weekly basis despite constant double teams.

All of Graham's sacks came in the last eight games, with multi-sack games against Iowa, Delaware State and Wisconsin.

Intangibles Ho! He kept playing hard and steadily increased his production as the season wore on, even as the chances of making anything remotely worthwhile out of the season More impressively, Graham set weekly records in the "plus" category of MGoBlog's weekly play-by-play reviews of the Wolverine defense, which graded every excruciating snap of every game all year and usually amounted to "Brandon Graham is the only beacon of hope for mankind in an otherwise cruel and doomed world." Short of opposing Big Ten coaches taking out an ad for the guy in the Chicago Tribune, that's as powerful an endorsement as a defensive end can earn in my book.

Three strikes. Graham a) Plays an obscure position on b) A terrible overall defense on c) A terrible overall team that finished in a tie for last place in the conference with seven straight losses in league games.

The biggest indictment against Graham -- and it's not clear that there's any more he could have done about this -- is that he didn't elevate the rest of the team, or even the teammates in his immediate vicinity: Michigan's front seven was as porous as any area of the team, finishing next-to-last in the Big Ten against the run and in sacks as a team.

Might Enter the Real Discussion If ... Michigan prints out Cook's angsty film reviews and mails them to Heisman voters, along with a healthy bribe and naming rights to Graham's first-born child. If a full-scale campaign of that order got him a single first-place vote, it would count as a triumph.

- - -
Previously on Alternate Heisman Reality: Josh Nesbitt.

 

NCAA Hockey 101 is a weekly feature on U.S. Division I college hockey. Stick around and you just might learn a thing or two.

As if things weren't bad enough for Michigan.

Earlier this week, not one but two players, current sophomore forward Robbie Czarnik, a Los Angeles Kings prospect and incoming freshman goalie Jack Campbell, the top-rated goalie in Central Scouting's latest report.

Both jumped from the program, or, in Campbell's case, a commitment to the program, in favor of joining the OHL, and both serve to underscore problems with the NCAA's relationship with Major-Junior hockey in Canada.

First is the case of Czarnik, who, unhappy with his current role on the team and his development overall (he only had 8-14-22 in 51 games for Michigan) jumped to the Plymouth Whalers. The reason for Czarnik's desire to change is obvious. Michigan is off to a poor start at just 5-7-0 after going 29-12-0 last year, and they haven't even looked good doing it. Czarnik wasn't playing as much as he'd like, but then he wasn't scoring much either. Interestingly, Czarnik will stay enrolled at Michigan because Plymouth is about half an hour from Ann Arbor.

As a drafted player with what appears to be pretty good potential, Czarnik had options. Theoretically, he could have signed with the Kings, but likely would have gotten a weak contract and would have had to play in the OHL anyway since he's not yet 20. So jumping to MJs seems like a logical step for a player whose development is stagnating.

They play a schedule similar to that of the professional leagues, for one thing. The same is true of the style of game they play. So Czarnik's feeling that he needed a change of scenery so he can improve his game is at least understandable.

Campbell isn't like Czarnik, who went to school for a year and a half and found that, for whatever reason, the NCAA game wasn't for him. You can't begrudge his choice to go to Major Junior based on that. But if Campbell, one of the best players oh his draft class, and the best at his position, is eschewing NCAA hockey as not being conducive to his growing into an NHL player without having played it, then that's a huge problem.

Campbell is, as mentioned above, very likely to be a first-round pick in June. He committed to Michigan (only verbally, mind you) because, well, he's from nearby Port Huron and Michigan is among the best programs in NCAA history. The fit, especially for a top-flight kid that probably grew up cheering for the Wolverines, seemed natural. And let's face facts here: his star is so bright that it was unlikely that he'd stay all four years at the U. But his stated reason for leaving was that the OHL would accelerate his development to the point he could be in the NHL. In a year or two.

How many highly-drafted Major Junior goalies can you think of that went from their league to the NHL in two seasons in the past 15 years? Marc-Andre Fleury(notes) and Dan Blackburn. That's it. Campbell may be good, but he's not first-overall good like Fleury was. But the perception is that the OHL will make Campbell a better player, and that's what's damaging to the NCAA.

The more top-flight players that choose not to go to college, the worse college will look to future top-flight players.

College hockey needs to do something to change that impression. Where to start? That's anyone's guess.

Pop quiz

Speaking of Michigan (I e-mailed him prior to their players leaving), here's this week's guest, Tim Williams from the wonderful Wolverines site The Blog that Yost Built.

1) Seriously, what's the problem in Ann Arbor this year?

Honestly, I don't think anyone knows. On paper, this team is a contender. On paper they've got one of the best defense corps in the country. (Goalie Bryan) Hogan was solid last year. (St. Louis Blues prospect Aaron) Palushaj was a big loss offensively, but it's not like Michigan hasn't dealt with those before. Two years ago, Michigan lost 50 percent of their goal-scoring and ended up in the Frozen Four. Last year they lost 46 percent of their scoring and ended up as a  No. 1 seed. This year? They only lost 27.5 percent. Everything seems to be in place but it's just not clicking on the ice.

Hogan has been shaky at times and seems to be good for at least one soft goal a game. The defense has turned the puck over way too much, they've given up too many odd-man rushes, and they've taken some mind-numbingly stupid penalties. The forwards aren't putting the puck in the net. About the only thing that's really been working is the penalty kill. God knows they've had enough opportunities to get that right.

They used to be able to get it to guys like (Tyler) Kolarik, (Max) Pacioretty, heck even Milan Gajic. But there doesn't really seem to be a sniper. They're also really feeling the effects of not having a go-to scorer. (Louie) Caporusso put up a lot of goals last year, but he was fairly streaky. They don't have the consistent point producers that Kolarik and (Chris) Porter were two years ago.

2) Why is Caporusso on pace for six or seven goals after he scored 24 last year? Does part of the answer rhyme with Baron Balushaj?

The loss of Palushaj has probably had some effect on Caporusso, though I think it's probably more by way of not having a threat on that second line to take some of the heat off than it is Palushaj not setting him up. The two of them really didn't skate together all that often last year. They played together on the power play, and they were linemates for maybe eight games in the middle part of the season, but aside from that they didn't play together. Caporusso's linemate, David Wohlberg, has slumped just as badly. He was fantastic last year and hasn't done anything to this point.

While Louie had a fantastic season a year ago -- he could've made some noise in the Hobey balloting if the Wolverines hadn't flamed out in the first round -- he hasn't exactly been Mr. Consistency. He only scored 6 times in the final 21 games of last year and disappeared in a lot of big games. In four appearances against Miami, three against Notre Dame, and the loss to Air Force in the tournament, he had zero goals, three points, and 16 shots on goal. Michigan needs him to produce more than he has. But you can say that about a lot of guys.

3) Why do you think the team responded to Red Berenson's "spoiled brats" speech with three straight losses?

Umm.... we're not very good?

I don't know. When you take dumb penalties, give up soft goals, and can't put the puck in the net, you're not going to win very many games. The Friday night game against Michigan State included a deflating goal, a long string of (deserved) penalties taking away any chance to get into a rhythm, and a fluky goal that was a back-breaker.

The game against Bowling Green was a classic case of, "You can't fix stupid." They take a dip-you-know-what penalty to go down two men, promptly give up two goals, give up another one a minute later while they're still shell-shocked, and a 2-1 lead becomes a 4-2 loss.

Dumb penalties, shaky goaltending, horrible power play.

4) What do you think are some of the bright spots in this otherwise regrettable start?

One bright spot would be that Robbie Czarnik is showing some flashes of the player we expec... wait, he did what? Dang, this is just getting better and better.

Alright fine. Bright spots: The arena hasn't collapsed, nobody has gotten kicked off the team for stealing a teammate's credit card, Hogan hasn't hurt himself "moving a refrigerator", and none of our defensemen have gotten assaulted (on or off the ice).

Seriously though, the biggest bright spot for me is that Carl Hagelin still plays hockey for Michigan. Watching him play is one of the most underrated joys in sports. The kid is all effort, all the time. He's an incredible skater, he works his butt off, and it's fun to yell "Bork! Bork! Bork!" when he scores. Chris Brown has been as good as advertised and hasn't gone near Rihanna. Chris Summers didn't go pro. That's about all I've got in terms of bright spots.

5) Do you see this turning around at some point?

Yeah, there's too much talent on this team to go 2008-09 Michigan State or anything like that. The question is can they get it turned around in time? I have my doubts about that. Last year, Miami squeaked into the tournament and they only had 12 losses at the start of the tournament. We've already got 7 and it's only a third of the way through the season. The margin for error is pretty much gone. It's hard to project who will be under consideration at the end of the season, but we're probably something like 0-5 against TUCs at the moment. If BU turns it around, it'd be 0-6. That's a big hole to dig out of.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they missed the tournament, as hard as it is to believe. I think they'll be fine before too much longer, but there have been a lot of Michigan teams on the tournament bubble who haven't started off this poorly or looked this bad in the process. They're fighting an uphill battle to get in. They need to find some consistency offensively, the goaltending needs to be better, the defense needs to be smarter....that's a lot of big problems to correct. I think they'll ultimately do it, but unless it gets fixed now it's going to be too little, too late.

Extra credit

• Shots to the head aren't just a problem in the NHL. The WCHA, and really every other conference in the country, is plagued by the problem. [Mankato Free Press]

• For the first time in its history, Quinnipiac is ranked in the Top 10. [USCHO]

• Know what's fun about college hockey? When a school gets a commitment from someone who is unbelievably young. That's the case with the latest Denver recruit, 15-year-old Tyler Pham. [LetsGoDU]

• Tuesday's win over Harvard might be a sign of BU getting back on the track to playing like, well, BU.  [Boston Hockey Blog]

• The New York Times' Slap Shot blog is usually pretty good (I say this mainly because they once called my blog one of their favorites), but it's misrepresenting the facts about how many college players were taken in last year's draft. They say 3.3 percent, but the number is actually about nine times that. Only a small disparity there, eh? [Western College Hockey Blog]

• A Wisconsin fan's reaction to a letter to the editor calling for an end to fights in college hockey, which is really quite stupid. If you can think of a full-on fight in the last few years at any college hockey game you attended, please raise your hand. [Sixty Minutes. No Alibis. No Regrets.]

• A big win over Vermont underscored everything UMass fans have to be thankful for. [Fear the Triangle]

(Hey guys, I'm always looking for links here. If you have a college hockey post on your blog, please send it along to the address below.)

Ryan Lambert writes about college hockey weekly here at Puck Daddy. You can e-mail him here or follow him on Twitter.

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: YouTube. Jazz pull off CollegeHumor-like $1 million half-court shot prank on unsuspecting Lakers fan.
PF: L.A. Times. Lakers' small guys ("fairies") pummel big guys ("goons") in "Turkey Trot" scrimmage.
SF: TrueHoop. Three losses that could've been wins for the 0-15 Nets.
SG: A Stern Warning. As I said on Twitter, this Mbenga pic made me laugh way more than it should have.
PG: CelticsBlog. Eddie House(notes) is getting his groove back, Stella.
6th: GMTR. I, too, am a little surprised that Brad Miller(notes) is still owned in 51% of fantasy leagues.
7th: Associated Press. "Larry Brown has a message for Allen Iverson(notes): don't give up."
8th: Pippen Ain't Easy. Chicago Bulls fans are none too thankful right now.
9th: Durant's Blog. Durantula wants to know: Who do you think is playing well so far this season?
10th: Forum Blue & Gold. "With basically the same personnel, [the Lakers] have transformed from an outstanding offensive team that played very good defense to a mediocre offensive team that plays outstanding defense."

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

After the jump, Dahntay tries to rip the ball away from Baron Davis' beard.

Winner, James:
After witnessing Baron Davis(notes) apparently bowing to an opposing player, the twelve Clipper fans in attendance began to call for his immediate resignation.

Co-runner-up, Imago Fan:
Dahntay: "I'm afraid I can't let you do that Baron ... Clipper fans cannot endure this any longer."
Baron: "Come on, Dahntay, just let me find that three point line so I'm sure it's a three."

Co-runner-up, Peter D:
Kimbo takes Dahntay to the mat for some ground and pound.

Here's a (very) small collection of NFL notes you may have missed on Thursday, while the Broncos were just trying to win a [expletive] game...

• Cedric Benson(notes) (hip) returned to the practice field, but only for rehab work. He'll try for real on Friday. His status for Sunday remains in doubt. You just can't make that call today. Make sure that Bernard Scott(notes) is on call for fantasy purposes, because Cincinnati faces Cleveland in Week 12. The Browns, as you might have heard, aren't good. Cleveland's defense allows 154.9 rushing yards per game and 4.6 per carry. [Cincinnati Enquirer] 

• Michael Turner(notes) (ankle) has at least a chance to play in the Week 12 matchup against the NFL's worst run defense. He and Jerious Norwood(notes) both returned to practice on Thursday. Here's the word from head coach Mike Smith(notes): "Jerious is definitely ahead of Mike. Mike is probably going to down to the wire in terms of a game-time decision on if he's going to be able to play or not." Beware, Snelling adders. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

• On Wednesday, Steven Jackson (back) declared, "I'm expecting to play Sunday." But on Thursday he missed another day of practice. The handcuffs are Samkon Gado(notes) and Kenneth Darby(notes), though you can almost certainly do better if S-Jax can't go. At the moment, we expect him to play. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

• Julius Jones(notes) (lung) was a limited participant in Thursday's practice, but he won't commit to facing the Rams in Week 12. Justin Forsett(notes) continues to look like a strong play. [Tacoma News Tribune]

• Knowshon Moreno(notes) appeared to injury his left wrist late in the Thursday night's mauling of the Giants, but he returned for a carry on Denver's final series. In case you're among the brave few still starting Eddie Royal(notes), he injured a thigh in the first half and didn't return. [NFL.com]

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Photo via Getty Images

They're hardly the first to notice, but the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette does a fine job today on the ripple effects that, in retrospect, made Pittsburgh's last visit to West Virginia in 2007 one of the rare turning points that helped shape the current national landscape -- if the sad-sack Panthers don't hold the Mountaineers to a season-low nine points as 29-point underdogs in Morgantown in the final hours of the regular season, WVU goes on to the BCS Championship game instead of LSU, coach Rich Rodriguez probably doesn't jump to Michigan in the ensuing weeks, LSU's Les Miles might move on to Ann Arbor instead, Tiger assistant Bo Pelini takes Miles' seat in Baton Rouge, Nebraska hires former Husker quarterback Turner Gill instead of Pelini, we never hear Charles Barkley's insights on the plight of black coaches, etc.

Imagine a world where Jim Tressel averted his reputation for big game flops by winning his second national title over the Mountaineers in New Orleans, or where Rodriguez won his first title by beating OSU, thereby established his alma mater as a perennial power. It's hard to recall another single game at the spoke of a wheel spinning that many long-term contingencies.

None of them would have seemed as unlikely at the time, though, as Dave Wannstedt taking Pitt into tonight's return date in Mountaineer Stadium as a 9-1, top-10 outfit headed for a winner-take-all showdown against Cincinnati next week for an automatic BCS bid, especially when you consider that neither of the hyped freshmen who led the offense in that win, quarterback Pat Bostick and running back LeSean McCoy, has taken a snap for the Panthers this year. Wannstedt, veering toward the more intense sectors of the hot seat after three straight losing seasons, is 18-5 over the last two years and suddenly occupies one of the most secure seats in the Big East at the head of a rising, increasingly stable program; Rodriguez, meanwhile, is under more intense fire at Michigan than Wannstedt ever was at Pitt, and West Virginia fans still don't seem to have quite come around to his successor, Bill Stewart, who couldn't eke a Big East championship out of Pat White's senior season and has four losses to unranked teams in two years. We're still less than four years removed from White and Steve Slaton mercilessly gashing the Pitt D en route to outscoring the Panthers 90-45 in back-to-back blowouts in Wannstedt's first two season, but if anyone needs another tide-turning win tonight, this time it's the Mountaineers.

• The Edmonton Oilers players who twisted in the wind during the Dany Heatley(notes) trade drama during the summer (like Andrew Cogliano(notes), pictured angrily above) speak out as the San Jose Sharks visit Alberta this evening ... while the Edmonton media cranks up the rancor: "This is like running into an ex-girfriend (sic) a month after she dumps you - she's holding hands with a Tom Cruise-looking fighter pilot and you're asking if they'd like fries with that." [Edmonton Sun, and CBC Sports]

• Chris Botta talks with Sherry Ross about being the first female play-by-play voice for an NHL team, even if for one night with the New Jersey Devils. (For the record, Cassie Campbell was a color commentator for HNIC back in 2006 -- not play by play.) [FanHouse]

• According to Sportsnet, the Leafs will retire Carlton the Bear. Among the proposed new mascots: Angry the Fist and Ian White(notes). [Sportsnet ... UPDATE: This tweet calls B.S.]

• Kevin Allen reports that the NHL is only experiencing an attendance decrease of less than 2 percent this season. Which is what happens when a business protects its popularity by allowing franchises to paper arenas with free or steeply discounted tickets while reporting gate numbers based on tickets distributed rather than turnstile counts. Anyone with functioning retina knows attendance is down more than 2 percent this season. It's not the NHL's fault, necessarily; the economy is just not one in which the purchase of hockey tickets in October or November is a priority. But that's reality -- not the number in the box score. [USA Today]

• With Hossa in and that win over the Sharks, the Chicago Blackhawks are now being called an elite team and a measuring stick for the rest of the NHL. [Between The Circles]

• That being said, is every team on which Marian Hossa(notes) plays doomed for failure? [THN]

• Hockey Wilderness called for Alex Ovechkin(notes) to be suspended for his hit on Patrick Kaleta(notes) of the Buffalo Sabres Wednesday night, but Tarik El-Bashir said there's no supplemental discipline coming his way for the hit. HW is right and wrong: The NHL made the right call here, but that's not saying Ovechkin doesn't get away with more borderline calls than most physical players. Because he does. [Hockey Wilderness]

• Boy, imagine how sexy these women would be if they weren't wearing Habs gear? [Eyes On the Prize ... indeed]

• Niklas Hagman(notes) is getting a lot of trade interest, which is great news for the Toronto Maple Leafs and our fantasy team. [Sun Media]

• Leahy noted on the Florida Panthers third jersey pass/fail that "blue is the new black," and The Hockey News's Edward Fraser picks up the theme in a column about jerseys color changes. [THN]

• Speaking of which, the Nashville Predators are ready to debut their new alternate sweater tonight: a classy blue jersey that, one expects, could easily become their primary home duds in the near future. Shea Weber(notes) believes they've come a long way since their other third jerseys ... which is to say these don't resemble the color of baby diarrhea. [The Tennessean]

• A nasty hit by Victor Oreskovich(notes) of the Florida Panthers puts Wade Redden(notes) in the press box for about a week. [Blueshirt Batner]

• Brayden Schenn(notes) played his game for the Los Angeles Kings, and is now headed back to Canada. [LA Kings Insider]

• Toronto Maple Leafs emperor Brian Burke answers some tough questions about turning what continues to look like a high lottery pick into Phil Kessel(notes): "For a 21-year-old who has scored 36 goals, my analysis is that it's a fair price ... You hope that any player you take in the first round will have an impact and Phil's done (that) for us." [Sun Media]

• Leafs defenseman Mike Komisarek(notes) could be back in the lineup again next week, just in time to face the Montreal Canadiens. [Leafs]

• Phish: The official jam band of Pierre McGuire. [The 700 Level]

• Ray Emery(notes) was expected to get the start today for the Philadelphia Flyers, with Brian Boucher(notes) giving him a huge push from the backup role lately. [Philly.com]

• Really great feature on Steve Stotland, the Montreal businessman who wants to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes. We still can't tell if his enthusiasm is industrial moxie or Ed Wood delusions of grandeur; we do know it's infectious, however. [Gazette]

• Jamie Langenbrunner's(notes) pitch for the U.S. Olympic team. [Star Ledger]

• Mirtle looks at the best defensive forwards in the NHL thus far and finds that Brandon Crombeen of the St. Louis Blues and Kris Versteeg(notes) of the Chicago Blackhawks lead the pack. Some interesting names not on the list so far; like, for example, anyone nominated for a Selke last season. [From The Rink]

• George Malik respects Johan Franzen's(notes) drive to compete in the Olympics, but doesn't see the injured Detroit Red Wings forward getting healthy in time: "I understand that Franzen wants to make the most of his best chance to play in the Olympics for Team Sweden, but I'm having a very, very hard time imagining that the Red Wings' ever-cautious medical staff will allow him to return in late January." [Snapshots]

• Is Todd Bertuzzi(notes) too R.P. McMurphy, post-op, to become a factor for the Red Wings? [A2Y]

• Alas, there were no waiver takers for Ville Koistinen(notes). [On Frozen Pond]

• Confusing times for the St. Louis Blues on television. [St. Louis Dispatch]

• Finally, Binghamton Senators pugilist Jeremy Yablonski(notes) has some of the best hair for a hockey fighter we've seen recently, and the fists to back it up. How'd that fight treat you, Matt Clackson(notes)? [Hockey Fights]

You were excited to get a new jacket for the winter because your old one smells like a cat. You kept telling all your friends about how you were waking up at 4am to stand outside the local mall to get the Black Friday savings on the finest leather goods in the world. But your friends were like, "You're crazy for getting up that early." At first you blew them off, but then you realized that you can probably get the same deals online, so you went to eBay to find your new coat.

This is your new coat.

You love the NBA so much that you are going to spend about $200 on a super fresh leather jacket with all the NBA teams embroidered on it. To you, $200 is a steal for a product of this quality. And you know your vintage clothing. You know that the Seattle SuperSonics patch makes this worth way more than an Oklahoma City Thunder patch would. You know that this jacket isn't just a jacket. It's also an investment piece.

Congratulations on your ballin' new jacket.

Ball Don't Lie's Swag Rating: One (out of five) Muggsy Bogues ...

As the decade winds down to its final days, Big League Stew is reflecting on the biggest baseball moments of the 2000s. Next up are the best World Series, a tough list to create considering most of the matchups came to be defined based on moments rather than all-around quality of play. A couple of great exceptions, however, top the list.

1. 2001 World Series — Diamondbacks beat Yankees, 4-3

The country was only beginning to heal from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and it was fitting for New York to be participating on the national pastime's biggest stage come October and, for the first time ever, November.

Riding a wave of adrenaline and improbable wins in the playoffs, the Yankees seemed destined to win their fourth straight World Series, but nearly perfect performances by Randy Johnson(notes) and Curt Schilling(notes) led to the dynasty's derailment.

Arizona's pair of aces helped the D-backs jump to a 2-0 lead, but the Yankees wouldn't go quietly. After a narrow 2-1 victory in Game 3, the Yankees responded with consecutive ninth-inning comebacks against Arizona closer B.K. Kim in the next two games. Game 4 was especially memorable because of Tino Martinez's two-run shot against Kim, which tied the score in the ninth, and Derek Jeter's(notes) game-ending solo blast in the 10th.

Scott Brosius forever cemented his place in Yankees lore with a two-out, two-run tying homer against Kim in Game 5, which the Yanks eventually won in the 12th.

After a 15-2 rout of the Yanks in Game 6, it was Arizona's turn to stun New York with a late comeback. With the seemingly impenetrable Mariano Rivera(notes) on to protect a 3-2 lead in the ninth, the D-backs squeezed a pair of runs across — the winner coming on Luis Gonzalez's bloop single. One of the best World Series of any decade was in the books.

MVPs: Johnson and Schilling

* * * 

2. 2002 World Series — Angels beat Giants, 4-3

Fans couldn't ask for a whole lot more the following season when another Series went the limit with two franchises battling for an elusive championship. The Giants had not won a title since moving to the West Coast and the Angels had endured several heartbreaking near-misses since coming into existence in the early '60s.

This meeting had everything, from Barry Bonds(notes) finally asserting himself in the playoffs to the country's introduction to the Rally Monkey (the greatest mascot innovation since the San Diego Chicken) and the perpetually annoying Thunderstix. 

The Giants had the Angels on the ropes in Game 6, taking a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh when the famous monkey appeared on the jumbo TV inside the Big A. The Angels put two runners on against Russ Ortiz(notes) with one out and Giants manager Dusty Baker went to his bullpen — but not before handing the the "game ball" to Ortiz before he walked off the mound. The award was premature, as the Angels rallied for three runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to keep their own hopes alive.

In Game 7, rookie righty John Lackey(notes) pitched five innings and Anaheim's bullpen shut down the Giants from there. The Angels had their first World Series championship.

MVP: Troy Glaus(notes)

* * *

3. 2004 World Series — Red Sox beat Cardinals, 4-0

Though this Series is no doubt No. 1 in the hearts of Red Sox fans, Boston had this thing won as soon it came back from a 3-0 deficit against the Yankees to win the ALCS. Still, it's unfair to call the first World Series title for the Red Sox in 86 years "anticlimactic" as Red Sox fans know not to count their championships until they hatch.

Led by a cast of Idiots and curse-killers, the Red Sox would not be denied and completely dominated the Cardinals, who won a league-high 105 games in the regular season.

MVP: Manny Ramirez(notes).

* * *

4. 2005 World Series — White Sox beat Astros, 4-0

The White Sox came into the '05 Series with an even more pathetic championship history than the Red Sox. A long 88 years had passed since the White Sox won a World Series and, even though it was a sweep, the Astros made them work for it. Only six runs separated the teams, and that includes the 14-inning marathon (the longest game, in time, in Series history) that Geoff Blum(notes) won with an improbable home run.

Scott Podsednik(notes) had hit an even more memorable home run in the bottom of the ninth against Astros closer Brad Lidge(notes) to win Game 2, sending the South Side into its biggest and loudest frenzy since, well, ever. Behind a solid pitching staff, the White Sox won 99 games in the regular season and went 11-1 in the playoffs.

MVP: Jermaine Dye(notes).

* * *

5. 2009 World Series — Yankees beat Phillies, 4-2

It set up to be a classic but, like the rest of the 2009 postseason, we only reached the verge of greatness. Alex Rodriguez(notes) and Derek Jeter played well, but neither was the reason his team won. Series MVP Hideki Matsui(notes) was awesome in clubbing three homers and driving in eight runs, but he only played half of the time because he couldn't play the field in the National League park. An aging Pedro Martinez(notes) returned to his daddy's bosom and pitched not-quite-triumphantly. Ryan Howard(notes) couldn't stop striking out. Chase Utley(notes) couldn't hit a huge home run every time at-bat. Cliff Lee(notes) couldn't make every start.

Johnny Damon(notes) did pull off a double steal all by himself in one of the season's more memorable moments, and — if you're not a diehard Yankee hater — watching the Bronx celebrate a championship seemed at least an appropriate way of ending the decade.

MVP: Hideki Matsui

* * *

6. 2008 World Series — Phillies beat Rays, 4-1

Both teams brought great background stories and personalities into the Series, but also came in without much on their mantels. The Phillies' lone championship in 125 years of existence came in 1980. The Rays, formerly the Devil Rays, had been a baseball laughingstock since incorporating in 1998. The franchise had lost at least 90 games every season, including 96 in 2007. The Series itself will be known for its oddities. Game 5, played mostly in weather conditions suited for pond hockey, was suspended — the first time in Series history that happened — and resumed two days later. Light-hitting Joe Blanton(notes) blasted the first World Series home run by a pitcher since 1974.

In the end, though, Charlie Manuel's group drowned the Cinderella bunch from Tampa Bay for Philly's first championship of any kind since 1983 and started a year-long party in Philly.

MVP: Cole Hamels(notes)

* * *

7. 2000 World Series — Yankees beat Mets, 4-1

Plenty of pomp and circumstance surrounded the first "Subway Series" since 1956, and, though it lasted only five games, it seemed as competitive as one that went all the way to seven. The Yankees only outscored the Mets by three runs in the five games and three of their victories were of the one-run variety. 

Meanwhile, Game 2 all by itself had enough intensity, drama and machismo — and all that happened was a broken bat. With a beanball confrontation from interleague play still on everyone's mind, a pitch from Roger Clemens(notes) shattered Mike Piazza's(notes) bat, the barrel of which flew at Clemens. Apparently amped up way beyond overload, Clemens angrily threw the barrel in Piazza's direction as he ran to first base. Nobody was hurt, but tempers flared and benches cleared. Clemens' actions made no sense but emotions clearly had taken him over.

Still, Clemens managed to shut out the Mets over eight innings, though the boys from Queens cut into the Yankees 6-0 lead with a five-run ninth, they couldn't do enough to make the Commissioner's Trophy switch boroughs. Story of the Series, really.  

MVP: Derek Jeter

* * *

8. 2003 World Series — Marlins beat Yankees, 4-2

This was perhaps the most anti-climactic Series matchup of all time because the world had been awaiting a a duel between the Cubs and Red Sox, the two biggest losers of all time.

Thanks in part to two of the greatest controversies of the decade, Chicago and Boston did not meet and the Marlins and Yankees were announced as the understudies. Meh.

Also anticlimactic? The so-called last game of Roger Clemens' career. Clemens was created the Captain Comeback mold for Brett Favre by implying that Game 4 would be the last start of his career. Not even close.

MVP: Josh Beckett(notes)

* * *

9. 2006 World Series — Cardinals beat Tigers, 4-1

The Cardinals barely finished above .500 at 83-79, but proved that the playoffs and regular season don't have much in common. For St. Louis, the Series was notable for contributions by rookie closer Adam Wainwright(notes) and vagabond right hander Jeff Weaver(notes)

Tigers pitchers also proved that one must be able to make routine throws to first base if one expects to win. Detroit made eight errors in the Series and all of them seemed to be by pitchers throwing toward first. To take everyone's collective minds off that, lefty Kenny Rogers(notes) was accused of putting pine tar, or some foreign substance, on his hand.

MVP: David Eckstein(notes)

* * *

10. 2007 World Series — Red Sox beat Rockies, 4-0

All of the drama in 2007 happened on the way to the World Series. The Red Sox charged back against C.C. Sabathia(notes) and the Cleveland Indians after getting down 3-1 in the ALCS. The Rockies got into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth; Colorado was nine games under .500 in May, but won 11 in a row and and 14 of 15 in September — including Game 163 against the Padres — just to make the postseason.

But once both teams met in the Fall Classic, the drama was done. The Red Sox, behind Jon Lester(notes) in Game 4, took their second title in four years after going 86 seasons without one.

MVP: Mike Lowell(notes).

We're at the end of the 2000s, and we're taking a look back at the top stories, events, drivers and moments of the last decade. It was a time of change in NASCAR, a time when the regional sport blew up nationally, but change always comes with a price. Today, the top stories of the decade.

1. Death of Dale Earnhardt. It was almost Shakespearean in its drama and tragedy. On the very day NASCAR began its major new television deal, its most famous star died in the final lap of the Daytona 500, blocking for his son and teammate. Earnhardt's death and resultant outpouring of grief instantly transformed the sport, vaulting it to untouched heights of popularity and awareness. Sadly, you can now divide NASCAR into pre- and post-Daytona 2001.

2. The introduction of the Chase. Looking for a way to maximize end-of-season excitement, NASCAR rolled out the Chase for the Cup in 2004. And initially, it seemed brilliant; the Chase was in doubt until the final turn of the 2004 race in Homestead. But the points reset has caused controversy, as has the fact that one guy has been more successful at it than anyone else.

3. Jimmie Johnson's four-peat. Nobody in NASCAR history has ever won four titles in a row, and Johnson has done so in dominant fashion. Love him, hate him or disregard him, but Johnson is one of the most successful drivers in NASCAR history, and he's at the top of his game right now.

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaves DEI. The other shoe dropping from the passing of the Intimidator came six years later, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. packed up and left the company that bore his name following an ugly, protracted fight with his stepmother Theresa. Going to Hendrick was supposed to mean Earnhardt would become a worldwide superstar with the best equipment in the sport. So far it hasn't worked out that way.

5. The debut of the Car of Tomorrow. Earnhardt's death spurred a raft of safety improvements, including track barriers and in-car head restraint devices, but the most significant was the Car of Tomorrow. Rolled out as a safer alternative to previous vehicles, as well as a more cost-effective approach that narrowed the range of engineering tinkering, the Car debuted in 2007 and was formally introduced in 2008. Its blocky structure and narrow engineering possibilities led to complaints from both fans and drivers.

6. The arrival of Toyota in NASCAR. NASCAR has always been a uniquely American sport, so when Toyota entered the sport in the mid-2000s, starting with lower-level series, the howls of protest started. Never mind that much of Toyota's work is done in the United States, or that many "American" manufacturers do work overseas, or that other foreign manufacturers have been in NASCAR before; the perceived "invasion" of Toyota set many fans on edge. And when Joe Gibbs Racing switched from Chevy to Toyota and kept winning, that seemed both an assault and a betrayal. The foreign-car issue seems to be fading with all but the hardcores, but it's still out there. 

7. The cresting of NASCAR's popularity? NASCAR exploded so quickly in popularity -- you've heard the "second most popular sport in America" factoid a thousand times -- that there had to be a pullback. The combination of a bad economy and gripes about the on-track product led to declining attendance at races, and thousands of "the sky is falling" articles. Is the worst over?

8. NASCAR's landmark television deal. Just two weeks before the turn of the millennium, NASCAR struck a six-year, $2.4 billion deal to put the sport on three separate networks. The centralized television deal brought the sport to more viewers than ever before, but also -- say it with me -- spurred controversy among longtime fans. 

9. The debut of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. NASCAR's Hall of Fame, to open in Charlotte in 2010, will be a landmark for the sport, a place where the history and grandeur of NASCAR can be formally celebrated. And naturally, its opening will come with controversy -- two Frances and no David Pearson in the inaugural class? Really? -- but if it didn't have people griping, it wouldn't be NASCAR.

10. Death of Adam Petty. At 19 years old, Adam Petty was NASCAR's next young hope, the fourth generation of Pettys to race in NASCAR. He was slated to run in the Winston Cup series in 2001. But in May 2000 during a practice session for the Busch series in New Hampshire, his throttle stuck and Petty hit the wall, dying instantly. It was a wrenching tragedy for the whole sport, and in Adam's honor his father Kyle has begun the Victory Junction Gang charity, one of NASCAR's best-known charities.

All right, your turn. What did we miss? What else belongs on this list? Have your say!

Despite having not played "Operation" in several years, we can tell you there's a world of difference between the ankle and the knee. (No word if he actually had butterflies in his stomach as well.) From the Boston Globe:

Lucic injured his left ankle Wednesday night in St. Paul, Minn., late in Boston's 2-1 win over the Wild, as he reached to gather in a pass from defenseman Dennis Wideman(notes). As he reached back, Lucic's left leg buckled from under him, sending him hobbling back to the Boston bench and then to the dressing room.

Speculation ran rampant after the game that Lucic suffered a knee injury and could be lost to the lineup for a much longer period of time. Chiarelli noted that the estimate of a one-month absence comes with some guess work. Lucic, he said, could be back earlier or later

Since signing his three-year, $12.25 million extension with the Boston Bruins at the beginning of October, Lucic has missed more games than he's played. He has 5 points in 10 games, and the Bruins were 7-3 with him in the lineup; without him (and center Marc Savard(notes)), it was panic time. Getting him back for only four games before this injury was a bitter tease for B's fans.

So his value to the Bruins can't be questioned, right? Well, the reaction to the injury news was interesting to that end, as hockey folks like Illegal Curve wondered if investing in Lucic (and over Phil Kessel(notes)) was a wise decision.

The deck's already stacked against Looch, because the "can he live up to the contract?" questions were flying around as soon as his pen hit the dotted line on that extension. Now along with whether his game is worth $4 million a season, there's the issue of Lucic's durability on top of it.

It all speaks to what's going to be an inevitable question in hockey circles: Is Milan Lucic overrated? We'd say "no," especially when these verdicts are being passed before his new deal even kicks in.

Unfortunately for him, there are now other questions, too: Can 10 games this season earn him an Olympic roster spot for Canada? And are hockey fans going to be deprived of Lucic vs. the Flyers in Fenway if this ankle injury goes longer than expected?

Cheers, Oh Me Oh My, The Jello's Jigglin'!

The biggest star in the 68th edition of the Iron Bowl is obviously Alabama's thundering tailback, Mark Ingram, but with his nasty defensive counterparts, it's much easier to imagine the Tide winning without a particularly Heisman-worthy afternoon from Ingram or receiver Julio Jones than it is to picture Auburn pulling off one of the upsets of the year without its best effort on offense: The fact for the Tigers and the most generous defense in the SEC is that the offense has had to hit 26 points and 400 yards in every one of their seven wins, and has fallen short of those marks in every one of their four losses.

No team has achieved either this season against 'Bama: Only two opposing offenses, Kentucky (301) and Tennessee (341) have managed 300 yards on the Tide, and only Virginia Tech and LSU have reached the end zone twice with the game still in any kind of doubt. Four of 'Bama's last six opponents haven't reached the end zone at all, and Tennessee only got there after a late fumble by Ingram in the process of trying to put the game on ice. This defense is always gunning for the shutout.

If there's any play-caller who can crack that code, it's Gus Malzahn, who has yet to be shut out of the end zone in four years as a I-A offensive coordinator at Arkansas, Tulsa and now Auburn, and has only been held below 20 points five times in 54 games. For a self-ordained spread guru maintains a hyper pace at the core of his philosophy, Malzahn has been flexible enough to play to the Tigers' strengths in the running game: Auburn has kept the ball on the ground on more than 60 percent of its plays for the year, relying mostly on 1,200-yard workhorse Ben Tate and freshman Onterrio McCalebb but mixing in a liberal dose of Wildcat sets with receiver/quarterback Kodi Burns, options, misdirection and reverses to wide receivers, to great effect: The Tigers have improved from 69th nationally in rushing offense to 11th with the same personnel, and haven't been held below 100 yards on the ground. In two of the three games the rushing attack was relatively stifled, the offense still managed to put up 41 points against West Virginia and 24 at Georgia. Malzahn has found a way to hurt every defense on the schedule -- with the notable exception of LSU, the only D on Auburn's schedule that matches Alabama for raw athleticism.

Alabama hasn't given any indication this season it might have a bad defensive game anywhere in it; then again, neither had Texas before Thursday night's in College Station, where Texas A&M put all the existing numbers against the Longhorn defense to shame. But Chris Todd is no Jarrod Johnson -- the senior is wily enough to exploit defenses knocked on their heels by the Tiger running game and Malzahn's dizzying mix of tempo, versatility and unpredictability, but he's not going to carry the offense if it comes down to his arm against the nation's best-coached secondary and top-ranked pass efficiency defense. Auburn's going to have to control the clock and establish at least a token presence between the tackles to keep the entire playbook open into the fourth quarter, but when you're running into Terrence Cody and Rolando McClain, that's no kind of way to make a living.

"Do you have a strange, pseudo-sexual devotion to a Russian professional athlete playing in your town or are you just happy to see me?"

Well, never let it be said the Capitals fans are ashamed to stand up and be counted, although clearly this "Rock the Red" thing has been taken to new heights. Perhaps the most surprising thing about these "Erection for Ovechkin" shirts is that they were available at Bleacher Shirts before Leonsis could trademark the term for his official team store ...

Alas, we were unable to locate any "Turgid for Turco" or "Engorged for Gorges" casual wear, but that isn't to say there aren't a ton of creative T-shirts floating around e-retailers onthe Web.

Here's a sampling of them in our unofficial Black Friday holiday hockey shirt buying guide, for the puckheads you love (or, of course, for yourself, you selfish jerk).

And here ... we ... go.

This Pavel Datsyuk shirt is perfect for the 100-point center in your life than can only get to 97. Cool design, with the faux Soviet propaganda look. Although the lack of the word "dangle" appearing anywhere on it is a Chris-Osgood-in-the-regular-season-sized letdown. [Café Press, $22]

There are a few Sean Avery "Avery Rules" tribute T-shirts out there, but this design is one of the most creative. Now you can wear the actual goalie interference rule that protects the Marty Brodeurs of the world from the pests. Finally, an Avery T-shirt that Gary Bettman can't swing the ban hammer to make disappear. Buy it now, or head to the sloppy secondhand store in a few years. [DecayNY, $21.99]

As the KB Store says: "Cam Neely. Great player, amazing actor. Does not like Ulf Samuelsson." We actually own one of these "Sea Bass" shirts, which are a tribute to Cam's incredible supporting role in "Dumb & Dumber." A much more subtle tribute than this shirt, although clearly not as gloriously red-necky. [Kurtentees, $24.99]

There was a mini-explosion of Patrick Kane gear after his incident with that cabbie forced him into court and into one of the most awkward Olympic apologies since Tonya Harding. But this 20-Cent baby jumper is not only adorable but offers hope that the Lil' Kaner will one day grow up to be four dimes, or maybe even three quarters. [Café Press, $12.50]

Throw this Milan Lucic shirt under a black jacket and it counts as formalwear at most Boston area fine dining establishments. Remember: They're not booing, they're Luuuuuuuching. [Zazzle, $21]

These shirts are available in plenty of e-retailer T-shirt shops, and for good reason: Few other shirts combine classic hockey iconography with tasteless juvenile humor ... which is to say that few shirts capture what makes hockey "hockey" as perfectly. Available in a vomit-inducing light green. [Café Press, $22]

One of our favorite hockey legends comes to life on this Buffalo Sabres ... er, "Katanas" shirt that celebrates the life of a player that never was. As the Sabres recalled on their Web site, Punch Imlach pulled a fast one back in the 1974 draft:

Bored, and exhausted with the tedium of looking at players that had a slim chance of ever making the roster, he decided to pull one of the more creative pranks in Sabres history. Sending a secretary to find some common Japanese names, Imlach soon came up with the imaginary Taro Tsujimoto of the Tokyo Katanas - literally translating to the Tokyo Sabres (Katana is a type of Japanese samurai sword).

Imlach 'fessed up near training camp that Taro didn't exist. This shirt is hockey fable bliss. [Twoeightnine, $25]

"It's not so much me as it is Roenick...he's good." This Jeremy Roenick shirt serves as a tribute both to his video game dominance but to his legacy in the movie "Swingers." So yeah, it's a conversation piece. Perfect for those occasions when you use the deke move to score 27 goals against someone who doesn't know how to control the goalie, making him throw the controller at a pile of empty beer cans. [Muse, $27]

This is obviously just a small sample of the hockey shirts floating out there. If you know of other clever ones, hit us at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or toss them into the comments below. We'll probably have another round of these closer to the Christmas.

With the decade of the 2000s almost over, we're running through the best of the last ten years in the world of golf. Today: the best PGA players of the last ten years. 

1. Tiger Woods. You knew this. Your grandmother knew this. Tiger is in the conversation for best athletes of all time, not just best golfers of the decade. But, for the record and by the numbers, he had 56 PGA wins and 12 majors in the 2000s. Compare that with the players below for an idea of how dominant he's been.

2. Vijay Singh. You'd think that Mickelson was the no-brainer No. 2, but get this -- Vijay has as many majors, two more tournament wins, three top money list finishes, and the 2008 FedEx Cup. 

3. Phil Mickelson. He's got more prominence than Vijay, and going forward he'll be more of a challenge for Tiger, but the numbers put him just behind Singh. Phil's got three majors, which along with Vijay and Padraig Harrington is more than anybody else in golf in the 2000s except you-know-who. He's also snagged 24 wins over the decade.

4. Ernie Els. There's a fairly steep dropoff from 3 to 4, but nonetheless this isn't a bad place to be. With 9 PGA Tour wins and 17 European Tour wins, including the 2002 British Open, Els was at his best in the early part of the decade.

5. Jim Furyk. He's camped out in the top 10 almost every year since 2003, and during the decade he's won nine events, including the 2003 U.S. Open. Consistency throughout the decade puts him right here, though some more wins would have been nice.

6. Padraig Harrington. Feast or famine, but when he feasts, it's all-you-can-eat. He's got 13 European Tour wins and five PGA Tour wins, including three double-counted majors in those totals -- the 2007 and 2008 British and the 2008 PGA. His lack of consistency cost him, but he's a good bet to move up this list in the future.

7. Retief Goosen. He's dropped off the pace of the early part of the decade, where he won the U.S. Open twice, in 2001 and 2004, but he's still secured seven PGA wins, including the Transitions earlier this year.

8. Davis Love III. His best golf bracketed the turn of the millennium, but he's still achieved four top-10 money list finishes and snagged seven tournaments, highlighted by his four-win 2003. 

9. David Toms. He's been an anonymous sort of champion, but with nine PGA wins in the 2000s, topped by the 2001 PGA, he's a champion nonetheless. Majors carry significant weight in these rankings; the best have to come up big at the biggest moments.

10. Mike Weir. And here the debate really begins. Weir has 7 wins in the 2000s, one more than Stewart Cink, and his 2003 Masters gives him the slightest of edges over Perry and Garcia. He ranks 11th in career earnings among 2009 players, but his consistent decade-long play is enough to get him into the top 10 here.

Also receiving much consideration: Kenny Perry, Stewart Cink, Sergio Garcia. And now it's your turn. Who else belongs on this list? Who should move up/down? Have your say!

Kate Fagan, Philadelphia Inquirer: "76ers point guard Lou Williams underwent surgery Thursday morning to wire together his upper and lower jaws. Williams will miss eight weeks. Early in the first quarter of Tuesday night's loss to the Washington Wizards, Williams suffered the injury in a collision with Washington forward Antawn Jamison(notes). [...] 'I was spitting out blood every timeout, but I thought it was my tooth so I didn't think it was as serious as it was,' said Williams, who was averaging 17.4 points and 5.1 assists per game. 'I just continued to play, and there wasn't a lot of pain involved because I was playing on adrenaline obviously. But I knew something was wrong, just not to this magnitude.' After a sleepless, painful night in Boston, an X-ray taken of Williams' jaw initially revealed that fracture. 'What I wanted was something to numb the pain, something to help with the pain and continue to fight through,' Williams said of approaching the trainers on Wednesday morning. 'But you go through the protocol, the X-rays and this and that. And it came back, and there was a big line in my jaw, and that set the alarms off right there.'"

AP: "Shaquille O'Neal paid for the funeral of a 5-year-old North Carolina girl after being moved by national news coverage of the case of Shaniya Davis, who police say was kidnapped and killed.  The Cleveland Cavaliers player was touched by the stories he saw and got in touch with the family to see what he could do to help, a spokeswoman for O'Neal said Thursday. More than 2,000 people attended the girl's funeral Sunday. Her body was found Nov. 16 beside a rural road. Her mother, Antionette Davis, who had reported the child missing six days earlier, is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. Mario McNeill is charged with murder, rape and kidnapping in the case. 'I was sitting at home watching it on the news and the story brought a tear to my eye,' O'Neal told The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper."

Ronald Tillery, Memphis Commercial Appeal: "[Jamaal Tinsley(notes)] was definitely feeling the wow factor of trying to find a gear that can only be found in professional basketball. 'I'm not at L.A. Fitness anymore,' Tinsley said with a sheepish grin, referring to the place he spent most of the 11/2 years he'd been out the league. Tinsley, though, is rounding into shape for the Grizzlies. The 31-year-old floor general, signed as a free agent nearly two weeks ago, is averaging 9.5 points on 47-percent shooting to go with 2.5 assists over the past two games. The Griz consistently logged about 22 minutes off the bench during that span. Tinsley's role will continue to expand with significant playing time as Griz coach Lionel Hollins is enamored with the former Indiana Pacers' savvy and calming influence. Those characteristics can only help the Griz as they continue a five-game road trip tonight at the Portland Trail Blazers. 'He can only get better, hopefully quicker than later,' Hollins said. 'It's just nice to have a veteran who understands. He's out there controlling things. His veteran leadership is what is important.'"

Dave Feschuk, Toronto Star: "... when [Jose] Calderon is on the floor, the opposing point guard is putting up a PER of 23.7, according to 82games.com. For an example of an NBA point guard achieving a PER in the neighbourhood of 23.7, think Steve Nash(notes), who the Raptors will see on Sunday when the resurgent Phoenix Suns come to town. In other words, Calderon is such a non-factor on defence he is making all of his opponents look like Nash. In a point guard's league, Toronto is a minus-6.4 in point-guard PER when Calderon is on the floor. A year ago, even with the awful Roko Ukic(notes) and Will Solomon(notes) backing up Calderon, the Raptors, as a team, were a plus-1.1 at the position."

Tom Powers, Pioneer Press: "Yes, this team isn't very good. And now it's official. In 21 seasons of Timberwolves basketball, this year's squad has gotten off to the worst start ever, 1-14, after Wednesday's 124-111 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Target Center. 'Obviously, we're cognizant of it,' Kurt Rambis said of the epic stretch. It should be noted, however, that '94-'95 team and the current Wolves squad are remarkably different. That '94-'95 team featured an interesting bunch of hooligans and crybabies. Rider was the head wacko. Christian Laettner, another beauty, was the second-leading scorer. Bill Blair was the zookeeper. Rambis has a bunch of solid citizens: humble, polite, friendly and not particularly talented."

Michael Wilbon, The Washington Post: "All the ingredients for a lost season are in place. New coach, new systems of offense and defense, four new players, two players returning after long layoffs, hideous early-season losses, dissension before Thanksgiving and most unsettling, a deceased owner who has been the face of the franchise for more than 40 years. The Washington Wizards, from the top of the pyramid to the 12th man, had every reason to spend Thanksgiving worrying. The players say they will dedicate this season to Abe Pollin, but the issues confronting the team appear greater than a jolt of inspiration alone can solve. The squabbles from last week, most notably between Gilbert Arenas(notes) and Caron Butler(notes), are the outward expressions of the frustration of having the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference and the fourth-worst record in the NBA after one month of play. The Wizards were supposed to be so much better than 4-9, what with three former all-stars, so many proven starters and established role players. What they are is lost. They don't have an identity as a team yet, don't know how they fit individually in Coach Flip Saunders's way of playing."

Mike Wells, The Indy Star: "Mike Dunleavy compared his smooth-looking jump shot to riding a bike: You never lose it once you have it down.The toughest part for Dunleavy, who has played in 18 games in the past 17 months, is getting into shape and working on his timing. The Indiana Pacers swingman is slowly getting those aspects of his game back, and with that said, Dunleavy could soon be making his long-awaited season debut. 'I'm really close,' Dunleavy said. 'At this point I would say it's day-to-day.' The Pacers host the Dallas Mavericks tonight at Conseco Fieldhouse. Dunleavy is not expected to play. Some members of the Pacers organization have become quite eager for Dunleavy to return, especially with the uncertainty regarding Danny Granger's(notes) sprained left medial collateral ligament. 'I anticipate he should not be out much longer and, I would say based on what Danny's situation is, I would suspect he needs to get back to the court,' coach Jim O'Brien said."

Ross Siler, Salt Lake Tribune: "As Kyle Korver(notes) noted this week, he's never been out as long in his NBA career as he has since undergoing knee surgery last month. Now in his seventh year, Korver never had missed more than eight games in a season before this one. Although he'd hoped to return in the coming days, Korver will have to wait a little longer. He said Thursday that Cybex testing showed he still has strength to regain in his hamstring and quadriceps following surgery. As a result, Korver will cease court work for a week and focus on rebuilding strength in his leg. Korver said he would need to test at 75 percent to be 'borderline' to play; his quadriceps was 70 percent and his hamstring 56 percent. 'It's frustrating because I wanted to be back before then,' Korver said, adding that his muscles likely weakened when wasn't able to practice in the preseason due to the swelling in his left knee."

Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News: "[Ben] Gordon went down hard during on his left ankle and sprained it during Wednesday night's game. He's listed as day-to-day, but it's unlikely Gordon will play tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers. If that's the case, he will join Richard Hamilton(notes) (severely sprained right ankle) and Tayshaun Prince(notes) (small ruptured disc) on the sidelines. Coach John Kuester wouldn't speculate as to who would replace Gordon after Wednesday's game — the Pistons didn't practice on Thanksgiving — but Austin Daye(notes) started the second half in place of Gordon against the Cavaliers. Interestingly, Kuester wants to stress defense right now with so much offense missing. 'One of the things that can't happen is that players feel pressure to do more than they're capable of doing,' Kuester said. 'We just need to continue to play, continue to defend, and if anything, I want them to feel a sense of urgency not so much offensively as defensively.'"

Mike Monroe, S.A. Express-News: "It was no surprise that Spurs guard Roger Mason(notes) Jr. was singled out for praise from coach Gregg Popovich after he helped the Spurs get past the pesky Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night at the AT&T Center. It was moderately amazing Popovich didn't mention the hot shooting that produced Mason's season-high 17 points. 'Everybody just thinks of Roger as a shooter, but he had a really good floor game,' Popovich said. 'He played good defense against tough scorers, and at the other end, he penetrated, he passed, he found open people. He did a good job.' Mason had five assists and six rebounds in the Spurs' 118-104 victory and took a share of the work that cooled off Golden State's red-hot Monta Ellis(notes), who finished with 42 points — but only had four free throws in the fourth quarter. 'I'm definitely trying to show more than just shooting,' Mason said. 'Playing good defense, passing the ball, getting some rebounds. That's what I have to provide for the team.'"

Mike Baldwin, The Oklahoman: "With three guards sidelined by injuries, the Thunder will use James Harden(notes), Thabo Sefolosha(notes) and possibly Kevin Durant(notes) as the backup point guard tonight. Kyle Weaver(notes), who filled the role Tuesday at Utah, suffered a separated shoulder in practice Wednesday and will be sidelined indefinitely. Kevin Ollie(notes) (knee) was encouraged by results from an MRI but was to meet with team officials before determining whether arthroscopic surgery is necessary. Shaun Livingston(notes) recently underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and will be sidelined another two or three weeks. Power forward Nick Collison(notes) (knee) will miss his third consecutive game but could return soon once swelling subsides. On Thursday, the Thunder signed free-agent point guard Mike Wilks(notes)."

Precious memories. I'll never forget where I was on the night that the Orlando Magic started playing defense again, and if you weren't around to see it, the rebirth was quite the show.

After allowing the Hawks to score 51 points in the first half, every member of the Orlando rotation put on a defensive clinic in that second half, overcoming a 12-point deficit to Atlanta on its way toward thrashing the Hawks by 17 overall.

Dwight Howard(notes) was fantastic (22 points, 17 rebounds, three assists, five turnovers, four blocks and a steal), moving his feet and protecting the rim (showing, actual blocks, good closeouts, smart contact with arms fully raised), but this was a true team effort.

Everyone dug in, and the Hawks didn't have an answer. Sure, some of the jumpers that fell in that first half dried up, but every screen and roll was met with menace, any bit of penetration was quickly made up for by the Magic D, and the result was a 25-point second half. 25 points. And these are the Hawks we're talking about.

With all those stops in hand, and an iffy offensive rebounding night for the Hawks, the Magic offense was able to ease into its own in the second half. Going through Dwight Howard helped, and though Jason Williams(notes) didn't score in almost 27 minutes (a night after going off for 25 points against the Heat), Anthony Johnson(notes) came through with a knockout 17 points off the pine. In 21 minutes, with no turnovers. Spread the floor with long range shooting, and drove. Anthony Johnson. Didn't see that coming.

Or, I did, actually. It was just really, really slow.

Not sure what the Hawks could have done better. There's a lot to love about this team, but the Magic are really this good. Even without Jameer Nelson(notes).

The Hawks had trouble getting to the line, only seven attempts, and that really was their downfall. Yes, they missed 12 three-pointers, but hitting for 21 points on 19 possessions used up by three-pointers is solid enough. Perhaps they could have tried to find Al Horford(notes) a bit more, made Dwight Howard work. I do know that finding Zaza Pachulia(notes) in both screen and roll and under the hoop didn't really work out all that well — Zaza managed to miss six of nine shots against Howard and Marcin Gortat(notes).

Also, it's November. There is so much to learn from a game tape like this if you're the Hawks. So many counters to figure out, so many ways to try and pick apart what was a suffocating Orlando defense. No matter how great the D is, it can always be taken advantage of. There are always holes. Go find them.

***

Utah 105, Chicago 86

There's so much wrong with the Bulls that it's hard to know where to start. The team doesn't seem to understand that they are constantly shooting themselves out of games because of the continued insistence on pulling up for low percentage 20-footers, shot by players who aren't all that hot to trot shooting-wise.

Now, for all we know the team's coaching staff could be putting the team through the ringer every time it turns in another jump shooting contest, but let's face it — if this was any sort of insistent priority for Chicago's coaching staff, are the players that stubborn and/or daft that they refuse to listen?

Or, perhaps it's safe to assume that the ears of these players aren't ringing enough. That the overmatched coaching staff might be telling them to be aggressive in generic terms, but not enough to make any real difference. As it stands, the team plays some of the least-cerebral basketball in the NBA. It's these coaches' job to teach, and while players are certainly to blame in a lot of cases around this league, this sort of inefficient, uneducated basketball usually isn't all on the shoulders of these players.

Chicago also lost by a ton for the fourth straight game in a row to another Western powerhouse. Yes, they're supposed to lose, but they're also supposedly to play smarter (and, by extension, "better") than this. Because right now? I'm aware of the rotation holes, but this is some awful, awful basketball.

Utah, meanwhile, is really playing well. Screening well, slapping at things defensively, working great counters on the offensive end, and anticipating well defensively (not that this is hard when Chicago lopes into yet another guard-around screen).

Chicago had no answer for Carlos Boozer(notes), who was quick with the shot when someone like Brad Miller(notes) didn't want to get out, better with the footwork when Taj Gibson(notes) hustled his way into yet another poor defensive showing, and smart off the ball when Joakim Noah(notes) got caught overplaying on the perimeter.

28 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and — get this — three blocks for Boozer. That's two weeks' worth for him.

With all the long rebounds, Chicago started quite a few defensive possessions crossmatched, and Utah took advantage. 29 assists on 45 field goals, it felt like a lot  more, as the Jazz shot 60.8 percent from the floor. It was a clinic, one you'd like to see maintained. Utah is just two seasons removed from working as the best regular season offensive team in the NBA, and there's no reason they can't get back up there.

On the other hand, I've no idea how Chicago has won six games at this point.

• This pity date has gotten way out of hand. There's an old episode of The Simpsons wherein dim loser Ralph Wiggum takes a token valentine from Lisa way too far, eventually humiliating her with unexpected and unwanted expressions of his love on live television. For some reason, I kept thinking of that episode every time ESPN showed this couple Thursday night ...

... which was plenty of times given Texas' stunning defensive collapse against A&M, which included busted coverages, busted tackles and a busted ego for a unit that came into the game ranked in the top 10 nationally in yards and points allowed. This morning, the Austin-American Statesman tries to get to the root of the trouble, without much luck, and the New York Times' Pete Thamel wonders how such an effort -- especially if it's replicated in any meaningful way next week by Nebraska -- might fuel the critics of the Longhorns' virtually assured trip to Pasadena. (Longhorn fans have their own questions, such as: Why on earth didn't Mack Brown offer Christine Michael a scholarship?

• Mass exodus. (Get it? Mass? Cuz ... ah, never mind.) Whatever his own fate, Charlie Weis can still have an impact on Notre Dame's immediate depending on what he says this week when he meets with Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate about the juniors' prospects for entering the draft in April. Weis called the 5'11" Tate a "clone" of longtime Panthers star Steve Smith, but at that height, he'll have to turn in a blazing speed in workouts to have a shot at the first round. [Associated Press]

• Say it's so, Joe. On the other side of the Irish-Trojan rivalry, USC's Joe McKnight looks like he's leaning toward staying in L.A. for his senior season despite the best individual season for a Trojan back (he should go over 1,000 yards rushing Saturday against UCLA, on more than six yards per carry for the season) since Reggie Bush and LenDale White exited the premises four years ago. If McKnight is back in '10, prepare for the Heisman hype, an interesting development for a guy who's been considered a slight underachiever compared to his outsized recruiting hype. [Orange County Register]

• Your campus statue will just be you, if that's alright. In the more immediate reaches of Heisman hype, for those of you who care about such trivialities, it's been a good week for Alabama running back Mark Ingram, who landed Sports Illustrated's annual Heisman-hyping cover and gets the full-on treatment today from the hometown Tuscaloosa News:

Pending another big effort today in the Iron Bowl, I'd say we've got an official frontrunner for the stretch. [Tuscaloosa News]

Quickly ... Starting linebacker A.J. Jones will miss Florida's games with Florida State and Alabama with an injured knee. ... Dan Hawkins' surprising removal from the hot seat Thursday mean that, for the first the first time in years, there's not a pall hanging over one of the coaches when Nebraska and Colorado get together in Boulder. ... Even in one of Auburn's strongholds in the state, only a couple Mobile Press-Register staffers have the guts to pick the Tigers to upset Alabama. ... Just one more way that Paul Johnson has completely flipped the script in the Georgia-Georgia Tech series. ... A view of C.J.'s Pub in South Bend, where Jimmy Clausen was allegedly punched in the face last weekend. ... And can Tennessee fans still begrudge Charles Woodson his Heisman after he donated $2 million to a children's hospital? Don't answer that.

No. 1 star: Henrik Sedin(notes), Vancouver Canucks

Henrik picked up the secondary helper on Alex Burrows's(notes) first-period goal and scored the eventual game-winner in Vancouver's 4-1 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Kings. His third-period goal, answering a late second-period tally by Wayne Simmonds(notes) of the Kings, came after Sedin won the faceoff, Alexander Edler(notes) cranked a shot from the blue line and Sedin collected the Jon Quick(notes) (30 saves) rebound for his 14th of the season.

No. 2 Star: Nick Foligno(notes), Ottawa Senators

With the Senators tied 1-1 against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets, Foligno collected a pass behind the net on a power play and surprised Steve Mason(notes) with a wraparound goal for the game-winner. Ottawa wins, 2-1, and moving back into first place in the Northeast Division.

No. 3 Star: Kyle Wellwood(notes), Vancouver Canucks

The TV announcers initially gave Tanner Glass's(notes) third-period goal to Wellwood, who helped start the scoring play, but the Canucks forward would finally score his first of the season into an empty net to clinch the Vancouver victory. There's simply no way Kyle Wellwood could score a goal on Turkey Day and not earn at least third star, right?

Honorable mention: Jason Spezza(notes) had a goal for the Senators, taking some of the heat off the struggling center. ... Roberto Luongo(notes) made 31 saves in the Canucks win, while Brian Elliott(notes) had 32 for Ottawa. ... Jesse Winchester(notes) had two assists for the Senators. ... In perhaps the most interesting news of the night, the Kings signed last summer's first-round draft pick Brayden Schenn(notes) to a one-day amateur tryout contract, making him the third-youngest player to ever appear in a regular season game for LA at 18 years, 97 days. He played 12:31 with no points and a minus-1.

Did you know?: The Canucks won the faceoff battle with the Kings by a lopsided 41-25 margin.

Dishonorable mention: Dustin Brown(notes) was a minus-4 for Los Angeles, while Alex Frolov was a minus-3. ... Steve Mason is now 1-3-1 in his last five starts. ...  

So it was a rough night for the Big 12's best defense, or as rough as it can be en route to a double-digit win over a hated rival to close the first 12-0 regular season in school history. If any Texas fans are looking to sober up, though, they should compare tonight's sudden Aggie outburst not only to the Longhorns' exemplary efforts this year, but also to the defenses on teams the 'Horns are most trying to emulate in the long run:

Against Texas A&M, the Longhorn defense ...
• Allowed more points (39) than any eventual BCS champion has ever allowed in regulation. The only teams to score more than 39 against an eventual BCS champ are Kentucky (43) and Arkansas (50) in upsets over LSU in '07, but both came in multiple overtime sessions. Only three teams (Ole Miss vs. Florida in 2008, Kentucky vs. LSU in 2007 and Alabama vs. LSU in 2007) have managed 30 points against an eventual BCS champ since 2001.

• Allowed more yards (531) than any eventual BCS champion has ever allowed in regulation. The only 500-yard games against a final No. 1 this decade were Arkansas' triple-overtime shootout with LSU in '07 (fueled by a pair of soon-to-be first round draft picks, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones) and USC's 574-yard effort against Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl, and Jarrod Johnson, Christine Michael and Jeff Fuller aren't exactly Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and Dwayne Jarrett.

• Allowed more passing yards (343) than any eventual BCS champion since the '05 Longhorns allowed 369 to Texas Tech, on twice as many passes (64) by the Raiders' Sonny Cumbie as Johnson threw (33) tonight. None of the last three BCS champs has allowed 300 yards passing in a game, and no eventual BCS champ has ever allowed four touchdown passes in one sitting.

• Allowed more yards per play (7.6) and per pass (10.4) than any BCS champion has ever allowed in a game.

It could very well be that the 'Horns found themselves on the wrong end of the blossoming of a burgeoning offensive nightmare at A&M, with Johnson looking for all the world like he's finally caught up to the hype and nine of the top 10 skill players around him coming back next year as sophomores and juniors; the Aggies are an exceptionally young offense with a vault of momentum tonight they can draw on throughout the offseason.

The one thing Texas didn't need now, though, is the return of all the questions that had slowly receded as the defense continued to emerged as one of the most improved units in the country. UT had only won two games before tonight by less than 24 points (34-24 over Texas Tech and 16-13 over Oklahoma), both of which corresponded to the point spread going in. That wasn't the case tonight, which has the Longhorns looking at least slightly vulnerable for the first time, at the worst time.

Picking out just ten athletes who dominated the Olympics through the beginning of the century was a tough task. With Summer Games in 2000, 2004 and 2008, and Winter Games in 2002 and 2006, thousands of athletes have competed in dozens of sports. Still, there were a few athletes who peaked perfectly when the Olympic pressure was on.

10. Anky Van Grusven, the Netherlands, equestrian: Van Grusven may not be a household name, but she is on this list for one reason. She wins medals. Van Grusven won gold in the individual dressage in every Olympics this decade, and won silver or gold at every Games since 1992 for a total of eight medals.

9. Evgeni Plushenko, Russia, figure skating: He set a world record score in Torino to win gold and won the bronze in Salt Lake City. His name is synonymous with exciting skating, and Russians everywhere rejoiced when he announced that he was coming out of retirement for Vancouver. 

8. Kerri Walsh/Misty May-Treanor, United States, beach volleyball: Maybe it's a bit of a cheat to list them together, but they are forever linked to each other and to beach volleyball. This decade, they won two gold medals and 112 straight matches.

7. Buvaisar Saitiev, Russia, freestyle wrestling: Saitiev is the most dominant wrestler to take the mat in recent history. In 11 world-level tournaments this decade, he won nine. That included two Olympic gold medals at 74 kg.  

6. Lisa Leslie, United States, basketball: Leslie is symbolic of the American women's success in Olympic basketball. She has been in four Olympics and has four gold medals, and was the team's leading scorer in 2004 and is the USA's all-time leading scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker in Olympic competition.

5. Guo Jingjing, China, diving: China rules the world in Olympic diving, and Jingjing is a major reason why. She has gold in the 3m and synchronized springboard from both Beijing and Athen, and silvers in those same events from Sydney. 

4. Usain Bolt, Jamaica, track and field: He only competed in one Olympics this decade, but his performance was so memorable that this list would be irrelevant without him. Usain Bolt won three golds in Beijing, shattering both the 100m and 200m records and wresting away the 4x100m title from the Americans. 

3. Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaica, track and field: Though fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt grabbed more headlines for his record-breaking speed, Campbell-Brown has been more dominant over the course of the past decade. The sprinter medaled in Sydney, Athens and Beijin, winning gold twice for the 200 meter. 

2. Apollo Anton Ohno, United States, speedskating: In just two Olympics, the speedskater won five medals: two golds, a silver and two bronzes, though his gold in Salt Lake City was shadowed in controversy. There was no question in 2006 as he was dominant in the 2006 500m race. Not only that, he won "Dancing with the Stars." What more could you ask for?

1. Michael Phelps, United States, swimming -- Undoubtedly, Phelps has been the most dominant Olympic athlete of the past ten years. While competing in just two Olympics, he has earned 14 gold and two bronze medals. His eight gold medals in Beijing was not just a record, but was an amazing athletic feat that we won't likely see again.

Honorable mention: Amanda Beard, U.S., swimming; Crystl Bustos, U.S., softball; Aaron Piersol, U.S. swimming; Steven Lopez, U.S., tae kwon do; Ekaterina Karsten, Belarus, rowing, Svetlana Khorkina, Russia, gymnastics; Yang Wei, China, gymnastics; Claudia Pechstein, Germany, speedskating

If Bruce Gradkowski(notes) said that about anyone in his locker room, he was just being nice.

The Raiders played hard this afternoon, and while it might be a stretch to say that they gave the Cowboys a game, they didn't embarrass themselves, either. The effort was there. What's not there, though, is the same level of talent enjoyed by most other NFL teams. It becomes especially clear when they play a team like the Cowboys who are loaded at the skill positions. It doesn't even look like the two teams are playing the same sport.

When Tony Romo drops back, he's got guys in front of him who can protect him from a pass rush. With the time that gives him, he's usually able to locate a receiver who has been able to get separation from the defense.

When Gradkowski drops back, he's got about two seconds before a defender crushes him. And if, somehow, he's able to get away from the rush, he'll be looking downfield for an inexperienced receiver who probably has not found a way to beat the coverage.

He's playing with such a high degree of difficulty. It's like he and Romo are both carpenters, and when Romo goes to work, he gets a hammer, a screwdriver, a drill, a saw and a tape measure. Gradkowski gets a ball of yarn and a breadstick.

I felt bad for the Raiders today. They're trying. Tom Cable has them playing hard, but they just don't have the horses. It's not Bruce Gradkowski's fault, and it wasn't entirely JaMarcus's Russell's fault, either. It's a bare cupboard. There are haves and have-nots in the NFL right now, and the Raiders demonstrated to all the haves today just how thankful they should be.

University of Colorado officials decided to bring back football coach Dan Hawkins for a fifth season Thursday with no stipulations for changes in his coaching staff and without setting a target number of wins for next season.
[...]
Citing a need for stability and continuity and the results Hawkins' players have produced in the classroom, athletic director Mike Bohn said he and Chancellor Phil DiStefano chose to give their football coach another year to show improvement in the Big 12 standings.

The upshot: A "renegotiation" of Hawkins' contract (currently in place through the end of the 2012 season) is likely on the horizon, to "[give] the school more flexibility," in the words of the Boulder Daily Camera -- i.e., to reduce the $3 million buyout if Colorado fires Hawkins without cause, rumored to be a major stumbling block for any designs the cash-strapped university had on parting ways with Hawk.

The situation next year will resemble Greg Robinson's awkwardly lingering death rattle at Syracuse last year in that both captains were invited back for a final, futile attempt to raise the ship from depths to which it hadn't descended in decades, despite no discernible progress in any major area. In a make-or-break year, the Buffs lost their first two games to Colorado State and Toledo; watched two of their more talented members, cousins Darrell Scott and Josh Smith, both jump ship for UCLA; and sit four points against Kansas away from sole possession of last place in the Big 12 North with no prospects of forthcoming improvement. This is the guy already best known for his "This is Big 12 Football! Go play innermurals! rant, so it tells you all you need to know about the surprise of his return and the grim prospects of its long-term success that he's only just now become the easiest coaching target in the country over the next year.

I didn't think much of it myself, but it's gotten the attention of a few people around the league. Among them is Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark, who sees McDaniels' actions as a punchable offense.

“Honestly, my thought on that is, I would like to petition Mr. (Roger) Goodell and say, if a coach can talk to me like that, I should be able to fight him,” Clark said. “I don’t know where he’s from, but where I’m from, when somebody talks to you like that, they’ve got a problem with you. And we should be able to fight.

“If a player talks that way, you get to hit him. When a coach talks that way, you don’t really get to strike back. Who wants to have verbal jabs with a coach? That’s no fun. Let’s fight.”

I'm going to go ahead and guess that at the next NFL owners' meetings, there will be no "Yeah, let's do something to get players and coaches involved in fistfights" resolution passed. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it myself, but it would seem to go against the grain for Roger Goodell.

Tennessee Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck(notes) chimed in, too, saying that coaches have no right to say anything to the players.

Sensitive, sensitive. These guys are about to spend the next three hours listening to all types of verbal abuse, not to mention the physical threat of other gigantic men trying to hurt them. But they're worried about a little chirping from a coach? Seems odd.

The league isn't looking into it and won't do anything about it, so any trash-talking to players will remain up to the preference of the individual coach. McDaniels is the only coach I know if engaging in the practice.

As for players, if they don't like it, they'll just have to take it out on that coach's players. My recommendation would be to lay a good 32-3 beating on his team.

The Hawks have completely and utterly turned things around. They have the best record in their conference, the fifth-best point differential in the NBA, and the team seems light years removed from the dull, jump-shooty mess that put us to sleep in the playoffs last spring. Sure, they got off to a hot start last year (winning six in a row to start 2008-09), but that felt like smoke and mirrors.

This feels ... different.

And the Hawks are playing the Magic. The team that made it to the Finals last year, and decided to replace all sorts of rotation parts with all sorts of compelling, intriguing, new parts. The team that employs Stan Van Gundy. The team that employs a center that can dunk on a 12 and a half-foot goal. The team that employs a center just a few years removed from getting his braces off.

Tell me you're not loving this. Then tell me that you don't know where this is going. You should know by now.

The "what I'm thankful for" column is the third-biggest gimmick of the calendar year for us, just behind "what I'll give _____ for Christmas" and "New Year's resolutions for _____." It even carries over, past the sports page. It's a cheap trick.

But if you're not thankful for the era you're living in, the time and space you're spiraling through, and you're an NBA fan? There's something wrong with you.

You know what I did last night? In between taking down a Cuban sandwich and heading out for last call with my better half at our local, I fired up the old TweetDeck and piled through last night's action on the League Pass. 12 games, thousands of reactions. Everyone of them worth scoping out. I can't believe how lucky I have it.

A few clicks and points, and I've created a chat room filled with giants. Absolute giants like Adrian Wojnarowski, Howard Beck, Skeets and Tas, Matt Moore, Kevin Pelton, John Hollinger, Marc Stein, Jonathan Abrams, Henry Abbott — to say nothing of the scads and scads of individual team bloggers that follow and cover specific teams in ways I couldn't possibly hope to approximate. For free. On their own time. And they represent. And they never make excuses.

And for every shot that goes in, I'm getting a real-time reaction. From someone I adore. Any time a game gets close, John Schuhmann is letting me know what channel to turn to. Any time someone ducks inside a locker room to attend to an injury, a beat reporter whose brilliance shouldn't be (but often is) limited to 900 words and a too-early deadline is letting me know — while he's on the clock and for free — what just happened. A play by play man steps back from the mic during a TV timeout to recount the action in 140 characters or less. And everyone quotes, and reacts, and re-Tweets, and acts respectfully, and does it because they love this game.

They should love this game. Players are quicker and smarter and more athletic and more educated than ever. These guys have been hit with game tape after scouting report after DVD after assistant's tutelage over and over and over, and despite that goaltend or the stupid 21-foot jumper, these players are better and smarter and stronger than ever.

We're drawing from across the globe now. You want to know where this game is at right now? My two favorite rookies are from Compton, and Israel.

The Israeli no doubt obsessed while growing up over a 7-foot German and a 7-foot South Carolinian (who went to high school in Chicago) that refuses to call himself 7-feet tall. The kid from Compton (who played last year in Italy) wants to be like the two-time MVP from Canada, or maybe a smaller version of an MVP that grew up in Italy, refined his game in Philly, and became a star in Hollywood. I get to watch all of them. Then I get to see what Dave from Blazer's Edge thinks about them, at three in the morning. I can't believe how lucky I have it.

So, yes, this is a "what I'm thankful for" column. I'm thankful for this game, this game that has given me so much. This game that has enriched my life. This game that has allowed me the chance to make so many wonderful friends, across the globe. The game allows me the chance to meet Hubie Brown in a hotel bar. The game that I'll be watching tonight. The game that I'll be writing about, tonight.

I'm thankful for this game. I don't mind the gimmick, as long as the sentiment is strong.

Thank you for reading.

The Lowdown.
Take a look back at our Tuscaloosa Iron Bowl preview from last year to remind you what makes this game special:

The thing about this rivalry is the lack of geographical boundaries involved. Tide and Tigers live, work and worship side by side all across the state. They have every opportunity to get their hate on every other day of the year. But come Iron Bowl Saturday, it's still got to ratchet up somehow.

Auburn is a family town. Auburn games are a great place to take your kids, even given their practice of loosing a predatory bird in the stadium 20 minutes prior to kickoff. Just not this Auburn game, at least not until the little tykes can throw a decent right cross. The Loveliest Village on the Plains will, for one weekend, be transformed into the mouth of hell. (We mean this in a good way. Seriously. If you've never seen an Iron Bowl, pack up the leftovers tomorrow and hit the road.)

The Auburn-Alabama game lived for many years at the ostensibly neutral site of Birmingham's Legion Field, but we vastly prefer the heightened tensions of the home-and-home series. Make no mistake, Auburn takes its relatively newfound homefield advantage seriously. Very, very seriously:

"It is difficult, even impossible, for Auburn people in this generation to understand what Dec. 2, 1989, meant to Auburn people in that day," said Housel, the foremost historian on the subject. "And it's a good thing they don’t understand because that's what Dec. 2, 1989 was all about - so they wouldn’t have to understand, be forced to go to Birmingham, be forced to play your biggest game of the year on your opponent’s home field, be forced to go to a place where you weren’t really wanted. ..."These kids don’t know," he added. "Thank god they don’t know.”

Getting the Tide to actually come to Auburn for the first time was the Tigers' Berlin Wall.

Alabama, you may have noticed, is on a bit of a roll (sorry) this year, while Auburn's still stumbling through some of the growing pains of breaking in a new head coach. Auburn is a decided underdog in this fight, but if the battle is turned and the scoreboard goes the Tigers' way, there's only one thing to do postgame, and that's to run down to Toomer's Corner, the intersection of College Street and Magnolia Avenue, and watch the rolling commence. It's a grandly goofy tradition and the finished product never fails to impress your inner freshman. (For those unwilling or unable to brave the postgame mob, there's always the Toomer's Corner webcam. They really did think of everything.

What To Wear.
More like what not to wear this week: See above warnings regarding the white-hot intensity of this rivalry. Wearing Alabama gear into Auburn is just asking for trouble. Wearing it into Jordan-Hare itself will more likely than not get you reported for public intoxication or fightin via text message, deservedly or not:

"I think the average fan can look at it and say, 'I now have an immediate voice to the people who make things happen on game day, and I can have an impact in a positive way on the environment," said Jeff Steele, Auburn's associate athletic director of facilities and operations.

Yes, Jeff. We're positive that's the train of thought at work here and that this system will not be hilariously abused.

Pregame Stops.
• Buffalo Connection, 610 Shug Jordan Parkway. Eight different kinds of wings, opens at 10 a.m. on gameday.
• Momma Goldberg's, 500 W Magnolia Avenue and 217 E Thach Avenue. Hometown deli that one Auburn grad brags, "Has not changed since at least my freshman year. Same newspapers on the walls. Same slanted floors, busted pool table and the same music on the jukebox."
• Niffer's Place, 1151 Opelika Road. Grab some house-made potato chips and a burger to line your pregame stomach.

Postgame Stops.
• War Eagle Supper Club, 2061 S College Street. Scary-looking little joint with an equally frightening website, but consistently recommended by undergrads and alums alike.
• 17-16, 156 E Magnolia Avenue. Thank Football Jesus for the newly relaxed beer laws in the state of Alabama and places that'll sell you high-gravity goodness on the cheap.
• Daylight Donuts, 1642 S College Street. The perfect orange-and-blue-sprinkled postgame snack.

What To Drink.
It takes some doing to get us to recommend a non-alcoholic drink in this space, but trust us: Stop in at Toomer's Drugs itself for fresh lemonade. According to our Auburn correspondent, "It is an assembly line on gameday, but a necessity. You realize God made that on the eighth day. It's in the New International Version, look it up."

- - -
Thanks this week to Kenny Smith and Arlana Camagna.
Holly welcomes your adulation and veiled threats at nastinchka-at-yahoo, etc.

May your turkey be moist, your relatives bearable and your Thursday night NBA action amazing.

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: Golden State of Mind. The Warriors will don the above retro garments five times this season. You like?
PF: Eight Points, Nine Seconds. If you gonna read one NBA/Thanksgiving post today, make it this.
SF: Silver Screen & Roll. "The Lakers, we should probably just admit, are stuck with a subpar bench."
SG: From Deep. Michael Grange: "Allen Iverson played for himself."
PG: Magic Basketblog. Rashard Lewis(notes) is still searching for his shooting touch.
6th: TSN. Tim Chisholm: How do you solve a problem like DeMar DeRozan(notes)?
7th: Associated Press. Touched by NC girl's death, Shaq pays for funeral costs.
8th: FOX Sports. Nets, Wolves could challenge the record for fewest wins in a season: nine.
9th: The Press-Enterprise. Ron Artest's(notes) sister is being investigated in a housing probe.
10th: NBA FanHouse. Tom Ziller: "We hear quite a bit about how well Kobe Bryant(notes) and LeBron James(notes) play at Madison Square Garden, the so-called Mecca of basketball. But Sunday's action reminded us that Paul Pierce(notes) belongs in that discussion, too."

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

Drs. Chau Tran and Larry Silverberg used hundreds of thousands of three-dimensional computer simulations of free throw trajectories to arrive at a number of major recommendations to improve your chances of throwing up a swish rather than a brick.

Go science!

First, the engineers say that shooters should launch the shot with about three hertz of back spin. That translates to the ball making three complete backspinning revolutions before reaching the hoop. Back spin deadens the ball when it bounces off the rim or backboard, the engineers assert, giving the ball a better chance of settling through the net.

Where to aim? Tran and Silverberg say you should aim for the back of the rim, leaving close to 5 centimeters — about 2 inches — between the ball and the back of the rim. According to the simulations, aiming for the center of the basket decreases the probabilities of a successful shot by almost 3 percent.

The engineers say that the ball should be launched at 52 degrees to the horizontal. If you don't have a protractor in your jersey, that means that the shot should, at the highest point in its arc to the basket, be less than 2 inches below the top of the backboard.

Free-throw shooters should also release the ball as high above the ground as possible, without adversely affecting the consistency of the shot; release the ball so it follows the imaginary line joining the player and the basket; and release the ball with a smooth body motion to get a consistent release speed.

Also, just a personal bit of advice here — practice.

After the jump, a Hawks' Thanksgiving feast.

Winner, Colleen V:
Al: "I think you're taking this 'Twilight' thing a little to serious, Zaza."

Co-runner-up, Roger Mason(notes) Jr. = Hero:
"Al, Al, Al. These not just tools for cooking. These tools for LIFE! This one for ... how you say 'plucking'? This other one ... well, you not old enough yet. I tell you next year."

Co-runner-up, Tito:
The friendliest someone from Florida and Georgia will ever get.

Stafford was aware enough to know that there was a time-out called by Browns coach Eric Mangini, and that he could go back in the game. From there, it was just about displaying his toughness, telling the trainers to "get the **** off me!"and throwing the game-winning touchdown pass to fellow rookie Brandon Pettigrew(notes) from the one-yard line. Stafford's "I can throw if you need me to throw" moment was special in a Kirk Gibson sense -- the kind of thing that can help a team get back on track after years of dismal results.

But enough of my yakkin' -- here it is. Six minutes of Matthew Stafford.

 

(No, the first decade of the 21st century doesn't technically end until 2011. Save your bellyaching. But we've had nine NHL seasons and one stolen from us since 1999-2000, and Yahoo! Sports has decided it's time to rank the best and worst of the last "decade." The following is written by Ryan "Two-Line Pass" Lambert, author of our ‘What We Learned' and College Hockey 101 columns. Enjoy, and snark freely in the comments.)

Let's face it, you and I are always going to love hockey. If we've suffered through a lockout, Gary Bettman's antics and a Red Wings dynasty, then we're going to suffer through anything. And the NHL knows that.

They can add 30 more franchises, all of which are south of the Mason-Dixon line. They can make every NHL game feature not just a shootout, but also a speed skating and hardest shot competition. They can even go so far as to replace the Avalanche with a team of skating bears. And we'd still watch. That's what makes the NHL the dichotomous professional sports league in North America.

In the past few weeks, we at Puck Daddy have given you nothing but Top 10 lists, but it would be unfair to put the 10 decisions, good or bad, by the NHL into one list. To rank just the bad would be to ignore some really positive things that the League has done, and to rank just the good would be to ignore the dizzying depths of its lack of foresight and hypocrisy.

So here we go: The five best and worst NHL decisions this decade:

Part 1: The five worst

5. The Wheel of Justice

It seems like the dial on the NHL's sense of right and wrong has been set to "insane" the past decade.

On Feb. 21, 2000, Marty McSorley took a baseball swing at Donald Brashear's(notes) head and got 23 games, which was the remainder of the season including the playoffs. It seemed somewhat fair, but then a jury convicted him of assault and the League upped the suspension to a full calendar year. And that was just the start.

Since then, Todd Bertuzzi(notes) literally almost crippled someone and only got 20 games from the league, partly because, get this, he apologized. Sean Avery(notes) got suspended six games for badmouthing an ex-girlfriend to the media, while numerous players were suspended less than half of that for giving people concussions and/or putting their careers in jeopardy.

There's no rhyme or reason to any of it, except that a player's star power is the ultimate factor in determining whether or not he should be suspended. And that's just stupid.

4. More expansion

In 2000, we got two brand new NHL teams, just a year after the League presented us the joyous gift of the Atlanta Thrashers and Nashville Predators. Because what everyone was thinking after those teams went a combined 42-104-14 was, "Boy I sure hope there are more teams like this, and soon!"

Enter the two new teams, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild. The teams have combined to win one division title (Minnesota in 2007-08) and make the playoffs four times (Minnesota in 02-03, 06-07 and 07-08 and Columbus in 08-09). Combined win percentage? That'd be .486.

Apart from Minnesota's one run to the Western Conference final, including their hilarious knocking-off of the Colorado Avalanche, has this further expansion done anything besides give us under-appreciation of Rick Nash(notes) (who could be playing for Toronto RIGHT NOW!!!) and another team that played the trap for nine years?

3. Versus

Nothing says "credible league" like a broadcast deal with a network nobody gets.

At the time, the Outdoor Life Network was in something like 65 percent of the homes that got ESPN and ESPN2, but this was a Gary Bettman take-the-money-and-run decision. You see, Comcast, which owns OLN/Versus (and also the Philadelphia Flyers, tee hee), offered the league $200 million for a three-year deal, and ESPN had no interest in shelling out that kind of money.

The best part though is that, in deference to building OLN/Versus into a semi-respectable network -- and they just might do it in another 15 years or so -- the NHL also allowed for some games of the Stanley Cup Finals to be aired on this network rather than a network people actually know how to find, like, oh I don't know, NBC. Really.

Also if you have DirecTV you'll have to take my word for it that this is a channel that exists.

(Author's note: Please also consider this listed under "Best decisions" if you like watching games featuring teams in the Atlantic Division.)

2. The shootout

As cool as those moments are that we extremely, occasionally get (like the Marek Malik(notes) goal way back in 2005), this is a remarkably stupid idea that panders to ESPN and tie-phobic casual fans.

You just can't logically reward a team for winning in a skills competition after it played 65 minutes of hockey. But then that last sentence had the word "logically" in there, so of course the NHL does it anyway.

And if you do really, really need it, why not at least create a different points system so we're not awarding a team the same amount for winning in an actual hockey game as we are for winning a talent show? Giving out three points for a win wouldn't be the worst thing that ever happened.

The ultimate proof that it's stupid, of course, lies in the fact that the rule disappears in the playoffs. If it's so good, why not have it all the time?

1. The lockout

I don't feel as though I should have to explain to a bunch of hockey fans how detrimental to hockey the loss of an entire season to stubbornness and greed was. It gave all the meathead football/basketball/baseball fans out there just another reason to point and laugh at the league to stupid for its own good, and gave ESPN another reason to ignore the sport for three or four years.

What a terrible time that was.

Part 2: The five best

5. The elimination of the two-line pass

Get your jokes in now. I'll wait...

This was literally the stupidest rule in the history of hockey. I don't know who came up with the rule, or who approved it, but this is the kind of rule, like touch-up icing, where I can't see how anyone thought it would help the game. "What," its creators must surely have wondered, "can we do to make the game lower-scoring, slower and less fun to watch?"

Thus, with the League smartly eliminating the rule (along enacting with a host of others intended to increase offense) made the game higher-scoring, faster and more fun to watch. What's not to love about that?

4. Dumping the league's hopes on a goofy-looking kid from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia

You can say what you want about Sidney Crosby(notes), especially if you're a fan of Detroit or Philly, but it's hard to deny the positive impact his mere presence in the game has had.

Pick up your local paper the next time the Penguins are in town. There's probably a story on Crosby somewhere on that sports front page. Pick up that same paper if, say, the Panthers are in town. Not even a mention. The NHL hype machine threw its full weight behind Crosby and, it turns out, with good reason.

He's won a scoring title, a league MVP award and a Stanley Cup. There's going to be a natural backlash from the hardcores because of how much attention he gets, but you can't say he hasn't lived up to the hype.

Everyone knows who Sid Crosby is. And that's a good thing for hockey.

3. Embracing new/social media

You really have to give the NHL credit for its forward-thinking approach to things like this. The NHL had an official YouTube channel and Twitter before most other leagues knew those things are (and in fact the NFL and MLB still make YouTube pull down any clips using their broadcasts, which is six distinct kinds of stupid).

What leagues offered Twitter-exclusive contests for their fans that cost nothing before this one? The NHL is so far ahead of everyone else it's not even funny. And where else can you find a player of Mike Green's(notes) status droppin' F-bombs?

In addition to that, NHL.com has become an excellent website. Incredibly detailed stats as far back as the late ‘90s, video highlights more or less as they happen, and I can pull up a third-pairing defenseman's blocked shots number from an individual game in 2006. The league's website used to be frustrating and now it's fantastic. Full credit to them for being ahead of the curve by a good two or three steps.

2. The Winter Classic

Granted they didn't actually make up "outdoor game as national attention-getter." You have to give that credit to the University of Michigan and Michigan State, which played The Cold War at MSU's Spartan Stadium before 74,544 people in 2001. Then the Oilers and Canadiens played in the Heritage Classic in Edmonton two years later and 57,000 people showed up.

But NHL did think it'd be a good idea to do it every year, and now a regular-season game in January is almost as important to the league as the Stanley Cup Finals.

Ratings bonanza? You bet. Iconic moments? I can't imagine it's easy to forget Crosby scoring a shootout winner in the snow. Big crowds? More than 121,000 people have watched just two Winter Classics in-person. This was a great, great thing for the league.

1. The lockout

I know what you're thinking. How can this be simultaneously the worst and best thing the league did? While a year without hockey is hardly a year at all, the way the NHL has come back from an incredibly dark time has been nothing short of remarkable.

The game is fantastic nowadays. That much is obvious. That's because of the things that the League and NHLPA agreed upon during the lockout. This new collective bargaining agreement, while not perfect, has been incredibly helpful for the league.

Imagine if things had continued on their 2004 course. Without a salary cap, this would still be what is effectively a five-team league. Without the rule changes, Alex Ovechkin(notes) would never have scored 65 goals in a season.

Without the lockout, hockey would still be dying a slow, boring death or might have even done so already. We can all agree things are much better the way they are now.

Flanked by the Series' somewhat ham-fisted forays into social media and big shot Washington PR firm, the propaganda attack will apparently be led by a new Web site, PlayoffProblem.com, launched by the BCS Wednesday to educate "the millions of us who love college football" on just how much "more controversial and contentious" a playoff would be. Playoff Problem is here to answer the hard-hitting questions, such as "Is the current BCS system successful?" ("Yes ... The BCS is the best format ever ...") and "Why would a playoff diminish the regular season?" while keeping fans up to date with the latest "news & notes," such as these critical headlines:

• "If BCS not completely broken, don't fix it." We like our championship systems in that sweet spot between roughly 83 and 96.4 percent broken, anyway.

• "BCS is a friend to the Mountain West." And real friends always hang together to summarily dismiss one another's bids for equality and denounce each other to Congress. It's not like those wannabes would know what to do with all that money, anyway. It's for their own good.

• "Would a college football playoff be fair?" If you were intelligent enough to employ the "Fairness Index" instead of an irrelevant, abstract measure like "actual results of head-to-head competition," you would see clearly that no, no it would not be.

Look, when it comes down to it, these are the facts: a) The BCS is successful. b) The BCS is fair. c) Fans and players love the BCS. These are the facts, people -- they're on the "Facts" page! So that settles it, right?

In what should come as a shock to no one, Stephen A. Smith is reporting that Allen Iverson is already considering a comeback.

"I think he just wants to feel wanted again," one of Iverson's confidants told Smith on Wednesday.

Look, let's cut right to the chase here. Will Iverson ever play again in the NBA? Yes, it's likely. He basically said, "I'm retiring, but I'm also telling you I can still play" in his goodbye statement, so why would we be surprised to see the future Hall of Famer sign on with the Boston Celtics or Orlando Magic or some other team in the near future? It's amazing he didn't include his cell number with the statement.

But for now, Allen Iverson(notes) is retired. So let's continue to give him the "farewell blog tour" he deserves.

To the YouTube machine!

Cheers, A Stern Warning.

Gradkowski spent his last few days accepting congratulations from the likes of ex-Raiders quarterback Jeff Garcia(notes) (who he basically replaced at Russell's backup) and former coach Jon Gruden (who mentored Gradkowski in Tampa Bay and who, we're quite sure, gave him a snappy nickname at some point). Now, he faces another test in the Dallas Cowboys, who the Raiders will face today in the "middle child" of the NFL's Thanksgiving Triple Play. The strategy for Gradskowki is pretty simple -- roll out of the pocket to create throwing lanes and avoid the batted passes that come with his 6'1" frame, read Dallas' blitz concepts, and simply move on when Darrius Heyward-Bey(notes) drops five or more passes. Oakland's first-round pick this year continued to be a huge liability to the Raiders' offense -- he was targeted six times against the Bengals and caught only one pass.

The Cowboys can match Oakland in high-priced, underachieving receivers; Roy Williams has now mastered the art of smiling after his drops. In their last two games, the supposedly explosive Dallas offense has scored a grand total of 14 points. The most exciting aspect of this game might be the exploits of Oakland punter Shane Lechler(notes), who is channeling the preseason exploits of Titans punter A.J. Trepasso, the guy who hit the big screen at Cowboys Stadium when the Tennessee Titans played there.

"If that guy in Tennessee can hit it, I can hit it," Lechler said this week.

I'm Canadian, but screw it. Today, I am thankful for Wade's dunk over Sideshow Bob, Steve Nash(notes), ginger ale, Durantula, The Roots, ketchup, people that lend me "The Wire" DVDs, Carmelo's jumper, LeBron's chase down blocks, Kobe's everything, the Yahoo! Sports heavyweights, this movie scene, Ron Artest(notes) in Hollywood, all the Ball Don't Lie readers and for not being a New York Knicks fan. Hello!

Last time the Packers and Lions faced off, Green Bay came up on the top end of a 26-0 score on October 18. Rodgers took five sacks and still completed 29 passes in 37 attempts for 358 yards and two touchdowns. The Lions are trying to gain some measure of consistent competitiveness, but you have to wonder what Rodgers can do in the encore to a defense that made Brady Quinn(notes) look like Peyton Manning last week. Rodgers has gone sackless in a game only once this season -- against the Browns in Week 7, but the Packers made some adjustments to their pass protection last week against the 49ers (giving up only two sacks), and that could benefit Rodgers going forward. Gone were the repeated examples of Rodgers and head coach Mike McCarthy beating their heads against the same old seven-step drops, replaced by more short drops and quick strikes. The Packers have the personnel and the formation diversity to make an easier spread-style offense appealing, and that's an offense that Rodgers can run skillfully.

As for the Lions, they're just hoping to have NFC Offensive Player of the Week Matthew Stafford(notes) and Megatron of the Year Calvin Johnson(notes) in this game to match Green Bay's firepower, but as posting time, Stafford is doubtful and Johnson is questionable with what Eric Mangini would call "faked injuries" (a claim he has since redacted). Whoever plays quarterback for the Lions -- Stafford or backup Daunte Culpepper(notes) -- might be able to take advantage of a depleted Packers secondary, looking to replace cornerback Al Harris(notes) and sackmaster Aaron Kampman(notes). (UPDATE: Reports now indicate that Stafford will start). The odds still favor a Packers win at a sold-out Ford Field, but perhaps the Lions can build on their winning performance against Cleveland last week and give their long-suffering fans reason for thanks.