This was on the Getty Images' wire for the All-Star Game, giving international access to Soupy's kitchen.

Our standards and practices (yeah, who knew?) prevent us from running the unedited photo, but it shouldn't take you much effort to find it. Because some things you just can't help but see. And then not un-see.

s/t Chris Peters

Please join your pals from Puck Daddy and Yahoo! Sports for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game Live Chat, as Wysh, Leahy and Cotsonika report from Ottawa and the rest of the gang mocks the TV coverage.

The Boston Herald reports that Ochocinco dropped around $28,000 on Beats by Dre Headphones for every member of the team. The headphones, widely regarded as the best in the industry, were designed by rapper Dr. Dre. The version Ochocinco picked out for the team produce a "clean, yet forceful sound."

Wes Welker thinks the team needs to tune out distractions:

"The game is the most important thing and all I really look forward to and concentrate on," WR Wes Welker said. "Everything else is just kinda noise. I think the fun part is really arriving there and getting away from everything and really concentrating on the game and the task at hand."

Which makes the gifts perfect, because of their noise-canceling quality.

They are also capable of connecting to each other, meaning that the whole team can be connected and listening to the same song, but Bill Belichick won't be forced to listen to those darn kids' music. The headphones elicited excited tweets from Ochocinco's teammates, who thanked him for his kindness and shared pictures of the gift.

The headphones are the second gift bestowed on the Patriots this week. On Friday, UGGs and their spokesman, Tom Brady, gave the entire team a pair of boots.

If you didn't believe in the luck of the Irish before today, this clip should go a long way to making you a convert. Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell is one of the best golfers on the planet at the moment, but the shot he hit during Sunday's final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship -- in tournament news, Tiger Woods came into the round tied for the lead but ended up losing to Robert Rock -- had nothing to do with skill, and everything to do with some ridiculously good luck.

How crazy was McDowell's shot on the 18th hole? Put it this way: His hole-in-one on the par-3 12th was a mere afterthought on Sunday. After knocking his second into a bunker short of the 18th green, McDowell caught his approach shot thin and half expected it to end up in the grandstands behind the green.

But instead of ending up with an incredibly difficult fourth shot, McDowell's ball ricocheted off the grandstand and rolled back to within a couple feet of the cup. Of course, he went on to make the birdie putt and finish in a tie for third. He can thank the luck of the Irish for that shot.

As Novak Djokovic was changing clothes for the awards ceremony following his record-breaking Australian Open win over Rafael Nadal, he walked over to the crowd and tossed his shirt to a young fan. At least, that's what he intended to do. His throw ended up being intercepted by a middle-aged woman who showed no remorse for grabbing the sweaty memento away from a teenager.

Hey lady, just because you call for it doesn't mean it's yours. You're like the 40-year-old man who catches a foul ball over an elementary school student at a baseball game. For shame! (But between you and that ballboy, you could make a pretty good defensive backfield.)

I have to admit though, I'm reluctant to fully blame the interceptor because Djokovic bears partial responsibility. Giving a souvenir to a young fan is always appreciated. Yet if anyone in the crowd needed a new shirt, it was clearly this guy:

After last night's Skills Competition, highlighted by Zdeno Chara's record-setting performance in the Hardest Shot competition, we're now set for three periods of high scoring and an incredibly little amount of backchecking. (If you're into betting on NHL All-Star Games, Bovada (formerly Bodog) sets today's over/under at 19.5.)

Now we know not all of you enjoy the All-Star festivities and that's fine. But if you choose to watch Team Chara battle Team Alfredsson today, your friends at Puck Daddy would like to aid in your viewing experience with another one of our drinking games.

No drinking game is a good one without interaction, so it's your job to add to our list in the comments.

For entertainment purposes only, here is Puck Daddy's Unofficial 2012 NHL All-Star Drinking Game, in the classic 1-2-3 drink format.

ONE DRINK

• For each goal scored in the game.

• Anytime a Toronto Maple Leafs player is booed.

• They show a highlight from a previous All-Star Game.

• Jeremy Roenick says something that you just don't quite understand.

• Alex Ovechkin's absence is mentioned.

• You see a shot a the Rideau Canal.

• Every time Daniel Alfredsson passes to a non-Swedish teammate.

• There's a shot from a goal cam or a helmet cam.

• Someone mentions a player on Twitter or reads a tweet from a player.

• The words "pond hockey" or "shinny" are spoken.

• Each time an All-Star is referenced as a former Ottawa Senators.

• There's an offside call.

• Patrick Kane's Superman act and/or Corey Perry's mini-stick are referenced.

• Every time Pierre McGuire tells a player to "have some fun out there".

• Glenn Healy gets upset at something random.

• Any talking head on either NBC Sports Network or CBC complains about All-Star Weekend.

TWO DRINKS

• Each time Scott Hartnell falls down. #HartnellDown

• Al Iafrate's skullet is shown when discussing the history of the Hardest Shot competition.

• You spot a Jersey Foul.

• If someone throws a body check.

• If someone mentions Henrik and Daniel Sedin are brothers.

• Tim Thomas's politics are mentioned.

• Pierre McGuire makes an odd comment about any player.

• Sidney Crosby's absence is mentioned.

• Someone is shown eating a beaver tail.

THREE DRINKS

• If Dan Girardi drops down to block a shot.

• If someone throws a hip check. (CHUG: If that player isn't a Bruin, Leaf or Flyer.)

• Someone is shown eating a beaver.

• Patrick Kane hits on a blonde near the glass.

• If Zdeno Chara hurts someone with a slap shot.

• When you watch Don Cherry on Coach's Corner and you're eager for him to start playing on his invisible piano.

CHUG

• If a player gets called for a penalty.

• A mic'd up player curses on air.

• The game goes to a shootout.

• Somebody refers to Drake as "Drizzy".

• A goalie posts a scoreless period.

(Ed. Note: Puck Daddy, of course, in no way endorses abuse of alcohol, consumption of alcohol by anyone under the legal drinking age in their region and, without a doubt, the operation of an automobile or any machine while under the influence of alcohol. These games are listed for entertainment purposes and we don't take responsibility for any result of their application. To sum it up, don't be a knucklehead and have fun!)

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

OTTAWA — Tyler Seguin had an idea: That he should play on a line with Phil Kessel in the NHL All-Star Game, skating alongside the player whose trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs enabled Seguin to play for the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins.

"Just put us together. Let everyone have a story," Seguin said prior to the NHL All-Star Skills Competition.

Trouble was that his All-Star coach is his everyday coach: Claude Julien of the Bruins, who Seguin said isn't exactly receptive to line combination suggestions from his players.

"Maybe I'll just go over, whisper in his ear and walk away slowly," said Seguin.

The lobbying, subtle or otherwise, worked.

Joe Haggerty of CSN New England reports that Seguin will skate with Kessel and Joffrey Lupul on Team Chara in the All-Star Game. From Haggerty:

"I don't know if we're going to get booed every time we take the ice because of the Ottawa/Leafs thing, but I saw that before the game and thought it was pretty funny," said Seguin, who was fed passes from Kessel during the shooting accuracy competition that he failed spectacularly at on Saturday night.

"They've got me at center. It's a little surprising. I was going to ask coach about playing center, but I'm looking forward to it. I'll probably just throw the puck at them and watch them go."

In which Seguin becomes yet another Bostonian who's wanted to throw a puck at Phil Kessel …

Sure, Chevron broke the winless streak, but if Woods wanted to legitimize the comeback, he needed to prove he could win a full-field event ... and put together four rounds of solid golf.

Through three rounds at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, it seemed like Woods was on the verge of a win that could've catapulted him back into the discussion as one of the top players in the game.

But instead of capitalizing on the moment, and a 54-hole lead, Woods once again proved that while his swing and putting stroke are certainly improving, he's still missing that killer instinct that used to be the bedrock of his golf game.

After missing only two greens in two of his three rounds, Woods looked completely lost in the final round, rarely giving himself a birdie opportunity inside of 20 feet. A lot of that had to do with an erratic driver that saw him hit only two fairways and six greens during the final round -- and fail to make a single birdie on the back nine.

It was a far cry from the consistent play that was a staple of his game for the first three rounds. While Robert Rock deserves a lot of credit for taking down Woods in Abu Dhabi, the former No. 1 sure did take it easy on the Englishman.

For only the ninth time in 61 events, when holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead, Woods failed to close the deal on Sunday. Not only that, this was the third time in the last five events that Woods watched his 54-hole lead crumble on Sunday.

This is troubling stuff. Say what you want about this being a mere aberration, but until Woods finally wins an official worldwide event and puts together for solid rounds, the questions will continue to persist about his inability to close things out from the front.

Regardless, it's impossible to watch footage of 49-year-old Roger Clemens striking out two current members of the University of Texas baseball team at the annual alumni game on Saturday and not believe that the word crossed the Rocket's lips at least once.

Not bad. Though Clemens' growing paunch is erasing the power of his trademark stride, there was still a lot of movement on those pitches. As Hardball Talk's Matthew Pouliot points out, perhaps Clemens could return to the big league at beat out Jamie Moyer  to become the first current major leaguer to celebrate his 50th birthday in 2012. (Clemens was born in Aug. 1962, while Moyer was born in November.)

Of course, such a comeback would reset the clock on the Clemens' impending eligibility for the Hall of Fame, which is scheduled to start with the next vote. Clemens told the Longhorn Network that being inducted would be an "honor" before being induced into the type of debate you'd expect from a house-organ network.

Nope, not whether or not he'll even be inducted — which he won't, at least not at first — but which cap he'll choose to wear on his plaque: Yankees, Red Sox or Longhorns.

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OTTAWA — Erik Karlsson was seated a few booths over from Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins during NHL All-Star Game media day, which was a short enough distance to admire his hair.

"He has longer hair than me, for sure. Right now, at least. He has a good flow," said a similarly coiffed Karlson. "I'm thrilled to see someone else is doing that style."

Karlsson is the Ottawa Senators' 21-year-old defenseman. He's eclipsed his career high for points in just 51 games: Karlsson has 7 goals and 40 assists to lead NHL defensemen with 47 points. It could be argued he's become a star this season; if so, the NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa has helped in that process. Fans around the League knew Erik Karlsson was talented. They probably didn't know he was hilarious.

"I guess local people know that he's a real funny guy, and a really well-liked guy in the room. For the national media to see how lighthearted he is, it's nice to see him get some recognition," said center Jason Spezza of the Senators.

Karlsson entertained viewers watching the NHL Fantasy Draft when he was taken ahead of his veteran teammate. "Spezza's pissed there," he said on TSN. "His black eye is getting even blacker."

When he held court at media day, the quips continued. Like when the questions turned to whether he's a snappy dresser.

"I try to be. I don't know if I am. I like clothes a lot. I try to be as good-looking as I can, and then I think it's up to you guys to decide if I am or I'm not. I would say I am. But I wouldn't trust that."

Does he consider himself a better dresser than fellow Swede and noted fashion plate Henrik Lundqvist?

"Probably not," said Karlsson. "He's the top of the hill. I see what he wears in the summers and I go buy it afterwards."

The All-Star Game is revealing more layers to Erik Karlsson at the same time it's bringing his team's accomplishments this season into focus.

The Senators entered the All-Star break with 60 points in 52 games, good for sixth in the Eastern Conference and second in the Northeast Division. They are, perhaps, the most unexpected contender in the NHL: a team that bottomed out with 74 points last season, costing coach Cory Clouston his job and setting expectations for this season at "Fail for Nail" levels.

The great miscalculation about the Senators was two-fold. First was the underestimation of how their solid young talent — Karlsson, Colin Greening and the like — would reinvigorate their older stars.

"The young guys are bringing energy to the rink," said captain Daniel Alfredsson.

That energy has pushed Alfredsson to 17 goals and 21 assists in 46 games, playing the kind of hockey that defies his age (39).

"You always think you can better. You can. I've had a lot of ups and downs in my career," he said. "I know when I'm playing good, I can be one of the best in the League. When I'm not, I'm average."

Second was the impact of Paul MacLean as head coach, and a Jack Adams candidate. The former Detroit Red Wings assistant was given his first NHL head job after over 15 years as an assistant. It was expected MacLean would lend some of the Wings' gravitas to the Sens' dressing room. It was unexpected that he'd help create a jovial atmosphere that's loosened up the players.

"He's brought accountability and a good system, and he's let us have fun, too," said Spezza of MacLean. "We're a real hard-working team. He makes sure everyone knows where they stand on the team, but he allows us to have fun, too. He's played the game; he coach's like a coach but he thinks like a player, too."

Seriously, it's enough to make Spezza giggle:

Spezza tallied 57 points in each of the last two seasons (in 60 and 62 games). He's on a similar pace this season, but hasn't missed a game yet for the Senators.

Fans voted Spezza, Alfredsson, Karlsson and Milan Michalek (23 goals in 47 games) into the All-Star Game. This weekend has placed them, and their franchise, in the spotlight. It's on Spezza's charisma. It's on Karlsson's talent. It's on Alfredsson hearing the crowd chant his name like his number's being retired.

It's a moment for the hockey world to recognize Ottawa as a hockey city, and that the Ottawa Senators have put together a hell of a run from an underrated group.

"Maybe for the weekend," Spezza said. "You want attention for winning hockey games, and not for any other reason. If we continue to win we'll get more attention, but I'll be honest: As a group, we don't feel like we've accomplished anything. We've been so short-sighted all year. It's so cliché, but every game seems like the most important game for us.

"We're not going to blow teams out. We're not going to take anyone for granted."

Karlsson said it all ties back to the Senators' unpretentious, hard-working style.

"I think this event is about getting to know the players, seeing as we are normal persons. In the end, we're not that much more special than anyone else," he said.

Even if some young Swedish defensemen are funnier than others.

"I'm not that funny," said Karlsson. "I don't know about that. Maybe you think I'm funny. I laugh at my own jokes sometimes."

As time goes by, it's easy to think of Bill Parcells as the Don Corleone of the NFL. Even through the end of his tenure in Miami (which was the football equivalent of the Don playing in the garden with his grandson), Parcells has seemed like the guy whose ring you'd need to kiss when it comes to football acumen. The winner of two Super Bowls with the New York Giants, Parcells also turned around the New England Patriots, the New York Jets, and the Miami Dolphins as a coach and personnel executive. His attention to detail and focus on fundamentals transcends eras.

In addition, Parcells has perhaps the best and biggest coaching tree this side of Bill Walsh. And for the second time in four seasons, two of his former assistants — Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin — are facing off in a Super Bowl of their own. The now-retired Parcells, who works for ESPN as an analyst, can stand back as a proud father of sorts and see what his charges have done.

Coughlin served as Parcells' receivers coach from 1998 through 1990. Parcells called Coughlin  a "coach's coach" when talking to the New York Daily News on Friday, and his praise expanded when he spoke to ESPN's Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic a few days ago.

"Tom kind of took the same route I did as a coach, starting in a very, very small Division III school. He was mowing the grass and lining the fields, and doing all the tasks that a coach in one of those situations has to do. So he came up the hard way and people who do that learn the ropes. Tom, by his experience, starting off at a very low level as a coach -- I did the same things at Hastings College in Nebraska -- makes you appreciate it when things change for the better."

Coughlin actually got his start as a head coach at the Rochester Institute of Technology, which is fabulous.

Parcells' relationship with Belichick goes back even further and is a bit more complicated — the two men worked together as assistant for the Giants in 1981 and 1982, and Belichick became the Tuna's defensive coordinator in 1985, two years after Parcells became the main man. They worked together again in 1996, when Belichick was Parcells' assistant head coach in New England, and the two men moved back to the Meadowlands in 1997, when Parcells' took the Jets' job. Belichick was considered to be the heir to Parcells' job there, but he pulled out at the last minute and accepted Robert Kraft's offer to rebuild the Pats back into a Super Bowl team.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Belichick picked up three Super Bowl titles from 2001 through 2004 and lost to Coughlin's Giants at the end of the 2007 season in one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. With the rematch set, Parcells also reflected on Belichick's abilities:

"You know Bill Belichick was the son of a coach, I knew his father [Steve] very well. He came up [with] football all his life … I think Bill was taught by his dad on what was necessary."

Parcells also said that it's a mistake to file the two coaches away as similar in personality or approach — it's just that the results are equally impressive in recent years.

"I think they do have an awful lot in common; I think their persona is just a little different on the part of each of them. Both of them were straight football guys, intense competitors, very thorough, quite intense in their preparations, and certainly both of them would get the information to the players very, very well.

By the way, that Parcells coaching tree spans far beyond Belichick and Coughlin. Sean Payton of the Saints, who has his own Super Bowl title, got his NFL doctorate as Parcells' assistant head coach and quarterback guru in Dallas. Eric Mangini comes from that tree, as does Tony Sparano, as does Romeo Crennel, who just replaced Todd Haley (another Parcells acolyte) in Kansas City. Add Mike Nolan, Charlie Weis, Al Groh, Ray Handley, and Chris Palmer to the list, and you've got quite the roster of men who have survived and thrived under Parcells' laser glare and exacting standards.

But of those who learned under Parcells, none are as successful as the two coaches who will face off again in Super Bowl XLVI.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had just played the longest match in Grand Slam finals history. How did Australian Open officials thank them for the effort? By making them stand through what seemed like the longest awards presentation in Grand Slam history.

Except that the rivals were so exhausted from their five-hour, 53 minute epic that they could barely stay upright. As numerous executives from sponsor companies and Australian tennis droned on about leadership and history, Djokovic and Nadal spent time stretching, resting their hands on their knees and even leaning up against the net for support. ESPN's Chris Fowler joked that both players would have accepted half as much prize money if they were allowed to leave the court to go lay down.

Going from nearly six hours of activity to 10 minutes of standing in place is like a formal invitation for cramping. Thankfully, someone at Rod Laver Arena noticed the pain of Djokovic and Nadal and retrieved them some chairs.

How do you spell relief? S-I-T-T-I-N-G.

It didn't last long though. Just as Nadal was given his chair, he was called up to the podium to accept his runner-up trophy.

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In one of the most extraordinary finals in Grand Slam history, Novak Djokovic continued his reign atop the game and his mastery of Rafael Nadal with a record-setting 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 victory in the Australian Open final.

The match lasted five hours, 53 minutes, shattering the record for the longest Grand Slam final in history. It was also the longest continuous match in major history and the third-longest overall.

[Related: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal can barely stand after five-set Australian Open final]

For Djokovic, it was his third straight major title. He joins Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Nadal as the only men in the Open Era to accomplish that feat. Djokovic also has won seven finals in a row against Nadal, including in each of those three Slam finals.

Nadal took the first set, but rarely has getting out to an early lead inspired so little confidence. Djokovic's game was off early in the match and it took Nadal 80 minutes to capitalize and grind out the set. Djokovic reasserted himself in the next two sets and appeared to be on his way to cruising to a four-set victory when he held a 40-0 lead on Nadal's serve at 4-4 in the fourth set.

But Nadal fought back with six gutty points and went on to extend the match by winning a fourth-set tiebreak.

In the fifth set, Nadal seemed to have the upper hand. Djokovic was in his 10th hour on the court since Friday and his legs showed it. Nadal broke at 3-2 and had an easy backhand to go up 40-15 on his serve. He pushed it wide, Djokovic came back to break. What was close to being a 5-2 Nadal lead was back on serve at 4-3.

Even as the match stretched past previous records, the top two players in the world were exchanging rallies of over 30 shots. Djokovic broke Nadal at 5-5 and then held his serve to take the final set, 7-5. By the time it was over, it was past 1:30 a.m. in Melbourne.

[Related: Vlade Divac roots on Novak Djokovic in Australian Open final]

Nadal may have been the loser on the scoreboard, but the match was won by Djokovic, not lost by Nadal. Though Rafa played a passive game for the middle sets, he  ramped it up late, turning aggressive on Djokovic's serve and going for more winners as the hours grew later. Djokovic was simply better. He was able to hold serve easier throughout the match and put pressure on Nadal with his assertive return game.

The loss may not be as devastating for Nadal as you'd expect. Had he gone down without much of a fight then there could have been concern that the gulf between he and Djokovic was too wide. The pain of losing the longest match in Grand Slam finals history will linger, but at least Nadal knows he's closer than he's been to Djokovic in 13 months.

For Djokovic, the win continues one of the most dominant stretches the sport has ever seen. He'll go for the Djoko Slam (holding all four majors at once) at the French Open. There's even legitimate talk of a real Grand Slam possibility.

But as dawn grew nearer in Melbourne, Djokovic wasn't looking forward.

"We made history tonight," he said after the match.

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With the score 5-1 late in the third period, Bakersfield's Ian McKenzie laid a hit on Ontario's Kevin Estrada -- one that really reminds you of the infamous Steve Downie on Dean McAmmond hit from 2007 -- and that's when things kicked off, which eventually gives us a goalie fight.

"It's hysteria! Cats and dogs living together!"

We love minor league play-by-play guys. They truly know how to sell a line brawl.

The end of the brawl didn't mean that the bad blood was over with. Just 34 seconds after that another fight broke out; then with five seconds remaining in the game three more bouts happened.

After the game and unhappy with what transpired on the ice, Bakersfield head coach Matt O'Dette called out the Reign to Mike Griffith of Bakersfield.com:

"Their team flops around the ice and dives and they don't answer the bell at all when they get called out on the carpet. That type of stuff boils over but that's hockey."

As Griffith noted, exactly a year ago Saturday the Condors set their own penalty minute mark with 254 during a brawl with the Alaska Aces, one that took place after the final buzzer.

In the end, both teams combined for a combined Condors record of 278 PIMs and the Reign would end up 5-1 victors over the cellar-dwelling Condors and move into third place in the Western Conference.

Stick-tap to @MikeMatthews9 for the heads up

Follow Sean_Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Peel away the layers of the ongoing Peyton Manning-Indianapolis Colts drama, and you get more layers. After the verbal tennis match between Manning and team owner Jim Irsay, and the alleged reconciliation/resolution, it seemed that we were back to watching and waiting to see whether Manning's neck and nerve injuries would heal in time for Irsay to decide whether to pick up the quarterback's $28 million roster bonus on March 8, and make him the face of the team's rebuild.

At least, that's what we thought. We may have been wrong, and the decision may have already been made. According to Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network, this is a done deal — and Manning will indeed be playing somewhere else if he ever plays again.

"According to sources who were involved in the Colts' GM search, the organization was planning to move on from Manning weeks ago, well before this public squabble between the quarterback and his owner," La Canfora said on the NFL Network's Friday afternoon "Total Access" show.

La Canfora also said that the decision will almost certainly be made before the 2012 scouting combine in late February. Like the Super Bowl, the combine will be held at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium. Basically, Indianapolis will be the center of the NFL universe for at least the next month.

As is his custom, Irsay took to Twitter to refute the report.

We'll see. The changes continue to roll in Indy — the most recent coaching move Irsay made was to hire former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians to do the same job for him and new head coach Chuck Pagano. Potential free agents and former franchise cornerstones Robert Mathis, Jeff Saturday, and Reggie Wayne might be finding new homes, and the Colts are clearly ramping up for a major construction project.

Wayne recently told the Indianapolis Star that he's in the dark about the team's plans - just like most everyone else.

"I have no clue, man. I'm leaning on you guys (the media). You're all saying it's a new regime and that's what it is. This is one time all of the players are outside of the loop, even 18 (quarterback Peyton Manning). Nobody has a clue."

"It's like a soap opera. You're wondering, 'OK, what's next?' You hear something, then you see it on the ticker, that the Colts are doing this or that. At one point we were thinking Jim Tressel was going to be the coach. All of a sudden it's Chuck Pagano."

No matter how Irsay's handled this, that's the one thing he's right about — the last five years of questionable drafts and free agent moves under Bill and Chris Polian have left the Colts in a state of extreme disrepair. And it doesn't make a lot of sense to have two expensive quarterbacks on that roster, as the Colts would if they kept Manning and drafted Andrew Luck with the first overall pick. Which they almost certainly will do.

At the same time, Irsay doesn't want to be known as the man who ran the most important player in the history of the Colts' time in Indianapolis out the door with half a thought in mind.

The reckoning is coming soon, and it looks more and more like the new Colts will be without Peyton Manning when they start the 2012 season.

Over the course of his five-hour marathon final with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic has gone from breaking his racquets to trying to devour them. Hopefully it was one of the gluten-free models.

Anything can happen in the final round of a PGA Tour event, but the way Kyle Stanley's playing at the moment, you'd be crazy to bet on anyone but the former Clemson Tiger to lift the Farmer Insurance Open trophy on Sunday. Stanley fired a ho-hum 4-under 68 to build a five-shot lead over John Huh and John Rollins after three rounds, and now only needs to keep it together over the final 18 holes to go wire-to-wire for his first tour victory.

Hip-hop mogul, actor and that taking advocate Diddy was in Novak Djokovic's player's box during his epic five-set victory over Roger Federer in the US Open semifinals. When it was learned that another rap star, Kanye West, would be in Melbourne this weekend performing at a concert, inquiring minds (OK, just me) wondered if Djokovic would be getting cheered on by Mr. West. He was at Djokovic's French Open semifinal match, after all.

Kanye wasn't there, but Djokovic had other star power watching him instead: Former NBA All-Star, and Serbian basketball legend, Vlade Divac. The two are sporting ambassadors for their native country. Divac is the president of the nation's Olympic committee. Something tells me Nole will be earning a berth on that squad later this year.

Though Divac's presence wasn't immediately felt on the court, if you see Djokovic flop in the middle of a point, now you'll know why.

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It officially returned with a bang on Saturday afternoon, as fledgling Iowa State pushed aside No. 5 Kansas at Hilton Coliseum, 72-64. It was the program's first victory at home over a Top Five opponents since upsetting — surprise, surprise — Kansas on Jan. 14, 1995.

"I've said it all along — they're definitely an NCAA tournament team," Kansas coach Bill Self said afterwards. "Fred (Hoiberg) has done a nice job in a short amount of time, and they've got a matchup that not too many people have."

The matchup Self was referring to was sophomore forward and former McDonald's All-American Royce White, who had his signature stretch of the season at the perfect time.

Iowa State led by three at the half, but trailed by as many as six in the second stanza. Kansas was still threatening with five minutes left to play, trailing 56-53.

That was when Iowa State decided to simply feed White, and nothing more. Over the next three minutes, he took all four of the Cyclones' shot attempts, executing smooth move after smooth move underneath to connect on three layups, and he also hit two game-icing free throws with just under two minutes remaining.

White finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists — three categories in which he leads the Cyclones in on the season. This came just two weeks after he had 18 points and 17 rebounds in a nine-point loss at Allen Fieldhouse.

White is one of three key transfers leading the way for Iowa State, along with guards Chris Allen (Michigan State) and Chris Babb (Penn State). Given that overnight infusion of talent, many figured that Iowa State could legitimately contend for its first NCAA tournament berth since 2005 this season.

Now, at 15-6 overall and 5-3 in Big 12 play, they might not be able to get on top of the heap in the league standings by the end of the year, but the at-large tourney bid is definitely in play. The Cyclones have a golden opportunity to cement a premium postseason date over the next couple of weeks.

Out of the way is a legitimate signature win, and there's a chance to grab another head-turner on Tuesday night, when Kansas State pays a visit to Hilton, which has long been an incredibly tough place to play when the Cyclones are good and able to draw a crowd.

After that comes road games back-to-back against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, then a home date with Texas A&M, who Iowa State already beat by 24 points, on Feb. 11. Should they be able to run the table up until a Feb. 13 trip to face Baylor, they could be playing with house money.

They'll also get a shot at Baylor in their March 3 season finale, where "Hilton Magic" is again alive and well.

Ryan Greene also covers UNLV and the Mountain West Conference for RunRebs.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ryanmgreene.

Reporter Tyler Kepner of the New York Times asked around, and one unnamed agent said "more than a dozen players could soon lose their contracts because of age and identity issues." It sounds like a big problem for MLB and the Dominican, which has produced 542 major leaguers and counting since Ozzie Virgil debuted for the Giants 56 years ago.

But New York Mets executive Sandy Alderson gave a curious answer when explaining what MLB's response might be if the fraud continues:

"I had personally been burned on a number of occasions by identity fraud," said Alderson, now the general manager of the Mets. "One has to ask if one is prepared to make the same investment again. If you get burned too often, you may decide to go elsewhere. I think that hit home with them."

He wants us to believe that baseball would hesitate to keep farming the Dominican for the next Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista, Manny Ramirez, Robinson Cano, David Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero, Sammy Sosa, Adrian Beltre, Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, Starlin Castro, Tony Fernandez, Pedro Guerrero, Nelson Cruz, Aramis Ramirez — should I keep going?

Juan Marichal, Pedro Martinez, Mario Soto, Francisco Cordero, Jose Mesa, Jose Valverde, Bartolo Colon, Johnny Cueto ... that's enough. The only thing that could keep MLB out of the Dominican is if everyone there started playing soccer and basketball instead of baseball.

Heck, how many MLB teams invest time, effort and money into players from Cuba? That country is almost a total mystery, and we have very little influence there. Anybody want to take bets on how old Yoenis Cespedes really is? And is that uncertainty going to keep the Cubs or another team from throwing him millions?

Sean Newell of Deadspin made a similar argument against Alderson's stance. I'd like to make an additional point. Don't you get the feeling, as long as we're feigning concern over fraud, that young Dominicans are as vulnerable to it as anyone? Notably absent from Kepner's story was Alderson's primary angle for visiting the Dominican in 2010 on behalf of MLB: To investigate and (presumably root out) the culture of skimming of signing bonuses and kickbacks that has led to federal indictments. The corrupt guys in those stories weren't ballplayers, but instead MLB employees and other middle men using the Dominican system to their personal advantage.

We're to believe that's all better now?

Ah, who am I kidding? Nobody here cares that players in a poor country lie for what they think is a better chance to play in the majors. And we surely don't care if some of these players are exploited. We barely care about exploitation of Americans. Finding the next Jose Reyes — no matter what it says on his birth certificate — that's Alderson's job.

Just keep getting the ballplayers, Sandy.

Follow Dave on Twitter — @AnswerDave — and engage the Stew on Facebook

The cheers were even louder after Russow's decision win was announced. He said his emotions were hard to describe, but fighting in the UFC in his hometown was a vision realized.

"It was a dream come true. I've been thinking of that my whole life. Just to have my friends and family yelling for me," Russow said.

Though he told Cagewriter earlier this week that he was planning to keep the fight standing, he ended up using his wrestling to take Einemo down and control him. Einemo is an elite grappler, so it's surprising that Russow would want to go to the ground with him.

"It wasn't the game plan, but that takedown was open."

Russow is now 4-0 in the UFC, and hasn't lost since he dropped a fight in PRIDE to Sergei Kharitonov in 2007. Still, he's not ready to call out any heavyweights for his next bout.

"I have a long ways to go. I'm 4-0, but I gotta keep making baby steps. I'll let Joe and Dana decide."

CHICAGO -- Michael Bisping was the prefight villain of the night at the United Center, but with a hard-fought performance against Chael Sonnen, he converted an awful lot of haters.

Sonnen took a unanimous decision but it was far from easy. Don't believe it? The brash Sonnen had nothing but nice things to say about one of mixed martial arts' No. 1 heels.

"The whole fight I was never in a position tonight where I was comfortable, not one. It was 15 awkward minutes. I don't have a bad thing to say about the guy," said Sonnen,

Both fighters were surprised it was announced that Sonnen swept the scorecards and one judge, Clay Goodman scored it 30-27.

"There's no way on earth that was a 30-27 and that judge needs to have a serious thinking about his career," said a frustrated Bisping.

Bisping's resolve was strengthened by an outpouring of support on Twitter and the Internet. He's never been received very well by fans and MMA media.

"I think I won rounds one and two. In this modern day of social networking, you just gotta look at the internet, and the general consensus is that people think I won the fight," said Bisping.

UFC president Dana White was also a strong backer of Bisping's performance.

Seconds after the final bell, even Sonnen thought Bisping may have pulled the upset.

"I said to him 'what do you think?' He said 'I think I might have gotten the first two.' I said 'yeah I think you might be right,'" Sonnen said.

The winner was quick to point out that a 30-27 score can be deceiving.

"That doesn't mean I disagree with the judges. They were close rounds. You can have a 30-27 that's still a close 30-27. I don't know that that judge was out of his mind. If it had gone the other way I don't know that I would've been complaining."

It might be even more surprising for fans and MMA experts to hear Sonnen say Bisping could've won the fight in the first.

"I was surprised about everything. Michael Bisping hit me so hard in the first round, I didn't even know what day it was," Sonnen said. "I remember when I came to, I looked at him thinking 'oh my god, you have no idea how bad you hurt me or you'd step in and do something about it.'"

- The event at the United Center was a rousing success with a huge crowd of 17,425. Lower ticket prices were great move by the promotion which still hauled in a gate of $1.2 million.

- The UFC handed out postfight awards to Lavar Johnson for Knockout of the Night and Charles Oliveira for Submission of the Night. Nick Lentz and Evan Dunham got Fight of the Night honors. All four got $65,000.

OTTAWA -- What is going on with Sidney Crosby?

Did he suffer a broken neck as well as a concussion last January? Should the Pittsburgh Penguins' doctors have caught it? Have things soured between the franchise player and the team?

Will he return this season?

Pat Brisson, Crosby's agent, played it cool Saturday night after the NHL Skills Competition in Ottawa, as reports and speculation swirled around the face of the League -- who skated in Pittsburgh earlier in the day, not with his fellow stars in Ottawa, and has missed all but eight games in the past year.

[ Related: On Tom Brady's advice, Crosby gets neck injury evaluated ]

Brisson confirmed that Crosby had healed from a neck injury discovered this week by a specialist in Los Angeles. He did not confirm that Crosby had fractured C1 and C2 vertebrae, the bones that connect the skull to the spine. He said third-party doctors would review test results early next week.

Asked if Crosby would play this season, Brisson said: "That's his goal. I mean, his goal is to be safe and sound and be symptom-free and play this year. Of course, that's his goal. But again, it's a little premature to talk about timelines. I have no idea. It's a complicated injury. It's a brain injury. It's a concussion. I wish I knew, but I don't."

Sportsnet's Bob McCown reported Saturday that Crosby was concerned about the treatment he was receiving in Pittsburgh, so he saw a specialist in Utah where an MRI indicated an abnormality with his C1 and C2 vertebrae. CBC's Elliotte Friedman quoted Brisson as saying "the possibility of two fractured vertebrae (C1 and C2) was discovered."

The Penguins released a statement that said Dr. Robert Bray, a neurological spine specialist based in L.A. , diagnosed a "neck injury" as well as a concussion and that the neck injury "is fully healed." The Penguins said Bray's findings will be "evaluated by independent specialists over the next few days."

Brisson told reporters Crosby went to Utah a couple of weeks ago, before visiting doctors in Atlanta and L.A. But Brisson said Bray was the one who found the neck injury, and he found it "based on his experience."

What was Crosby's reaction?

"Sidney's not surprised anymore," Brisson said.

"He's a strong-minded person, and he's gone through a lot. He just rolls his sleeves and he moves forward and tries to do the best he can to fix this problem," he said.

Were there fractures?

"I've heard all kinds of different speculations," Brisson said. "All I can say right now, it's a neck injury, a neck-related injury that we are looking into."

Is Crosby 's neck healed?

"According to Dr. Bray, he's safe and not in danger, so therefore, it's a good sign," Brisson said.

What caused the neck injury?

"I have no idea," Brisson said. "I'm not sure whether it's Jan. 1, Jan. 5 or the Krejci hit. I can't speculate since I'm not an expert in that area."

[ Watch: Igloo's roof comes crashing down during demolition ]

Crosby collided with David Steckel, then of the Washington Capitals, during the Winter Classic outdoor game on Jan. 1, 2011. He complained only of a sore neck. He was bumped from behind against the end boards by the Tampa Bay Lightning's Victor Hedman on Jan. 5, 2011. Doctors diagnosed a concussion.

He sat out until Nov. 21, when he made a triumphant two-goal, four-point return against the New York Islanders. But in only his eighth game back, he collided with teammate Chris Kunitz and took an inadvertent elbow to the head from the Boston Bruins' David Krejci. He reported concussion-like symptoms and hasn't played since.

If the neck injury occurred so long ago that it has already healed, shouldn't the Penguins' doctors have caught it earlier?

"It's always easy to go back and point fingers here and there," Brisson said. "But you want your players … When they get hurt, you want the injuries to heal fast and be found fast, to have solutions. It's unfortunate it's been 13 months already. I feel for him."

Is Crosby on the same page with the Penguins? Brisson was diplomatic, referring to his relationships with the team's owners and executives.

"I know the Penguins want to have Sidney healed and healthy more than anything," Brisson said. "I do know Mario [Lemieux] well, David Morehouse, Ron Burkle, Ray Shero. I mean, they have the same goal. They want him healthy as a person first. It's too premature to tell when he's going to be back and all that, so to comment any further …"

Brisson didn't finish the sentence.

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OTTAWA — Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings and Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings both sought the advice of Tim Thomas before squaring off in a 2012 NHL All-Star Skills Competition goalie race.

Thomas competed in the inaugural race last season in Raleigh, losing to Cam Ward while taking a spill around a turn. Understandably, his advice to both of this year's competitors: "Don't fall."

Quick sat next to Thomas on the bus over to the arena, and asked him why he wasn't competing in the race this year. "He said he didn't want to be out for the rest of the season with a knee injury." Such are the dangers of racing around the rink in full gear.

As for his race against Howard, Quick said they had a gentleman's agreement … that he may have violated.

"I think Howie might be mad at me. We made a deal that we weren't gonna go too hard. I think it came down to that he tried a little less hard than I did," said Quick.

"An agreement that he violated? No," said Howard. "I was being very cautious. I didn't want to end up like Timmy did last year and blow a tire going around the turn.

"Maybe a little too cautious."

Quick won the race in 16.939 seconds, with Howard crossing at 17.514. No one fell. No one was hurt.

Was there a friendly bet between the two?

"No wager," said Quick. "We both just didn't want to fall. Especially with those tires set up in the middle. You take a digger there and you're wiping out a couple Bridgestones, and you'll be in trouble."

Whether it's a banner congratulating Baylor's Robert Griffin III for winning the Heisman Trophy or a sign urging Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett to get well soon, BYU's student section has been very polite to opposing teams this season.

Referees, however, do not appear to receive the same courtesy.

The 22,700 fans who watched Saint Mary's defeat BYU 80-66 on Saturday night made it abundantly clear they did not think the home team received a fair shake from the officials.

They forced multiple stoppages in play throwing debris onto the floor after disputed calls. They chanted "worst refs ever" during the game's waning moments. And when cameras panned to the crowd during one second-half timeout, one man memorably held up his smart phone to display a text message that read "These Refs are Horrible."

There certainly were a few calls that went against BYU, but that shouldn't overshadow what Saint Mary's accomplished. The Gaels (20-2, 9-0) remained undefeated in WCC play by winning convincingly at an arena where the Cougars (18-5, 6-2) had lost just seven times in their past 106 games.

The road sweep of LMU and BYU this week from Saint Mary's solidifies the Gaels as the most appealing road team in the BracketBusters event, meaning organizers will have to choose whether to send them to Murray State or Creighton next month. It also puts pressure on Gonzaga to also win at BYU on Thursday, or the Zags (17-3, 7-1) may be two games behind the Gaels when the two rivals meet for the last time in the regular season in Spokane on Feb. 9.

Regardless, it will not be easy for Gonzaga to beat Saint Mary's even at home as well as the Gaels are playing. Elite guard Matthew Dellavedova went scoreless in the first half and didn't have one of his better games, yet Saint Mary's still shredded BYU's half-court defense and built a 23-point second-half lead thanks to the contributions of Clint Steindl (16 points) and Brad Waldow (19 points).

In a second half that was physical and chippy enough to belong in an octacgon, BYU rallied behind frenetic, rabid. full-court pressure, forcing 23 Saint Mary's turnovers and trimming the lead to nine in the final five minutes. The feisty defense resulted in the Cougars drawing numerous second-half fouls, drawing the ire of the crowd but also enabling the Gaels to keep the Cougars at arm's length.

If Saint Mary's has essentially wrapped up an NCAA tournament bid and is merely playing for seeding and for an outright WCC championship, BYU has no such luxuries.

Already lacking a signature non-conference win to go with solid victories over Virginia Tech, Nevada and Oregon, the Cougars are now 0-for-2 against Saint Mary's. That puts pressure on them to beat Gonzaga in Provo on Thursday because otherwise winning the WCC tournament may be the only way BYU can feel secure about an NCAA tournament bid entering Selection Sunday.

Saint Mary's got off to a strong start in WCC play last season, but hit a mid-February rough patch and missed the NCAA tournament. The way the Gaels are playing right now, it's hard to envision history repeating itself.

OTTAWA — During the Fastest Skater competition at the NHL All-Star Game, forward Phil Kessel of the Toronto Maple Leafs and defenseman Keith Yandle of the Phoenix Coyotes were paired against each other.

To the displeasure of the Ottawa Senators fans in attendance, Kessel won the race at 13.203 seconds. Yandle crossed at 13.731 seconds, having lost his edge going around a turn. As Kessel pulled away, Yandle made was appeared to be a dastardly desperation move.

Did Yandle try to hook Phil Kessel during a skills competition skating exhibition?

"Absolutely," said Yandle after the Skills Competition. "That's what I was trying to do. Tryin' to do something right."

Yandle's justification for this attempted obstruction?

"I asked him if he'd 'Rock, Paper, Scissor' me for which side we'd go. But he was too scared, because he knows how good my 'Rock, Paper, Scissor' game is."

Yandle said Kessel wasn't willing to gamble on his competitive advantage. "Turning to my right isn't my specialty, so I stumbled out of there," he said.

Watch the full Fastest Skater competition here:

Despite falling short in the Fastest Skater competition, Yandle said the 2012 All-Star Game was a blast.

"It was awesome. It was fun. It was great to see everyone involved. It was a great experience," he said, appearing in his second straight All-Star Game. "When it's in Canada, the people are going to be so involved. It just makes it that more special."

His favorite highlights? Steve Stamkos lighting up the NHL Elimination Shootout and Corey Perry's mini-stick prop comedy in the Breakaway Challenge.

"Perry's was great. Especially because it was a goalie stick," he said.

Davis landed a spinning leg kick, then ducked low into a takedown. Evans pushed him into the fence and fended off the takedown attempt. Every time Davis came in to try to get the takedown, Evans made him pay with a punch or two. Evans got a takedown at the 1:30 point of the first round, then moved to side control. From there, he put Davis into a crucifix hold and landed a bevy of short punches.

In the second round, Evans was aggressive, landing several punches early in the round. They clinched, but things slowed down considerably. They had a few striking exchanges, with Evans coming out on top. In the last 30 seconds, Evans took Davis down and again landed punches from side control.

[ Related: Evans earns his UFC title shot vs. Jones ]

Davis shot in for a takedown to start the third round. Davis drove him against the fence until he finally got the takedown. Evans reversed position and landed several lefts to Davis' face. They returned to their feet, and Davis got another takedown, and Evans returned to his feet while Davis held on for dear life.

Early in the fourth round, Davis landed a punishing rib kick, but Evans did not slow down. He continued to move forward, stalking Davis around the cage. When Davis shot in for a takedown, Evans fended him off before getting a takedown of his own.

Evans started the fifth round with a huge strike, and then held off Davis' attack. Evans caught a kick, then as he held the single leg, punched Davis until he went down. He stretched Davis into side control, and continued to land punches even as Davis worked to his feet. Evans controlled the rest of the round the way he controlled the whole fight.

With this win, Evans should punch his ticket for a fight with Jon Jones. The UFC announced Saturday that Jones' next bout will be in April in Atlanta. As long as Evans is healthy, the bout should be his.

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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel didn't have his best season in 2011, but his 2012 offseason has certainly been eventful enough. On Thursday night, in the Missouri gated community of Loch Lloyd, Cassel ran to the home of a neighbor after his wife noticed that smoke was billowing and flames were shooting from the chimney of the woman's home.

Cassel banged on his neighbor's door and rang the doorbell to try and alert the woman to the situation — he then ran around the house until he saw his neighbor exit her home. "I know Matt wouldn't want this kind of attention, but I definitely think he was a hero last night," one witness told local television station KMBC.

The neighbor said that she had no awareness that she was in danger until she saw the quarterback.

Cassel was indeed humble about the incident, saying that "I just ran up to the house and alerted them. The real heroes are the firefighters." Neighbors told KMBC that Cassel is generally a private person who wouldn't want attention drawn to his actions, heroic or otherwise.

There were no injuries in the fire, and the cause is still under investigation. Serious damage was done to the house, though a fire supervisor said that the home may not be a total loss.

After the Chiefs' 10-6 record in 2010, greater things were expected in 2011. But several injuries -- including the fractured right throwing hand that put Cassel out for the season in Week 10 -- set the team on another course. New head coach Romeo Crennel, who replaced Todd Haley, is committed to Cassel as his starter in 2012.

We're betting that Cassel's neighbors have even stronger endorsements.

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Chara broke his own mark, set last year in Raleigh, by slapping home an attempt recorded at 108.8 mph and helping him win his fifth consecutive Hardest Shot competition.

Big Z's final tally? 106.2 mph, 108.8 mph, 106.9 mph, 107 mph.

Pretty, pretty good.

Chara spent four seasons playing in front of the Scotiabank Place crowd and after his record-breaking attempt they gave the former Ottawa Senator a standing ovation, something the Bruins' captain was appreciative of.

"I played hard and tried my best over the five season I played here," Chara said. "I'm just glad the fans recognized that. It's a nice gesture by them."

It should be noted that Chara's only worthy competitor the past few years, Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators, bested last year's winning mark with a 106 mph attempt of his own.

Jason Spezza (100.5 mph) and Daniel Alfredsson (101.3 mph) were the only other players to record an attempt over 100 mph, putting a little heat on Chara as it came for his time to shoot.

"It's always hard," said Chara. "The guys shoot the puck harder and harder. It's hard to win."

You'll remember that Alexander Ryazantsev of Traktor Chelyabinsk set a "world record" last weekend during the KHL's Skill Competition with a 114.127 mph (183.67 km/h) blast. Of course, in the KHL, their Hardest Shot competition takes place a bit closer to the net.

The scary thing is that Chara's shots are only getting faster. Since his first victory in 2007, his last five winning attempts have been 100.4 mpg, 103.1 mph, 105.4 mph, 105.9 mph & 108.8 mph.

At this pace, Chara will be ready to threaten Ryazantsev's "world record" next year. The nets in Columbus are already worried.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

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The middleweight title contender locked up a shot against the UFC's 185-pound champ Anderson Silva with a surprisingly tough win over Michael Bisping.

In a fight, that appeared to be a toss-up for some, Sonnen took a unanimous decision, 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28, in the co-main event of the UFC on Fox 2 card at the United Center.

Sonnen's win sets up an intriguing scenario.

UFC president Dana White guaranteed the winner of tonight's tilt the next shot at Silva. The champ has been sidelined since August with shoulder and back issues and the promotion is pointing towards a summer return. But Silva recently hinted that he may be out beyond the summer.

Sonnen (27-11-1, 6-4 UFC) believes Silva is ducking him and has done everything he can to call out the champ. Tonight, he made the wise decision of not poking Silva. Instead, he delivered a hilarious postfight speech talking about his own greatness.

"As I've told everyone before, when you're the best fighter in the world, they don't call you champion, they call you Chael Sonnen," said Sonnen.

Sonnen was good, not great tonight, but much of that had to do with the opponent. Bisping (22-4, 10-0 UFC) rubs plenty of fans and media members the wrong way and, as a result, he's a bit underrated. The common thought was that the Brit would get eaten alive by Sonnen's Olympic-level wrestling, but that didn't happen in the first two rounds.

Sonnen scored two takedowns in the first, but Bisping got to his feet in less than 25 seconds on both occasions. He also stuffed two more takedown attempts. In the second, Sonnen scored a takedown with 2:58 left. Bisping was up a minute later and took minimal damage. The Brit was effective in the striking game, landing a few good combinations, but nothing appeared to rock the hard-charging American. Sonnen admitted during the postfight press conference that he was shaky on one occasion after a big shot from Bisping.

UFC color voice Joe Rogan was convinced Bisping had won the first two rounds. That wasn't the case on the judges' scorecard, but two of them did have things 19-19. Sonnen did what he needed to in the final round. He scored a big takedown and really dominated the position for over three minutes.

Sonnen scored that takedown just 12 seconds into the round. Bisping defended well for the next minute but got a little impatient as he was just about to rise to his feet. Bisping gave up his back standing and Sonnen squashed him. Then he did a brilliant job of getting both hooks in and rolling to dominant position on the ground. He worked to lock on a rear-naked, but it didn't happen. Bisping was protecting from the choke, lost his focus and allowed Sonnen to roll the position into the mount with 2:31 left. With 1:31 left, Bisping hip escaped to full guard. Bisping eventually got to his feet with less than 20 seconds left and scored a takedown of his own. He even landed a few big elbows, but it was too little, too late.

Bisping thought he won the first, but didn't flip out.

"That was a great fight. My hat goes off to Chael, he won the fight tonight. But, I really felt that I did enough in rounds one and two to secure the victory. He won the third, but I really felt that I was up on the judges' scorecards. They saw it differently and it is what it is," said Bisping.

Now the question is when will the fight everyone wants - Sonnen vs. Silva II - actually go down? Sonnen turned up the heat in recent weeks, plainly stating that he'll never get to face Silva because the champ won't accept the fight.

"I'm not going to fight Anderson either way. They can say whatever they want. Anderson is never going to do that fight," Sonnen told "The MMA Insiders" show on Las Vegas' ESPN1100/98.9 FM. "I hope he's healthy and has a good life, but I'm not buying into this mythical world that Anderson is going to some day sign a contract to fight me."

Silva beat Sonnen at UFC 117 via fifth-round submission, but that was after getting dominated for 23 minutes. He's had to hear about it ever since. This is a chance to shut Sonnen's mouth and likely do it in front of a record-sized crowd in Brazil. Why would he pass on the opportunity?

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Though both men are accomplished grapplers, the first round started with nothing but stand-up. Neither fighter truly got an edge in striking, though it was Maia who got the first takedown. The two got back to their feet quickly, and Maia followed up with aggressive strikes.

Weidman got the takedown to start the second round, but again, they did not stay there for long. Maia's face started to show damage from the repeated hits Weidman delivered, but Weidman's movement around the cage slowed as the round went on. As Weidman slowed, Maia delivered more kicks and punches. Weidman tried for a takedown with a minute left, but Maia easily avoided it. In the final 20 seconds, Weidman was able to get the takedown, and turned over for a choke, but the round ended before he could secure it.

Weidman returned to the clinch in the third round, moving towards Maia and landing knees and punches. They continued their evenly matched striking fest, though both fighters were clearly exhausted.

The crowd in Chicago wasn't enthused about the action, but that's what happens when two grappling aficionados decided to engage in a fist fight.

UPDATE: After the bout, UFC president Dana White tweeted that the scores were read wrong. Weidman actually won by a unanimous decision.

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With Eminem's "Superman" playing over the ScotiaBank Place speakers, Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks got into character before scoring a goal that went glove-to-stick:

Look, down on the ice! It's a Hawk! It's a hydroplane! It's SuperKane!

(Geek critique: The son of Jor-El would never leave his Clark Kent glasses on.)

Kane told the crowd he came up with the concept in the last 24 hours. "It's a tough event for us. You don't want to look stupid," he said. As far as drafting veteran teammate Marian Hossa to assist him, Kane said: "I think he was a little more nervous than I was, putting on the cape."

Later on, Kane's incredible super-strength allowed him to "shatter" a puck on his last attempt.

We'd expect nothing less from the Man of Steel(ing cab fare).

Meanwhile, Anaheim Ducks star Corey Perry unleashed two creative shootout attempts of his own.

First, the ole hockey tape on the blade move that electrified the crowd before the sticky went icky at the end:

This final attempt from Perry was even more ingenious than Kane's Superman act: Dropping his gear and using a mini-stick he had stuffed under his jersey to score.

If Perry pulling his little stick out in the middle of the ice doesn't get the NHL on TMZ, really what will?

After the event, Perry returned his prop back to the Canadiens' equipment manager.

Who had the better shootout whimsy: Kane or Perry?

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have released a statement on Crosby:

"The diagnosis of Dr. Robert S. Bray, a neurological spine specialist based in Los Angeles, is that Sidney Crosby had suffered a neck injury in addition to a concussion. Dr. Bray reports that the neck injury is fully healed.

"Those findings will be evaluated by independent specialists over the next few days. The most important goal all along has been Sidney's return to full health, and we are encouraged that progress continues to be made."

How did Crosby end up discovering the injury? According to Sportsnet, Crosby saw a specialist in Utah where an MRI indicated an abnormality with the two vertebrae at the top of the spine.

He saw the specialist on the advice of none other than New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who's a friend of Crosby.

Alex Guerrero, a trainer based in Utah, worked with Brady in Southern California to rehab him back from reconstructive knee surgery. And being Tom Brady's trainer certainly has its benefits.

CHICAGO -- Eric Wisely learned a new submission term - the calf slicer. Unfortunately, it was Wisely's calf, knee and thigh that were being shredded by Charles Oliveira.

In his featherweight debut, Oliveira showed off some nifty scrambling and submission skills in finishing the American at the 1:53 mark of the first round. The UFC's Tom Gerbasi said it was the first calf slicer finish in the history of the promotion.

Oliveira (15-2, 3-2 UFC, 1 NC) landed the Submission of the Night bonus good for  $65,000.

"It felt amazing to walk out and hear the energy of the crowd here in Chicago. I was extremely confident and proud going into this fight and I knew that God would be with me," Oliveira said. "I have practiced my submissions endlessly and it was easy to look for that opportunity to finish the fight. I am ready for the next challenge inside the Octagon."

Oliveira looked solid in all aspects, most importantly the bounce in his step. This was the 22-year-old's first fight down at 145 pounds. That first trip down to a new weight class can always be dicey from a stamina standpoint. The Brazilian's length at 5-foot-10 gave Wisely trouble from the start. He just couldn't get inside on Oliveira.

After eating a few good punches and a kick, Wisely (19-7) flopped to his back. From there, Oliveira patiently hovered above looking to land some good shots. He finally grabbed a leg and dropped back to work on a heel hook. It was tight, but Wisely escaped serious damage. He wasn't out of it, so Oliveira tried to reset the position.

Wisely scrambled to get to his hands and knees with his back facing Oliveira. That's when the Brazilian went into improvise-mode, jumped on Wisely's back and dropped back down. But he did so without releasing Wisely's left leg. He cranked backwards and the pressure on Wisely's leg was incredible. He tapped with his right hand a couple of times. The referee missed it. He groaned in agony as he tapped again with the left. The fight was over. Wisely (19-7, 0-1 UFC) lost his promotional debut.

"I've got to work on a few things to improve my overall game. With these Brazilian jiu-jitsu guys, I've got to be a little quicker all around. That might have been enough to have kept me from getting caught and we might be looking at an entirely different outcome," said Wisely.

Swanson posts a beautiful knockout of Roop

Cub Swanson's hands haven't always been kind to him. Tonight, they paid dividends big time.

Swanson scored a huge second-round knockout with a perfectly placed right hand on George Roop's chin. The impact of Swanson's overhand right sent Roop's mouthpiece flying into the cage and he went down in a heap. A surprised Swanson jumped on top to throw 10 more unanswered punches and the fight was stopped at 2:23 of the second.

"That shot just connected and rocked him and put him on his back. I wanted to make sure that I had finished it because it all happened so fast. I'm going to take about two weeks off and see how I feel. I might be looking to get back in here pretty quickly after a win like this," said Swanson.

During the immediate aftermath of the victory, Swanson (16-5, 1-1 UFC) appeared to a get a little emotional. It's been a rough run the last few years for Swanson, who's battled hand issue after hand issue. Because of the injuries, he's only fought two times since Aug. of 2010.

"We had some pretty good action when the match started and I was using my range to gain the advantage. I'm really not sure what happened because it really just happened to fast. He hit me with something that I didn't see coming at all," said Roop (12-9-1, 2-5 UFC).

Friedman, quoting Crosby's agent, Pat Brisson: "Sid did suffer a concussion, but last week, the possibility of two fractured vertebrae (C1 and C2) was discovered. A third doctor is being consulted to determine the exact diagnosis."

McCown said doctors expect Crosby to "heal and be ready for the playoffs," and that the injury was "apparently missed by Pittsburgh doctors." Also from McCown: "Crosby went to the Utah doctor on the recommendation of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who is Crosby's friend."

Here's the McCown report:

Crosby's concussion, stemming from a collision with Dave Steckel in the 2011 Winter Classic and a hit from behind by Victor Hedman, kept him out of action for 11 months. He returned on Nov. 21, 2011, scoring four points against the New York Islanders. He played eight games and tallied 12 points before leaving the Penguins' lineup with concussion symptoms.

Crosby visited chiropractic neurology specialist Ted Carrick, who assisted in his previous recovery, and then traveled to California to visit Dr. Robert S. Bray, a neurological spine specialist. That visit with Bray was out of the ordinary in Crosby's rehab, as he's an renowned expert in "neurological spine surgery" rather than concussion rehab.

Penguins GM Ray Shero said today in Ottawa that the Penguins were waiting to see the results from Crosby's visit with doctors in California to his chat with doctors in Pittsburgh:

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In his UFC debut, Lavar Johnson showed that he belonged with UFC heavyweights with a first-round knockout of UFC veteran Joey Beltran.

Johnson shook Beltran early with a hook and a several knees, but Beltran survived. While Beltran swung wildly, Johnson hit straight punches. This continued for much of the round, as Beltran had trouble getting anywhere near Johnson's face.The strikes finally started to pile up late in the round, as Johnson hit Beltran with uppercuts and hooks to end the bout at 4:24 in the first round

The UFC decided late last year to dissolve Strikeforce's heavyweight division and move the 265-lbers to the UFC. Johnson is the first fighter to be moved over, and showed with dizzying punches that he will be a player in the UFC's heavyweight division. This was the first time Beltran was knocked out in the UDC.

Michael Johnson stops Shane Roller's wrestling

Michael Johnson stifled Shane Roller's wrestling on the way to a 29-28 on all three cards for a unanimous decision.

The two were even in the first round in striking, but Johnson impressed early in the round with his ability to shake off Roller's takedown attempts. Johnson's straight left caused problems for Roller as the round wore on. Johnson rocked Roller in the last 10 seconds with a flying knee.

Roller found his rhythm in the second round, connecting on more punches early on. He returned to the takedown, but again Johnson stuffed it. After a clinch against the cage, Johnson got the takedown. Working from Roller's closed guard, Johnson landed a few elbows before Roller worked back to his feet. Late in the round, Johnson wobbled Roller with a bevy of strikes.

Things changed quickly in the third round, as Roller was able to get the takedown, get Johnson's back and land elbows and punches. The fight was stopped briefly as Herb Dean warned Roller about punching the back of the head, but when it was restarted, Roller stretched Johnson out. Roller held Johnson in that position for most of the round, until with a minute left, Johnson reversed his position. He got on top and began to throw elbows and punches. They returned to their feet, and Johnson threw an inadvertent strike to Roller's groin.

The onslaught from Roller proved to be too little too late. Johnson, a finalist in "The Ultimate Fighter" who lost his last bout showed great improvement in his wrestling game. He stopped the takedowns of Roller, an All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State.

Patrick Mouratoglou is a world-renowned tennis coach. He is an occasional contributor to Busted Racquet.

The 2012 Australian Open final features the ATP's new classic rivalry, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Last year, they played in six finals and Djokovic won all six, a surprising failure for the Spaniard, who is unused to failing.

This final is of tremendous importance for Rafa. His mind is troubled by Nole and it's frustrating him. I'm convinced that if it continues tonight, Nadal could lose the things that have made him such a great champion: belief, desire, determination and passion. For a player who has won everything and is used to overcoming obstacles, this is a new, traumatizing experience. This needs to be solved quickly, so Nadal can prove to himself that he can remain the master of the game.

Why is Rafa struggling against Nole? His serve, and especially his second serve, lack depth and power. Djokovic is the player who owns the best returning stats on second serve. When most of the players don't take advantage of Nadal shortening shots, the Serbian is outstanding in the way he steps inside the court to take the ball early. When attacked, Nadal plays even shorter.

He's hitting 70 percent of first serves since the start of the tournament, whereas he was at 57 percent last year during his matches against Novak. Caring about protecting himself from the attacks on his second serve, he picks the first-second serve option. The only issue is that his best serve, the slice used on deuce and ad, is going directly on Nole's best shot, the backhand.

Even though Nadal had one more day off, Novak has always proved to be fresher in their fights. I give a little advantage to the Serbian on this side, despite his five-hour match against Andy Murray.

Nadal added some heft to his racquet in order to change his swing weight (from 308 to 314) so he can get more power and more length. He wants to make the Serbian move backward and to be more decisive on attacking balls so Djokovic can't turn defense into offense.

In terms of game plan, Rafa has to stop avoiding the diagonal with his backhand on Nole's forehand. Indeed, it's when he changes of diagonal that he gets punished by the Serbian. He has to make Novak go back in order to use his forehand to dictate the game. Will he do it? I think so. Personally, I'm convinced that Djokovic will play a great match, like each time against Nadal. Yet, this time Rafa is ready to achieve his new plan.

Prediction: Rafael Nadal

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"I'd get a call every day asking when we would get a win," Damas said Saturday. "A call, or a text, an email, a post on facebook, a mention on Twitter. Every day."

Damas can expect nothing but congratulatory voicemails and text messages this weekend after Towson won its first game in 395 days. The Tigers defeated visiting UNC Wilmington 66-61 on Saturday to end the longest losing streak in Division I college basketball history at 41.

A win over a struggling conference foe that is just 8-13 this season wouldn't normally be cause for jubilation, but Towson celebrated on the floor and in its locker room as though it had just clinched an NCAA tournament berth. The Tigers (1-22, 1-10) went the entire 2011 calendar year without a victory. Prior to Saturday, Towson's last win was a 93-90 OT victory against La Salle on Dec. 29, 2010.

"It felt unreal," Damas said. "After all this work, we finally did it. It was a big relief."

It has been 15 years since Towson last had a winning season, but this losing streak has been particularly dismal.

Twenty-eight of Towson's 41 losses have come by 10 or more points, including all but three this season. The closest the Tigers have come to winning during that stretch was a 95-93 overtime loss to UNC Wilmington last season in which they somehow squandered a 22-point lead in the final 14 minutes of regulation.

There was a point on Saturday when it looked like Towson might surrender another lead to UNC Wilmington. The Seahawks trimmed an eight-point deficit to one and had a chance to take a lead with 20 seconds left, but they missed a pair of free throws, enabling the Tigers to escape with the long-awaited victory.

[ Related: All of Saturday's college hoops scores ]

Towson's struggles this season are no surprise considering new coach Pat Skerry had to essentially rebuild the roster this offseason.

Leading scorer Isaiah Philmore transferred to Xavier shortly after former coach Pat Kennedy was fired. Braxton Dupree left to play professionally in Israel. And the indefinite suspension of leading returning scorer RaShawn Polk before the season left Skerry with just one player who played for Towson last season: redshirt sophomore forward Erique Gumbs, who averaged a mere 3.6 points.

Skerry's recruiting prowess offers hope for the future. And in the short term, Towson believes not having the pressure of ending the streak could do wonders for the competitiveness of this team.

"Coming to Towson, we knew it was going to be hard," Damas said. "We didn't think it would be this bad, but nobody stopped believing. The competition just got hotter in practice. Nobody stopped trying liking a loser. Everybody just kept believing.

"To finally win today, it's a lot off our shoulders. It's a blessing."

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OTTAWA — Why is Pavel Datsyuk, YouTube legend and the top pick in the Fantasy Draft, not in the NHL All-Star Game "trick shot" competition?

"I'm not a big fan," he said on Friday. "I want to be in the regular breakaway, not the tricky shot. I don't have any tricks. I'm out of tricks."

Oh well. There's still an impressive amount of talent in the Breakaway Challenge and the other skills competitions on Saturday night in Ottawa. Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynski and Sean Leahy handicap the winners and losers in the orgy of dangles and shots.

The full rules and regulations for each event can be found here on NHL.com, including how the scoring will be tabulated. The events' previous winners are here.

Fastest Skater

Team Chara

1. Brian Campbell (Backwards)
2. Jimmy Howard (Goalie)
3. Colin Greening (Rookie)
4. Phil Kessel
5. Marian Hossa

Team Alfredsson

1. Kris Letang (Backwards)
2. Jonathan Quick (Goalie)
3. Carl Hagelin (Rookie)
4. Keith Yandle
5. Erik Karlsson

Wyshynski says: I'm puzzled by the backwards skater duel, because I genuinely believe Kris Letang is faster but worry about him being strangled by his own hair. Perhaps someone can get him a scrunchie. Overall, I like Team Alfredsson in this one, but if they lose the goalie race it's only fair that the Kings' netminder be mandated to change his name to Jonathan Moderately Paced.

Leahy says: I really like Carl Hagelin to win fastest skater. Not only because he has great wheels but because he'll challenge Letang for best flowing locks in the event. My expectations are low for the goalie race, seeing as how both goalies are essential to their teams' success. This is going to be a Sunday stroll. But I like appropriately named Jonathan Quick. Team Alfredsson overall FTW.

Breakaway Challenge

Team Chara

1. Ryan Johansen (Rookie)
2. Patrick Kane
3. Corey Perry

Goalie: Carey Price

Team Alfredsson

1. Sean Couturier (Rookie)
2. John Tavares
3. Logan Couture

Goalie: Brian Elliott

Wyshynski says: Logan Couture's jovial comportment after being the last pick in the Draft tells me he's shameless, and hence is going to go great lengths to impress the crowd. Wild guess that Tavares does something lacrossey in this; pity that the judges will be unimpressed due to his quality zone starts.

On Team Chara, Ryan Johansen strikes one as a dark horse candidate. But obviously Patrick Kane is spotlight contender here, as there's at least an outside shot his trick will involve 30 empty cans of Miller Lite and a rose ceremony for an ice girl.

Leahy says: Couture has already tweeted out that he's going to use props, which will score points with the ScotiaBank Crowd. John Tavares knows a thing or two about using his hands, and could give him a challenge. Dark horse for me? Patrick Kane. You never know what kind of props he'll pull out. He tried to score on his stomach in a previous event.

Shot Accuracy

Team Chara

1. Cody Hodgson (Rookie)
2. Tyler Seguin
3. Jamie Benn
4. Marian Hossa

Team Alfredsson

1. Matt Read (Rookie)
2. Jason Spezza
3. Steven Stamkos
4. Daniel Sedin

Wyshynski says: … that Daniel Sedin will again win this Toews-less event.

Leahy says: I'll also go with the defending champ Sedin, but keep an eye on Marian Hossa coming back to Ottawa on Team Chara to ruin a victory for Team Alfie.

Skills Challenge Relay

Wyshynski says: They brought back those stupid mini-nets? Seriously? That was excruciating last year, like watching someone try and sink a cashew nut in a styrofoam cup from 20 feet away. Ugh. I'll go with Team Chara, Relay 1 because of four words: "Pavel Datsyuk, puck control."

Leahy says: Relay 3 for Team Chara will win. Phaneuf and Chara dominate the one-timer, and Malkin can handle the puck on a string as we've seen in his recent tear. Good thing for Relay 4 that Craig Smith is not doing the shot accuracy.

Hardest Shot

Team Chara

1. Luke Adam (Rookie)
2. Dennis Wideman
3. Dion Phaneuf
4. Zdeno Chara

Team Alfredsson

1. Justin Faulk (Rookie)
2. Daniel Alfredsson
3. Jason Spezza
4. Shea Weber

Wyshynski says: Zdeno Chara will successfully defend his crown because he is a ManBeast. Plus, he has a new fake world record to catch from the KHL. The real drama is whether Phaneuf can hit the net.

Leahy says: Chara has only increased his MPH in each of the last four years. It's only a matter of time before he hits 110; or proves a point to Shea Weber by not only firing one through the net but through the boards and the bodies of patrons on the lower bowl.

Elimination Shoot Out

Wyshynski says: The last shooter standing in this event? I'll go defense: Kris Letang, whose shootout abilities are renowned. My personal hope: That it's Jason Spezza (or "Speza," NHL) as the crowd goes nuts for Giggles.

Leahy says: Corey Perry is the defending champion. I think Giroux and Michalek will be in the Final 2, with the WWE-style ending of Michalek sending the fans home happy with the win.

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The veteran fighter dislocated a finger in the second and fought through it by only throwing jabs and hooks. In the final round, he dropped Justin Jacoby with great outside leg kick.

Camozzi pounced to go for the kill and worked a guillotine choke. Jacoby backed up to the cage where he tapped just seconds later at the 1:08 mark of the third.

CHICAGO -- It's all about staying off your back and top control in tonight's three big fights on the UFC on Fox 2 card.

If they control the pace in fights, top level wrestlers have the ability to steal rounds and money. A mix of underdogs and favorites (Chael Sonnen, Phil Davis and Chris Weidman) with excellent college wrestling backgrounds, will be an interesting follow on the betting scene.

Sonnen's controlled the pace so well in his recent fights, it's made him just about unbeatable and a huge favorite over Michael Bisping. We'll find out tonight if Bisping's takedown defense allows him to stay in the fight. Hopefully keeps his cool. Sonnen along with yesterday's weigh-in crowd at the Chicago Theater really got under the Brit's skin.

As an underdog, Phil Davis will be looking to do slow things down against Rashad Evans. Chris Weidman's in the most interesting position because the former Hofstra star could probably stay on top of Demian Maia the entire fight, but that's incredibly dangerous place to be against a top level jiu-jitsu fighter. In spite of that Weidman is a pretty solid favorite over the UFC veteran.

Former UFC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres joined Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole and myself on ESPN1100/98.9 FM to pick the fights using the Las Vegas' numbers.

UFC on Fox 2 odds:
Best plays in bold

Rashad Evans (-205) vs. Phil Davis (+175) - Light heavyweight
Michael Bisping (+360) vs. Chael Sonnen (-450) - Middleweight
Demian Maia (+120) vs. Chris Weidman (-140) - Middleweight
Evan Dunham (-355) vs. Nik Lentz (+295) - Lightweight
Mike Russow (-150) VS. Jon-Olav Einemo (+130) - Heavyweight
George Roop (-115) vs. Cub Swanson (-105) - Featherweight
Charles Oliveira (-490) vs. Eric Wisely (+390) - Featherweight
Shane Roller (-225) vs. Michael Johnson (+185) - Lightweight
Joey Beltran (-205) vs. Lavar Johnson (+175) - Heavyweight
Chris Camozzi (-150) vs. Dustin Jacoby (+130) - Middleweight

A crucial non-call on what should have been goaltending against the Orange in the final seconds on Saturday helped them escape a serious home scare from West Virginia, 63-61.

Deniz Kilicli grabbed an aired 3-point attempt by teammate Truck Bryant with just over 10 seconds left to play and went up for what was about to be a gimme to tie the game at 63-63.

However, after the ball bounced off of the glass, Baye Moussa Keita 'blocked' it, which, by rule, is a clear-as-day goaltend. It was missed by a referee standing roughly 10 feet away right under the hoop, sending the nearby West Virginia bench into an absolute frenzy. Even three of the Mountaineer players, with the ball still live, threw their arms in the air in disbelief.

It was an obvious call to make for those watching it in real time, and it was made to look even worse during ESPN's multiple replays from several different angles. Also agonizing in the moment was the fact that goaltending calls are not reviewable.

No one was more livid than fiery West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, who composed himself to organize one final play during the ensuing timeout with just over six seconds left, but after Kevin Jones's last-second 3-point attempt fired off of the rim, he was shooting evil glares left and right.

[ Related: All of Saturday's college hoops scores ]

It was no guarantee that West Virginia would have ended up winning, but either way, the Mountaineers got screwed.

They dropped to 15-7 overall and 5-4 in Big East play, but with a win, they could have further solidified what is an already respectable NCAA tournament at-large résumé. To boot, they would have remained within a game behind — at the moment — Syracuse, Marquette and Georgetown in the hunt for a Big East regular season title.

Now, they're three games behind the Orange, and are the subjects of one of this season's more brutal 'what ifs.'

Ryan Greene also covers UNLV and the Mountain West Conference for RunRebs.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ryanmgreene.

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The dominant question: Was Alex Ovechkin right or wrong in pulling out of his All-Star Game selection after receiving a 3-game suspension for a hit on Zbynek Michalek?

"You should be here. If you are chosen to come here, you should probably be here," said Toronto Maple Leafs winger Joffrey Lupul to the Ottawa Citizen.

"I think the game needs stars. That's why Ovechkin not being here … I totally understand if he's got some kind of injury. I don't know why he said no," said Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen. "There are a lot of fans that wanted to see him here. But it's an individual choice, and he made that choice."

Ovechkin's explanation for pulling out of the game, after the NHL named him to the roster, was that he wasn't "deserving" to be there and that his heart wasn't into it after serving one game of the 3-game ban. "I feel I'm not deserving to be there right now. If I suspended, I have to be suspended. That's why I give up my roster [spot]," he said.

Does Brendan Shanahan, the NHL's vice president of player safety, buy that as a valid reason to pull out of the game?

"I think I respect it," he said on Saturday in Ottawa.

"That situation was unique. I don't think it's ever happened before. I think it's something that internally we need to address and come up with something in the future going forward — what is our policy on that?"

Shanahan said the focus on the players who aren't at the event detracts from the players that are there.

"In the end, this a game and a weekend where we've got great all-stars and great rookies that want to talk about the game and talk about themselves, and not who's not here," he said.

There was some speculation that Shanahan and the NHL might limit the ban, so Ovechkin wouldn't have attended the All-Star Game as a suspended player. (Which he could have.)

"I knew in the back of my mind it was a possibility, but I pushed it out of my mind," said Shanahan.

"You get so much training from being a player that you know your surroundings but you get focused on your job. It's not something that caught me by surprise, but at the same time it had no bearing on the decision itself."

The money shot's about 35 seconds into this clip:

Does anyone know the whereabouts for Powers Boothe today?

From the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:

"It went perfect. It all just floated down," said George Boehm, a contractor for Noralco Corp., which is overseeing the arena's demolition.

The panel was on the city side of the building. Contractors cut the structural supports below so that the panel fell onto the arena floor. Later, it will be cut into small pieces for removal. The work for each roof panel will take about a week to two weeks to complete. In coming weeks, there will be five similar demolition sessions at the arena. Today's demolition was postponed twice due to snow on the past two Saturdays.

So sad. Such memories in that arena. Who can forget the one time Penguins fans saw the Stanley Cup captured in Pittsburgh, when Nicklas Lidstrom hoisted it above his head …

Turns out it was none of the above, after Mickelson's wife, Amy, revealed to the San Diego Union-Tribune that her husband's mind was most likely on his daughter Sophia during the Farmers Insurance Open, after the 10-year-old fainted and suffered a small seizure at school.

Sophia spent Friday through Monday at Children's Hospital in San Diego and returned for a battery of tests on Thursday while her dad was struggling to a 5-over-par 77 on the South Course during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open.

You can't blame Mickelson for thinking about his daughter during the first round. After all the medical scares his family has gone through in recent years -- his wife and mother both battled cancer -- the last thing you want to hear about is one of his children suffering a seizure.

The good news is Sophia was able to return to school on Friday, the same day her dad fired a 4-under 68 in the second round. Hopefully that's a positive sign for not only the family, but Mickelson's game as well.

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The list, which highlighted dozens of classes with a reputation for being easy, had been around for a decade and was available at an athlete resource center. Some athletes said it was a list that led to an easy grade. School officials insist it was designed to accommodate athletes, whose practice schedules can make it difficult to attend certain classes.

Whatever its intention, the list is gone, discontinued after Stanford students from California Watch started poking around.

The San Francisco Chronicle later reported the story a well, describing the "Courses of Interest" list, which was distributed by the Athletic Academic Resource Center:

The center's four advisers compiled the list to help student athletes find introductory classes that fit into constrained time schedules and fulfilled general education requirements. Afternoon practices mean that athletes have to choose classes that start from 9 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. The list mostly contained classes during those hours.

Nearly 200 courses in 16 academic departments and programs offered during the 9 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. time slots were left off the list.

We all know athletes get special treatment at school. In the grand scheme of all the benefits (proper and improper), this barely registers.  You don't need a list to figure out that a course called "Social Dances of North America I" that's described as an "introduction to the partner dances found in American popular culture: waltz, swing, tango, club two step, cha cha, merengue, and salsa" is going to be an easy A. Everybody at college knows the joke courses and easy instructors. I mean, RateMyProfessors.com doesn't exist because sophomores want to find academically rigorous classes.

The courses on the list are offered to all students at Stanford. Nobody should feel guilty about taking them. If they were that easy, the school shouldn't have them on the register in the first place. Not every class can be molecular thermodynamics.

In order to get an undergraduate degree, students are required to take four quarters of humanities, one class in applied sciences, mathematics, natural sciences and social sciences and various classes in ethical reasoning, American cultures and gender studies. A dance class is probably a nice break from the grind.

The director of the Athletic Academic Resource Center claims the list was merely an advising guide. That statement has been refuted by athletes, one of whom said that he grabbed the list from the door of the resource center and walked out without speaking to anyone. "I never used it before this year," Ryan Sudeck, a junior crew team member told the newspaper. "But this quarter it was like, 'Oh, I need an easy class to boost my GPA.'"

That easy class will still be there next year. In all likelihood, so will the list. Unofficially, of course.

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Bobby Kent, the former San Diego Chargers musical director who wrote the ditty 33 years ago, filed suit last week in Miami against the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for licensing his rally song without permission or proper compensation. Kent claims he lost millions in potential royalties because ASCAP didn't track the uses of the song, which is frequently played at sporting venues across the country.

The song, also known as "Kent's Composition," was copyrighted in 1981 and Kent says he received between $10,000 and $20,000 per year from the Chargers for its use. He didn't specify how much he's asking for in damages but before he filed suit, Kent offered teams blanket use of the tune for $3,000. Only one team, the Los Angeles Lakers, agreed.

The "Charge!" chant is one of those things that its origin you never thought about. I assumed it developed organically, like the wave or hydrocarbon compounds. Now that I know it was written specifically to get fans to cheer on third downs, I'm even less likely to cheer after it than before.

My assumption is that teams will do the same. However the lawsuit goes, the easiest thing will be for teams to drop "Kent's Composition" and find another rallying cry. The Black Eyed Peas just released another album, right?

Oversjo is ranked No. 421 in the world, which makes you wonder how much better the 420 guys ahead of him are.

Yum! Brands, the company that owns and operates KFC and Taco Bell, among other fast-food chains, has been the presenting sponsor of America's premier horse race since 2006. Given that both the Derby and the restaurant behemoth are based in Louisville, it was a natural fit. Except for the whole horse thing, of course. Like Taco Bell needs to invite comparisons about the quality of its meat. (Disclaimer: Taco Bell is delicious.)

That's a trivial point, though. As long as Yum! kept everybody's mind off all those potential wisecracks by keeping signage tasteful and away from any logo or picture that could lead to the thought of consuming a horse, there'd be no problem.

That's a screenshot from a commercial that's been running on NBC and Versus for the past few days. I'll say this about it, I'm much more aware of the Yum! brand than I was before seeing the ad.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to eat dinner. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.

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The Lakers were playing in Dallas, Dallas is where Kennedy was assassinated, Dealey Plaza is where -- look, it's not funny even if you know the particulars. Fact of that matter is that Simmons swung and missed. It's bound to happen when you write hundreds of thousands of words a year about sports. I'm not going to hold myself out to be the biggest fan of The Sports Guy, but if making a lame crack on Twitter was against cyber law, nobody would have an account. (Except @suss2hypens. That guy is gold.)

Keith Olbermann wasn't offended by the lack of humor, but by the fact that Simmons dared make light of the Kennedy assassination:

After spending far too much time wading through Olbermann's timeline it still wasn't clear whether he was upset with Simmons for taking material from a national tragedy or in using a "stale joke." Either way, he was riled up about it, got his followers to feel the same and ultimately accomplished his ultimate goal of bringing Simmons into the fray.

And wasn't that the point in the first place? Olbermann is a professional provacateur. He has one million fewer followers on Twitter than Simmons. He also has a TV show debuting next month on a network you either don't have or don't realize you have. It doesn't take much to figure out why he was punching up at Simmons. If you believe he thinks a Kennedy joke is off limits then you probably believe Donald Trump thought Barack Obama was actually born in Kenya.

Olbermann and Simmons got into a spat last year in a similar situation when the ESPN writer made a ridiculous comparison between Tiger Woods' infidelity and Muhammad Ali's conscientious objection to Vietnam. The ensuing back and forth had all the maturity and intelligence of a scuffle at the swing set. Olbermann likes to poke at easy targets and Simmons, with his thin skin, has proved to be just that. Like clockwork, Simmons responded to Olbermann's tweet and gave him the attention Olbermann wanted all along.

There's two lessons to be learned here: 1) Every piece of criticism doesn't warrant a response. 2) Never mine a national tragedy for laughs when there's almost always a quote from "The Wire" that will suffice.

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The jockey who was supposed to ride Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom in Saturday's race will get paid like he did.

Robby Albarado was replaced one day before the Derby by the horse's owner and trainer due to concerns about an injury he suffered during a race earlier in the week. John Velazquez took over the mount and rode the 20-1 longshot to the winner's circle. He received $141,180 for the two-minute ride, the standard 10 percent of the purse.

It was revealed Wednesday that Velazquez and horse owner Barry Irwin will pay undisclosed, matching amounts to Albarado as a reward.

"It's basically because we know what it means emotionally to a guy like that," Irwin said to the Associated Press. "I like the guy and have a high regard for him as a jockey."

The gesture is a classy one and surely much appreciated by Albarado. Is it necessary, though? Paying Albarado would seem to discount the notion that a jockey plays a role in a horse race. It's like they're saying that Animal Kingdom would have won no matter who was in the saddle.

[Photos: Fancy and wacky Kentucky Derby hats ]

Does it stink that Albarado got hurt and had to be taken off the mount? Yes, but that's life. Eric Stoltz was supposed to be in "Back to the Future," it doesn't mean Michael J. Fox should cut him in on residual checks. Pete Best didn't get any money when The Beatles licensed music to iTunes. Kurt Warner didn't cut his 1999 MVP trophy in half and give it to Trent Green. Being there before doesn't entitle you to any reward for things that happen after you've gone.

Both jockeys are among the most successful in their sport. Each have ridden over 4,000 winners and frequently appear near the top of the annual purse earnings list.

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Official rule of baseball, 6.05(g): A batter is out when his fair ball touches him before touching a fielder.

There's no addendum for what to do when said fair ball hits the batter in a hilarious manner. Though the umpire may not have been acting in accordance with the official rules of the game, letting the batter get back in the box was the compassionate thing to do after everyone at the game laughed at him. That was sort of cold, parents. I know the ball hit him in the helmet, but you'd at least think somebody would have tossed in a concerned "oooh" or something of that ilk.

The hidden ball trick, a custom of Little League fields and inspirational sports movies for decades, made an appearance over the weekend in an unlikely place: the NCAA lacrosse tournament.

Maryland players pulled off the trick play during a first-round game against ACC rival North Carolina. You may have to watch the clip a few times before you see how they did it, which is probably as good an indication as any that it was executed successfully:

The exchange from seniors Grant Catalino and Brian Farrell was described as "lucky" by the Associated Press. That seems to be demeaning characterization of a play that took planning, skill, patience and execution. Nobody saw it coming! It worked like a charm! They deceived everyone! The trick was the lacrosse equivalent of the end of "The Sting."

Maryland went on to win the game, 13-6.

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"Macho Man" Randy Savage, a professional wrestler who became a fan favorite thanks to his outlandish outfits and trademark catchphrase, died Friday in a car wreck, as first reported by TMZ.

The 58-year-old Savage -- whose legal name was Randy Mario Poffo -- reportedly suffered a heart attack while driving his 2009 Jeep Wrangler in Tampa, Fla., and careened across lanes of oncoming traffic before colliding head-on with a tree. He died later at a local hospital.

Savage's wife Lynn, who was riding in the passenger seat, escaped with only minor injuries. Both passengers were wearing seatbelts and the police do not believe alcohol was a factor.

[Related: Macho Man's lasting legacy]

The World Wrestling Federation favorite from Ohio burst onto the scene in 1985 and quickly drew attention with his flamboyant outfits and "ooh yeah!" catchphrase. His marriage to Elizabeth Hulette, Ms. Elizabeth to fans, was one of the first high-profile wrestler/valet relationships. They divorced in 1992. Savage remarried last year.

He won two WWF championships in his career. His match against Ricky Steamboat in 1987's Wrestlemania III is considered one of the best WWF bouts ever. Savage won the title late that year, setting the stage for memorable battles with Hulk Hogan, who would eventually dethrone him as champion.

[Related: Randy Savage's brief pro baseball career]

World Wrestling Entertainment released an official statement on Friday afternoon.

"WWE is saddened to learn of the passing of one of the greatest Superstars of his time, Randy Poffo, aka Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

One of Macho Man's biggest rivals was Hulk Hogan. Hogan said he and Savage had just started talking again after 10 years.

"He had so much life in his eyes & in his spirit, I just pray that he's happy and in a better place and we miss him," Hogan wrote.

Savage also appeared in memorable ads for Slim Jim and played a wrestler in the 2002 hit film "Spider-Man."

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Over one-quarter of the performers who took part in 1991's Wrestlemania VII have died, a wrestling website noted in the wake of the death of "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

The Wrestling Observer newsletter discovered that 14 of the 51 performers at the event have died in the past 20 years, with many of the deaths attributed to drug use (link is subscription only).

The list of wrestlers who have died since 1991 include some of the biggest stars in the sport like Savage, Andre the Giant, Miss Elizabeth and The British Bulldog. Causes of death include suicides, murder and heart attacks, some the result of years of anabolic steroid use. Savage died last week after suffering an apparent heart attack behind the wheel of his truck. His ex-wife, Miss Elizabeth, passed away after overdosing on a variety of drugs in 2003.

Looking at the list is a sobering reminder of the realities of a make-believe sport like professional wrestling. Not all of the men and women listed played a part in their own demise; referee Joey Marella was the victim of a car crash that occurred when he was driving home from a match.

As wrestlinginc.com points out, none of the 44 starters from the Super Bowl played in 1991 have passed away and only two of 44 boxers who held a championship belt that year are gone.

At 58, Savage made it nearly a decade longer than some of his deceased colleagues.

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What did we learn from the "60 Minutes" report?

1. Up until now, all speculation about Armstrong was speculative, hearsay or coming from disreputable sources like Floyd Landis. The new report details allegations by Armstrong's former teammate, Tyler Hamilton, who rode with Armstrong's Postal Service teams for many of those Tour de France wins and won an Olympic gold medal himself, which he recently returned due to his admission of cheating. Hamilton hadn't told his family that he doped until four days before the interview with "60 minutes."

2. Hamilton says Armstrong was using EPO during his first Tour win in 1999 and used the drug in 2000 and 2001 to prepare for the Tour. He says he saw the drug in Armstrong's refrigerator and saw him inject it in himself. "I saw it a couple times," he said.

3. Pelley also reported that George Hincapie, a teammate of Armstrong for all seven of his Tour victories, told federal investigators that he and Armstrong used EPO and discussed using testosterone. Hincapie declined an interview request and didn't confirm that he had testified.

4. Team doctors and leaders handed white lunch bags to riders containing various performance-enhancers, according to Hamilton. He said the doping program existed before Armstrong joined the team in 1998.

5. Hamilton said Armstrong told him he failed a drug test before the 2001 Tour de France but wasn't worried about it. Cycling's governing body would "find a way to make it go away."

6. Through his lawyer, Armstrong denied the report and pointed to the 500 drug tests Armstrong passed during his career.

Is this worse than previous allegations against Armstrong?

A passage on Armstrong's new website, facts4lance.com, reads:

"Tyler Hamilton is a confessed liar in search of a book deal—and he managed to dupe '60 Minutes,' the 'CBS Evening News,' and new anchor Scott Pelley. Most people, though, will see this for exactly what it is: More washed-up cyclists talking trash for cash."

Hamilton's statement carries more weight than unsubstantiated reports from French newspapers that never liked Armstrong or desperate athletes who had been caught in lies before. The French papers didn't like Lance and their reports were more of the witch-hunt variety. But, thrown in casually at the end of the "60 Minutes" report was a bit of information about Hamilton's upcoming tell-all book. So, the accusation of "talking trash for cash" may be correct (even if the statements are true).

It's the report that Hincapie admitted Armstrong was doping that's the most damning. If it happened, Armstrong has called him a "stand-up guy." They had a brotherly relationship that stretched back decades before they rode together professionally. Hincapie doesn't have an axe to grind. If everybody else had an agenda or a motive, the affable New Yorker always kept his distance from a report. If he flipped on Armstrong, that would be devastating to any defense Lance could muster.

What happens next for Armstrong?

The investigation isn't just about whether Armstrong injected himself with EPO, the focus is also on whether there was widespread fraud and conspiracy in the U.S. Postal Service team. As the government has proved with cases against Barry Bonds, Marion Jones and Roger Clemens, this is not something prosecutors take lightly.

How will the allegations affect Lance Armstrong's legacy?

This is the $325 million question. That's how much The Lance Armstrong Foundation has raised for cancer research and programs since its creation in 1997. If we ever find out definitive proof that Armstrong cheated, failed drug tests and lied about it to the American public, does that outweigh the good he's done for millions of cancer survivors?

There are still a dozen ways this could go, but I doubt we'll see Lance tarnished like a Barry Bonds or a Pete Rose. We were invested in Lance Armstrong the guy who beat cancer, not Lance Armstrong the cyclist. He was more of a survivor to us than an athlete. Is the little girl wearing the Livestrong bracelet in the cancer ward going to take it off because Lance cheated 10 years ago? No. Do people stop donating money to the Foundation because some rumors may or may not be true? (But probably are?) I'd say some will. Others will still donate because being upset that a guy cheated at a bike race shouldn't outweigh the good that a cancer organization does in bettering the lives of millions.

Armstrong's reputation will always be tarnished, no matter what happens down the road in the investigation. If he's turned into a villain -- let's say he lied to investigators or took part in a massive cover-up -- rather than another dirty cyclist in a sport full of them, his legacy may never recover. But if he plays it right, stays quiet for a while, goes through whatever charade the government will create, eventually apologizes and explains himself down the road, he'll survive. He's done it before

Tony Parker is going from housewife to beauty queen.

The San Antonio Spurs guard is reportedly dating 20-year-old Barbara Morel, the winner of France's 2010 Miss Nationale pageant. Parker divorced his wife, "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria, in November after a three-year marriage.

Morel was the winner of the inaugural Miss Nationale pageant last December. The competition was created to challenge the more-established Miss France pageant, a French equivalent of Miss America.

Parker told a French newspaper last month that he thought the Spurs' title chances were over. He later backed off those comments when they created a firestorm in America. Before last week's draft, Parker was the subject of trade rumors but remains with the team that drafted him in 2001. The 29-year-old begins a new four-year, $50 million contract this season.

He and Longoria met in 2004 and were engaged two years later. She filed for divorce late last year after reportedly discovering hundreds of text messages he had sent to the wife of a Spurs teammate.

In addition to her pageant career, Morel studies trade and commerce in Saint-Lambesc, Bouches du Rhône.

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The St. Petersburg Medical Examiner's Office found that the 58-year-old had an enlarged heart with hardened coronary arteries. He became unresponsive while driving his Jeep Wrangler on a Florida highway in May and crashed into a tree. While the auto accident left minor cuts and bruises, the heart problems were the official cause of death of the wrestler.

At the time of his death, it was unknown whether the former wrestling star had died because of the heart issue or because the heart issue caused him to crash. The coroner said Savage was found with therapeutic levels of a number of prescribed drugs in his system and that alcohol wasn't a factor. There was no evidence he was taking any heart medication, leading to the assumption that Savage may not have known about his condition.

His wife, Lynn, was riding in the car during the accident. Their Jeep Wrangler flipped over a concrete median into oncoming traffic before skidding into a tree. The couple were married in a beachfront ceremony in 2010.

Born Randy Poffo, the future Macho Man had a brief minor league baseball career before joining the wrestling circuit. He grew to fame in the 1980s with the WWF where his bouts with Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and George "The Animal" Steele made him a star. Advertisements with Slim-Jim and his signature catchphrase, "Ooh yeah!," helped him become a household name.

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(Note: The video is free from both gratuitous nudity and violence but has hints of both. You can't see anything, if you catch my drift. Let's call it marginally SFW.)

I'm not going to say anybody ever deserves getting horned by by a bull but, actually, that's exactly what I'm going to do. That guy totally had it coming.

Juan Antonio Flecha was riding alongside Johnny Hoogerland during Stage 9 of the race when a French TV car swerved into him. The accelerating car clipped Flecha, who then ran into Hoogerland. Flecha fell on the pavement and Hoogerland flipped over his bike into a barbed wire fence.

Sporting only a few deep cuts and ripped jerseys, Flecha and Hoogerland quickly got back on their bikes and continued the stage, finishing in 136th and 139th place, respectively.

"I did what felt like a few somersaults," Hoogerland said. "I don't know where the car came from. Before I knew it, Flecha was on the ground and there was nothing I could do. We can still be happy that we're alive."

The Dutchman went to a hospital and was expected to receive 30 stitches on his left thigh. A spokesman for Flecha's team said it's not certain whether he'll be able to continue the race of Monday.

After the stage was complete, both riders were awarded a prize given to the day's most combative riders.

The ESPN sideline reporter isn't over the incident and knows she never will be. She's especially dreading the day her stalker is released from prison. (Michael David Barrett began serving a 30-month prison sentence last March.) "I'm being traumatized every single day for what he did," Andrews said after the sentencing. "This will never be over for me."

She tells interviewer Abigail Pesta about her plans to gain a copyright to the video, a move which would give her lawyers legal backing when they send cease and desist letters to websites that still post the clip. Evidently it takes the threat of litigation for websites to pull down an illicit video of a sexual crime.

The interview is worth a full read, particularly to hear Andrews' advice on steps to take to avoid becoming a stalking victim. She's fearful, yet brave; broken, but strong. Hers is both a heartbreaking and inspiring story. Some of the most interesting excerpts:

On seeing her stalker face-to-face in court:

It was awful. He ended up walking in right in front of us, and I started to hyperventilate. I looked at my dad and was like, "I can't breathe." My dad was a rock. I had these notes, and he goes, "Look down and concentrate on your notes." I looked down, and you could just hear teardrops hitting my paper. And it was funny, for a guy who stood behind a door and took this video of me and stalked me, he didn't look at me once in court. He couldn't look at me.

On returning to work after the tape was leaked but before the attacker was caught:

For the first few months, I didn't know if someone on my crew had done this to me; I didn't know if this person was still following me. I kept thinking he would jump out of the closet in the hotel. Honestly, I shouldn't have gone back so soon. I should have taken care of myself.

On why she continues to speak out about the incident:

At the time everything happened, I got a ton of letters from women who were stalking victims. People had set up video cameras in their homes, whether it was a neighbor or a handyman. The videos were on the Internet, and the women couldn't get them down or get these guys arrested. They said, "First, we want to welcome you to the sorority. But we also want to tell you to please fight this — you're our voice." I had to.

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A British teenager raised awareness for flood victims in London's Lake District by riding his bicycle on a lake 75-feet deep.

Matt Whitehurst, 16, insists the pictures are real but won't reveal how he managed to perch his bicycle atop the waters of England's Lake Buttermere. He performed the stunt to promote an upcoming cycling event that will raise money to build bridges destroyed in 2009 flooding.

"I can't and won't say how I did it, but plenty of people saw me and they'll confirm it wasn't a camera trick," he said. "The photos are real."

I'm sure the photos are very much real. So is the platform in the water on which Whitehurt's bike is likely standing.

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Also in the discussion: is Roger Federer done? What's going on in Rafael Nadal's head? Is American tennis on the wane? And what's up with all the grunting, huh?

Contador failed a drug test last year, hence the nuanced heckling from the man. (It would have been funnier if he held up a piece of filet mignon.)

If people are going to get that close to riders, they deserve to get pushed out of the way. Frankly, it's always amazed me how close fans can get to the cyclists during those uphill stages. Even the people who weren't being jerks and running on the course were still awfully close to getting run over by Contador's bike.

The Spaniard finished the day in sixth place overall.

That's the premise of "The Postmortal," the new novel by Drew Magary. Long known as one of the key voices behind Deadspin and Kissing Suzy Kolber, Drew joins us on the latest podcast to talk about the book, the trap of sportswriting, the joys of writing articles that inspire murderous emails (turns out people get upset when you bust on Charlie Brown, link NSFW), and oh so much more. It's fun stuff, though there may be a bad word or two dropped along the way, so don't play this one at your church youth group or anything.

Oh, and be sure to check out Drew's Tumblr for all kinds of ways to get hold of the book. Highly recommended.

WHY IS THIS NEWS is the Yahoo! Sports Blogs' all-sports podcast, covering sports (and movies, and television, and whatever else strikes our fancy) through the eyes of our esteemed experts. We, as always, are Jay Busbee, the editor of From The Marbles and Devil Ball, and Kevin Kaduk, the editor of Big League Stew, and you are our reader/listener, and we thank you for that.

To play the podcast, click the link below or save it on your computer. You can also click on the iTunes button below (or right here) to subscribe through iTunes, or the RSS button below (or right here) to run the feed to other players. And if you can't get enough, you can follow us on Twitter at @jaybusbee and @bigleaguestew for further updates.

Why Is This News 39: Drew Magary of Deadspin, KSK and 'The Postmortal'

From there, we talk a bit about the Miami scandal; Yahoo! Sports' Charles Robinson was the lead investigator, but Dan pitched in with a thorough profile of Nevin Shapiro. He's also spent time profiling NASCAR's reigning five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, and demolishes once and for all Johnson's persistent "vanilla" image. It's all good stuff.

For this episode, the roles get a bit wacky, as we bring on my Devil Ball Golf co-writer Shane Bacon and Kaduk peppers us with questions about why the Tour Championship even exists at all, why guys you've never heard of are teeing it up in the finals, and what could possibly be done to make this a more fascinating view. (Step 1: get it way the hell away from the NFL.) From there, we segue into a bit of Tiger Woods talk, of course, and Kaduk takes things in the baseball direction with some quizzing of Bacon on his hometown Diamondbacks. Is it so bad just to be "happy to be here" when you get to the playoffs? We discuss, you enjoy.

Here Comes Frazier was avoiding Leparoux's whip. The resulting jolt sent the 2009 Eclipse Award winner for outstanding jockey over the aluminum rail. The Daily Racing form reports Leparoux suffered only minor injuries to his wrist and fingers and rode in two more races later in the day.

[Rewind: Why horses don't get faster but humans do]

Here Comes Frazier was not as fortunate. The horse had multiple fractures in its hock and will need surgery. Trainer Ken McPeek expects the 2-year-old colt to survive but never to race again.

The $150,000 stakes race was won by Animal Spirits.

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In our conversation, we talk of Payton's life, of course, but also the blowback he received from Chicago fans when they learned that this wouldn't be simply a glorification of Payton's life. From there, we segue into discussion of Internet commenters, touching on Pearlman's CNN.com essay about tracking down some of his online haters. It's all good material, and we think you'll dig it.

WHY IS THIS NEWS is the Yahoo! Sports Blogs' all-sports podcast, covering sports (and movies, and television, and whatever else strikes our fancy) through the eyes of our esteemed experts. We, as always, are Jay Busbee, the editor of From The Marbles and Devil Ball, and Kevin Kaduk, the editor of Big League Stew, and you are our reader/listener, and we thank you for that.

To play the podcast, click the link below or save it on your computer. You can also click on the iTunes button below (or right here) to subscribe through iTunes, or the RSS button below (or right here) to run the feed to other players. And if you can't get enough, you can follow us on Twitter at @jaybusbee and @bigleaguestew for further updates. Check out Jeff's website at JeffPearlman.com, and order the book right here.

Why Is This News 42: Jeff Pearlman, author of the Walter Payton bio "Sweetness"

• His thoughts on seeing the Cardinals win another World Series

• Whether Game 6 was the greatest Series game ever

• What it's like to win (and lose) a World Series

• His thoughts on Tony LaRussa, the man who basically forced him into retirement

• His starting lineup (himself included) of the greatest nine players he ever played with or against

• His golf game (yes, he's playing professional golf, in a Canadian Tour tournament this weekend) and how he'll avoid the fate of John Smoltz, Jerry Rice, Tony Romo and other pro athletes who have tried their hand at professional golf. It's fun stuff.

Watch as Barnes and co-anchor Sophie Lui realize that their co-worker was the winner of the drawing, call him on live television and then try to act like they're not a little jealous that the guy delivering daily reports on the Canucks just won his choice of a $2.5 million country estate or $2 million in cash.

There were 288,000 tickets for sale in the lottery, ranging in price from $25 to $33. Over 3,000 prizes were awarded, ranging from $50 gas gift cards to earthquake disaster kits to 2012 BMWs. Deley's was, of course, the biggest.

The total sale of tickets brought in $9 million for the hospital. Taking out the $3.3 million in prizes, the hospital would stand to net more than $5 million from the raffle.

If you were like Deley and wondering whether it was "fishy" that he won, the official raffle rules state that only employees of the hospital and the official auditors were ineligible to enter. Deley purchased his tickets like everyone else.

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The NASCAR season is down to its final two races, and we've got one of the two competitors for the championship on the 'cast. Tony Stewart, two-time champ, joined us today, and topics included:

• Whether he's in the head of Carl Edwards, the one guy who's still ahead of him in the standings, and what he saw in Edwards' eyes when they talked after Stewart's win in Texas on Sunday;

• How, in his younger days, he convinced the suits at former sponsor Office Depot to loosen up and let him show up to an appearance without shaving once in awhile;

• Whether he runs better when he's got his back against the wall, angry at everyone around him;

• What television series he'd most like to star in after his appearance in "The Glades";

• Why he thinks Danica Patrick, who will drive for his team next year, will be a success on the NASCAR circuit;

• His involvement with Coca-Cola's Arctic Home charitable effort, which aims to protect the vanishing habitat of polar bears. Every Coke can, as well as the top of Stewart's car, will be dyed white to draw attention to the cause, or you can go to ArcticHome.com to learn more.

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You or I might seethe at the thought of our favorite player leaving town, muttering expletives into our sports-bar beer. Raab doesn't mutter. He brays expletives to the heavens in his new book "The Whore of Akron: One Man's Search for the Soul of LeBron James" (not much doubt about where he's heading with that title, huh?) and today, he joins us to talk all things LeBron. We also delve into the soul of the Cleveland fan (ripped to shreds by John Elway, Willie Mays, Michael Jordan and the Florida Marlins) and we take a hard turn into, like, reality when we discuss his writing for Esquire. (His series on the ongoing rebuilding work at Ground Zero is a personal favorite of mine.) This one's lots of fun, probably one of the best interviews we've ever done, and we think you'll enjoy it as well.

When you're done here, check out Scott's YouTube channel right here, follow him on Twitter right here, and go buy the book right here. Highly recommended.

• What exactly are we supposed to do when our chosen sports end for the season? Take a break, right? (No, not really, boss.)

• Why do golf tournaments offer massages to reporters? In heaven's name, why?

• What the hell was I thinking when I wrote "you don't boo women"? I try to explain myself as Kaduk tries hard not to laugh in my face.

• Plus some horrific repressed memories of Turkey Bowls past, like the many times our fathers hammered on us in tackle football as kids.

Yeah, we're kind of all over the map here. Listen while you're stuck in an airport somewhere.

• Which player benefitted the most from the lockout

• Comparing the NFL and NBA labor stoppages, with thoughts on why the NBA came out looking so much worse than the NFL

• What effect, if any, the lockout might have on YOU, the loyal fan

• How the lockout will shape David Stern's legacy

• What it was like being in the "lockout lobby," the center of the NBA media universe as everyone waited for thrilling news from intense negotiations

• ... plus assorted references to the Muppets, Tony Soprano and other pop-culture touchstones. It's good stuff, and it'll get you ready for the upcoming NBA season (now just three weeks away!)

Josh Blanchard wasn't having a very good day on the lanes. The PBA rookie was rolling a 129 in the ninth frame of a World Championship qualifier in Las Vegas. Then, it went from bad to much, much worse.

Note that, except for the guy recording his television for YouTube upload purposes, nobody laughs. Not the fans, not the announcers, not the opponents, not the guy himself. To listen to their seriousness, you'd have thought Blanchard had seriously injured himself, not made himself the subject of what will become the greatest bowling blooper clip of all time.

Thanks, Deadspin

There were enough real villains in sports this year to fill a bigger list than this. Rather than focus on them, this list highlights those whose malfeasances were on, or regarding, the field of play. From a blow-up in a major final to incompetent management, here is Yahoo! Sports Blogs' Top 10 sports villains of 2011.

10. The Boston Red Sox rotation

When the great Red Sox collapse of 2011 is remembered (and likely commemorated by at least a dozen different books by various authors), the antics of starting pitchers Jon Lester, John Lackey and Josh Beckett will be the microcosm of a disastrous season. They were said to be indifferent to training and anemic with their work ethic. And their penchant for eating fried chicken and drinking beer in the clubhouse during games is the stuff of which sports villains are made. Forget the fact that such behavior would have been endearing if the Sox could have held gone 8-18 in September and made the playoffs instead of finishing 6-20 and blowing a late lead in the season finale against the Baltimore Orioles. The fried chicken prevails over all.

9. Jeff Kessler

The Washington D.C. lawyer managed to get kicked out of not one, but two negotiating sessions during sports labor talks. Kessler is said to have almost sunk the NBA negotiations when he referred to David Stern as a plantation owner. That came on the heels of Kessler being accused of stalling NFL labor talks this summer.

8. Carlos Tevez

There's high maintenance and then there's Carlos Tevez. The disgruntled Man City forward was stripped of his captaincy after demanding a trade, refused to come off the bench during a Champion's League game because the coach had the gall to ask him to warm-up twice and has traveled back to Argentina against the team's wishes to play in golf tournaments.

7. Steve Williams

It wasn't the racial comment about Tiger Woods that got Williams on this list (although it certainly could have), it was the caddie's complete lack of appreciation for all Woods had accomplished with his help during their 12 years together. When the two parted ways in July, Williams went on Adam Scott's bag and proceeded to act like an ungrateful jerk while remembering his time with Tiger, even saying that Scott's win at Firestone was the "best week of my life." Yeah, winning that tournament was definitely better than those 13 majors and other tournaments for which Tiger won you millions.

6. Vityaz Chekhov

Despite the rough exterior, many hockey goons can be quite lovable. The goons populating the Russian team Vityaz Chekhov don't fit the bill. Puck Daddy has detailed the squad's goonery in full this year, from goalie fights to wrestling matches to wedding brawls. How bad is it? The KHL instituted a rule effectively banning Russian teams from having more than two "goons" per squad.

5. Chael Sonnen

A one-man MMA goon squad who has ripped on Octagon girls, stormed out of interviews and makes WWE declarations to beaten opponents. The highly-ranked American middleweight had off-octagon problems as well. In January, he pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud and received two years probation.

4. Numerous high school and middle school coaches

Take your pick from among these coaching heroes zeroes: The middle school coach who led his basketball team to a 100-2 victory. The racist who looked at a player and called him a "future welfare recipient." Or the guy who pulled a Buddy Ryan and put a bounty on a high school opponent. I particularly enjoyed the high school principal who banned her soccer team for performing The Bernie (a dance ripped off the epic film "Weekend at Bernies II.") But the biggest high school coaching villain is the junior varsity coach who brought his team to a cemetery after losing a game, made them lie on gravestones and told them that "the people below you would love to trade places and have another chance!" Once again, this was a junior varsity coach.

3. Sepp Blatter

Just when you thought the president of FIFA couldn't top his 2010 when he oversaw a "fair" voting process that sent the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, Blatter stepped up his game in 2011. He ran unopposed as president in an election that made the old ones in Iraq look fair, became frazzled when members of the press asked questions about the alleged bribes involving the Qatar bid and later uttered a four-word sentence that showed how out of it he really is: "There is no racism" in soccer, he declared. Phew! Glad we solved that problem!

2. Serena Williams

Things were going so well for Serena. After a trying year in which she injured her foot and suffered blood clots in her lungs, the tennis superstar was back to her dominant self on the court this summer. She entered the US Open as the prohibitive favorite, having won two straight tournaments entering the year's final Grand Slam, and cruised to the final without dropping a set. But at the first sign of trouble, she snapped. Two years after she threatened to kill a lineswoman and shove a ball down her throat, Serena took exception with the chair umpire's ruling that her shriek had interrupted the swing of Serena's finals opponent, Sam Stosur. Serena lost it once again, saying umpire Eva Asderaki was "a hater" and "ugly inside" and essentially telling her not to walk past her in a hallway, lest the umpire get beat up. During the whole tirade, Serena confused Asderaki with Louise Engzell, the umpire who sanctioned her during that infamous blow-up in 2009. Engzell also has blonde hair worn in a high ponytail but she is not Eva Asderaki.

1. David Stern and Billy Hunter

The entire NBA lockout should have already been forgotten. The schedule started up again on Christmas day and, by the time it concludes in early summer after a 66-game schedule and full playoffs, people wouldn't have remembered all the drama that got us to that point. And then David Stern vetoed the Chris Paul trade, ostensibly because he "owns" the team, but more realistically because other owners, who couldn't negotiate a desirable labor deal for themselves, thought this was a better way to push through their agenda. Stern's legacy will forever be an honored part of the NBA, but these last few, sordid months will always dog him too. It didn't have to be this way though. Forget the Paul veto; if Stern wasn't so bullying and Hunter had better prepared the player's association for the lockout, this whole mess could have been avoided. You'll notice Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith didn't make the list

.

10. Roscoe Smith's buzzer beater with 11 seconds left

Every now and then you'll see a basketball player release a buzzer beater with too much time left on the clock and you'll say to yourself, "if that were me, I'd have taken three more steps and shot closer to the basket," because it's much easier to keep track of time when you're sitting on your couch and watching the clock than it is while playing in the actual game. Point is, it's hard to know exactly when to release a potential game-winner with the clock running down to zeroes. It's not this hard though, as Connecticut freshman Roscoe Smith embarrassingly found out last spring during the Huskies run to college basketball's national title:

9. Christina Aguilera forgets the words to "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl

If I still know all the lyrics to "Genie in a Bottle," surely it shouldn't be so hard for Christina to remember the words to the national anthem.

8. Injuries of the year

Rafael Nadal burned his hand on a hot plate at a Japanese steakhouse. Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman required stitches after the recoil from shooting a gun at a gun range cut his throwing thumb. Tennessee's blue-tick hound mascot missed some time with a torn ACL. And the coup de grace: Stacy Lewis' mom broke her leg while jumping into a pond after her daughter won the Nabisco Championship.

7. Norv Turner

The San Diego Chargers coach is a walking gaffe, so picking one of his dozens of mistakes from 2011 is difficult. Our favorite was the time he took a timeout late in a game against the Chicago Bears and then challenged the previous play after said timeout. Why didn't he challenge it before taking the timeout? Only Norv knows. He lost that challenge and Norv was in the same exact spot, only with two fewer timeouts.

6. Nasir Robinson fouls

The greatest college basketball game of the year had one of the craziest finishes in NCAA tournament history. Pittsburgh and Butler traded leads multiple times in the final 2.2 seconds of their second-round game. After some circus shots, one other mind-boggling foul and a free throw miss, the game was tied and looked to be headed to overtime when Butler's Matt Howard came down with a rebound 85 feet from his own basket with 0.8 seconds left. Then Nasir Robinson of Pittsburgh inexplicably fouled the Butler big man. Howard hit a free throw and Butler had stolen a win from the top-seeded Panthers.

5. Athletes are mostly angry when it rains

Rain can't be avoided. Making decisions to resume sporting events after rain can be, a fact Andy Roddick and IndyCar driver Will Power know all too well. Both got into it with officials this year after being forced to restart their respective events in unsafe conditions. Roddick threw a temper tantrum at US Open official Brian Early because of an air bubble on his US Open court, eventually getting his fourth-round match moved to tiny Court 13 (capacity: 534). Power took a more subtle approach, flipping the bird to a race official after being forced to restart in the rain.

4. Craig Smith blows empty netter

3. Kevin Na whiffs on a tee shot

American Kevin Na is an excellent golfer. He won one tournament in 2011, finished in the top 10 of five more and and earned $2.3 million for the season. It all looked good for Na at a tournament in Las Vegas earlier this year when he stepped to the 14th tee as the co-leader. He took out his massive driver and stood over the ball, ready to tattoo it down the fairway. And then this happened:

On my best day, I'm barely a mediocre golfer and I can't remember the last time I whiffed on a tee shot. It didn't matter much to Ma though; he went on to win the tournament. Single-hole blow-ups are part of Ma's routine. Later in the year, he carded a 16 on a par-4.

2. St. Louis Cardinals World Series

In the 108 year history of the World Series, few moments were ever as bizarre as the one that took place in Game 5 of this year's Fall Classic. Tony LaRussa called down to the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen and asked for Jason Motte to warm up. Like he's down a thousands times in the past, LaRussa picked up the dugout phone, called down to the bullpen and asked for a reliever, this time, Motte, to start warming. Yet when LaRussa went to the mound, Lance Lynn standing there instead. Apparently the bullpen hadn't heard LaRussa's request properly over the phone and garbled the request. Lynn intentionally walked the batter because Motte wasn't ready and then was replaced by Motte, the reliever LaRussa wanted in the first place, all because of a bad phone connection. The manager was the subject of mockery for 48 hours after the game but got the last laugh: His Cardinals won the World Series and he retired, riding off into his baseball sunset as a champion.

1. Vince Young's "dream team"

Every other incident on this list was brought upon by extenuating circumstances, whether it be rain, a momentary lapse in hand-eye coordination or a mental slip. Each were provoked by something else. And then there's Vince Young. When asked about what sort of talent his new team, the Philadelphia Eagles, had brought in during the NFL offseason, Young responded that it was like they were building a "dream team." The press pounced on it and a new storyline was born. The Eagles were asked about the comments almost daily, and when a 1-1 start turned into a 1-4 debacle, the "dream team" moniker was used in derision. Did Young's comments have any effect on other teams figuring out how to contain Michael Vick, Andy Reid's fourth quarter indecisions, Juan Castillo's bizarre promotion to defensive coordinator or the countless turnovers that helped Philly blow fourth-quarter leads? Of course not. What it did was put a bigger target on the Eagles backs and gave the team a fitting epitaph for their lost season. It was a completely avoidable gaffe that still has repercussions. All Young had to do was keep his mouth shut.

In the second half of his seven-year run as UNLV's head coach, Lon Kruger built up his roster with several transfers from high-profile programs such as UCLA, Kentucky, Memphis and Kansas.

Oddly enough, the one who has turned out to have the biggest impact on the program is one that Kruger never got the chance to coach.

Kruger left for Oklahoma after last season, and sophomore UCLA transfer Mike Moser has been the biggest driving force behind 18th-ranked UNLV's torrid 8-0 start under first-year coach Dave Rice.

In each of his first two weeks of eligibility, Moser has claimed Mountain West Player of the Week honors. Last week's résumé was capped with a 16-point, 18-rebound, 6-assist effort in the Rebels' 90-80 upset on Saturday night of then-No. 1 North Carolina.

He could be well on his way to taking the crown for a third week in a row. As UNLV out-lasted UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday night in their first road game of the season, he scored a career-high 34 points to go with 10 rebounds, giving Moser his fifth double-double of the year. Against the Gauchos, he lifted a dormant Rebels offense in the second half by scoring 25 of the team's 44 points, and he also showed off more versatility than ever before by going 6-of-9 from 3-point range. Before Wednesday, he was just 2-of-17 from deep in seven games.

Moser's strength, without question, is his rebounding. Along with his 17.5 points per game, he's averaging 13.3 rebounds every time he steps on the floor. Of those, 8.6 are on the defensive glass, which is helping erase what was a major weakness for the Rebels a year ago during a 24-win campaign, as opponents with big, physical front lines were able to eat them up with second chance scoring opportunities.

"UNLV's Mike Moser is one of the best rebounder I have seen in a while," ESPN analyst Jay Bilas tweeted on Sunday. "Agile, long and believes every ball belongs to him. Impressive."

What's also coming now is attention from NBA personnel. 

Against UNC, roughly 40 scouts and executives were in attendance, mostly to check out the Tar Heels' collection of future NBA talent. But in the process, Moser generated plenty of buzz from them himself. Four nights later, a handful made the trip to Santa Barbara to check him out again.

There's not much for them not to like. At 6-foot-8, not only is he an elite-level rebounder, but he can defend all five positions on the floor, has deadly touch on his mid-range jumper and explosive leaping ability. At UNLV, he's technically listed as the team's starting power forward, but pro scouts are seeing that he could play either forward spot at the next level, as he's regularly running the break himself off of those defensive caroms.

After only eight games, the 'one-and-done' talk is already starting. Even teammate Bryce Jones, a highly-touted USC transfer who is redshirting this season, tweeted at Moser during Wednesday's win begging him to stay one more year just so the two can play together for a bit.

But there are plenty of examples floating around that the NBA, right now, is the last thing on Moser's mind.

From the moment he arrived at UNLV last season, Moser established himself as the team's resident prankster in an effort to promote camaraderie. Still, while he went hard at practice every day, he felt that when the team slumped mid-season, it wasn't quite his place to speak up.

This year, he's impacting the team in every way possible. On the floor, he's played with the chip on the shoulder that he's admitted to carrying with him from a frustrating one-year experience on Ben Howland's bench. Even his jersey number — 43 — was inspired by a wise crack someone made at a pick-up game this summer about his limited playing time as a UCLA frosh.

After games, he's been spotted helping struggling teammate Karam Mashour get extra work in. Moser said that becoming a better teammate in that sense was something that naturally developed after he wore those same shoes with the Bruins.

"I remember being Karam at UCLA," he said recently. "Sitting there the whole game, ready to play, and you only get so many minutes. It didn't feel like you were part of the game, so you come back out and try to get some work in.

"As much as I probably didn't like the situation (at UCLA) at the time, it definitely humbled me a lot, and it makes it easier to enjoy this moment right now. I'm playing well, and the team's rolling. I think without that (in the past), it wouldn't feel as good as it does right now."

The remaining suspense comes from seeing whether Moser can keep this type of play up the rest of the way. UNLV's schedule is far from light before Mountain West Conference play begins. Before Christmas, they battle at Wichita State (Sunday), at Wisconsin (Dec. 10), against Illinois at the United Center in Chicago (Dec. 17) and against Cal at home (Dec. 23).

If he does keep it up, the buzz will find no ceiling.

Follow Ryan Greene on Twitter: @ryanmgreene

The French Open begins two weeks from today but not before back-to-back premier tournaments in Madrid and Rome. Busted Racquet insider Patrick Mouratoglou breaks down the women's field at the first of clay court's big three, Madrid:

Victoria Azarenka: Hottest player on clay?

We've been waiting for the young player (she was born in 1989) to break out for some time and she's now on a roll since winning in Miami. Clay should really suit her game considering the topspin she can put on her forehand and her great footwork. The Belarusian is injury-prone and is still sensitive on the court though. But after Madrid and Rome, we'll know if it's realistic to picture her with the trophy in Paris.

Can Wozniacki catch a Slam?

Caroline Wozniacki is the other player of the moment. She's winning nearly every event she's entering, except one, of course. All she lacks now is a Grand Slam. She'll be in top spot for the French Open if she can clinch victories in Madrid and Rome, namely because of the confidence boost she'll get and the subsequent drain to that of her rivals'.

Stosur and Schiavone running late

Both finalists of the last Roland Garros are playing catch-up this season. We could have thought they'd find back their inspiration while walking again on clay but it hasn't happened yet. The pressure of the event coming in a few weeks seems to have stifled their games rather than unleash it. They have two more tournaments left in order to find the confidence back in order to be calm enough when the French Open will come.

We, as always, are Jay Busbee, the editor of From The Marbles and Devil Ball, and Kevin Kaduk, the editor of Big League Stew, and you are our reader/listener, and we thank you for that.

To play the podcast, click the link below or save it on your computer. You can also click on the iTunes button below (or right here) to subscribe through iTunes, or the RSS button below (or right here) to run the feed to other players. And if you can't get enough, you can follow us on Twitter at @jaybusbee and @bigleaguestew for further updates.   

Why Is This News 36--The Dagger's Jeff Eisenberg

Now 80 years old, Needham has done more in one life than most men have done in ten. He's just published a book, Stuntman!: My Car-Crashing, Plane-Jumping, Bone-Breaking, Death-Defying Hollywood Life. And in it, he recounts his days doing one or more of the following:

• Stunt-doubling everyone from John Wayne to Kirk Douglas to Burt Reynolds.

• Jumping trucks and boats, leaping out of buildings and off of planes, and breaking many, many bones.

• Orchestrating a team that drove broke the sound barrier. 

• Creating a NASCAR team from scratch, racing against Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, and doing a pretty damn fine job of it.

• Driving in the Cannonball Run, then creating the movie of the same name.

• Writing and directing Smokey and the Bandit.

That's not bad. We discuss all that and more in our chat. He's a hell of a lot of fun, and this podcast'll put hair on your chest. Even the ladies, so listen with caution. And after the jump, check out a couple of Needham's trademark stunts.

We, as always, are Jay Busbee, the editor of From The Marbles and Devil Ball, and Kevin Kaduk, the editor of Big League Stew, and you are our reader/listener, and we thank you for that.

To play the podcast, click the link below or save it on your computer. You can also click on the iTunes button below (or right here) to subscribe through iTunes, or the RSS button below (or right here) to run the feed to other players. And if you can't get enough, you can follow us on Twitter at @jaybusbee and @bigleaguestew for further updates.   

Why Is This News, episode 35--Hal Needham, stuntman and director of Smokey & The Bandit

Here are a couple of Hal's early stunts. If your back isn't hurting after these, you're not watching closely enough:

Still, that didn't stop our very own Kevin Kaduk from hitting Florida for the first half of Big League Stew's Spring Swing roundup. And today, he brings us back tales from his journey, including:

• Which (surprising) team had the friendliest players;

• Why it's sometimes advisable to take a picture while driving in traffic;

• How Kaduk was put in an extremely awkward position with not-so-Fat Joe Blanton;

• The best places to eat when in Tampa and various other locales; and

• Why you should never go get autographs from major league ballplayers after a certain age.

It's good stuff, and we'll have Part 2 after Kaduk returns from Arizona next week. Enjoy. 

Related: Why Is This News

Enter Jennifer Tilly, who joins us to promote NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship presented by GoDaddy, pitting established pros against celebrities like Jason Alexander (you know, George Costanza) and Emmitt Smith. Tilly, of course, has a foot in both worlds, being both an Academy Award-nominated actress and a poker tournament winner. We turned her loose and let her roll; it's ten of the fastest minutes you'll ever hear. And you'll be able to see how well she did at the tournament when it's broadcast in April and May.

The video quality is subpar and the guys filming it are laughing in the background. It's such a hilarious clip that neither of those things matter:

On an episode of "Seinfeld," it was said that Elaine's dancing looked like a full-bodied dry heave set to music. That's an apt description of this. Multiple viewings of the clip make it even funnier, but my favorite part is how quickly Ms. Barrett composes herself for the ESPN interview. She goes from wild flailing to calm manner in an instant.

The competition aired last weekend and the video quickly went viral. In its first four days on YouTube, the clip generated over 200,000 views.

Barrett is taking her newfound attention in stride. She told WMC-TV in Memphis:

"It's my senior year, I'm graduating and we've all worked so hard. I let everything go. I was just like so pumped, I wasn't able to contain myself. I think that could be cool for the girls to maybe get some recruits to come out and be on this team because it's a great team."

A great team with an early leg-up on some new choreography for next year.

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NBA star Shaquille O'Neal has the most followers of any athlete on the social media site, with over 3.5 million users reading his tweets. Brazilian soccer star Kaka is second on the list, more than 500,000 followers behind.

Though athletic success is a good yardstick in determining which men and women have the most followers, it's not as reliable an indicator as you'd think. For instance, Tiger Woods isn't in the top 10 but Chad Ochocinco is. (Tiger actually has fewer followers than fellow golfers Stewart Cink and Ian Poulter.) LeBron James cracks the list but comes in behind Reggie Bush. And of all the baseball players with accounts, one-time All-Star Nick Swisher is the most popular. (It doesn't hurt that he's on the New York Yankees.)

Here's the list of the top-10 athletes on Twitter, along with a sample tweet and a summary of their favorite subjects:

1. Shaquille O'Neal -- @THE_REAL_SHAQ -- 3,564,335 followers -- 51 tweets (in the month of February)

2. Kaka -- @kaka -- 2,934,112 followers -- 57 tweets 

Follow if you like: Real Madrid, speaking multiple languages.

3. Serena Williams -- @serenawilliams -- 1,931,286 followers -- 412 tweets

Follow if you like: reading about how much Serena Williams loves Green Day, her family and Kim Kardashian.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo -- @Cristiano -- 1,914,172 followers -- 88 tweets

Follow if you like: polite social media discourse and false modesty.

5. Dwight Howard -- @DwightHoward -- 1,874,255 followers -- 22 tweets

Follow if you like: reading tweets that appear to be written by a 13-year-old girl.

6. Paul Pierce -- @paulpierce34 -- 1,745,039 followers -- 69 tweets

Follow if you like: updates about what Paul Pierce is doing with his evening.

7. Chad Ochocinco -- @ochocinco -- 1,741,178 followers -- 630 tweets

Follow if you like: stream of conciousness rants that aren't quite as crazy as Charlie Sheen's; lots and lots and lots and lots of replies to fans.

8. Reggie Bush -- @reggie_bush -- 1,555,080 followers -- 61 tweets

Follow if you like: Reggie Bush (of the 10 athletes on the list, Bush is the only one I'd actually follow. He's often witty and posts frequently enough to keep you interested but not so much that you feel like he's taking over your Twitter feed, OCHOCINCO). 

9. LeBron James -- @kingjames -- 1,492,952 followers -- 46 tweets

10. Nick Swisher -- @nickswisher -- 1,273,939 followers -- 64 tweets

Thanks to Tweeting-Athletes.com for reference in compiling this list

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• If you want to have your song played at sporting events, it helps to have "rock" or "burn" in the title. Make a track called "Burning Rock" and you're set. 

• Though I had never heard the Sean Kingston or Nickleback songs prior to five minutes ago, I can see the mass appeal they might have for large, family-based audiences. Kingston, like the Black Eyed Peas, provides high-energy beats with safe lyrics, while Nickelback gives off a large-stadium sound and isn't Creed. But for the life of me, I can't figure out what allures stadium DJs to the Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott remake of "Car Wash." It was bad in the '70s and it's bad now. 

• Speaking of "Car Wash," it's the No. 1 song played at baseball stadiums. (How? Why? Are teams running car wash promotions in the parking lot? Does Armor All have a secret licensing deal with MLB? Did Rose Royce, the track's original singer, play baseball? Somebody needs to explain this to me.)

• The NFL favored "We Will Rock You." The song "Twilight Zone" (you may not recognize the name, but you've heard it) was most popular in the NHL, which is fitting given that hockey always seems to be about 15 years behind the times. 

• "Machinehead" is a good tune, but it's hard to believe it's played more than Metallica's "Enter Sandman," which seems to introduce dozens of college football teams and baseball relievers every year. Similarly, no "Welcome to the Jungle," "Don't Stop Believin'," "Let's Get It Started" or that "I like to move it, move it" song?

• Super Bowl performers Christine Aguilera and the Black Eyed Peas both made an appearance on the list. If I'm Kevin Rudolf or Soulja Boy, I'm not holding my breath for invites to next year's game, though.

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Hammerin' Hank joined us Thursday thanks to the good graces of Topps, which is in the midst of a 60th anniversary celebration that will include baseball cards worth more than a house. (Like that Aaron rookie at right.)

For our interview, we discuss everything from Aaron's earliest days in baseball to his take on young stars like Jason Heyward. He also gives us his perspective on both Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez assaulting his home run record, and he gives us the inside tip on which player he thinks would have fared the best in his day. Finally, he gives us his verdict on Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame:

"I think he should join us. I think he paid the price for his mistake, and it's time for baseball to open the door and bring him in."

Great stuff from an American sports legend. Check it out below.

Oh, but we don't stop there. We also talk about Tiger Woods, and what Mr. Trump would do if Mr. Woods spit at one of his courses. We discuss Mr. Trump's interest in the Mets. And he gives us his take on the NFL lockout. He knows most of the parties involved, and let's just say he's not planning on football anytime soon. Give it all a listen, we do good work. The Donald said so.

The Russian model sat down with Meredith Viera and Matt Lauer on Tuesday's edition of the "Today" show. Among the other revelations: Even though Russians "know all the secrets," she didn't know about the cover until it was revealed Monday night on Letterman, her hometown had one street and she doesn't want to talk about her relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo:

As she says at the end of the interview, Shayk will be flying to Las Vegas on Tuesday night. The jet lag should do her well.

Three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador was cleared on Tuesday of doping charges stemming from a positive drug test he insists was triggered by eating contaminated filet mignon during last year's race. The Spanish cycling federation exonerated Contador on Tuesday. International officials can appeal the case. For now, Contador's one-year ban has been lifted and he is immediately eligible to compete.

It's a stunning turnaround for Contador. When news of the positive test broke in September, it was widely assumed that he'd be stripped of his Tour de France title and the sport of cycling would suffer another drug-related black eye. Blaming his positive test on eating steak seemed preposterous, the equivalent of "the dog ate my homework." Contador's excuse had scientific merit but little in terms of practicality. 

At the time, reports indicated that Contador was found with .000000000000125 grams of clenbuterol in his system, a trace amount that doctors say could have come from contaminated meat. (Other reports said the amount was higher.) Clenbuterol is often used by cattle farmers to increase lean meat and can be passed on to humans if they ate steak injected with the drug. In theory, it could have happened.

The problem is, clenbuterol has been banned in the European Union since 1996. Some cattle farmers are known to illicitly use the drug, but insiders say that mainly happens in Asia. Of over 80,000 tests of animals in the EU during 2008 and 2009, only one came back positive for the drug. 

Even if Contador got his steak FedEx'ed from Southeast Asia, there were other signs of his guilt. As Austin Murphy wrote in a damning Sports Illustrated piece last year, Contador was also believed to have had a large amount of plasticizers in his blood, a fact which would suggest he had engaged in blood doping during the tour. Worse yet was the allegation that the head of the International Cycling Union initially denied Contador's positive test. Given the organization's past history of burying the news of failed tests by top riders, it was another red flag.

The news that Contador has been cleared does nothing to clean up the image of the sport. If anything, it may sully the reputation of cycling even more. 

Irina Shayk, girlfriend of international soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, is the cover model for the 2011 Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. The announcement was made Monday night on "The Late Show with David Letterman."

It will mark Shayk's first time on the cover of the annual issue. She has posed for the magazine for the past four years in addition to work with Armani and Guess. 

The 25-year-old Russian said she was surprised when she was revealed as the cover model during the taping of Letterman.

Related gallery: More photos from the SI swimsuit issue

"There were 10 models to do the Top 10 List, and nobody knows until the last minute who the cover will be," Shayk said, sticking to her story. "And then I saw it, and I couldn't believe it."

Though the announcement was supposed to wait until the end of Letterman's show, word of Shayk's cover got out on Twitter late on Monday afternoon. Because "The Late Show" films in the afternoon, the billboard near Times Square was uncovered briefly for taping and then re-covered moments later. In that brief time, a woman took a photo of Shayk's cover, and let the cat out of the bag a few hours early. 

Related photo: Olympian Leryn Franco also poses for SI

Shayk (whose real last name is Shaykhlislamova) has been dating the Portuguese soccer star since last spring. The two are said to have met while working on a photo shoot for Armani Exchange.

Though she's on magazine covers and 40-foot-high billboards and is in a relationship with one of the most famous soccer players alive, the 25-year-old Russian says she's shy and doesn't seek out attention. (Other than the posing on magazine covers and 40-foot-high billboards.). In a further blow to the stereotype of models-as-divas, Shayk plays piano concertos, volunteers with orphans and reads Dostoevsky.

Other models featured inside the issue include javelin thrower Leryn Franco, Hillary Rhoda and last year's cover model Brookyn Decker. Coincidentally (or perhaps not coincidentally), Decker is the significant other of another sports star, Andy Roddick. 

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Packed in these 232 seconds of greatness are two men dressed as ancient Egyptians doing an impersonation of a snake charmer, a portable dance floor, the worm and a reference to Rerun from "What's Happening!!"

Real wrestling is the best.