The “franchise” tag is one of the worst things that can happen to you as an NFL player, because it forces you to accept a one-year contract at a pre-determined amount and there’s nothing you can do about it. How desperate are guys to avoid the dreaded tag? Desperate enough to deliberately get arrested?

That’s one theory about what’s going on with the Seahawks’ Leroy Hill, who was cited for misdemeanor pot possession last month when he was pulled over in suburban Atlanta for having a busted brakelight in his 1975 Buick Electra. That’s right, Leroy was rolling in a busted-up Electra. Some folks are calling shenanigans.

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It’s fair to say that the economy is still in the crapper. Why, they’ve already boarded up the Virgin Megastore in my community, the Circuit City is holding a ‘going out of business’ sale, and the Steve & Barry’s has already been long gone. (Just when I was about to get my own Starbury’s, too.)

And I refuse to check the status of my 401K & IRA statements, knowing full well that my accounts are dwindling down like the attendance at Memphis Grizzlies games. But I guess it could be worse. It’s not as if I’m Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen, and I just lost seven billion dollars.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to be playing for their VIIth Super Bowl trophy in franchise history this Sunday, when they face the Arizona Cardinals in Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII. And now would seem like just as good a time as any to profit off of their former victories. You probably remember that three years ago the Steelers were winning their VIth Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks in Detroit — the hometown of Jerome Bettis! — and the outcome of the game was rather suspicious.

Seahawks fans have claimed ever since that the Steelers didn’t win the game as much as the referees gave the game to them. At the time there was one Seattle fan who wrote a letter to then-NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, and the owners of each team, Paul Allen and Dan Rooney. The letter gave a detailed description as to how the fan thought that the game was fixed so that Pittsburgh would win, and though he never heard back from Tagliabue or Allen, Rooney did take the time to let him know he was a moron. Now he’s selling Rooney’s letter on eBay.

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By now, you’ve probably seen the footage of the Jets’ Shaun Ellis hurling a giant snow chunk at Seahawks fans on his way out of Qwest Field on Sunday, in response to his teammates getting pelted by the Seattle faithful.

But you may not have heard that folks in Seattle just don’t handle their snow well in general, as it appears that they also tossed frozen treats at their own cheerleaders and coach Mike Holmgren as he attempted to make a lap around the stadium thanking fans for their support during his coaching tenure (Sunday was his last home game as coach).

Basically, as the video after the jump shows,  anyone who was on the field was fair game. A little frustrated, Seattleites?

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Is it going to be like this for the next year and a half? Every NBA team with cap space rolling out the red carpet for LeBron James like it’s a recruiting trip and he’s Johnny Walker. Last night was the Knicks’ turn to playing willing host, both figuratively and literally - the fans gave him a hero’s welcome, and the team played their role as second bananas as they were little obstacle in the Cavaliers’ 119-101 win.

Meanwhile, let me remind again you that King James doesn’t become a free agent until July 2010 - that’s almost two full seasons from now. So expect the parade to be coming to your town very soon - perhaps he won’t be wearing special shoes dedicated to your city, but believe me, you’re going to get really sick of it very soon.

Also coming to your city is Ball State - provided that your city is Detroit, and not a place like Glendale, New Orleans, Miami or Pasadena where they have a BCS bowl game. The Cardinals took care of Western Michigan 45-22 to wrap up a perfect regular season and book a date in the MAC title game in the Motor City. So good for them, I guess.

Meanwhile, there were some damned compelling college basketball games last night. Chief among them was Notre Dame hanging on to beat Texas 81-80 at the Maui Invitational, as A.J. Abrams’ desperation 60-footer at the buzzer hit the rim but missed. It sets up a meeting against No. 1 North Carolina for the eighth-ranked Fighting Irish and a chance for their fans to have something to celebrate in advance of their annual thrashing at the hands of USC this weekend.

• How many ways to hate Jon Gruden? Let FOOD COURT LUNCH show you all of his punchable faces.



• Say hello to Diagne Thierno Seydou Nouro, the Danny Almonte of Japanese high school basketball: The MAINICHI DAILY NEWS says the Senegalese exchange student shaved almost five years off his age to play on a championship-winning high school team.
• Your daily dose of economic bad news: ESPN reports that plenty of advertising spots for the Super Bowl this year are still available, despite NBC’s earlier rosy predictions.
• In other financial news, the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE says that Cal coach Jeff Tedford has deferred a bonus payment due to him until…some time in the future.
• Pete Carroll’s excuse for the otherwise inexplicable loss to Oregon State earlier this year? He tells the LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS that it was the aftermath of the hype of the Ohio State game.
• Speaking of Oregon State, it looks like their path to their first Rose Bowl appearance since the 1964 season just got murkier, as THE OREGONIAN reports that star running back Jacquizz Rodgers is unlikely to play in their must-win Civil War game against Oregon this Saturday with an injured shoulder.
• Just when Cleveland Browns fans thought they had seen the last of Derek Anderson doing anything other than holding a clipboard…the CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER notes that he’ll be the starting QB for the final five games now that Brady Quinn is shelved for the year with his broken finger.
• Julius Jones tells the SEATTLE TIMES just how fired up he is to face his former team the Cowboys this Thanksgiving. I’m sure that Dallas is just as excited to see his hapless new team the Seahawks come to town.
• INTENTIONAL FOUL brushes up on some of the greatest mustaches in NBA history. Expect NBA TV to have a four-part special over Christmas.
• Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira buyers beware! THE EXAMINER has compiled an all-Scott Boras Bust team.

The No Fun League is becoming the No Privacy League. Not content to monitor and penalize players for their actions in front of tens of millions of viewers, teams are now keeping an eye on their employees everywhere from locker rooms to hotels to nightclubs. And they’d better be good, because Santa Goodell knows if they’re being naughty or nice.

(”What? A cornerback just ordered a Long Island Iced Tea somewhere? I’m on it.”)

Hannah Karp of the WALL STREET JOURNAL took a look at the measures in place to protect the image of a league with $7 billion in revenue, and finds some methods that could be considered draconian. I’ll admit I was surprised that around 10 percent of NFL players have been arrested. But even more surprising are the Orwellian lengths some teams will go to to keep their golden geese out of trouble.

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From what I’ve been told, the city of Seattle is one of the most beautiful in all of the United States.   I’ve never been there to see it myself, so when I think of Seattle I tend to think of grunge music, rain, Starbucks coffee, and bad sports teams.  Things have been so bad in the Pacific Northwest that the Sonics left Seattle for Oklahoma City of all places.   The Mariners are horrible, and the state’s two college football teams have combined to go 1-15 this year.

Still, even though there have been plenty of bad teams in Seattle sports history, for the last few years the people in Seattle have always had their Seahawks.   In the last decade the Seahawks have won five division titles, and even got to the Super Bowl a few years ago where they fell to the officials Pittsburgh Steelers.   Well this season, Seattlites (Seattleans?  What the hell do you call somebody from Seattle?) don’t have the Seahawks to give them hope, as the team is now 2-6 and it’s causing fans to wonder what the point of living is.

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ROFLZberger: The Steelers led the Giants for most of the way this evening, but when the fourth quarter came around, the Giants came alive and the Steelers came undone. New York took advantage of a bad snap on a punt for a game-tying safety, then marched decisively down the field for their first touchdown of the game to make it 21-14. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh’s offensive line imploded, and Ben Roethlisberger was utterly unable to get anything started for the home team. Cheers to the Giants, who (sorry, Tennessee) can reliably lay claim to being the best team in the NFL right now.

Welcome to the NFL, Mike Singletary. Your team sucks: Read more…

After another dismal defeat on national television, the Seattle Seahawks are now the worst team in the NFL’s worst division, trailing even the Rams and 49ers — who have already fired their coaches this season.

Mike Holmgren’s team has been decimated by injuries this year, which may be part of the reason he decided to compare them to the high school team he used to coach 30 years ago. I don’t think it was supposed to be a compliment. Although when you’re stuck choosing between Seneca Wallace and Charlie Frye at quarterback, the comparison might be entirely appropriate

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• Greek basketball team offers Kobe Bryant a three-year, $83 million contract, plus a lifetime supply of extra virgin olive oil. His wife Vanessa wants to renegotiate the second part.



• Roger Goddell is Blinky to Adam Jones’ Pac Man: the NFL Commissioner drops a four-game suspension on the Cowboys troublemaker after he brawled at a hotel with his bodyguard.
• Scottish police confiscated more than 240 gallons of alcohol from soccer fans before last weekend’s World Cup qualifying match against Norway. Judging by the awful play of their team, I hope the cops gave the booze back to them on the way out.
• Spanish soccer player agrees to play for free this season. His agent, Drewlio Rosenhausalez, is not pleased.
• Steve Bartman five years later: still single, still living with his parents, still lucky not to have been ripped limb from limb by Cubs fans.
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