When longtime Patriots assistant Eric Mangini left to coach the Jets, New England coach Bill Belichick openly seethed about his right-hand man’s defection. Belichick refused to wish Mangini good luck, instead holding a grudge against him that extended all the way to chilling non-handshake meet-and-greets at midfield after games between the Jets and Patriots. Well, now another Belichick chosen assistant has departed and, like Mangini, Josh McDaniels may be getting slighted by his former tutor.

According to numerous sources, McDaniels’s Broncos were close to a deal for his former quarterback, Matt Cassel, on Friday night. At the last minute, New England backtracked from the deal and included Cassel, a player they were willing to franchise tag at a cost of millions of dollars, in a trade made earlier for linebacker Mike Vrabel with the Chiefs. The Cassel addition may go down as one of the great throw-ins of contractual history, right behind free jalapeno poppers when you buy a large Coke.

The decision to send Cassel to the Chiefs not only smacked of favoritism for Belichick’s former front office compatriot, longtime Patriots-turned-Chiefs GM Scott Pioli, it also tomahawked McDaniel’s new offensive lineup before he even gets a chance to work with it. When the Broncos angled for Cassel, it became clear the team was willing — anxious even — to deal Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler. That concept didn’t play well with Cutler or his teammates, as you read right here yesterday.

Suddenly, after the Patriots received only a second round draft pick for the package of Cassel and a Pro Bowl linebacker, it became clear that something was amiss. By keeping Cassel from the Broncos, Belichick not only hurt a team that has long been a thorn in New England’s side, he also stuck the move to his former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Belichick is smart enough to know that the Chiefs are still one, probably two years away from legitimate contention. That’s not necessarily the case for the Broncos, and being able to hold back an assistant he didn’t want to leave may have only made shorting Denver an easier decision for Billy B.

The lopsided deal — which, as we pointed out Saturday, could become a lot more plausible if the Patriots land Julius Peppers — was so out of character that some writers have called for an investigation into why the Patriots made it. FANHOUSE columnist Jay Mariotti is the biggest name among that group, and (somewhat shockingly) he makes some decent points as to why something is clearly fishy with the deal.

Mariotti probably won’t get his probe, but the Patriots may get a lot more scrutiny over future moves, and that’s something that would have seemed crazy even a week ago.

We hate to stick with sports teams that play in a single east coast city, but there’s another Boston move that bears further inspection: the Celtics’ signing of team-killer Stephon Marbury. Starbury made a predictably impressive debut off the team’s bench on Friday, but he was 0-for-3 against the Pistons on Sunday, racking up four fouls in 13 minutes, not to mention one embarrassing steal he practically handed to Detroit’s Rip Hamilton. In short, he looked awful, and his brooding gaze under a towel on the sideline didn’t seem to help things during Boston’s upset loss at home, either.

Naturally, that raises the question of whether, if Marbury continues to struggle in a bench role, he’ll be content sitting on said bench. Clearly the Celtics thought he would, because there’s no way he’s stealing any time or any of the role from emerging point guard Rajon Rondo, but there’s no precedent for Starbury “fitting in”. In fact, he’s never fit in, so why should the Celtics assume he will now? Clearly they may have been using specious logic in believing that Doc Rivers, as compelling a coach as he has been, could instantly get Marbury on board with Boston’s team dynamic. That just means that Marbury could be more trouble than he’s worth, which is precisely what the Celtics don’t need if they have any hope of repeating without James Posey.

Just when it looked like Manny Ramirez was finally going to sign that Dodgers deal, Brooks’ recent prediction that he’ll sit out at least the start of the season looks even more prescient. According to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. TIMES, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is using his prerogative to screw over Scott Boras, claiming that all talks for a deal for Ramirez must now “start from scratch”.

At one point on Sunday, the two sides were said to be less than $2 million apart on a two year deal, with only Ramirez holding an option on the second year. The chance to reach agreement on that faded away when McCourt showed his cheap side. Often dumb, but cheap, when he said the Dodgers and Ramirez will have to start from step one, reeling in Boras to a de-facto admission that the Dodgers are the only team with legitimate interest in Ramirez, then fleecing him by saying that a $45 million deal for the slugger is “off the table”.

The question now is only whether McCourt will suddenly get really, really stingy, trying to drive down Manny’s asking price by $5 million or more, or whether this is all an exercise in saving face and proving a point. The danger there, of course, is whether Boras convinces Manny he’s being disrespected, telling him to turn to some type of a strangely-structured deal with the Giants. That’s probably unlikely, but the way talks have been going, it sounds more and more like a deal between Manny and the Dodgers isn’t so likely at the moment, either.

• Longtime Jazz owner Larry Miller was laid to rest on Sunday, and all of his children drove to the funeral in sports cars, an homage to his start in an auto parts store. Naturally, Karl Malone and others were in attendance in a pretty classy ceremony.



• Former NHL degenerate Steve Downie is back in the news, which can only mean one thing: He’s getting himself in big trouble. This time he didn’t take his frustrations out on an opponent, he used a ref … and slashed him with a skate.
• Is anyone else sick of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant facing off? After missing each other for far too long, they suddenly have played three times in three weeks. Shaq won this round, but really, do we want to watch any more right now?
• On Sunday, THE WASHINGTON POST reported that Maryland might have been on the verge of a recruiting violation because of contact between Under Armour, former Terp Byron Mouton and top prospect Lance Stephenson. Now the U of Md. is responding, and they’re not taking these allegations lightly. Naturally, Stephenson probably isn’t, either, which just means he’s almost certain to land somewhere else.
• Bad idea: Offering up a helmet night when one of you’re players has a real shot at a hat trick. Worse idea: overturning the third goal … then watching him score a third goal minutes later:

• Wait, so you’re saying that LaDanian Tomlinson could be a Saint? What would we have to do to make that happen. Can you even imagine that backfield?
• One of Bill Simmons’ favorite phrases that ESPN won’t let him say: Benedict Cockblock. Luckily, Adam Carrolla can say that whenever he wants. God bless.
• You know those images that you don’t want to see, but can’t turn away from because they’re just too riveting? Meet female bodybuilder Christy Resendes squeezing an orange … with her biceps:

• We just got a lot more respect for Virginia Tech: Any school whose fans openly want to “teabag” another school’s point guard can’t be all bad.
• There are now two pieces of evidence that Maddox Jolie-Pitt is a serious Liverpool fan.

This year’s NCAA basketball tournament is apparently going to be the first one played without any #1 seeds, because nobody seems to want to claim any of them. This week, Pitt decided to be the latest top-ranked team to tank it, trailing by as many as 20 points in the second half in an 81-73 loss to Providence. The Friars are suddenly looking pretty good for an NCAA bid, with 9 Big East wins and 17 overall. This was their first win over a #1 team in nearly 33 years. Luckily for all involved, Jonathan Xavier was not at the game.

Professional golf, which ceased to exist last June when Tiger Woods got hurt, will finally resume today. Nobody’s happier for this development than the other golfers who Tiger will be competing against, whoever they are. Tiger’s first round match at the Accenture World Match Play Championships tees off at 2:02 Eastern time this afternoon. His opponent is someone named Brendan Jones, who just learned how to play golf last week. How confident is NBC that Tiger will make it to Saturday’s semifinals? They’re airing ads promoting Tiger’s appearance on the NBC broadcast this weekend.

(He didn’t win anything. This is just the trophy he gets to carry around every day for being Tiger Woods)

Do you have World Baseball Classic fever yet? Does anyone? This WBC seemed like a good idea a couple of years ago, but this year’s rosters are devoid of many of the sport’s biggest stars. Your U.S. roster features such giants of the game like Chris Ianetta, Jeremy Guthrie, and Matt Thornton. The Dominican team is without Albert Pujols and Manny Ramirez (who’s from New York City, mind you), but now gets to deal with the distraction that is A-Roid. It’s all moot, of course, since the powerhouse Italians are winning the whole thing. Who can stop Val Pascucci and Nick Punto?

As a reward for winning the title last year, the Celtics get to have 29 players on their roster. Case in point: the C’s have signed the recently waived Mikki Moore, who was playing for the Kings. And now the long-rumored acquisition of Stephon Marbury is about to happen, since Steph was finally bought out by the Knicks. Shockingly, New York was not successful in swinging a trade for a guy whose salary is $21 million and has spent his season hanging out at bus stops and buying tickets to see his own team play.

 • TMZ says that Charles Barkley might have to don a pink prison uniform during his five-day stay in the same jail that houses rapper DMX. Although, it appears as if Chuck has been given “work release” and only has to be in jail from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. So, basically he’s staying in a crappy hotel for five nights and wearing a pink snuggie.

• Charles Goldberg of the Auburn blog THE GOLD MINE writes that highly-regarded high school running back David Oku has moved from Oklahoma to Lincoln, Nebraska to be closer to some girl he met while on an official visit to Nebraska. And his parents are OK with their kid taking off to go live on his own and date a college girl. This seems like a great idea.

• Speaking of Stephon Marbury, the poor guy had to accept a buyout of around $2-3 million less than his salary for “playing” this season for the Knicks. But Darren Rovell of CNBC says that Marbury earned enough that he could’ve bought a pair of his Starbury sneakers every nine seconds.

• The CFL isn’t recognizing there’s a recession, according to the VANCOUVER SUN. Four CFL cities (all of which are home to teams called the Roughriders) are in the process of securing funds for new stadiums or improvements to their current facilities.

• Former major league pitcher Rick Helling on steroids: “There is this problem with steroids. It’s happening. It’s real. And it’s so prevalent that guys who aren’t doing it are feeling pressure to do it because they’re falling behind. It’s not a level playing field. We’ve got to figure out a way to address it.” When did he say this? 1998. TIME has the story of a guy who went ignored way too long.

• The SPORTS HERNIA points out that the Mets’ Fernando Tatis missed Monday’s intrasquad game with a rather unusual injury:

• PRO FOOTBALL TALK says that Eric Mangini and the rest of the new Browns staff is “lukewarm” on Brady Quinn. Which is rather insulting, considering Quinn won all those national championships in college.

• As if there aren’t enough Shulas running around, Dan Shula — son of David and grandson of Don — has been hired as an assistant coach at Illinois State.

• The Supreme Court may be hearing a case that results in a ban on public school coaches participating with members of their teams in prayer or other religious expression, according to the TENNESSEAN. Current precedent doesn’t allow coaches to initiate prayer, but doesn’t necessarily ban them from participating.

• The Oakland A’s have scrapped plans to build a new ballpark in the East Bay suburb of Fremont. San Jose has now apparently emerged as a new contender to rip the team away from the Mausoleum.

• WITH LEATHER says that Jason Giambi has aspirations to be a bouncer at a strip club after he retires from baseball. And Rick’s Cabaret in New York City is first in line with a job offer (link somewhat NSFW).

This was one of the more highly-anticipated NBA trade deadlines in recent memory, with names like Amare Stoudemire and Raef LaFrentz’ Expiring Contract flying all around. So, of course, it was a given that absolutely nothing of note was going to actually happen.

(2009’s inductee into the Expiring Contract Hall-of-Fame will continue to not play for Portland this season)

The most hilarious part of all of this is that ESPN set aside an entire hour yesterday afternoon to talk about all the big news that was going down. And then nothing happened, other than some blockbusters like Rashad McCants for Shelden Williams and Larry Hughes for Tim Thomas and The Contract Resulting From Jerome James‘ Fluky 2005 Playoff Run. So Mark Jones had to sit there and come up with crap to talk about with the likes of Jamal Mashburn and Chris Broussard, while all three looked like they would have rather been making out with Louis Amundson. They even had Marc Stein call in with some “breaking news” that the Knicks were thinking about trading Nate Robinson to Sacramento, then had him call back five minutes later to say it wasn’t happening.

So, what happened? Mostly, Portland decided that they’re OK with what they have, and will take the cap space from LaFrentz’ expiration and a trade exception they acquired for Ike Diogu into the offseason, instead of shipping a few parts to bring in someone like Vince Carter or Richard Jefferson. The Cavs showed some interested in bring in Shaq, but that never really got off the ground. And the Suns backed off on any Amare trades because they’ve scored 282 points in two games since kicking Terry Porter to the curb.

Meanwhile, everyone else seemed scared to make any deal that would add any payroll because of the current economic climate — and David Stern’s recent warning that the salary cap will probably be going down for the next couple of years.

I tuned in just after halftime of last night’s Celtics-Jazz tilt in Salt Lake, and noticed that Michael Rappaport was playing big minutes for Boston for some reason. What the heck was Scalabrine doing in the game? Then I realized that Kevin Garnett wasn’t out there. And while Celtics fans are probably upset about losing 90-85 to the Jazz, they’re much more worried about KG’s strained knee. He’s having it re-evaluated today, but a strained knee could mean anything from a slight hyperextension that will heal in two days to a torn ligament that could end a season. Could another Boston team be derailed by a catastrophic knee injury? New England holds its collective breath.

So, now that we’ve found A-Rod’s drug-enabling cousin, it’s time to figure out what this “boli” crap is that the two were injecting for fun back in the day. Turns out that the substance, called Primobolan, was actually illegal in the Dominican Republic during the time Rodriguez says he and his boy Yuri were supposedly buying it from a pharmacy there. Still is illegal, actually, and all attempts by ESPNDeportes to buy some from different pharmacies were rebuffed.

ESPN cites a Dominican official who says that the drug would not have been for sale in a pharmacy, but could have been found either on the underground market or on the Internet. A-Rod also tested positive for testosterone, which is available over-the-counter in the D.R. So, it appears — and here’s a shocker — that Rodriguez might not be telling us the whole truth here.

(”Like I said, Yuri and I bought the Ebola from a guy named Manny who ran cockfights in Santo Domingo. It was all totally, completely legal. Manny just got it from the pharmacy and then gave it to us.”)

• Is there anything more simultaneously hilarious and tragic than a big, furry mascot seriously injuring itself? During NBA All-Star weekend, the Bobcats mascot made an impressive H-O-R-S-E shot that glanced off the, uh, groinal region of the Bucks mascot, who was standing on top of the basket. No, that wasn’t the injury. That came when the Buck tried some sort of Shawn Johnson-esque dismount that ended with a torn ACL. BALL DON’T LIE brings us the video from the L.A. TIMES:

• Tom Glavine will be throwing 82-mph fastballs that are low and away but are called strikes anyway for at least one more year.

• A bus carrying the Albany River Rats AHL team crashed on the way home from a game in Lowell, Mass. early Thursday morning. Several players and the radio guy were injured, and some of the players might miss significant time, says the AP.

• The first women’s hammer throw Olympic gold medalist ever collapsed and died on Wednesday. What makes this really tragic is that it was only nine years ago that Poland native Kamila Skolimowska won gold in Sydney. She was just 26 years old, and the cause of her death is unclear.

• INSIDE WORLD SOCCER says that L.A. Galaxy fans are not happy that David Beckham is doing everything he can to not have to come back to the MLS. And, as you no doubt know, you do NOT want to make an MLS fanbase angry. That’s a mild displeasure that will haunt Beckham for minutes.

• THE ONION says that Nate Robinson is now just walking around jumping over Dwight Howard in his everyday life.

• The Lions needed a new offensive coordinator that would fit well into the Lions legacy. And, as luck would have it, fired Rams head coach Scott Linehan just happened to be available. Can you think of a more appropriate choice?

• FANIQ brings us a three-part video series featuring a guy waiting for a bus with Stephon Marbury. I guess he just happened to find Steph sitting at a bus stop, and asked if he could shoot a couple videos with him. Somehow, this totally makes sense. Here’s part 1:

• The LOHUD YANKEES BLOG says that not only are the Yanks trying to pull some shenanigans with their season ticket holders, but they can’t spell and/or use basic grammar correctly either. Really, this letter is pretty embarrassing coming from a professional sports organization. If George Steinbrenner was still alive, he’d be really angry.

• I swear, you can’t go five minutes without another huge controversy in the world of professional bass fishing. The L.A. TIMES has the story of Kim Bain-Moore, who is the first woman to ever fish in the apparently important Bassmaster Classic. The 50 male competitors are bent that she qualified on a women’s tour instead of the way they did. Because as we all know, a fish can totally tell which gender is holding the pole that destroyed its life.

• I don’t think there’s any really great way to die, but getting shot through the chest with a crossbow is probably not one of the best ways to go.

Barry Bonds may be getting his own Southwest Airlines “wanna get away?” commercial in the near future. The NEW YORK TIMES reported late last night that federal authorities have urine samples believed to belong to Bonds that have tested positive for anabolic steroids, and not just the “cream” and “clear” that Bonds has already admitted to taking.

(This wood shack in Manitoba is where you can find Barry for the next six months)

The news came as authorities raided the house of trainer Greg Anderson’s mother-in-law in an effort to put pressure on Anderson to testify against Bonds, which he has thus far refused to do. Anderson has been in prison for more than a year for contempt of court. Much more on this to come today, I’m sure.

The Internet was abuzz when Mickey Rourke called out Chris Jericho on the red carpet at the SAG Awards the other night and said he would participate in April’s Wrestlemania, presumably as his Randy “The Ram” Robinson character from The Wrestler. Well, that excitement lasted all of three days.

Rourke has released a statement saying that he won’t be getting into the ring after all. Perhaps Rourke decided that he wouldn’t stand a chance unless maybe he could get the Ultimate Warrior out of retirement.

The last thing anyone wants to be these days is the #1 team in college basketball. For the third straight week, the top-ranked team went down. This time, it was last week’s #1 Wake Forest taking down Duke, which rallied from a 13-point deficit in the 2nd half but forgot to play defense on the last play of the game. James Johnson’s virtually uncontested layin with 0.8 on the clock gave the Demon Deacons a 70-68 win. Here’s the end of the game. If you want to see the last play, skip to about the 3:50 mark:

Elsewhere, #6 North Carolina got a three-pointer at the buzzer from Ty Lawson to beat Florida State, while #21 Villanova handed #3 Pitt its second loss of the year in the last college game ever at the Spectrum in Philly.

• SI.COM isn’t bowing to the liberal media, as they’ve brought conservative pundit (and vaguely Palin-esque) S.E. CUPP (yeah, that’s her name) on board as a columnist. Her first subject? Bull-riding, of course. THE BIG LEAD has more.

• Everybody thinks they can run an MLB team. Now, 2K Sports is giving you the chance to prove it. Billy Beane is the pitchman for MLB Front Office Manager, which lets you run a franchise as a GM and see if you can screw up as badly as Steve Phillips. There are some other titles out there along these lines (I like Baseball Mogul), but this still looks like it could be pretty cool for all the seamheads out there.  CNET’s GEEK GESTALT blog has a story on the launch.

• DEADSPIN has a photo of columnist Jason Whitlock with a couple of strippers:

•  The OKLAHOMAN says that Oklahoma City sports anchor and former ABC sideline reporter Dean Blevins fell and hit his head on some ice on Monday, causing him to miss the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game. He says he actually was laid out unconscious for at least 45 minutes in broad daylight before a neighbor noticed. Yikes.

• The ORLANDO SENTINEL says that Bobby Bowden has agreed to a one-year contract to remain at Florida State, but there appears to be no commitment beyond that.

• Iowa radio broadcaster Ed Podolak, who resigned after photos of him enjoying himself a little too much in Tampa before the Outback Bowl hit the web, is seeking “professional treatment,” according to THE WIZ OF ODDS. If everyone who’d ever had pictures taken of them drunkenly hitting on a questionable girl sought treatment, half of America would be in rehab.

• Stephon Marbury still isn’t playing, but the NEW YORK POST reports that he’s still in business. The store that sold his cheap Starbury sneakers closed, but now he has an arrangement with Amazon to sell the shoes online.

• Jason Caffey, who might have the worst illegitimate-children-to-points-per-game ratio in NBA history, now has a warrant out for his arrest for failing to pay more than $200,000 in child support, says the AP.

• PRO FOOTBALL TALK reports that Jon Gruden finally spoke out after getting thrown under a entire fleet of buses over the last two weeks by his former players. He called himself “Chucky,” and didn’t outright deny interest in the Notre Dame job.  He probably would’ve been better off just staying disappeared.

One of the arguments I’ve heard over and over about keeping the current BCS system in college football is that a playoff would make the regular season irrelevant. Why get fired up about USC losing to Oregon State if they are still going to make it into the playoffs? The traditionalists, conference heads and Beano Cook all agree that college football already has a playoff called the regular season, and a postseason playoff would only tarnish it and make it unimportant.

Allow me to offer a counter argument based on last night’s college basketball results. Go tell the Northwestern basketball fans (and yes, they do exist) that the regular season doesn’t matter because it’s all about March Madness. In what might be the greatest day in Northwestern basketball history (and possibly the only great day in Northwestern basketball history), the Wildcats beat No. 7 Michigan State 70-63, their first win at East Lansing since 1984.

Or, go ask Virginia Tech fans if they are excited about knocking off No. 1 Wake Forest 78-71, handing the Demon Deacons their first loss of the season (that is if you can get them off the court.) Or Clemson fans how they feel about their team extending their record at North Carolina to 0-54 after getting shellacked 94-70 by the Tar Heels in a match-up of Top Ten teams.

But clearly, nobody cares about college basketball until March, which is why ESPN has about 500 games on a night across their vast network of channels. Seriously, this logic is as flawed as the BCS system itself - college basketball is thriving because of March Madness, not in spite of it, and nights like last night serve as a pretty stark reminder why.

The NBA also has a playoff at the end of the regular season, and people seem to be watching that as well (at least the final three minutes or so of games). And it was a pretty fun night there, too, if not as upset-filled. For example, the Lakers beating the Clippers 108-97? Not a surprise.

But Andrew Bynum going off for 42 points and 15 rebounds? Big surprise. The Lakers are already among the league’s elite teams. If they get anything resembling that kind of production from Bynum on a regular basis, it’s a scary proposition for the rest of the NBA.

Here’s the other sports news you missed last night as you were still stuck in traffic trying to get back from the Presidential Inauguration:

• With all the great basketball finishes last night, the best one was certainly in the SMU vs. Marshall game, where Markel Humphrey made a 75-foot shot as time expired to give the Thundering Herd a 53-50 victory. WSAZ-TV has the story and video.



• You might remember the Greek basketball team Olympiakos when they lured Josh Childress from the Hawks and made a big money offer to Kobe Bryant. Now NEWSDAY is saying that they have contacted the Knicks about getting Stephon Marbury out of his contract and over to their team. I wonder if they buy cheap sneakers in Athens, too.
• Rod Marinelli isn’t bitter at the Detroit media. No, not at all. MLIVE.COM says the new defensive line coach for the Bears greeted some male Detroit writers who approached him at the Senior Bowl with a curt “Hello, Ladies” before ignoring them. Needless to say, a women’s sports group has already squeezed an apology out of him. Hey, he might not like the Detroit media, but at least he didn’t steal their luggage.
• Ever see the scores of one of those ridiculous high school basketball blowouts and wonder what it feels like to be unceremoniously thrashed? The DALLAS MORNING NEWS talks to the players on the Dallas Academy’s girls basketball team after their 100-0 loss on Tuesday to find out.
• OK, I understand that Stanford might be having budget woes, as INSIDE BAY AREA reports. But they have a squash team? What’s next, racquetball? Kickball?
• I imagine being a ball boy is a rough job - physically demanding, pressure-filled, and having to deal with your friends’ jokes about your job title. So what you probably don’t need is to take a forehand to the head, like STUFF NEW ZEALAND says this poor kid did at the Australian Open:
• After getting ripped by Troy Aikman, who said that he didn’t “fully grasp what being the Cowboys quarterback is all about,” Tony Romo tells the DALLAS MORNING NEWS that he has vowed to change his leadership style in 2009. The first step: personally delivering a Singapore-style caning to anyone who speaks to Ed Werder.
• With Charles Barkley having exited the broadcast booth (temporarily or permanently), it’s fallen on Chris Webber and Gary Payton to pick up the slack of slightly insane basketball analysts, and they are doing a fair job of it. NESW SPORTS has video of them slamming Nene for getting married over the All-Star break, which devolves into suggesting that Dwight Howard dunk over him and his bride. Good stuff.
• In yet another example of the failing economy intruding into the protective bubble we call sports, the CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER reports that the Browns have laid off 18 employees, including their Director of Media Relations. Perhaps Rod Marinelli could handle a second job?
• A high school basketball coach in Philadelphia tells the PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS that he doesn’t blame his player who sucker punched him in the back of the head following a close loss, but feels for him. If only my old boss was so forgiving after I kneed him in the groin after he cost us the Putnam Electronics deal.

I lucked into some great seats from a buddy last night, ended up a few rows off the court at Staples for the Lakers-Cavaliers game. Working on SbB so much and traveling all over the place the last year, I’ve been a little disconnected from my beloved Lipstick City, so it was nice to re-familiarize with the town and once again come to appreciate what L.A. is really all about.

(”Dude looks like a lady, cuz she is“)

So long as they keep winning, the Lakers will continue to rule this city. The Dodgers could win 50 World Series in a row and it wouldn’t matter. Between the magnificence of Staples Center, the quickness of the games and Kobe’s celebrity, it really will never get any better for a team in this town.

Last night I spent about half the evening watching the game, which was somewhat a moot point because of the Cavaliers’ injuries. The other half was thoroughly enjoying the presence of Stephon Marbury and Sly Stallone just in front of me, recognizing the unemployed Pat O’Brien and the off-the-radar Al Bernstein right next to me, and most importantly, celebrating the Sweet 16 of 72-year-old Dyan Cannon’s lips.  Read more…

Question time! The Boston Celtics, after starting the season 27-2 and drawing comparisons to the 72-10 Chicago Bulls from 1995-1996, have lost 3 of their last 4 on the road and are now tied with the Cavs and Lakers in the loss column, with 5 on the season. If the Celtics were to make an acquisition, which player in the NBA right now would be the absolute worst pickup they could make? Think. Think hard. Close your eyes and focus on one concept: epic failure. Who should the Celtics avoid like the plague wrapped in a smallpox blanket covered in barbed wire and the canine AIDS?

(Hello!)

Oh yes, Stephon Marbury. The most prodigious locker room cancer in recent memory. Yes, the Celtics should not even think about hiring him. They could put Zach Braff at the point (and raise some sweet cross-promotional dollars from ABC) and not do as much damage to the team. So naturally, according to Marc Stein at ESPN.COM, as soon as the Knicks buy out his ludicrously expensive contract, Starbury is headed to Boston:

Read more…

Is Manny Ramirez really going to end up being a Yankee when all is said and done? The pinstripers look like they’re willing to attempt to buy a World Series title for their long-suffering fans (seriously, there are Yankee fans in college who haven’t seen a championship since they were in junior high!). The NY DAILY NEWS is saying that the Brewers have taken the Mike Cameron for Melky Cabrera trade off the table, leaving the Yanks looking for an outfielder.

(get ready to see this a lot next year, Yanks fans)

It makes perfect sense. Manny is from New York City and grew up literally within a mile or so of Yankee Stadium. Manny also cares about placating Red Sox fans possibly less than anyone who has ever played in Boston (and you thought Sawx fans were mad about Johnny Damon going to the Bronx). Manny’s also the kind of guy who would probably go play in Kazakhstan if they offered him the most money, so if the Yankees offer the most cash he almost certainly will go there. The DAILY NEWS claims that Hank Steinbrenner is pushing for Manny, while Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman aren’t entirely sold on the idea. Stay tuned.

Joe Johnson bricked a free throw with three seconds left last night, and the Celtics did something they couldn’t do in last year’s playoffs – win in Atlanta. Boston won its 16th consecutive game with an 88-85 victory over the Hawks. At this point, I think it’s legitimate to start considering the C’s a potential 70-win team. They’re 24-2 now, and are not entirely reliant on the “big three.” Guys like Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins are turning into legitimate players, and they just don’t seem to have any major weaknesses (well, there is Ray Allen’s defense).

In another big game, the Hornets went on a late 13-0 run and beat the Spurs 90-83 in New Orleans. Chris Paul set an NBA record by recording a steal in his 106th-straight game.  And  LeBron James got a standing ovation last night for his 32-point performance…in Minnesota. That’s how desperate T-Wolves fans are to cheer for something. It must warm Kevin McHale’s heart. The Cavs won the game 93-70 to improve to 21-4.

Elton Brand dislocated his right shoulder in the third quarter of a win over the Bucks last night. Anyone think that it’s just not in the cards for Elton? Every team he plays for isn’t any good, and he keeps finding new and exciting ways to injure himself.

Now it’s time for you to guess how many links I’ll be providing you now — without going over (don’t be that guy who bids $1):

• I know this is a sports blog, but we need to talk about The Price Is Right for a second. On Tuesday, a guy got the price of his showcase exactly right. This has only happened one other time in this history of the show, back in the early ’70s (the exact date isn’t known). But the big shock in all of this is that Drew Carey reacted to this unbelievable achievement as if the dog he just had neutered was hit by a car:

So what’s the real story here? Well, it seems that there was a ringer in the audience. Apparently, there are people so obsessed with TPIR that they memorize the prices of anything and everything that could be on the show (and I guess some prizes are repeated), and one of those people just happened to be in the audience and shouted out the exact price of the showcase, which Terry used as his bid (Terry also got his one-bid item right on the nose earlier in the show, presumably with the help of the mystery man). And the guy has been found. His name is Ted. After Terry’s bid (but before Drew revealed the actual answers), suspicious producers stopped the taping and met for what is rumored to be as long as 30 minutes to decide what to do, but then realized that no rule had really been broken (people are allowed to shout suggestions from the audience). But Drew knew exactly what was going on, and thus didn’t even pretend to be excited when he announced the winning bid. I feel bad for the other lady, who was only $400 off. Tough break.

•  CBS2 in L.A. brings us sad news. MMA fighter Justin Levens and his wife were found shot to death in a Southern California condo yesterday. Levens had a 9-8 professional record, and had fought for various brands, including UFC. One of his losses was to Evan Tanner, who died earlier this year when he ventured out into the desert alone and ran out of water.

• The last surviving member of the football Hall of Fame, Sammy Baugh, died yesterday at the age of 94. DC PRO SPORTS REPORT memorializes the man who revolutionized the quarterback position.

• Scott Shafer resigned as defensive coordinator at Michigan after one season, and blamed the “demise” of the program on himself. No, it certainly didn’t have anything to do with the horrible offense. The DETROIT NEWS has the full story.

• FOR THE RECORD has their five worst officiating calls of the year. Poor Ed Hochuli, rooting very hard for a Bronco loss this weekend.

• More unfortunate news, as former Astros and Cubs closer Dave Smith died yesterday at the age of 53. Smith is Houston’s career save leader with 199. FAN HOUSE points out that Smith will most be remembered for giving up a walk-off homer to Lenny Dykstra in the 1986 NLCS, but Smith was an excellent pitcher. His career 2.67 ERA was well below the league average for relievers during his career.

• Here’s a doozy. BROOKLYN MET FAN says that Bernard Madoff, who screwed Mets owner Fred Wilpon out of about $300 million in his giant Ponzi scheme, has already paid for two season-tickets behind home plate at the new CitiField. Something tells me Bernie might not be showing up for those games, though. Meanwhile, the Mets are having to squash rumors that the team’s in financial ruins because of all of this. To get your mind off all of this, Met fan, let’s look at this random photo of Shea Stadium’s destruction:

• London Fletcher isn’t exactly happy with being left out of the Pro Bowl yet again, considering he’s the leading tackler of the decade in the NFL. THE BIG LEAD says Fletcher is calling himself the “Susan Lucci of the NFL.”

• Knicks players basically ignored Stephon Marbury last night, according to the NY DAILY NEWS. Marbury bought his own ticket to the game and showed up to watch, but received no acknowledgment from any of his “teammates.”

• Tony Romo tells USA TODAY that he missed T.O.’s birthday party because he “couldn’t walk,” alluding to a back contusion he suffered against the Giants. Take that, Ed Werder.

• Why tune in to the Las Vegas Bowl this Saturday? I got six words for ya: David Hasselhoff sings the national anthem.

Any chance to elect Gary Coleman as Grand Marshal of the Las Vegas Bowl parade?

• Stephon Marbury shows up courtside for the Knicks-Lakers game, after all - not on the bench, but in some pricey seats.

• Brian Giles is slapped with a $10 million domestic abuse lawsuit. Is it true? Let’s go to the videotape.

• Tony Dorsett’s nephew can score you some coke stronger than anything Mean Joe Greene tosses.

Read more…

I don’t have any way of independently verifying this, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that last night’s Knicks-Lakers game at Staples Center saw an NBA first. And it wasn’t anything that happened on the floor. Well, it happened close to the floor, I guess. Look who showed up, as a “fan”:

Yup, Stephon Marbury, who is being paid $21 million this year to stay away from the Knicks, bought his own courtside ticket to the game and showed up to watch. Steph, of course, can certainly afford the seats. But how comical is this whole thing getting? The Knicks contend they’re still working on a buyout with Starbury, but he seems to be pretty content to just be chilling, doesn’t he?

Anyway, there was a game, and it was a pretty good one. The Lakers overcame the absence of Pau Gasol — who has strep throat — and a 15-point halftime deficit, to beat New York 116-114. Lamar Odom, battling the flu himself, had season highs with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

The lamest all-star game had its participants announced yesterday. Get used to seeing a bunch of guys from New York running around Honolulu in February. The Jets had a league-high seven players named to the Pro Bowl yesterday, while the Giants are sending six players to the game, including 44-year-old kicker John Carney and 42-year-old punter Jeff Feagles.

Both Mannings made their respective teams, and are the first pair of sibling quarterbacks named to the game in the same season. Peyton will start the game for the AFC, while Kurt Warner, who looked completely done three years ago, will start for the NFC. The Gunslinger made the AFC team (but why?), as did Mario Williams, who was once considered a bad draft pick over Reggie Bush and Vince Young. You can see full AFC rosters here, and full NFC rosters here.

Joe Paterno, who has said in the recent past that he’d probably die if he stopped coaching, was given a three-year life extension yesterday. However, the door is open to shorten or lengthen the contract as necessary. So, basically, the announcement just served the purpose of assuring recruits that JoePa will at least be back next year. Of course, I don’t think Paterno’s known the names of any of his players for a decade now, so that might not make any difference.

(”Who the f*** are you? Where’s Woody Hayes?”)

Alright, let’s hit the links:

• Padraig Harrington only won two golf tournaments this year, but since they were consecutive majors that was good enough to get him voted as PGA Player of the Year.  ESPN’s Jason Sobel explains why Paddy won the award over Tiger Woods.

• THE WIZ OF ODDS says Turner Gill would rather hang out for another year at Buffalo than take over Iowa State’s flailing program. That’s the shape your team is in, ‘Clone fans. Gill probably should’ve taken the job, though, considering that winning five games in two years there qualifies you to coach in the SEC.

• There’s just no words to explain the following photo, so I’m not even gonna try. Big thank you to TMZ (which has more pictures like this if you’re so inclined):

• Sean Avery has been kicked to the curb by the Dallas Stars because of the “sloppy seconds” incident. I’m still completely baffled by the level of outrage this brought out. US MAGAZINE says Avery checked in to a voluntary treatment program (for what? Crude humor?), but TSN says that’s not true.

• OVER THE MONSTER says that Peter Gammons believes that Mark Teixeira is choosing between the Red Sox and Nationals and may make his decision in the next 24-48 hours. The Yankees, Orioles, and Angels are all supposedly still in on Tex as well.

• UAB’s basketball team lost four players yesterday, according to the BIRMINGHAM NEWS. Two players decided to leave the team, and another two were disqualified for the rest of the year because of poor academic standing. Things are going very well for Mike Davis.

• A lot of sports franchises have fallen on hard times, but the Chicago Blackhawks are undergoing a rejuvenation. The CHICAGO TRIBUNE’s Chris Kuc talks about how the Hawks have gone from barely drawing 10,000 fans a game to leading the NHL in attendance in one season. The resurgent Hawks are averaging 21,475 fans per game (outdrawing the Bulls), and are one of the best teams in the NHL’s Western Conference.

• The IDAHO STATESMAN says that a former Boise State football player has arranged for four copies of this billboard to be placed around the San Diego area advertising the team, which will play in the Poinsettia Bowl next week:

They’ll probably win the game, considering they’re bringing two sledgehammers onto the field with them.

• GM is not renewing its contract as official automaker of the Yankees, says XM MLB CHAT. Toyota and Audi will take over that distinction. GM also left a similar situation with the Pirates, and is reviewing deals with six other MLB teams that expire in 2009.

• More from TMZ: Vince Young contends that three guys, including ’70s baseball player Enos Cabell, “stole” the nicknames “VY” and “INVINCEABLE” from him, which is somehow preventing him from getting endorsement deals from Reebok and video game makers. Not being very good at NFL football is apparently much less of a factor.