Bob Levey/Getty Images

Texans vs. Eagles is tonight as another installment of Thursday Night Football hits the airwaves on the NFL Network.

Andre Johnson will be playing for Houston tonight despite his brawl with Tennessee Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan last Sunday. You have to believe that it was because of this game that Johnson didn't find himself suspended by the league. Finnegan probably deserved a suspension based on his history but if they suspended him, Johnson had to go too so that wasn't an option.

However, the Texans have the worst pass defense possibly ever and just because Houston stopped Rusty Smith, it doesn't mean the Texans will stop Michael Vick. Just look at what Vick did to an awful pass defense in Washington.

I feel like we're going to see some fireworks tonight, and it will be Vick and the Eagles lighting up the scoreboard in a game that could turn into a shootout. However, I have the Eagles pulling away late for the win.

Prediction: Philadelphia 45, Houston 34

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Qatar World Cup is some of the biggest news of the day and there has been some outrage from those within the world's football community that the selection of Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup shows how corrupt FIFA is.

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated wrote about it today and he was very blunt in saying what he felt about the selection.

"The message here is that petrodollars talk," Wahl wrote. "For an outfit that likes to thump its chest and claim that it is not corrupt (Trust us, says FIFA president Sepp Blatter), having two oil-wealthy winners is the clearest message possible that FIFA needs a complete overhaul in its leadership and organization. Russia had a pretty good case for being chosen, but Qatar (which was funded heavily by its government and bought the support of celebrity endorsers) didn't make a lot of sense in the first place. Get ready for searing summer heat in the Middle East!"

That's without mentioning that it's almost impossible to find alcohol there and the penalties for drunkenness are huge. Other than that, good times!

Lana Lawless has gone through a long struggle to get herself and other transgender players involved in the LPGA.

Lawless won a long drive competition in 2008 and was later banned from the event because she was not a woman at birth. Lawless is a retired police officer who had sex reassignment surgery. The golfer sued the LPGA and the organization that put on the long drive competition.

Lawless said the female at birth rule violated a civil rights law and she said she would fight to keep LPGA events out of the state until the rule that kept her from playing was changed.

"It's an issue of access and opportunity," Lawless told the media in October. "I've been shut out because of prejudice."

LPGA players recently voted and decided to modify to constitution and allow players like Lawless the right to compete.

It's a huge victory for Lawless and it's good to see that you can win when you stand up for what you believe in.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Erica Blasberg committed suicide this past May but Thomas Hess pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction.

According to reports, Hess admitted to removing a suicide note and prescription pills from the golfer's home before police arrived to investigate. Hess said he wanted to spare her family the embarrassment.

In August suicide was determined as the cause of Blasberg's death with asphyxia cited as the main cause of death along with the presence of prescription drugs being rules as a significant factor as well. Hess didn't do a great job covering it up as it was obvious to her family that something was wrong.

“At first glance it looks like she might have taken her own life, but at a second glance, something is very, very strange about it," Blasberg's father was quoted as saying.

Hess was sentenced to one year of probation and 40 hours of community service.

Do you think the punishment fits the crime? Either way, its a sad, sad story.

Lana Lawless has been in the news for being a transgender woman who won an LPGA tournament and now, after a legal battle, Lawless and other transgender players are allowed on the course for LPGA events.

Lawless is a retired police officer who had sex reassignment surgery in 2005 and went on to win a long drive competition in 2008 and that's when the scandal started. Lawless fought it, calling the policy illegal.

"Before I won the Re/Max Women’s LDA Championship, the only requirement for participation was that I was over 18 and female. As a result of my winning the tournament, which was based on my skill, and not my gender, they changed the rules to require that I be born female. This is not only unlawful, it is shameful.”

It's a great day for Lawless and other transgender players. However, do you think they should be allowed on the course and how will other players react. I'm all for their rights and equality, I'm just not so sure everyone else is going to be as supportive when they're taking winnings from them.

Harry How/Getty Images

Blake Griffin has been one of the few bright spots for the Los Angeles Clippers last night and he helped lead the Clippers to their biggest win of the season.

Los Angeles beat San Antonio, the best team in the NBA 90-85 on Wednesday night and it was powered by Griffin's 31 points and 13 rebounds, who put on a show for the home crowd.

"It's always great to give our loyal fans something great to see like this win," Griffin said. "We have lost winnable games on the road, though, and we need to take care of that."

Losing to a team like the Clippers, who have been awful this season, sometimes teams like to make excuses for losses. That wasn't the Spurs after the night was over.

"We played badly, bottom line," Tim Duncan said to the media. "Nobody played well. I played awful. The ball wouldn't go in the hole. On top of that, Blake played great, Eric played great and they kept making shots down the stretch. ... Our defense gave us a chance, and we got to that threshold where a 3-ball or any made shot would have got us right in it, and we couldn't get the ball to go down."

So is this the start of something big for the Clippers or a flash in the pan? I guess only time will tell.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Kobe Bryant did his best to try and help avoid a four game losing streak for the Los Angeles Lakers but it was to no avail.

Bryant finished with 27 points as the Lakers lost to the Houston Rockets last night and after the game, he was noticeably annoyed with having to deal with questions about the losing streak.

"How do you know how good we think we are? We're fine," Bryant said after the game. "Are we going to win a three-peat today? Probably not, but the [expletive] is not played today."

The Lakers gave up 109 points and that lack of defense is something that Bryant wants to see changed going forward for Los Angeles.

"We've got to do a better job," Bryant said. "Houston shot 50 percent tonight ... that's unacceptable for our defense. We're slow. We're slow on rotations. It looks like we're kind of running in quicksand a little."

I'm sure the Lakers will pull out of this, they're too good of a team not to. It's just a matter of time but we'll see if Los Angeles and get out of this in the next couple of days.

Harry How/Getty Images

Los Angeles Lakers tried to snap a three game losing streak against Houston last night but came up short as the Lakers fell to the Rockets 109-99 on Wednesday night.

However, Phil Jackson isn't concerned.

"Concern? It's way too early in the season, and we've got a long ways to go," Jackson said to the media. "We've got some guys struggling and need to get better."

The Lakers were downed by a huge night from Shane Battier, who finished with 17 points and six rebounds. Even he didn't see this losing streak as a sign of major issues for Los Angeles.

"People are going to make a lot of their losing streak, but every team goes through it," Battier told the media. "We went through it, we're still going through it. Every team, I don't care how good you are, you go through lulls in the season. They're too talented for theirs to last too long. Expect them to go on a winning streak here very soon."

There you go. What do you think is wrong with the Lakers right now?

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Carlos Boozer made his first appearance in a Chicago Bulls uniform after injuring his hand and missing the start of the season.

Boozer 2-5 from the floor, scoring five points and pulling down two rebounds in 22 minutes of game action.

"My hand felt great," he said. "I went up and down. The first six minutes, the game felt much faster than practice, but I settled myself down a little bit. I think it's a starting point and it only gets better from here."

Boozer looked rusty for most of the game and didn't look decisive in making moves around the court, after the game, his head coach said he expected that type of performance from Boozer.

"That is to be expected," Tom Thibodeau. "I saw some good and not so good. I like his energy. He can only get better."

Boozer was a big part of Chicago's offseason and with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, they should form a trio that's hard to beat. Look for the Bulls to piece it together and be a major force for the rest of the season.

What do you guys think Boozer's return will do for the Bulls?

Angel Martinez/Getty Images

FIFA World Cup 2018 had its host nation announced today and it was Russia, beating out England, who has to be crushed to lose the event it worked so hard for.

Russia is one of the smallest soccer markets in Europe and the country used the effort to say that the World Cup would help the nation move forward as it tries to modernize and grow into the 21st century.

"Bidding for the World Cup will help Russia to overcome its tragic past, all the difficulties of the 20th century," Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said.

It is the first time Russia will host the event and the country talked about how it is not what it was in the past and how it is a new Russia and how the World Cup will show that to the committee and the world. It will be interesting to see how this is handled in England, where the game is a religion. I can't imagine there are many smiling faces right now.

It will be even more interesting to see how Russia does in hosting the games.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Derek Anderson spoke to the media for the first time since he went on a profanity-laced tirade after Monday's loss to San Francisco.

Anderson was seen laughing with a teammate on the sidelines as the Cardinals were being blown out by the 49ers and a media member decided to question the quarterback on the matter and continued to press the issue before Anderson snapped and stormed out of the room.

"I'd like to apologize for my actions after the game," Anderson said. "There is a more professional way I could have handled that. I wasn't raised that way. My mom and dad didn't raise me to act like that in times of adversity. Obviously I was very frustrated by what had happened during the game, and I let the emotions get the best of me."

It's good to see that he took responsibility for what he said because he looked foolish and immature, especially when confronted with an obvious fact. Too bad that won't help him on the field.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Heat vs. Cavs is tonight and Miami did not arrive in Cleveland without some incident.

According to reports, the crew of Miami's plane reported an issue with the wing flap as the team plane was approaching the airport. An alert soon followed and two fire trucks were sent to the runway. Eventually the plane landed safely around 2:30 a.m after the Heat ripped the Detroit Pistons apart on Wednesday night.

It just feels like there's so much karma around this game that I think the Cavs are going to win this and give the fans of Cleveland what they've been aching for since LeBron left to take his talents to South Beach. It's going to be a circus atmosphere tonight at Quicken Loans Arena and it already feels like something out of a movie with the plane having issues landing upon arrival.

Who do you have in tonight's game? LeBron and the Heat or the Cavs?

Angel Martinez/Getty Images

FIFA World Cup 2022 and its host nation are about to be announced in a couple of minutes and there are rumors that Qatar has won the bid after five nations including Qatar made their pitches to the selection committee.

The United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea also made pitches to host the event but Qatar has a ton of money and that money can go a long way towards helping land the event in the country, despite the sweltering heat that should be present during the World Cup.

"Qatar has a lot of money that we don't have," said Alan Rothenberg, who was part of the group that helped bring the 1994 World Cup to America. "I'm not talking illegitimately, but if they say they will build X number of stadiums and Y numbers of hotels, you can take it to the bank. It would not be viewed as an idle promise that you couldn't count on."

I really hope that the reports aren't true and that the United States still has a chance at this. After missing out on the Olympics, we could really use something like this.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Cliff Lee is the biggest free agent on the market this offseason and the Texas Rangers had their second meeting with the ace pitcher that helped take the Rangers to the World Series.

"We continued the dialogue," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said to the media. "There's really nothing to say. It's a process. There's no value in any kind of random updates or speculating. They're going through what they feel is a process, and they're going to make the best decision for him and his family."

The meeting went well according to reports and Lee's camp was said to be very happy with the talks when it was all said and done.

"It was a demonstration of the club's level of interest in the player, and it was a gesture we appreciated," Lee's agent Darek Braunecker said to the media "It's not that we requested it. It's not that Cliff needed it. It was appreciated."

That's a good sign for fans of the Rangers, but the Yankees have a right to print money so it could turn into a bidding war.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Carl Crawford is quite possibly the biggest free agent bat on the market this winter and recently he met with the Boston Red Sox about a deal.

It will likely take something in the seven year, $120 million range, similar to the deal that Matt Holliday got from the St. Louis Cardinals. The Red Sox don't normally give out deals like that, so it will be interesting to see if Boston breaks its own rules a bit.

The Los Angeles Angels are expected to make a huge push for the outfielder and Boston is prepared for the possibility of being outbid by the Angels, who are looking to make a splash this offseason. However, Boston has never given a deal longer than the five year deal given to John Lackey that happened to be worth $82.5 million.

If they're gonna give that much money to an overpaid pitcher like Lackey, it's time to step up and sign a player like Crawford who is nothing short of a slam dunk.

It will be stunning to see the Red Sox out bid for Crawford.