Friday Tidbits: Jan. 16, 2009

Kevin Mawae missed last weekend’s game for Tennessee.  Baltimore beat them on a Matt Stover FG. Anquan Boldin didn’t play for the Cardinals, but they still destroyed the Panthers.  Larry Fitzgerald proved he’s the best WR in the game. 

Edge and Tim Hightower were the better 1-2 Punch that day.  Dwight Freeney got fined $20 thousand for criticizing officials.  I’m sorry; I thought you could speak your mind in America.  Rod Marinelli joined the Bears staff.  Now he can give them all of Detroit’s secrets. 

Donovan McNabb and the Philly D took it to Eli and the Giants.  Willie Parker and the Steelers rolled over the Chargers. Despite the recent failures of New England guys (Mangini, Romeo, Charlie), Denver hired Josh McDaniels as their next head coach.  Tony Dungy is stepping down.  Jim Caldwell will take over. 

Arizona lost TE Stephen Spach (knee) for the rest of the playoffs.  Gene Smith became Jacksonville’s new GM.  Scott Pioli will be Kansas City’s new GM.  Mike Nolan will be Denver’s new Defensive Coordinator.  Michael Irvin had a gun flashed at him, but wasn’t harmed because it was by Cowboys fans. 

Chris Samuels was replaced by Jammal Brown in the Pro Bowl.  Detroit hired Tennessee Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz as their new Coach.  Gregg Williams was hired as New Orleans D Coord.

Charles Barkley is taking a leave of absence from TNT.  The Cavs gave it to Boston.  Memphis re-signed Darius Miles despite warnings of a lawsuit from Portland.  If I were Miles, I’d sue Portland for trying to keep him from getting work. 

The Wolves won their fifth straight game.  Brandon Roy returned from injury.  Carlos Boozer will miss another month.  Al Horford missed a few games with a bruised knee.  Tracy McGrady will miss two weeks to improve his conditioning.  I hope you took my advice and dealt him after his good game last week. 

Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich returned to action for the Bulls.  Ron Artest will miss another week.  Marco Belinelli will miss a week or so with a sprained ankle.  Washington will be without Etan Thomas (knee). 

LeBron James messed around and got a triple-double.  Chris Paul had one too, and with seven steals nearly had a quadruple-double.  Orlando made an NBA record 23 three-pointers in a win over Sacramento.  Delonte West fractured his wrist. 


Pittsburgh’s Ruslan Fedotenko broke his hand punching Colby Armstrong and will miss six weeks.  Toronto’s Mikhail Grabovski got suspended three games for shoving a linesman.  Boston’s Claude Julien and San Jose’s Todd McLellan will coach the All-Star game. 

Julien could be without Bruins F Marco Sturm (knee) for the rest of the year.  Phoenix will be without Kurt Sauer for a month.  Shea Nash landed on the IR.  Phil Kessel went on the IR for mono.  Calgary co-owner Doc Seaman passed away. 

The Islanders sent Brent Skinner to Atlanta for Junior Lessard.  Columbus traded Clay Wilson and a draft pick for Jason Williams.  Brendan Shanahan signed a deal with the Devils.  Roberto Luongo is back.

Shutouts: Columbus’ Steve Mason vs. Washington, New York Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist vs. Ottawa, Phoenix’s Ilya Bryzgalov vs. Dallas, Dallas’ Marty Turco vs. Phoenix, Nashville’s Pekka Rinne vs. Toronto, Detroit’s Ty Conklin vs. L.A.

Hat Tricks:  Edmonton’s Erik Cole vs. Washington, Toronto’s Jason Blake vs. Carolina

The Mets signed Tim Redding.  The Dodgers signed Shawn Estes.  Boston signed Mark Kotsay and Takashi Saito.  Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice were elected to the Hall of Fame. 

Kelly Shoppach signed a one-year deal with Cleveland.  Omar Infante signed a two-year deal with Atlanta.  Houston signed Jose Velarde to a one-year deal. The Brewers signed J.J. Hardy to a one-year deal.  Tampa signed Gabe Kapler to a one-year deal. 

Atlanta signed Derek Lowe to a four-year, $60-million deal and a three-year deal with Kenshin Kawakami.  Jay Gibbons signed a Minor League deal with Florida.  Guillermo Mota signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers.  San Diego signed Mark Prior and Chris Burke.  Chone Figgins signed a one-year deal with Anaheim. 

Detroit signed Fernando Rodney and Marcus Thames.  Bartolo Colon signed with the White Sox.  The Red Sox signed Kevin Youkilis to a four-year deal.  B.J. Upton (shoulder) will likely miss the first week of the regular season.  Milwaukee signed Dave Bush. 

Texas signed Brandon McCarthy.  Michael Young OK’d a move to third base.  San Diego signed David Eckstein.  They are moving him to second base.  The Dodgers cut Andruw Jones.

Northern State University Coach Don Meyer won his NCAA record 903rd game.  No. 21 Louisville beat No. 17 Villanova. No. 15 Marquette beat No. 22 West Virginia.  No. 6 Oklahoma beat Kansas State behind Blake Griffin’s 29 points and 15 rebounds. 

No. 13 Notre Dame beat Seton Hall behind Luke Harangody’s 30 points, 16 rebounds.  Miami beat No. 24 Boston College.  No. 1 Pitt beat St. John’s behind DeJuan Blair’s 23 points, 15 rebounds.  No. 4 Wake Forest beat No. 3 North Carolina behind Jeff Teague’s 34 points. 

No. 20 Louisville beat No. 13 Notre Dame behind Terrece Williams’ 24 points, 16 rebounds, and 8 assists.  Louisiana Tech suspended Kenny Cooper for the season.  Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks poured 54 points on Tennessee. 

No. 2 Duke beat Georgia Tech despite 17 rebounds from Gani Lawal.  Texas A&M beat No. 21 Baylor behind Chinemelu Elonu’s 17 points and 16 rebounds.  No. 1 Pitt beat South Florida behind DeJuan Blair’s 18 boards.  No. 12 Georgetown beat No. 8 Syracuse.  Illinois beat No. 24 Michigan.  USC beat No. 15 Arizona State.

Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree, Missouri WR Jeremy Machlin, BYU WR Austin Collie, Alabama RB Glen Coffee, Utah DE Paul Kruger and CB Sean Smith, Penn State DE Aaron Maybin, Ball State QB Nate Davis, Boise State WR Jeremy Childs, LSU WR Brandon LaFell, Pitt RB LeSean McCoy, Florida’s Percy Harvin, USC’s Mark Sanchez, and Ohio State CB Donald Washington declared for the NFL Draft. 

Iowa QB Jeff Christiansen is going to transfer.  Southern Miss gave Coach Larry Fedora an extension.  Boston College named Frank Spaziani as their new Coach.  Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham was named American Football Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year.  Florida State’s Myron Rolle is going to Oxford to become a Rhodes Scholar.

Geoff Ogilvy won the Mercedes-Benz Championship.  Asia defeated Europe to win the Royal Trophy.  Annika Sorenstam got married.

Andy Murray beat Andy Roddick in the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open.  Marin Cilic beat Somdev Dev Varman in the Chennai Open.  Radek Stepanek beat Fernando Verdasco and Victoria Azarenka beat Marion Bartoli in the Brisbane International.  Elena Dementieva beat Elena Vesnina in the ASB Classic.

That concludes the Tidbits. As always feel free to add any stories you liked this week in sports or discuss any of the stories I mentioned. Be sure to check out my Links Page for some great sites.