Friday Tidbits—Feb. 6, 2009

Bruce Smith, Rod Woodson, Derrick Thomas, Randall McDaniel, Bob Hayes, and Ralph Wilson were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Cris Carter got screwed. 

The Steelers won their NFL record sixth Super Bowl. James Harrison had a 100-yard interception return. Larry Fitzgerald scored two touchdowns. Kurt Warner threw for 377. Big Ben looked solid. Santonio Holmes stole the show with his beautiful TD grab to earn MVP honors. 

San Diego’s Jamal Williams got popped for a DUI. The Patriots put the franchise tag on Matt Cassel. Kansas City offered Todd Haley the head coach position. Terry Glenn was arrested. He was drunk and naked.

Carmelo Anthony and Zydrunas Ilgauskas returned. Kendrick Perkins got fined $10,000 for a flagrant foul on Jason Maxiell. Andrew Bynum (knee) will miss two or three months.  Kobe responded with a 61-point effort. 

Jameer Nelson (torn labrum in shoulder) could miss a few weeks or the rest of the season depending on whether or not he has surgery. Kevin Garnett missed a couple games with the flu, but Boston kept winning.

The Spurs sat Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker vs. Denver. Vince Carter and Stephen Jackson messed around and got triple-doubles. Andrew Bogut (back) will miss two months. 

LeBron James became the youngest player to score 12,000 points. He followed that up with 52 points during a triple-double. Jason Kidd moved past Oscar Robinson for fourth in all-time assists. Orlando addressed its Point Guard situation by trading Keith Bogans and cash to Milwaukee  for Tyronn Lue. Elton Brand (shoulder) is done for the year. 

The Lakers beat the Celtics in OT. Ray Allen replaced Jameer Nelson on the All-Star team. They had a second shot at it, and still got it wrong. Mo Williams should be on that team.


Peter Forsberg will not be playing this year. Toronto will be without Tomas Kaberle (hand) for a month. Ottawa fired Craig Hartsburg. Washington lost Chris Clark (wrist) for the year. Denis Gauthier was suspended five games for hitting Josh Gorges in the head.  Tyler Kennedy got suspended a game for instigating. Montreal’s Robert Lang (Achilles) will be out a while. Teppo Numminen (jaw) returned for Buffalo. Edmonton’s Lubomir Visnovsky (shoulder) landed on the IR. 

Alexander Ovechkin scored his 200th goal.  His teammate, Brent Johnson, will miss two months following hip surgery.

Shutouts: Columbus’ Steve Mason vs. Ottawa, Boston’s Tuukka Rask vs. New York Rangers, Carolina’s Cam Ward vs. Atlanta, St. Louis’ Chris Mason vs. Philadelphia, Buffalo’s Ryan Miller vs. Phoenix and Toronto, Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick vs. Ottawa, Minnesota’s Niklas Backstrom vs. Anaheim.

Hat Tricks: Washington’s Alex Ovechkin vs. Ottawa, Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek vs. Toronto.

Check out an AL Central preview from Bartolis of the SportingNews.

Jason Varitek signed a one-year deal with Boston. Paul Maholm signed a three-year deal with Pittsburgh. The Mets signed John Maine. Tampa signed Brian Shouse. Oliver Perez re-signed with the Mets. 

The Cubs traded Michael Wuertz to Oakland for minor-leaguers and dealt Rich Hill to Baltimore. Ty Wigginton signed with Baltimore.  Richie Weeks signed with Milwaukee. 

Roger Clemens’ DNA was found in Brian McNamee’s syringes. Manny turned down a one-year $25 million deal with the Dodgers  A Barry Bonds’ urine sample tested positive for PEDs. 

Mark Kotsay had back surgery. Brian Bannister signed with Kansas City. Colorado sent a minor-leaguer to Oakland for Matt Murton. Cliff Floyd signed with San Diego. Toronto signed Brian Tallet.

Georgia Tech upset No. 4 Wake Forest. No. 3 Pitt beat No. 22 Notre Dame behind DeJuan Blair’s 23 points and 22 rebounds. No. 8 Marquette beat No. 23 Georgetown.  Kansas State upset No. 12 Texas behind Denis Clemente’s 44 points. Washington beat No. 14 Arizona State. Portland beat No. 18 St. Mary’s. Penn State beat No. 9 Michigan State. 

No. 1 UConn avoided the No. 1 curse by knocking off No. 7 Louisville. Green Bay upset No. 11 Butler. Ohio State beat No. 13 Purdue in OT. Wayne Ellington fired in 34 points as No. 4 UNC beat Maryland. Miami beat No. 6 Wake Forest behind Jack McClinton’s 32 points. No. 16 Villanova beat Providence behind Scottie Reynolds' 31 points. No. 14 Michigan State pounded No. 19 Minnesota. No. 10 Clemson beat No. 3 Duke.  Missouri beat No. 17 Texas. Cal beat No. 25 Washington. Wisconsin beat No. 21 Illinois. James Harden had 36 points as No. 23 Arizona State beat Oregon.

Florida State kicked WR Preston Parker to the curb. Ohio State LB Alex Boone was arrested for carrying on while drunk. Pat Devlin jumped from Penn State to Delaware.  Lane Kiffin had to apologize for saying Urban Meyer cheated.

Rafael Nadel beat Roger Federer to win the Australian Open. Serena Williams won the Australian Open on the women’s side. Last week she won the doubles title with her sister.

Gwladys Nocera won the New Zealand Women’s Open. Rory McIlroy won the Dubai Desert Classic. Kenny Perry won the FBR Open. Camilo Villegas is the opening round leader at the Buick Invitational.

Michael Phelps was photographed taking hits from a bong. I guess that explains his appetite.

Tennessee Coach Pat Summit won her 1,000th college basketball game. Congrats to her.

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.