Friday Tidbits (Dec. 12)

This time O.J. didn’t walk.  A judge blocked the suspensions of the Williams Wall and the three Saints.  The Pats signed Junior Seau. 

Julius Peppers and Jared Allen were each fined $10K. That’s $85K for Allen this year.  Allen performed CPR on a football following his third sack.  The No Fun League strikes again.  MB3 missed Dallas’ game with Pittsburgh. 

Chicago beat Jacksonville to stay in the hunt for the NFC North title.  Minnesota kept Detroit winless.  Matt Schaub was back with 414 passing yards to beat Green Bay.

Tennessee’s duo of Johnson and White did it again.  They are 12-1 after beating Cleveland.  Indy stayed hot as Peyton bounced back to dump Cincy.  New Orleans put a damper on Atlanta’s playoff chances. 

Philly stunned the Giants.  Westy went off.  Miami moved to 8-5 after taking down Buffalo.  Denver lost another RB (Hillis), but won again.  The Niners lost Gore, but beat the Jets. New England survived Seattle.  Now the Pats, Jets, and Fish are all 8-5.

Arizona pounded St. Louis.  Pittsburgh survived Dallas.  Baltimore topped the Skins.  Carolina topped Tampa on the legs of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.  Morten Anderson called it quits.  Chris Samuels (tricep) is done for the year.

Detroit cut Brian Kelly.  Matt "Crackman" Jones lost his appeal and will miss three games to suspension.  150 league workers are out of a job.  Matt Cassel’s dad passed away. 

Fred Taylor (thumb) is out for the year.  Clinton Portis wasn’t pleased with Coach Zorn.  Pacman (neck) could be done for the year.  I wonder if he got whiplash at a strip club. 

The Colts signed Najeh Davenport. T.O. isn’t happy with Romo’s relationship with Witten.  I think MeO needs a hug.  The Williams Wall and the Saints are allowed to play.  The Bears beat the Saints on Can’t Watch TV.

Dwight Howard had 21 Points and 23 Rebounds.  Amare Stoudemire had a 20-20 game too.  KG also ripped 20 boards.  Andris Biedrins kept the 20 board party going.  Dwight Howard had another 20-20 game.

Troy Murphy had a 20-20 game.  Corie Blount got charged with weed.  Pretty fitting last name.  The Wolves fired Randy Wittman and replaced him with the gutless Kevin McHale.  Aren’t you to guy who hired the past two coaches you subsequently fired Kevin?  The Wolves lost his 2008 debut. 

LeBron James (steals) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (rebounds) each became Cav career leaders on Wednesday.  It was the Cavs ninth straight win by 12+ points, which set an NBA record. 

Antonio McDyess is back with Detroit.  Josh Howard (ankle) is on the shelf.  Washington gets Mike James and Javaris Crittenton, New Orleans gets Antonio Daniels, and Memphis gets a first round pick.

Daniel Gibson (toe) will miss a couple of weeks.  Charlotte sent Jason Richardson to Phoenix for Boris Diaw and Raja Bell.  Carmelo Anthony scored an NBA record-tying 33 points in one quarter against the Wolves.  Nice job, McHale. 

Cuttino Mobley is calling it a career becaue of a heart issue.  Ron Artest (ankle) will miss a couple of games.  The Celtics are a franchise best 21-2.  Zydrunas Ilgauskas sprained his ankle.

Raffi Torres will miss a couple weeks after having his knee scoped.  Pittsburgh’s Tyler Kennedy (knee) will miss a month or more.  Marion Gaborik actually practiced. 

Joe Sakic broke three fingers snowblowing, which will cost him three months.  Montreal’s Mathieu Dandenault had surgery on his broken arm. 

Carolina’s Dennis Seidenberg came off the IR.  Sergei Zubov is headed back to the IR.

Shutouts:  Boston’s Manny Fernandez vs. Florida, Nashville’s Pekka Rinne vs. Minnesota, Columbus’ Jason LaBarbera vs. L.A., Calgary’s Mikka Kiprusoff vs. the Rangers Chicago’s Cristobal Huet vs. Ottawa, Florida’s Craig Anderson vs. Edmonton, San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov vs. Anaheim.

Hat Tricks:  Ottawa’s Jason Speeza vs. Pittsburgh, St. Louis’ B.J. Crombeen vs. Nashville, Philly’s Scott Hartnell vs. Carolina, Pittsburgh’s Pascal Dupuis vs. NY Islanders, Pittsburgh’s Petr Sykora vs. NY Islanders, LA’s Dustin Brown vs. St. Louis.

 

Greg Maddux is hanging it up.  Quitter.  Just kidding.  Stray-Rod will play for the Dominican in the WBC. 

Cleveland signed Tomo Okha to a Minor League deal.  The VC elected Joe Gordon to the HOF.  They snubbed Ron Santo, among others. 

Texas sent Gerald Laird to Detroit for some prospects.  Adam Everett signed a one-year deal with the Tigers.  K-Rod signed with the Mets.

The O’s sent Ramon Hernandez to Cincy for Ryan Freel.  Casey Blake and Mark Loretta signed with LA.  Charlie Manuel got a contract extension from Philly.

C.C. Sabathia signed a seven-year, $160 million deal with the Yankees.  Colorado signed Alan Embree.  Cesar Izturis signed with Baltimore. 

The Mets, Mariners, and Indians made a 12-player trade.  The biggest name in the trade, J.J. Putz, is headed to the Mets to be K-Rod’s setup guy.  Detroit send Matt Joyce to Tampa for Edwin Jackson.

Nick Punto re-signed with the Twins.  Arizona signed Felipe Lopez.  Jake Peavy to the Cubs seems dead.

 

Oklahoma State extended Coach Mike Gundy’s contract for five years.  Mississippi gave Houston Nutt an extension.  Buffalo upset #12 Ball State, as Naaman Roosevelt caught three TD passes.

#4 Florida beat #1 Alabama as Tim Tebow tossed 3 TDs.  #2 Oklahoma hung 62 on #20 Missouri.  Chris Brown and Mossis Madu each ran for 3 scores.  #5 USC gave up 2 TDs to wear red jerseys, but they still handled UCLA. 

#25 Virginia Tech beat #17 Boston College.  Florida and Oklahoma will play in the National Championship game.  Wake Forest’s Aaron Curry won the Dick Butkus Award.  Oklahoma’s Kevin Wilson won the Broyles Award (top assistant).

Colt McCoy and Graham Harrell will be back at Texas and Texas Tech next year.  McCoy, Tim Tebow, and Sam Bradford were named Heisman finalists. 

Texas’ Brian Orakpo won the Lombardi Award.  Florida OC Dan Mullen is Mississippi State’s new coach.  Rutgers AD Robert E. Mulcahy is out.  Doug Marrone will be Syracuse’s next football coach.  Colt McCoy won the Walter Camp Award.

 

 

Michigan beat #4 Duke.  Ohio State beat #7 Notre Dame despite 25 Points and 16 Rebounds from Luke Harangoody.  #22 Kentucky beat Miami behind Patrick Patterson’s 19 Points and 16 Rebounds.  Marquette beat #22 Wisconsin.

  #24 Davidson beat NC State behind Stephen Curry’s 44 points.  Florida State beat #21 Florida.  #6 Texas beat #12 Villanova and #22 Davidson beat West Virginia despite 17 boards from Denn Ebanks in the Jimmy V Classic. 

Syracuse’s Eric Devendorf allegedly hit a woman.  He will be able to play while he appeals a suspension.

 

Geoff Ogilvy won the Australian PGA.  Henrik Stenson won the Nedbank Golf Challenge.  Jeev Milkha Singh won the Nippon Series Cup days after his wife delivered a stillborn child.  So sad. 

Larry and Drew Nelson won the el Webb Father-Son Championship.  Larry won it last year with son Josh.  Stacy Lewis won the LPGA Tour Q-school.  Michelle Wie earned her LPGA card.

Bobby Labonte left Petty Enterprises.   Tony Schumacher was named the NHRA Driver of the Year.

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.