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Portland "Blazer"
Zach Randolph:
Two kinds of "spark": One got Zach in trouble Tuesday; other a career-high 34 in W over Pacers (after pregame apology for "D.U.M." arrest).
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
LEBRON. BENCHED!
And, yet, the sun still came up this
morning. Imagine that! (See DQ'ed, lower
right.) On to today's real first item ...
New Carolina
If smacking around the Big Ten is an
indicator, the ACC is nasty this year. Most
impressive? "New-N.C.", with instant-impact coach Roy
Williams and arguably the best starting five in the
nation. ("Depth" is regular-season hokum; in March,
who needs depth?)
NFL Bowl Weekend?
One of my ESPN.com colleagues made a great
analogy that Week 14's top-heavy slate of NFL games
will turn Sunday into as much of a must-see football
feast as New Year's Day. So let's assign 'em some bowl
names:
Bengals at Ravens:
Playoffs In-Sight Bowl
Cowboys at Eagles:
Face-the-Music City Bowl
Dolphins at Pats:
Fiesta on Fiedler Bowl
Seahawks at Vikings:
Home-for-the-Holidays? Bowl
Colts at Titans:
Alamo-mentum Bowl
Chiefs at Broncos:
Take-You-Outback Bowl
Bonds to Testify
Whether or not Barry Bonds says anything
provocative (he won't) during his Thursday
testimony in that steroid-company investigation isn't
the point.
Something about "testimony" and "steroids" in the
same sentence creates a swirl of sensationalism.
The lasting image of Bonds entering the building today
will have the whiff (if not the reality) of guilt by
implication.
Lakers 90, Spurs 86
A motivated Lakers' starting five is an
unbeatable starting five: They scored 86 of Lakers' 90 points. (Nine blocks for
Shaq? Sick.)
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IF YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ THE FULL QUICKIE |
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| TODAY'S THREE HOTTEST STORIES |
1 Barry Bonds to testify in BALCO-'roids investigation
2 LeBron James benched in 4th qtr of Cavs L to Clips
3 Gwyneth Paltrow pregnant: Well done, Coldplay guy! |
| THREE STORIES YOU SHOULD JUST LET GO |
1 Paris Hilton: Yep, already tired of her show ...
2 NFL finally fines ref for blowing Ravens-Seahawks clock
3 Trista/Ryan post-bachelor party breakup: No such luck |
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If Lakers win in Dallas tonight and maintain
their focus, they're looking at only a handful of
total losses heading into the All-Star break, at which
point "72" (wins) talk will really crank up.
BoSox Get Man(ager)
Matchmaker, matchmaker ... If the Red
Sox end up winning the World Series under new manager
Terry Francona, is Curt Schilling eligible for
Executive of the Year?
More MLB Moves
If the Yankees can't bully the Red Sox, at
least they have the Mets, who reportedly made an
offer to Japanese star SS Kaz Matsui. Will
Steinbrenner put in a frustration bid?
Meanwhile, there's that gaping maw in the Yankees'
pitching rotation, but there's growing certainty
that they'll fill it with Montreal's Javier Vazquez
(swapped for Nick Johnson, et al).
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The Phillies are like the wannabe Yankees:
Sudden free-spenders will throw $9 million at new P
Eric Milton, who better throw more than last year's
three starts for the Twins.
Hot baby name in Chicago: "LaTroy"? Yes, if
newly acquired (and roundly approved) setup guy LaTroy Hawkins can fix the Cubs' shoddy,
pennant-eroding, no-I'm-not-still-bitter middle
relief.
A Duke Haiku
Think Duke is that good?
22-point wins don't lie:
At Michigan State.
MAC Daddies
Farewell salute to the MAC: Its
early-season Cinderella stories captivated us all for
about a week.
Then, two problems:
* Best teams caught "power-conference syndrome,"
knocking each other off -- and off the national
radar.
* Playing league's dregs obliterated contenders'
schedule strength.
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LeBron (LEBRON!):
Benched (BENCHED!) in 4th qtr of Cavs' L to the Clippers (CLIPPERS!). Final line: 4 pts on 2/13 FG shooting, 0 (ZERO!) free throws.
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Today on ESPN.com
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| Page 2: 10 Burning Questions w/ Jack Nicholson |
| IN: Aurilia to Red Sox? |
| NFL: Kitna for MVP? |
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A Few "NFL Bowls"
You Might Not See: |  Redskins at Giants
| Hot-Seat Sun Bowl
|  Bucs at Saints
| Bloom-Off-the-Rose Bowl
|  Raiders at Steelers
| Continental Tired Bowl
|  Panthers at Falcons
| Cap. One-Reason-to-Watch Bowl
|  Chargers at Lions
| | Later-Gator Bowl |
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Every reason to be disturbed by FBI's investigation
into hyper-threatening racist letters to NFL players
over past 2 years ...
There's always a catch: Reading fine print, Marlins'
"fan-friendly" re-signing of players now tied to
new-stadium approval ...
From high mock-tane: Tracking Magic (17th str. L Wed.)
like rubbernecking an accident ...
To high octane: Another super-charged W for Raptors:
105 pts ...
If Bonzi Wells can keep his head screwed on straight,
the Grizzlies will have swiped him from Portland.
That's a big "if" ...
Hope Diana Taurasi
likes the Southwest; Phoenix won the WNBA draft
lottery ...
If Jets' Herm Edwards really has escape clause after
'03, he should stay put. Losing in NY stinks, but
winning rules. With healthy Chad, he'll win ...
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