 |  |  GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
As in the Oakland (Michigan) Golden Grizzlies out of the Summit League. They were down by 11 at the half to the Volunteers. As in the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers out of the SEC. In Knoxville. Nothing entirely unexpected there. But what was entirely unexpected was the 50-32 second-half blitz they put on to pull the upset on the road. Ok, maybe not entirely unexpected, since you might remember Oakland from their last game, a one-point loss to No. 8 Michigan State at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Or maybe you remember them from their game before that, an 11-point loss to No. 17 Illinois in Champaign, because they held a four-point lead after the first half after they played the first seven minutes or so with a women's ball. Or maybe you remember them from your bracket back in March, since they made the tournament as a No. 14 seed. Or maybe you remember them because you went to school there, just like Robert Englund (a.k.a. Freddy Kruger from the original Nightmare on Elm Street franchise). Or like Curtis Armstrong (a.k.a. Booger from the original Revenge of the Nerds franchise). Or like David Hasselhoff (a.k.a. The Hoff, and a franchise all his own).
|  |  THREE STEPS BACK, 12 STEPS FORWARD
Over in the nation's capital, Kobe Bryant was fouled on a three-point try. He missed it. Then he stepped to the line, and missed the free throw. Then he stepped to the line again, and missed the free throw again. Then he stepped to the line again, and missed the free throw again. "Never happened to me," he said of the 0-fer. "Never." And so he silenced the laughing and taunting crowd by running off 12 straight points in a 17-2 run in the third quarter to put away the John Wall-less Wizards. (Maybe that will teach them.) And since Kobe dropped 24 on 7-for-13 shooting (from the field), the Lakers improved to 11-0 when he attempts less than 20 shots. (Maybe that will teach him.)
Meanwhile, Andrew Bynum added 7 points and 4 rebounds in his 17-minute season-debut.
Meanwhile the Lakers traded Sasha Vujacic to the Nets in a three-team deal that landed them Joe Smith. You might remember Joe Smith from such teams as: the Warriors, or the Sixers, or the Timberwolves, or the Pistons, or the Timberwolves again, or the Bucks, or the Nuggets, or the Sixers again, or the Bulls, or the Cavs, or the Thunder, or the Cavs again, or the Hawks, or the Nets. (Your choice.)
| |  RIVALRY?
The red-hot Knicks welcome the red-hotter Celtics to Madison Square Garden tonight (7:00 ET on ESPN). The Knicks bring an eight-game winning streak to the table, while the Celtics bring a ten-game streak of their own. It'll be the fifth time since Shaq popped up in CB4 (call it 1993) that opposing NBA teams face each other riding winning streaks of at least eight games. And each of the last three games like that ended badly for the home team. So will this be the latest epic clash in a storied NBA rivalry? Doc Rivers should know. He coaches the Celtics and he played for the Knicks. "I don't know what it is, this rivalry thing, it hasn't been one," he said. "We both were bad for a while. Now we've been good for a while. The two teams haven't exactly matched up for a long time." Um, oh. "You know when they do, it will be great." Ok. (Can we take that as a maybe for tonight?)
| |  OUTSIDE IN MINNESOTA AT NIGHT IN DECEMBER
The Vikings have released a statement that states that they are committed to playing Monday Night's game against the Bears in Minnesota. But they're not prepared to play it at the Metrodome, so preparations are under way to try to play it at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium. There's no roof on TCF Bank Stadium, so assuming they can get the five-foot snow drifts cleared from east end of the field (and the concourse, and the upper levels), they'll all still face nighttime lows of 4 degrees. And 10 MPH winds that will make it feel like -10 degrees. But the good news is that (according to the National Weather Service) it will take more than 30 minutes of conditions like that to produce frostbite. And the better news is that it would come 29 years to the day that the Vikings last played a home game outside (see: a 10-6 loss to the Chiefs on December 20, 1981) and remind everybody why they decided to move into a new stadium in the first place, and why they might just need to move into a new stadium in the second place.
|  | 3 of 12
| Since No. 7 Tennessee and No. 21 Louisville (to Drexel at the KFC Yum! Center) each lost their first game of the season last night, only 12 teams remain unbeaten in Men's Division I Basketball. And 3 of those 12 - No. 2 Ohio State (vs Florida Gulf Coast), No. 9 Baylor (vs Bethune-Cookman), and unnumbered UCF (vs Louisiana-Lafayette) put their necks on the line tonight.
Florida Gulf Coast at Ohio State | Bethune-Cookman at Baylor | Louisiana Lafayette at UCF | | 2 x 19
| Even though the Penguins lost 3-2 to the Flyers, Sidney Crosby still assisted on both Penguins goals. So he still has his point-scoring streak, and it stands at 19 straight games. That ties his career high. And only 6 other players in NHL history had multiple 19-game point streaks in their careers. And 5 of the 6 are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. We call them Gretzky, Hull (Brett), Lafleur, Lemieux, and Yzerman. We call the other one Adam Oates.
Recap | Highlights | | 5/7
| Manny Pacquiao still doesn't know who he will fight next, or where he'll fight next, but at least he knows when he'll fight next. It will be May 7th of next year. Likely opponents include Shane Mosley (very likely), or Juan Manuel Marquez (less likely, but maybe more intriguing), or Andre Berto (less likely, but more fresh). Expect that announcement to come on Friday. And think of it as Pacquiao's 32nd birthday gift to you.
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