modano likely to play vs sharks

Thanks to Chuck Carlton on the DMN Stars Blog...

After pushing himself through a hard practice at the HP Pavilion, Mike Modano said he expected to play Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks.

Modano has been sidelined since Dec. 4 with a nagging groin/hip problem. He has made substantial progress since seeing a specialist.

“I think we were waiting for that day where I didn’t feel anything that held me back, just testing it and really seeing explosiveness and what was there," Modano said. "The last five days have been like that. That kind of gave me a good idea that we’ve finally turned a corner.

"I’ll probably play [Tuesday] if it feels the same way in the morning. I’m betting it is." The Stars are 11-10-2 without Modano in the lineup.

Willa is probably happy to get him out of the hosue.

wasson to be named dragon football coach

Southlake Dragons to name new head football coach - By Kathryn Hopper, Pegasus News

While Jerry Jones is still mulling his options, the Southlake Dragons are poised to name their new head coach Monday.

It probably won’t be a big shocker. Fossil Ridge football coach Hal Wasson has been the favorite to continue the Dragons dynasty and now the Star-Telegram reports he’s playing coy, but confirmed he’s scheduled a Monday meeting with his current players and coaches.

Wasson has more than a few connections with Carroll. He coached the team’s running backs in 2002 and 2003; his son, Chase, was the star quarterback who led the team to its 2002 5A Division II title and his wife, Sallie, teaches physical education at Johnson Elementary. His four-season record at Fossil Ridge is 28-15.

Carroll district officials plan to make the announcement 5 p.m. Monday.

A field of 28 candidates applied for the Dragons top coaching spot after Todd Dodge announced he was headed for the University of North Texas. Finalists for the Dragons job included Wasson, Andrews’ Blaine Springston, Plano East’s Johnny Ringo and Frisco’s Vance Gibson. La Marque head coach Bryan Erwin was also in the running, but took the head-coaching job at Marcus last week.

Carroll’s search committee members include Carroll Superintendent David J. Faltys, Athletic Director Ronnie Tipps, Senior High Principal Daniel Presley, High School Principal Rick Westfall and Chief Personnel Officer Derek Citty and Booster Club President Jack Luna.

the saints are done..

...but it appears one of their fans isn't.
Looks like a Maxim photo shoot spread is in this girl's future.

is this really that hard of a pick???

just another reason I cant stand to watch women's basketball

pure hotness...

Tiffani-Amber Thiessen is 33 today... and she looks as hot as she did at 23.

hockey fights are civilized

The fight here between 6'3", 243-pound Georges Laraque of Phoenix and 6'4", 263-pound Raitis Ivanans of LA is unexceptional aside from the fact that Laraque is miked up. Here's what he has to say to Ivanans as the two enforcers await the drop of the puck:

"You want to? Okay. We're up? Okay. Good luck man."

Great stuff... and as the announcer says, "He's the heavyweight champion of the league, no question about it." Let the record show, courtesy of HockeyFights.com, that Laraque, the winner here, and stands at 5-0 on the year vs. Ivanans' record of 3-4-1.

stephen colbert likes the saints

this guy is funny...

bears/seahawks betting trend

from a local reputable handicapper...
Seattle at Chicago (-8.5) Total: 36.5

Chicago has been coasting for weeks. That can be good (they're rested) or bad (they're rusty).

The Bears have gotten constant criticism as the year has worn on and almost all of it revolves around QB Rex Grossman. They have been out-gained in four of their last six games and have declined a net 47 yards per game the last half of the season. Some of that must also be attributed to the loss of star DT Tommie Harris.

But the same "rested-home-team-off-a-home-loss-and-a-bye" angle that was such a positive trend for New Orleans also applies directly to these Bears.

The bottom line for me here is my belief the Bears are way better than the Seabags. And, while the Bears may have struggled down the stretch, Seattle's wandered aimlessly. In truth, they shouldn't have even made it past the Cowboys. Seattle's a banged up team that's nothing like last year's Super Bowl unit.

And check this out. When Mike Holmgren loses straight up to a home team coming off a home loss, he's 1-33-2- ATS. If you're gonna take Seattle take them because you believe they can win straight up. I don't believe they can.

TRIPLE PLAY: TAKE CHICAGO MINUS THE POINTS

they got game...

Suns girls


Mavs dance team




Not a Celtics fan, but cant complain here

Hornets dance team

nfl playoffs quarterfinals overview

History tells us that being a rested home team in this round is a remarkable advantage.

Since 1980, home teams in this round are 76-24 SU and 57-40-3 ATS. Of the last 56 teams that played in the Super Bowl, 46 of them were these "rested home teams". That means a significant historical edge to Baltimore, San Diego, New Orleans and Chicago.

It certainly does not mean all the road teams are doomed. But one must understand the kind of deep history "bummer" these sides face. Going back 28 years you get these numbers from the Gold Sheet.

In this round:
• favorites SU are 86-33 (three games were "pick'em")
• favorites are 64-52-3 ATS
• favorites of 3.5-6.5 points are 22-16-1
• favorites of 7-9.5 points are 23-15
• favorites of 10-13.5 points are 9-6

These games involving the supposed eight best are often not close. 56 of the last 120 "quarterfinals" have been decided by 14 points or more. In short, this is often a blowout weekend.

There are no general "over/under" trends this weekend.

boarderline sports related

Danica Patrick racing Dale Jr along with Jay-Z

all kobe, all the time

Living in Dallas (since 6th grade), I root for all the local pro teams all the time. I'm not a two-percenter, I dont watch only when they're good, I watch every team every year, good or bad and if you've seen much of the Rangers or Mavs in the 90's or the Cowboys after Troy Aikman, there's been plenty of bad with these teams. In terms of who I'd watch first, it would probably be in this order Cowboys, Stars, Mavs, Rangers. The Cowboys edge out the Stars and Mavs simply because they only play 16 regular season games a year. This brings me to my point finally; the one time I have trouble rooting for a Dallas team is when the Mavs play the Lakers. I've been a Lakers fan forever, back before the Mavs were good (the first time around with Aguire and Blackman), back in the Magic and showtime days. The Mavs sucked then so I rooted for the Lakers mainly because of Magic Johnson, because he just wanted to win. So tonight, the Mavs took their 13 game winning streak out to Staples Center where Kobe hung 62 on them in 3 quarters last year and as the game moved into the fourth quarter with the Mavs ahead I had to pull for my man Kobe and the Lakers. Fourteen fourth quarter points later, they pulled off the upset and sent the Mavs packing, their win streak over. Sorry Mavs, I love to watch you but Kobe is Magic-esk, he just wants to win.

so i saw this about a week ago...

...and I'm just now posting it.

"Dallas won its fourth consecutive game..."

So you don't say? Being a huge Stars fan, I had to do a double-take and then check the scores but I could have sworn they had just lost the night before and sure enough they had. Someone at yahoo needs to do some fact checking next time. Maybe they should go here.

Dec 21 Dallas at San Jose W 3-0
Dec 23 Dallas vs Edmonton W 3-2
Dec 26 Dallas at Chicago L 1-2
Dec 27 Dallas at Colorado W 5-4

what is up with cheerleaders these days

So it appears a Louisville cheerleader (Becca Manns) has an interesting hobby of taking naked pictures of herself and leaving them on her digital camera... ooops, guess you can't trust all your friends. Word is she's no longer on the UofL cheer squad. Here's guessing that the Orange Bowl would have been more exciting had she been there.

scattershooting...

• So the mystery of AssGate has been solved. Megan is the proud owner of the tush shown round the world. I can't deny, she's got quite a caboose.

• In what could be a page right out of girls gone wild, these McKinney North cheerleaders caused quite a stir with several administrators losing their jobs. Wonder if those myspace pics are still around?

• The Fiesta Bowl was nothing short of spectacular. If you missed it, Boise State won on 3 successful trick plays, one to score a TD to tie the game at the end of regulation, one to score a TD in overtime and the final statue of liberty play for the two-point conversion and the win. Check the plays out here if you missed them.

• If that wasn't enough, star tailback Ian Johnson proposed to his girlfriend, who happens to be a cheerleader, right after scoring on the 2-point conversion.

bottoms up...

While the USC football team is well respected, their Song Girls generally dont get the same. They may not be the sharpest tools in the shed considering they have a habit for cheering for the wrong team. However, they are nice to look at. Especially when ABC's cameras are in the right place at the right time. Apparently one in particular was feeling a bit of a draft during the game.

And here's why everyone should invest in HD...

analog tv... looks like comando

in HD, she's unfortunately got something on

a closer look of her before

and now after the twirl

another reason (or two) to root for the buckeyes

where do I sign up???