MONDAY

Check the T-wolves roster, please ... One guy from Australia. Another from Montenegro. Big man from the Ukraine. OK, we're clear. Maybe Ralph Lawler and Michael Smith will behave this time. If their clutching their Clipper plush toy.
NBA: Clippers vs. Minnesota, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., Prime Ticket, 980-AM.

No foolin': After the Bruins' victory over Cal State Bakersfield on Friday, they fell from No. 7 in the Jeff Sagarin USA Today computer poll to No. 104. And Cal State Fullerton did nothing Friday, but went up from No. 138 to No. 20. Pepperdine is ... oh, what does it matter?
College basketball: UCLA vs. Pepperdine, Pauley Pavilion, 8 p.m., FSN West, 570-AM.

Keep your cameras pointed on the Titans owner up in the press box. We hear he can get pretty comical. Oh, right, he used to live in Houston, too. Probably has a lot of old friends he wants to let know he's still thinking about 'em after moving his Oilers out of town long ago.
NFL: Tennessee at Houston, 5:30 p.m., ESPN.

TUESDAY

In an imperfect world, this would have been the game where Allen Iverson debuted in a Knicks uniform.
NBA: Lakers vs. New York, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSN West, 710-AM

WEDNESDAY

Michael Jordan says that other players, aside from him, deserve to have their numbers retired. He didn't mention any former Clippers.
NBA: Clippers at Indiana, 4 p.m., Prime Ticket, 980-AM.

After averaging more than a point per game in his first 20 games this season, Anze Kopitar has just three assists and no goals in his last five.
NHL: Kings at Edmonton, 6:30 p.m., 1150-AM (no TV).

THURSDAY

On Thanksgiving, there's this basketball tournament called the 76 Classic (linked here), in its third year, played in Anaheim that's supposed to mean something to someone. At least it does for ESPN -- giving it some programming on a day everyone would just as soon not play. The Bruins are joined by Long Beach State, Texas A&M, West Virginia, Butler, Clemson and Minnesota. We'd just as well sneak out and go across the street to Disneyland. College basketball: UCLA vs. Portland, Anaheim Convention Center, 8 p.m., ESPN2, 570-AM. (Note: UCLA plays Butler or Minnesota, TBA, on Friday and couple play in the tournament final on Sunday.

Another Kings road game with no TV coverage. Who wants to pay the crew holiday salary?
NHL: Kings at Vancouver, 7 p.m., 1150-AM (no TV).

Hold this one at the old Pontiac Silverdome, for old time's sake, now that it's been sold.
NFL: Green Bay at Detroit, 9:30 a.m., Channel 11.

Hold this one at the old Cowboys Stadium, for old time's sake, now that it's been demolished.
NFL: Oakland at Dallas, 1:15 p.m., Channel 2.

Hold this one at the old Mile High Stadium, for old time's sake, now that it's somewhere.
NFL: N.Y. Giants at Denver, 5:20 p.m., NFL Network.

FRIDAY

Pass.
NBA: Clippers at Detroit, 5 p.m., FSN West, 980-AM.

Probably pass, as well.
College basketball: USC vs. Coppin State, Galen Center, 7:30 p.m., usctrojans.com, 710-AM

SATURDAY

Prediction: Both USC and UCLA finish the season 7-5, with the Bruins holding the tie-breaker for eligibility to the WhateverItIs Bowl in East Matilda, N.M. Can the Trojans live with that? Would this little girl be disappointed?
College football: UCLA at USC, Coliseum, 7 p.m., FSN West, 570-AM, 710-AM.

Charlie Weis, meet your maker. Note: If Stanford gets near the 50-point mark, don't be too upset.
College football: Notre Dame at Stanford, 5 p.m., Channel 7.

On Friday, Golden State (4-8) earned its first victory this season over a team with a winning record when it turned away Portland, 108-94. Keep an eye on newly signed forward/center Chris Hunter, a 6-foot-11, 240-pound D-Leaguer who made his NBA debut in the second half and was effective in containing the Blazers' Greg Oden, holding him to five points. "I've never seen him before, never met him before, but that guy belongs in the NBA," Warriors coach Don Nelson.
NBA: Lakers at Golden State, Channel 9, 710-AM

The Blackhawks end a five-game roadie that started in Edmonton and went to Vancouver, San Jose, Anaheim and here in 10 days. At least, it was warmer.
NHL: Kings vs. Chicago, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSN West, 1150-AM.

SUNDAY

O.J. Mayo, on your left-over turkey sandwiches.
NBA: Clippers vs. Memphis, Staples Center, 12:30 p.m., Prime Ticket, 980-AM.

If the Nets are still 0-for-the-season coming in, expect the odds to favor the Lakers.
NBA: Lakers vs. New Jersey, Staples Center, 6:30 p.m., FSN West, 710-AM

Ask them to play a football game, and we'll be there.
College basketball: USC vs. Nebraska, Galen Center, 1:30 p.m., FSN West, 710-AM.

The Sunday night game has potential.
NFL: Pittsburgh at Baltimore, Channel 4, 5:20 p.m.

Get out to Hollywood Park for a tribute to Zenyatta, where she'll be paraded around between races, fans get a DVD with highlights of all her 14 races (all wins) and you can buy a beer for owners Jerry and Ann Moss, trainer John Shirreffs and jockey Mike Smith.
Horse racing: Hollywood Park, Inglewood, first post: 12:30 p.m.

A postscript to today's column on Vijay Amritraj (linked here):

Amritraj tells a story that occured a couple of years ago, when the women's pro tennis tour had an event in India at the same time he was there to visit the Mitra Jyothi charity, which helps blind women shunned by their families and helps them create skills such as basket weaving and carpet making.

"I decided to present a check from the foundation to the head of the project -- this 4 foot, 11 inch blind woman -- at center court of the WTA event, and she stood there between me and Venus Williams," said Amritraj, who is 6-foot-4. "Venus looks at me after this and says, 'She makes me feel this big with all she's done,'" as he holds his finger and thumb on his right hand just an inch apart.

During a visit at his Van Nuys office, not far from his long-time Encino home, Amritraj had plenty of other tales about his visits with those in need in his native India, and how the motto of his foundation -- In Giving, We Receive -- means more to him now than it did when he started the non-profit in 2006.

For example -- a group of mentally challenged men, prone to violent outbursts, are suddenly joking with him as he pays a visit to their group home and spends the next 90 minutes listening to them talk about the times they've seen him lose big matches during his impressive tennis playing career. He watches a surgery on a blind young man where they take a tooth from deep inside his mouth and implant it under the skin near his eye for form a natural membrane, which is then taken out and used as a cover for the new pupil, giving the patient the chance to see colors for the first time.

"It's a wonderful gift to be able to give," he says quite modestly. "And who's to say which charity is better or worse than another? There have been a number of great philanthropic attempts from the United States. This country is truely a miracle worker. By far, Americans are the world's greatest givers -- by far -- and for the way Americans are sometimes described around the world, I'll never understand it. We have so much to learn from the people like the Bill Gates and Warren Buffets of the world."

And from how they help the poor around the world. In India, it's not just the visuals of children playing in the trash heaps of "Slumdog Millionaire," being bought and sold as slaves.

For the grace of God, Amritraj knows that he and his two brothers became pro tennis players almost by accident, then had success in the Davis Cup as well as on the pro tour as a doubles team and singles competitors that brought them both riches well beyond their dreams. Vijay, Anand and Ashok Amritraj -- who all live in the San Fernando Valley now -- were among the first Indians to play in top-flight international tour tennis. In 1976, Vijay and Anand were semifinalists in the Wimbledon men's doubles.

Ashok is chairman and CEO of Hyde Park Entertainment in Hollywood, which has produced movies such as "Bringing Down The House, "Raising Helen," "Shop Girl" and "Walking Tall."

Vijay, the chairman of First Serve Entertainment, says he visits India seemingly once a month, in part because his parents still live there -- they'll be celebrating their 60th anniversary in December -- but also to tend to some businesses there and, more importantly, visit some of the projects that his foundation is helping to fund.

He also travels a lot for the Singapore-based ESPN Star Sports network, doing commentator work on tennis and golf programming. His oldest son, Prakash, is a 26-year-old veteran now of the men's pro tennis tour, several years removed from a championship season at USC. Amritraj's other son, Vikram, is involved in hip-hop music production.

"I know, from my end, I'm very fortunate to have the parents I have," said Amritraj. "I could just as easily been in a hole. Who's to say how I ended up? My life has been so ludicracy blessed. I have to constantly ask myself -- Did I deserve this?"

Consider making a donation or attending the Dec. 4-5 VAF fundraiser in Calabasas and Beverly Hills. Sponsors who have underwritten the event include American Airlines, Sony Entertainment Television, Disney, Rolex, IREO, Highglow, Tennis Channel, Standard Chartered and TATA.

Vijay Amritraj accepts appointment as a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2001.

== More to look at:
== The Vijay Amritraj Foundation official site (linked here)
== A list of the charities that the VAF funds, including St. Vincents Home for AIDS Patients, Center for the Aged and Mitra Jyothi, which provides education and life skills to blind women (linked here)

And that guy who did so -- we're going with a Clipper season-seat holder named Arya Towfighi, since the L.A. Times has so gracefully printed his name in today's edition -- is responsible for having Michael Eaves replace Ralph Lawler (and Don MacLean over Michael Smith, a noted improvement) during the Clippers-Nuggets broadcast on Prime Ticket Friday night.

Put on a raincoat and goggles if you're ready to enter this crapstorm:

Issue 1: The coverage:

== Today's L.A. Times' "HOLY $*!# MAN WALKS ON MOON" approach makes it look as if the U.S. has just declared war on Iran. A story with all-out caps, taking up more than 50 percent of the front page, buries an otherwise more interesting piece of news -- the Clippers just registered their biggest win of the season, an improbable 7-point victory over the Denver Nuggets, who a week ago destroyed the Lakers. If you take the Times' front page at face value, it looks as if: a) Lawler died, b) a mean looking guy for the Memphis Grizzlies wants revenge, c) it was a very, very, very, very, very slow news day and someone's knee jerk judgment got in the way -- almost as fast as someone's did at FSN before this decision was finally made.
"WORDS GET IN THEIR WAY" read the headline. Story gets in L.A. Times' way is how it came out.

== The L.A. Daily News -- my employer -- played it as a seperate story, inside, above the story about the Clippers' victory. At first, I believed it was being overplayed. I wasn't sure what the purpose of this "story" was about or the message we were delivering -- outside of describing what was said and their was a suspension taking place.
Earlier in the night, when this story appeared on the Associated Press wire services, I was alerted to it by my boss. My intial reaction: There's got to be more to this. I'll make some calls, see what I can find out. Since that's all the information we had -- four paragraphs, without a transcript -- we decided that it was worth placing at the end of the Clippers' game story, which was reported by the Associated Press. We'd make note of it, we'll follow up later if there seems to be more news to this. That was exactly how it was displayed in the Daily Breeze -- on page 10 of their section today.
Somehow, the earlier Daily News gameplan changed, and it was displayed larger with a headline, but not that was a far more reasonable approach to it than how the Times went carpetbagging with it.

Issue 2: How this story came to be:
The Times, according to its story, was one of three place where this angered viewer sent his email, taking offense to how Lawler and Smith talked about Memphis big-man Hamed Haddadi, the first Iranian player to make the NBA, as he entered the game against the Clippers on Wednesday. The person emailed them a transcript of what was said about Haddadi -- using terms that referred to Sasha Baron Cohen's "Borat" character, pronouncing his native country as "Eye-ran."
About 2-plus hours before the game, FSN West/Prime Ticket issued some sort of press release explaining why Lawler/Smith were being replaced by Eaves/MacLean, how what they said was inappropriate, issued apologies, and explained that they took appropriate action -- with no mention that Lawler and Smith had been taken off the air. Sorry, but you not only buried the lead, you didn't even report your "appropriate" action. That's very appropriate for a company that, of late, has no tact in dealing with the local media, and I've come to accept that as well. It's almost as if they've become the Clippers of the local media entities. It's a place where good people no longer work, and other good people have been let go for budgetary reasons that go beyond any quality explanation.
In the end, this was apparently a story created for the Times, about the Clippers and with FSN West/Prime Ticket's steering. They had ownership and were going to move forward.

Issue 3: The punishment:
Did Lawler and Smith deserve to be taken off the air and made an example of for what they said? Not based on their inglorious track record.
The two have been a Punch-n-Judy nightclub act for the last eight years. Stories have actually been written about how "fun" it is to listen to them exchange crazy thoughts and ideas as another lame loss goes into the books. Why else would anyone watch a Clipper game, if not because they enjoyed the broadcaster's chemistry, idle banter and poor-man Abbott and Costello routines. Neither are close to being my favorite broadcasters, but I accept the fact others like them, so, as an athlete says when he has no explanation for something: It is what it is.
So, let's review -- they are encouraged to get a little silly. And, here, they do. And someone hears it. How? Chances are -- seriously -- that no exec at FSN West/Prime Ticket would have even been aware this was said except for ONE EMAIL that was sent. In our opinion, they did cross a line, but nothing that is outlandish in this day in age. But by the same token comment, it should be reported, dealt with, explained, used as a teaching moment, and you shake your head and move forward. If one person is offended, you take note. If two are offended, you add it to the pile.
From what appears to be only ONE EMAIL, all this action took place.
But then again, considering the parties involved, it makes perfect nonsense. The Times, the Clippers and FSN West/Prime Ticket are stumbling over themselves today wondering if they did the right thing, while at the same time, probably feeling some pride that they did something newsworthy. It's ripe for a Three Stooges script.

One other thing: The Times' story adds that "this isn't the first time Fox has disciplined an announcer for on-air comments," and then gets into the Steve Lyons firing in the 2006 ALCS. That was Fox, the big network, handling something said after Lyons had been on thin ice for many seasons. This is Fox Sports Net West/Prime Ticket, a different "thing" in the Fox pecking order, and a stretch at best in what happened here.

Issue 4: More on the punishment:
Lawler and Smith get suspended.
Norm Nixon (linked here) gets a DUI in Marina del Rey last March. FSN West kept him on the air as a pre- and post-game studio analyst through the Lakers regular season and playoff run. If he was punished for this, there was no press release issued. If he was not punished.... find the logic.

Some great reaction today:
== The Miami Herald website (linked here)

Follow me now on Twitter: www.twitter.com/tomhoffarth

Major League Baseball has the perfect gift to bust a budget in a recession.

A 20-DVD set of World Series films can be bought for $2,229, and it contains authenticated autographs of 12 Hall of Famers.

A limited edition run of 100 sets was put together by Major League Baseball Productions, A&E Home Entertainment and Mounted Memories, the companies said Friday.

There are 65 films from 1943-08 that run for more than 50 hours.

The package also has autographs from Yogi Berra, Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, Bob Feller, Rollie Fingers, Carlton Fisk, Whitey Ford, Brooks Robinson and Bruce Sutter.

MLB spokesman Jeff Heckelman said the set is also available without the autographs for $179.99 on MLB.com (linked here) and in stores with a suggested retail price of $229.

We've already written about this in the past blog (linked here), back when it was listing for $229 on the MLB.com site.

Again, we're the last to hear of these things.

The USOC issued 481 credentials to publications and Web sites, but had 135 returned, most by newspapers and traditional publications like Newsweek, which returned five of six credentials; The Dallas Morning News, which returned four of six; and the McClatchy's Washington bureau, which returned seven credentials and kept four, the story said.

Other than your Daily News, there'll be no one representing the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Baltimore Sun, Boston Herald, Charlotte Observer, (Colorado Springs) Gazette, (Hackensack) Record, Hartford Courant, Indianapolis Star, Kansas City Star, Newsday, Palm Beach Post or St. Petersburg Times.

Yahoo! asked for 21 credentials. Yipee for them.

"I don't know whether this is a spike or the way things will be for the future, but this is extremely unusual to get this many back," said Bob Condron, the USOC's director of media services. "The interest is there, no doubt, but the money is not."

Get used to it.

(By the way, if you're a blogger and wanted to win a "free press pass" to the Winter Games ... as opposed to the ones that the real media has to buy ... it's too late. But read here what you missed out on).

Other stuff we knew, but didn't know, until we saw it somewhere in print:

== Week 11 L.A. viewing for the NFL (linked here). Sorry, you already missed Miami-Carolina on the NFL Net.

== Week 12 L.A. viewing for the college football fan (linked here). Sorry, you didn't miss USC. It has a bye. And we already know that we'll miss Cal-Stanford, because it's on Versus, and we have DirecTV, which still hasn't brought the channel back ... but what if you were living in the Bay Area and really wanted to see it? Has the Gerhart hit the fan yet? If you really want to blame someone, blame Fox Sports Net for making the game available for Versus to buy off their inventory list. (linked here)

== Want to see how a UCLA Rose Bowl card stunt works? USA Today's website has visual (and audio) evidence (linked here)

== Did you know there's a FoxSportsWest.com (beta) website up and working? (linked here)

== We gotta go to TMZ for our Galaxy injury updates? (linked here)

== Dick Enberg, calling San Diego Padres games? It's in discussion (linked here)

== Jim Gray had a 50th birthday party in Vegas ... and Walton, West, Shula, Dr. J., Dickerson, Larry King ... Ali? ... all showed. What were their appearance fees? (linked here)

== Someone's list of 25 football broadcasters -- NFL and college -- that doesn't weed out the play-by-play men from the analysts, leaving everything in some kind of mish-mash disarray (linked here) but awards CBS' Gary Danielson with the golden ticket. And here's a rebuttal list (linked here).

== Another very good Dave Kindred list, this time of 50 things a sports writer should and shouldn't do (linked here). No. 1 "Do" -- go to the event you're writing about. No. 1 "Don't": Never trust spellcheck.

== Does Larry King's 10-year-old son, Chance, have a chance hosting a Fox Sports Net program? Even if its directed by Tom Arnold? (linked here)

== ESPN ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer rambles on about how the net dropped the ball on the Steve Phillips story ... like we really care to hear any more of it (linked here)

== AND FINALLY:

== Obviously, if you're a cameraman and you get too close to a bald guy following Bill Belichick off the field, you run the risk of having an iris rammed up your shutter:

== AND ONE LAST BUT NOT LEAST FINALLY:

== We were the guest on a Sports Media Journal podcast (linked here) with Keith Thibault and Ken Fang (of fangsbites.com). It's a half hour of your time well wasted spent.

Cleaning up after today's media column (linked here), more Q-and-A with former Galaxy player and GM Alexi Lalas, before he heads to Seattle for Sunday's MLS Cup telecast (ESPN, 5:30 p.m.):

Q: We found this quote by you from an interview you did with the BBC: "Anybody who says that the signing of David Beckham has been failure is delusional and is not seeing the bigger picture ... His impact in terms of giving the Galaxy and the MLS a platform from which to spring to the next level cannot be overstated. He has brought incredible recognition and credibility to the league." Does his appearance in the MLS Cup on Sunday reinforce that, or have the Galaxy been a poster child for what individual-over-team concept could do when it's balanced improperly?

Lalas: One of the best things that Bruce Arenas did when he came in was dumbing everything down. That's a good thing. He made things simple and gave everyone expectations to set for themselves individually and collectively. He managed through the controversy of the book that came out, "The Beckham Experiment," and used it to his advantage. That book really helped the Galaxy in a strange way. It forced Donovan and Beckham to go through public therapy that resulted in each playing better and the team playing better. Then the team made some good pickups to surround them.

L.A. has to be the favorite to win (Sunday) because they have confidence and swagger and a consistency. All that means something. When look at Real Salt Lake, it's that proverbial box of chocolates. That makes them interesting from a TV standpoint, but you'll never know what you're going to get. This team could show up, or it could roll over.

The game the Galaxy played (against Houston in the Western Conference final) was a real soccer game. There were good rhytms to it. The Galaxy had tremendous pressure which, in the past, they might have broken. In crunch time they found a way to score. And with all the focus on Beckham and Donovan, the other players have participated and that's no surprise.

Q: If the Galaxy wins on Sunday, will you feel some kind of connection to it?

Lalas: I'm a Galaxy alum, so there's always a piece of me in them. I'm still proud of the successes we had, which goes unnoticed a lot of the time. I'll be happy for Galaxy fans who have suffered over the last few years. I'd like to see them win. A lot of people think it's already written in the stars, but it's not a a fait accompli.

JP Dellacamera will call the match with John Harkes, and Allen Hopkins and Rob Stone on the sidelines.
Stone will also host on-site studio segments before and after the match and at halftime with Lalas and Julie Foudy.

ESPN will use 19 cameras, including two super slo-mos, a steadicam and skycam. The exceptional ESPN Axis replay telestrator will be available, as will new Stats LLC graphic "heat maps" that track star player movement during the match, measuring speed and total distance run.

== ESPN Classic has the "History of the MLS Cup" two-hour presentation (Saturday at 3 p.m.) that goes from the start of the league through 2008. Interviews include players and coaches who have starred in the MLS Cup, including Landon Donovan, Bruce Arena, Cobi Jones and Eric Wynalda.

== ESPN2's coverage of the Western Conference finals last friday was the most-watched MLS telecast on the network, drawing an average of 538,000 TV homes (or 700,000 viewers), giving it a 0.5 rating. Additionally on ESPN Deportes, the match was seen in an average of 73,000 Hispanic television homes (121,000 viewers), a 1.6 Hispanic coverage rating. The previous high was Thurs., Aug. 23, 2007, in a regular-season match between Chivas USA and the Galaxy -- 532,000 TV homes (658,000 viewers) for a 0.6 rating.

Other corners to kick around:

== HBO says there were 1.25 million pay-per-view buys (650,000 from cable/600,000 from satellite dish folk) from Saturday's Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight in Las Vegas, resulting in $70 million generated to split up amongst those connected with it. Of that total, 110,000 buys were from Puerto Rico, Cotto's home market. How many were purchased in the Phillipines? Not sure. HBO replays the fight -- free, sorta of, if you buy HBO -- Saturday at 10 p.m.

== HBO's next "Real Sports" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.) includes a piece by Mary Carillo on 43-year-old New York firefighter Matt Long and his ability to compete in the recent Lake Placid Ironman event -- four years after riding to work during a transit strike when he was run over by a bus and impaled on his own bicycle. Long was featured in last Sunday's presentation of the Arete Awards for Sports Courage on CBS.

== Kevin Calabro and Mark Jackson drew the short straws: They're calling ESPN's coverage of Denver at the Clippers tonight, 7:30 p.m.

AND FINALLY:

== Latest webisode of "Mayne Street" involves missing Lakers courtside tickets, and a lot of leg room for Aubrey Plaza before she's banished to an ESPN outlet in the Ukrane:

ATLANTA -- Uga VII, the white English bulldog mascot for the University of Georgia's football team for almost two seasons, died Thursday of heart-related causes, the dog's owner said.

The 56-pound dog, nicknamed "Loran's Best," was known as a laid-back mascot who seemed oblivious to crowd noise during boisterous games and would sit patiently as excited fans snapped photos of him. He often roamed the sidelines in a shirt with a 'G' stitched on it, sometimes resting on a bag of ice to cool off in his customized dog house.

The school said there would be no mascot at Saturday's game in Athens against Southeastern Conference rival Kentucky, but that a wreath will be laid on his doghouse on the field's sidelines. Sonny Seiler, the dog's owner, said he likely wouldn't name a replacement until next year.

"We are all in a state of shock," Seiler said in a news release issued by the university. "We had no warning whatsoever."

The 4-year-old dog made his debut as the mascot in August 2008 after his father, Uga VI, died of congestive heart failure. He had big paws to fill -- Uga VI was the school's winningest mascot, racking up a 87-27 record, seven wins in nine bowl appearances and a pair of Southeastern Conference championships.

But Seiler said the dog distinguished himself in his own way.

"He was 10-3 last year which is not bad for a freshman," said Seiler. "Uga VII was not as active or mischievous as his father but more distinguished. He realized his role when he put his shirt on. He was well-behaved and always appreciated the significance of his role."

The dog was the latest in a line of mascots that have been featured on the covers of Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek and in several movies. He also was a compelling symbol for football fans across the nation, said Damon Evans, the school's athletic director.

"Just as his ancestors, he had captured the hearts of college football fans everywhere as the country's No. 1 mascot," Evans said. "He had been truly embraced by all those who follow the Georgia Bulldogs across the country. We will miss him dearly."

On the Net: http://www.uga.edu

Lalas is back on ESPN's telecast of Sunday's MLS Cup (5:30 p.m.) telling L.A. fans it's time to care about the Galaxy again.

The former star player and team GM fired from his post late last season has mixed feelings about seeing this team make it to the title game. Imagine if he'd been allowed to stick around one more year, with Bruce Arena as the coach, and be in Seattle this weekend as the one who orchestrated this title-contender instead of being accused of being the one responsible for the mess it was in less than a year ago.

We caught up with Alexi doing voice-over work back in Bristol, Conn., on the U.S.-Denmark game and drained him for some info on how he feels about this situation and who he's pulling for (surprise) in Sunday's game.

He says he misses "the day-to-day business" of soccer, but the TV work "is a wonderful thing to do." He'll explain.

By Tim Dahlberg
The Associated Press

Roger Goodell was hanging with the common folks last Sunday, enjoying the experience of an NFL game from end zone seats in Tennessee. It was, he would say later, a perfectly fine day to watch football.

No drunks puking in the aisle next to him. No foul-mouthed fans screaming obscenities in his ear.

Just an elderly man prancing about, flipping off Buffalo fans with both middle fingers while celebrating the Titans' 41-17 victory over the Bills.

Worried about the trash in the stands ruining your game and setting a bad example for your children? Make sure they don't stray near the owner's box.

Apparently youthful exuberance got the better of Bud Adams. The calendar may say he's 86, but Adams seems to take as much pleasure berating his opponents as he did when he and his Houston Oilers won the first American Football League championship nearly a half century ago.

And he knows something about the extended middle finger. A lot of people in Houston gave it to him when he carted his team off to Tennessee, leaving behind a mountain of taxpayer debt at the Astrodome.

Unfortunately for Adams, his in-your-face moment was captured by a fan on video. That led to an obligatory fine from Goodell, and an obligatory apology of sorts by way of a prepared statement.

That's unusual only because most of the time owners only issue statements when they're heading out of town with their team in the middle of the night or, as Redskins owner Dan Snyder did recently, explaining why it was a bad idea for fans to bring signs into the stadium calling him an idiot.

Out in Los Angeles, Frank and Jamie McCourt have been issuing all kinds of statements, thinking, perhaps, that fans really do care which one comes out of a divorce owning the Dodgers. They don't, but they do care about the McCourts spending so much money on lawyers that they won't have enough to sign free agent John Lackey.

Still, being an owner used to mean never having to explain yourself. If you've got enough money to own a team, other people can do it for you.

Cuban is relatively new to this all, though. Adams has been around since the founding days of the AFL, and it could be he's growing impatient that he's never had a team win a Super Bowl, though the Titans came agonizingly close in 2002.

Adams was involved in a middle-finger incident after that season, too. It happened when he was showing off the Titans' AFC championship ring, and he mentioned that someone asked what finger he would wear a Super Bowl ring on if the Titans won.

Still steamed at Houston's mayor over a new stadium, Adams held up his right hand and extended the middle finger.

"I said, 'I'm going to put it right on this finger and say to the mayor of Houston, 'There it is, mayor, take a look at it.'"

No fine for that one, but he did say he was sorry.

So consider his recent $250,000 penalty an admission fee to the owner's Hall of Shame, an exclusive club that counts Marge Schott, the late owner of the Cincinnati Reds, as a charter member.

Schott so embarrassed baseball in the 1990s with her racist rantings and fond recollections of Adolf Hitler that she was finally suspended from ownership duties for a season.

When Schott came back she offended yet another portion of the population by saying she wouldn't allow her players to wear earrings "because only fruits wear earrings."

But the topper came on opening day in 1996 when home plate umpire John McSherry dropped dead of a heart attack in the first inning in Cincinnati. Schott didn't want to call the game, reportedly saying, "... I feel cheated. This isn't supposed to happen to us, not in Cincinnati. ..."

Later, she sent flowers to the umpire room in sympathy -- flowers she had been given earlier in the day by a local television station.

Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.

On the official website (linked here), it says:

REDONDO BEACH, CA - The New United States Football League announces plans to launch a professional spring football league to begin in the Spring of 2011. The league's goal is to have 10-12 teams in the first year of play with teams throughout the United States.

"We have a strong sense of history and believe that the marketplace has demonstrated the desire to have 'Spring football'," said New USFL Founder/President Michael Dwyer. "The USFL had a strong connection with many of its fans and we hope to re-ignite that passion and pick up where the others left off."

The league will play traditional stadium-played football with most of the rules being based from the original USFL concepts. The league is also in the process of recruiting its staff and securing sponsorships with announcements to follow in the near future.

"Other leagues have proven that the talent is out there," Dwyer said. "We want to be the Spring destination of the ultimate football fan who can't wait for the Fall."

The league will announce cities that will play in 2011 at a later date, but Dwyer said that former USFL locations would receive strong consideration when selecting where franchises will be placed.

Sponsors or potential investors interested in partnering with the New USFL should contact Michael Dwyer at michael_dwyer@newusfl.com.

Will L.A. be included in this discussion? According to someone close to the decision-making process, no. They're pushing for a San Diego franchise in Southern California because that's where most of the investors live and the league will be based. A team also in L.A. would provide too much competition right way.

INDIANAPOLIS -- College athletes are still setting records and dispelling myths -- in the classroom.

Just like the late NCAA President Myles Brand believed they could.

The NCAA's latest graduation numbers show nearly four out of five student-athletes earn their diplomas on time, an all-time high, and federal statistics show athletes are still more likely to graduate on time than other students.

"The misconception is that NCAA student-athletes are not good students," interim NCAA President Jim Isch said in a conference call Wednesday. "The truth, as Myles reminded people, is that they could perform in the classroom and they outperformed the general student body in almost every measure."

NCAA statistics show 79 percent of all freshmen entering school in 2002-03 graduated within six years, matching last year's record high. The four-class average, for students entering college between the fall of 1999 and the fall of 2002, also was 79 percent, a 1 percentage point increase over last year's record.

The federal numbers are lower, 64 percent for athletes, but still 2 percentage points higher than the general student body that does not have access to all the assistance provided to student-athletes.

Federal statistics do not include the performance of transfer students. So if an athlete enrolls at one school, then transfers to another, neither school receives credit if the athlete graduates.

NCAA officials believe the improving numbers can be attributed to stronger eligibility standards for incoming freshmen and a greater emphasis on academics during Brand's tenure as president.

"I think everyone understands how much this has changed the culture on campus and I expect that will continue to be the case in the future," said Walter Harrison, chairman of the committee on academic performance. "I think coaches are clearly more aware of the Academic Progress Rate. They know how it's calculated, and most importantly they know that they have to do well in the classroom and stay on track to graduate."

Female athletes outperformed their male counterparts, 88 percent to 72 percent, and the only women's sport to score lower than 79 percent was bowling (74 percent). Women's basketball came in at 83 percent under NCAA guidelines and 64 percent on the federal report.

The three biggest men's sports -- football, basketball and baseball -- all failed to top 70 percent in the NCAA report.

Bowl Subdivision teams came in at 67 percent (NCAA) and 55 percent (federal).

"I'm especially pleased with the progress in baseball and men's basketball," Isch said. "Over the last eight years, baseball is up 10 points, and basketball is up 5 points. Football is up 3 percentage points in the bowl subdivision."

Of the top 10 teams in the BCS standings, Cincinnati, now fifth in the standings, was the only school to top 70 percent in both reports.

Texas, which is third in the standings, and Georgia Tech, which is seventh, had the lowest scores. Both came in at 49 percent (NCAA) and 41 percent (federal).

And half of the top 10 teams in the BCS standings -- Florida, Texas, Boise State, Georgia Tech and LSU -- failed to reach 50 percent in the federal report.

But Harrison believes the numbers will increase again next year, the first time the NCAA will measure the impact of more stringent eligibility standards that require athletes to accumulate 20 percent of their credits toward graduation each year.

"Next year's rate I think will show progress but even so, I think this year's numbers show we have made real success," Harrison said. "I want to congratulate our student-athletes for proving the critics wrong."

On the Net: http://www.ncaa.org

CBS will go with San Diego's roadie in the Mile High City as opposed to the other game (with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms), and it makes sense if you're trying to connect with an audience of local interest.

Otherwise, whatever else the NFL has to offer this weekend, we're not all that interested:

THURSDAY

== 5:20 p.m., NFL Network: Miami at Carolina (with Bob Papa and Matt Millen)

SUNDAY

== 10 a.m., Channel 2: Indianapolis at Baltimore (with Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf, instead of Pittsburgh-Kansas City, Buffalo-Jacksonville or Cleveland-Detroit)
== 10 a.m., Channel 11: Washington at Dallas (with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, instead of Seattle-Minnesota, Atlanta-N.Y. Giants, New Orleans-Tampa Bay and San Francisco-Green Bay)
== 1 p.m., Channel 2: San Diego at Denver (with Dick Enberg and Dan Fouts, instead of N.Y. Jets-New England or Cincinnati-Oakland; Fox has Arizona-St. Louis in this window as well)
== 5:20 p.m., Channel 4: Philadelphia at Chicago (with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth)

MONDAY
== 5:30 p.m., ESPN: Tennessee at Houston (with Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden)

No. 2 BCS ranked Alabama, which someday soon will play Florida for the right to claim No. 1, at least until the BCS title game, is playing Chattanooga Mocs this weekend.

Seriously. Roll Tide. It won't be on any TV set near you Saturday.

This is what it said on the Alabama football official site:

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama football team returned to the practice field Monday afternoon to begin preparation for Saturday's game with Chattanooga. The team practiced for a little over an hour in shells at the Thomas-Drew Practice Facility.

"We always respect our opponents," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said at his weekly press conference on Monday. "These guys have come back in several games because of their ability to throw the ball, especially with the quarterback B.J. Coleman. They have good receivers. They have a good scheme and a good attack on offense. They seem to be a little simpler, playing hard and tough on defense. They do a good job of coaching their special teams. This is a very well-coached team. We always have the proper respect and we need to do a good job in what we do to execute and take care of our own business."

We got nothing after that.

The rest of the week ahead in college football land -- with some favorite (Ohio State-Michigan) meaningless matchups, and two important Pac-10 games (Cal-Stanford, on a channel you still can't get on DirecTV; Oregon-Arizona, on a channel everyone seems to get) if you're still following that kind of thing:

THE LOCALS:
== 1 p.m., FSN West: UCLA vs. Arizona State, Rose Bowl (with Barry Tompkins and Petros Papadakis)

WEDNESDAY
== 3 p.m., ESPNU: Buffalo at Miami (Ohio) (with Dari Nowkhah and Tom Luginbill)
== 5 p.m., ESPN2: Central Michigan at Ball State (with Dave Lamont and Trent Dilfer)

THURSDAY
== 3 p.m., ESPNU: Tennessee State at Eastern Illinois (with Charlie Neal and Jay Walker)
== 4:30 p.m, ESPN: Colorado at No. 12 Oklahoma State (with Chris Fowler, Craig James, Jesse Palmer and Erin Andrews)

FRIDAY
== 3:30 p.m., ESPNU: Akron at Bowling Green (with Kevin Negandhi and David Jon Berger)
== 6:30 p.m., ESPN2: No. 6 Boise State at Utah State (with Joe Tessitore and Rod Gilmore)

SATURDAY
== 7 to 9 a.m., ESPN: "College GameDay" at Tucson, Arizona -- it will mark the first time GameDay has originated from this city and the fifth consecutive week from a school not in the SEC, Big Ten or Big 12 (three from the Mountain West and two Pac-10), the longest streak in the show's history. With Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard.

== 9 a.m., Channel 7: No. 10 Ohio State at Michigan (with Sean McDonough, Matt Millen and Holly Rowe)
== 9 a.m., ESPN: Minnesota at No. 13 Iowa (with Dave Pasch, Bob Griese and Chris Spielman)
== 9 a.m., ESPN2: North Carolina at Boston College (with Pam Ward and Ray Bentley)
== 9 a.m., ESPNU: Duke at No. 20 Miami (with Clay Matvick and David Diaz-Infante)
== 9:30 a.m., FSN West: Oklahoma at Texas Tech (with Joel Meyers, Gary Reasons and Jim Knox)
== 11 a.m., The mtn.: No. 4 TCU at Wyoming (with Dan Gutowsky, Blaine Fowler and Natalie Vickers)
== 11:30 a.m., ESPN Classic: Florida Classic: Florida A&M vs. Bethune-Cookman (from Orlando, with Charlie Neal and Jay Walker)
== 11:30 a.m., Channel 4: UConn at Notre Dame (with Tom Hammond, Pat Haden and no O.J. Simpson)

== 12:30 p.m., Channel 2: No. 8 LSU at Mississippi (with Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson)
== 12:30 p.m., CBS College Sports: Air Force at No. 22 BYU (with Tom Hart and Aaron Taylor)
== 12:30 p.m., Channel 7: No. 14 Penn State at Michigan State (with Mike Patrick, Craig James and Heather Cox)
== 12:30 p.m., ESPN: Virginia at No. 23 Clemson (with Bob Wischusen and Brian Griese)
== 12:30 p.m., ESPNU: N.C. State at No. 15 Virginia Tech (with Todd Harris and Charles Arbuckle)
== 12:30 p.m., Big Ten Network: No. 16 Wisconsin at Northwestern (with Wayne Larrivee, Chris Martin and Charissa Thompson)
== 1 p.m., Versus: San Diego State at Utah (with Tim Neverett, Glenn Parker and Lindsay Soto)

== 3 p.m., the Mnt.: Colorado State at New Mexico (with James Bates, Todd Christensen and Keenan McCardell)
== 4 p.m., ESPNU: Vanderbilt at Tennessee (with Eric Collins and Brock Huard)
== 4:30 p.m., Versus: No. 25 Cal at No. 17 Stanford (with Ron Thulin, Kelly Stouffer and Lewis Johnson)
== 4:30 p.m., CBS College Sports: Tulsa at Southern Miss (with Dave Ryan and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila)
== 4:45 p.m., ESPN: Kansas State at Nebraska (with Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge and Erin Andrews)
== 4:45 p.m., ESPN2: Kentucky at Georgia (with Mark Jones and Bob Davie)
== 5 p.m., Channel 7: No. 11 Oregon at Arizona (with Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters)
== 5 p.m., ESPN PPV/ESPN360.com: Kansas at No. 3 Texas (with Ron Franklin and Ed Cunningham)

== 7:20 p.m., ESPNU: Nevada at New Mexico State (with Terry Gannon and David Norrie)

A story on CNN's website today (linked here) notes that "unfriend" has been picked as word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, beating out things such as "netbook," "hashtag" and "sexting."

Oxford defines "unfriend," a verb: "To remove someone as a 'friend' on a social networking site such as Facebook."

It also notes that on some blogs Tuesday, debate about the decision centered on whether the "unfriend" or "defriend" was the proper word for weeding someone from one's online circle.

Somehow this brings us to the United Football League.

We have unfriended them. They're UnFriendLy in our social circles. We've been abandoned.

We've kept seeing this billboard (above) around town the last couple of months, and it has definitely had us interested ... in an odd way. It promotes a professional football game at the Home Depot Center for this Friday, two teams full of NFL rejects, pointing the spotlight on the names on the two coaches participating.

It looks more like a UFC event than the UFL.

Two guys who will "battle for U." What, in a halftime arm wrestling? A clipboard toss competition? Honestly, these guys should be wearing nametags as much as the players.

But, from what we can now determine, this game isn't taking place in Southern California. And we can't get a straight answer.

The official site of the Home Depot Center (linked here), home of the MLS Galaxy and Chivas, is publicizing only the upcoming high school football state championships and a Mia Hamm-Nomar Garciaparra charity soccer event.

Through a Google search, we find out through some sketch reports that back in mid-October, the league pulled the plug on this. Someone decided (linked here) that the contest between your Las Vegas Locomotives (aka, the Locos) and the New York Sentinels should stay at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas and not venture this way.

It goes against the league's original plan to showcase their four teams in not just their four "hometowns" but also in potential markets for expansion.

Because, in L.A., you know, there is no pro football. And this could be the answer.

"This is a move to help the Locos build a solid fan base in their home city, help sell tickets for the championship game to be held in Vegas (on the Friday after Thanksgiving) to not ruin L.A. as a potential UFL market," the story says, attributing this information to no one in particular.

It also explains: The UFL isn't drawing.

They thought they'd get 20,000 a game. They've been estimating crowd counts as closer to about 12,500. Those who are actually in attendance think that's about twice as much as are really there. That's less than what the old XFL used to draw (23,400 in its one year). Even the older USFL was a much bigger attaction, with far greater names.

JP Losman (bio linked here), the former Venice High standout and UCLA scholarship holder who left the program as a redshirt and ended up with improving his NFL stock at Tulane, continues to pilot the Locos of Vegas, who last week clinched a championship berth. This, after his career with the NFL's Buffalo Bills (33 starts in four years) seemed to fizzle. He'd been reduced to a backup. The 28-year-old decided to join this upstart D-league-type league back in August. Fassel, the former New York Giants coach, would be the two most high-profile faces -- even with Jim Haslett (Florida Tuskers, in Orlando), Dennis Green (California Redwood, in San Francisco) and Cotrell (New York) coaching the other teams.

We know of this Losman. We actually wanted to see him play. We can't now.

He's not our friend.

What the XFL did for Tommy Maddox and the Arena Football League did for Kurt Warner, this UFL thing could be useful for Losman. A stop in L.A. this week would have really upped his profile.

Instead, he's back in Vegas, off the strip, competing with Carrot Top and some reality show ventrilloquist for attention. Here, we'd have embraced him. Now, we erase his memory.

If there was a curiosity factor for this UFL, it's gone. Like most of these coaches' futures. Plant a franchise here next year, and we'll tell you right now, we don't care. You had your chance. You had us at the crazy billboard, which is still up near the 110 Harbor Freeway near Sepulveda, a few miles from the HDC. Which will apparently be dark on Friday.

This unfriendly UFL is about as goin' rogue as some woman trying to reclaim her political career.

Thanks, nonfriend. It was nice not knowing you.

Clements, 51, was the focus of a feature story last September (linked here) after the JetHawks finished 56-84, but made progress with rising stars such as catcher/outfielder Koby Clemens (son of Roger Clemens, who led the minor leagues with 123 RBIs), and outfielder Jon Gaston (who tied for the minor league lead with 35 home runs). Both players are expected to start the season with the Double-A Hooks.

"This is a great thing," Clements said via email today. "The Corpus Christi stadium and organization has won awards all the time for best minor league field, stadium, front office, etc."

Brad Mills, the new Houston Astros manager, was a teammate of Clements at the University of Arizona in the late '70s (as was current Red Sox manager Terry Francona), a squad that won the College World Series in 1980. . Clements was Houston's sixth-round selection in the 1980 draft and spent his first five pro seasons in the Astros system.

To replace Clements at Lancaster, the JetHawks hired former big-leaguer Tom Lawless as their manager. Lawless spent eight seasons in the majors (1982-1900) with Cincinnati, Montreal, St. Louis and Toronto. He played in two World Series hit a dramatic 3-run homer in Game 4 of the 1987 World Series against the Minnesota Twins. He is also the only player to ever be traded for Pete Rose, in 1984.