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They were stretched all around, as far as the eye could see, at the BCS National Championship Game last night in Miami. The Florida Gators, and game MVP Tim Tebow, beat the Oklahoma Sooners 24-14 to capture their second National Title in 3 years. Florida was also voted the AP National Champion in the poll released this morning.

Experts expected the game to be a shoot-out with two of the best offenses in the NCAA going head to head. Oklahoma did not score less than 35 points in any game this season en route to a 12-1 regular-season record and Big 12 championship. The Gators were also an offensive juggernaut, also finishing 12-1 and winning the SEC championship. It was Florida’s #4 ranked defense that made the difference.

Despite having the Heisman Trophy winner in Sam Bradford, Oklahoma was not able to put the points on the board that they are used to. They were stopped at the goal line twice in the first half, once on 4th down and once with an interception. Still, the game was neck and neck in the second half until Florida blocked an Oklahoma field goal attempt. After that play one could feel the momentum swing to Florida, and they ran away with the game. Tebow and Percy Harvin, who had missed a month with an injury and stayed in Florida over Christmas to rehab for the game, put the Sooners away.

#5 : Jose Canseco Gets Juiced
For years, Major League baseball fans watched as Jose Canseco launched homers into the uperdeck. With homerun records falling year after year, nobody seemed to care that these athletes had bulging biceps, thick neck, and huge legs.
That all changed when Jose Canseco retired and published Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big. Revealing his steriod abuse during his record baseball history.

#4: SMU Football receives the “death penalty”
The “death penalty” refers to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) power to force United States academic institutions not to compete in certain sports. It is the most severe punishment that a school can receive. Twenty years ago, money killed the SMU football program. The NCAA handed SMU the first and only “death penalty,” eliminating football for the 1987 season.

#3 : The O.J. Simpson Trails
Never has a professional athlete fallen from such heights to such depths as O.J. Simpson has. Simpson, a former Heisman Trophy winner, was arrested in 1994 and charged with the murder of former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

#2: Tonya Harding
This skating scandal was so huge that it made Olympic women’s figure skating competition the sixth-highest rated program in history.Trying to eliminate her competition in the 1994 Winter Games, Tonya Harding asked her then-husband to hire an attacker to take a pipe to Nancy Kerrigan’s knee. This led Harding to a victory gaining the U.S. title.

#1: The 1919 Black Sox Fix
The Cincinnati Reds’ 1919 world championship banner proudly hangs at their current home, The Great American Ballpark. One of the players banned for life by Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis. Most importantly, a signed confession by Jackson was somehow “lost” during the trial. The scandal damaged baseball badly.

We compiled a short list of what we feel are the top 10 sports moments. No offense if you don’t agree, you can go read someone elses top 10.

10. Goodbye Gherig (7/4/3). In perhaps one of the most touching sports moments, a dying man stood before over 60,000 people and the world to impart the genuine feeling that he was “the luckiest man in the world” for having the opportunity to endeavor through the love of his craft. Lou Gehrig, the Iron Horse, who had not missed a game his entire 13-plus year career (spanning a mind-bending 2,130 consecutive games) lowered his head and became the symbol of what sports, and maybe all of life is about; accepting your destiny, giving it your all, and enjoying every moment, good or ill.

9. Go Get ‘Em Tiger (4/13/97)! In what turned out to be a phenomenon, Tiger Woods was both launched and cemented during a record 18-under Masters victory by 12 strokes over an awed field. At the tender age of 21, and only his fifteenth appearance as a pro, with the eyes of the world watching his every move, the highly touted Woods became the youngest player to win the Masters in the 61-year history of the tournament, winning an event that didn’t even invite a black player until the year he was born at a club that didn’t invite a black member to join until 1990.

8. Namath Saves The Day (1/12/69) In a great moment in football history, brash Broadway Joe Namath, the richest of athletes at the time, uttered the unthinkable and broke the code of centuries of competition, he guaranteed victory. Standing at a podium in downtown Miami, Florida, where he was to be given the upstart pro league, AFL Most Valuable Player, Namath vehemently predicted his team’s easy victory in a game two previous representative from his league had been embarrassed in and whose own team was an unprecedented 18 plus point dog in a championship contest. The New York Jets and Namath did convincingly defeat the 13-1 Baltimore Colts and the NFL’s best defense, 16-7 and helped merge both leagues into what is now the premiere professional sports franchise in America.

7. Roger Bannister Breaks Four Minute Mile (5/6/54) A 25-year-old British medical student becomes the first man to achieve the unthinkable; run a mile in less than four minutes. One afternoon on the Iffley Road track in Oxford, England, his miraculously close time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds was achieved during a 15mph crosswind with gusts of up to 25mph. Ironically, this nearly caused Bannister to call off the triumphant event witnessed by about 3,000 spectators.

6. Long Jump World Record, Long Gone (10/18/68) In what is widely considered the greatest individual physical feat in human competition, 24 year-old, New Yorker Bob Beamon obliterated an Olympic/World Record in the long jump by a mind-bending two feet. Fellow American, Ralph Boston established the record years before at 27 feet, 43/4 inches, and it was Boston who coached Beamon through his record leap. As the Mexico City crowd watched in stunned awe, Beamon tossed his 6-foot-3, 160-pound 8.90 meters — 29 feet, 21/2 inches for the most lopsided destruction of a world record ever.

5. Owens Debunks Aryan Myth (8/9/36) Son of a sharecropper from Oakville Alabama, world class, black American athlete, Jesse Owens marched into Adolph Hitler’s great Berlin arena and spit in the face of the Third Reich’s claims of Aryan superiority by setting three world records and one Olympic record, earning four track and field gold medals in the same Summer Olympiad, a performance that would remain unmatched for 48 years. In front of the visibly infuriated German dictator and a stunned international audience, Owens won the 100 meters in an Olympic-record 10.3 seconds, the long jump, setting an Olympic record of 26-53/8 and the 200 meters in an Olympic-record 20.7 seconds. Owens won his fourth gold medal, leading off the 4×100-meter relay that would set a world record at 39.8 seconds.

4. Bye Bye Babe (1/3/20) The greatest player in the history of the game is sold from the powerful Boston Red Sox to the burgeoning New York Yankees for $100,000 to finance a Broadway play produced by Boston owner Harry Frazee. At the time of the deal, the Red Sox had won five world championships and was the toast of American League baseball. The Yankees had only been around for 17 uneventful years and didn’t even have a ballpark to call their own. Since, the Red Sox have not won a title. The Yankees built a ballpark in Babe’s honor and on his financial back and have won 26 titles.Â

3. Robinson Breaks Racial Barriers (10 /30/45) Breaking the color barrier and paving the way for modern American sport, Jackie Roosevelt Robinson becomes the first African American to garner a Major League Baseball paycheck. Thanks to the efforts of Brooklyn president Branch Rickey, and the indomitable spirit of Robinson, in less than two years the newest Dodger, after enduring trials and tribulations beyond comprehension, failed player boycotts and insidious fan outrage to become Rookie of the Year, while leading his team to the World Series.

2. Ali Wins The Title (2/25/64) In one of the most amazing upsets in boxing, the young, 22-year old stood against the seemingly indestructible heavyweight champ, Sonny Liston. The event was more than a mere world championship bout due to Clay’s taunting and media manipulation. In one night in Miami Florida, the Louisville Lip, Cassius Clay told the world he was the greatest, won in six rounds, despite the alleged cheating of Liston (the champ’s corner was said to have put a foreign substance on his gloves, effectively blinding Clay for the entire fifth round) and became Muhammad Ali, the greatest, and invented the American icon of latter 20th century sport.

1. USA Dream Team.  Rag tag assembly of mostly teenaged amateurs, barely together a few months and playing a sport invented and perfected elsewhere, take on the most polished, professional and seemingly unbeatable team in the history of international hockey and win; producing the greatest upset in all of sports. What makes the ultimate upset even more unbelievable is the fact that the same two teams played only a week earlier in an exhibition match and the Soviet Union cruised to a 10-1 victory, setting the stage for the expected American embarrassment that never came.

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During the weeks of Feb. 5 to Feb. 19, NFL teams have the opportunity to put a franchise tag on the players. That hasn’t stopped the speculation on the Patriot’s quarterback Matt Cassel. Teams can use the franchise tag to help retain players who are scheduled for unrestricted free agency. The Patriots have utilized it on players such as cornerback Asante Samuel, kicker Adam Vinatieri, and safety Tebucky Jones.

A player who is assigned the franchise tag still can be signed by other teams, but those clubs would surrender two first-round draft choices if the original team does not match the offer. Because first-round draft choices are so valuable, it is unlikely a player assigned the tag would be signed by another club. In the case of Cassel, he would receive a one-year tender offer that is the average of the top five salary cap charges among NFL quarterbacks, Which would be around $14 million.

Alex Stepney - Manchester United

You’re probably aware of the expression “screaming your head off,” but here’s an incident of “screaming your jaw off.” Alex Stepney, a former Manchester United goalkeeper, was reaming out his defensemen in a match against Birmingham City in an effort to encourage a more spirited performance. He yelled so hard that he dislocated his jaw. Contrary to those who believe soccer is a slow sport, it does provide enough jaw-dropping plays.

Cal Ripken Jr. - Baltimore Orioles

Cal Ripken Jr. earned the nickname “Iron Man” for his impeccable toughness and endurance, both of which helped him to play in an MLB-record 2,632 consecutive games. But just because you’re made of iron doesn’t mean you will go without injury. In the 1996 All-Star Game’s pre-game photo session, pitcher Roberto Hernandez lost his balance and started to fall backward. He swung his arms in an effort to regain his balance and his forearm connected with and broke Ripken’s nose. In typical Ripken fashion, he still played — and started — the All-Star Game.

Derrick Mason - Baltimore Ravens

Most golfers scream the word “fore” during an errant shot, but NFL wide receiver Derrick Mason likely uttered a different four-letter word when playing golf during a charity tournament. Mason was teeing off when he made an awkward swing, causing his hand to twist and break his wrist. Unfortunately, a mulligan didn’t help in this situation.

Jaromir Jagr - New York Rangers

Enforcers are a dying breed in the new NHL, but the following example is one reason to keep them around. At the end of an ugly playoff loss to the rival New Jersey Devils, the New York Rangers’ goal-scorer Jaromir Jagr tried to punch Scott Gomez. Jagr used his left hand for the swipe but whiffed and dislocated his shoulder. Jagr has made many defenders and goaltenders look foolish with his stick, but the tables turned when he tried to use his fist.

Bret Barberie - Chicago Cubs

Brett Barberie, former baseball utility man and ex-husband of the foxy Jillian Barberie, obviously had good taste in women and seemingly had good taste in food. He was making nachos one night with all the mixings, including chili peppers and hot sauce, but he neglected to wash his hands after touching the spicy ingredients. He later went to put in his contact lenses and felt a severe burning sensation; consequently he missed a game. Talk about taking your eye off the ball.

Mark Smith - Milwaukee Brewers

By the time most of us reach the age of 3 we have been thoroughly lectured about sticking our hands into electrical sockets, fans or other potentially dangerous devices. Unfortunately, Mark Smith, a former MLB outfielder, must have missed that lesson. He was fairly average with his bat through his eight-year career, but he quite obviously didn’t excel in evaluating situations. When faced with a hotel room air conditioner that he thought was broken, Smith cut his hand after sticking it directly inside the unit to ascertain what was causing the malfunction. Maybe it was working fine after all.

Bill Gramatica - Miami Dolphins

They say NFL kickers are a dime a dozen, but Bill Gramatica found a way to stand out in an anonymous grouping. He wasn’t more skilled than your average kicker, but his exuberant celebration style made him stand apart. After one particular routine field goal with the Arizona Cardinals, he jumped high in the air for his typical superfluous celebration but landed awkwardly and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his nonkicking knee. He claimed that he wasn’t doing it for show, but his reasoning for excessive celebration didn’t have a leg to stand on.

David Seaman - Manchester City

Soap operas are fictional and seemingly never-ending, but most addicts can’t stand to go one day without their fix. Chalk up goalkeeper David Seaman as a fiend and his bad habit cost him: While trying to tape an episode of Coronation Street, Britain’s longest running soap, Seaman pulled a back muscle reaching for the remote. In his defense, it is perennially one the UK’s highest-rated shows.

Gus Frerotte - St. Louis Rams

NFL touchdown celebrations have run the gamut from Merton Hanks’ funky chicken dance to Chad Johnson’s Riverdance, but none were as foolish as Gus Frerotte’s festivity. After scoring in the second quarter of a game for the Washington Redskins, Frerotte went to headbutt the padded wall just outside the end zone. Unfortunately, the stadium wall consisted of a thin layer of foam and a very thick layer of concrete, which put Frerotte into a woozy state. He was then quickly ambulanced to the hospital to get treatment for his head injury.

Kevin Johnson - Phoenix Suns

After a walk-off hit, shot or goal, most teams clear their bench and euphorically celebrate together in a mob. After Phoenix Suns guard Kevin Johnson netted a game-winning basket, teammate Charles Barkley greeted him with a big bear hug. Barkley squeezed him like a tube of toothpaste and clasped so hard that Johnson’s shoulder popped and dislocated, making the moment truly bittersweet.

It would be hard to tell which one he is more proud of, but the two are definitely correlated. A man with a beautiful wife has an inner confidence that allows him to succeed or a very successful man suddenly finds himself surrounded by beautiful women. Either way, Peyton Manning is a lucky man.

The Indianapolis Colts quarterback won a record tying 3rd MVP today by a landslide. He receieved 32 votes while the two tied for second got 4 each. He and Brett Favre are the only 3 time MVP’s in NFL history. Although Manning has had statistically better seasons, and a Super Bowl championship, this was by far the best performance of his career.

Coming off of two knee surgeries over the summer, Manning was not sure if he would even play to start the year. He did, but the Colts started 3-4. Aroundweek 9 Manning got his strength back and something clicked in his head. He led the Colts to 9 straight victories, including wins at New England, Pittsburgh, and Tennessee, and they are the hottest team headed into the Playoffs this weekend. Manning finished the season with 4,002 yards passing, the only player to surpass 4,000 yards for 9 straight season, with 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, one of the world’s best midfielders, was charged with assault Tuesday in connection with a bar fight. His team expects him to remain a vital part of the club as it bids for its first English league title since 1990.

Gerrard was charged with two other men after spending 24 hours in custody following the disturbance in the seaside resort of Southport in Merseyside. The bar’s 34-year-old disc jockey, Marcus McGee, lost a tooth and was cut on his forehead. He was hospitalized and released.

“Steven has been an outstanding servant to Liverpool for the last 10 years and the club will give him all the support he needs at this time,” Liverpool said in a statement.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez sees Gerrard as the key to his club’s success.

“He is now one of the big names of world football and 10 years in the same club and scoring (109) goals for a midfielder is amazing,” Benitez said this season.

Gerrard’s standing in world soccer was reinforced in October when international players named him to a team-of-the-year lineup. Gerrard has acknowledged that the plaudits have intensified his scrutiny.

Gerrard has played 70 matches for England and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II after leading Liverpool to the Champions League title in 2005.

“He is an example to everyone,” Benitez said. “He always trains hard and is a good professional. He is always committed on the pitch. It is a kind of leadership that all captains should aspire to.”

Thats why I love Britain so much, who cares that he beat the crap out of some DJ? He’s a damn good player. I feel America should adopt this complete sense of disregard.

Big Ten MVP Shonn Greene figures he’s ready for the next level.

The Iowa running back turned Thursday’s Outback Bowl into a farewell party, leading the Hawkeyes past South Carolina 31-10 and then announcing he intends to skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

“I don’t think there’s really a lot more I can do here,” Greene said. “People talk about the Heisman, but I think that’s a lot of politics. I don’t like getting caught up in all of that, so I just figure I’ll try my chances.”

“He’s been the same guy each and every week,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said, using words like “humble” and “modest” to describe the 235-pound junior, who worked at a furniture store and didn’t play football while attending community college to improve his grades.

Greene scored on a pair of 1-yard runs to help Iowa build a 21-0 halftime lead, then added an 11-yarder to make it 31-0 late in the third quarter. South Carolina scored on Chris Smelley’s 10-yard TD pass to Jared Cook and Ryan Succop’s 48-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Or so Thomas Jones of the New York Jets would have you believe. Jones, and other members of Favre’s new team, blasted the 39 year old quarterback in the media earlier in the week. One player, who did not have the courage to give his name, said Favre was distant and the reason that the Jets did not make the playoffs. “There was a lot of resentment in the room about him. He never socialized with us, never went to dinner with anyone. It’s the quarterback throwing the ball all over the place. And he didn’t suffer any repercussions. He kept doing it. People said [coach] Eric [Mangini] called him out in meetings. I didn’t see it. Eric treated him like he was Brett Favre. A lot of guys didn’t like it,” the anonymous player told the Newark Star Ledger.

In the last game of the NFL season Favre threw three interceptions in a 24-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins. The loss sealed another playoff-less season for the Jets. After a win over the then undefeated Tennessee Titans in week 12 the Jets were 8-3 and considered by many the team to beat in the AFC. From that point on they went 1-4 and Favre played poorly down the stretch. While team owner Woody Johnson wants Favre back for next season, he fired Head Coach Eric Mangini, once labeled Manginius, earlier in the week.

Brett Favre has always been labeled a “gunslinger”, a quarterback who took big risks that led to more big rewards than big mistakes. He is the league’s only 3-time MVP and holds all the major records for quarterbacks. The player he replaced this year, Chad Pennington, won the comeback player of the year award and led his team to the playoffs. But, Favre took a team that finished last season 4-12 and brought them to the brink of the postseason. It was his risky play that elevated the team, and while it backfired later in the season, it was the reason that New York was so close to the playoffs. His teamates should remember where they were a year ago and be grateful that Favre has made their team competitve once again.

This weekend the Baltimore Ravens will travel to Dallas to play the Cowboys in the last ever regular season game at Texas Stadium. Both teams are fighting for a playoff berth and desperately need a win. The loser will probably end up on the outside of the NFL postseason, while the winner will be practically guaranteed a spot. Both teams have practiced and prepared all week as if this is a postseason game, but one Baltimore player has something on his mind besides football. Terrell Suggs cannot wait to see Jessica Simpson.

Simpson is the boyfriend of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and can usually be found in a luxury box high above the stadium. She is regularly shown on TV and the stadium’s Jumbotron. There is also a little bit of Dallas superstition that says that her boyfriend does not play well when she is in attendance. Either he tries too hard to impress her or he can’t get her off his mind when his concentration is required to be elsewhere. Perhaps this is what Suggs is hoping for.

The Baltimore Ravens have always been known for their defense, and this season is no different. They are a tough, swarming defense with some of the best defensive players and athletes in the NFL. It is hard enough to react to their defense with a clear head, let alone with visions of your pop star girlfriend dancing in your head. There may or may not be anything to those superstitions, but Suggs will take what he can get, and, she’s not too bad to look at either.

Once again London Fletcher has been overlooked by the Pro Bowl, and will not be making the annual trip to Hawaii. In his 11 seasons, Fletcher has been an 8-time alternate. He has only been able to go if one of the two players picked ahead of him decides to pass up a free trip to Hawaii and five-figure bonus. Needless to say, he has not made the trip nearly as much as he would like.

Fletcher is considered the MVP of the Washington Redskins defense, the 4th ranked defense in the league. He is a great player, who regularly leads his team in tackles, but is quiet about his success. He does not dance when he makes a great play or cause controversy in the media. With a large percentage of Pro Bowl voting decided by the fans, this is probably what is holding him back. Most fans are of the Sportscenter variety; they see highlights and notice the biggest personalities. Players like Fletcher do not get noticed by these fans.

His being constantly overlooked for the Pro Bowl led Fletcher to compare himself with Susan Lucci. We all know her as the soap opera actress who was nominated for an Emmy 18 years in a row without winning. This is not a good comparison. While Fletcher is a good player, he has not been one of the best middle linebackers in the league during his time. He is not Hall of Fame worthy as he suggests. Susan Lucci is considered one of the legends of the genre, and unlike Fletcher, she eventually won.

The New York Jets have gone from the darlings of the league, and the popular AFC pick to go to the Super Bowl, to fighting to make the playoffs. Although they won their last game, they had lost the two preceding, and quarterback Brett Favre played poorly in all three. Always known for his strong, rocket arm, Favre blamed the recent setbacks on it having lost some strength.

After retiring and then returning to play each of the last two seasons, Favre has little credibility left. Nothing he says is taken at face value anymore and he is seen as playing a perpetual mind game with the media and opponents. Denying his strong arm means that it is stronger than ever. Even Favre realized this, “I knew when I left that podium there, ‘Oh, here we go, Old Favre,’” he said.

Always a fierce competitor, there is a high possibility he was looking for an advantage with his comments, but no possibility that anyone is falling for them. When the discussion later turned to his retirement, Favre offered up more of the same. Favre has not only been consistent in the media, but also on the field. Even while leading the NFL in interceptions, he has sparked the Jets to an incredible turn around and made the Pro Bowl. His big risks have led to big rewards more often than big setbacks. He has continued to play with that spark that has ignited a team that was burned out a year ago.

The 2006 NFL Draft class was supposed to take the NFL by storm. The player expected to have the biggest impact right away, and for years to come, was Reggie Bush. Writers and commentators blasted the Houston Texans for passing him up with the first pick, taking Mario Williams instead. However, it seemed destined that New Orleans, still struggling to regroup after Katrina, would have a sure-fire superstar fall to them. Bush was a savior, the next greatest player in the NFL. It has not quite worked out like that.

After a relatively successful first year, where his team went deep into the playoffs, Bush’s production has taken a big hit. He has failed to gain 1,000 total yards each of the last two seasons, and has missed 10 games over that span. The hope for Bush was that he could be a regular, every down running back, who would have many chances with the ball in his hands. The only thing certain about Reggie Bush so far is that his body cannot handle being a full-time running back and is he more effective as a receiver and punt returner. While still a superb athlete, he has not seen the end zone, or the field, as much as expected.

Perhaps the greatest indication of Bush’s underachieving is that he is as known for being the boyfriend of “celebrity” Kim Kardashian. She has her own TV show on the E! network, has posed for Playboy, and appeared on Dancing with the Stars. He is seen more often through her than in endorsements or TV shows of his own. Once expected to be the sporting world’s next superstar, Reggie Bush has become that “one girl’s boyfriend”.

Joe Paterno spent most of the past college football season coaching from high above the field. With a bum hip, he was unable to walk the sidelines and instead sat in the coaches box, talking to players and assistants through a headset or phone. The longest tenured coach in NCAA history’s future was in doubt. On November 23, a day after clinching the Big Ten title, Joe Pa underwent hip replacement surgery. Less than a month later he was rewarded with a contract extension.

Taking in to account his 16 years as an assistant coach, 2009 will be Paterno’s 60th season with Penn State. His 43 years as head coach is far and away the most in college football history. At 81 years old, he is also football’s all-time winningest coach. Even with such a resume, his 2007 salary was reported at $512,000, well off the $4 million Alabama’s Nick Saban makes a year. Terms of his new deal have not been disclosed, but the extension runs for 3 more years, through the 2011 season. With his rehab coming along nicely, Paterno will be back patrolling the sidelines in Happy Valley next season.

While many coaches have become victims of an inability to alter their game plan and strategy, Paterno’s coaching style has evolved with the game. It is rare for a coach to last 10 years in college football, let alone 4 decades. Some believed that if the game couldn’t get the best of him, his health would. A couple years back, in a game against Wisconsin, Paterno’s leg was broken after being taken out by a falling player. He was back coaching at the next practice.

While coaching from the skybox this past season it seemed coach was getting farther from the game, with the next logical step being retirement. Instead, the grizzled veteran has been put back together and will be returning to the scene of the action. Paterno will coach one more game from the box, the Rose Bowl against USC on New Year’s Day. Come next season though, expect to see Paterno lead his team out of the tunnel for the 44th straight year.

The Kansas City Chiefs have had an unfortunate couple of seasons. Actually, an unfortunate decade, plus. They have not come close to reclaiming the glory of their 1993 season when they reached the AFC Championship Game. They followed that season with a string of successful, winning campaigns, but recently have fallen to to the bottom of the barrel. Fed up over losing, Chiefs GM, President and CEO Carl Peterson has resigned, effective at the close of the season.

Carl Peterson started with the Chiefs in 1989 and immediately help build the team into a winner. He was able to get Joe Montana from the 49ers, who led the Chiefs to within one game of the super Bowl. After Montana departed the Chiefs continued to be in the mix in the AFC for several seasons. However, in an era dominated by the Cowboys, 49ers, and the Buffalo Bills, they were never able to get to the Super Bowl. Their luck then turned from bad to worse.

The Chiefs’ superstar, and best player, Derrick Thomas died from injuries due to an automobile accident. A few seasons later the Chefs’ Priest Holmes set the single season touchdown record, and two seasons later his career was ended by serious neck injuries. Shortly after, the Chiefs best quarterback since Montana, Trent Green, was knocked out of a game with a concussion and never came back. Fortune smiled on the Chiefs once more when 2,000 yard rusher Larry Johnson, from Penn State, fell to them in the draft. He quickly became the league’s best runner, but after a holdout and multiple brushes with the law, he has become forgotten.

The final straw before Peterson stepped down was a blown 18 point lead in a loss to the San Diego Chargers on Sunday. Who knows if his decision had been made before that game. It’s hard to believe that it wasn’t, but that loss proved that things are going to get even worse before they gets better.

When Michael Vick was arrested for dog fighting and related charges, the authorities promised that he would be treated like any other criminal. He wasn’t; in all reality he was treated more harshly than the average person and made an example of. Still, a 23 month sentence was not unreasonable for the types of atrocities he was found guilty of. Now, after only a year in prison and a little over 18 months of total incarceration he might be released to a halfway house.

Vick was the NFL’s golden boy before his world came crashing down around him. He was the league’s highest paid player and it’s most popular. Just a couple years ago he signed a $130 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons. Fans of football would watch his games, in person and on TV, just to see what amazing things he would do. From those highs to his present low is a punishment in itself, and some might argue more than enough of one for harming animals.

Unlike other criminals, however, Vick returns to the world with the promise of being an incredible athlete with a rags back to riches story. He will be signed to an NFL team, be applauded for turning his life around, and before too long be not too far from where he once was. While it is true that he has endured and lost a lot, he has a lot to look forward to. He was lucky to get a 23 month sentence. It would be a travesty to let him out of prison early. While some may argue that this crimes were overblown, or simply a product of his upbringing, he broke the law. The government decided to make an example of him and must not let him off the hook now. Keep him in prison, he will be back to the penthouse soon enough.

Or will he be given a free pass? So many times in sports, we’ve heard of athletes getting away with lying, showing up hours late for practice, refusing to practice, doing whatever they want and generally living reckless lifestyles. But if that athlete can make the catch in a Super Bowl, then he gets a free pass. Interestingly Terrell Owens, an NFL player never accused of modesty, was on the field Sunday for the Dallas Cowboys 20-8 victory over the New York Giants. Head coach Tom Coughlin fined Plaxico Burress and suspended Bhim, but if the Giants continue to lose and Burress evades prison, will he be welcomed back on the field with open arms?

The NFL has a history of letting bad teammates make nice if they are good players. Steve Smith was embraced by Carolina after punching a teammate in a practice session and Terrell Owens and Tony Romo seem to be best friends right now. A player has a bad attitude…so?

Tim Tebow, the quarterback for the Florida Gators, is in a position to win a second Heisman trophy, the most prestigious award in college football.

So is Sam Bradford, the quarterback from Oklahoma, Tebow’s opponent in the BCS national championship game on January 8 in Miami.

This creates an interesting dynamic in college football and college sports, for the Heisman winner seldom receives a second Heisman. Tebow won as a sophomore and is trying to repeat as a junior. With Bradford the quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners, the highest scoring college football team in 89 years, that definitely will command him some votes. So the question is, who will win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night?

Tony Romo, the star quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, has missed the last three weeks after suffering a broken pinkie. While he’s been out, the Cowboys have gone 1-2 under the helm of Brad Johnson.

While Johnson has a Super Bowl victory to his name as a starting quarterback, his NFL career is over. He’s 40 years old and his arm just isn’t strong enough anymore to survive in the league. His weak arm is even more evident in a Cowboys offense that usually features a lot of long passes.

When Romo was first injured, it was estimated that he’d miss about a month. Romo himself said that he expected to be back in the middle of November. After Sunday’s 35-14 loss to the New York Giants, Romo needs to step up and regain the reins of the Dallas offense.

And really, Romo should have played this week. I’m sure a broken pinkie doesn’t feel too pleasant but it’s not a life threatening injury. Do you think if Brett Favre wouldy play if he had the same injury? Of course he would.

The NFL is a league of toughness. Romo’s teammates won’t say it publicly but they can’t be too thrilled with Romo taking his time coming back from injury. Heck, Jason Witten played this week after suffering a broken rib in Week 8. If Witten can play with a broken rib, Romo can play with a broken pinkie.

At the very least, Romo is a threat the defense has to respect. Running back Marion Barber III can’t do much because the opposing defense knows Johnson can’t throw. At least defenses know Romo can throw the ball if he has to.

Romo sitting out has hurt the Cowboys’ chances of making the playoffs. If he doesn’t return in Week 11 after the bye, Dallas can start making vacation plans.

And since we are talking about Romo, we might as well have another look at Jessica Simpson.

It didn’t take long for Mike Singletary to leave his mark on the San Francisco 49ers after being elevated to head coach. Singletary, the legendary former Chicago Bears linebacker, coached his first game this past weak against the Seattle Seahawks.

Even though the Niners got demolished by a final score of 34-13, Singletary is already proving that he will make his mark. Angered by a careless penalty by tight end Vernon Davis, Singletary got into his face and eventually ordered him into the locker room – even though there was still about ten minutes left in the game.

After the contest, Singletary said that Davis is “uncoachable” and said he’d rather play with ten players instead of eleven if it meant those ten players were trying hard to win. Singletary picked a good target to rage on considering that Davis has been a monumental bust after being selected high in the first round. Davis, who is known for being in excellent shape and being a workout warrior, has done little in his two and half year career.

A couple days after the game against the Seahawks, reports surfaced that Singletary used some inventive coaching tactics during halftime. In an attempt to fire up his team, Singletary reportedly dropped his britches and bared his backside to illustrate how the Niners were getting their tails kicked. While that was certainly an adventurous maneuver, Singletary is already showing the toughness and the heart to become a good head coach in the NFL. Although keeping his pants up might be a good idea from here on out.