This & That (Friday 12/4/09).....

--- NFL Playoff scenarios starting to take shape as we come down to the final five weeks, but the way the last few weeks have played out, it could be a mess by the time the Monday Night game ends. It's not that all the teams have a chance, but the teams you think are ready to fall off the "playoff ledge" seem to be getting the right combination that still keeps their hopes alive.

NFL MVP talk is starting to heat up with the names Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Brett Favre leading the discussion, but the Titans' Chris Johnson is starting to get some whispers. While Johnson may get to 2,000 yards, if the Titans don't make the playoffs, he should not be part of the conversation.

--- Ron Artest and Hennessy? I find it strange that he admitted this in the middle of a season and not during an off season. While Artest claims he no longer keeps a "stash", how closely do you think the Lakers and the NBA are watching his behavior?

Never thought I would see Allen Iverson making a return trip to 76ers, much less the emotional press conference to reintroduce himself to the city of Philadelphia. It will be interesting to see if Iverson plays well and is able to help the team win a few more games, along with putting more fans in the seats, which is the primary reason AI was brought back to Philly.

--- Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, Mark Ingram and Toby Gerhart are the Heisman Trophy front runners. Gerhart's season is finished, while the other three have their final chances to show the voters they are "the one", but each face their toughest defensive opponent this weekend. If any of the three have a "statement game", they should move to the top of the list. If the three have their normal productive games, then it will be a very interesting night next Saturday in New York.

Personally, while I think Gerhart has had the best year in terms of pure statistics, but last week's game against Texas A&M put it in McCoy's hands, and only a terrible game against Nebraska will cost him the trophy.

After ripping Florida coach Urban Meyer a few weeks ago, I must give my kudos to him for his quick action with regards to suspending defensive end Carlos Dunlap, for this week's SEC Championship game against Alabama. Dunlap was issued a DUI after falling asleep in his car at a red light. Besides the DUI, Dunlap is under age, which makes this a double mistake. There are some who think Meyer is making the wrong decision in suspending Dunlap as it hurts his team's chances to win the game, and winning is supposed to be Meyer's job. Plain and simple those people are wrong. Winning the game is one thing, but doing the right thing is another, and Meyer did the right thing in this situation.

If Dunlap was found drinking at the frat house, then maybe a suspension would not be warranted. The same goes for Dunlap just falling asleep at the wheel from exhaustion. Combine the two, and there is no question he should have been punished.

--- Vin Scully will be coming back to broadcast Dodger games in 2010. This will be Scully's 61st season in the booth, and he still sounds as great as ever. Not to be out done on the golden tones front, the San Diego Padres will have Dick Enberg describing their games for the local television broadcasts. With those two legends calling games, there are some very lucky baseball fans in Southern California.

Roy Halladay has told the Toronto Blue Jays that he will now accept a trade to the New York Yankees, which can only make the Toronto front office happy, as that should help them get a better deal for the star pitcher. At the same time Halladay also informed them that he will not accept any trade made once the spring training starts, which will handcuff the Blue Jays' management.

I'm sure Halladay's thinking for issuing the deadline is that last year his season hit a bit of a swoon while all the trade discussion was going on, and he doesn't want to go through that mess again.

There was a large amount of players not offered arbitration, which will flood the second and third tier free agent markets. Looks like it will again be a buyers' market for those players not considered superstars.

--- Keith Ballard accidently hitting Tomas Vokoun is still the talk of the NHL and sport fans in general. In all my years of watching hockey, I have never seen anything close to what happened Monday night. Vokoun has forgiven Ballard, and they are trying to put the incident behind them and move forward with the Panthers' season.

There were some rumblings by hockey fans that maybe the league should have looked into suspending Ballard for his loose work with his stick. While I am a strong proponent of players controlling their sticks, I think Ballard has been punished enough for his mistake, and if discipline was to be handed out, it should have been the Panthers call to make, and not the league.

Alex Ovechkin was suspended two games due to his knee to knee hit on the Carolina Hurricanes' Tim Gleason, last Monday night. The suspension was fair, as that type of play is dangerous for both players, and in this case as Ovechkin was the one hurt on the play. I was at the game, and didn't think the hit had intent behind it, but nevertheless, the league needs to send a message to it players.

The 2010 Winter Olympics are still a couple of months away, but the NHL is already causing a stir with regards to the 2014 Olympics set to take place in Russia. At this time, the NHL says it is not sure if it will stop the season for the two week Olympic break. That is not sitting well with the current NHL players from Russia, who want to play for their Olympic team in their home country. I would say now the NHL is thinking "no", but does not want to take away from the Vancouver games. In the end though, the NHL will send players in 2014, only to avoid the nasty scenarios that could occur otherwise.