The EPL sched has nine games on the go today, including leaders Chelsea facing Everton. The most intriguing matchup of the weekend goes tomorrow when Arsenal faces Liverpool. It'll be interesting to see if Liverpool can get back in the race after they officially crashed out of the Champions League earlier in the week.

UFC 107 goes tonight from Memphis, Tennessee and the main event should be an absolute firecracker as the always entertaining Diego Sanchez takes on Lightweight Champion BJ Penn. That could end up being fight of the year material to close out the year for UFC. Frank Mir will take on Chieck Kongo in a fight that will not be subtle, shall we say, and the never-a-dull-moment Clay Guida faces Kenny Florian as well. The entire card here.

Another night on the wrong end of a beatdown by the Atlanta Hawks for the Toronto Raptors, and Chris Bosh sounds defeated, or at least honest, about the teams position relative to the Hawks.

Tiger Woods is taking an indefinite leave from golf. Right, because what Tiger needs is less structure. No word on if he's taking an indefinite leave from adultery.

Proving that there is a sucker born every minute, the Ice Edge group that was in on the Phoenix Coyotes bidding back in the summer has signed a letter of intent to purchase the team and keep it in Phoenix. Good luck with that.

Oakland Raiders bust of a QB Jamarcus Russell says he was embarrassed to be benched. If he thinks that's bad, he should've seen the way he was playing.

Check out the FIFA Puskas Award nominees also known as the top ten goals of the year. If I've got a vote, Ronaldo's bullet from another area code gets it, or perhaps Fernando Torres goal that immediately follows it in the video below.

Brown Town

Not sure there are many who figured that the Pittsburgh Steelers would lose to either the Oakland Raiders or Cleveland Browns this year, nevermind doing so in back to back weeks. Stick a fork in the defending Super Bowl champions, they are DONE after losing 13-6 last night in Cleveland. It was only the Browns second win on the year to move them to 2-11, while the Steelers fall to 6-7 on their fifth straight loss.

Former NHLer and now SportsNet hockey analyst Nik Kypreos thinks that shootout goals should count in the standings. Makes sense, when you remember his career ended with a severe concussion.

Worried that their first appearance on national TV (ESPN) in years won't look good, the Sacramento Kings went for the tried and true to pack the house next week. Free tickets? Nope. $1 beers.

Check out this long and oftentimes hilarious read from ESPN's Rick Reilly looking at tattoo's being sported by NBAers. I think Udonis Haslem wins for worst, or Kenyon Martin for (no pun intended) body of work.

Hope you're sitting down for this earth shattering news. Barry Bonds agent says his clients baseball days are over. Well, knock me over with a feather.

My hate for all-star games has been well documented in these parts, and certainly so for fan voting. Why? Because you get situations like Tracy McGrady being voted in as the starting guard for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star game if the polls closed today. T-Mac hasn't played for most of the calendar year.

Chad Ochocinco is said to be contemplating another name change. No, really. He may drop "Ochocinco" for "Hachi Go", Japanese for "Eight Five", of course. Amazing. He should get a new name every month or something.

Not sure how good the Toronto Blue Jays will be in 2010, but their broadcasts are in for a huge improvement now that Jamie Campbell is out as play-by-play voice, and the awesome Buck Martinez is in (yes, as play-by-play). Shame the Jays couldn't pull Dan Shulman back in to partner with Buck - those two were great together.

Now that Tiger Woods is taking some abuse in public from fans, a couple PGA players are following Jesper Parnevik's lead and hammering Eldrick, or as he was dubbed on the Jim Rome Show: Adulterick. Ben Crane called him a "phony and a fake" and a "bastard" by Charles Warren, though both are now denying having made those comments.

Do yourself a favor and watch Jersey Shore, whether you've got MTV or have to download it, it must be seen.

Word to the wise, when in the presence of explosives, never dip your chewing gum into said explosives and begin to chew again. Turns out it can blow half your face off and result in death, as one Ukranian gent found out the hard way.

Milwaukee Massacre

Under coach Norv Turner, or QB Phillip Rivers if you prefer, the San Diego Chargers have won their last 15 games in December. Of course, they're in Dallas this weekend to face Wade Phillips Cowboys who are years away from winning 15 total in December under his coaching regime.

Seem Tom Brady's comments about his teams preparations were on the money as word now comes that four Patriots, including Randy Moss, were sent home after showing up late for practice.

If you believed that the NFL's socialistic ways of propping up lower revenue franchises was bound to last forever, then you won't like hearing news that the league has pulled the plug on a revenue stream that feeds $100 million to lower end teams. Mix in an un-capped year in 2010 and things could change a whole bunch in what many view as the perfect competitive set-up.

There is talk that there is an unspoken agreement among teams to let Tim Tebow slide to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the next draft. Tebow, a local boy, could put some rears in seats and really turn the fortunes of the franchise around. That said, if I'm the Jags, I'd be real concerned that teams would let a guy - any guy - slide to me. A competitive league isn't magnanimous that way.

Speaking of Tebow, here's a look at him and the The Crying Game: The Ten Biggest Crybabies in Sports.

If you ever think you're on a bad gambling run, it could be worse, unless your name is Terrance Watanabe. T-Dub lost a mere $127 million in Vegas in a year-long gambling run.

It has been almost a week since the World Cup 2010 draw and you can see the groups, the schedule, and some scantily clad fans of each and every team here.

And if those 32 ladies aren't enough, how about just one? RM fav Bar Rafaeli, 100 pics worth.

Chad Ochocinco was fined $30,000 by the No Fun League for using a sombrero in a touchdown celebration, and says the more they increase the fines, the more he'll increase the fun factor. Love it.

After a three game winning streak gave fans some hope that the Raptors were turning it around, along came the second night of a back-to-back and they were hammered 117-95 in Milwaukee.

Raps rolling?

Is it a coincidence that Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon missed last night's game and the Raps actually held an opponent to under 100 points? Methinks not. Yes, I know playing Minnesota helped, but Calderon's numbers show he's a black hole on the defensive end. B. Kennedy, we await stats. The Raps have now won three straight after bottoming out in Atlanta last week.

Of all the upsets you'd have thought possible in yesterday's Champions League play, you probably wouldn't have figured on Juventus to flame out 4-1 at home even against a team as strong as Bayern Munich. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a pair for Real Madrid, including a beauty from long distance, as Real advanced with a 3-1 win over Marseille. CR9 leads the Champions League in scoring with six. Today, Group F is full of possibilities with all four teams within three points of each other with the last game to go today. Not much of note beyond that, certainly not like yesterday.

Love that Curtis Granderson deal for the New York Yankees. He's a witch in the field, has speed to burn, has a good contract, and could hit 40HR's hitting full time at Yankee Stadium (he had 30 this year, but only 10 came at the massive Comerica Park). If they can cut down his whiffs, even better. And hey, we wears #28 so hopefully that's a good omen for a team looking for title #28. Tom Verducci at SI.com salutes the efficiency of the Yankees in making this move. For Arizona, they loaded up with a lot of young talent, and it is a real shame seeing the Detroit Tigers unload key pieces like that. Another rust belt team suffering.

Don't think that rules the Yankees out of the Roy Halladay Stakes yet as the Blue Jays are said to covet Jesus Montero more than anyone from what I'm reading, and Joel Sherman at the NY Post says the Yanks are stepping up their chase of Halladay. If I'm the Jays, I think I want Phil Hughes more than Joba Chamberlain, too. Joba is a little too tightly wound and the line between greatness and mediocrity is thin for him at times. But, he's just 24 so if he can get his lid on straight, still plenty of time and he's shown he can be a top flight pitcher in spurts. Definitely don't see both getting moved. The Yankees also have plenty of catching options and as Montero isn't their highest ranked, it wouldn't shock me if a Halladay deal still gets done.

If you're at all a hardcore baseball fan like yours truly, it will come as a bit of a downer that Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN and moving to the MLB Network and Boston station NESN. Shame a guy with that kind of history and connections is going lower profile.

Gatorade has shelved plans for a "Tiger Focus" drink and says the timing has nothing to do with Tiger's adventures the last two weeks. There is talk it may be re-branded "Tiger Trysts". And now comes talk that there are naked photos of Eldrick that Playgirl may be looking to run. Honestly, this stuff is amazing. Has a guy had things unravel so quick? If he doesn't hit that tree a few weeks back, does any of this come to light right now?

Most annoying thing about the Tiger Woods talk: the constant "world's most famous athlete" talk. That's nonsense. He doesn't approach the likes of David Beckham or Cristiano Ronaldo who are known literally everywhere, or guys like Michael Schumacher, retired though he may be. Honestly, do you think anyone in Central or South America or vast swaths of Africa and the Middle East knows Tiger? Come on.

Sports Illustrated is running a poll to ask who the biggest steal of NFL drafts was this decade. If anyone votes for someone other than Tom Brady, they're on glue.

If you believe the past dictates the future, then the Washington Nationals should be headed to the playoffs in the next year or two. After all, that's what happens with any team that has Pudge Rodriguez behind the plate, no?

I'd like to state for the record that if you think cleaning your car off of snow just means flicking your wipers on and off, you're a loser.

Have a great Wednesday.

Pack Shuts Down Ravens

The winter baseball meetings are on in Indy and the talk is amounting to little so far of substance, other than the St. Louis Cardinals inking Brad Penny to a deal. Sounds like the Seattle Mariners are ready to make some noise looking at signing free agents Chone Figgins and John Lackey in a move that would weaken the division champion Anaheim Angels and give the M's a solid boost, and are in the Jason Bay market too.

The plot thickens for Eldrick Woods. One report says he had no fewer than six mistresses on the go and word is the list could grow to a dozen by week's end. Not sure why more guys like him don't go the Derek Jeter route and stay single. Jeter is routinely applauded for his collection of ladies over the years because he hasn't been married. Get married and cheat and you get what you see now with Tiger. And just this morning, we get word that someone was possibly taken from his house on a stretcher - either his wife, her sister or mother in law. This stuff is getting worse, not better.

The Toronto Blue Jays are planning on making a big splash in the draft next year, with a huge $16 million earmarked for signing draftees. Anything in even low double digits is considered big. GM Alex Anthopolous is going to do some impressive things in that role I'm guessing.

Champions League play resumes today. A defensively decimated Manchester United travel to Wolfsburg hoping to wrap up the group. Also today, Juventus hosts Bayern Munich in a match that will see the winner advance to the round of 16, though Juve gets through with a draw as well. If Marseille stun Real Madrid at home, they'd be in while Real would be out - how great would that be? And All that is off at 2:45pm Eastern with a pair of games on Rogers SportsNet.

All is not roses with the New England Patriots, and QB Tom Brady is openly questioning the teams preparations leading up to games. There's been some talk that he and Randy Moss - who rarely are seen talking during games - are not on the same page. Funny what happens to teams when they hit some rocky patches, no? Let me break it down for you, TB12: your defensive backs can't stop anybody.

The Green Bay Packers did the Pittsburgh Steelers a huge favor last night in beating the Baltimore Ravens to drop them to 5-7. That's likely one less team the Steelers will have to contend with if they're to make the playoffs.

Finally, a look at the dozen hottest NHL W.A.G.'s.

Have a great Tuesday.

After yesterdays dramatic comeback and overtime 33-30 win at Washington, Drew Brees finally has a win when the temperatures are 45 (Fahrenheit) or colder. He's now 1-5 in those games. As for the Saints, they're now 12-0 and a have a very real shot at 16-0 with a schedule that includes Atlanta (away), Dallas (home), Tampa Bay (home) and Carolina (away).

Also undefeated are the Indianapolis Colts after their 27-17 win over a hot Tennessee Titan squad. They've got Denver (home), Jacksonville (away), NY Jets (home) and Buffalo (away) left on the dance card this season.

When Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin talked of how his squad would unleash hell this past week, pretty sure nobody figured that the hell would be on his own team and fans and not the Raiders. The Steelers were beat27-24 by the Raiders at home. Ouch. Should Baltimore win in Green Bay tonight, the Steelers run in this year will become that much more difficult.

I've heard some great sports stories over the years, but didn't hear of this one before. Check out this look at Brendan Shanahan. Honestly, this is a top five sports story ever. Find out what happens when he was treated badly as a kid by an NHLer whom he asked for an autograph. Amazing.

It is December 7th and if the NHL playoffs started today, the Detroit Red Wings would be on the outside looking in. Seems more and more like their loss to the Pittsburgh Pens in the Stanley Cup final last year was the swan song for an era.

Tennessee Titan running back Chris Johnson has three TD runs of 85 yards or more this year. No running back has more than two in a career. Amazing.

For some reason, TNA wrestling is going to start going head to head with WWE on Monday night's starting January 4th. They must really believe in Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, who clearly left the "drove WCW into extinction" bit off their resume's.

If you go 5 of 122 in anything, that's not great. In this case, that is 5 hybrid limos out of 122 parked yesterday at the Copenhagen climate talks. The Mendoza Line towers over that.

Tony Romo had a great game, a rarity for him in December, but his teammates were lacking in a 31-24 loss to the New York Giants. Check out this schedule down the stretch: vs. San Diego, at New Orleans, at Washington and home to Philadelphia. Going to be some anxious times in Big D.

If you don't follow a tonne of NCAA football, you likely still know enough to know that when USC, Oklahoma, Michigan, Notre Dame and Florida State are all unranked, as they are now, something is off.

Speaking of the NCAA, the Bowl Championship Series games were announced last night, and for added fun, one site took it upon themselves to wage a head to head battle among those team's cheerleaders. Have to like Texas here.

The Canadian men's national soccer team is expected to officially name Stephen Hart as head coach today at a 1:30pm presser. Yeah, that ought to strike fear into the hearts of opposing sides around the globe.

Frequent contributor Bukakke passes on a website that bills itself as "a new single-serving site devoted to men who probably shouldn't be allowed anywhere near children." So very worth a peak.

Have a great Monday.

RM returns at 3pm today...at the latest

Almost forgot...there's NFL action today!

They may have won two straight, and back to back nights no less, but the Toronto Raptors are still historically bad defensively. Mark the Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons down as the first media member to declare Chris Bosh a limited time offer in Raptors colours. Simmons says this will be his last year in Toronto. Me suspects he's right.

A funny thing happened on the way to Tim Tebow's coronation as Greatest Human Being Ever as his Florida Gators got smoked in the SEC Championship game by 32-13. AlabamaTexas needed a last second field goal to beat Nebraska 13-12 and they're likely to face Alabama in the mythical national championship.

With the World Cup draw in the books, here is some reaction from around the world, and some analysis.

Rejoice, haters - the New York Yankees are looking to cut payroll to $185 million or so, which, in case you're concerned, would still be enough to squeeze Roy Halladay into the fold.

Check out this hilarious comparison of the problems facing Jay Z and Tiger Woods. Amazing what people come up with.

It is a good thing that the Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather fight is going March 13th and not May 1st, as originally discussed. Why? Because the hype machine is going into overdrive on this one and we all might be bored of the idea by May. Both are splitting the purse 50/50 and stand to make $40 million or more.

Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy will be appearing on ABC's 60 Minutes tonight. Guessing that NBA Commissioner David Stern will be sweating bullets throughout that one.

Miranda Kerr. You're welcome.

The first episode of Morency is in the can, and good stuff, other than the lame "ragealution" tag. Get on board at morencysports.com.

Hard to believe I made it this far on an NFL Sunday with not one NFL reference. That's hard to do! A lot of story lines out of today's schedule including the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts push for perfection, and a huge NFC East matchup between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys. It'll be interesting to see if the brutal-in-December of late Cowboys show up again.