AROUND THE WORLD IN SPORTS

***WHY GEORGE IS THE MAN***
We talked a little about him in the last post, but this interesting tidbit just surfaced: How much has The Boss spent in his quest to win championships?
$2.3 BILLION. That's right, BILLION. That's a lot of money even for the Yanks.

***DEFINITION OF A TIME LIMIT***
The Yanks have said there is a 'time limit' on the Sabathia offer. Anyone buying this? If the Yanks pull that offer on Dec 25th, and CC comes back on Feb 1st and says he'll take it, what do you think will happen? "Sorry CC, we've sunk that money into Pedro Martinez." Yeah, right. Read the previous item, they've got to cut back somewhere.

***GOOD NEWS IN DETROIT***
Maybe the Lions can't win any football games, but they're doing better in one area. They are 3-for-9 winning coin tosses this year.
According to Gene Wojciechowski (Gene, please change your name; I'm running out of letters), "Having Matt Millen as your team president is like asking Britney Spears to babysit your kids."

***SEEMS LIKE A PRETTY EASY JOB***
Greg Norman and Chris Evert are starting to design tennis courts. I think the formats have been exhausted, guys. Maybe you should move on to bowling alleys or basketball courts.

***THE CANADIAN NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY***
It will include three floors of Wayne Gretsky paintings. Plans are on hold until they can find some other paintings.

***MARK CUBAN UNDER INVESTIGATION***
Accused of insider trading, he is being threatened with fines totaling $750,000. When told, Cuban responded, "Ouch. Maybe I can get a loan from the Steinbrenners." Insiders say this will prevent Cuban from ever owning the Cubs. I was sure the Cubs would cost more than that.

***YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING***
Annika Sorenstam is having an interesting week. She missed the cut on the latest LPGA tournament, decided to retire, and then learned she'd been selected for a random drug test. I will lay 8-1 she doesn't show for the test. Rumor has it she will be designing golf course holes: not the greens, just the holes. "If Chris Evert can do it, so can I."