THE WINTER MEETINGS

Baseball's Winter Meetings start today in Nashville.  With the college football season basically over, college basketball not really into it yet and no hockey, ESPN goes all out to cover the meetings. Coverage is very encompassing. There is a blog that will inform you of every free agent sighting, every meeting, every phone conference and every wild rumor within minutes of it's occurrence. There is more tweeting going on than in a girl's high school bathroom. So stay tuned to "Silly Season Gone Wild" with your host, Chad "Didja hear..." Picasner.

***SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE THE MEETINGS***
Brad Lidge has informed his agents that he plans to retire. This should come as no surprise to anyone who looked up his record for 2012 - 9 innings pitched, 12 hits, 11 walks and 10 runs. Tony Pena has a better record pitching batting practice.

There is talk that A-Rod may need more hip surgery and may have contributed to his inability to get around on fastballs in the post season. If he does have surgery he might miss a month of the season. With Jeter possible missing time also, the Yanks may be looking for infield help.

The Washington Nationals are going all out to WIN NOW, so big deals may be in the offing.

The biggest mystery of the meetings is what kind of deals may be offered to Josh Hamilton. The Dodgers, Rangers, Angels Nationals and Red Sox all seemed poised to spend big money.

***HERE AND THERE***
What's going on with the Jets? Rex Ryan finally benched  Mark Sanchez and brought in...who? No, not Tim Tebow. It was Greg McElroy. Tebow was put on the inactive list before the game because of two broken ribs which I think he broke, holding his sides, laughing at the Jets game plan.

Georgetown had a poor shooting night  a few days ago, scoring only 37 points against Tennessee. But Vols didn't do any better, putting 36 points on the board. And yes, there was a shot clock in operation.

There is still no National Hockey League games in sight. Hockey, that's the game that's played on ice, with guys carrying sticks chasing a little black thing. (Sorry, that's all I know about it)

Apparently, the suits that run golf are trying to show that they can be as dense as any other sport. There is now a rule prohibiting "Belly-Putting," which is so obscure, that it requires a long explanation. Vod could probably give you more exacting information, but it seems the simplest way to explain it would be to say that the rules committee basically said, "Listen, people are really enjoying this game and frankly, we can't have that."

***IT'S BOWL TIME AGAIN, FOLKS***
The games may or may not be interesting, but the names of the bowls are always good for a laugh. I count 35 bowl games starting on December 15th and ending on January 7th. 8 of these bowls are food-themed:
Famous Idaho Potato
Beef O'Brady
Little Caesar's 
Buffalo Wild Wings
Chick-fil-A
Outback
And, of course, the Orange and Sugar bowls.
If these eight combined into a tournament, the championship games would be at the FIGHT HUNGER BOWL. Boy, does this make sense to me.


***BRAD DICKSON'S BOTTOM TEN***
This is the last one of the season, boys and girls, so enjoy.

"It was the best week of the season for Bottom 10 teams, which is possibly attributable to the fact that most didn’t have a game."
#2 Southern Mississippi (0-12)
The Golden Eagles jump three spots in the Bottom Ten even though they didn't play. That's just the kind of season it's been.

#3 Kansas (1-11)
Kansas lost to West Virginia, 59-10, in the first Prolonging the Agony Bowl

#10 Auburn (3-9)
The NCAA is reportedly investigating the Tigers again. On top of a 3-9 season and it's coach getting fired, now Auburn is in trouble more often than Lindsay Lohan.

***THEY SAID IT***
"Not saying college football is overly in love with replay, but expect any day now to have an official review to see if a timeout is long enough."  -- Janice Hough
"Cy Young award runner-up Justin Verlander is reportedly dating supermodel Kate Upton. Can I nominate her for the sigh?"  -- RJ Currie
"Nebraska has signed to play football against Oklahoma on Sept. 18, 2021, and host Oklahoma in 2022. I don't think I've ever felt such a sense of anticipation over games that will be contested by athletes who are presently in the fourth grade."  -- Brad Dickson
"A brawl erupted at Hector 'Macho' Camacho's funeral between two women claiming to be his last girlfriend. At the bell, I had the woman in the purple dress and big hat leading on points."  -- Greg Cote
"Detroit Red Wings prospect Riley Sheahan was dressed in a purple Tinky Winky Teletubby outfit — and had a blood-alcohol reading of .30 — when cops pulled him over late on Halloween. If a visual like that doesn't end the NHL lockout, what will?"  -- Dwight Perry

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEST  FRIEND  - VOD KANOCKERS, who refuses to acknowledge his birthdays, mostly because he can't remember them.

CP-