I didn't pay any attention to that Houston loser shooting his mouth off, and I think most of us have moved on from the whole Spygate thing, chase. Spygate is an excuse for losers to cover the fact that their team stinks. As for Mike Tomlin, I'm impressed that he took his punishment like a man. He didn't weasel or make excuses and try to appeal and get it reduced...he embraced the fact he deserved and would be punished by the league. You don't see that too often.

Those damn Yankees are at it again. Looks like they really think they're losing Cano to Seattle. http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=10075982

So you're not going to the LA show? December 5: The Black Joe Louis @ El Rey Theatre.

I think it's terrific. Yes, it's a little unnerving but it's also creative and shows a sense of imagination and flair. I can't wait to share this with my friends. By the way, wasn't Lloyd Dobler the name of John Cusack's character in "Say Anything"?

YES! That's what I'm talkin' about! Another gut-check win for the Kings...and this time it was with Martin Jones making his NHL debut in the net for L.A., with the 23-year old rookie stoning the Ducks in OT and the Shootout for the victory! As much as I disagreed with trading Bernier to Toronto, ex-Maple Leaf Scrivens has already proven his worth to the Kings in Quick's absence, and if last night's performance in goal against the high-scoring Ducks by Jones was a sign of things to come, then the Kings will once again have a surplus of talented goalies when Quick returns from his injury. It's a nice problem to have in a long season...even if it means losing one in the off-season. No team can afford to pay three quality goalies significant contracts. Rick, if Buffalo loses Miller, I have a feeling the Sabres will come shopping in L.A.

Not all Nutcrackers are created equal. I've seen some bad and treacly Nutcrackers in my time, so I was just curious how the interpretation you saw stacked up.

That's not only the best Scrooge...it's the only Scrooge you need to see! Curious that it was released as "Scrooge" in the U.K., while in the U.S. it was given its proper Charles Dickens title "A Christmas Carol". Christmas isn't Christmas without at least one viewing of the 1951 "A Christmas Carol". That, along with "It's a Wonderful Life", the original "Miracle on 34th St.", "The Nightmare Before Christmas", and the classic television specials (Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, The Year Without a Santa Claus) are all that constitute my holiday viewing.

^^^ And you're only getting two points?

^^^ The odds are in their favour.

I'm glad you have such faith in the Raiders. I'm tempted to pick them but too often with the Raiders, it's one step forward, two steps back. McGloin has shown promise...but then, so did Pryor...and Jason Campbell before him.

What's with all the snark and ire being directed at FireOpal? She asked a perfectly reasonable question. I'm not aware of that show either, and one person said it's a reality show and another said it's a history programme...which are not one and the same in my experience.

Indeed. That's a pretty good weekend. So you recommend seeing the "Nutcracker"? I think jb126 is weighing whether to see it or not.

In all fairness to you and jabe, Robbie Williams' success and fame was more on a UK and World level...he never really cracked the US in the same way. He's kind of like the soccer of the music world.

Let's not concede anything yet...injuries, momentum, more suspensions, anything could still happen in this last month of the season to affect what happens in the playoffs. The 49ers are clearly playing better now than they were earlier in the season when Seattle took their lunch money. So let us see what Sunday brings before anointing the Seahawks Super Bowl Champs. There is such a thing as peaking too early.

^^^ Thank you, planted. Mmmmm...seconds anyone? Thirds?

Pot. Kettle. Black. Nobody shoots off his mouth as much as you, Rick, and even you know that. You didn't just predict the Blues would beat the Kings, you proclaimed St. Louis would waltz into the King's building and wipe 'em out 6-2. I hope you didn't put money on that bet. The Blackhawks and Blues are doing great, but there's also the sneaky Avalanche to contend with in that division. I'm curious to see if Patrick Roy can keep this surprising start going with the Avalanche. Even though Roy kept the Kings from winning the Cup in 1993, he was still one of my favourite goalies to watch during his career and I'm happy to see him do well as coach of Colorado so far.

^^^ Good. Maybe Johnson can screw up games for the A's like he did for the O's. No it doesn't. Apparently Scioscia has photos/dirt on all the Angels front office. How else to explain why he has more job security than Don Mattingly?

^^^ That's great Mark! You lost the game but at least you made the Top 10 on ESPN, haha. Did you take any photos of the game? It looked like you had decent seats. Any chance of you posting them here?

It's all good...except now she's going to be pissed at me for knocking two wins from her totals, haha.

Angels hired Terry Francona's son.

I goofed on the Cincy/SD game. Yep, you're right on jb126's weekly score of 12-4, which makes her season total 118-73. She was 106-69 coming into week 13. 12-4 added to 106-69 makes 118-73.

You lose. As always, you underestimate the Kings. Sent those Blues back to St. Louis feeling blue. Kings are holding up pretty well without Quick...we haven't lost any ground in the standings. After the Thanksgiving Weekend full slate of NFL and College Rivalry games, last night I reached sport-fatigue levels switching back and forth between MNF and the King-Blues game. After tonight's Kings-Ducks game, I'm not watching any more sports until Sunday...need a break. It is still weird to me when I look at the NHL standings and don't see Detroit in the Western Conference...weird and relieved. That's one less beast to have to deal with in the playoffs.

Paul, I went over jabe, jb126 and my numbers and the results should be as follows: Me: 119-72 jabe: 117-74 jb126: 117-74 You gave jb126 credit for one too many wins for the week...she was 11-5, not 12-4. I know it's a pain in the ass doing this and your eyes start to glaze over, so much gratitude to you for your work.

Not that crazy or surprising, redrum. KC was feasting on the dregs of the NFL. It's easy holding teams to 17 points or less when you're facing Joe Schmoe at quarterback. But once they had to face real quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and Phillip Rivers, KC was exposed for what they were.