...here's my helpful hint of the week: never watch "Rosemary's Baby" when your significant other is pregnant.

...isn't it ironic that the two teams playing in this season's Armed Forces Bowl are Utah and Tulsa, neither of which are military schools?

...it is also worth pointing out that Brigham Young University has accepted a bid in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 21.  There is something amusing about a school as noted for its religious connections as BYU playing in a place called "Sin City".  Too bad Liberty University doesn't field a Division 1A squad - they would have provided a perfect opponent.

...the NBA players might have a point with their legal issues regarding the new ball and "zero tolerance" policy, but that's not what stands out about the situation.  What stands out, you ask?  How about this quote from Jerry Stackhouse: "Everything doesn't have to be we're going to show you by taking your money away. A thousand dollars is a thousand dollars, no matter whether you are making $9 million or $30,000."  Taken literally, that is very true, but he fails to note that the person making $30,000 will miss that money a lot more than the one making $9 million.

...the UNH football team finished off a somewhat disappointing season on Saturday with a 24-17 loss to Massachusetts in the Division 1AA playoffs.  The Wildcats were atop the national rankings during the early part of the year, but had to scramble just to get into the playoffs after a tough three-loss stretch in mid-season.  The defeat ended the college career of record-breaking senior wide receiver David Ball, who will almost certainly get a chance to play in the NFL next season.

...figure this out: I wish baseball could go back to the days when forty homeruns was a good season, but want to see hockey players score seventy goals a year.

...Ryan Reynolds needs a better agent.  He's a better comedic actor than some of the roles on his resume indicate.

...last night's "Rome Is Burning" featured a sports first for me: the first time I ever saw someone get hit with the "shaving cream in the face" prank during an interview.  It was amazing: Monta Ellis never knew what hit him (Baron Davis turned in a career-best performance as the "smasher").  Equally amusing was the fact that Jim Rome and his production crew had no idea how to handle the situation, with Rome attempting to continue the interview even as Ellis was rubbing his eyes in pain.  He or someone on his panel did make the good point, however, that this could be more than a harmless prank if it bothers Ellis' eyes for any length of time.  (He'd better be alright: I need his 18.3 PPG on my fantasy team.)

...unbelievable effort by Lincoln University, which set a Division III record on Saturday with 201 points in a game against Ohio State-Marion.  The team started off with a record 97 points in the first half, then blew past that mark with 104 more in the second.  Senior guard Sami Wylie had a school record 69 points.

...Rutgers against West Virginia - what a finish.  That's a tough one for Rutgers to lose (and on a forced two-point conversion, at that), especially with so much riding on the outcome.  Still, you can't say anything bad about the regular season the Scarlet Knights enjoyed this year.  The simple fact that they were in a position to play for a BCS berth was amazing.

...Bud Selig announced earlier this week that he is planning on stepping down as baseball commissioner when his contract expires after the 2009 season.  Many observers have called him the worst leader the sport has ever seen, but it will be interesting to look back at his tenure in the years to come and judge him with some historical perspective.

...am I the only person who wants to see an NBA team give Bill Simmons a chance as a coach?  It's not that I think he would be exceptionally good or exceptionally bad; it's just that he's been writing about the sport for so long and constantly throwing around his expertise that it would be interesting to see what he could do with the opportunity.  And imagine the book that would inevitably result; it would be "Paper Lion" or "A Season On The Brink", only more in-depth and interesting.  Anyway, just a thought.

...just one thought on the baseball off-season so far (trust me, I'll have more if Manny Ramirez gets traded for anything less than Jake Peavy): I should have worked harder at the sport when I was a kid.  To think I could've been a millionaire right now (as it is, somebody would probably give me a multi-year deal to work out of the bullpen).

...Yahoo! Sports columnist Jason Cole wrote a column on Friday about the fact that NFL rules have been tightened to prevent defensive players from hitting quarterbacks too low (below the knee) or too high (above the shoulders), a change that delights guys like Carson Palmer and frustrates guys like Mathias Kiwanuka.  At one point, he mentions that players are more likely to avoid big hits because they don't want to draw the 15-yard penalty for roughing the passer.  Here's the question (and this comes in part from something I heard last week, but I can't remember where): why not go the way of the facemask and have two different penalties according to severity?  Keep the current fifteen-yarder for the times a player unloads with a helmet-to-helmet or late hit, but if the contact is incidental or light, limit the punishment to five yards.  It seems to be an idea worthy of consideration, at least.

...it'll be interesting to see what the infallible BCS computers spit out for rankings this week.  It's a virtual certainty that Michigan and Florida will be ranked second and third (or third and second); the proper way to settle things would be to have those two play each other, with the winner going on to face Ohio State for the national championship.  Only problem is that such a solution is half a step away from a playoff system, the thought of which makes the people in charge of television networks and big-time college football programs break out in hives and have trouble breathing.

...speaking of Ohio State, Greg Oden made his highly anticipated first appearance of the season on Saturday, scoring 14 points to go with ten rebounds and five blocks in 23 minutes.  He didn't shoot much (3-for-4 from the field) and was just barely over 50% (8-for-15) on free throws (although the game story says that he was shooting them left-handed), but the defensive effort was the key to his performance.  "All I have to do is rebound and block shots" for now, he said after the game, but when his injured right wrist is finally at full strength, he is going to be a tough player to stop at either end.