Maryland has named a new football coach. His name is Ralph Friedgen. My thesis was that the new coach needed to be a magnet for top players and since I doubt that 90% of the football fans in the US could pick Ralph Friedgen out of a line up with the Martha and the Vandellas, I suspect this will not work. Friedgen is the offensive guru who most recently made Georgia Tech a team that scores points in bunches. The good news is that he is a Maryland alum and so his fellow alums are likely to give him a bit of slack which translates into time to try to make this work. We'll see.

Tiger Woods and Tim Fincham met yesterday and guess what? They had a very positive talk. The financial stability of both of these guys depends on the other one; they better get along.

The US Olympic Committee is facing a budget crisis of the $100M variety. So they nominated a slate for its new board of directors with 114 names on it. Unless these folks are there as fund raisers - and they are really good at it - don't you think this organization could get along with a board of directors that was about 100 fewer in number? It is difficult to get 114 people to agree that Tuesday comes after Monday.

And later this month, the USOC will listen to presentations from various US cities who want the USOC endorsement to go to the IOC to get permission to host the 2012 Olympic Games. (Any possible means for finding ways to reduce that budget deficit during those meetings will of course be important agenda items.) Here are the cities vying for the affections of the USOC: LA, Dallas, Houston, Tampa, San Francisco, Washington/Baltimore and Cincinnati. If Houston gets the games, there will need to be some serious research done in the next several years to tell the difference between someone who is blood doping and someone who is getting a transfusion to replace the blood sucked out by the mosquitos. But what do I know?

In the Knicks/Heat game last night, the sorry state of shooting in basketball was evident. During this contest there were 31 three point goals attempted by both teams. They made 4. The Knicks were 1 for 14 in three point shots and the only one they made came with about 12 seconds to play in the game and they were trailing by 6. Go to any playground and mark off the NBA three point line. Get rid of the kids who are under 14 because most of them cannot throw a basketball that far. Ask any of the remaining players who have cast on any part of their body or a patch over one eye to sit down for a moment. Anyone else left standing can shoot 1 for 14 from beyond that line!

But I don't want to be too hard on the Knicks here because the Sacramento Kings last night shot 0 for 13 on three point attempts. And at the other end of the spectrum, the Denver Nuggets were 12-18 on three point shots. Oh yeah, Denver won their game and Sacramento lost theirs.

The Clippers waived Obina Ekizie who they got from the Wizards in a trade just yesterday. Since it was a two-for-one trade, the Wizards say they are looking to add a center to their roster. Here's one that knows the system…

The NBA has suspended Don MacLean who tested positive for steroids. If they could help him to play defense, then the Heat would probably be happy to lose him for 5 games so that he might be able to guard someone more skilled than a fence post when he returns.

Donald Brashear was the player on the receiving end of Marty McSorley's hockey stick at the end of last year. McSorley was tried and convicted of assault in the case by a court in British Columbia. Yesterday, Brashear was arrested in Vancouver for allegedly assaulting a man who asked Brashear's wife to leave a weight room because she had a small baby with her. Hopefully, he did not use a stick to make his point. More to follow on this one, you can be sure.

Did you know that the Cincinnati Bungles have scored more than 16 points in a game exactly once this season? Other than that 16 was their top output and they have been held to single digits - or ZERO - in six games. Cleveland has also been held to single digits - or ZERO - in six games. Much more impressive is the Baltimore defense which has held opponents to single digits - or ZERO - in six games. Miami and Pittsburgh defenses have accomplished this five times.

The Vikings/Lions game tonight will effect the NFC playoff picture a lot. A win by the Vikings will make them 11-2 and will make them odds on to have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. A loss for the Lions will give them 5 losses and will give hope to Tampa and Washington and New York and St. Louis and New Orleans. The Rams and Saints have 4 losses now but have to play each other so one of them must have 5 losses or more by season's end. Washington has 5 losses and plays the Giants this week with 4 losses. The Eagles have four losses but play Tennessee this weekend and could well have 5 by Sunday night. Tonight's game is important. The spread on the game is 9; the defenses are statistically very similar; on offense the Vikes are second in the NFC and the Lions are second from the bottom in the NFC; the offensive production difference is 122 yards per game. That spread looks just about right to me.

I suspect that the lineup for the NFL playoffs will go down to the last games on Christmas Eve and they will probably be known before the identity of the next President will be known. And they will be known with a lot more certainty…

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...