Ty Law was arrested at the Canadian border with a "satchell" that contained the drug, Ecstasy. The Pats have suspended him for the final game of the season and Law possible sanctions from the NFL for violation of their drug policies. The amount of the drug was very small so Law paid a $700 fine and was released. He claims of course that the drug was not his; in fact, according to one report, he said the "satchel" wa not his either. So why did he try to get it through customs at the Canadian border???

There will be a lot of hoopla about whether or not Troy Aikman will come back next year and whether or not the Cowboys will keep him even if he wants to come back. March 8 is a key date; if Aikman is on the roster then, he gets a bonus of about $7M. Stay tuned.

When the Bungles decided to go with Scott Mitchell at QB, they pointed to Akili Smith's dismal numbers at QB. Smith was completing only 44% of his passes and had a QB rating of 52.8. Well Mitchell has completed 46 % of his passes and has a QB rating of 47.4. This is progress?

Whether or not it is progress, the Bengals have signed Dick Le Beau to stay on as their head coach for next year. Given the history of the franchise in Cincy, it is probably reasonable to suspect that Le Beau demonstrated to Bengals' management his ability to take on the most critical chore associated with the franchise:

He is willing to work cheap!

Those Minnesota Gophers football players who "might have" used the phone codes to make improper long distance calls seem to have actually done it. Thirteen players have confessed and have been ordered to pay back the money that had been improperly taken from the university. They claimed they did not know it was wrong to use the code to get free calling privileges. But the football coach - and the university officials - said that they did not think that any NCAA violation had occurred because they did not get the phone code from any university official and therefore it was not an "improper payment". The players will be allowed to play in the upcoming bowl game and it seems that the university president has no problem with this.

The Orioles finally signed a free agent when they got pitcher, Pat Hentgen. Hentgen had an ERA just under 5.00 last year with the Cardinals and the O's better hope he reverts to his prior Cy Young Award form because unless I have forgotten someone, the O's starting rotation now is:

Hentgen

Mercecdes (who sometimes pitches like a Hyundai)

Ponson (will be the heaviest pitcher in the AL if David Wells is traded to the Mets).

The Seattle Mariners signed Norm Charlton to a minor league contract. What does that say about management's opinion of the pitching prospects in their farm system? Not to be outdone, the Phillies invited Ed Vosberg to spring training as a non-roster player. Vosberg has been in the major leagues for 18 years and has pitched for 8 teams. What are the chances that he will "put it all together" this year?

Do you want to know why the fans should not pick all-Star teams? Here's why. At the moment, the player leading the balloting to start at center for the East in the NBA All-Star Game is Alonzo Mourning. He has not played a minute all year and is out for the year. He has almost 110,000 votes. Clearly, the voters here must be confused by some butterfly ballot, right? Or maybe they are just - - - dumb.

In a real role reversal, coach Larry Brown skipped two practices for the Sixers claiming that he needed to resolve some "personal issues". Rumors circulated that the team ownership spent time convincing him not to resign as coach and personnel director for the team. Brown was back for last night's game where the Sixers led by 16 in the second half and ultimately lost by 2 to the Utah Jazz. There is more to this story and it will surface soon I suspect.

And here is one of the great ironic statements of the year. Shawn Kemp missed practice in Portland on Tuesday and was fined by the team. He claimed that the reason he missed practice is that he is on a new diet and that the new diet causes him fatigue and so he slept through practice. So what we have here is a guy whose diet caused him to achieve a mass equal to a small asteroid making him a slow and plodding player and now he is on a weight loss diet to get his mass down to that of a grain silo and that diet causes him to be tired making him a slow and plodding player. I see a pattern emerging here…

Derrick Coleman is in the same boat as Shawn Kemp having had his weight skyrocket in the offseason. He says that he tried to stay in shape as he was adjusting to his new heart medication and that the medicine made him lethargic and did not allow him to stay in playing shape. Maybe that is true; maybe it ain't. But if Derrick gets named Man of the Year by the Bacon-Cheeseburger Manufacturing Association this year, I'm not buying his claims.

Last night the Charlotte Hornets won despite the absence of Derrick as they beat the Miami Heat 65-56. This is the second lowest scoring game in the history of the NBA since there has been a shot clock. The record for low score was in 1955 between the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Hawks. Last night the Heat shot 19-65 from the field; yes, that is under 30% for those of you whose calculator batteries have run down.

There was a trade rumor talked about by one of the talking heads on FOX Sports. He said that the Knicks and the Wizards may be looking at trading Rod Strickland for Larry Johnson. Now that is definitely an exchange of problem children and overpaid talent. But the difference is that Strickland can be bought out at the end of this season and Johnson's contract goes on through 2005. If MJ makes that trade, then he does not deserve to be the President of Basketball Operations for any team above a Mens' Under-40 Recreation League.

Scanning the agate type I noticed that Lindsey Wilson won a basketball game last night. Good for her.

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