The Cavs and the Nuggets played last night. A year ago, that would have been a toxic waste game; this year, it was hyped to the moon as the inaugural confrontation between Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. On PTI, they actually talked about how this rivalry ranked in terms of all time rivalries. At the moment, it doesn't rank with any of them because it is non-existent. And the NBA probably wishes they had a way to create more of this rivalry, but they don't.

Being in different conferences, James and Anthony will play against each other exactly one more time this year. The only way to augment that number is for them to meet in the NBA Finals. Ponder the possibility of that happening for a moment: the Cavs and the Nuggets in the NBA finals. What are the first two words that leap into your mind as you ponder this?

Not … Happening!!!

And unless the NBA alters its scheduling algorithm, these two phenoms will face each other twice a year for as long as they are with their current teams. So, when you hear the hype for the next meeting of the two teams, put it all in perspective. The league and the media need to hype the living hell out of it because it only happens twice a year – and there's nothing they are going to do about that for the foreseeable future.

Cincinnati Reds' outfielder, Darnell Stenson was found dead in Arizona yesterday. The death of a young person is not a joyous event. He was playing in the Arizona Fall League and his body was found on a street. He had been shot. One report said he had been run over by a pick-up truck; another that I read said his body had been dragged by the truck. Let's assume for a moment that we can determine that the cause of death was a bullet or bullets and an encounter with a pick-up truck that is not of the kind recommended in the owners' manual. Based on those assumptions, how surprised are you to learn from the police in Chandler, Arizona that:

This matter is being treated as a potential homicide.

Speaking tangentially of the Cincinnati Reds, their fans have become disenchanted with Ken Griffey, Jr. I don't understand that. He has 40 home runs and 116 RBIs for the Reds. What more do they want? Excuse me? You say that those are his totals for the last three years? Maybe I need to reconsider…

Lots of headlines today about Saadi Gaddafi (son of Libya's Mohammar Gaddafi) testing positive for steroids after an Italian League soccer match. You can make all kinds of snarky remarks about this but there is an interesting point buried in the story. Saadi Gaddafi has yet to play a game for the team in Perugia but he got tested because after every match players are randomly selected and tested. Now there is an idea for drug testing if anyone wants to be serious about it: random selection of players after each game for testing.

TCU beat Louisville last night in a college football game. TCU is 9-0 at the moment and should be favored to win out in their remaining games. Set your earpans to low because there will be a lot of noise about the Horned Frogs being dissed by the BCS standings and all that stuff. On 3 November, I gave you their schedule for the year; I suspect that at least a dozen other schools could be undefeated with that same schedule.

Here are two separate entries in today's agate section of the Washington Post. Using what you have learned in this course thus far, speculate on the likelihood that these two reports are linked:

NCAA – Placed Morehouse College on five years probation for violations relating to amateurism, eligibility, financial aid and clearinghouse certification in the men's soccer program.

Morehouse – Disbanded its men's soccer program.

Do you recall the never-ending promotions that FOX ran for its Fall TV shows during the baseball playoffs and the World Series? I don't mean just the taped promos but also the camera shots of the actors and actresses in FOX series in the stands pretending that they had a clue what was going on in front of them. Well, now that Skin is a failure – and mercifully canceled - and Joe Millionaire is a flop, the head of FOX entertainment said, “I'm not sure the same people that watched baseball were the same people who watched Joe Millionaire.” Holy flash of insight, Batman! This woman is the head of FOX entertainment and she just figured this out? What are the qualifications for that job? It would not appear that they include much more than “achieving metabolic activity”.

George Foreman said he is considering a boxing comeback. Scott LeDoux – remember him – said he would also come out of retirement to fight Foreman. Both are in their mid-50s. They could fight for the World Geezerweight Championship.

Finally, yesterday I said that you have to like a guy whose name is a question and cited Giants WR, Willie Ponder as an example. Today, we have a new interim assistant hockey coach at RPI that responds to that inquiry:

Willie Ponder?

Andrew Will.

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

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