Things ....We Learned......From the Week-end

In this small southern college town.....A wintry mix of sleet and or snow may hit this area sometime tonight of in the morning.   The weather talk heads are having a ball.   

Meanwhile......let us reflect upon the week-end that was:


Randy Moss is not ready to to retire:
 

Randy Moss Coming Back?

 

Phil found his game.....Tiger?   Tiger?    Really?

Phil Mickelson Thrashes Tiger Woods At Pebble Beach

 

These "Cats"......are pretty good:

New College Basketball Rankings

 

"Linsanity"  is alive and well:

Jeremy Lin Scores Late To Keep Knicks' Wining Streak Alive

 

Don't count Boston out....just yet:

Rondo's Triple Double Lifts Celtics Over Bulls

 

Are you smarter?  

 We are.....and now you are too.

 

The Best........of the .......Best.....of the .....Best

From CnnSi.com..........We're only showing the top 20.....

These.....are the most talented athletes in the world.......and they're getting paid....because of being the very best........in their sports.

For the full list of "The Fortunate 50" Click ..... here.

1

Tiger Woods

Pro Golf

Last Year's Rank: 1

$7,737,626

$92,000,000

$99,737,626

Tiger sacrificed millions in appearance fees during his year off to recover from knee surgery, but replaced his lucrative Buick deal -- voided by mutual consent -- with a new one from AT&T.

2

Phil Mickelson

Pro Golf

Last Year's Rank: 2

$6,350,356

$46,600,000

$52,950,356

Like Tiger, Phil no longer counts on a car-maker in his endorsement portfolio. (Ford chose not to re-sign him.) He still has lucrative deals with Rolex, Callaway, Exxon, Barclay's and KPMG.

3

LeBron James

Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 3

$14,410,581

$28,000,000

$42,410,581

LeBron has one more season left under his deal before he can opt out. If Cleveland doesn't show it's Finals-worthy by next spring, expect the Knicks to come in with a huge offer.

4

Alex Rodriguez

New York Yankees (MLB)

Last Year's Rank: 6 (tie)

$33,000,000

$6,000,000

$39,000,000

We're in the middle of A-Rod's peak earning power in his middle-loaded, 10-year megadeal: He'll make another $33 million in 2010 and then gradually decrease to a "normal" $20 million by '17.

5

Shaquille O'Neal

Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 6 (tie)

$20,000,000

$15,000,000

$35,000,000

The Big Bargaining Chip? Regardless of his trade to Cleveland, Shaq is in the final year of the five-year, $100 million deal he signed while with Miami. It's the largest expiring deal in the NBA.

6

Kevin Garnett

Boston Celtics (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 8

$24,750,000

$10,000,000

$34,750,000

After earning a team-high in salary this past season, KG shoots down to $16.4 million in '09-10 as his three-year extension kicks in, making him the lowest earner of Boston's Big Three.

7

Kobe Bryant

Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 5

$21,262,500

$10,000,000

$31,262,500

While Kobe's league-high $23 million salary next season is certainly befitting of an NBA Finals MVP, it'll also eat up more than a third of the Lakers' cap room to rebuild under the luxury tax.

8

Allen Iverson

Detroit Pistons (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 12

$21,937,500

$7,000,000

$28,937,500

AI just finished the final year of the six-year, $76 million extension he signed in '03 with the Sixers. Larry Brown would be open to signing him in Charlotte -- no doubt at a big discount.

9

Derek Jeter

New York Yankees (MLB)

Last Year's Rank: 10

$20,000,000

$8,500,000

$28,500,000

Yankee captain now has a place to get the kids involved in his Turn 2 Foundation in shape: He opened his second co-branded 24-Hour Fitness gym in Manhattan, and a third is scheduled.

10

Peyton Manning

Indianapolis Colts (NFL)

Last Year's Rank: 9

$14,500,000

$13,000,000

$27,000,000

NFL's top endorser has distributed $500,000 in grants in '09 through his PayBack Foundation to charities in Indianapolis, near his alma mater (Tennessee) and his hometown, New Orleans.

11

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Auto Racing

Last Year's Rank: 11

$4,611,290

$22,000,000

$26,611,290

Junior was voted NASCAR's most popular driver for the sixth straight year. But what NASCAR needs to win back fans and sponsors is for him to win more often than once every 76 races.

12

Dwyane Wade

Miami Heat (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 16

$14,410,581

$12,000,000

$26,410,581

Even if he doesn't get a contract extension this summer, D-Wade will get his nine figures one way or another. He's suing an ex-business partner for slander and libel for $100 million.

13

Dwight Howard

Orlando Magic (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 22

$13,758,000

$12,000,000

$25,758,000

Last year Howard bought the 11,000-square foot "Chateau d'Usse" near Orlando for $8 million. The mansion includes four kitchens, 15 TVs, two game rooms and three "mini-beaches."

14

Mark Teixeira

New York Yankees (MLB)

Last Year's Rank: NR

$25,000,000

$250,000

$25,250,000

Big Tex's $181 million deal includes a clause where he has the option to buy the eight best available season tickets. Finally, someone who can afford the $2,600 Legends Suite seats.

15

Tracy McGrady

Houston Rockets (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 17

$21,126,874

$4,000,000

$25,126,874

Injured T-Mac spent less time on the court last season, but spent more time involved in aide to Darfur -- he visited refugee camps in Chad in '07 and continues to donate to schools.

16

Tim Duncan

San Antonio Spurs (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 19

$20,598,705

$3,500,000

$24,098,705

Though Duncan's $22.2 million salary next season is the team's highest, the fiscally responsible Spurs still have nine players from last year's roster signed at around the salary-cap limit.

17

Stephon Marbury

Boston Celtics (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 25

$21,937,500

$2,000,000

$23,937,500

Starbury netted some $18.6 million while riding the pine for the Knicks last season, then latched on with the Celtics in January for the veteran's minimum, earning him a prorated $1.3 million.

18

CC Sabathia

New York Yankees (MLB)

Last Year's Rank: NR

$23,000,000

$250,000

$23,250,000

Sabathia's seven-year, $161 million deal is by far the richest ever for a pitcher in baseball history. He'll earn roughly $675,000 for every game he starts over the course of this season.

19

Jason Kidd

Dallas Mavericks (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 24

$21,372,000

$1,500,000

$22,872,000

Future Hall-of-Famer would like to stay in Dallas, but he must lower his asking price. With skills in decline, he'll be lucky to get a third of the $20 million range to which he's grown accustomed.

20

Jermaine O'Neal

Miami Heat (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 27

$21,352,500

$750,000

$22,102,500

Miami could be without its two biggest-name players next summer when O'Neal's contract expires and Dwyane Wade can opt out. That would let the Heat rebuild around Michael Beasley.

Hump Day News & Views

If it's Wednesday......it must be "Hump Day"....

I'm tired.....so let us be brief.....Here is few headlines.......the sports world is a yakking about. And.......I'm too tired to be yakking.....So I leave it to the big boys ....on this day to do the actual writing.......

In the News: Some things we're following.......

BBC Sport

Wife's Illness Leads Mickelson to Suspend Season - New York Times

Real life........is a mother -f*****....Our thoughts and prayers to the Mickelson family.

Seattle P...

Ex-NFL star Vick leaves prison, heads for Va. home - The Associated Press

And the media frenzy goes on..........

Los Angel...

Cleveland parties for the Cavs as Orlando series gets under way - The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com

As Moses Malone once said, " fo, fo, and fo".......Will the "Cavs " ever lose a play-off game? So for , the boys from Cleveland are "fo, fo ".......As in sweeping Detroit and Atlanta...."Fo, fo, and fo"? It's still a possibility........

Things.......I .......think I think.....

American Idol........ain't what it used to be.......

Oprah Winfrey........is the most powerful voice.......in America.....

Dick Cheney.....should crawl back under that proverbial rock........and stay there....

I just........love.......our President.......Mr. Obama........you are all right with me........

Are they........still playing .......Hockey?

Have a great .........."Hump Day"........

A Roaring Start

Woods Renews Attack on the Record Book

The above courtesy of the New York Times...........

On a rather cold (by California standards) and rainy Sunday afternoon......one Mr. Tiger Woods made a statement. Tiger won the Buick Open by 8 shots in a tournament that wasn't even this close. He simply obliterated the field. But Woods doesn't win tournaments on Sunday.

Tiger Woods wins tournaments the day of the start........usually Thursday. This is when there are no less than 150 eager golfers that tee it up and hope this is their day.

Most of the 150 "pros" are only trying to "make the cut"..... Tiger's only missed a handful in 10 plus years. Most play Thursday and Friday to get to the money round.

Tiger plays Thursday and Friday to get a true feel of the course.......then by Saturday and Sunday.......it's lights out.

With Sundays win........Tiger now has 62 Tour wins, tying him for forth with the legend Arnold Palmer....

Palmer, 78, was among the first to congratulate Woods, sending a statement prepared earlier in the day at Bay Hill Golf Club, where he was playing golf.

“I congratulate Tiger,” he said. “I’m sure that there are many, many more coming in the future. There isn’t any question about that. I wish him all the luck in the world.”

Let us just sit back and enjoy something we can tell our grand kids...........We actually witnessed and appreciated the greatest golfer of all time.

So....Phil Mickelson, Rory Sabbatini and Vijay Singh................you guys are good.........but you're in an era in which you are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

You are Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and Patrick Ewing against Michael Jordan.........

No fought of your own........but just a little bit ............over matched.........