Thursday Scattershooting

Slow starts for Cowboys traced to coin flip …

"We have to be a better coin-flip team," Bledsoe joked.

The last time the Cowboys won the pregame coin toss was also the last time they were the first team to score. That was Nov. 20 against the Lions.

Since then, the Cowboys have not scored first in a game and have been outscored 31-14 in the first quarter. Falling behind has put more pressure on an offense not designed to play catch-up and allows little margin for error on defense.

TR Sullivan breaks down 10 biggest signings before Kevin Millwood in Rangers history
…

According to the Packers press, Favre sounds like a guy ready to play his last game …

"The easy thing to do is to keep playing because that's all I know," Favre said. "But as easy as that decision is, it could be the wrong one. Because maybe I, in the process, continue to play, but maybe I'm just not as productive as I once was, or maybe I'm not the type of player they need now.

"Maybe they want to go in a different direction and they don't know how to tell Brett Favre, 'We want to go in a different direction.' "

Asked if he was aware this could be his last game, Favre said, "Absolutely. I'm well aware of that."

Tippett won’t put a leash on Turco …Stars and Blues tonight…

Technically, this was in yesterday’s New York Times, Raffy still denies his roids …

"I wish I could have turned in the vial for testing," Palmeiro said of the vial he used, "but when I found out, it was long gone and I couldn't come up with it. If something happened that I'm not aware of, an intentional act by someone else, I don't know. I can't rule out anything."

But he added: "I'm going to take the responsibility, me being careless and taking something I wasn't knowing if it was clean, having full trust in what I was getting. It was careless, stupid, naïve of me to think it was safe."

Liverpool win 9th straight …beat Everton, meanwhile, ManU drop points to Birmingham with a 2-2 tie. The holidays are great if you follow the Premiership…

The Amazing Ronaldinho offers an exhibition of his genius …Holy Freaking Cow…

If you know what a podcast is, and yet you do not know about the Ricky Gervais Podcast …I fear you are missing top shelf British Comedy…

Office Space time killer ….

New from VH-1: more Flavor Flav programming! Flzvor of Love …

Flavor Flav welcomes 20 women to his macadocious mansion with the hope of finding the next great love of his life. To start things off he gives the girls nicknames (he'd never be able to remember their real ones) and then throws a get-to-know-ya mixer in the backyard by the pool. But this isn't your ordinary bachelor! Catty posturing and half naked swimming lead up to the first elimination ceremony. As the ceremony commences, one of the girls is absent only to be found face down on the living room couch...vomiting. Five girls are going home, will the puker be eliminated?

And now, email:

Guerin Theory:

As I drove home from the Stars/Wings game last night listening to your post game show, a thought hit me.

You were mentioning that players have bad seasons, then rebound. You referenced Modano's bad 02-03 season, and his subsequent rebound. There is a difference in Modanos comeback, and the potential for Guerin to rebound from this slump he has hit. Coming into this season, we knew the new rule changes were suited to Modano's talents. It is the compete opposite for Guerin, I think the new rule changes are the complete opposite for Guerin's style of play. At the start of the season his penalty minutes are ahead of where they normally would be, this has affected his mind more than anything else. However much you think the problem is in his head, they bottom line is that he has not yet found a way to make his game adjust to the new NHL. When he plays the way he knows, he is penalized. He needs to adjust.

Just a thought,
Aaron Winkler

It sounds like a good theory. All I know is that Guerin better get going soon, or he will surely be bought out this summer. They have to figure out how to keep Jason Arnott this summer, and I fear it will come at Guerin’s expense. Also, don’t forget a certain goalie is free this summer, too. And Turco won’t be cheap. His issue is convincing those who decide such things that he can win a playoff game/series…

Bob,

Here's a stat for you.

Since Pete Carroll arrived at USC, the Trojans are ... 56-9. Over that same period Texas is 55-8. Obviously USC has 2 MNC to show for that and Texas doesn't, but found that interesting and thought might be of use to you.

Have a good day,

BENNY ROGERS

Finally, we shall end with this: