-- Holiday tip: Discover the quiet satisfaction of anonymous giving!
-- Giants placekicker Lawrence Tynes has asked President Bush to commute a 27-year sentence given to his brother for distributing 18 tons of marijuana and not cooperating with the police. Repeat after me--18 tons! ... No, Plaxico Burress (Giants WR), that's not the way we play the shotgun formation. Guess he wasn't wearing Under Armour ... Don't you wonder what exactly Lane Kiffin did during his time with Oakland that made him so coveted by elite college programs? ... For the 1958 Colts-Giants championship game, considered by many "The Best Game Ever", a bleacher ticket at Yankee Stadium cost $4. Can't even buy a Coke for that today.
-- According to Shirley Stedman, The Gingerbread House in Rochester, Minn. baked a gingerbread man weighing 466 lbs. on February 21, 2006. That works out to 750,000 calories.
-- MIchigan hoops coach John Beilein: "There's only one place I would rather coach at. Prison, because I wouldn't have to worry about the alumni coming back" ... Did you know point guard Lauren Avant was offered a basketball scholarship to powerhouse Tennessee in the 8th grade?
-- Greg Maddux has retired at 43 and finished one win ahead of Roger Clemens on the career victory list and 4,000 miles ahead of Clemens on the career class list ... George Steinbrenner has also retired and is now expected to spend much of his time tongue-lashing his neighbors, firing paperboys and screaming at kids walking on his yard ... A-Rod, born in New York, raised in Miami and wealthy in American dollars, will play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic this season. Real loyalty! ... 61-year-old Hall of Famer Johnny Bench: "I have a 2-year-old son, so I say thank God for performance-enhancing drugs" ... For Christmas, Red Sox outfielder Mark Kotsay is asking for "a driver that hits the ball in the middle of the fairway everytime" ... Sorry to see Kelly Frank fired after five seasons as the Rays' "Raymond" mascot. Apparently, "everybody doesn't like Raymond".
-- GM is no longer sponsoring Tiger Woods. Finally Tiger gets to say, "You didn't really think I drove a Buick, did you?"
-- And finally, J.B. Bahner added a small Wal-mart store to his Christmas village. Within two days, all the little village shops had closed down.
-- A very merry Christmas to all!
(Some of the information in this column was obtained from other news organizations)
