-- Is it true Muntadar al-Zeidi, the reporter who threw the shoes at President Bush last month, will start at quarterback for the Lions next year? ... Shaun Ellis of the Jets was fined $10,000 by the NFL for throwing snow at Seattle fans following a 13-3 loss. Actually, Brett Favre tried to throw a snowball at the fans, too, but it was intercepted and run back for a touchdown ... How are the Giants and Knicks similar? Neither team has players that know how to shoot ... An Oxford scientist reports that he found a prehistoric spider web--it was growing in the Buccaneer end zone ... One sign you probably made Santa's naughty list: you left out Kansas City Chiefs season tickets for Santa instead of cookies and milk ... How about the Browns tailgater cited back in December for driving a motorized couch? Where does it end? ... We can put a man on the moon, but all season the 49ers couldn't get a clear radio message to their quarterback (gizmos cost each team $28,000). Wouldn't it be cheaper and more reliable to hire one of those airport tarmac guys with two flashlights? ... Why do we often see injured NFL players on the sidelines supporting their teammates but never the Patriots' Tom Brady?
-- Absurdly named bowl games from the past: Fish Bowl (1948) Cement Bowl (1962), Poultry Bowl (1973), Salad Bowl (1952) and Pretzel Bowl (1951).
-- According to avid sports fan Anita Angelica, 25 percent of all vegetables consumed in the United States are French fries.
-- The Knicks' Eddy Curry reportedly has a 3-year-old, $41,000 tab at the Casual Male store ... 98-year-old legendary UCLA hoops coach John Wooden, perhaps the greatest American coach in any sport (10 national championships), says his favorite meal is sauerkraut and wieners. His favorite song is "Glow Worm" by the Mills Brothers. He recently noted, "The best pure basketball I see today is from some of the better women's collegiate teams."
-- President-elect Obama says the economic stimulus package the nation needs should be about $850 billion. To put that into prospective, $850 billion is roughly half of next year's Yankee payroll ... The world is in a serious recession and foreclosures are out of control, yet Mark Teixeia and his greedy agent Scott Boras refused a $160 million offer?
-- Happy Chinese New Year! Hello to the Year of the Ox and goodbye to '08, the Year of the Doctored Birth Certificate!
-- In closing, Johnny Angelica asks do you realize that in about 40 years, we'll have thousands of old ladies running around with tattoos.
(Some of the information in this column was obtained from other news organizations)
