Does Your Team Have a Shooter?

An investigation by local and fedeal authorities has begun into a dispute that began on the Washington Wizards' team plane between guards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton. According to multiple sources, an argument commenced during a card game on the team's overnight flight back to Washington from Phoenix on Dec. 19 and escalated into a heated exchange, resuming after an off-day, in the team's locker room on a practice day. The New York Post, quoting league security sources, reported that Arenas and Crittenton pulled guns on each other over a gambling debt during the pre-practice confrontation at the Verizon Center. The team has publicly confirmed that Arenas had stored three guns in a locked box in his locker and that the firearms were unloaded. NBA commissioner David Stern, given his distaste for any hint of violence in the league, is expected to wait and see whether charges are filed before determining the scale of potential punishments. In an ironic twist, it was the Wizards' late owner and Stern's close friend, Abe Pollin who, perhaps prophetically, changed the team's nickname in 1997. They had been known as the Bullets.

Jane, Stop This Crazy Thing

Pitting Florida and Cincinnati, the Allstate Sugar Bowl is this season's recipient of the "College Coaching Carousel" award. Bearcat program architect Brian Kelly was a local legend, right until he left for Notre Dame. Interim coach Jeff Quinn, who will lead the team this week, is bound for Buffalo once the whistle blows. Butch Jones, the Central Michigan transplant hired to replace Kelly, will watch the game, but isn't coaching, just hovering. Meanwhile, Florida's Urban Meyer announced his resignation last Saturday, then un-resigned Sunday, adrift in a vaguely defined leave of absence. Gator interim coach Steve Addazio will call the shots, but who knows how long he'll be doing so. It's also the final hurrah for UF defensive coordinator Charlie Strong, whose bags are packed for the head job at Louisville. Both Meyer and Kelly have dominant personalities and hands-on approaches, so we'll soon see which team is best able to approximate business as usual. And it used to be you couldn't tell the players without a scorecard.

All Those Bowls and a Bag of Chips

With college football's seemingly bottomless bowl season filling countless hours of television time, a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute survey released this morning shows 63 percent favor getting rid of the current Bowl Championship Series and replacing it with a playoff system similar to college basketball's March Madness tournament. Only 26 percent want to keep the BCS, but the majority of almost 2,000 polled don't want to see Congress get involved. Earlier this month, a House subcommittee approved legislation that would make it illegal to promote a national championship game "or make a similar representation," unless it results from a playoff. While there is no Senate version of the bill, President Obama has voiced his support on the campaign trail. Setting aside health-care, global warming, the economy, national defense, environmental issues, foreign trade and immigration for a moment, a politically-correct solution is certainly just around the corner.

Tennis Ace Serves Two Queens

After seven months without a title, a five-set finals defeat at the Australian Open to rival Rafael Nadal, and an angry racket-breaking incident in Miami, the seas have once again calmed in the world of Roger Federer. The 28-year-old Swiss tennis phenom finished as the tour's Number 1-ranked player following the year-end championships in London last week and exuded a regal air of serenity as he clasped the glass trophy for the fifth time in his illustrious career. Federer has now been ranked Number 1 for 259 weeks, trailing only Pete Sampras (286), Ivan Lendl (270) and Jimmy Connors (268) on the all-time list. In less than a two month span earlier this season, Federer captured the only major title to elude him, the French Open, took down Andy Roddick in an unforgettable fifth set at Wimbledon that required thirty games, broke Sampras' record for Grand Slam singles titles, and became a father to twin daughters. With the girls' arrival, expect the singles king to be playing plenty of doubles.

Head Games

In today's National Football League, the game has become faster and quicker, the players bigger and stronger. Thus, when irrestible force now meets immovable object, the resulting collision can leave one dazed and confused, to say the least. With the number of concussions increasing this season -- as evidenced by hits on the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger, the Cardinals' Kurt Warner and the Eagles' Brian Westbrook -- the NFL and NFL Players Association are working diligently to finalize a policy that would effectively prohibit a player from re-entering a game that he exits with a concussion-related injury. In addition, Commissioner Roger Goodell is also considering a policy that would arbitrarily prohibit a player from playing the subsequent week after suffering a concussion. To prepare competitively with knowledge they would be missing a player as opposed to awaiting any post-concussion symptoms late in a week, teams will petition the league competition committee to allow an expansion of game-day rosters beyond the current 45 available players and more significantly, assign neurologists to each team so that player safety remains priority one. Is there a doctor in the locker room?

One Irish Eye Ain't Smilin'

Losing a close game in what has become a difficult season is tough on any player, but insult to injury made for an even more painful experience involving Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen early Sunday morning. Enjoying a post-game meal with parents, family members and other Fighting Irish upperclassmen following a disappointing loss to Connecticut on Senior Day, Clausen was "sucker-punched" by a fan outside a South Bend restaurant after something was said either to Clausen and/or a female acquaintance, according to witnesses. No police report was filed and the swollen eye is not expected to keep Clausen from playing this weekend against Stanford. Until the Irish resume their winning ways, however, Jimmy may wish to consider using the drive-thru.

Is This Thing On?

The Fox Sports Prime Ticket cable network had little choice but to suspend Los Angeles Clippers longtime play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler and color analyst Michael Smith for one game following Wednesday's contest against the Grizzlies after their on-air comments about Memphis center Hamed Haddidi offended a viewer who e-mailed Fox to complain. The duo did not work Friday's night telecast against the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center as Michael Eaves and Don MacLean, who regularly serve as halftime and postgame analysts on Clippers telecasts, filled in courtside. According to the team website, Lawler, 71, has covered over 2,400 LAC games in his 31 seasons and Smith is now in his 12th. In a statement, Fox said "While we believe that Michael and Ralph did not intend their exchange to be offensive, the comments were inappropriate. We extend our apologies to Hamed Haddadi (the first Iranian to play in the NBA) and to anyone who was offended." The late-game exchange referenced Haddidi's home country by mispronounciation, included a resemblance reference to movie character "Borat" actor Sasha Baron Cohen, and a comment on his ball-handling skills. Ad-libs have always added an entertainment value to a broadcast, but given the delicate sensitivities of today's geo-political climate, the league may wish to consider adding international diplomacy to its on-air team's skill set.