Filed under: Falcons, NFC South, NFL Police Blotter, Featured Stories

It truly is the holiday season. Ron Mexico, serving 23 months for murdering puppies, will have some visitors. Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall said he and his teammates would drop in on Michael Vick in the clink. God bless us, every one.

“Probably in the next week or so,” Hall said. “I think a couple guys are going to go up there to Virginia, get a chance to go see him. We all talked about [doing it] when the season was over. The season is over. We’ll try to formulate a plan to get up there to see him.”

Hall, Alge Crumpler, Joe Horn, Chris Houston and Roddy White were fined earlier this month for “violating the uniform policy” (read: sporting homemade “Free Vick” shirts, posters, knick knacks, et cetera). Also around that time, Crumpler told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Mr. Mexico isn’t a bad person … unless you’re a no-fight-winning canine.

In one sense, it’s good that Vick’s family and friends aren’t abandoning him after his fall from grace, but I’m guessing most people aren’t losing any sleep over his incarceration. Fair enough. Whatever, Hall thinks it’ll be tough for Vick to see his teammates while wearing an orange jumpsuit:

“Probably harder for him to see us,” he said. “It’s probably going to be real tough for him. I know when I spoke to him before training camp started, being told he wasn’t going to be able to come to training camp crushed him. He loved this team more than anything.”

Well, almost anything, anyway.
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What to watch on your free Green Bay Packers furniture (pending favorable Super Bowl result) …
• College football: Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl, Kentucky vs. Florida State, at Nashville (4 p.m. ET); Chick-fil-A Bowl, Clemson vs. Auburn, at Atlanta (7:30 p.m., ET). Guests of the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl stay at the Red Roof Inn. [ESPN]
• College football: Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl, Georgia Tech vs. Fresno State, at Boise (2 p.m., ET). Bulldog vs. wasp; nature’s bitterest rivalry. [ESPN2]
• College football: Brut Sun Bowl, South Florida vs. Oregon, at El Paso (2 p.m., ET). Ah, the smell of cologne, oranges and sweat. [CBS]
• NBA: Orlando at Chicago (2 p.m., ET). Hurry home; you’ll make it! [WGN]
• NHL: St. Louis at Detroit (7 p.m., ET). Detroit’s emerging pro sports dynasty begins with the Red Wings. [Versus]

Filed under: Dolphins, Miami

New Dolphins executive Bill Parcells wasted little time in re-shaping the front office to his liking, firing general manager Randy Mueller Monday morning, less than 18 hours after the end of the regular season. The Miami Herald reports:

Parcells entered Mueller’s office Monday morning and advised him that he had been dismissed. Mueller has since left the Dolphin’s training facility. The rest of the staff — including Mueller’s personnel department — has so far been retained.

It makes sense for Parcells to keep the rest of the personnel department for the time being. These guys have been spending all year assembling information about draft choices and free agents, and it would be foolish for Parcells to ax all of them before at least picking their brains.

Next up is a meeting between Parcells and head coach Cam Cameron, whose first season in Miami may also be his last. The two are expected to meet tomorrow, and although it probably gives Cameron at least a little hope that he wasn’t fired as quickly as Mueller, it’s hard to imagine Parcells keeping him around.

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Today’s most popular headlines are

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  WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?
  
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Today’s most discussed stories are

Brady Is Giving Romo Dating Advice Now? (86 comments), What’s In And Out For 2008? (47) and Wade Phillips’ Daughter Belly Dances And Reads Sports Blogs (44).

Filed under: Browns, Cleveland

The Browns were in the odd position Sunday of having their own game basically mean nothing, and then having to wait until Sunday night to watch the Titans-Colts game and find out if their season was over or if they were going to the playoffs.

The Titans beat the Jim Sorgi-led Colts and clinched a playoff spot, and Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards explained in a conversation with Peter King of SI.com how it felt to watch it:

“I’ve been sitting here in agony,” Edwards said, watching Andrea Kremer interview Kerry Collins, one of the heroes of the Tennessee playoff bid. “But it’s our fault. We played horrible in Cincinnati last week [losing 19-14] when our fate was in our hands. We didn’t take care of business, and so now we have to suffer because of it. …

“This is just the beginning,” Edwards said. “We’ll be back.”

Edwards, who had a great season, is right not to make excuses, as the Browns really did play horribly against Cincinnati. But he’s also right to say the Browns will be back. Sixteen weeks ago they looked like perhaps the worst team in the NFL, but now they look like a young, up-and-coming team that will be on the other side of the playoff ledger at this time next year.

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Continuing his New Year’s tradition going back into the last decade, Dan Shanoff weighs in with some trend-spotting: What’s “out” with 2007 and “in” for 2008. Goodbye: Durant, Tebow, Dice-K, Saban, competitive eating and Reilly. Hello: Love, Pryor, Fuk-U, Rod, competitive drinking and B.D. Drew. And so many, many more. Full list follows:

Out: 756
In: 19-0

Out: Adrian Peterson
In: Darren McFadden

Out: YouTube laterals
In: YouTube confessionals

Out: Nick Saban
In: Rich Rodriguez

Out: Kevin Durant
In: Kevin Love

Out: Air Zoom LeBron IV
In: Air Jordan XXXIII

Out: Tim Tebow (WTF?!)
In: Terrelle Pryor

Out: Butler
In: Dayton

Out: Open-wheel drivers jump to NASCAR
In: Top-tier boxers jump to MMA

Out: Steve Nash
In: Derrick Rose

Out: Mainstream sportswriters go online
In: Sports bloggers go mainstream

Out: Eva Longoria
In: Evan Longoria

Out: Wrigley Field
In: AON Wrigley Field

Out: MLB PED scandal
In: PGA PED scandal

Out: Kige Ramsey
In: Pac-Man Jones TV

Out: Jesus in the clubhouse
In: Jews in the front office

Out: The Big Lead
In: Awful Announcing

Out: Boston sports success
In: God, anything but Boston sports success

Out: Michael Vick
In: Roger Clemens

Out: Rick Reilly
In: Big Daddy Drew

Out: Women’s World Cup
In: EuroCup

Out: “Blades of Glory”
In: “Semi-Pro”

Out: Rick Ankiel
In: Jacoby Ellsbury

Out: Gilbert Arenas
In: Rod Benson

Out: Billy Donovan
In: Bruce Pearl

Out: Ron Jaworski joins MNF
In: Tony Kornheiser leaves MNF

Out: Trade Kobe
In: Trade Dirk

Out: Greg Oden sits out
In: Greg Oden suits up

Out: Competitive eating
In: Competitive drinking

Out: Michelle Wie
In: Tadd Fujikawa

Out: Fanhouse
In: Sporting Blog

Out: Mark McGwire
In: Goose Gossage

Out: White House mountain biking
In: White House pick-up hoops

Out: George Steinbrenner
In: Hank Steinbrenner

Out: ESPN Mobile
In: ESPN 360

Out: Schilling’s blog
In: Canseco’s new book

Out: Charlie Weis
In: Brady Quinn

Out: Isiah Thomas
In: Clay Bennett

Out: The Beckhams
In: The Bradys

Out: Daisuke Matsuzaka
In: Kosuke Fukudome

Out: Joakim Noah
In: Tyler Hansbrough

Out: Erin Andrews
In: Bear Grylls

Out: Olympic safety
In: Olympic smog

Out: NBA refs who gamble
In: Tennis players who gamble

Out: Hope Solo
In: Dara Torres

Out: Canceling “Cold Pizza”
In: Canceling Dennis Miller

Out: Yardbarker
In: Ballhype

Out: ‘77 Yankees
In: ‘68 Tigers

Out: Mitchell Report
In: “God Save The Fan”

As always, you can direct comments or questions to danshanoff-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com.

Filed under: Dolphins, AFC East

This seems like a fitting end to a one-win campaign. Dolphins’ first-year head coach Cam Cameron suspended Keith Traylor for the season finale because the 340-pound defensive tackle can’t play nicely with others. Specifically, Traylor got in a fight on the team plane after the Week 16 loss to the Patriots.

According to two sources, the fight was with offensive linemen Rex Hadnot and Vernon Carey. Traylor, 38, did not practice last week, and the team listed him on its injury report with an ankle ailment.

Cam Cameron met with Traylor on Monday, they argued, and the coach kicked him off the team, one of the sources said.

I don’t know if this qualifies as “thugs and hoodlums”-type behavior, but Traylor’s inability to keep his hands to himself and the fact that he’s 38 could mean that his Dolphins career is over.

And although Cameron is neither a thug nor a hoodlum (if anything, Cameron’s the anti-thug), he could be looking for work soon too.

According to the Sun-Sentinel’s Ethan Skolnick, Miami kept Traylor on the roster for yesterday’s game to avoid a public-relations problem and to keep Traylor from signing with another team. Teammate Vonnie Holliday stuck up for his soon-to-be former teammate:

Continue reading After Fight on Team Plane, Dolphins Suspend Keith Traylor For Season Finale

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You might remember, back in February, when MJD told you about Cowboys coach Wade Phillips’ most attractive daughter. Well, now she’s got an acting career. It seems to be going well.

Turns out, she’s that Charlie Wilson’s War. We haven’t seen it yet. She plays a belly dancer.

I had done minimal belly dancing prior to this. But I am a dancer - I’ve danced my whole life - I am pretty adept at learning different kinds of movement. … It was all pretty natural to me - I didn’t feel like it was a stretch for me to do that style of dance.

How about those Cowboys?

I watch every game! I mean, I watch every game, I read sports blogs, I go on dallascowboys.com all the time. I grew up with football. It becomes important when it’s not just a livelihood, but when your life depends on it - whether you’re going to move to a different city, or if you’re gonna get fired. … I’m really invested.

That’s right, fellers; she reads sports blogs. Step right up.

Q&A With Tracy Phillips [GuideLive]
Wade Phillips Made A Hot Daughter [Deadspin]

Filed under: Fighting, MMA

The best mixed martial arts fighter in the world, heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, continued his winning streak today in Tokyo with a dramatic first-round submission over the South Korean giant Hong Man Choi.

Emelianenko, who spurned the American Ultimate Fighting Championship because Japanese promotions offered him more money and more freedom than UFC, showed once again that he’s got both the strength and the technical precision to dominate mixed martial arts.

The 7-foot-2, 360-pound Choi gave it a game effort and landed a couple of rough strikes, badly bruising Emelianenko’s face. But Emelianenko has much better MMA skills, and as soon as they went to the ground, it was clear that Emelianenko was going to win.

Although Choi was on top and landed a few solid strikes to Emelianenko’s face, Emelianenko quickly got Choi’s arm locked in a textbook submission hold, and Choi had no choice but to tap out.

The fight was part of a New Year’s Eve event in Tokyo that has become one of the biggest annual sports traditions in Japan. Emelianenko gave the Japanese fans a good show.

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The Ravens have fired Brian Billick. You hate to see bad things happen to such nice people over the holidays. [Inside Charm City]