Tiger Woods Golf will feature another person on the cover along with the eponymous star for the first time ever. EA Games insists that the addition of Rory McIlroy, a ROOKIE, was only to promote the game's Ryder Cup gameplay feature and that Tiger represents the US and McIllroy the Europeans. Sure. 

Clearly they can't just change the franchise, but at least for this iteration, EA was concerned enough about where Tiger had been putting his balls and his playing skins with non Elin Nordegren women to make this major change to the cover.

[Kotaku]

In 1997 when John Valentin was forced to move off shortstop for a hot-shot rookie he was understandably annoyed. However, once he saw the dynamic shortstop play, he quickly got over it. In his rookie campaign Nomar had 209 hits, 30 home runs and hit .306/.545/.875 all at age 23. Wow. 

Over the 7 full seasons he played with the team, Nomar was one of the most popular players in the history of the Red Sox. I remember lustily cheering "NoMAR's BETter" at Sox/Yankees games whenever Jeter would come to the plate, and it was true. Until he took an Al Reyes fastball off his wrist, Nomar was one of the most exciting and complete players in baseball. 

As a Red Sox player, Nomar hit 178 home runs, hit .318, was a 5-time All Star, won the Rookie of the Year (Deivi Cruz finished 4th!) , earned back-to-back batting titles and played some stellar defense. Nomar LOVED baseball. 

Unfortunately, Boston is a demanding place to play and Nomar's relationship with the media was never particularly strong. Steve Buckley and John Tomase at the Boston Herald were the most vocal in their displeasure with Nomar, because he wasn't accommodating to their needs. Because of that, they started writing hatchet jobs of him in their paper, leading to some fan backlash and definitely helping to lead him out of town. 

I remember July 31st, 2004 vividly. I was heading into my second job at a restaurant and the douchiest waiter there was dancing around, "We traded Nomar!" he gleefully squealed. I was not as excited. I thought the deal was fine, it seemed a little light in talent, but fair enough. Intellectually I understood it, but I was not ready to just celebrate the team jettisoning it's most popular star. The Red Sox were Nomar; 1997 was the dawn of the Nomar age, 1998 was the arrival of Pedro and the two of them were the team. 

Today, Nomar is signing a one-day minor league contract with the Red Sox and will then retire to join ESPN and Baseball Tonight. He played 14 seasons in the majors, finishing with a .313 career average, and an OPS+ of 124 and never saw a first pitch he didn't want to hit. A favorite of Ted Williams, Nomar was a hitting machine who could also play an excellent shortstop. 

It's a bit surprising Nomar is choosing to join the media, considering his contentious relationship with the press in the past, but today I'm sad I'll never get to see him make a rocket throw across his body and the diamond to nab the runner by a step. I'm sad I'll never see a line-drive double fly off his bat, I'm sad to see Nomar go. Sure the last few seasons have been painful (to watch and for Nomar) but he's always been a favorite, someone I've followed no matter what. 

This past summer, when Nomar arrived for the first time ever as a visiting player to Fenway Park was magical. The long, well-deserved, applause swelled around the stadium as Sox fans finally got the chance to say "thank you." It was special, just like Nomar.

There's nothing better than when baseball starts back up again, and there are very few people who do sports photography better than the Boston Globe. This gallery of shots from spring training only confirms that fact. Check out the full thing HERE for plenty more, but here are my three favorites.

[Boston Globe]

Sure, if Kobe Bryant makes a half-court shot everyone in the crowd cheers and goes wild, but when Benny the Bull, the Chicago Bulls mascot makes a half-court shot, with his back turned to the basket, it gets lost amid the hoopla of halftime. It's simply not fair. That kind of shot is hard, especially with a heavy ass suit on too. Sigh.

After joining the Red Sox, Curt Schilling started preparing for his post-baseball career when he started 38 Studios, a video-game company. Initially intent on creating the next big MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) like World of Warcraft, today Schilling and his company are closer to that dream. EA Studios announced today that they have reached a publishing agreement for the first big game to come out of Schill's operation, the still codenamed "Project Mercury."

A single-player epic role playing game, based on the worlds of R.A. Salvatore and with artistic direction from Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn (and owner of Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball), the game will ultimately be available for PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC.

In the press statement Schilling said "We are creating an enormous world, with heroes and villains and a rich back story from the brilliant minds of R. A., Todd and Ken [Rolston, the lead designer] at its heart, and I can think of no finer partner than the global powerhouse that is EA Partners. Being able to leverage the expertise of EA's publishing organization to bring our first product to market is a dream come true for 38 Studios."

Looks like the big galoot is about to make a heap load of dollars. Fun!

[38 Studios]

Speed stacking has got to be one of the most asinine things to become a part of the American cultural landscape since pet rocks. The fact that there are competitions, with FANS in the stands, baffles me. This girl manages to stack, unstack, stack, etc, all in a flat 7 seconds. Impressive. Kind of.

She then loses her shit in excitement, and it's nice to see the wholesomeness of speed stacking still exists, the most she can exclaim is "Oh my gosh!"

I'm most bothered by the fact that she (or her parents) spent actual money on a SPECIALIZED speed stacking stopwatch, because it really does something unique?

[NY Barstool Sports]

In Italy, soccer is practically a religious experience and Serie A officials recognize that and are finally taking action. From now on, the league will not tolerate any blasphemous language on the pitch, and any incidents of it will lead to suspensions.

While his Chievo squad was taking on Cagliari, coach Domenico Di Carlo was overheard saying "porco dio" which translates to him calling god swine. League President Giancarlo Abete was less than pleased; Di Carlo is now suspended for Sunday's match. Abete explained that the league will "intervene with official decisions to make clear that blasphemy is within the definition of 'offensive, insulting or abusive language' in the rules [that warrant sending-off]."

Using video to help their task, clearly the Serie A officials are not infallible. In the same game, Chievo's Michele Marcolini was sent off the pitch after receiving a red card. He could clearly be seen swearing "dio" as he left the field. The league however, after investigating, insisted that he wasn't referring to god but instead swearing at someone named "Diaz" -- the only problem, no one by that name was on the pitch...

I'm just glad that soccer's officials are finally taking care of the important issues.

[Phalanx Prophecy]

Zack Follett is a second-year linebacker for the Detroit Lions, coming in as a 7th-round selection the odds were stacked against him, late in the preseason he was released and then signed to the Lions practice squad. Come October he was activated to play special teams and his first professional tackle was named the NFL hit of the week. Not bad.

Enjoying the offseason, Follet is dedicating himself to becoming more aggressive and so what better way to work on that than visiting Cat Haven in Fresno, California and getting into the cage with real Lions.

Canadians, we know, love their hockey, during the Olympic gold medal game, the entire country was glued to their televisions, not moving until the end of periods. At that point, the water usage levels in Edmonton, 600 miles from Vancouver, SKYROCKETED. Even after the game was over, the time between the medal ceremony and the game showed that Canadians didn't move a muscle, taking in the whole moment.

Once the medals were awarded the Canucks were able to finally relieve themselves. This time, as champions.

[Edmonton Journal]

He almost never dunks, so when Andre Miller threw down an MJ-style dunk on Sunday against the Nuggets his teammates and everyone in attendance was astonished and excited. Nice hops young man.  

[A Stern Warning]