Jackson was a workhorse for the Bills in 2011, averaging 137.6 total yards per game (six 100-yard rushing efforts) in 10 games before a fractured fibula ended his season. He averaged a career-best 5.5 yards per carry and eclipsed 900 rushing yards for the third year. Jackson caught 39 passes out of the backfield.

He admitted in his press conference that he has not yet returned to football conditioning, but that his leg has healed fully.

Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers eagerly anticipated Thursday’s trade deadline. For weeks, local newspaper columnists, radio and television personalities shouted from the rooftops about the team’s need for a point guard. They pondered what appeared to be the likely departure of Pau Gasol and dissected his every movement on the court while questioning his focus and “emotional state.”

As the countdown clicked down into the final minutes, fans celebrated the arrival of Ramon Sessions from the Cleveland Cavaliers (10.5 points and 5.2 assists per game). They held their collective breath in anticipation of a note from Chris Mannix, Adrian Wojnarowski or another NBA reporter to trumpet the arrival of Michael Beasley or another big chip in exchange for the aforementioned Gasol. The myriad stories and starts and stops concerning Dwight Howard provided some extra drama.

The trumpets might have sounded, but you’d swear they were playing “Taps” by the tone of the local broadcasters and callers. Any happiness about the acquisition of Sessions was muted by the amount of hand-wringing over the loss of Derek Fisher. Of course, that flew squarely in the face of months of pining for a “real” point guard and the relegation of Fisher to the bench.

The overall thinking appears to be that Fisher was the only leader in the locker room. I understand that he occupied a leadership role, both in the Los Angeles locker room and with the union. But, the thinking that the team is now devoid of leaders in Fisher’s absence (along with the departure of longtime Laker and fan favorite Luke Walton) makes me take pause.

These are professionals. Somebody’s going to step up (I hate that phrase) into that role.

• You mean to tell me that Kobe Bryant will not lead his team? He may not be the diplomat that Fisher was, but he’s not going to sit idly by. Bryant’s relationship with his coach is something to be dissected (everybody did it after Sunday’s timeout situation), but it’s still HIS team. Phil Jackson is not walking through that door.

* I should note that Bryant did cancel a scheduled radio appearance on the Lakers’ flagship season just moments after the Fisher trade was made official.

• Hell, Andrew Bynum is young, but he is in his seventh NBA season.
• Pau Gasol has had every reason to be salty. He was actually traded earlier this season, yet he’s battled through while averaging a double-double (16.6 points and 10.4 assists per game).

The shock response needs to be taken down a few levels. Everyone loves Fisher. He’s made some of the biggest shots in this era of Lakers basketball. He’s an aging point guard who is regularly beaten off the dribble and hurts them defensively.

Hell, it’s still possible that the Rockets buy him out and he finds his way back to Los Angeles at the veteran minimum before this season ends. It’s never easy to say goodbye. Many fans wanted to see Fisher given the opportunity to ride out the season and whatever playoff run was to come to let things draw to a natural finish.

Fisher will eventually get his spot at the podium and the celebration that Lakers fans want. Someone will start the petition to get him a statue made outside STAPLES Center on Friday morning. It will come in due time.

For now, the Lakers and Kobe Bryant are trying to chase a top spot in the West and make a run at another title with Sessions at the point.

However, as well as the defense has played for the balance of the season, there’s no sugarcoating how terribly the offense has performed. The Jaguars rank dead last in scoring at 12.5 points per game. There are empty seats everywhere and Maurice Jones-Drew remains the lone draw.

We can say this. Jack Del Rio’s team was a disciplined bunch. The Jaguars are tied for dead last in penalties with 54 (Miami).

The Raiders lead the NFL in penalties (109), followed closely by the Seahawks (105). Interestingly, the Colts have committed the fourth-fewest penalties.

Week 5: Cleveland, Dallas, St. Louis, Miami, Washington, Baltimore
Week 6: Denver, Tennessee, Kansas City, Arizona, San Diego, Seattle
Week 7: Buffalo, Cincinnati, New England, New York Giants, Philadelphia, San Francisco
Week 8:Atlanta, Chicago, Green Bay, Oakland, New York Jets, Tampa Bay
Week 9: Detroit, Minnesota, Carolina, Jacksonville
Week 10: NONE
Week 11: Indianapolis, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Houston

Bye Week Holes

Week 5 WRs: Austin, Bryant, Marshall, Boldin

Week 6 WRs: Lloyd, Britt, Bowe, Fitzgerald, Vincent Jackson, Sidney Rice

Week 7 WRs: Stevie Johnson, Welker, Ochocinco, Nicks, Manningham, DeSean Jackson, Maclin

Week 8 WRs: Roddy White, Jennings, Holmes, Mike Williams

Week 9 WR: Calvin Johnson

Week 10 WRs: NONE

Week 11 WRs: Wayne, Collie, Colston, Moore, Wallace, Andre Johnson

Week 6 RBs: Moreno, McGahee, Chris Johnson, Charles, Wells, Mathews, Tolbert, Lynch

Week 7 RBs: Fred Jackson, Benson, Green-Ellis, Bradshaw, Jacobs, McCoy, Gore

Week 8 RBs: Turner, Forte, Grant/Starks, McFadden, Greene, Blount

Week 9 RBs: Best, Peterson, De Williams, Stewart, Jones-Drew

Week 10 QBs: NONE

Week 11 RBs: Addai, Carter, Ingram, Thomas, Mendenhall, Foster

Ed Sabol’s Final Film

You can’t teach height. You can’t teach physicality. Height plus a big posterior to back guys under the basket equals a monster career.

Now, O’Neal sets his sights on conquering the TV desk alongside Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson on “Inside The NBA.” O’Neal’s quick-hit videos have demonstrated his comedic timing, and the big man has always been good for a one-liner or impromptu rap. Now, it’s just a question of whether there’s enough air time to let everyone get their bits in and whether you’ll be able to understand O’Neal. He does have a tendency to mumble on occasion.

Still, it’s an experiment worth tuning into once they actually get back to work following what promises to be an extended work stoppage. I know. It’s tinkering with what has been widely acknowledged as the best studio show. There’s always room for improvement, right?

“A-Tisket, A-Tasket, I rip down the basket.”

If you’ve followed Harrison’s career at all, you know that he’s a man who doesn’t mince words. The full interview will be available when the magazine hits newsstands Friday, but the few snippets that have appeared on line will make you do a spit-take. Seriously, put the beverages aside while you’re reading these.

James Harrison Unloads

Harrison takes on Goodell, his teammates, the 2004 Patriots and leaves a trail of scorched ground hot enough to rival the Arizona desert where he’s training.

I have no doubt that his wallet will be a bit lighter once the lockout ends. The bigger question is whether Harrison’s comments on Ben Roethlisberger will have an impact in the locker room.

** I recognize that these quotes have been taken out of a larger piece in the tease by Men’s Journal. I will revisit the piece after seeing it in its entirety on Friday.

By now, you’re well aware that Derek Jeter collected his 3,000th career hit on Saturday against the Rays. It was the second hit in Jeter’s 5-for-5 performance, a home run off of David Price launched in the third inning. The montages of Jeter’s milestone hits have no doubt been played on a loop throughout the day. After all, Jeter’s the first Yankee to join the club and just the 28th in Major League Baseball history.

Forget about the hatred of the Yankees for a moment. Forget about the laundry list of All-Stars and high-priced players who have starred in pinstripes throughout his tenure. The longevity is a thing of itself.

Anyway, that’s THE story. The story within the story is the one that captivates me on a whole other level. Christian Lopez, a 23-year old fan who had been given his ticket as a birthday gift from his girlfriend, corralled the ball and promptly returned it to “The Captain.” He gets suite tickets, bats, balls and got his picture taken with the seemingly disinterested Jeter (nice branding on the t-shirt, don’t you think?

(Photo from Getty Images)

I’m torn. The baseball guy in me appreciates what Lopez did. The fan in me appreciates what Lopez did. I can’t help but stand back and think of the major dollars that the ball would have brought on the memorabilia market. The high-priced feeding frenzy of home run balls from the late-90s and such has been long dormant but, let’s face it, this milestone has a whole other life to it.

It’s the Yankees. It’s Derek “Freakin’” Jeter and 3,000 hits. In terms of memorabilia, you’re not getting any better for a long, long while.

Ivan Rodriguez & Omar Vizquel are the next two guys in line in terms of the current pecking order (2,842 and 2,831, respectively), but teammate Alex Rodriguez (2,762) is the most likely to get there. Of course, it’ll take a little longer following Saturday’s revelation that Rodriguez may miss up to a month because of a knee injury.

I’d seen estimates that the ball would bring $250,000 on the open market. I believe that that estimate was low, and by a large margin. But that doesn’t matter.

Lopez returned the ball, so it doesn’t matter. It’s just that we’re talking about a life-changing amount of money for a recent graduate. Hell, it’s a life-changing amount of money for anyone. Student loans, mortgages, car payments, credit card debt (should I keep going?) gone. Forget about the charity angle.

We play the “would your rather?” and “what would you do?” games on so many meaningless, innocuous and downright silly things. This was a big one.

Forget about it. The Heat went into San Antonio and got blown out of the gym. The Spurs welcomed Tony Parker back to the lineup much faster than the original diagnosis of his calf injury. After one quarter of play, San Antonio had already built a 24-point advantage. Miami cut the advantage to 12 at halftime, but it was more of the same out of the break.

The Spurs hit 17-of-28 three-point attempts, including six from 6-foot-10 forward/center Matt Bonner. By game’s end, eight Spurs were in double figures, led by 20 from Manu Ginobili. Parker added 15 points and eight assists in his return to the court (+31).

As for the Heat, LeBron James posted a fantastic fantasy night (26 points on 11-of-19 shooting, 8 rebounds and 7 assists), as did Chris Bosh, who nabbed 14 rebounds to go along with 17 points. When things got tight(er), the Spurs found an answer and immediately stretched the lead. The Heat were unable to respond.

I wrote about the Heat’s loss on Thursday as a potential problem psychologically with a long, difficult streak of games against playoff-ready opponents ahead. Forget about the fact that they took another “L” against San Antonio. That was expected on the road. They got housed.

Meanwhile, the Bulls came into Orlando and pulled off a road win to take the second spot in the East.

LeBron might be spending a lot of time with the Knicks after all … as the Heat would take on New York in the first round if the playoffs started today. David Stern just struck his Montgomery Burns “Excellent” pose.

To that end, the Bears did a terrible disservice to Cutler by opening the door for the wolves to come through. Giving the reporters a “questionable” tag regarding Cutler’s return allowed everyone to make their comments and pop off in the virtual world.

We do not know the extent of Cutler’s injury at this time. Period.

On Sunday, we had a lengthy discussion about the quarterbacks participating in the conference championship games on our FOX Sports Radio program. The question posed to me about Jay Cutler was simply this – why hasn’t he been embraced and what about him puts fans at a distance?

I made the point about Cutler’s countenance. He’s never too high, never too low. It’s a trait of his that enrages rabid fans who want to see a demonstrative and fiery quarterback. Cutler displays emotion at times, but generally plays on an even level. Fans will take interceptions. Fans will take the miscues. But they want to see the passion – they want to see that their quarterback cares as much as they do.

And, in the biggest game against a divisional rival, they didn’t see it. (It’s the same question affecting Lovie Smith. I’ll get to my missive on him later tonight.)

They were left wondering why Cutler wasn’t on the field along with the myriad NFL players who immediately chimed in about Cutler’s toughness and heart. I can’t do that.

It’s easy to point to Cutler’s stat line and say that he quit in this one. He was battered, beaten and bloodied and down 14-0 at the time of the injury. He also had two near-misses on deep balls with Devin Hester and a whole half of football to play.

Cutler’s been hammered all season (57 sacks) and kept coming back for more. He plays against opposing defenses who tee off on him and has to monitor his diabetes during games. I’m not going to question the heart. I’ll question the dissemination of information and countless coaching decisions during the game.

I do know this. I voiced to those watching the game with me that Cutler’s knee injury needed to be significant or that he was going to get killed in the press and by fans for departing the game (I was sent myriad pictures of fans burning Cutler jerseys last night), citing the morning’s radio argument.

It’s one time where there’s no chest-thumping or thumbs up for being right.

Stevie Johnson of the Bills

On Wednesday afternoon, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the results of this year’s balloting.

Two new members, pitcher Bert Blyleven and second baseman Roberto Alomar, will have plaques installed in the Cooperstown, NY shrine this summer.

Blyleven won 287 games with a strong 3.31 ERA and 3,701 strikeouts (fifth all-time). He pitched 242 complete games, including 60 shutouts, and logged 2.8 strikeouts per walk. He was elected on his 14th try.

Alomar was a 12-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove Award winner and two-time World Series champion as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. He will become the first player enshrined as a member of the Blue Jays.

He batted .300 in his career with 2,724 hits, 210 home runs, and 474 stolen bases.

————————————————-

I have to ask. Who’s the guy you expect to see join the club next?

It didn’t matter. The bulletin board material appeared and the Ravens took it to heart. The were skirmishes during the game and Mason caught a touchdown pass from Joe Flacco. And then, Crowder alleged in the post-game locker room session that Baltimore running back Le’Ron McClain spit in his face – and that wasn’t the end of it. There was the old “down in Miami” portion of the speech, too. Ultimately, there was no penalty on the field & these comments exist in the realm of allegations.

Mason addressed the media and noted that his teammates “had his back.” So, there appears to be something in the smack-talking.

Check it out here Crowder Unloads

NOTE: It’s edited, but the bleeps at the office could cause some issues.

—————-

I just have to wonder aloud if the Commissioner’s office gets involved and what, if any, punishments are doled out.

I do know one thing for certain. The Ravens got a bit of the all-important “S”-word back in the second half of Sunday. Swagger has returned to Baltimore, and that defense is starting to swarm.

There must be at least one person at the NCAA wondering the same thing. The dust hasn’t even settled on the Reggie Bush “improper benefits” investigation and now a whole new world of hurt has begun because of a man named Kenny Rogers, who allegedly sought $180,000 to get Auburn quarterback and Heisman Trophy front-runner Cam Newton to commit to Mississippi State when he was coming out of junior college.
The Summary at FOXSports.com
Coach Gene Chizik commented on the matter during his weekly radio show with a simple statement: “Cameron Newton is eligible at Auburn University.” That’s a nice summary statement to push forth. I hope that it’s true.
While that gets sorted out, there’s a far more disturbing part to the story. There was evidently an established market for Newton, and Rogers offered Mississippi State a discount because Newton “liked MSU Coach Dan Mullen” during their time together at Florida. This information comes from a former MSU player.
Lost in the sticker price and the forthcoming investigation into all aspects of the money trail, including the finances of the church where Newton’s father is Pastor, is that there appears to be a network where pricing for players has been tabulated. The fact that the church had evidently required extensive repairs that have been completed in the past year send a red flare up into the night.
I read the report and immediately summoned the Rickey Roe (Matt Nover) character from “Blue Chips” out of my mental Rolodex. Roe lays out the cost of committing to Coach Pete Bell (Nick Nolte) in a very matter-of-fact way. Now, that’s the direct “move the chains” (get to the next act in the movie) way of presenting it. In this film, you have the shadowy booster played by the late JT Walsh and the network that he refers to that supplies funds to field the football team and then goes after Nover, Little Penny & Shaq. The agents and their underlings are left in the background.
Obviously, it’s all conjecture and speculation at this point in time as to the exact sequence of events involving Newton, Kenny Rogers, Newton’s family and any number of go-betweens and such and where money ultimately did or did not transfer. There’s a lot of gray that needs to be enhanced and brought into clarity.

Either way, forget about the derision of the BCS for a moment. Oh, wait. I can’t. It all comes back to dollars and cents (sense?). In this case, there’s this underground exchange occurring where player values are being bandied about as if it’s the NASDAQ Futures pit. I’d love to see the algorithm pieced together. Where’s the virtual scouting combine conducted?
The NCAA will put on the blinders if and when any ruling needs to be made. Rogers will name names and somebody in the coaching staff will get roped in and Newton ultimately will take the hit (with or without another Heisman inquisition) if there’s anything uncovered.
He’s just a blip on the radar. The machine behind the scenes will move on to the next big thing.
I’m not suggesting that the government gets involved to investigate this, as there are myriad other national topics to address on a larger scale (obviously). But, the governing body needs to cut the charade and stop referring to these situations as anomalies. There’s a much larger systemic issue at play.