Wake-Up Call: Gators vs. Sooners, Dick Vitale, Akex Ovechkin, Candace Parker

First things first: Tonight's BCS shootout between Florida and Oklahoma should be fun to watch. The super-passionate Tim Tebow (who is on a mission) versus I-can't-throw-the-ball-enough Sam Bradford. USC no doubt will be watching. Game is at 5 p.m. on Channel 11 here in L.A. By the way, the Fab Forum polls asking whether USC could beat Florida, Oklahoma and Texas are open until 9 p.m. tonight, Pacific time.

Add college football: Boston College followed through on its threat and fired Jeff Jagodzinski. He interviewed with the Jets. And now he's out at BC, with A.D. Gene DeFilippo making the announcement yesterday. Is this a good precedent or bad one? It doesn't matter as long as the Nick Sabans and Bobby Petrinos of the world keep getting rewarded for moving back and forth without compunction. Should advancing one's career come ahead of doing the right, ethical thing? In college football, the answer appears to be yes.

Don't be cruel: Analyst Dick Vitale did his job and gave his usual adjective-filled analysis last night as the Miami Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks. Among those adjectives? "Unbelievable." He said that a few times but didn't always mean it as a positive. Bottom line? Vitale deserves to do what got him to that crazy insular juggernaut known as ESPN: college basketball analysis. Meanwhile, viewers of the Duke-Davidson game had to listen to the NBA crew -- Mike Tirico (efficient but boring), Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. Now, Van Gundy can be a wonderful wild card. Remember the back-and-forth between Jackson and Van Gundy on haircuts? But ESPN was being mean to Vitale, and you gotta hate ESPN for toying with viewers. Vitale was hurt, having looked forward to watching Davidson's Stephen Curry try to beat Duke inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. Curry had 29 points, but it wasn't enough. And Vitale is probably watching replays of that game anyway.   

Horses, and tigers and bears, oh my! The five best athletes named after animals? Before you click here to see the list, see how many you can name who might be worthy of such an all-time list.

But what has he done lately? The NHL's reigning scoring champion, Alex Ovechkin, finally got his All-Star invitation. He is among 15 players picked today to fill out the Eastern Conference roster for the All-Star game. Another deserving Capitals player was ignored: forward Alexander Semin. Here are the full All-Star rosters.

Finally: Congratulations to the Sparks' Candace Parker. Being a mom will change how she sees things. But not how she sees a play developing in the key. Or a passing lane opening up. Or a chance to shoot. She may be the one to finally prove (mostly to guys) that having a baby doesn't automatically mean you are less. On the court or off.

-- Debbie Goffa

Photo: From left, Nick Coffin, Jason Stuckey and Todd Lanier, all from Gainesville, Fla., wait for the parking lot gates to open at Dolphin Stadium, site of the BCS title game between the Florida Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners. Credit: Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel

Comments

[Richard Mays]

Of course Ovechkin deserves to be there, but the problem is that the league requires at least 1 player from each team and the Montreal fans stuffed the ballot box to name 4 of their players as starters. The Cap's Semin should have made it as well as a few others who are more deserving than the Habs' selections. Still better to have the fans choose, even with the occasional imperfections.