Feb 14 - BREAKING NEWS ON LEINART

BREAKING NEWS - This is the Sportsaholic's first scoop since 1998 and it probably belongs on page 6 of the New York Post, but I have it on good authority that USC Quarterback Matt Leinart has broken up with Kristin from MTV's Laguna Beach. The cause of the seperation is not known, but my sources tell me that the Heisman trophy winner initiated the break. I have to point out that I have had problems with this relationship from the start even though I only first heard about it last Friday. First of all, although this Orange County siren is undeniably hot, she only turned 18 on January 8th. What the hell is going on here Matt? Are you telling me that you couldn't find any hot women at USC so you had to start combing the high schools of South Orange County. Jesus Christ, who do you think you are - Woody Allen? Second of all, this pairing put me in a real tough spot. Full disclosure - I am a big, big, big fan of Laguna Beach, but I also went to UCLA and I don't want the show contaminated by this clown from SC. What's next, is Lo, one of the hot blonds from last season, going to start dating Reggie Bush? Is LC, now living up in San Francisco, going to be on the sidelines next November when the Trojans play at Berkeley? And now I am wondering if my other favorite shows are at risk? Is Pete Carroll going to show up as Jack Bauer's brother on "24"? And its a good thing Norm Chow just left the Southland for Nashville because I was beginning to worry that he would find his way onto "Lost." For gods sake, the Trojans are at the gate!.

As for Leinart, he has to do better then a kid who mentions on the MTV website that two of her three favorite movies are Oceans 11 and Double Jeopardy (She does get a point back for listing Fast Times - esepcially since it was made before she was born.). She also mentions on that site that she is looking for someone who is honest, trustworthy, fun, outgoing, good looking, intelligent and spontaneous. Matt doesn't need a girl who has such superficial priorities. Instead, he needs someone who is searching for a guy who can throw the deep post and run a two minute drill. Kristin is probably a bit heart broken right now, but its probably a blessing a disguise since the last blonde from Laguna who married a Heisman winner from USC ended up with her throat slashed. Needless to say, I am eagerly awaiting the second season of Laguna Beach - certainly more so than the next episode of USC kicking UCLA's ass. My sources tell me the producers will highlight this storyline and that will make for some great TV. However, it is too bad they broke up before Kristins's senior prom. I was hoping Matt would attend, get loaded, and tear up his knee while dancing to "I'll Melt with You." Dare to dream.

Before we move on, I wanted to first take a moment to rank the best looking pseudo-celebrities currently paired with NFL quarterbacks. And so here goes. In fourth place is Elizabeth Hasselbeck, married to Washington Redskin signal caller Tim Hasselbeck. Liz was on Survivor and parlayed her final four appearance on the show into a gig on The View. The former Boston College Golden Eagle is cute but she probably doesn't make the top-10 in Survivor history so its hard to rank her much higher then fourth on this list. At number three is Jeff Garcia's girlfirend Carmella DeCesare. Carm is a former Playboy playmate and is defintiely a notch above Elizabeth. She is definitely a catch for a guy who Terrell Owens claims is gay. At number two is the girlfriend of two-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady. Bridgit Moynahan is smoking although her films - such as The Sum of all Fears and I Robot - leave a bit to be desired. And at number one is Heather Mitts, AJ Feeley's squeeze and former midfielder for the Philadelphia Charge of the WUSA. Mitts was voted the hottest female athlete of 2004 on ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hottest/female/finals2004) and the Sportsaholic has no problem giving her the top spot. This is a make or break year for Feeley - if he goes out there again and fails to hit 70 on the ratings gun, I see Heather trading up for a more accomplished passer. David Carr would be a good fit.

Enough on Matt Leinart. It was a fairly quiet weekend in the sports world, but there were some significant college basketball games and so I will start off in College Park where Maryland exploited Duke's short bench and walked away with a seven point overtime win. Duke was in foul trouble all night and four key guys eventually fouled out. Sheldon Williams was one such casualty but he poured in 23 and had 16 rebounds before being tossed. Coach K can usually rely on the refs to bail him out but that was not the case Saturday night. Without Williams, Duke can be shut down and that showed in overtime, as the Devils went 0-9 from the field. One other point on Duke - lets slow down a bit before we crown JJ Redick as the country's best shooter. He was 5-19 and a few of his threes landed somewhere in Delaware. On the other side of the ball, Maryland was led by John Gilchrist who fell a single assist short of a triple double. Gilchrist can play, as the ACC found out late last year, and when he goes, Maryland can be very tough. He is a finalist to make my year end all-underated team.

One guy who has locked up a spot on that team is Josh Boone of UCONN. He was terriffic in UCONN's 77-70 loss on Sunday to UNC. Boone had 16 and 11 and he is emerging into a real force for the Huskies. The same can't be said for Jim Calhoun's point guards Marcus Williams and Antonio Kellogg. The two collectively turned the ball over 12 times on Sunday and that ain't going to cut it against a good team like North Carolina. I didn't think things could get much worse then last year's starter Talik Brown, but this new tandem has set a new standard. Its too bad UCONN can't go out at the trade deadline and pick up a ball handler. How bout trading Rudy Gay to Georgia Tech for Ed Bynum? As for UNC, Ray Felton stepped up and played much better then he did the other night against Duke and Jawad Williams broke out of a mini-slump against the Huskies. Williams has been AWOL the past two weeks and some in Chapel Hill were beginnig to think the senior was thinking ahead to Spring Break in Destin. North Carolina did a pretty good job taking care of the ball on Sunday (11 turnovers), but UCONN did chalk up 16 blocks. Billy Packer was right on the mark when he faulted UNC for playing into a UCONN strength. I thought Packer called an excellent game, but then again, he usually does.

The big game in the Big East this weekend had Pittsburgh at home against Notre Dame. It was an entertaining game that came down to the wire. Chris Quinn was terrific for Notre Dame, pouring in 25 points, but Pitt dominated the boards and Carl Krauser ended up making some big shots late, including the game winner with 11 seconds to go. Although the contest was tight, my lasting memory of the game will be watching Notre Dame Forward - Rick Cornett - at the line. Cornett, for those who might not know, is arguably the worst foul shooter in basketball history. Forget Shaq. Forget Ben Wallace. Forget Oakland Raider Ron Curry who was so bad at UNC that he now plays an entireley different sport. Rick Cornett is the gold standard of bad free throw shooting. He entered the game shooting 28 percent and one of his attempts on Saturday hit nothing but glass. The other important game this weekend in the Big East had Syracuse down in Phily to face Villanova. Unfortunately, Villanova's varsity team didn't show up so the school's intramural champion - Sigma Chi - took their place. Syracuse simply overwhelmed the Wildcats, who were lethargic and unable to stop either Josh Pace or Hakeem Warrick.

If you love comebacks, then this was a dream weekend for you. The first miracle happened out in San Diego where UNLV found itself trailing San Diego State by ten with 30 seconds to go. The Runnin Rebs then hit a three, got a quick deuce after a turnover, hit some free throws and finally hit another three near the end of regulation to force overtime. The Rebs then won it in overtime. SDSU coach Steve Fisher needs to find a bullpen stopper because that is no way to close a game. History repeated itself a few hours later when the University of Pacific found itself down eight with 37 seconds to go at Utah State. I was actually watching this game live, which is pretty pathetic even for a sportsaholic. Utah State - like San Diego State - shot themselves in the foot by missing some free throws and fouling a guy who was shooting a three. UOP ended up hitting a three with two seconds to go for the win. This wrapped up the biggest comeback I have seen since Scott Howard (Michael J Fox) led Beacon High to a staggering come from behind win at the conclusion of Teen Wolf. After the Utah State game, Pacific coach Bob Thomason said, "Winning that game was like a minor miracle." Message to Bob - stop hedging! That was a full-blown miracle.

Tying up some loose ends from this weekend, Stanford standout Dan Grunfeld tore up his knee on Saturday in a win over California and he will miss the rest of the season. This is a big loss for the Cardinal and will certainly complicate its effort to make the NCAA's. Also in the Pac-10 this weekend, Oregon State shocked Number 11 ranked Washington. OSU is buried in the RPI so it probably will not make a difference come Selection Sunday, but its good to see this once-proud program become competitive again. Lets face it, Oregon State has been downright terrible since "the glove" took his endearing personality to the NBA in 1990. And finally, Illinois cleared the last real obstacle in their bid for a perfect regular season. This team has little left on its remaining schedule and therefore it is almost a lock that they will enter the Big-10 tourney with an unblemished record.

Well, Bode Miller confirmed Saturday that he is really an all or nothing kind of guy. At the World Alpine Championships in Bormio Italy, Miller was going for his third gold medal in five events when he competed in the Slalom on Saturday. He had already won the dowhnhill and Super-G and was attempting to become the first man in history to win three golds at a single Championship. However, on his way to history, Miller clipped a gate in turn three and spun off the course. This is the third time in these championships that Miller failed to complete a race and it is the seventh slalom that year that he got an incomplete. This is truly a guy who goes for it every time he races. Miller reminds me a bit of old school Indy driver Danny Sullivan who seemingly won or crashed every time he got behind the wheel. Bode's problem now is the race for the World Cup has tightened. He now leads Austrian Benjamin Raich by less then 100 points with ten races to go. Raich won four medals at the Championships and has the hot skis so Miller's lead is surrmountable, especially if Bode keeps falling down. Miller is attempting to become the first American to win the World Cup since Phil Mahre and I believe such an accomplishment would make him an early favorite for American Sportsman of the year in 2005. And while we are on skiing, I want to mention Croatian Janica Kostelic who was able to hit the trifecta that Bode was seeking. Her win on Friday in the Slalom came on top of her wins in the Downhill and Combined last week. Kostelic and Michael Phelps are quite simply the two best racers in the world today.

It now seems the Buffalo Bills have come to the conclusion that Drew Bledsoe is no Jim Kelly. The Buffalo News reported this weekend that Drew would likely be released by month's end, thereby saving the Bills about two million dollars against the salary cap. By dropping Drew, the Bills will be handing the reins to second year quarterback J.P. Lossman. Was this is a smart thing to do for a team that was 9-3 over the last 12 games of 04? Afterall, some think this team is ready to win right now with the team they have. The Sportsaholic disagrees. Drew Bledsoe is garbage and has been since 1999. His pocket presence is non-existent and without picture perfect protection, Drew is one of the ten worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL. Drew handles the blitz about as well as the Polish Army did in 1939 and it was clear to the Sportsaholic that the Bills weren't going anywhere in the AFC East with Bledsoe behind the wheel. The Bills are in a bit of a box. They have a real strong defense and there are some weapons on offense. But Bledsoe has proven he ins't the answer and now they will turn to the hyper-confident Lossman. Perhaps J.P will have a Roethlisberger or Palmer type debut, but given the history of first year quarterbacks, I wouldn't hold my breathe. As for Bledsoe, there is now speculation that his former coach - Bill Parcells - will bring him down to Texas to compete for the Dallas job next year. Such a move will guarantee that Parcells will see the third year of his three-year project go down the drain. Somebody has to tell Drew that the song is over. He is probably a useful backup for someone, but his days as a viable starting quarterback are over!

Its possible that the price for Randy Moss just went up and I am talking about Trevor Pryce. The Denver Post is reporting this morning that the Broncos are considering putting former Pro Bowl defensive lineman Trevor Pryce on the trading block. The Broncos intend to move to a 3-4 defense next year and the front office apparently thinks that Pryce's abilities and contract don't comport with the switch. Pryce would make a great trade chip for Moss. The Broncos were trying to make this exact trade a few years back and it is conceivable that it could resurface if Moss is made avaialable. And while Pryce is coming off an injury, he is a solid pass rusher and could cause some problems if he were lined up next to Kevin Williams, the Vikings monster tackle. Moss, on the other hand, would be a great addition to Denver. Rod Smith is fighting father time and Ashley Lelei has a nasty habit of taking games off. With Denver potentially in the mix, the price for Moss probably just went up.

Here are some random thoughts on the celebrity component of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. First of all, where is the respect for Bill Belicheck? The guy wins his third Super Bowl in four years and gets paired up with Larry Mize. Couldn't the tourney organizers have found a single guy with a top-10 finish this century to pair with Bill? As for golf, Belicheck was not too shabby considering he hasn't slept since August. Did anyone notice that Andy Garcia was sandbagging everyone with that 12 handicapp. He seemed to be playing better on Saturday then his partner Paul Stankowski. George Lopez - otherwise known as Paul Rodriguez - is no funnier on the course then he is on ABC. Roger Maltbie and William Devane were paired with each other and it made me wonder: which one is the pro and which one is the celeb? Can someone tell me why the Pebble gallery insists on laughing at everything Bill Murray says. Its no secret that CBS uses this tourney to promote its primetime schedule and so here is my question. Survivor is due to start its tenth season on Thursday. As such, how come former Playboy pinnup and Survivor Vanuatu star Ami Cusack wasn't out there to promote the new season? If I am CBS, I get that girl out there as the first celebrity caddy. With "Everyone loves Raymond" soon to wrap, does Ray Romano get asked back next year or is he repalced by Rob Morrow from "Numbe3s?" Speaking of Romano, CBS, in their infinite wisdom, put Ray and Kevin James in the same foursome. Talk about a marquee group. That's the strongest CBS pairing since Caroll O'Conner teed it up with Sherman Helmsley in the 78 Crosby. And as long as CBS was getting cute with the pairings, how come Kenny G and Michal Bolton weren't in the same group? Kenny G, by the way, had the flat blade working and he will be in the mix when the celebrities gather this summer at the Lake Tahoe Celebrity Masters. Rich Rhoden, Mario Lemeuix and Al Del Greco better start working on their games or the hornblower may sneak off with the celebrity green jacket come August.

On that note, lets get to tonight's preview. The two big events tonight are Pittsburgh at Syracuse and the Westminster Dog Show. Both Pitt and Syracuse are coming off nice wins this weekend and tonight's winner will gain some momentum going into the final three weeks of the regular season. This game is all about Pitt's muscle going up against Syracuse's finese. I think Pitt's Chevy Troutman will keep Hakeem Warrick in check and I like the Panthers getting the six. But I see Syracuse holding serve at home in a close one. As for the Dog Show, we got the working group, the toy group, the terriers and the non-sporting guys tonight. Non-sporting is almost always won by the Standard Poodle although a Bichon did come out this bracket a few years back to win the championship. I don't pay much attention to the toy group. If you give me the option of owning a cat or owning a maltese or pekingnese, I take the cat. The terriers are the gold standard of this show and therefore it is key to watch who comes out of this group tonight. I am not a huge fan of this group, but they consistently produce best in show winners and therefore tonight's group winner has to be considered a favorite to win the big prize. And lastly, we get to my favorite group - the working group. The big dogs got one of their own - a giant newfoundland - to the winners circle last year and I am hoping history repeats itself. My heart is with the newfs, the berners, and the snow dogs (great pyrs and malamutes) but unfortunately the group title will probably go to a schnauzer or doberman. Norm Kenney is judging this group tonight and he is a doberman breeder so my bet is on that breed to advance to best in show.