"Friday night wrap-up"

Well, folks, it's the weekend, and what a weekend it'll be. A slew of huge college football games hit us tomorrow- most notably UM-Ohio State and USC-Cal - and then Sunday there are several important games in the NFL for teams trying to position themselves for a run at the playoffs. And, of course, there are several NBA and college basketball games, and we'll see how Tiger responds to actually finishing second in a tournament last weekend.

But, first, let's wrap up the week.

NBA
The Utah Jazz are on fire. After defeating Seattle tonight, they are 8-1. Carlos Boozer is playing like Tim Duncan and second-year point guard Deron Williams is playing well beyond his years. Just look at his 27-point, 8-assist performance tonight. I'll be interesting to see how tomorrow's matchup between Utah and Phoenix turns out.

"The Diesel" is out. Shaquille O'Neal is undergoing knee surgery and will be out four-to-six weeks for a struggling Miami team. Sans O'Neal, the Heat were embarrassed by the Knicks at home tonight, 100-76, as they scored 27 points in the second half. The Heat better start playing with some fire, otherwise when O'Neal returns in January they could be fighting just to make the playoffs. It all starts with Dwyane Wade. If he wants to truly be considered one of the all-time greats, he needs to take a leadership role and get into his teammates about how they're playing. Michael Jordan never would have tolerated this, regardless of how many championships he had. Yes, it's still very early, but the Heat need to wake up sooner rather than later.

NFL
Michael Vick must be in a chirpy mood tonight. That's because the Ravens' Ray Lewis will not play when Baltimore meets Atlanta Sunday. Vick might be more inclined to take off, without having to worry about Lewis, but Ed Reed will still be hunting him down.

MLB
One of the first big off-season signings occurred today when Toronto signed Frank Thomas away from Oakland for two years (and $18 million). I don't think Thomas will be able to replicate the numbers he produced this year(39 HRs, 114 RBIs - both team-highs), but it's a good risk by the Blue Jays. A lineup with Vernon Wells and Thomas back-to-back sounds very dangerous.

All right, I'm out. Enjoy The Game.