Let the playoffs begin

Football Update:
Bill Belichick has been voted the AP coach of the year for leading the New England Patriots to the first unbeaten season in 25 years.

Warren Sapp is reportedly going to tell the Raiders he's retiring. Which is funny, because until I read this story, I thought he had already retired. Oops!

Yesterday we listed the coaching openings in the NFL and already there are rumblings as to who will fill them. Mike Nolan who was relieved of some his non-coaching duties has listed possible replacements to the three offensive coaching postion openings. They included Cam Cameron, Mike Martz and Brian Billick to replace Jim Hostler as offensive coordinator.

...Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski is expected to interview for the Batlimore Ravens job.

...But don't expect Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to jump ship. He apparently knows a good thing when he sees it.

Injury round-up: Terrell Owens status for the Cowboys game next week is still up in the air after missing practice on Thursday. Owens has been out for two weeks with a sprained ankle...Meanwhile the Titans added Roydell Williams to the injury brigade. Williams broke his ankle in practice...Oh, in case you were wondering, Mathias Kiwanuka will not play in the wild card game for the Giants after breaking his leg in November. I must be really behind, but did anyone think he was going to play again this season after breaking his leg?

The Chargers still have 500 playoff tickets left and 24 hours to sell them to avoid a TV blackout. So if you're in San Diego and you fell like shelling out $110-$135 to see a playoff game this may be your year.

Baseball isn't the only sport setting attendence records, the NFL has hit a new attendence high for the fifth straight season. 17,341,012 people went to a football game in 2007.

Baseball Update:
The A's Nick Swisher was sent to the Chicago White Sox for three prospects. After dealing Swisher and Haren the A's are officially in rebuilding mode.

The Cardinals have signed RHP Matt Clement to a one year, $1.5 million contract with a club option for 2009.

The San Diego Padres signed catcher Robert Fick, outfielder Jeff DaVanon and LHP Mike Megrew to minor league contracts.

Hank Steinbrenner is running his mouth but can he ever be trusted? After pronouncing the Yankees were out of the Santana deal, Steinbrenner says the offers still on the table and it's the best one out there. (Except for the fact that the Twins don't like Melky.)

...And the Yankees won't sign Roger Clemens.

Speaking of Clemens, more Mitchell Report fallout, (I'm really getting bored of this story)He told 60 Minutes that Brian McNamee was shooting him up, but not with steriods, instead it was "Lidociane and B-12." Why can't you just take a pill like the rest of us?

Carlos Delgado is telling everyone the Mets were the team out there in 2007. Funny, I must have missed their playoff appearance.

News & Notes: Kansas nipped Virginia Tech 24-21 in the Orange Bowl...Luckily, she's retired, but if Martina Higgis ever has a hankering to play tennis, she'll have to wait two years after being banned for her failed drug test...It took the Blazers two overtimes but they were finally able to put the Bulls away, 115-109...It was close, but the Nuggets pulled out a 80-77 win over the Spurs...The Suns rallied from a 20 point deficit to beat the Sonics 104-96. Yeah, that performance is not going to keep your team in Seattle...Evgeni Malkin recorded his first hat trick in the Penguins 6-2 win over the Maple Leafs...The Rangers have gotten off to a rough start in their western Canada trip after falling to the Flames on Wednesday, the Rangers were dropped 3-0 by the Canucks on Thursday...Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Landon Cassill will be sponsored by the National Guard in the Nationwide Series in 2008...The annual Dakar Rally was canceled on Friday one day before the race was scheduled to begin. The Rally was hampered by terror threats and the recent murder of a French family in Mauritania.

Check this out: Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee picked up wins in the Iowa Caucus kicking off the 2008 Presidential Election. With New Hampshire only five days away, it may be time to actually learn something about the candidates. Click here for cnn.com's coverage of the candidates.

It's been fun blogging with you,
Kate