Jeff Gordon Talks Expectations: New Spoilers and New Son

Drivers were consistently topping 200 mph Tuesday during NASCAR's first major test of the new spoiler at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Twice during the afternoon drafting session, NASCAR called the cars back into the garage to switch to a smaller restrictor plate and slow the cars down.

Four-time champ Jeff Gordon -- second fastest in the morning session behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson -- was encouraged by the performance of his No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet and the driveability of the cars.

Good news. But Gordon also shared what he considers even better news.

He and his pregnant wife Ingrid found out during last week's bye-week that they will be having a baby boy this August to join 2-year old big sis, Ella.

"I can tell you last week I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about this test. ... Luckily I had a team that was thinking about it before then,'' Gordon conceded with a laugh during a lunch break at Talladega.

Another Less Than XXXcellent Decision by Tiger

Somebody call Martha Burk. If Tiger Woods is returning for the Masters, it must mean Augusta National is finally allowing women members.

Frankly, I can't wait to see how Jamie Jungers looks in a green jacket. Assuming they can find one made for an XXXL chest.

CBS and a mistress-fatigued public are thrilled at Tuesday's news. Masters Chairman Billy Payne probably spit peach cobbler all over his starched shirt when he read Woods' website.

"I view this tournament with great respect," he wrote.

Then he should have chosen somewhere else for his first post-scandal tournament. Augusta National is the Cathedral of Golf. Woods just threw a crushed fire hydrant through the stained glass, showing once again that it's about what's best for Tiger. Not how it affects everybody else.

Ken Holland on the Wings, Now and Later

Ken Holland is on the phone from Kelowna, B.C., which is where Detroit coach Mike Babcock played junior hockey and which is not far from where Holland, the Red Wings' GM, grew up.

The Red Wings deserve a bit of a breather in this resort town after their most trying season in nearly two decades -- and after a clutch victory the night before at Calgary, with a Tomas Holmstrom deflection in the waning minutes giving Detroit a 2-1 victory over the Flames, the team breathing down the Red Wings' neck for the final playoff spot in the West. Calgary fell three points back with the loss.

"That was obviously a huge game," Holland, left, says. "We've got a cushion, but there are still a lot of games to go, a tough schedule as we finish the season, but (Monday) night was a real game to see where we're at."

Tiger's Return to Controlled Masters Environment 'The Smartest Choice'

PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- Nap time is over.

Tiger Woods will make his long-anticipated return to golf at next month's Masters, taking his battered image to Augusta National in a calculated move that surprised few of his peers.

"I think it makes a lot of sense," Jim Furyk said Tuesday after hearing the news at the PGA Tour's Transitions Championship. "It's the most controlled atmosphere you could possibly have.

"Not that security would not be tight wherever he goes, but Augusta has that stigma. It's just different. Everyone really is in awe of that place. From top to bottom, it's the most controlled atmosphere."

Augusta National's iron-fisted control of the season's first major has few boundaries. Fans -- referred to as "patrons" in Masters vernacular -- are orderly and polite, their behavior modified by a history of poor etiquette (particularly heckling) resulting in removal from the grounds.

The tournament limits the number of accredited media and the deadline for application (no exceptions) has long passed -- meaning no celebrity-journalism outlets.

Also, unlike tour events and the other three majors, where media, scorers and officials often walk along with players, no one is allowed inside the ropes at Augusta National.

Tiger Woods Announces Return to Golf at Masters

Tiger Woods is returning to golf, officially, and he will play his first tournament since taking a leave from work at the Masters in Augusta, Ga. (April 8-11), according to a statement Woods made to the press on Tuesday.

Woods has been reclusive, clearly, since Thanksgiving (with his only appearance being a public apology that drew plenty of scrutiny) and theories about when he would return to the PGA Tour have been rampant. That speculation is now over.
"The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I'm ready to start my season at Augusta," Woods said in a statement.

"The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it's been a while since I last played.

I have undergone almost two months of inpatient therapy and I am continuing my treatment. Although I'm returning to competition, I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life."
The Masters always seemed like a perfect place for Tiger's return -- a somewhat sequestered club with limited public access and a club and network in Augusta and CBS, respectively, that will, for various reasons, keep Tiger from as much scrutiny as possible.

Maryland, USC, Syracuse Among Those On Outside Looking in

In the end, coach Brenda Frese had no excuses and didn't offer any for her Maryland team, which, one season removed from a top seed and an Elite Eight appearance, failed to get an NCAA tournament bid when the draw was announced Monday.

Granted, the Terps (19-12) lost 4,000 points of offense, when Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman graduated from last year's team, but Maryland did itself no favors by finishing ninth in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 5-9 league mark.

"From our end the only ones to blame is us in terms of not being able to see things through," said Frese last night. "At the same point, with this young team, to be able to grow and develop like they did and win 19 games and still have an opportunity to play in postseason in the WNIT is a chance for us to continue to practice and develop."

The 10-member NCAA women's basketball committee made interesting choices across the nation in distributing 33 at-large bids.

The panel extended two of the last bids to Green Bay (27-4) of the Horizon League and to Arkansas-Little Rock (26-6) of the Sun Belt, while leaving out such notable teams as Southern California (19-12), Syracuse (22-10), Boston College (17-15) and Wake Forest (18-13).

Jane Meyer, the senior women's administrator and chair of the women's basketball committee, said Green Bay and Arkansas-Little Rock, which received its first ever bid, were singled out for their willingness to schedule tough teams and their success against those schedules.

Sacramento: Stanford's Been Here Before

Stanford won't have to go farther than a two-hour bus ride to pave a path back to its third straight Final Four. But the roadblocks are plentiful.

The Cardinal (31-1) are the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament by virtue of Sunday's Pac-10 tournament championship in Los Angeles. Stanford is scheduled to play at home for the first two rounds, opening Saturday with No. 16 seed UC Riverside, and is the only team in its bracket with a host bid.

Should the Cardinal advance as expected, they will head to Sacramento.

Unlike Connecticut, the team that Stanford has been looking up at all year, the Cardinal have had their health issues. Jayne Appel (pictured right) has battled knee, foot and ankle injuries this season. Experienced guards JJ Hones and Mel Murphy have experienced limited playing time with persistent knee swelling. Starting point guard Jeanette Pohlen had an ankle injury.

Stanford is a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1998, when it made history by becoming the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a No. 16 seed when Harvard pulled off the now infamous upset at Maples Pavilion.

Texas A&M (25-7) lurks on the other end of the bracket. The Aggies won the Big 12 tournament for the second time in three years last weekend in Kansas City, in the process handing Nebraska its first loss of the season.

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Bracket Analysis: Memphis Kansas City Sacramento Dayton
Maryland, USC, Syracuse Among Those On Outside Looking in

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A&M has won nine of 10 games, the only loss in that span a two-point loss against Baylor in College Station.

Ovechkin Hurts Hockey With Goon Act

What a damned, stinking shame that the world's greatest hockey player also is a goon. The NHL needs Alex Ovechkin to be a post-Olympic ambassador, a seductive highlight reel, a daily reason for SportsCenter to feature his goal explosions and transcendent dazzle and flair. Every time he takes a shift for the Washington Capitals, he should respect the soil on which he makes his living, remember how many Americans viewed the gold-medal game on TV -- 34.8 million at the peak hour, or almost nine percent of the national population -- and try to keep selling what's most alluring about the sport.

Instead, he's turning into some sort of crazed, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em loon, too eager to crush opponents with hunt-down hits that border on dirty and threaten to sabotage his team's Stanley Cup chances. His latest foolish act, Sunday afternoon in Chicago, landed him a two-game suspension from a league office finally cracking down on thuggery after years of using violence as a marketing tool. Clearly, Ovechkin was taking gratuitous aim at Brian Campbell when he charged up ice and, from the blindside, hammered the veteran defenseman into the end boards and left him sprawled on the ice for several minutes. Campbell might be out for the rest of the season with a broken clavicle and at least one broken rib, a tough blow for a Blackhawks team that has legitimate hopes of winning its first championship in 49 years.

"A dangerous hit,'' Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said.

"There's so much of that stuff going on now, it's pretty frustrating the players don't take a stand against something like that and say, 'You know what, we have to respect ourselves a little bit more, and know it's not all about the flashy hit,' '' said Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, who plays the game the right way. "You have to know when there's a dangerous situation and you can really hurt somebody and be smarter about it."

Dayton: UConn Casts Mighty Shadow

Say you're Ohio State coach Jim Foster and you've coached your Buckeye team to a 30-4 mark, capturing the regular season and tournament champions.

Or perhaps you're Sue Semrau, the Florida State coach, whose Seminoles shared the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title with Duke.

You'd think either coach would feel reasonably comfortable with their chances to reach the Final Four in San Antonio, given they received the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively in the Dayton regional.

That is, until they looked at the top of the bracket and saw who the No. 1 seed was, namely Connecticut. The Huskies' 72-game winning streak -- two of them against Florida State -- appear as daunting a challenge as any contender has faced since the 1999 tournament, when three-time defending champion Tennessee, fresh off an unbeaten 1998 season, entered the field as prohibitive favorites.

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Bracket Analysis: Memphis Kansas City Sacramento Dayton
Maryland, USC, Syracuse Among Those On Outside Looking in

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The Lady Vols were knocked out that year in the regional final by Duke, and Ohio State and Florida State, not to mention Iowa State, the region's fourth seed, will need something miraculous to happen to take out Connecticut.

NCAA 2010 Women's Basketball Tournament Selections and Pairings

Four teams that went a combined 123-4 -- Connecticut (33-0), Nebraska (30-1), Stanford (30-1) and Tennessee (30-2) -- were awarded No. 1 seeds Monday night for the 2010 NCAA women's basketball tournament.

UConn, winner of a record 72 straight games, will open defense of its national championship March 21 against Southern (23-8) in Norfolk, Va. The Huskies defeated Louisville, 76-54, in last year's title game.

The 2010 tournament opens at 16 sites March 20 and 21 and culminates with the national championship game April 6 in San Antonio.

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Bracket Analysis: Memphis Kansas City Sacramento Dayton
Maryland, USC, Syracuse Among Those On Outside Looking in

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Injuries to Ducks' Selanne, Getzlaf Not Severe

Anaheim Ducks forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne (pictured right) --- both forced out of Sunday's 4-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks --- were listed as day-to-day after each underwent an MRI, the team announced on Monday.

Getzlaf, who leads the Ducks in scoring with 66 points, reinjured the left ankle that nearly kept him from participating in the Winter Olympics for Team Canada. An MRI revealed that no further damage was done.

Selanne careened into the boards after scoring his 599th career goal and tests showed the he has a slight left shoulder sprain. He will be reevaluated on Tuesday.

The team listed both players as "questionable" for Wednesday's game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Selanne already missed two weeks earlier this season after he broke his jaw when a shot deflected into his face.

The Ducks also announced that enforcer George Parros, who received cuts and bruises to one side of his head when a puck hit him during Sunday's morning skate, is expected to be available for Wednesday.

Entering play Monday, the Ducks were in 13th place and eight points behind eight-place Detroit for the final playoff spot in the West.

Sour Reunion for 2007 Sugar Bowl Stars

If you're eagerly awaiting the next mock draft, please note the big trade in the NFL over the weekend.

The most cerebral quarterback in the 2007 draft was reunited -- sort of -- with that year's "next John Elway." Al Davis will hire you as Raiders coach if you can name them.

Trent Edwards and Troy Smith? Moe Howard and Larry Fine?

Try JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn. They headlined the 2007 Sugar Bowl, a 41-14 LSU romp over Notre Dame, and not much since. They now find themselves on rival AFC West teams after a Sunday trade sent Quinn to Denver.

Their career dives trace back to that January night three years ago. Russell played great. Quinn played like he was already working for the Browns.

We could theorize how those performances altered the NFL universe. If Quinn had played like Russell, the Raiders might have drafted him with the first pick. They took Russell, who might have stayed in school if he'd played like Quinn.

I don't think it really mattered. The cities might have been different, but the aroma would have been the same.

Pee-yew!