Midwest

Take that, Joakim Noah. The loudmouth waste of a Bulls' draft pick found out just what it means to be a rookie in the NBA this weekend. After an outburst at assistant coach Ron Adams during Friday's shoot-around, Noah was benched by his coach Friday night. His teammates voted to extend the vacation through Sunday's game.

Ho-hum, the Patriots win again. Tom Brady was nearly perfect, completing 26-28 passes with three TDs. In his career, Brady has a 13-2 postseason record.

It's going to be up to the Colts offensive line to keep the Chargers aggressive defense off of Peyton Manning. It's going to be up to Manning to find ways to get receivers Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and Dallas Clark the football in the face of a solid San Diego secondary.

There has been a lot of excitement in Chicago claiming the Blackhawks are on the rise. The billboards shout "Red Rising" all over the city. But here the Hawks are in 13th place in the Western Conference and currently riding a six-game losing streak--their longest of the season--after falling to the Montreal Canadiens in overtime last night 4-3.

Undaunted by Brian Roberts' name appearing in the Mitchell Report and his subsequent admission to using steroids, Cubs GM Jim Hendry is set to acquire the Orioles second baseman, according to reports on Chicagosports.com. The reported deal has the Cubs acquiring Roberts in exchange for infielder Ronny Cedeno, and young pitchers Sean Gallagher and Sean Marshall.

Shawon Dunston and his family waited eagerly around their telephone Tuesday in their Phoenix-area home hoping to get a call from the Baseball Hall of Fame. That call never came. A Jan. 1 column by Cubs.com reporter Carrie Muskat touting Dunston as a legitimate Hall Fame candidate built up false hope for the former Cubs All-Star.

"Seven games," said head coach Denis Savard referring to the current Blackhawks losing streak. "Seven mother-effing games. If this keeps going I'm gonna have to fire myself."