I love the NHL! Love the sport and love the guys who play it! But, if I’m doing a “take” on it here, it probably means someone got hit over the head with a stick, Sean Avery went “Sean Avery”, or even worse…someone bit someone else on the ice!

Check out Ottawa’s Jarkko Ruutu trying to go “Ronnie Lot”t on one of Sabres’ Andrew Peters’ digits last night! Are you kidding me with that?! Squaring a guy up and punching him in the face is a part of hockey’s code. Biting isn’t! Granted, the code is indecipherable to everyone outside the league, but you don’t need to know the code to know that biting another guy is an embarrassment to the NHL. It’s an embarrassment to all of mankind. And trust me, it’s an embarrassment to the other guys in his room.

You don’t see teams like Detroit and San Jose pulling that garbage. One thing to get under a guy’s skin, in his head and goad him into a bad penalty…Ruutu’s good at that. But that’s not what this is…this is biting. There’s no place for that in the game. There’s no place for that in society! And best of all, Ruutu denied doing it, saying “nothing happened there. His fingers were by my mouth, but I didn’t bit him.” Yeah, and Mike Tyson didn’t bite Evander Holyfield. His ear was just by Mike’s mouth. A chunk just happened to jump off Evander, hit Mike’s mouth, before falling to the canvas. Yeah, because an enforcer like Andrew Peters is going to react the way he did if he wasn’t bitten.

This isn’t soccer, Jarkko…where guys fake injuries. This is the NHL! Where they don’t bite, they fight. Next time drop your gloves.

It looks as if Chargers’ running back LaDainian Tomlinson won’t go Sunday against the Steelers. And somehow, that’s bad news for Pittsburgh! Because, if L.T. tries to man up and play through the pain for a series or two, that’s a series or two that Darren Sproles will be stuck on the sideline. And clearly, the Steelers would rather take their chances with a no shake, no burst, L.T., than they would a “five and a foot jackrabbit” who looks like he’s shot out of a cannon every time he touches the ball!

No disrespect to L.T., a hall of famer and as classy a superstar as you’ll ever meet! But, this is what it’s come to…the Chargers are actually better with him in the streets. It’s like the “Hoodie” saying he’d rather face Peyton Manning than Jim Sorgi in the playoffs. But it’s true! The only reason you play L.T. at this point is out of respect for the man and what he’s done for the organization. But loyalty “isn’t going to move the chains”. Not when he left his groin on the 10 yard line against Denver a few weeks back.

And putting aside Pittsburgh for a minute, where do the Chargers go from here? Questioning the heart of a hall of famer is always risky business, but it’s fair to ask…just how much does L.T. have left? Especially since they already lost Michael Turner and Darren Sproles is a free agent to be.

Look, I’m not going to say L.T. is finished, but I wouldn’t be looking for him to come running out of phone booth next year for 1,500 yards. He won’t be that guy. Not in San Diego or anywhere else should they decide to trade him. When it goes, it goes fast. And you almost never see it coming even for that guy. Once a running back hits 28 he’s playing in dog years.

Has there ever been less hype for a national championship game? I mean, Florida-Oklahoma is for the national title right? It does include two Heisman trophy winners, two coaches who have already won it all…all the speed and talent in the world…and the main event in the SEC-Big 12 power struggle right? If it’s all that, why does it feel like the Meineke Car Care Bowl? Because, no one wants to wait until January 8 to play a game that’s going to determine who comes in third. Who cares about a couple of one loss teams getting after it, when there a no loss team sitting in the clubhouse after hammering an SEC power?!

Look, I get that cracking on the BCS is “tired and played”. And that there’s no longer even any sport in that. Even I’m sick of it! But Utah Utes’ fans are “going to battle”! They’re “mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore”. And I don’t mean just slamming message boards and calling radio shows. They’re mobilized! A.P. voters are getting mass e-mailed, and Utah’s attorney general Mark Shurtleff is considering legal action against the BCS. The A.G. getting’ nice! Dude must have crime, education and health under control there if he’s focused on this. Or, maybe this is just more important to him and his constituents than trivial matters such as the economy. Whatever, have at it, Mark.

Nothing else anyone has said or done has changed anything about the BCS. Knock yourself out! I’ll sign your petition. I’ll make a donation. Just know, what you really need is a turnover filled, penalty ridden disaster and Auburn-Mississippi St. like 3 to 2 final tomorrow night. Get ready to get jammed, Utes’ fan. “BOHICA, buddy!”