Oh My God, I Just Took A Huge Link Dump (Today's Links)

• Lions fans really REALLY hate Matt Millen. Holding up "Fire Matt Millen" signs is one thing, but this is entirely different.
• Bears sign ex-Northwestern QB Basanez to 2-year deal. Really? What exactly does this do?
• The Bulls didn't look terrible, but they did lose to the Rockets to snap their road-winning streak at 3 games.
  
• Some crazy statistics for Bulls players during January. It gave me a headache, but maybe someone out there can explain them to me.
• Bud Selig makes a lot of money. Not that he shouldn't, but more than 99% of Major League players? That seems like a bit much. (Thanks to Gavin for the tip)
  
• Some sort of crazy wrestling video with AJ Pierzynski (sp?).
• Apparently the Cubs just have way too many short white guys to be a championship-caliber team.
• Big Ten basketball is physical? Get out of here! That many flagrant fouls in that short a time is a little much, though.
• The Peavy rumors live!
• The late Bob Hayes was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame. His "sister" gave a speech at the press conference, but here's the catch: She is faking that she's his sister. Wow. (Thanks to Gavin for this link too; maybe he should just do the freaking links)
  

Today's Links

• Simeon Rice is contemplating a comeback. Could the Bears be his destination? Would that be a good thing?
• The Cubs trade Wuertz and Rich Hill; Hendry says they are ready to go to camp, but will keep options open. Neat.
• Detroit is still a little sore over Matt Millen, and it showed on Sunday.
• So did your Super Bowl party suck? At least you didn't get peed on like Matt Cassel.
• Some Super Bowl viewers in Arizona were subjected to a little porn during the Super Bowl. After some of those commercials, it was the least they could do.
• Michael Phelps is sorry for smoking pot. Well, he is really sorry for getting caught, but whatever. Who cares.
• Kobe drops 61 points on the Knicks. However, if you adjust for Knicks inflation, it's only like 33.

Great Day to be Studying

Sorry about the lack of content today, it gets a little busy for us this time of the year. But honestly, I look to see what's going on today for five minutes and find out:

That G-Rod got arrested. I haven't lived in Illinois long, but somehow this isn't a surprise. I know Chicago and Detroit like to upstage each other, but did Blagojevic really need to play the "governor arrested is cooler than mayor arrested" game? And this involves the Cubs somehow? Oh, boy, can't wait for the trial.

Also, the Cubs aren't remotely close to a closing deal for Peavy. Or, they are very close to a deal for Peavy. Man, these blogs are so irresponsible with their reporting...errr, that's ESPN and the Tribune. Peavy or no Peavy? The only way I see this ending is the Bears hiring Marv Levy.

As if that wasn't enough, all kinds of lame jokes about Derrick Rose cutting his arm are flying around and we don't get to partake. So the Trib and Sun-Times get to write headlines about Rose being a "slashing guard" and a "cut above" while I have to bottle up comments about Rose being the "apple of Stormin' Norman's eye" for another time.

Okay, this was the point where I had to make sure I wasn't in some sort of studying-induced hallucination. A couple of NFL sources have indicated that Matt Millen may still be calling the shots for the Detroit Lions. Yep, read that sentence again. Done? There is speculation he was fired to appease fans and is still making decisions behind the scenes. There is no way I even consider this being true if it's any team but the Lions.

That's all I have for today. Back to the books.

Today's Links--Sleeping With Dusty's Daughter Edition

• Is Dusty Baker's daughter sleeping with Corey Patterson? Why else would Dusty have a guy that can't bat his weight leading off? Oh right, because he is an idiot.
• "Air" McNabb will be throwing all night next Sunday against the Bears, especially with Westbrook on the shelf.
• Is this Lou's last year managing? Whether he wins or loses he may be considering retirement.
• Some good Ozzie quotes. Also, is "Big-Game" Floyd ready to pitch the most important game of the season? Also Orlando Cabrera rips his team.
• Top ten Millen disasters. There were so many candidates for this list, it must have been difficult to pare it down to 10.
• I should not even be posting these, and you would never see them on NQTC until the Cubs actually make it, but here's what Cubs World Series tickets look like.
• Benny the Bull takes out one of the Sausages in the infamous Sausage Race...on ice.
• Cubs win to help Brewers move into a tie for the Wild Card. Personally I would rather play the tired Brewers than the Mets, but that's just me. Unfortunately Z did not perform that well.
  

The Seven Millionth Sign does the Trick: Lions Fire Matt Millen

After presiding over one of the most embarrassing and futile eras in professional sports, Fox Sports is reporting that Detroit Lions President/GM Matt Millen is out in Motown.

Since Millen was hired in 2001, the Lions limped to a 31-84 record and I don't think more than one or two of those wins were on the road. Millen was a model of suck and did a good job ruining the organization through a myriad of bad picks in the draft, in free agency, and in coaching. Did you know the Lions are one of the four oldest teams in the NFL in terms of their players' ages?

For a generation of Lions fans that have seen one playoff win, this is probably their greatest day as Lions fans since, well, ever.

What does it mean for the rest of the division? Nothing, as far as the near future is concerned. But Millen's contract wasn't due to expire until 2010 and most just assumed he wouldn't be fired until then, because I mean, if he wasn't fired already...

So there is hope for a Lions resurgence, but come on, it's the Detroit Lions.