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There are some sentences that simply do not look right. "John Smoltz signs with the Red Sox" is one of them, but that's apparently what's going down tonight in Boston as Buster Olney is reporting that the long-time Brave is nearing a one-year deal with the Sox worth $5.5 million. It's another nice move by the Sox to add rotation depth in a winter that's already seen them add Brad Penny to Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett, and Tim Wakefield.

Really, though, seeing this doesn't make me think about Boston's rotation depth. John Smoltz is the Atlanta Braves. I mean, Smoltz got the win in the only playoff game that I've ever attended in person. And that was in Pittsburgh. And I was seven. I'm going to be 24 in ten days. Glavine and Maddux left, but Smoltz always stayed. Starting, relieving, whatever. And now, he's going to Boston. Weird.

I don't want to get on a "baseball has no loyalty soapbox" because this happens to great players at the ends of their careers, so let's look at the Red Sox for a second. They've got the six pitchers I named in the first paragraph and Clay Buchholz all fighting for rotation spots. Presumably, Smoltz should shift to the pen to set-up Jon Papelbon, if needed (his health is also probably an issue), or the Sox could pull the trigger on some kind of trade (Olney speculates Buchholz for Jarrod Saltlamacchia, but it's all just guessing right now).

Sheesh, there's going to be some kind of pennant race in the AL East next year. As if ESPN and FOX needed another reason to show nothing but Red Sox and Yankees games next year.

Apparently they can play some ball in the Ivy League. Okay maybe Harvard wouldn't beat UNC, though, fellow Ivy Leaguer, Penn only lost by 15 to the Tar Heels.

Still the team that just went down to Chapel Hill to beat UNC comes home and loses at home to Harvard, 82-70. So, you could at least make connection. Or, you could chalk this one up to the classic let down game and/or looking past a presumed gimme.

''I tried to pre-warn them,'' said [Boston College coach, Al] Skinner after one of the Eagles' more disappointing regular season losses in many years. ''We were capable of being this team and capable of being another team.''
...
''I told them its a short trip from the main house to the big house to the out house,'' Skinner said.

Apparently, Coach Skinner tried to give them a message.

The Eagles were guaranteed to struggle when their best player, guard Tyrese Rice, was held to only 3 points for the first 36 minutes. The best guard tonight was Harvard's Jeremy Lin who went for 27 points and did his damage inside -- 9-11 shooting from inside the arc.

So BC follows up handing the top team in the country their first defeat by coming home and losing to what was a 7-6 Harvard team that had losses to Boston University, Northeastern and William and Mary. It doesn't erase the win from Sunday, but it sure makes it look like a fluke.

Quick refresher just in case you started following tackle football yesterday afternoon: during a meaningless Week 17 game against the Browns, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was tackled, concussed, and hauled off the field in the span of 15 minutes.

Trust me, it was much more dramatic than that 17-word description, and the incident led to the predictably lame arguments about playing starters in a game that doesn't matter, followed by legitimate concerns about Big Ben's health.

Turns out, Roethlisberger just had a concussion. (I say "just" not to trivialize a head injury, but to put it in perspective; Ben's facemask was removed, he was tied to a stretcher and driven off the field. Such precautions are usually reserved for serious injuries, although drama queening quarterbacks might now be an exception.)

And with the Steelers enjoying a first-round bye, Roethlisberger's been cleared to play this Sunday against the Chargers. One problem, though: his helmet doesn't fit. No, seriously, just read quite possibly the best lede ever written:

Matt Simms looked to be the frontrunner for the starting quarterback job at Louisville next season. The redshirt sophomore, though, was not actually named the frontrunner by Coach Steve Kragthorpe. The Cardinals also gained the commitment of a junior college QB. That apparently was the final straw, and Simms has decided to leave Louisville.

Aside from being the son of former New York Giants' quarterback Phil Simms, Matt Simms had gained notoriety for his performance in the New Jersey State Championship -- specifically flipping the bird to fans of the opposing team after the game.

Matt Simms has thrown all of ten passes in his time at Louisville. Simms had also been suspended for four games this past season for the nebulous "team rules" violation, better explained by a photo that made the rounds on the internet. That was about the most noticeable thing he accomplished at Louisville. Somehow, other than hurting depth at the spot, it does not seem that the departure of Matt Simms will have much of an impact on Louisville.

The Patriots haven't yet confirmed the report that they'll franchise Matt Cassel but that doesn't mean it won't happen, particularly if Tom Brady's recovery is truly behind schedule.

And while the organization has a history of treating personnel information -- no matter how mundane -- like it's a matter of national security, CBS analyst and sweater vest aficionado Phil Simms is absolutely certain New England will slap Cassel with the franchise tag. He heard it from his favorite source: Phil Simms.

He does admit, however, that the former USC backup to the backup has benefited from playing in the Pats' offense, although that doesn't mean he's not a legitimate starting quarterback.

In an absolutely stunning report, ESPN's John Barr went on television today and said that Adam "Pacman" Jones, who has just been released by the Dallas Cowboys, was connected to another nightclub shooting in 2007, in addition to the one that took place in Las Vegas during NBA All-Star Weekend.

"While under NFL suspension in 2007, Pacman Jones was the man behind a shooting that followed a dispute inside a nightclub," Barr reported. "There are also allegations that he offered to pay an accused murderer to do this shooting."

Barr made clear that he was not referring to the infamous "make it rain" incident in Las Vegas in February of 2007, which left a man paralyzed and got Jones suspended.

"The information that we have relates to an incident four months after that, while Jones was on suspension," Barr said.

It is not clear whether the Cowboys' decision to cut ties with Jones today is an effort to head off the bad publicity that is sure to come from ESPN's report. The ESPN show Outside the Lines will go into more depth about the latest allegations about Jones on Sunday.

It seldom occurs that the most exciting player in a non-conference Duke game is a player not on Duke.

The Davidson Wildcats, now 10-2, take that lonely trip to Camedon Indoor Stadium to face the Blue Devils and their rowdy fans.

There should be a lot of Stephen Curry talk, even more painted blue chests and a lot of hand waving and Coach K stares.

Added wrinkle? Dicky V won't be around to broadcast the game, as the NBA guys (Mike Tirico, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson) will be broadcasting the college game. Tune in around 7:00 PM EST to follow the action with some of your closest friends.

In the years when the BCS works more or less as well as can be expected, and the top two teams play each other for the national championship, the powers that be in college football like to pat themselves on the back for using computer rankings as part of the BCS formula. "See?" they say, "We're using the computers to make sure we have a fair, objective system."

And then in the years when the BCS doesn't work well, and college football fans are up in arms, the powers that be in college football like to blame the computer rankings in the BCS formula. "The poll voters got it right," they say, "But the computers messed everything up."

And so it goes, year after year, with the powers that be in college football using and misusing statistical analysis to suit their own needs. And now the most influential statistical analyst in the history of sports says he's fed up.

The Dallas Cowboys have had it with Adam "Pacman" Jones.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that Dallas has decided to cut Jones, the talented but troubled player who has served as the league's poster boy for off-field misconduct. Although Jones won't be officially released from his contract until February 9, he is done in Dallas.

As the Cowboys were widely regarded as the only team in football that wanted to deal with Jones, it is possible that his NFL career is now over.

The Cowboys acquired Jones in a trade with the Tennessee Titans during the 2008 off-season. At the time he was still under a league-imposed suspension that had kept him off the field for the entire 2007 season, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he believed that Pacman would gain reinstatement to the league and would change his ways.

But while Pacman was reinstated, he didn't change his ways. A fight with a member of the team's security detail led to another suspension during the 2008 season. That incident may have cost him his last chance to make a living as a professional football player.

UPDATE: ESPN reports that Pacman was involved in another nightclub shooting.

Sam Bradford has racked up about every award possible in his sophomore season as Oklahoma Sooners quarterback. And on Thursday night, he'll go up against Florida and Tim Tebow for the national championship. If the Sooners win (or even lose, actually) there's a pretty good chance he'll enter the NFL draft.

National Football Post is claiming that there's no real "chance" about it though, reporting today that Bradford is as good as gone.

Sources close to the National Football Post have told us that Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, barring an injury in Thursday night's BCS National Championship game against Florida, will declare for the NFL Draft. The 6-foot-4, 218-pound sophomore and Heisman Trophy winner threw for 4,464 yards and 48 touchdowns with only 6 interceptions in leading the Sooners to the Big 12 championship and a 12-1 record.

Now, not to knock NFP here, but "sources close to [them] ..." is a touch vague. For instance, examine the following claim: "Sources close to Will Brinson have told him that Stephen Curry will start against Duke tonight."

In case you don't see what I'm getting at: Curry is really good. He is playing Duke. He is very, very likely to start. So, there are a string of facts that lead to a conclusion that seems almost inevitable. Much like Bradford taking his won't-ever-be-higher draft stock and parlaying it into millions and millions of dollars.