Silver Linings & Fallen Angels: Way to go, bro, Niski…

Miller Time

Congratulations to my youngest brother Michael Miller. A senior at Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, MO, he starts at midfielder for the Warriors' men's soccer team. This past weekend in the semifinals of the regional tournament, the Warriors rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit for a thrilling 3-2 victory, scoring the game-winning goal in the game's final minutes. Calvary lost 3-0 in the finals of the tournament to the No. 1-ranked team in the country, but still has a chance for an at-large bid to the national tournament, which will be held this weekend in Kissimmee, FL. And his girlfriend Rachel Miller, an all-conference hitter for Calvary's volleyball team, led her team to nationals as well.

I'm especially proud of how has battled back from adversity – he overcame cancer, surviving a fierce chemo regimen, several years ago. Here's hoping for a trip to Florida for a really good kid. Great job.

GOOOAAALLL!

In case you missed it, Mountain Iron's own Matt Niskanen scored his first career NHL goal for the Dallas Stars last night. The defenseman's one-timer off a pass from Mike Modano deflected off traffic and found its way to the back of the net to give the Stars a 2-1 lead over the San Jose Sharks in the second period. Modano's assist pulled him within one of Minnesotan Phil Housley for the NHL career scoring record by an American-born player. Remember, Modano lobbied to keep Niskanen with the team coming out of training camp. Unfortunately, the Sharks rallied for three goals in a three-minute span in the third to spoil the night for Niskanen, who thought he made a mistake that led to San Jose's fourth goal. Dallas coach Dave Tippett disagreed and said Niskanen was one of only two Stars' defenders to play well in the game's final period, "head and shoulders" above the others.

Seems like Niskanen is really impressing in Dallas. Couldn't happen to a nicer kid. And as far as being more upset about the loss than happy about scoring his first goal, that's just Niski, always putting the team first. Right now, he is skating under the radar as far as national attention goes, but if he keeps up his solid play, it won't be long before he starts to turn some heads.

Look at me! Look at me! I'm a jerk!

So Alex Rodriguez (via super-sleazy agent Scott Boras) let leak to the press that he would opt out of the final three years of his contract and become a free agent. He did this during Game 4 of the World Series with the rival Red Sox poised to clinch their second World Championship in four years. How classless was that? It couldn't wait until Monday? What a jerk A-Rod is. Imposing himself on baseball's biggest stage. It reeks of rank egotism. And Boras is worse. This is precisely why A-Rod will never be a winner. He is the anti-Niskanen, a me-first player. Always has been, always will be. Period. And some stupid owner is gonna give him a $300 million contract? Just shoot me now, please.

Speaking of jerks

Kobe Bryant is up to his old tricks, pulling the ol' prima donna act again. He could fall off the face of the earth at any time, and I couldn't care less. The Lakers could trade him to China for all its tea for all I care. Can't we just ship Kobe, A-Rod, T.O. and every other egomaniacal jerk out there to their own island packed full of mirrors (so they can fall in love all over again) and their own press clippings (so they have something to pass the time). On second thought, couldn't we just put them with the Snakes on a Plane?

Old gunslingers never die, they just start shootin' blanks

Or so a few pundits wrote about Brett Favre this past week. I think he might've shut 'em up. That 82-yard bomb to Greg Jennings to beat the Broncos on the first play of overtime on MNF last night was a thing of beauty. I'm no Favre apologist, but you gotta admire the man's guts and accomplishments, even if he does play in Green Bay. Brett's still firing bullets, not blanks, and the Packers at 6-1 are doing some damage in the subpar NFC.

Dog bites shoots man

Speaking of bullets, did anyone see this story? (http://www.kcci.com/news/14441475/detail.html) An Iowa man was shot by his dog while hunting Saturday. Fortunately, he is recovering from the lower-leg wound. It happened just two days after a dog accidentally shot a man in Oregon.

And those aren't the first times that man's best friend has fought shot back. In 2004, a Florida man was shooting seven three-month old Shepherd-mix puppies (that he claimed he couldn't find homes for) when one of them got its paw on the trigger of the man's .38, shooting him in the hand. And in 2005, a Bulgarian hunter, angry his dog refused to drop a killed bird, starting beating it with his gun. The dog ended up getting its paw on the trigger, shooting and wounding the hunter. Pretty good revenge, I'd say on both of those counts.

There were also accidental dog shootings in Tennessee, New Zealand and a fatal in Germany over the last decade. What does this tell us? I don't know. Maybe dogs are on a mission to trim the herd. Maybe we could put gun-toting dogs on that island with the jerks. Hmmm…

Wherefore art thou Romo?

Tony Romo just inked a six-year, $67.5 million contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys. In other Romo news, the quarterback partied with Britney Spears over the bye weekend. I'm not quite sure what to make of that. And I'm not going to pile on Britney. (Hasn't that happened enough to her already?)

Torii, Torre, Girardi

Torii Hunter will officially enter the free agent market in 15 days. I'm already getting out my tissue.

Joe Torre is heading to L.A.; Joe Girardi replaces him in N.Y. Sciosca's in L.A. Francona's in Boston. Piniella's in Chicago. LaRussa's in St. Louis. Conspiracy? I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here. You figure it out.

Bringing back the Timberpuppies

Remember how terrible the Minnesota Timberwolves were before KG? Yeeaahh, that's where they're at again. It's going to be a long, long season for them – not for me; I won't be watching. OK, maybe I'll sneak a peak and see if Al Jefferson can be the alpha dog. Or if Randy Foye with his reversed organs is a splendid sophomore. Or if Corey Brewer is what I thought he'd be – the best two-way swingman the Timberwolves have had, maybe ever. Or just to try to figure out the names of the rest of the guys on the team. Undoubtedly, it won't be a pretty season.

On the other hand, KG has the best cast he's ever had around him with sidekicks Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. He was MVP in 2004 the last time he had a decent supporting cast with Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell. The Celtics should cruise in a weak Atlantic and the only teams that look capable of stopping them in the playoffs are Detroit and Miami (if it can stay healthy), while it appears the defending Eastern champs Cleveland and LeBron will take a step back. In the wild West, San Antonio's still the team to beat with Dallas and Phoenix close behind. Just don't forget about the Nuggets. I'm just saying Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony; don't overlook them.