I (still nameless pending OJ’s official relaunch) took a three-day respite from blogging, only to be welcomed back by news that the poker-showbusiness marriage has just got past its honeymoon period. Certainly, it isn’t the most Christmasy of reports for Las Vegas and Atlantic City, frequent hosts to the World Poker Tour and Celebrity Poker, among other card room tournaments for the stars. If gambling cities are not being blamed for aggravating celebrity couples, they are being hounded for their own celebrity coupling.

Oh yeah, it doesn’t get any better than this baby, the Detroit Pistons and the Miami Heat will finally face each other again since Detroit eliminated Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals last year.

Miami was not short of excuses from the abrupt eviction then.

On Thursday, there won’t be any excuses as both teams are playing their best basketball so far of the very young NBA Season. Miami has finally gotten their roster intact with Shaquille O’Neal’s return while Detroit, well, they are on a rampage winning eight straight games and if the Heat don’t come to play, they might as well be victim no. 9.

Breaking down the game. The Heat offense revolves around the center, that’s why Shaquille O’Neal has been exploding once again with 25-point-10-rebound performance reminiscent of his Lakers days.

Heh-heh… Okay, for all ya’ll not familiar with the soap opera (yes, i said soap opera and I’m not ashamed to say I do watch this soap) One Tree Hill, it’s all about two brothers who have different biological mothers and are both stars in their basketball team.

Oh yeah, this is the only soap opera I do watch, honest!

Of course, these two brothers have two huge egos where one desperately wants to outdo the other. In the end, they settled their differences and piloted their team all the way to the playoffs only to miss what would’ve been a game-winning shot in the championship game.

Kind of a bittersweet ending eh?

Enter NCAA College Basketball.

The NCAA College Basketball picture this year can be associated with ‘One Tree Hill.'’ Like the TV show, the NCAA also has two basketball players who are quickly becoming their school’s go-to-guy, the question here is, who is better one?

Did you know that Gone With The Wind nearly lost it’s most powerful line, "Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn…"? But Jack Warner was a visionary. Because he allowed it in the final cut. And because he could prophesize moments such as these.

The blogosphere has been shaken with the news that Britney’s hubby has launched his own website called, kevinfederline.com, in the hopes of letting us all know who he really is!

"I don’t think we’ve ever been formally introduced. My name is Kevin Federline. I’m 6 feet tall, have brown hair and brown eyes. I enjoy horseback riding, long walks on the beach and the wind whipping through my hair. Ha ha ha. On a more serious note, there’s going to be a lot more information and updates on here in the coming weeks and I think this will provide you with the opportunity to get to know who I really am."

MLB PITCHER BLAMES MEDICATION FOR ROBBERY ATTEMPT

An ex-pitcher for both the New York Mets and Yankees is in police custody after being charged with armed robbery after he allegedly stole cash from a Florida jewelry shop.

So it’s set in the AFC and NFC. The Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos drew first round byes in the AFC while the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears are the top seeds with the conference running through Seattle in the playoffs.

In last week’s possible Super Bowl preview, the 13-2 Seahawks manhandled the Colts 28-13. With the win, Seattle clinched its first ever no. 1 postseason seeding. Having the luxury of playing at home in the playoffs is crucial for any team. With the way Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander are playing right now, nobody in the NFC wants to travel to the hilly Seattle in the postseason.

The surest bet of college football’s annual overload of wild and woolly bowl action is simple, Southern California will not capture a third consecutive national championship, no matter what everyone keeps saying.
It’s the BCS, stupid! [Dan Wetzel, Yahoo.Sports]
Rutgers Scarlet Knights will make its second bowl appearance when they face Arizona State Sun Devils, of […]

"I’m like an American Princess!" [MSNBC]Paris Hilton quips in one of her media interviews. Whether it’s wisecrack or witty social commentary she is, indeed, the closest to a tabloid-tracked royalty this town will ever have.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any better than that.

While the blue-blooded princes and princesses try in vain to make a good impression even before the flood of vomit-thirsty paparazzis, Paris has embraced her notorious celebrity. After all, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

True enough, the world can’t get enough of Paris Hilton. She’s the most-searched celebrity on the Internet. And if I’m her business adviser, I’d tell her to start collecting royalty from ‘that sex tape’. It’ll buy her a doggie mansion for Tinkerbell down to her great grandpuppies.

The party’s over for the most successful prime-time sports show in the history of network television. ABC turned out the lights on Monday Night Football. Next season, Monday Night Football moves to cable on ESPN.

Only 60 Minutes lasted longer as a prime-time series. Beginning next season, MNF will be broadcast on ESPN and NBC will televise "Football Night in America" on Sunday nights. Broadcasting Monday Night Football has become too expensive for ABC to sustain through advertising revenues alone. Though it remains a top-10 show, ratings have gradually slipped since the high point in 1985.

Santa Anita Park’s winter meet signals the start of 2005’s juvenile horses starting their three year old campaigns in a week’s time! Santa Anita, together with Gulfstream Park, provides top notch thoroughbred horse racing action in the winter. Santa Anita offers 10 Grade I stakes races and over $12 million in stakes money during this 69th season of racing!