I guess I’m still moved about that ‘’Football does not end in February, it’s only beginning'’ stuff on ESPN.

Yep, AFL Football is starting to create a buzz especially after that AFL commercial made its debut on ESPN. It’s not the same as NFL Football but it will definitely be a nice substitute as we wait for the new NFL season in September.

So, what’s this AFL thing? Well, for starters, an AFL Football field is almost as big as an NHL Hockey skating rink, is 50 yards long and has all these walls surrounding it. Oh yeah, kickers have a tougher time kicking the football in the AFL too.

The NFL goalposts are 18 ½ feet wide in case you didn’t know. As for AFL Football, kickers are expected to kick a football ‘’between the uprights'’ that are only nine feet apart. Now that’s accurate kicking for ya’.

Unlike the NFL, a winning football team CAN’T RUN THE CLOCK in offense with kneel downs. The AFL has this rule that says the game clock won’t stop if the offensive team has the lead and fails to advance the football past the line of scrimmage during the FINAL MINUTE OF THE FOURTH QUARTER. So I guess we’ll probably see a bunch of QB sneaks in a close game eh?

Oh yeah, speaking of clock management in the AFL, the clock stops for…

When a Hong Kong teenager walked into a casino in the Chinese territory of Macau, chaperoned by her mother and grandmother, she can have had little idea of the riches that awaited her - nor of the legal storm that her winnings would generate.

Yes, this 16-year-old unknown girl won a $94,900 jackpot at a Macau casino, and her mother was allowed to keep the cash.

Macau’s gaming watchdog forced The Las Vegas Sands to pay the $94,900-winning teenager because of a loophole. Macau’s gaming laws ban anyone under 18 from entering a casino, but the laws do not specify a minimum age for gambling once inside.

The young girl, whose name has not been released, was given $12 by her grandmother as a Lunar New Year present to play on some slot machines. The teenager went to the Sands Casino with her mother and grandmother and put the entire amount in a machine. When she hit the jackpot, Sands staff refused to pay her out once they learned she was underage.

However, the territory’s gaming authority has ruled that the Las Vegas Sands must pay the teenager from Hong Kong her winnings. “We have decided that the money must be paid, not to the child, but to her mother,” Gambling Authority Director Manuel Joaquim das Neves told the South China Morning Post.

Although she will be paid, the girl’s mother has been banned from all Macau’s casinos as punishment for bringing a minor into a casino.

That’s okay, Mom can always come to Bodog’s Online Casino, as long as she leaves the kids at home!

Zinedine Zidane, you remember him, he’s the guy who cost France the 2006 FIFA World Cup title.

Still don’t ring a bell? Try this one, he’s the guy who gave that Italian, Marco Materazzi, a vicious head butt that will make John Cena look like a nine-year-old little girl trying to compete with ‘’real'’ wrestlers.

Wait, Cena already looks the part. Anyway, yeah, Zinedine Zidane made the soccer headlines again and apparently, the French phenom is contemplating on the idea of coming out of retirement to play in the MLS.

Major League Soccer, after signing former England captain David Beckham a multi-million dollar contract that will see him earn over $10 million a year playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy, is now eying ‘’the Z'’ Zinedine Zidane himself, to play in their league.

Considering all the negativity in some quarters over the $10 million or so annual salary that David Beckham will be receiving to suit up for the L.A. Galaxy this summer, one can only imagine that those same pessimists are having a field day with the rumors that legendary (and retired) soccer star Zinedine Zidane of France is contemplating renewing his career in MLS.

That is if interested teams can…

Yep, Las Vegas actually has something other than gambling.

Las Vegas, the very place dubbed ‘’sin city,'’ has the Gladiators to root for as the brand new AFL Football kicks off.

But wait, if Las Vegas locals begin to bet on their Gladiators in the Arena Football League games this year, (which they WILL sooner or later…) it wouldn’t be any different to all them slots and baccarat tables in Vegas now is it? Oh well, Vegas will always be Vegas I guess.

And yeah, the Las Vegas Gladiators are preparing for the coming AFL Football war on their mid-sized battlefield indoors. And by the looks of things, a king could very well be leading the Las Vegas kingdom towards gridiron glory.

Shaun King, the 6′1′’, 215-pound quarterback from Tulane, will be playing his very first AFL Football season after leaving the NFL. He’s adapting quickly to the style of play in the AFL but was forced to watch for the first couple days of practice due to an ankle sprain on the first day of camp. King has played in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Arizona Cardinals.

‘’Shaun has started to understand the speed and reads of the game. His early ankle sprain has slowed down his progression,'’ said Las Vegas Gladiators head coach Danton Barto. ‘’But I am excited to see his progression.'’

However, as exciting as King’s…

For the Boston faithful still loving sports despite the Patriots’ demise and the Celtics’ mess this year, the MLB Baseball season has officially arrived.

Manny Ramirez returns to the Boston Red Sox, three days earlier than expected. Ramirez was sporting a new hairstyle and to signify his allegiance to the Red Sox, he actually had Red Sox colors on his dreadlocks.

Yep, there were red spots on his head, making it look like he got his head hit by a damn baseball bat or something.

The Boston Red Sox slugger showed up at the team’s spring training facility emerging from the training area of the Sox clubhouse. He walked over to his locker, shooed away reporters, and sat down.

Though he is the last Red Sox player to report before the new MLB Baseball season starts, Ramirez’ arrival still came as a bit of a surprise. He had been given permission to report late to camp due to his mother’s health issues.

‘’(The Red Sox) extended him the opportunity to stay with his mother who had surgery this offseason,'’ said Greg Genske, one of…

Oh wait… THAT was not the case when a Duke lacrosse team started their season.

When the Duke Blue Devils opened their 2006 lacrosse season against Butler, only 425 people came out to support the team. When they went up against Dartmouth, fans were lining up to enter Koskinen Stadium. Go figure.

Yep, a lot of people sure wanted to see the Duke lacrosse team that game alright. And mind you, that was still more than two hours before Duke and Dartmouth took the field. When the gates opened, the 425 people Duke got for the 2006 season opener easily became 6,485. Just a few hundred short of Duke’s home record.

What happened? Why the interest for this team all of a sudden? Oh yeah, these guys were banned for 10 months before making their debut this season. Figures. The buzz surrounding the game was closer to a North Carolina-Duke basketball rivalry game than a season opener for the sixth-ranked Blue Devils, who easily dismissed unranked Dartmouth, 17-11.

Duke lacrosse head coach John Danowski, in his first game on the Blue Devils sideline, was not the only one making a debut appearance during that game. For the first time at a Duke lacrosse game, the pep band was there to entertain the crowd.

The Duke bookstore was…

Can the Florida Gators do it all over again?

THAT is the question as we visit the Southeastern Conference, or simply, the SEC, home of the defending NCAA College Basketball AND football champions, the Florida Gators.

The Florida Gators have it all as we head to this year’s March Madness bracket battles. They won this whole March Madness thing last year only to follow it up with a BCS title in college football.

Oh yes, being a student in this school sure was fine and dandy. But this year, can these guys do it all over again? Can Joakim Noah lead the Florida Gators to another NCAA College Basketball title run? Well, as of press time, the Gators are a lock for the March Madness bracket tournament and I got to tell you, THAT is a good start.

The Tennessee Volunteers are one of those teams in the SEC looking to shock the world and catch the Gators off guard. However, as good as they looked on the hardwood the past few weeks, these guys are just like the Arizona Wildcats, riding a great schedule and some good non-conference wins to a tremendous computer profile that doesn’t reflect how…

As of press time, Dwyane Wade wants to have a second opinion on his injured shoulder.

I say, just let him play and have someone as big as… say, Zach Randolph, drive on his shoulder, crack it up just a little bit more, and end his pathetic career for good. Puh-leaze, I’m just so sick of this guy. He’s out for the rest of the NBA Basketball season and yet his soon-to-be paraplegic ass is still everywhere on ESPN.

And yeah, it seems the moron is contemplating on rehabilitating his shoulder or have surgery on it. The guy apparently is seeking a second opinion on what the fuck he should do before making the decision.

Does it really matter what Wade decides to do? The NBA season is over for him and the rest of the pathetic Miami Heat either way. They sucked in the first half of the regular season and guess what, they’ll still suck as bad without their free throw shooting moron.

For what it’s worth, if Dwyane Wade chooses the rehab option, he could return to Miami’s lineup in about six weeks, or with around 10 regular-season games remaining. He was presented with his recovery options Thursday, one day after suffering the injury in a collision with Shane Battier of the Houston Rockets, but has not announced a decision.

But don’t expect Dwyane Wade to…

Of course, I’m sure somebody already made the case that Roger Federer could be an alien in tennis shoes.

But has anyone proven why he / she is making the said ‘’alien'’ argument? What?!? Somebody has? Oh… okay. So I guess all I can say at this point is, HERE’S MORE.

Roger Federer has been dropping tennis records after tennis records the past few months but did you know that the guy has already stirred up some for 2007 this early? Heck, the first quarter of the year ain’t even over yet and here’s Federer already making these things.

Roger Federer became the first man since tennis turned professional in 1968 to reach a massive 11 grand slam semis in succession. Federer did that at the 2007 Australian Open and mind you, that was the first month of 2007 then.

The Swiss tennis sensation won his 10th Grand Slam title also at the 2007 Australian Open. Melbourne saw Federer win 10 Grand Slams in just three years, also becoming the first professional tennis player to win three straight majors TWICE in his tennis career. Jeez…

And just last week, Roger Federer began…

A DNF at the Daytona 500? Okay, no problem, Dale Earnhardt Jr. can work his way out of that bad start.

A few days later, Dale Earnhardt Jr. drops another DNF. Uh-oh, for a driver like Earnhardt, not finishing races is not one of those things you’ll usually see his name on. Not finishing his second consecutive NASCAR race of the 2007 season at the Auto Club 500 is definitely alarming.

Should we bid Earnhardt’s chances for the 2007 Nextel Cup championship goodbye? Um… his mom is probably doing just that right now.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun across the track after his engine finally died midway through the Auto Club 500. He got out of the car, shook his head and gave a matador-style bow to the crowd.

‘’I was really worried about our motor situation going into this race. We blew two motors at the test in Las Vegas [in January],'’ Dale Earnhardt said. ‘’We just have to keep our heads up. It blew up good the last time. We have to try to figure it out before we get to Vegas [in two weeks].'’

The next NASCAR war will be at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway as Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be looking to win for a change at the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 on Mar.11.

The Auto 500 was won by…