Here’s what the Detroit Pistons faithful have been waiting for since day one of the 2006-2007 NBA regular season.

And that’s the day when former Piston Ben Wallace returns to the Palace of Auburn Hills, bringing his Chicago Bulls squad with him, to face the Detroit Pistons. And yeah, Pistons fans have been itching to see Ben Wallace get his ungrateful ass kicked all around the goddamn court.

The Chicago Bulls will visit the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Sunday, marking the very first time Bulls center Ben Wallace returns to the very court that made him the NBA’s defensive powerhouse.

The Bulls will come into this game probably banged up, drained and tired. After all, they did face LeBron James and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers before taking on the red hot Washington Wizards of Gilbert Arenas.

For what it’s worth, they have Saturday off before taking the trip to Motor City. But when you take on a team like the Detroit Pistons, especially these days with a rejuvenated Chris Webber on their roster, you got to bring more than your A game. Heck, the Bulls could might as well bring Scottie Pippen with them too. I hear he wants to come out of retirement.

And remember, these Pistons are probably holding a grudge still since Ben Wallace decided to sign with Chicago in the offseason. Of course, Ben Wallace knows…

Yep, this is it.

Apparently, Curt Schilling will play out the entire 2007 MLB Baseball season as a member of the Boston Red Sox. After this season is over, (heck, this season haven’t even started yet!) he’s testing the market and will file for free agency.

Hmm… At least the guy’s telling the Red Sox organization that this early eh? Curt Schilling said he will become a free agent after the MLB Baseball season and won’t let that distract him during his fourth year with the Boston Red Sox.

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein wouldn’t rule out in-season discussions for a new contract though. At a brief meeting between the two, Epstein told his pitcher, Curt Schilling, that the team would not give him an extension during spring training, as the veteran had wished.

And they expect him to sign a contract in the middle of the season? Jeez…

‘’Curt’s going to be 41, and at that age we’ve got to be a little more conservative,'’ Epstein said. ‘’It doesn’t mean we don’t want him back. I have all the confidence in the world that if Curt wants to pitch in 2008 and he’s still pitching effectively, as I expect he will, then we’ll find a way to keep him in a Red Sox uniform.'’

Of course, you just know that Curt Schilling wasn’t happy about the team turning down the extension that he wanted.

He said he was ‘’disappointed'’ but…

The Pac 10 has always been the UCLA Bruins’ thing and guess what, it hasn’t changed.

The UCLA Bruins have always been strong in the Pac 10 and by the looks of things, it looks like they’re still the team to beat in the conference this year. They are accompanied at the top this season by the Washington State Cougars but c’mon, you think these Cougars will stand a chance against these UCLA monsters?

Coming to the March Madness bracket battles, certain teams from the Pac 10 are looking to dethrone the UCLA Bruins atop the Pac 10 food chain and here are just some of them.

The Arizona Wildcats SHOULD definitely be included in the coming March Madness bracket battles. If March Madness started late February, (it wouldn’t be called March Madness now does it?) the Wildcats will definitely make the cut.

Why start that early? Well, the Wildcats, as of press time, are stumbling down and if they keep on eating dust like this, they won’t have enough for them to last until March and be invited to the annual NCAA College Basketball tournament. Arizona’s now 1-7 against the four highest-rated Pac-10 conference schools (UCLA, USC, Wazzu and Oregon) and 5-8 in its last 13 games, including the disaster against North Carolina.

The USC Trojans, another football-crazy…

If these guys play at the Cricket World Cup in kilts, now THAT will surprise me.

According to Scot Majid Haq, Scotland beating Australia will be the shocker of the tournament. It would be a massive feat for the Scotland team too. Of course, we also know how bad Australia is playing with their sticks these days. (Well, those who follow cricket anyway…)

Majid Haq said, ‘’For us to beat Australia would be like the Faroes beating Brazil at football. In fact it might even be bigger than that, more like us beating Brazil when Berti Vogts was in charge.'’

Oookaaay theeen. Well, for what it’s worth, Majid Haq will have the chance of coming up with an upset win over the powerhouse Aussie cricket team. He will be a part of the 15-man squad that will go to the Caribbean to face South Africa and Holland as the team prepares for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

‘’If we can take early wickets, which I’m sure we can with the way we’ve been bowling, we might set a few nerves jangling and cause the likes of Australia and South Africa a few problems,'’ Scotland head coach Peter Drinnen said.

‘’Teams are going out and giving it the gun really early in their innings and setting targets of 300, but you run the risk of losing early wickets. In the one-day game anything can happen and if we get it together we are going to be very dangerous, even against Australia. We have a game plan and hopefully we can stick to it.”

He adds, ‘’You hear a lot about our amateur status but that doesn’t wash with me or the players.'’

Scotland recently reached the…

Yep, the trade deadline passed and… nobody moved.

At least in New Jersey anyway. In spite all the hype about Vince Carter and Jason Kidd bolting out of New Jersey, both of ‘em stayed put, probably wanting to find out just how much more can they fuck up an already fucked up season.

I like Vince Carter and I have tremendous respect for Jason Kidd, but c’mon, these guys need to turn it up a notch. The once pathetic Toronto Raptors have overtaken the New Jersey Nets in the pathetic Atlantic Division for crying out loud and Jersey can’t have that.

Heck, the Raptors only have this lizard-looking Chris Bosh whereas the Nets have multi-time All Stars in Vince Carter and Jason Kidd. Surely, the Nets beat the Raptors in paper. What the heck is wrong with these guys?

Maybe they’re just giving Miki Moore a lot more touches than he should be?

And yeah, the Nets kept Jason Kidd but that doesn’t necessarily mean better things will come from here on out. Yes, the Nets DID made the right move in keeping both Carter and Kidd but as far as Jason Kidd is concerned, the guy’s just hurting these days.

The New Jersey Nets confirmed reports that Jason Kidd has a cracked rib in addition to the back injury that forced him to miss two games and the NBA All-Star Game. Nets coach Lawrence Frank defended the team’s decision not to publicize the rib injury, saying it didn’t force Kidd to miss any games and was discovered only when Kidd’s back was being examined.

After all, why would you let other teams…

Yep, a van actually killed a horse contender much to the dismay of horse bettors at Belmont Park.

In a bizarre freak accident, four-year-old New York-bred gelding, Please Be Quick, was euthanized at Belmont Park after getting his hind legs severely injured while it dangled through the floor of the van.

Ouch. Please Be Quick was apparently being transported from a training center to Belmont Park. After they let the horse’s legs dangle through the floor of a van in the middle of a major New York highway, they might as well transport him to hell.

Jeez… How stupid can these guys get? Now THAT is not the way to die. Even for a horse.

Motorists on the Cross Bronx Expressway noticed the horse’s legs dangling through the floor of the van and notified the driver to stop. The van was owned by Ebert Vans Inc. of Elmont, N.Y.

Please Be Quick had one win in nine starts before those guys’ stupidity ultimately killed him.

And get this, they had other horses inside the goddamn van. Four of them actually. But thankfully, he was the only one injured. Please Be Quick was one of three horses trained by Linda Rice while the remaining horse was trained by Bruce Levine.

‘’Obviously, it’s horrible,'’ Linda Rice said. ‘’The horse had raced well on the grass last fall and we were just bringing him in to resume training to point for grass races in April and May. We’re all just devastated by this. As far as what took place, they’re sorting that out.'’

So much for Please Be Quick winning the…

It seems the present day Toronto Raptors are better off without former Raptor king, Vince Carter.

When Vince Carter first entered NBA Basketball with the Toronto Raptors, he was all the rave. It’s like Vince Carter this, Vince Carter that. Hell, even sports programs like Sports Center chimed in, showing advertisements on when VC supposedly watches Sports Center at midnight. (Yep, still remember that one…)

When he left Canada to join Jason Kidd and the rest of the New Jersey Nets, the only remaining NBA Basketball team in Canada was left without anyone to lead them. Oh yeah, watching promising talent Charlie Villanueva leave the Raptors to join the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t help too.

Well, that’s what we thought anyway. It turns out, the Toronto Raptors are better without the eyebrow-less Charlie and the explosive VC. Chris Bosh is leading the team to a probable playoff berth and as of press time, his Toronto Raptors are leading the Atlantic Division, getting pass… guess who, Vince Carter and the New Jersey Nets.

How’s that for sweet revenge eh?

And get this, the Toronto Raptors can thank Vince Carter for all the success these guys are getting in this NBA Basketball season. The Raptors wouldn’t be this good if VC was still here. Outside of an average amount of vitriol that Raptor fans still shower on Vince Carter, well, it may be a little more than average, the success of this year’s squad has allowed Toronto to finally disassociate itself from their former favorite son.

They have embraced a completely new…

It’s about time.

Finally, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is scheduled to unveil its very first exhibit dedicated to the Arena Football League as it aims to present the past, present and future of the AFL.

Yep, AFL Football in the Pro Football Hall of Fame folks, and it will be on February 26, merely days before the AFL kicks off its 21st season on March 1. And yes, it has been 21 years already since the AFL, now with 19 football teams, started.

‘’The Arena Football League is a mature property that has experienced explosive growth in recent years,'’ said Pro Football Hall of Fame President and Executive Director Steve Perry.

‘’A true success story, the AFL has earned its place in pro football history and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.'’

Since 2002, total viewership of the Arena Football League has increased from 12 million viewers to 65 million, its team values from $12 to $20 million and its average per game attendance from 9,957 to 12,378.

When combined with the AFL’s minor league, called ‘’Arena Football 2,'’ Arena Football will be played in 49 markets in 2007.

‘’There are many milestones for a growing sports league but I can’t think of one that is more meaningful for our league than an exhibit in the Pro Football Hall of Fame,'’ said AFL Commissioner David Baker.

The said Pro Football Hall of Fame exhibit…

Gone. Over. The End.

Yep, that’s how we will describe the Miami Heat season after it ended in Houston with a Dwyane Wade injury. OUCH! Watching Dwyane Wade grimace in pain was… well… PAINFUL. But watching him cry like a baby trying to sit on a goddamn wheelchair was… well… FUNNY.

And what made it even funnier was the fact that Pat Riley just got back from his own injuries to the Miami Heat bench. And just when D-Wade thought he could spell R-E-P-E-A-T at the end of the season, he was spewing out the words, ‘’OH MY SHOULDER!'’

The Miami Heat was already losing to the Houston Rockets, thanks to Tracy McGrady catching fire after leaving with a groin injury to begin the game.

And just when Miami thought all their troubles was over, Dwyane Wade began to cry, holding his shoulder and being wheeled away from the court in a goddamn wheelchair.

Fall down seven times, stand up eight huh? Yeah right.

With about 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of a game the Miami Heat had trailed for almost the entire way, Dwyane Wade reached in on a driving Shane Battier with his left hand.

Battier’s momentum forced Wade’s left arm back, and Wade immediately grabbed the arm and walked to the bench hunched over. Wade had bruised…

Forty five years ago.

That’s how long since the Ohio State Buckeyes won the top of the NCAA College Basketball food chain. Back then, they had players like John Havlicek, Jerry Lucas and a super sub named Bob Knight. And yeah, they were leading Ohio State to the final game of that era’s March Madness wars.

Now, the Ohio State Buckeyes have Greg Oden and after they virtually destroyed Minnesota 85-67, the no.2 ranked team in the country can relive the glory the school had 45 looong years ago.

Greg Oden had 19 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks, Ron Lewis scored 16 points and Mike Conley Jr. finished with 10 assists and 5 steals for the Ohio State Buckeyes, which is looking for its first No.1 ranking since 1962.

‘’Right now it doesn’t mean as much as it would at the end of March in the (March Madness) tournament,'’ Mike Conley Jr. said. ‘’Regardless of what ranking we are; 1, 2, 3, 4, it doesn’t matter to us. We’re trying to get better as a team and hopefully make a run.'’

The Ohio State Buckeyes, 24-3 overall and 12-1 in their own Big Ten conference, have won 11 in a row, with losses only to heavyweights Florida Gators, North Carolina Tar Heels and Wisconsin Badgers this…