Eli Manning with at Super Bowl XLII rally Photo courtesy: Wikipedia

What would you think if I told you that quarterback Eli Manning will have more Super Bowl rings than his future QB Hall of Fame brother Peyton Manning?

Despite being in the NFL since 1998 and having a successful career that includes 11 Pro Bowls, five first-team All-Pro, four AP NFL MVP, fastest ever to reach 50,000 yards passing, and fastest to 4,000 completions Peyton Manning only has one NFL championship under his name.

Come Sunday afternoon, Eli Manning will have a chance to surpass his big brother Peyton in Super Bowl wins when he faces Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the proclaimed rematch of 2007.

The New England Patriots are favorites to win Super Bowl 46 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis by 2 ½ points, however, they find themselves as underdogs in the eyes of the fans to the surprising New York Giants.

Back in 2007 the Giants won three games on the road in the playoffs: defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-14 in Wild Card week, Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in the Divisional round, and the Green Bay Packers 17-14 in the Conference Championship game 23–20 before upsetting the New England Patriots 17-14 in the Super Bowl.

The Giants surprised the entire world that day, handing the Patriots their only loss of the year, ending their hopes of a perfect season, and putting them short of the 1972 Dolphins (the only team to finish the season undefeated).

This year the Giants perfected the same blueprints used in 2007, going a perfect 3-0 in the playoffs, wiping out Atlanta 24-2, Green Bay 37-20, and San Francisco 20-17 respectably.

If the Patriots win, head coach Bill Belichick and starting quarter back Tom Brady will claim their fourth Super Bowl title and first since 2005, where they beat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21.

The Patriots will make their seventh Super Bowl appearance and ranks third in most appearances, only behind the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys who are tied with eight apiece.

The New York Giants will become the first team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl with a 9-7 record in the regular season if they come away with the win.

One quarterback’s legacy will forever be changed. Whether Brady comes out a four-time Super Bowl champion or whether Manning comes out 2-0 against Brady in the Super Bowl, Sunday is set up to show us the best reality TV show of the year.

“It was a dirty, ugly game. We just found a way to win,” Rockets head coach Kevin McHale said. “We did a good job of rebounding the ball against a really active team. Kyle (Lowry), Kevin (Martin), and Chase (Budinger) really stepped up big because we were having problems getting offense out of other places.”

Portland head coach Nate McMillan looks to build off this experience and take advantage of more opportunities down the stretch.

“We put ourselves in a position to win,” McMillan said. “We had to execute both ways and we had open looks and we just didn’t knock them down…we just didn’t make our opportunities.”

Lowry scored a season high 33 points and played 48 minutes, a feat that McHale doesn’t want to replicate this season. McHale admitted that he would like to play Lowry less, so he can rest, but he has found it challenging due to the play of the team without him.

“We have to be able to get that second unit a bit tighter,” McHale said. “I try to get them in sooner so they get adjusted to the game.”

After the game Lowry explained that he is willing to play every minute of every game if need be. He acknowledged that it’s not easy doing so but he looked forward to helping his team, especially tonight.

“It is what it is. We got the win,” Lowry said. “I did what I had to do to get my team get a victory.”

Luis Scola finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. He felt that although McHale wants to limit his starters, he would like to play more.

“We’re playing good, we’re playing better and we won a tough game,” Luis Scola said. “It helps us as we prepare for Washington next week.”

The Rockets travel to the nation’s capital to face the Wizards on Monday night.  The next home game will be Tuesday night against the Detroit Pistons.

For the latest details on the Rockets and all major sports follow  The Overtime Page on Twitter <a href=”http://www.twitter.com/overtimepage”>@OvertimePage</a> and follow Edgar Veliz <a href=”http://www.twitter.com/veli147″>@veli147</a>

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The buzzer went off on July 1, and the shot clock is still bright red.  The lockout continues.

The NBA has been in a lockout since July 1 after the previous CBA, negotiated in 2005, expired on June 30. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have not seen eye-to-eye on a new deal that will end the work stoppage.

Several issues stand in the way, the main two being the salary cap system – the limit to the total amount of money that teams are allowed to pay their players, and the split of all basketball-related income between the two sides.

The NBA is coming off a record-breaking season, bringing in ratings it hasn’t seen in a decade, mainly because of stories like LeBron James’s move to Miami and the forming of the “big three” in Miami.

The success of the blue-collar Memphis Grizzlies, who knocked off the Western Conference’s top seed, San Antonio Spurs, in the first round of the playoffs, and the Dallas Mavericks sweeping the Lakers added more fire to the flame. The performance Nowitzki had in leading the Mavericks to a championship against the Heat put the icing on the cake.

With such a successful season last year, the NBA can ride the momentum and continue to grow. At this point, however, the process is parked.

For now, the public shall settle for multimillionaires fighting about who should make even more millions. Ultimately, the owners and players show it breaks down to money and not who provides the money to begin with – the fans.

 David Stern- NBA Commissioner

“The NBA has negotiated in good faith throughout the collective bargaining process, but — because our revised bargaining proposal was not to its liking — the union has decided to make good on Mr. Kessler’s (counsel for the union) threat.There will ultimately be a new collective bargaining agreement, but the 2011-12 season is now in jeopardy.”

Carl Dukes

“The main problem is the revenue split.  When we talk about this revenue split, understand it’s all basketball-related income, so from the jerseys to anything the NBA sells that has to do with their players, they split that huge amount. Ultimately, and Europeans will tell you this, there’s no league like the NBA.  That’s why they all come here. That’s why Dirk Nowitzki is here, that’s why Peja Stojakovic came over; you can go down the list, Vlade Divac. Europe is good, but it ain’t the NBA.”

Chris Mannix

“(Basketball on Christmas) … has sort of monopolized in recent years.  Thanksgiving is generally known for football, and Christmas more often than not is known for those elite matchups; whether it’s Miami and the Lakers or Lakers (versus) Boston. Competitive balance is a nice thing to talk about, and I’m sure that is definitely something on David Stern’s agenda.  He would like to have more of an NFL-like system of balance, but at the end of the day it comes down to owners making money.”

Chris Sheridan

“These are smart guys doing this deal. They should be smart enough to not ruin the NBA by going into a prolonged work stop. For the NBA to (cancel the season) at a time when the popularity of the league is at a place it hasn’t been in over a decade is just massively stupid.”

Lebron James

“I wanna sincerely say sorry to all the fans! It’s a sad day for all of us, especially u guys! There’s no US w/o You.”

Pau Gasol

“It’s a tough moment for all us that play in the NBA. We hope that with the decertification of the union the situation improves #NBAlockout”

#StandUnited

Derek Fisher, President of the NBPA, tweeted “LET US PLAY. #StandUnited”.  The phrase was then retweeted by scores of players and fans who are anxious for the NBA to resume play.

Miguel Torres poses with a fan at Houston’s UFC fan expo. The diversity of fighters has helped the UFC penetrate foreign markets in Latin America and Europe. Photo by: Katy Umaña

Being labeled a “blood sport” or “mindlessly violent” would bring any sport down to its knees, any sport but mixed martial arts. From Pride to the UFC to Strikeforce, the MMA world has grown tremendously in the last 15 years.

When the sport first emerged on the scene, it was looked at as a joke. Viewers saw the bare knuckles, no weight classes, “no rules,” octagon cage fighting, and they didn’t see a real sport. After all, who could look at Royce Gracie vs. Art Jimmerson at UFC 1 and not laugh?

The fight saw an inexperienced Jimmerson, a light heavyweight boxer, refuse to take one of his boxing gloves off and eventually get submitted by the legendary Gracie. On the other hand, it was Gracie, whose masterful performances over much bigger opponents that first caught people’s eye.

The early years of the UFC was dominated by Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and submission practitioners such as Gracie and Ken Shamrock.

In 2011, it actually is “mixed” martial arts with fighters using BJJ, Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, Karate and wrestling that draw a broader fan base. Diversity has played a huge role in MMA’s growth.

With the UFC being the “top dog” of MMA in recent years it’s refreshing to see it come from having no weight classes to seven, heavyweight (265 pounds) to bantamweight (135 pounds).

Several champions have roots in foreign countries, including the Americans.

Bantamweight Champion Dominic Cruz and Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez, Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar, and Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, are Mexican, Italian and African-American, respectively. Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo and Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva are both from Brazil and Welterweight Champion George St. Pierre hails from Canada.

This is a testament to the exponential growth and popularity of MMA among athletes and fans globally.

The UFC has made MMA a mainstay these days as evidenced by its recent deal with Fox. The pay-per-view juggernaut has also capitalized on merchandise and ticket sales.

While many of the PPV events are held in Las Vegas, they have reached major cities such as Vancouver, Toronto, Minneapolis and most recently Houston with UFC 136.

According to mmajunkie.com, the PPV had a paid attendance of 16,164 and brought in an estimated $2.23 million, while selling out a three day fan expo at the George R. Brown Convention Center weeks before hand, which held 25,000 people.

Host cities are strategically chosen to expose the sport to the masses while maximizing revenue.

According to bleacherreport.com, the largest PPV buy in UFC’s history was UCF 100: Lesnar vs. Mir 2 purchased by an estimated 1,600,000+, coming a close second to Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson (1,970,000) and surpassing the sales of any other PPV in recent memory.

According to mmajunkie.com, the record for paid attendance is held by UFC 129: St. Pierre vs. Shields, which was held in Canada, selling out all 55,000 tickets and bringing in a record $12,075,000 million.

Whether you’re an MMA fanatic, casual fan or one of the viewers who still looks at as mindlessly violent, there’s no denying that MMA is growing and becoming a powerhouse in the world of sports and entertainment.

Other sports take notice. Whether they’re pulling in new fans from America, other countries or bored WWE fans, the support of MMA is growing at an alarming rate.

The Cougars closed their season in front of 46,817 fans in attendance at the historic Cotton Bowl Stadium.

Keenum broke the NCAA record for most passing yards in a quarter with 227 in the first quarter.  He also broke seven Cotton Bowl passing records: passing (532), attempts (69), completions (45) and total offense (542 yards). Each record ranks in the top five in NCAA bowl history.

In its 21^st bowl game appearance in school history, Houston avenged its only loss of the year to Southern Miss in last month’s Conference USA Championship game.

“The way our entire football team prepared leading up to this game, I think you saw kind of the fruits of their labor,” Levine said. “Our kids wanted to go out against a really, really tremendous opponent in a January bowl game on a national stage and show the country that our loss a month ago in the championship game was not the norm, that was a fluke, not the 12 wins leading up to it.”

Houston had 600 total offensive yards for the game and allowed only 137 passing yards and 169 rushing yards.

“I think kind of before the game, we knew we were going to throw the ball a bunch and talked about breaking records,” Keenum said. “We executed when we needed to.  Just goes to show how good a football team we are because Penn State is a good football team.”

Houston is the first FBS team to gain more than 8,000 yards in a season.

Penn State ended its forgettable season with a sour taste in their mouths. Starting quarterback Matthew McGloin was out with a concussion and backup Rob Bolden couldn’t carry the load, throwing for only 137 yards on 7 for 26, with one touchdown and three interceptions.

“We were trying to survive the first quarter.  We didn’t survive it.  The other things, two big plays, we had them trapped in the first series in the scramble, he jumped up on us,” Penn St interim head coach Tom Bradley said.

“Two big plays after that, the long touchdown passes kind of put us in a bind.  We knew he was going to get his yards. Excellent passing attack. Obviously he got a lot of yards today.”

By the end of the first half, Case Keenum and the number one passing offense already had 380 passing yards (second highest passing yards in UH bowl history) on 30 of 46 completions and three touchdown scores. Penn St QB Rob Bolden had only two completions for 55 yards in the first half.

“We couldn’t get anything going offensively.  We couldn’t run the ball early in the game in the first quarter to keep us off the field, which was one of our goals, so that was disappointing,” Bradley said. “I thought we’d be able to do that in the first quarter to at least slow them down a little bit.  Didn’t happen today.”

With this victory, Houston is hoping to put an end to its current bowl game skid, the Cougars had just one bowl game win since 1980. The Cougars defeated Air Force, 34-28 in the 2008 Armed Forces Bowl, but are now 2-9 in their last 11 bowl appearances.

The Cougars scored most of their points in the first half with 24, compared to only six second half points. However, the Cougars were able to hold Penn St to only one touchdown in each half.

Penn St had 5th-best pass defense in FBS coming into the TicketCity bowl at 162 yards per game. Keenum threw for more than double that in the first half alone.

Patrick Edwards did most of his work in the first half, catching seven passes for 200 receiving yards wih two touchdowns (ended with 10 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns) and Justin Johnson had 12 receptions for 148 yards and a touchdown.

Aggies didn’t have to travel far to see a bowl game this year, as Texas A&M beat the Northwestern Wildcats 30-15 in the MCCBoT in front of 68,395 at Reliant Stadium.

Northwestern faced off against A&M for the first time ever. Both teams ended regular season play at 6-6. Of A&M’s six loses, five were decided by a touchdown-or-less.

For Northwestern, today’s game marked a chance to win their first bowl game since the 1948 Rose Bowl against California, in which they won 20-14.

A&M QB Ryan Tannehill threw 329 yards along with one TD pass and RB Ben Malena rushed 23 times and gained 87 rushing yards along with two TDs. WR Jeff Fuller led all receivers in yards with seven catches for 119 yards and one score.

“It’s been a long year, a lot of ups and downs, but it’s great to go out with a win for a lot of different reasons,” Tannehill said.

“Go out with my brothers one last time and get a win, get a bowl win for the first time in 10 years, play for Joey V, most important and his family and that tragic loss, coach Sherman.”

The Aggies recorded their first bowl victory since 2001 when they took down the TCU Horned Frogs, 28-9, in the galleryfurniture.com bowl, which was played in the Astrodome.

Tannehill sealed the game when he attempted a crucial third down and six pass to WR Jeff Fuller in the fourth quarter. Fuller then made a spectacular catch and A&M kept possession of the ball with less than three minutes to play.

“I think [Fuller] finally got to the point where he was feeling good about himself,” interim head coach Tim DeRuyter said.

“When you’re challenged like that in a third-and-long situation and it’s not an easy throw and catch, you got to go battle for it. When you come out on top of those situations, it just feels that much better. As a coach, to see a young man do that, I was really, really pleased for him.”

A FG by A&M kicker Randy Bullock then made it a two-possession game. Bullock had a perfect game completing all four of his field goals and all three extra point conversions.

“I’m glad we were put in that situation. Is it easier to go out with a huge win? Yes. But that was something that haunted us all year, and for the offense to get the ball, I think it was around five minutes left on the clock, we needed a score to put the game away,” Tannehill said.

The Aggies had a total of 409 offensive yards (329 pass yards, 80 rush yards) compared to the Wildcats 278 total offensive yards (226 pass yards, 52 rush yards).

The Aggies had a 30-7 lead going into the last quarter of play and almost blew the lead when Northwestern back up QB Kain Colter scored a TD on a quarterback rush for one yard and successfully converted the two-point conversion to make it a one-possession game, 30-22.

“We had some one-man break downs in the second quarter when things were pretty much neck-and-neck that gave A&M some pretty big plays,” Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald said.

“It’s very tough, and not being able to sustain drives and pick up third downs in the first half put us in a bit of a hole. We came out to start the second half and I thought we adjusted a little bit, and obviously we didn’t do a good enough job and the credit goes to A&M.”

After Northwestern made it a one-possession game, Fitzgerald decided to kickoff with less than six minutes remaining in the game. His decision backfired in the end.

Today’s result is the first bowl game win for the Aggies against a Big Ten opponent since 1995 when they beat Michigan 22-20 in the Alamo Bowl.

This year’s game also marks Texas A&M’s third consecutive and 33^rd over-all bowl invitation. Last year, the Aggies lost to the LSU Tigers in the Cotton Bowl, 41-24, on Jan. 7.

“The whole emotional roller coaster of what happened a month ago to losing Joey (Villavisencio), to start playing in the second half where the game started swaying to see our guys come back and finish,” DeRuyter said.

“That sensation of getting it done was huge. I can’t thank our staff and our players enough for the grit that they had to persevere through this.”

As I sat in a crowded Hooters off Kirby Drive with my laptop, I planned on enjoying UFC 140 and watching it from a journalist’s perspective.  As hard as I tried I simply couldn’t. From top to bottom, the card was stacked more than my Hooter’s waitress.

The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung defeats Mark Hominick by knockout during the UFC 140 event at Air Canada Centre on December 10, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Nick Laham/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

The first undercard fight set the tone for the rest of night. As Ontario’s very own, Mark The Machine Hominick, took on Chan Sung Jung the Korean Zombie.

Both men are known for being heavy handed and constantly pushing the pace. Hominick’s pace came to a screeching halt as he came in fast throwing a wild hook; he was met with a viscous counter hook from Jung that sent him to the ground. The power shot was followed by a barrage of punches to Hominick’s face, giving Jung the victory in seven seconds that tied the UFC record for fastest KO.

The next fight wasn’t as decisive but was still very exciting, as Brian Ebersole handed Claude Patrick his second loss.

In the first round, Ebersole started by pushing the pace with strikes, but midway through, the former division 1 wrestler went for a takedown and was met by a guillotine attempt by Patrick. It appeared as if Ebersole would tap as Patrick had his arm synched tightly for a good 30 to 45 seconds however, Ebersole was able to escape.

The second round was won by Patrick as he kept Ebersole on the defensive landing several solid strikes as well as showing good takedown defense. In the last round, both men looked to score points as they cautiously exchanged strikes. Three minutes into the round Ebersole caught Patrick with a strike that he followed up with a slam. For the rest of the fight Ebersole controlled the action. In upset fashion, Ebersole narrowly took the fight via split decision, a result that was met by boos from the crowd.

Tito Ortiz set a milestone tonight by competing in a record 26 consecutive fights with the UFC. This would be the only thing Ortiz would celebrate, as Antonio Rogerio Nogueria sent him home via TKO 3 minutes and 15 seconds into the first round. Ortiz came out swinging for the fences, but was eventually caught with a hard knee to the ribs by Nogueria, which was followed by several strikes to that same spot from Nogueria’s guard.

In the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Ortiz was asked if he was going to retire after this fight.

“I got one fight left on my contract,” Ortiz replied “hopefully Dana and the UFC let me come back and finish. I got one more in me, then I’m done.”

The co-main event saw Frank Mir take on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria in a rematch of their last bout that saw Mir knockout Nogueria. This time however, it was Nogueria who got the best of Mir in the stand up game.

He rocked Mir with a hard straight that stunned as Nogueria connected with several follow up shots. Nogueria didn’t win the battle on the ground which ultimately cost him the fight.

Following the strikes, Nogueria mounted Mir and attempted a guillotine as the fight appeared to be in the bag; Mir escaped while grabbing Nogueria’s arm on the way out. From the bottom position Mir started a kimura attempt, but Nogueria appeared to have fought it off. Relentlessly, Mir didn’t let go and acutually shifted his weight until he was in top position with the kimura locked. The move left Mir with a spectacular submission victory and Nogueria with a broken arm.

Machida lies on the canvas unconscious after being defeated by Jon Jones (Photo by Nick Laham/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

The main event was one of the most anticipated fights in recent memory, as Lyoto Machida challenged Jon Jones for the UFC Light heavyweight Championship. The fight was highly anticipated because both men matched up well stylistically.

It was no surprise when they spent most of the first round feeling each other out and not landing many strikes. Towards the three minute mark Machida landed several strikes, even a left hook that staggered Jones.  Machida, however, was not able to capitalize as Jones used his reach advantage as well as take down defense to keep his distance and slow the pace.

The second round saw a nervous Machida, as he uncharacteristically charged at Jones with punches. The two men exchanged strikes again, only this time Jones was able to get a takedown and land a devastating elbow from guard that bloodied Machida.

They both slowly came to their feet as Jones smothered Machida against the cage. Seconds later Jones would get the victory by putting Machida asleep via standing guillotine, thus retaining his championship.

As I mentioned before, I tried not to be a fan but I couldn’t. From flash knockouts, to upsets, to jaw-dropping submissions and a title fight this card had it all. Even for the casual MMA fan UFC 140 was exciting from beginning to end.

NBA owners and players ratified the new CBA on Thursday officially ending the lockout, but on the eve of the start of training camps and free agency, plenty of players were changing jerseys.

Shane Battier and Eddy Curry take their talents to South Beach in a whirlwind of trades and free agent signings in the NBA.

The day started off with a decision-making tweet – the decision part 2 – that Shane Battier promised via Twitter Wednesday night. Battier announced he’s signing with the Miami Heat and tweeted “Let’s go #Heat” while taking his talents to south beach.

The former All-Star and scoring champion Tracy McGrady agreed to sign with the Atlanta Hawks, the LA Lakers agreed to a 1-year deal with Jason Kapono expected to be worth $1.2 million, and Chuck Hayes heads back to his hometown as he’s expected to sign a 4-year $20 million deal with the Sacramento Kings.

A couple of injury-prone big men made moves as well, the Heat will sign Eddy Curry, who’s only played 10 games in the last three years due to injuries, and “often-injured” Greg Oden will resign with the Blazers to a $8.9 million qualifying offer, Oden’s agent said.

Piston’s Tayshaun Prince makes a silent by move re-signing with the Detroit Pistons to a 4-year $27 million deal. Shannon Brown is parting ways with the Lakers for a 1-year $3.5 million deal with the Suns.

Talks arouse as Tyson Chandler is the target for several teams, Golden State and the Clippers being the frontrunners. Meanwhile Caron Butler will sign with Clippers to a 3-year $24 million deal.

Not too long after, sources report Chandler is “98% sure” he’ll become a New York Knick. In order for the Knicks to sign Chandler they’d have to give up Chauncey Billups by either trading him to Dallas or using their amnesty clause on him. The Knicks will then be looking at a big 3, literally – Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler.

Implications of the Knicks being out of the Chris Paul extravaganza popped up, but shortly were shattered as ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported that Knicks would put Stoudemire on the trading block in order to sign Paul.

The Paul frenzy got heated as the Clippers, Golden State and Boston all have made offers and the Knicks showed interest. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reported the 3-team trade proposal going on between Rockets-Hornets-Lakers for a Paul trade. The transaction will land Paul in LA, Gasol with the Rockets and Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Goran Dragic, Lamar Odom and a 1^st and 2^ndround pick to New Orleans.

The three-way Paul trade was said to be “done” until later it was reported that NBA owners protested and pressured David Stern to veto the trade. Sources reported the “deal is off,” league officials pulled the plug “for basketball reasons.”

The Hornets are a league-owned team and don’t want to be responsible for such transaction. Dan Gilbert, the owner or the Cleveland Cavaliers, emailed David Stern complaining about the Paul trade. The email read:

Commissioner,

It would be a travesty to allow the Lakers to acquire Chris Paul in the apparent trade being discussed.

This trade should go to a vote of the 29 owners of the Hornets.

Over the next three seasons this deal would save the Lakers approximately $20 million in salaries and approximately $21 million in luxury taxes. That $21 million goes to non-taxpaying teams and to fund revenue sharing.

I cannot remember ever seeing a trade where a team got by far the best player in the trade and saved over $40 million in the process. And it doesn’t appear that they would give up any draft picks, which might allow to later make a trade for Dwight Howard. (They would also get a large trade exception that would help them improve their team and/or eventually trade for Howard.) When the Lakers got Pau Gasol (at the time considered an extremely lopsided trade) they took on tens of millions in additional salary and luxury tax and they gave up a number of prospects (one in Marc Gasol who may become a max-salary player).

I just don’t see how we can allow this trade to happen.

I know the vast majority of owners feel the same way that I do.

When will we just change the name of 25 of the 30 teams to the Washington Generals?

Please advise….

Dan G.

Talks remain at a halt and Paul is seeking a way to file a lawsuit against the NBA.

The Howard’s made statements regarding their future. Josh Howard said that he’s interested in signing wherever Denver Nuggets’ Nene signs, Chicago, San Antonio, New Jersey and Denver being possible destinations. Dwight Howard prepares to ask for a trade to the Nets.

A busy day in sports headlined by rush-hour movement in the NBA and Albert Pujols signed a 10-year $250 million deal with the Angels, I’m surprised I didn’t see the Twitter whale all day.

After coming home with a 6-1 win against the San Antonio Rampage, the Houston Aeros lost 2-1 to the Oklahoma City Barons in a shootout on Thursday afternoon.

Despite holding off 34 shots on goal, Aeros goalie Darcy Kuemper faltered against center Josh Green for the winning shootout goal. Kuemper made a strong showing in his home season debut on goal despite the loss.

“We’re very spoiled here with our goaltender. He works hard and wants to start every game. He doesn’t want to get scored on and that’s what you want,” said John Torchetti, Aeros’ head coach. “He’s a bigger goalie and takes up a lot of the net, but he’s really detailed.”

The teams were evenly matched throughout the first period with both teams ending the first with 10 shots on goal and tied at zero. However, the Barons began to place pressure on the Aeros’ defense by pulling their goalie within the first two minutes of the game hoping to score on a power play.

Despite being previously ranked first in the western division, the Aeros came into the game at an offensive disadvantage with right wing Jed Ortmeyer and centers Jeff Taffe and David MacIntyre being out for injuries.

“Bottom line is that our defensemen have to get the puck to the net. It doesn’t matter who’s in the line up,” said Torchetti.

The Aeros defense was able hold off the Barons until the second period with a goal by defenseman Alex Plante on a power play.

The Barons lead the game despite the multiple scoring opportunities for the Aeros on power plays. The Aeros was unable to score on six power plays, which added to on the Barons’ penalty kill average of 84.8 percent.

“Their d(efense) was trying to shoot to get rebounds. Our d(efense) was trying to score. Your job is to get the puck to the net. When you’re trying to score, that means you’re going high and that’s not going to work,” said Torchetti.

We have to do a better job and our power play has to improve.”

The Aeros was able to push the game into overtime with a tip-in goal by right wing Jared Palmer in the last two minutes of regular game play.

With loss, the Aeros (14-4-2-5) and the Barons (17-6-0-1) are tied of first in the West Division. The Aeros will play the San Antonio Rampage Friday at 7:35 p.m. at the Toyota Center.

Case Keenum felt pressure from the Golden Eagles. Photo by: Jairo Razo

The undefeated No. 6 Houston Cougars and its record-breaking senior class made their last season appearance at Roberston Stadium, losing 49-28 against the No. 24 Southern Miss Golden Eagles in the Conference USA Championship game.

Southern Miss was able to contain the Cougars high octane offense for most of the game. The Golden Eagles, the most improved team in college football, allowed just 20.9 points per game during the regular season and rank in the top 30 in defense.

Houston normally averages over 600 yards in total offense and 52.7 points per game, but the nation’s more prolific offense went missing in action. The Cougars were only able to muster 428 total yards of offense.

Case Keenum finished the game 41 for 67, 373 yards and two interceptions. Justin Johnson’s big game went un-noticed catching 12 passes for 171 yards and two TDs.

Instead of Houston adding to their win streak and strengthening their case for a BCS Bowl bid, Southern Miss turned the game into a big pay day for themselves, striking with several critical plays to win the C-USA title for the first time since 2003.

Southern Miss QB David Austin led the way for the Golden Eagles completing 17 of 33 for 279 along with four TDs and RB Tracey Lampley caught six passes for 125 yards and two TDs.

Southern Miss took an early 14-0 lead when David connected with Lampley for 16 yards and a score.

Houston was able to find its rhythm in the second quarter with two quick scores from WR Justin Johnson and RB Michael Hayes to tie the game at 14.

It wouldn’t last long as WR Dominique Sullivan’s 69 yard catch put the Golden Eagles up by one score, and later in the same quarter Southern Miss returned a blocked punt for 11 yards putting them up 28-14.

After Houston RB Michael Hayes’ four yard run in the third quarter made the game 28-21.

Houston fans express disappointment at a team that did not resemble the Cougars they cheered for in previous games. Photo by: Jairo Razo

Houston fans felt a rally coming, but the Cougars comeback ended just one series later when Lampley’s 28-yard run set up RB Desmond Johnson for a 17 yard TD.

After a Houston three-and-out on their very next possession, the Golden Eagles found the end zone once more when Davis found Lampley open for a 61-yard touchdown and Southern Miss had a 42-21 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Houston would only be able to score once in the fourth quarter with three seconds left in the game.

The loss ends any hope of BCS ambitions.

Before the game, Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin was rumored to be going to Texas A & M. A claim he has denied.

Houston and Southern Miss faced each other in the 2006 C-USA Championship Game, which Houston won 34 – 20 at Robertson Stadium.