Instead of Iverson, sign Swift

No, no, not Stromile. The sexy blonde one.

In an interview aired on NBC last night, Taylor Swift sheepishly told NBC anchor Matt Lauer that she knew it took one whole minute for her to sell out a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Baffling. Only a blink of an eye was needed for 18,200 seats to be sold to see "You Belong to Me" and "White Horse."

For a team stuck in neutral at 3-13, the Knicks could sure use something to pull their heads out. How about that 12th (wo)man on the end of the bench wearing nothing underneath the snap-on warmups? Think distraction, like Connie in Mighty Ducks.

Dixon to start at QB for Steelers on Sunday

Former University of Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon will get the starting nod against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers, replacing injured veterans Ben Rothlisberger (concussion) and Charlie Batch (wrist).

Dixon, a second-year Oakland native, has one career pass to his name. Dixon threw for 2,136 yards and ran for 583 while adding a total of 29 touchdowns in his injury-shortened senior season at Oregon.

Top Cheating Moments in Soccer History

Following the media feeding frenzy (here and here) surrounding Theirry Henry's apparent handball during France's World Cup qualifying win over Ireland Wednesday, it's time to take a look back in history to some memorable cheating, or at least embellishment, moments in soccer's storied history.

3. Christiano Ronaldo's dive against England...and others - Nonwithstanding his status as one of the most prolific and dangerous players with the ball at his feet or in front of goal, Ronaldo does have a propensity for going down quite easily near any hint of contact. Ronaldo, who can employ the dive in many ways to earn a set piece or a penalty, has used the technique frequently in club and national team matches. While I won't cite a specific example to indict Ronaldo here, the guy does his fair share of cheating.

2. Maradona's "Hand of God" - The gold standard of handballs, Maradona's highly controversial handball helped Argentina to a 2-1 win over England in the quarterfinals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Argentina would later go on to win the final. After his seething rant following Argentina sealing their bid to the World Cup finals in South Africa next summer, Maradona has surely immortalized himself as anything but a stand-up guy. His previous cocaine usage won't canonize him with soccer supporters, either.

1. Henry's handball - While Maradona's handball may have come at the highest level of competition for soccer, Henry's handball was in the qualification for that very same World Cup competition. However, the kicker here is that Henry handled the ball not once, but twice. Plus, the incident happened in extra time, with the match almost certainly going to penalties, barring a late (kegal) goal by either side. Additionally, play was stopped for 97 seconds to determine whether or not the ball had been handled. After a pow-wow between match officials, Henry's goal was given the go-ahead. In a match clearly dominated by the Irish, France escaped with the aggregate goal victory and the berth to the World Cup.

A friend's take on the Tennessee football team's ongoings

The beauty of the Web 2.0 world is the advent of user generated content. A prime example of that? Well, this blog right here, of course -- a fine example of why the blogging folks like myself matter in getting the word out.

Okay, enough idealistic diplomacy. Instead, I'll hit you with a dose of more user generated content: an opinion piece authored by a high school friend and a student at the University of Tennessee. Though the student newspaper at Tennessee turned his letter to the editor down, who am I to blockade the dissemination of valuable opinions?

After overhearing people discussing it seemingly all day, I really think everyone is being a little too harsh on our freshman football felons. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not condoning their actions, and I’m sure we all shared the same reaction when we saw the news headline that three of our players were arrested, thinking to ourselves “These guys are dummies. Oh my God, please don’t let it be Eric Berry.... wait, what the hell is a 'mike edwards'.” However, the outcry of criticism that has followed is confusing to me. First of all, contrary to what I keep hearing, I think this reflects terrifically upon the integrity of our University, proving that our boosters clearly aren’t providing our players with any illegal gifts or cash to play here. Secondly, stop with the double-standard when judging athletes; I mean, let’s be honest, who hasn’t at least thought about committing an armed robbery once or twice in their life? Granted, these players didn’t quite Oceans 11 their failed heist, as the Strip doesn’t exactly qualify as “incognito.” In fact, if they had taken their pellet gun a few blocks into the Fort, it would have been an email from UT police breaking the news, rather than a suave Sportscenter host. Anyway, my point is that I think we should ease up on Nu’Keese and Janzen, and stop pretending like anybody actually cares whether our football players have “moral integrity” just so long as they pay enough visits to the endzone. Perhaps I’m simply numb to it, since I’ve been getting robbed repeatedly by the UT athletic department every time I want a football ticket.

-Brennan Scotland

Top 3 players who won't contribute to Zags' scoreline this season

There's been lots of chatter on the sports front as to who will fill the scoring holes around Matt Bouldin this season: Will Demetri Goodson turn into a threat from the perimeter to go along with his Flash-like quickness slashing to the cup? Can Robert Sacre stay healthy and provide the big body inside Gonzaga needs to keep opponents out of the lane and off the boards?

I don't know any better than you do. Instead, I'll tell you what I do know: who won't be contributing to the stat sheet with Austin Daye, Jeremy Pargo, Ira Brown and Josh Heytvelt departed.

1. David Stockton: Okay, he has the pedigree for being a star at GU -- but so what? With dad John and grandfather Houston in the cushy seats at McCarthey Athletic Center, you can bet they'll want to see the little guy get some time on the floor. Problem is, he doesn't have the attributes to help the team out. Clearly undersized for the Division I and even Western Athletic Conference game at 5-10 and a gaunt 150, his physical attributes won't allow him to bang around on the floor with larger, more athletic opponents (Read: Call up Karl Malone at Lousiana Tech and hit the weights). Additionally, he's buried in the pecking order behind G.J. Vilarino and Grant Gibbs, so he won't see the hardwood much this year.

2. Chris Pontarolo-Maag: After playing second fiddle to last year's most notable walk-on suiting up for the Zags, Andrew Sorenson (19 games played, 3.9 minutes per game), Pontarolo-Maag steps into the high-profile role of the Zags best practice player/cheerleader/garbage time hotshot. In seven games of action last year, he went 1-4 from the field and missed his only three-pointer he attempted. This is good news for Pontarolo-Maag, who should be on pace to shatter those standards from last year and move a few rungs up the Zags all-time scoring list this year when he gets some time off the pine.

3. Mike Hart: Another of the walk-on breed in the vein of Pontarolo-Maag and Sorenson. Although he has the size (6-5) of a D-I prospect, I assume the skill set isn't as filled out as Coach Few would like to see, which explains his 3 minutes of time he logged in the exhibition game against Alberta. Hart does have a record of success from Jesuit High School in Portland, where his team made the state tournament annually and he played against the likes of Kyle Singler and Kevin Love during his prep basketball career.

Whitworth soccer could nail down trifecta of titles tomorrow

On the precipiece of a historic day tomorrow, the Whitworth men's soccer team could venture into uncharted territory tomorrow. A win over visiting in-state rivals Whitman College would give the Pirates a third consecutive Northwest Conference title, a feat that has not come to pass in almost 20 years. Whitworth was the last team to complete the three-peat, winning three straight from 1988-90.

But Whitworth sports have seen a revival over the past 10 years, as teams across the board have pushed the school into the upper echelon of athletic achievement in the region. The Whitworth football team is 66-29 over the past nine-plus seasons. The women's cross country team ran to their first Northwest Conference title in school history this season, following up on a second-place team finish in 2008 and the first ever NCAA Championships qualification in 2002. The men's cross country team won their first NWC title in 2008 and earned their first berth to the NCAA Championships.

The men's golf team won three straight NWC titles from 2004-2007. The men's basketball team will look to build upon three straight conference titles when the season tips off this fall. The women's soccer team is enjoying their second winningest season in school history at 16-3 this year. And the men's team has won over 73 percent of their games in their last ten-plus seasons.

It's been a banner decade for Whitworth sports. And on the cusp of adding another trophy to the athletics case, fans should be content to sit back and enjoy the golden age of Division III athletics in Spokane.