Here's your wakeup call -- a combination of newsworthy and/or interesting tidbits -- for Thursday, February 28:

AUTO RACING

• It's been quite the week for Jimmie Johnson . . . (AP)
• . . . capped by Lowe's --delighted over his Daytona 500 win -- extending his contract through 2015. (AP)
• Don't know what Jeremy Clements said or who he said it to, but, man, NASCAR didn't like it. (AP)
• A fan who lived through it described Saturday's Daytona crash as "a scene from a horror movie". (Reuters via nbcsports.com)

BASEBALL

• Our long national angst is over: Guido The Sausage has been found. (AP)
• Amanda McCarthy was so nervous about her husband Brandon's return to live pitching for the first time since being struck in the head by a line drive last September that she mistook the four strikeouts he recorded in his two innings of work as "a million". (AP)
• The Yankees? Cutting payroll? The head of the players' union will believe it when he sees it. (AP)

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

• You're the No. 4 team in the country, and you blow a 15-point lead in the last 10 minutes to a team that hasn't won a league game all season. That pretty much sums up the sad state of affairs in Michigan this fine morning. (AP)
• John Thompson III says Georgetown's double-overtime victory over Connecticut isn't "a good win, it's a great win." (AP)
• No. 5 Miami, fresh off its first ACC loss, bounces back against Virginia Tech. (AP)
• No. 18 Saint Louis isn't affected by the pressure of being in the Top 25 for the first time this season, not if its 70-53 romp over Saint Joseph's is any indication. (AP)
• So who helped their tournament chances Wednesday night? Take a look. (NBC's College Basketball Talk)

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

• Vince Wilfork's name has popped up in the NCAA investigation of Miami. (AP)
• Johnny Football and a T-shirt maker are headed to court. (AP)
• And Jameill Showers, the guy J. Football beat out for the starting quarterback job at Texas A&M, is headed to UTEP. (AP)
• The four Alabama players arrested for robbery have been kicked off the team. (AP)
• Fran Ganter, who's been a player or assistant coach at Penn State for 46 years, is retiring. (AP)
• Alexander Ogletree, a part-time starting fullback for Georgia, is leaving the team for undisclosed medical reasons, though he'll keep his athletic scholarship and plans to continue classes as he remains on track to graduate. (AP) 

HOCKEY

• The Canadiens get their revenge on the Maple Leafs and are now 7-0-2 in their last nine games. (AP)
• You can go home again, eh, Simon Gagne? (CSN Philly)
• Of course, how can you go home when you feel like you never left? (CSN Philly)
• Come on, Mike. Tell us how you really feel about Alexander Ovechkin. (CSN Washington)
• Ryan Kesler's out six weeks because of a broken foot. (AP)
• By the time he gets back, maybe Cory Schneider's "ridiculous" struggles will be over. (NBC's Pro Hockey Talk)

PRO BASKETBALL

• Oops! (NBC's Pro Basketball Talk)
• But that missed last-second shot can't cover the fact that things seem to be falling apart in Wizard Land. (CSN Washington)
• Looks like 'Sheed's comeback is over. (AP)
• It's tough when your guy scores 54 points and you still lose. (CSN Bay Area)
• The Suns end the Spurs' 18-game home winning streak, though it takes overtime to do it. (AP)
• The Grizzlies do something no team in their franchise history has ever done: They erase a 25-point deficit as they beat the Mavs. (AP)
• First his ankle, now his knee; poor James Harden's had a rough February. (CSN Houston)
• If you can do it in pregame, goes the cry, you can do it in the Dunk Contest. So LeBron says okay, I won't do it in pregame anymore. (Pro Basketball Talk)
• Roy Hibbert and David Lee each get suspended for a game after their recent on-court tussle. (Pro Basketball Talk)
• Thibodeau: Rose's recovery, Bulls' struggles not intertwined http://www.csnchicago.com/blog/bulls-talk/thibodeau-roses-recovery-bulls...
• Former WNBA player and Olympic gold medalist Chamique Holdsclaw is being indicted in a November 2012 shooting in Atlanta. 

PRO FOOTBALL

• This Alex Smith deal may resurrect the 49ers' dynasty. (NBC's Pro Football Talk)
• Still, there are people in San Francisco who are going to miss Alex. (CSN Bay Area)
• Will Smith follow the lead of another 49er quarterback who went to Kansas City? (CSN Bay Area)
• And the 'Niners aren't done; it looks like they're planning to make a run at Darrelle Revis. (Pro Football Talk)
• Chris Kelsay is calling it quits. (AP)
• Tom Brady's not the only guy restructuring his contract to give his team more cap space. (Pro Football Talk)
• Attention, NFL: There are questions you just can't ask in a job interview. (AP)

SOCCER

• "Mass confrontation" is a thing of the past in MLS. (NBC's Pro Soccer Talk)

TENNIS

• Mardy Fish says he's recovered from the heart condition that's sidelined him for the last six months and is ready to resume a full schedule. (AP)
• Rafael Nadal may pull out of Indian Wells to spare his knees. (AP)