Wakeup Call: Moss still has ‘love and respect' for Patriots

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Here's your wakeup call -- a combination of newsworthy andor interesting tidbits -- for Thursday, December 13:

BASEBALL
Everyone talks about how much money the Red Sox saved in last year's megadeal with the Dodgers, but they're paying L.A. 11.7 million over the next three years. (AP)

And the Dodgers may have used a bit of that cash to acquire Skip Schumaker from the Cardinals. (AP)

Looks like some of George Steinbrenner rubbed off on Don Mattingly after all those years: Donnie Baseball says that if the Dodgers "lose, we're failures". (NBC's Hardball Talk)

The Mets' negotiations with R.A. Dickey are getting nasty. (Hardball Talk)

The Nationals still think Adam LaRoche is coming back. (Hardball Talk)

COLLEGE BASKETBALL
His making an obscene gesture to the Villanova student section after hitting a 3-pointer Tuesday night prompted Saint Joseph's to suspend Halil Kanacevic for two games, and for both player and school to issue the requisite apologies. (AP)

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Cincinnati's working hard to put out the fire started by reports that its new coach, Tommy Tuberville, left some Texas Tech recruits at the dinner table when the Bearcats came calling. (NBC's College Football Talk)

Texas Tech's replacement for Tuberville is a guy who spent a season in New England as Tom Brady's backup, way back when. (AP)

Latest to declare for the draft: Tennessee Tech's Da'Rick Rogers, whom Mel Kuiper Jr. says has "as much talent as any receiver" who'll be available next spring. (AP)

And Arkansas running back Knile Davis. (AP)

Butnot AJ McCarron; he's returning to Alabama. (AP)

Washington State says its internal investigation turned up no evidence of player abuse by coach Mike Leach. (AP)

GOLF
It appears Tom Watson is the surprise choice as the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain. (AP)

Some believe Watson is an "amazing" selection. (golfchannel.com)

Not Larry Nelson, though. (AP)

Food poisoning ended Greg Norman's quest for the Australian PGA championship after two holes. (AP)

HOCKEY
How fed up are the fans? One of them is starting a grass-roots "Just Drop It" campaign, urging people to boycott one game -- no tickets, no TV, no merchandise, not a penny spent on any NHL-related item -- for each game cancelled after Dec. 21. And more than 11,000 have "liked" the boycott's Facebook page so far. (AP)

Looks like the last offer from BettmanJacobs et al is take it or leave it. (CSN Washington)

Which disappoints Donald Fehr. (NBC's Pro Hockey Talk)

And Brendan Morrison. (Pro Hockey Talk)

Anxious for some hockey? Get your tickets now for next week's thriller between Team Stamkos and Team Subban at the former Maple Leaf Gardens. (AP)

PRO BASKETBALL
Substitute "delightful" for "baffling", and we'd feel the same as Kobe Bryant about the Lakers' struggles. (NBC's Pro Basketball Talk)

And I'm sure Delonte West is just what they need to calm those roiled waters. (Pro Basketball Talk)

Think they had a thriller at the Garden last night? Check out the Warriors' last-second win over the Heat. In Miami, no less. (CSN Bay Area)

James Harden was almost a Wizard. Almost. (CSN Washington)

And if the deal had gone through, he wouldn't have been able to help the Rockets beat Washington with a 31-point performance last night. (AP)

That's nine in a row for Harden's old team, the Thunder. (AP)

Finishing your tax returns may have you depressed -- especially if we go over the fiscal cliff -- but you can relax on the night on April 15 by watching the WNBA draft live. (AP)

PRO FOOTBALL
Randy Moss still has "love and respect for the New England Patriots" . . . and he must, because he sure talks a Patriot ("hopefully we go out there Sunday night and give it a good game") when discussing Sunday night's San Francisco-New England showdown. (CSN Bay Area)

Roger Goodell's handling of Bountygate may have been criticized -- and challenged legally -- by the players and overturned by his predecessor, but he continues to claim victory and says he'll approach future disciplinary problems in similar fashion. (NBC's Pro Football Talk)

That could be one of the reasons Drew Brees thinks the commissioner has "little to no credibility" with the players. (Pro Football Talk)

And Goodell's defiance may be brought up in court as part of Jonathan Vilma's defamation case against him. (AP)

Ex-Saints assistant Gregg Williams testified to Paul Tagliabue that he wanted to stop the bounty system once Goodell started poking around, but was prevented from doing so by current interim head coach Joe Vitt. (AP)

Forging ahead, Goodell revealed that the owners are discussing an expanded playoff field . . . which could lead to franchises in Los Angeles and London. (Pro Football Talk)

RGIII says he's feelin' strong every day. (CSN Washington)

Man, being a Ravens linebacker deserves hazardous duty pay. (CSN Baltimore)

To quote Sonny Corleone, Brandon Marshall's taking this week's game against the Packers very, very personal. (CSN Chicago)

He won't be taking it personal against Charles Woodson, though, because Woodson's not playing. (AP)

The NFL's directory of instant replay is upset the Titans were handed a touchdown last week when the replay official didn't get the proper camera shot -- one that showed Andrew Luck's knee clearly hitting the ground before throwing a pick-six -- to the referee, and vows "that's something that we have to make sure doesn't happen again". (Pro Football Talk)

Sidney Rice may sit out against the Bills. (AP)

Dez Bryant doesn't want to sit out, so he's seeing another doctor about the broken finger on his left hand. (AP)

Donnie Jones is a punter, and he's the first to admit: He and his ilk aren't "NFL football players" . . . Monday night's takedown of Wes Welker to the contrary. (CSN Houston)

So if he's not an NFL foootball player, why was Vikings punter Chris Kluwe fined by the league? Well, player or not, you cross the uniform cops at your peril. (AP)

Attention Eric Dickerson: Adrian Peterson's coming after you. (Pro Football Talk)

SOCCER
A tip of the hat to Abby Wambach: She's now the second player to score 150 international goals. (AP via nbcsports.com)

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