I’m a big World Juniors fan.

By Josh Satler - www.profootball101.org So we’ve finally come to the point in the season when things really begin to count: the playoffs. And to kick off our coverage, we’ll start with a game that has two unexpected visitors who decided to crash the party in the 9-7 Arizona Cardinals and 11-5 Atlanta Falcons.

The Indians have acquired Mark DeRosa from the Chicago Cubs for four minor leaguers. I like DeRosa a lot. He’s a versatile hard-working player, and an all-around great athlete - you’ve probably heard the stories about him playing QB at Penn

Willy Taveras has signed a 2 year deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Taveras played last season in Colorado, where he had an off-year, with a low hitting and on-base percentage. He was good in 2005, when he was runner-up for Rookie of the Year with the Philadelphia Phillies.

With a still ongoing investigation, it’s been reported that Alexei Cherepanov, the Rangers prospect who died tragically in October, was apparently blood doping which may have caused his death. Blood doping refers to a practise which involves boosting the number of red blood cells

Ben Gordon has become the Bulls all-time leader in three pointers shot. The former leader was Scottie Pippin who, along with Michael Jordan, led the Bulls to 6 championships in 8 years during the 1990s.

The Chicago Blackhawks won a franchise record 9th straight win last night against the Minnesota Wild, winning by a score of 4-1. They mentioned that they were feeling a little bit like the Boston Celtics and they have reached the same level that the San Jose Sharks are at this year

  After blowing their wad of money on players like CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and now even Mark Teixeira, the Yankeees may be forced to part ways with their ace pitcher Andy Pettitte . Though they have offered him $10 million for a one year contract, Pettitte’s agent has told him to decline this offer, as he was being paid nearly $16 million per year for the past two years

  While the Lakers stopping the Celtics winning streak at 19 seems like the biggest NBA story right now, the matchup between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat holds much more excitement. This Friday night matchup will feature the top two 08 draft picks , with Derrick Rose (1) playing for the Bulls and Michael Beasley (2) on the Heat. This will be a good demonstration (though not really, since Rose has proven himself) as to whether or not John Paxson made the right choice for the Bulls.

  Though the apex of the holiday has already come and gone, there’s still more one present for all the world to enjoy. The preparations are all but complete and a high-tech ice monitoring system has been installed at Wrigley Field in preparation for the 2009 Winter Classic.