From TMZ:

O.J. Simpson was sentenced to 15 years in prison, a judge ordered today. He is eligible for parole after six.

O.J. pleaded his case to the judge before she sentenced him, but to no avail.

Simpson was convicted on October 3 of 12 criminal counts, including kidnapping, armed robbery and burglary after he and a few pals broke into a Nevada hotel room in an attempt to recover allegedly stolen sports memorabilia.

Simpson’s cohort, CJ Stewart, was also sentenced to 16 years. He is eligible for parole after six.

David Cook, a lawyer for the Goldman family, tells TMZ, “Fred Goldman is certainly going to wish Mr. Simpson a pleasant journey.”

Thanks to Quite to the Contrary

From Sean McAdam:

The Red Sox scouting and signing of Junichi Tazawa has created a controversy, angering baseball officials here and in Japan.

The Nippon Pro Baseball league released a statement earlier that was sharply critical of teams that had shown interest in Tazawa, suggesting they had violated a “gentleman’s agreement,” by signing a Japanese amateur player and labeling their actions “truly regrettable.”

Last week, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told the New York Times [NYT] his team considered Tazawa “hands off.”

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein insisted his team did nothing that violated any rules or agreements and pointed out that about 50 amateur players – none, admittedly, with as high a profile as Tazawa – had previously signed with major league organizations.

It’s called Bruins. That’s how it suppose to go right ? Well, with the Bruins (17-4-4) off to a white-hot start the inevitable pink jersey’s and hat sales  come with it. The problem is the Bruins don’t exactly know their fan base too well. The Bruins have plenty of fans who pee sitting down. The problem is, that these North Shore chicks, yeah that’s what they are, they want to wear the authentic Marc Savard jersey’s, or some throwback Don Sweeney, or Craig Janney jersey. Not a pink one. These aren’t Red Sox fans. Bruins fans are about as die-hard as they come and they need to be. They have had very little too cheer about in the last 15 years. These aren’t your fake female Red Sox fans, who begam watching the Sox in the fall of 2004. They won’t be buying any pink jersey’s. I mean, have you seen them ? They look like John Goodman with long hair.

From RJ Bell at Pregame.com:

Las Vegas, Nevada (December 5, 2008) – Heading into the last week of the regular season, there’s tons of watercolor conversation about college football. People are especially curious about the opinion of Las Vegas, since sportsbooks back their opinions with big money.

RJ Bell of Pregame.com has polled numerous Las Vegas and offshore sports betting professionals. Listed below are the top 8 BCS teams, ranked from a betting perspective. The number beside each is the estimated number of points that team would be underdogs to Florida (the most highly regarded team) on a neutral field.

Florida . . . (BSC #4)
Oklahoma +1 . . . (BCS #2)
USC +5 . . . (BCS #5)
Texas +6 . . . (BCS #3)
Alabama +8 . . . (BCS #1)
Penn St +11 . . . (BCS #8)
Texas Tech +11 . . . (BCS #7)
Utah +17 . . . (BCS #6)

For example, Florida would be approximately a 1 point favorite over Oklahoma, and a 17 point favorite over Utah. You can compare any two teams with these rankings: the team with the higher number would be the underdog by the difference between its number and its opponent’s number. For example, Oklahoma would be -4 over USC, and Penn St and Texas Tech would be “even” (also called “pick’em”). Texas Tech would be -6 over Utah.

A little known fact is that Las Vegas is no longer the center of the sports betting world. Many of the sharpest professionals bet offshore. Las Vegas oddsmakers follow this action closely, but for political reasons they are often uncomfortable disclosing this fact. Pregame.com takes into account experts worldwide, providing the clearest estimate of the true sports betting market.

Lastly, keep in mind that these rankings are unable to account for the nuances of individual team match-ups. Such nuances can affect a point spread, but rarely by more than 1-point.

This shouldn’t come as surprise to anyone, after Thomas broke his arm against the New York Jets a few weeks ago, the Patriots have now placed him on injured reserve. They didn’t immediately put Thomas on the injured reserve list because they had hopes that he might be able to comeback this season. This is a crushing loss to the Patriots, as Thomas was perhaps their best defensive player, who really came along this year after being moved back to his more natural outside position. More from Boston.com:

From Buster Olney:

Heard this: With Dustin Pedroia now locked up to a long-term deal, the Red Sox are hoping to get long-term contracts worked out with Kevin Youkilis and Jon Lester; colleague Peter Gammons reports that the Red Sox may have something wrapped up with Youkilis quickly.

Also, this one comes as bit of a surprise, but unlikely they will ever get serious into the bidding for Sabathia. More than likely, the Sox just want to hear what Sabathia’a representatives have too say, and they may try to drive up the price.

The Red Sox are meeting with CC Sabathia sometime in the next few days, and so will GM Brian Cashman, who reportedly met with Scott Boras, the agent for Mark Teixeira and Derek Lowe. It’s unclear whether the Red Sox are seriously interested in trying to compete with the Yankees’ $140 million offer to Sabathia, or if they are just doing their due diligence and preparing alternatives in their winter shopping.

No, Al Jefferson is not evolving into the Pete Rose of the NBA, nor does he has Tim Donaghy’s number on speed dial. We think. But, Jefferson had a bet with his current Minneosta Timberwolves teammate, Sebastian Telfair, if Telfair could dunk a basketball, reports Hoops World. What did the pride of Coney Island do ? Well, Telfair threw the ball off the backboard and dunked it, a la Kenny Smith in the 1992 dunk contest. Well, much like the “ladies” who I have come to my house, Telfair is still waiting for his money. Apparently, Jefferson doesn’t pay people who he can beat up. More from Hoops World:

Amusing Note: Apparently Al Jefferson and Sebastian Telfair had a friendly wager; Al challenged Bassy’s ability to dunk the ball, putting $500 on it. Bassy apparently tossed the ball off the backboard and jammed it home. Bassy openly questioned Al about where his money was; Al responded jokingly “I don’t pay people I can beat up…” Guess Al forgets Sebastian is from Conley Island – they don’t play in Coney Island.

Even though the Red Sox have offered arbitration to pitcher Paul Byrd, don’t expect him back, reports Ken Rosenthal:

The Red Sox offered salary arbitration to right-hander Paul Byrd knowing that he wants to pitch for a team close to his home in Atlanta. Byrd, 38, is virtually certain to decline the offer. If he can’t pitch for the Braves, he could attempt to sign with one of the Florida teams, the Marlins or Rays, or one of the mid-Atlantic teams, the Orioles or Nationals …