The Houston Texans made probably the most of the first playoff appearance in franchise history a week ago, stomping the Bengals 31-10 in your own home, however the climb towards the Super Bowl will get a great deal steeper because they mind to Baltimore. The large, bad Ravens are 15-1 in your own home during the last two seasons, quitting just 16 points a game title at M&T Bank Stadium.

This really is another rematch in the regular season, because the Ravens beat the Texans 29-14 in Week 6. Baltimore obtained in each and every quarter of this contest and held the Texans to under 300 total yards of offense (including just 93 hurrying yards). T.J. Yates was inactive for your game, as Matt Schaub was still being in the controls. The rookie quarterback is going to be looking over the type of scrimmage at Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs and Erectile dysfunction Reed, and he'll suffer from a Baltimore crowd that has not seen a house playoff game since before Joe Flacco showed up around. The area is going to be jumping and crowd noise will certainly be an problem for that youthful QB.

Baltimore beat four playoff teams within their stadium this season -- Pittsburgh, Houston, Cincinnati and Bay Area -- holding these to typically 13 points per game. I expect the Ravens to consider proper care of business in exactly the same now, understanding that victory coupled with a Patriot loss would place the conference championship game in Baltimore.

Listed here are the 3 critical questions within this AFC divisional game:

Can the Texans' defense contain Ray Grain?

Play Baltimore from M&T Bank Stadium, and Ray Grain could be neutralized, which will help explain the Ravens' 4-4 road record this year. Regrettably for that Texans, farmville will occur in Baltimore, where Grain earnings 26 touches, 132 yards, and 1.5 touchdowns per game. When the Texans can't contain Grain, they'll lose.

When these teams faced off in M&T Bank Stadium in October, Grain had 28 touches for 161 yards, but he did not score a touchdown. The Texans' defense has not quit a hurrying touchdown within their last five road games. Houston defensive coordinator Wade Phillips will strategy round the Ray Grain attack. The issue Phillips needs to cope with is first-and-10 situations. The Ravens are 47 percent pass and can let Joe Flacco toss the ball against run looks through the defense. Houston's first-lower run defense is great, quitting just 3.89 yards per carry, and so i expect some significant play action creating first lower with Grain being the check-lower receiver. Search for him like a runner more frequently on second lower.

Advantage: Ravens

Can T.J. Yates handle pressure?

Yates was designed to spend this season developing and learning the National football league game. However when the very best two quarterbacks (Schaub and Matt Leinart) went lower with injuries, he needed to step-up. He's 3-3 like a starter, but it's obvious the Texans are attempting to limit his duties. In the six begins (with one game reduced by injuries), he's had 139 pass attempts and it has been sacked once every nine attempts. The Ravens' defense will make it important to decelerate the Texans' run game early and pressure Yates to conquer them. Yates just four touchdown passes like a starter. Andre Manley skipped a few days 6 loss towards the Ravens, however it might be tough to get him the ball Sunday mid-day. Baltimore has recorded 33 of their 48 sacks in your own home, which translates to simply over four per game. Lewis and company reached Schaub four occasions captured, and it may be worse for Yates this time around around.

What Yates needs a lot more than other things is major output from Arian Promote and Ben Tate. Don't rely on it, though. The gifted duo combined just for 90 yards and zero touchdowns on 24 carries within the first ending up in the Ravens. Baltimore's run defense permitted just 83 yards per game in your own home this season, giving up only three hurrying touchdowns. (Baltimore's only quit five hurrying touchdowns over its last 16 games in your own home.) Individuals types of amounts will definitely put some pressure around the QB, and Yates may require a 300-yard day to conquer the Ravens. Unlikely.

Advantage: Ravens

Who's the X-element in farmville?

Bear in mind that since 2005, home teams within the divisional round are 12-12. You have to search for the X-factors during these games or else you might be surprised at the finish result. Did anybody begin to see the Tebow X-factor prior to the Steelers game a week ago?

For that Texans, it may be Andre Manley. The veteran stud looked rusty at the start of the overall game a week ago, but carried out with 90 yards along with a touchdown. After missing the very first Ravens game, he's finally healthy and able to go. No team put several touchdown pass in a game title from the Ravens this season, supplying Manley a significant challenge. However when healthy, he's very able to multiple touchdowns, despite Yates tossing the ball. With only two touchdown catches throughout an injuries-riddled regular season, everything points to Andre not getting a large day. But he did score a week ago, so perhaps he's ready to make it happen.

For that Ravens, it needs to be Joe Flacco. He's routinely belittled in Baltimore, but this youthful quarterback has brought his team towards the postseason each year of his career and has a 4-3 road playoff record. Now he finally reaches utilize one in your own home the very first time, and that he will get top target Anquan Boldin back. Flacco has seven touchdown passes in the last four home games and that i expect him to become razor sharp in that one.

Khalif Wyatt hit the 3-pointer, extended his arms, put his palms lower and went just like a little kid emulating an airplane.

When his next three-pointer fell moments later, Wyatt resembled that plane again - and Temple really was prepared to remove.

Wyatt made the 2 lead-stretching threes and obtained 22 points, and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson had 17 to assist the Owls knock-off No. 3 Duke 78-73 on Wednesday evening.

Lengthy a normal within the NCAA tournament, the Owls (10-3) demonstrated again how formidable they're against basketball's elite.

Under coach Fran Dunphy, the Owls have proven a knack for upsetting the best programs. They beat No. 8 Tennessee in 2008, No. 3 Villanova last year, No. 10 Georgetown last season, and, now, nowhere Demons.

That one felt much better than the relaxation.

"If you play Duke, you need to beat individuals men," Owls forward Ramone Moore stated.

Moore, Wyatt and Hollis-Jefferson all performed roles within the win. So did Anthony Lee and Aaron Brown. Star guard Juan Fernandez composed to have an off evening in the area having a team-high six assists.

Dunphy stated he needed an overall total team effort to conquer Duke and that is what he received around the home court from the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. The Owls shot 56% in the area (31-for-55), outrebounded Duke 32-29 and obtained 21 points off turnovers.

"We are thrilled to become standing because those who win tonight," Dunphy stated.

Duke wasn't sure what hit them.

Nowhere Demons looked little such as the team that stormed off and away to among the best begins under coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Requested if he often see this kind of performance coming, Krzyzewski held out his hands as though he were looking right into a very ball.

Their future looked cloudy.

"Basically first viewed it coming, I'd have photoshopped a disease, rather than getting ill throughout the overall game," Krzyzewski stated.

Using tough guy-to-guy defense that limited Duke's lengthy-range shots, the Owls snapped up charge half way with the first half and not ignore it. Once the Blue Demons (12-2) crept within three points within the waning minutes, Wyatt hit individuals consecutive game-altering three-pointers for any 66-57 lead.

The Owls had lost nine consecutive games to Duke and had not beaten nowhere Demons since Jan. 25, 1996. The decisive victory before a lot more than 20,000 fans gave the Owls wins against top ten teams for that 4th consecutive season, all in Philadelphia.

Temple students chanted "Overrated!" within the final minutes and many 1000 fans stormed a legal court in celebration and partied for that program's first win in the Wells Fargo Center. Fans hoisted buddies on their own shoulders, several male fans required off their t shirts and whipped them round the court like helis, and also the court was colored baseline-to-baseline in Temple cherry red-colored.

The Owls compensated tribute for their north Philadelphia roots by riding the subway to the overall game.

"It's type of a tribute to any or all individuals Temple somebody that has done that for a lot of years," Dunphy stated. "That's who we're. We simply desired to let everyone realize that we appreciate what Temple College is about.Inch

It had been sure to become a less wondrous ride home for Duke.

Mason Plumlee had 16 points and 13 rebounds for that Blue Demons and Miles Plumlee had 17 points. Newcomer Austin Rivers added 12 points.

Nowhere Demons lost the very first time since November. 29 at Ohio Condition.
"I was slow, plus they performed a great deal harder than we did," Rivers stated. "Every 50-50 ball, they were given them. They simply outhustled us. You will find there's great team, but we simply did not fight tonight."

The Owls shot 59.3% within the first half and brought by two points before 20,420, the 3rd-biggest crowd for any college game in Wells Fargo Center history.

Moore and Wyatt hidden consecutive threes half way with the other half for any 10-point lead. Nowhere Demons skipped a number of looks round the basket and not got in gear.

The Owls stored it at their pace and prevented the pricey turnovers lower the stretch that may have sparked Duke back.

Everybody required a turn for that un-selfish Owls, with five gamers scoring baskets in a single stretch that maintained charge at 60-54.

Duke had the dimensions advantage and towered on the Temple selection that frequently featured four pads. However they hustled for loose balls, required away the 3-pointer and limited a Blue Demons offense which had averaged 82.8 points a game title coupled with arrived at 80 points in five consecutive games.

"Each time we needed an end, it appeared like we've got one," Wyatt stated. "We stored getting large stops and large rebounds, and that we just performed really tough today."

Calgary Flames forward Rene Bourque never had a suspension, let alone a fine, during the first six seasons of his NHL career.

Wednesday, he received his second suspension of the season, this one for five games for an elbowing infraction.

He was penalized for hitting Washington center Nicklas Backstrom in Tuesday's 3-1 Capitals win. Backstrom, who had three assists in the game, eventually left the game.

The Capitals said early Wednesday afternoon that Backstrom was still being evaluated and is day-to-day. He did not take part in practice but did participate in off-ice workouts.

NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan, in his explanatory video, said that Bourque called his hit an instinctive reflex. But Shanahan said it was a clear violation of Rule 48, which deals with head shots, and Bourque's action was indefensible.

Bourque was suspended for two games on Dec. 19 for a check from behind on Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook the night before. That suspension cost him more than $36,000 in lost pay.

As a repeat offender, the per-game price goes up and he will lose more than $203,000 of his $4 million salary. He will be out until Jan. 17.

The Flames called up left wing Raitis Ivanans, who will be making his first appearance with Calgary since he suffered a concussion in a fight in the opening game of the 2010-11 season.

Madden joins Panthers

The Florida Panthers signed center John Madden to a one-year contract. Madden, 38, won two Stanley Cups with the New Jersey Devils and one with the Chicago Blackhawks. He played last season with the Minnesota Wild, where he scored 12 goals ¡ª four of them game-winners ¡ª and 25 points in 76 games. Madden is known as a penalty killing specialist and won the Selke Trophy as top defensive forward in 2001. The Panthers rank 23rd in the league in penalty killing. "He is a hard-working and responsible forward who plays well at both ends of the ice and is excellent on face-offs," Panthers general manager Dale Tallon said. The Panthers are banged up at forward, missing six players, including defensive specialist Sean Bergenheim. Marcel Goc and Mikael Samuelsson are getting closer to returning.

Around the rinks
The Ottawa Senators said defenseman Chris Phillips has a mild concussion. ¡­ The NHL will announce the six fan-chosen All-Star players Thursday morning. ¡­ Russia and Sweden will play Thursday for gold at the world junior championships in Calgary. Canada and Finland will compete for bronze.

Rangers pitcher Derek Holland will serve as the honorary spokesperson for the Cowboys Santas Program during the holiday season.

The program provides toys to children from low-income Tarrant County families during the holiday season. Former Fort Worth mayor Mike Moncrief and his wife Rosie are the honorary chairpeople for the 2011 Cowboy Santas.

"The Texas Rangers are proud to participate in the 2011 Cowboy Santas Program," Rangers president Nolan Ryan said. "This is a most worthwhile endeavor that will help make the holidays brighter for a number of Tarrant County youngsters."

Beginning Friday and continuing through Dec. 15, individuals can drop off new unwrapped toys or books at the Texas Rangers Grand Slam Gift Shop at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Rangers Fort Worth Team Shop at 316 Main St., or the Rangers Dallas Team Shop at 2222 McKinney Ave., Suite 140, between 9 a.m. CT and 5 p.m. Items may also be dropped off at all Fort Worth Police and Fire Departments and Community Centers and at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.

On Dec. 15, from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m., the Rangers will sponsor a Cowboy Santas Donation Event near the Christmas tree at Main and 3rd Streets in downtown Fort Worth's Sundance Square. Holland, as well as other current and former Rangers players, will be on hand to sign autographs during this event, and donations of new unwrapped toys and books will be greatly encouraged.

Gene Washington couldn't believe the news when he heard it. His good friend and former Michigan State teammate Bubba Smith was dead at 66.

"I had no idea that he was even ill or that anything could be wrong," Washington said Wednesday night. "It's incredibly sad because Bubba was such a larger-than-life figure. Nothing surprised you with Bubba."

Smith died in his Los Angeles home Wednesday. It was initially believed that he died of natural causes. Ironic for a man whose transitions in life weren't exactly natural.

Extraordinary athletes didn't evolve into successful show business personalities, partly because they wanted to break typecast. Bubba didn't care.

He happily played the role of congenial giant, whether it was tearing open beer cans on those memorable Miller Lite commercials from more than 30 years ago or portraying the soft-spoken behemoth behind the badge, Moses Hightower, in the highly popular "Police Academy" movies.

But perhaps his greatest role was that of trailblazer.

Smith went to Michigan State under protest. He wanted to play for the University of Texas. But his beloved Longhorns didn't want him because he was black. The segregationists of that era so vigorously defended their vision that coaches like Texas' Darrell Royal didn't dare risk changing an institution as revered as college football.

So Smith joined other prominent Southern black football players from that time, taking advantage of what became Michigan State coach Duffy Daugherty's football version of the Underground Railroad.

The stars of those consecutive MSU national championship teams of 1965 and 1966 were blacks who couldn't play closer to their homes because of racial intolerance. Roving linebacker George Webster was from South Carolina. Quarterback Jimmy Raye hailed from North Carolina and wide receiver Washington, like Smith, was from Texas.

"If it wasn't for Bubba," said Washington, "I never would have gotten to Michigan State. His father (Willie Ray Smith) was his football coach and he told Duffy that he should recruit me as well."

Smith and Washington competed against each other, playing for exclusively black high schools.

Washington bussed 15 miles from his home in LaPorte, Texas, to Baytown because that was the closest all-black school, George Washington Carver High.

They didn't realize it then, but when those Spartans moved MSU football from relative obscurity into a national powerhouse, they pushed stubborn resistance toward integration in sports. Bigoted fans could justify having homegrown black players help them win games on Saturday even though they didn't want to sit next to them in a restaurant on Sunday.

"That's what ultimately pushed the Southern schools to recruit black players," Smith told me during a 1993 conversation. "They were simply letting too much talent get away from them."

Smith said during an interview for the 2008 HBO documentary "Breaking the Huddle" that he couldn't understand why the University of Texas didn't find him acceptable. Smith said the spurning only pushed him harder to make the school and Texans regret their polarizing attitudes.

Michigan State would be forever appreciative of their Southern brethren's intolerance.

There's reasonable debate as to whether Bubba or Webster was the best player to ever don the Green and White.

Both were exceptional in their own right, but Smith was clearly the most dynamic football player ever at Michigan State. The popular refrain from the Spartan Stadium crowd during those days was "Kill, Bubba, Kill!" as Smith unleashed fury on opposing quarterbacks and ball carriers.

But he also will be remembered for conveying such gentleness off the field.

"He was quite simply one of the greatest football players ever," Washington said.

The Boston Celtics made the New York Knicks' return to the post-season a brief one.

Now the Celtics have a long break before that expected trip to Miami.

Kevin Garnett had 26 points and 10 rebounds, Rajon Rondo added 21 points and 12 assists, and the Celtics swept their way into the Eastern Conference semifinals, holding on for a 101-89 victory over the Knicks on Sunday.

Ray Allen and reserve Glen Davis each added 14 points for the Celtics, the first team into the second round after sweeping a series for the first time since a 3-0 victory over Indiana in 1992, the last series victory for their old Big Three before Larry Bird retired.

They had a 23-point lead cut to four in the fourth quarter, but pulled away again behind Garnett, who scored 20 after halftime.

The current Big Three of Garnett, Allen and Paul Pierce twice was extended to seven games in the first round, but this one was far easier than expected against the injury-weakened Knicks. The Celtics could now have a week off while they wait for likely second-round opponent Miami, which was forced to a fifth game earlier Sunday after a late rally by Philadelphia.

The Celtics almost faced the same scenario, but a Knicks comeback attempt stalled in the final minutes.

"We know we have played very well when we've had rest and preparation time. So those are always good," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

Carmelo Anthony had 32 points and nine rebounds, and Amare Stoudemire, who decided to play after his back felt better, finished with 19 points and 12 boards but shot only 5-of-20 from the field.

"It was all heart. He just gave it all. With him and Carmelo going forward, the Knicks are in good shape," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said.

The Knicks shot 34 per cent and were quickly dispatched in their first playoff appearance since 2004, when they were also swept in the first round. They haven't won a playoff game in 10 years.

The Celtics were only 10-11 in their last 21 games of the regular season, struggling to adjust to a changed lineup after trading centre Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City at the deadline and renewing questions they were too old. The Knicks believed they could challenge them, but Chauncey Billups was lost for good after straining his left knee in the final minute of Game 1 and Stoudemire was never the same after hurting his back during warmups before Game 2.

Meanwhile, the Celtics got better as the series went along, pulling out two close victories in Boston and saving their best for Madison Square Garden, surrounded in orange as it was finally open for post-season basketball again.

But that couldn't shake the Celtics, who held the Knicks to three field goals in the second quarter to seize control and now will look ahead to an expected showdown with the Heat.

Garnett made three straight field goals to make it 70-48 in the third quarter before the Celtics let the Knicks back into it. Consecutive run-out dunks by Anthony cut it to 14, and New York had it all the way down to 10 when Shawne Williams' three-pointer with 36 seconds remaining trimmed it to 82-72 after three.

Stoudemire opened the fourth with a basket and Anthony followed, bringing it within six and forcing Rivers to put Garnett back into the game. He made a pair of free throws, but baskets by Stoudemire and Anthony Carter made it 84-80 with 7:34 to go.

"I thought we dropped the guard a little bit," Rivers said. "Give them credit, I thought they played desperate and you could see it in their play and their defensive energy."

But Boston would never let it get closer and finally put it away when consecutive jumpers by Rondo and Garnett extended it to 95-85 with 4:22 to play.

Disappointed in their effort in a blowout loss Friday, the Knicks showed plenty of fight. Anthony knocked Rondo down for a flagrant foul and Stoudemire was called for a technical after he showed Delonte West in the back following the Boston guard's hard foul on Knicks rookie Landry Fields.

But New York, which went 42-40 to end a franchise-worst streak of nine straight losing seasons and earn its first playoff berth since 2004, simply didn't have enough to match Boston, which got 13 points from Pierce.

The Celtics led 29-23 after one quarter, when Stoudemire missed all six shots, then took control with their defence and some good work by their reserves in the second. An 11-3 burst extended the lead to 17, and it grew to 19 in the final minute on a three-point play by Jeff Green, acquired in the Perkins trade.

Stoudemire finally made his first field goal after that and the Celtics brought a 55-38 lead into the half.

The Nationals can catch the ball now. They proved that on opening day.

Can they hit it? That may take months to answer and define their season.

In a 2-0 loss to Atlanta, the scoreboard illustrated two themes that ran through the offseason: Washington had no runs, five hits and no errors.

No errors, and half-a-dozen classy defensive plays on Thursday are very nice. It¡¯s pretty baseball. The Nats are going to be more fun to watch on their good days and a lot less embarrassing on their bad ones. With smooth, rangy Adam LaRoche at first base, swift Jayson Werth in right and rookie Danny Espinosa at second base, the Nats may turn from an eyesore into one of the game¡¯s more exciting defensive teams.

LaRoche made a diving, full-length stop to his right on a ball where Adam Dunn would never have reacted fast enough to leave his feet. Werth made two sliding catches on liners in right that he considered merely routine; he was more concerned that Chipper Jones got a stretch double when he threw wide of second base. Espinosa had a sparkling backhand stop and cross-body throw to nail fast Nate McClouth easily. And familiar names, like Ryan Zimmerman and reliever Sean Burnett made slick plays, too.

And defense never sleeps. It shows up every day. ¡°Defense and speed come hand in hand and they generally don¡¯t go into slumps,¡± Manager Jim Riggleman said.

A crowd of 39,055 on a chilly, misty day at Nationals Park saw a display that is likely to delight pitch-to-contact hurlers like Livan Hernandez, who wasn¡¯t his sharpest in the first two innings, yet later retired 15 men in a row and gave up only two runs on four hits in 6 1/3 innings. Without a ticket, Werth couldn¡¯t catch Jason Heyward¡¯s first-row home run.

Despite their glove work, the Nats still lost, and to a relatively underwhelming sinker-baller, Derek Lowe, who never touched 90 mph and struck out six. In total, the Nats fanned nine times. Get used to it.

The Nats may not have replaced Dunn¡¯s home runs, but they sure have replaced all his strikeouts. In recent weeks, by trading Nyjer Morgan and giving Michael Morse the left field job (sending Roger Bernadina to the minors), the team added a whole bunch more whiffs. In toto, it¡¯s stunning.

In their last two years, LaRoche, Werth and Zimmerman averaged 157, 151 and 110 strikeouts respectively. Espinosa and Ian Desmond fanned 146 and 109 times last year. Morse has 145 K¡¯s in 618 career at-bats. And center fielder Rick Ankiel would need only 400 at-bats to fan 115 times. Baseball has far more strikeouts these days. But not like this.

Is such a lineup bad? Not necessarily. Zimmerman can draw a diagram of the field with the number of homers the Nats may reasonably expect from each position. He, like many Nats, see at least 12 to 15 from every spot with the four corner positions contributing more than 100 bombs. In ¡¯09, Zimmerman and Werth had 33 and 36 homers, respectively.

Tons of strikeouts can, sometimes, go hand in hand with lots of runs and victories. Last season, the Tampa Bay Rays led the American League in strikeouts with 1,292, but were third in the league in runs and second in baseball with 96 wins. Don¡¯t be quick to judge. Just recognize that the Nats have an extreme lineup type.

There¡¯s an additional bonus, at least in theory, from bunching such players. Patient high-strikeout hitters see lots of pitches, look for mistakes to drive off or over walls and, as a group, can exhaust even the best pitchers quickly ¡ª getting into the soft underbelly of a rival¡¯s middle-inning relievers.

On a day when Lowe was sharp and also benefited from Tim Welke¡¯s generous strike calls at the bottom of the zone, the Braves righty was up to 105 pitches and out of the game after only 52 / 3 innings.

¡°You¡¯re going to see a lot of that this year,¡± Zimmerman said. ¡°We¡¯re getting deep into at bats. Jayson and Adam and I are veteran guys, and if a pitch isn¡¯t where we want it, we¡¯ll take a strike.¡±

Werth has used his move up to the No. 2 spot in the order to lead by example. ¡°Getting a good pitcher out of there on a high pitch count, I love that,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s a big part of the game.¡±

Some, including me, have wondered if Werth¡¯s shift was entirely team-oriented, as all the Nats contend, or also designed to get Werth in the spot in the order called ¡°the rocking chair¡± because it¡¯s so hitter-friendly, with lots of fastballs guaranteed, because it¡¯s in front of the 3-4-5 heart of the order. It took one day to learn that it¡¯s almost certainly about putting the team first.

¡°I think [Danny] Espinosa has a chance to be a 1 or 2 hitter, and Desmond has hit second,¡± volunteered Werth, setting the stage for him to move to the traditional middle of the order when other Nats prove they¡¯re suited for the top of the order. ¡°But this [lineup] makes the most sense now.¡±

How long might Espinosa require to make that jump? The order in which players come out to speak to the press is no accident. The players choreograph it. Espinosa, after going 2 for 3 with a double off the left field wall, emerged first ¡ª a small honor. Like Desmond last year as a rookie, Espinosa is already assertive and perhaps a future leader.

¡°I didn¡¯t think Lowe was going to bury us,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t ever think that, unless everything is just filthy, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to get shut down. We have such a great lineup.¡±

Maybe. Eventually. Though of a very specific type. And that 18-year-old at Hagerstown might fit into it someday, too.

For now, there may be bumps in that road. Desmond is trying to learn how to be a leadoff hitter on a week¡¯s notice. LaRoche, despite his 100 RBI last year, still has big shoes to fill in Dunn¡¯s cleanup spot. Throughout their careers, both LaRoche and Morse have hit better the lower they have hit in the order where there¡¯s less pressure. At the 3-4-5-6-7 spots, LaRoche¡¯s career OPS has risen: .757, .776, .820, .846 and .991. Morse, at 5-6-7-8, has improved to .683, .755, .805 and .952.

The sooner an adequate 1-2 can be found, and Werth can go to No. 3 and LaRoche and Morse can move down a spot, the more comfortable the whole Nats lineup will be. How long will it take? Or can they prosper as they are?

After years of covering our eyes when they took the field, the Nats are now worth watching with their gloves on. They can pick it.

But can they hit it? And with a lineup that now maximizes muscle at every spot, how far will it go when they do? Only 161 games left to find out.

So the fact that Jackson Emery has stolen even a sliver of the spotlight while sharing a backcourt with the nation's leading scorer speaks to his uncanny ability to steal.
Literally.
In the regular season, Emery, a 6-3 senior, became the Cougars' all-time steals leader, breaking Danny Ainge's 30-year-old record. Emery's three steals Saturday in an 89-67 win against Gonzaga put him atop the Mountain West Conference's all-time steals chart, with 247.
"It helps me get a couple baskets. It helps create great energy for my team," Emery says. "At times I have to do it because that is my role. At the same time, that's just part of my game."

It is, though, just a part. The Mountain West's defensive player of the year also can produce on the offensive end.
Emery, 23, a Utah native who took a two-year break after his freshman year at BYU to serve a Mormon mission in Mexico, averaged 20.8 points as a high school senior. This season, he is averaging 12.6 points (second on the team behind Fredette's 28.8), 3.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
During the first eight minutes of Saturday's game, while Fredette struggled to find openings, Emery sparked BYU with eight points, three assists and a steal. "We get huge lifts from different guys every night," says BYU coach Dave Rose, whose third-seeded team meets No. 2 seed Florida on Thursday in New Orleans in the Southeast Regional semifinals. "That's how we've found a way to win." Emery is the go-to guy for those lifts, the player Rose implores to do something when BYU is seemingly able to do nothing.
Emery's body has borne the brunt of those efforts ¡ª bruises, sprains, strains, whiplash ¡ª and yet he's started at least 30 games each of the last three seasons. That has earned him a spot on three consecutive conference all-defensive teams and a selection as team captain.
In other words, Emery has found a way to shine amid the Jimmer glimmer. "All year I've heard I'm the Robin, I'm the backstage guy, whatever you want to call it," Emery says.
"But, you know what, that's part of basketball. Sometimes you're the star, sometimes you're not. You've just got to understand your role, and if you fight that role, there's going to be conflict and it's not going to help your team."
Ainge, now president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics, called to congratulate Emery when he broke the school steals record. Fredette also surpassed Ainge on BYU's all-time scoring list this season.
Emery says Ainge is "ecstatic" about BYU's success ¡ª a win Thursday would send the Cougars to the Elite Eight for the first time since Ainge led them there in 1981 ¡ª and pays respect to the BYU legend by noting it has taken two players to replace Ainge in the record books.
"He had a great career," Emery says, "so you can never put him in the shadows." The same could be said for BYU's expert in the art of the steal.

I've known Grant Hill his entire basketball career, even before he went to Duke University, all the way back to when he was a high school kid in suburban Washington, D.C. I've worked with him at ABC and over 25 years come to admire not only his athletic achievements but also his intellect and sober good sense. If somebody ever finds good reason to one day compare my son to Grant Hill, I'd be thrilled out of my mind.

I've known Jalen Rose most of his basketball career, back to when he played at the University of Michigan, right up through his time with the Pacers and Suns, and I work with him now covering the NBA for ESPN. Over the past 12-15 years, I've come to admire not only his athletic success but also his remarkable ability to see beyond the extreme difficulty of his childhood and plot a life that will leave him and his children, should they choose, independent of sports. If somebody ever finds good reason to one day compare my son to Jalen Rose, I'd be ecstatic at him being a resourceful and persevering kid.

Trust me, Grant Hill and Jalen Rose ain't all that different. They're a lot more alike than they are dissimilar, even if they did come from different sides of the tracks. And right now, way too much is being made of the fact they did. Calvin Hill, Grant's father, was no more an "Uncle Tom" for providing every opportunity and advantage for his kid than Rose would be now for providing every opportunity and advantage for his. It's called achieving the American Dream, and the only real difference here is the Hills grabbed hold of it a generation before the Roses.

ESPN's documentary "The Fab Five" has received a ton of praise but was met with rebuttal Wednesday when Grant Hill, a member of the Duke team the Michigan players so despised, responded pointedly in a New York Times op-ed piece. Hill wrote, "I caution my fabulous five friends to avoid stereotyping" him and other black children from proud and high-achieving, two-parent households as others had stereotyped them. It's not only a reasonable request, it's the right one ... and let me go no further before identifying myself as very much like Hill, a product of a Huxtable-like two-parent home, private education and, relative to Rose's upbringing, privilege. And like Hill, I'm damn proud of it, just as proud as Rose is of the circumstances that produced him.

I understand why Grant Hill would feel upset that no attempt was made in the actual documentary, of which Rose was the executive producer, by Rose and Jimmy King specifically to distance themselves from what they thought when they were 18 years old and full of hatred for Duke. This is the heart of what Hill was getting at in his op-ed piece. Now, it turns out Rose has explained himself in subsequent comments, in tweets and in interviews, and he has said he no longer feels that way. Still, it should have been in the documentary, which was seen by many hundreds of thousands more people than saw posts on Twitter or other interviews on ESPN.

Still, except for the part where Calvin and Janet Hill were left hanging out there, depicted as anything other than the model parents that they are, the documentary and Grant Hill's response is part of a very necessary conversation, one which plays out in what I like to call Black World every hour of every single day in this country and has for the past 400 years. It sure as hell didn't start with basketball players; it started with the resentment that field niggas had for house niggas, and there will be no sanitizing of the term here because the feelings were even more raw than the language. It's a conversation most, though not all, white folks are unfamiliar with, one Spike Lee captured with both insight and humor in his movie "School Daze" including the differences between "good" and "bad" hair, and "talking" white. These are the primary elements of emotional and at times painful discussions that take place, sometimes between members of the same family, one set of children whose father bailed and the other set whose dad stayed and provided a life that in time led to an entirely different reality.

If you get a chance to see "The Fab Five," you'll notice what I think was an eloquent and passionate recognition of the jealousy Rose felt for Hill. Rose who very carefully says he resented not having what Hill had, as opposed to resenting Hill. It's a powerful moment. And perhaps in that expression Rose felt he had explained that he no longer holds the "Uncle Tom" feelings he did when he was 18. Regardless, "The Fab Five" is worth watching. And Hill's op-ed piece for The Times is well worth reading ... and since The Times did not publish the entire thing, you can read the uncut version right here.

Anyway, I'm not going to get into an in-depth examination of the "The Fab Five" here because I believe their contribution to modern-day basketball has been somewhat overstated, especially because Georgetown's cultural impact in the previous decade lasted longer and was 100 times greater. The important yield of the "Fab Five" for my tastes were Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose, in large part because they came from such deprivation and have, through work and ingenuity, made so much of their lives. (I purposely didn't include Chris Webber because he did NOT come from any kind of deprivation and to say he did does a great disservice to his father and mother, who worked productive careers and made good money by any standard of black life in America ... and anything you hear to the contrary is just junk. And it does not reduce Webber's considerable intellect and career successes one iota. It's just that Webber, like me, was a lot closer to Theo Huxtable than J.J. Evans in "Good Times.") Rose is one of the most well-respected and liked people at ESPN precisely because he works so diligently and has such a tolerance about him.
See, I know what Rose believes in now because that's a big chunk of what we talk about on Sunday afternoons and Wednesday and Friday nights in Bristol or at dinner after NBA games or at the cafeteria during lunch. Whatever Rose believed in 20 years ago, I don't care much about. What he believes in now includes increasing educational opportunities and pursuing new and diverse interests (read: interests beyond basketball). His passions and curiosities, ironically, are in many cases similar to Hill's. They both have an affinity for storytelling, which is why both have worked as executive producers before the age of 40. It's why both have worked in television and why both are good at it. They are both driven by education in general, specifically increasing the opportunities of poor children who don't ordinarily have them.

Jalen will just have to forgive me for telling this out of school, but he has taken millions of dollars of his own money to start a charter school in Detroit. He funds scholarships people have had no idea about, scholarships that have nothing to do with basketball or sports. He's fanatical about it, about self-determination, about ambition, about fatherhood. Same stuff Grant Hill cares about. Some would say these are conservative or "Uncle Tom" values. But you won't read that here. Jalen Rose is no more an "Uncle Tom" because he's rich and can bring about change with his dollars and his influence than Calvin Hill was for working his way through Yale while preparing himself for a career in football that continues through today in his work for the Dallas Cowboys.

The notion that there is one definition of "Blackness" is insidious and dangerous and too often promotes the notion that athletic achievement is "black" and academic achievement is "white." It's the intellectually lazy notion that has led too many in this generation of black men to believe athletic pursuits are somehow more worthy than academic pursuits and anybody who isn't with that school of thought is an "Uncle Tom" or less than fully black. It's the very thought that leads black folks of all ages to resent Duke basketball, in the same ignorant way we used to resent the Celtics, despite the presence of some of the smartest, most accomplished (and put upon) black people in America. Anybody who suggests that academic pursuit and blackness don't go together should be shouted down publicly.

Rose is involved in just such a pursuit now with his storytelling. His point of view, as anyone could hear during ESPN's MLK Holiday town hall meeting in Atlanta two months ago, is riveting. I've been encouraging Rose to branch out from basketball because his interests are too varied to be limited to any one thing. And in that way, for him to generate this kind of discussion is exactly what a documentarian is supposed to do.

In the meantime, the conversation essentially between Hill and Rose has to move beyond that, even beyond Duke and Michigan to something larger and more inclusive that is perhaps led by the sensibilities of Hill and Rose but focuses more on what they share rather than the little that separates them.

Let's just play it over.
C'mon. We have plenty of time to squeeze in a replay. Rutgers is out; St. John's is now out, courtesy of a loss to Syracuse Thursday in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.

The three embattled officials are out, too, having removed themselves from the remainder of the tournament. The Big East said the officials voluntarily left "in the best interests of everyone involved," which essentially means, "Please stop talking about this! It's driving us nuts! Look, Connecticut just won on a thrilling last-second shot!"

But everyone's available from Wednesday afternoon's RU-SJU mess. The two teams, the three officials, maybe even that ball Justin Brownlee threw into the stands. Don't need Madison Square Garden. Probably could knock this out down at the West Fourth Street court.


Get Rutgers coach Mike Rice, tell him it's all going to be legit and on the level. Get St. John's coach Steve Lavin, tell him he can dress like Al Gore on his way to a Paul Simon concert.

Put 1.7 seconds on someone's watch. Blow the whistle, let it rip. See what would have happened without the juicy mistakes.

If there's a foul, call it. If someone travels or steps out of bounds, same.

With everyone watching, finish it correctly.

Maybe then it will be behind everyone. Is it not behind everyone? What an agitated 24 hours it was after the Scarlet Knights were robbed of a last-second attempt in a 65-63 loss to St. John's in the Big East tournament's second round.

It was an official's dreaded nightmare. A missed call that anyone at home could see. Actually, it was worse: a series of missed calls that anyone at home could see.

And it cost Rutgers a chance to win a game it was very much in. The 15-17 Scarlet Knights are hardly a juggernaut ¡ªand were probably not about to chomp through the Big East Tournament¡ªbut they gave St. John's a furious headache.

By late afternoon Thursday, Syracuse took care of The Asterisk, knocking out the Johnnies.

With former Orangemen great Derrick Coleman looking on, Syracuse got two key baskets from freshman center Fab Melo en route to a 79-73 win.

But that's hardly a consolation to Rutgers.

And it won't make them any happier that the 1.7 seconds of controversy will soon be forgotten, swamped by conference championships and the fussy selection of the NCAA bracket. St. John's will be a part of the Madness.

But before everyone moves on, it feels like an opportunity was lost to put the humans into a human error. In departing the tournament, the three Big East officials¡ªJim Burr, Tim Higgins and Earl Walton¡ªleft it to everyone else to noisily fill in the dead air, thoughtfully and not so thoughtfully.

Contrast that to last year's mega-officiating uproar: umpire Jim Joyce's blown call in Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game.

Battered on television and the Internet, Joyce was out there the next day at home plate, and took the game's lineup card from a classy Galarraga in an emotional, three-hanky reunion.

The fury of the lost perfect game evaporated into goo, and the umpire got his name back. Joyce and Galarraga have even collaborated on a forthcoming book, entitled "Nobody's Perfect."

A Rutgers-St. John's do-over at the West Fourth Street court is not possible. But properly moving on could be.