Roosevelt Colvin and Ellis Hobbs of the Patriots were certainly over-the-top in celebrating the Patriots victory over the Chargers. There’s no question about that. But has there been an NFL game played this season that didn’t involve taunting or histrionics where players didn’t exhibit good sportsmanship?

Apparently it is OK for a player to do a ridiculous celebration dance that shows up the opponent but it isn’t OK to mock that celebration dance to show up the opponent. I appreciate Ladanian Tomlinson’s disappointment, but his postgame overreaction was ridiculous. First of all, you don’t say, “You guys know me, I’m a very classy person” before criticizing people for mocking a dance that mocks. When Deion Sanders is he voice of reason about something, you know you’re in trouble. Unfortunately Deion’s critique of Tomlinson has been taken down from Youtube, as the NFL must have a staff of full time employees do nothing but surf that site for copyright violations.

But let’s leave Tomlinson alone, he was upset about being underutilized in a game where he was gashing the Patriots defense every time he touched the ball. Let’s talk about Shawne Merriman. After Jason Taylor of the Dolphins criticized Merriman’s selection to the Pro Bowl due to the four-game suspension for steroid use, Merriman sent Taylor some “Light’s Out” merchandise and some popcorn while the playoff-less Taylor watched him on TV. And how about Merriman leading a “Brady sucks” chant at a Chargers pep rally before the New England game? http://youtube.com/watch?v=yHyLlL01tGA

There’s some class for you. This is a guy you’re not allowed to mock? Shawne Merriman deserves to be mocked. Then there’s the wink, wink, nudge, nudge treatment of Merriman’s steroid suspension when Mark McGwire is eviscerated by Hall of Fame voters for the exact same thing. But we’ll save that for another day.

We haven’t been writing much about hoops, but we’ve been in tune with our college basketball selections this season. 5-0 so far this week, Strategic Sports Publishing’s college late phone service is a documented 50-25 (66.7%) against the pointspread (source: The Sports Monitor, Oklahoma City, OK) thus far. For a special rate on our basketball through the Final Four call 1-770-649-1078. If you get voicemail just leave a message and I’ll call you back personally.

WLOX-TV reports that Cowboy Maloney’s, a local electronics retailer, sold over $1,000,000 in TV’s at their Gulfport, Mississippi stores with a “money back if the Saints win the Super Bowl” promotions. But according to the owner, they aren’t on the verge of bankruptcy as a result. "We got it all taken care of through a number of different sources, so the Maloney's are pulling for the Saints, just like everybody else," Eddie Maloney said. For those familiar with my “sports betting as a business hedge” strategy, you’ll understand what’s going on here. The rest of you should be able to figure it out.

Incredibly, the sleaziest coaching exit of the offseason wasn’t Nick Saban’s. For details of Todd Graham’s move from Rice to Tulsa check out John Lopez in the Houston Chronicle.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/lopez/4468112.html

Turbulent times in the online gaming world. “E-wallet” payment processor Neteller is no longer serving American customers. Two founders got picked up in the US earlier in the week and are being charged for numerous things by the federal government. Both men are Canadian and the company didn’t operate in the US, but that didn’t seem to matter to the feds. Competitors will emerge in the e-wallet space, but sports books just lost their best way of delivering money to customers. If you have money in Neteller the good news is that the company is required by the government of the UK to have 110% of customer funds in independent trust accounts. The bad news is the backlog means that it will be a week or two before you get a crack at your money. Check their web site for more details. It is easy to surmise that that Pinnacle’s decision to stop serving American customers was somehow related to them somehow catching wind of this. Now probably isn’t a good time to be carrying large balances with offshore sports books, and probably isn’t a good time to be in ones that have exhibited any signs of shakiness at all.

What stat speaks more to the Colts defensive turnaround than any other? The Colts are an unbelievable 3 for 22 in 3rd down defense in the postseason, allowing opponents to convert only 13.6% of their attempts. During the regular season the Colts were worst in the league, allowing a staggering 47.1% conversions on 3rd down. Is that a result of poor offensive play by the Chiefs and Colts or a result of linebacker Rob Morris and safety Bob Sanders being in the lineup?

We won with a prop for you here last week, let’s look to another one in Sunday’s NFL action. Both of these kickers are perfect in the playoffs, a combined 14 for 14. The 51-yard field goal that Adam Vinatieri bounced over the crossbar in Baltimore was the first successful field goal of 50 yards or more that Vinatieri has made since 2002. New England’s Gotkowski kicked a 50-yarder himself on Sunday and has better range than Vinatieri at this stage in their respective careers. You should get a good price on New England to have the longer made field goal.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to check out our colleague Dave Fobare’s free hotline for great sports handicapping information. That free, 24-hour broadcast service is at 770-618-8700. Good luck and be careful. If you don’t get this via email visit www.FootballAnnual.com to receive this each week via email.