NFC Takes Down AFC in Turnover-Filled Pro Bowl

A tropical rainstorm moved in from the Pacific and cleared just before the Pro Bowl began on Sunday. What followed was a sloppy show that was not exactly riveting entertainment a week in advance of the Super Bowl.

The NFC's 55-41 victory, a game not nearly as interesting as that score would indicate, did nothing to repair the tattered image of the NFL's all-star contest.

New England's Bill Belichick, the AFC coach and a man of even fewer words than usual, might have come closest to summing up the game with his mumbled cliche, "It is what it is."

MVP DeAngelo Hall had one of his team's five interceptions and returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown to help the NFC match a Pro Bowl scoring record in a 55-41 victory over turnover-prone AFC. He gets a new Cadillac for his efforts.

"I was just about to buy another SUV," the Washington Redskins cornerback said, "so to come out here and grab one for free, I like that."

AFC quarterbacks Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning and Matt Cassel each threw first-half interceptions to help the NFC blow open a 42-0 lead in a performance ugly even by the historically low standards of this game.

Fittingly for this strange contest, center Alex Mack of Cleveland scored the final touchdown on a 67-yard pass play that featured two laterals with 16 seconds left.

Carolina's Jon Beason returned the fifth interception thrown by the AFC, and second by Matt Cassel, 59 yards for the NFC's final touchdown to match the single-team scoring record set in the NFC's 55-52 victory in 2004.

"It feels amazing. It was a lot of fun," Minnesota's Adrian Peterson said. "We came out and put up a bunch of points and had some fun doing it, so it was a good day."

Belichick, after his Super Bowl favorite Patriots lost to the New York Jets in the divisional playoffs, had to watch his AFC squad muddle through a first half that ended 42-7.

Pro Bowls are, by their nature, laid-back affairs, seemingly played at half speed by players whose biggest concern is to get on the plane home without injury.

The AFC, though, took that attitude to an uncomfortable extreme early on before coming back to outscore the NFC 41-13.

The NFC led 42-0 after Steven Jackson waltzed through the AFC defense for a 21-yard touchdown -- and there still was 4½ minutes left in the second quarter.

Rivers, starting in place of injured Tom Brady, was picked off twice in the first quarter, the second by Hall.

"You underthrow one just a hair and they intercept it," Rivers said. "You get a deflection for an interception. ... They had all the breaks early."

Manning, in his 11th Pro Bowl, came on briefly in relief and his second pass was picked off. Then Cassel got his chance and quickly joined in the spirit of things, throwing his second pass of the game directly into the hands of Minnesota cornerback Antoine Winfield.

But just when it appeared it would be the most one-sided game in Pro Bowl history, eclipsing the Joe Theismann-led 45-3 NFC rout of the AFC in 1984, the AFC scored three touchdowns in a row. The last came on the game's seventh turnover, when Devin Hester tried to hand the kickoff return to Hall, but the ball fell to the turf. Montell Owens of Jacksonville scooped it up and ran it in 10 yards for the score to make it 42-21 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

With his seven extra points, tying a Pro Bowl record, along with two field goals, David Akers moved ahead of Morten Andersen (45) for most career Pro Bowl points with 52. The Philadelphia kicker would have had more but his 36-yard field goal try in the fourth quarter bounced off the right upright.

"Morten Andersen was a mentor of mine and I competed with Morten for a job in Atlanta and he taught me a lot," Akers said, "so it means a lot to be able to pass a legend like that."

The game returned to its traditional home in Hawaii after a one-year detour to Miami, much to the approval of the players involved.

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick started but played only the first quarter, completing 5 of 10 passes for 59 yards.

Peterson rushed for 80 yards in 14 carries for the NFC, including a 14-yarder to set a Pro Bowl record with four career rushing touchdowns. Atlanta got good performances from Matt Ryan (9 of 13 for 118 yards and two touchdowns with an interception), Michael Turner (eight carries for 53 yards) and Roddy White (five catches for 69 yards).

Notes

• A 70-yard punt by Mat McBriar of Dallas in the first quarter tied for second-longest in Pro Bowl history.
• The state of Hawaii is paying the NFL about $4 million this season and next to keep the Pro Bowl team in Honolulu. Location for the contest is up in the air after 2012.
• Peterson had been tied with three career rushing TDs with Earl Campbell, Chuck Muncie and Mike Alstott.
• Tony Gonzalez added to his Pro Bowl record for career receptions (42) and moved into first in TD catches with his sixth.
• The attendance of 49,338 was just shy of a sellout.

Oprah's New Half-Sister Turned Down Tabloid Cash

Oprah Winfrey stunned viewers on Monday with news that she recently discovered a half-sister she never knew about, but that's only part of the amazing story. Now it turns out that the talk-show queen's sibling, Patricia, cared so much about her sister's privacy and reputation that she turned down a blockbuster offer from a tabloid magazine to expose the truth.

"All Patricia wanted was the truth," an insider tells me. "She wasn't interested in selling her story even for a million dollars. She just wanted to know who she was, where she came from and if she had any brothers or sisters. She had no idea when she started this search she would end up being Oprah Winfrey's half-sister."

Oprah Winfrey promised to reveal a huge family secret on her show, and she didn't disappoint. The queen of all media introduced Patricia in an emotional and jaw-dropping hour of television. Patricia and Oprah share a mother, Vernita Lee, who had kept her pregnancy with her third daughter a secret all these years after giving up Patricia for adoption when Oprah was only 9 years old.

Confusingly, Oprah's other half-sister, who died in 2003, was also named Patricia, but her mom said she did not name the daughter she gave away.

Resourceful Patricia started the process of finding out her family history after seeing her then-unknown mother in a TV interview detailing facts that Patricia knew matched her birth mother. A DNA test finally confirmed Patricia was in fact Oprah's half-sister. This was in 2007. Since then, Patricia tried and tried to contact Oprah, but being the highly private person she is, this proved difficult until November of last year. They met, fittingly, on Thanksgiving Day.

"No one knows what the future holds for the family. Patricia doesn't want a dime from Oprah and certainly wasn't going to take money from a tabloid whose offers are now pouring in," an insider tells me.

And what really would an interview with Oprah's half-sister be worth? "The starting point would be 1 million," one influential tabloid editor tells me.

Patricia, you did the right thing. Who needs a million when you have the golden goose?

Hilary Duff Shoots Down Pregnancy Rumors

Hilary Duff is NOT pregnant despite a report in Star Magazine claiming the actress was expecting.

Duff, 23, took to her official Twitter feed to inform fans about the misinformation, as well as to take the fake news in stride. She tweeted, "Wow what a way to wake up and find you're pregs! It's just a rumor guys. Not true. But thanks for all the good wishes! Lol."

Earlier, a discredited source exclusively told Star that the former Disney star and her pro-hockey player husband, Mike Comrie, are expecting their first child.

According to the source, who is said to be a close friend of the couple, Duff and Comrie "weren't actively trying to conceive but agreed that if it happened, it happened. She is about 7 weeks along already, but she and Mike wanted to keep the news to themselves and their families during this first trimester."

Duff married the Pittsburgh Penguins center in California last August, and has been very candid about wanting to start a family. Appearing to confirm this, the unnamed source added that Duff and Comrie are "ecstatic" that she is pregnant.

Carmelo Anthony Trade Options Down To Knicks, Bulls And Uh-Oh

The New Jersey Nets have ended the Carmelo Anthony hostage situation trade talks by walking away from table. Both owner Mikhail Prokhorov and general manager Billy King claimed during Wednesday's press conference that the decision was final; should 'Melo somehow express interest in getting his extension in Newark and the Denver Nuggets drop their more outlandish requests from what had already been a lopsided offer, we'll see how well the Nets' proclamation holds.

In the meantime, the floodgates for hare-brained schemes to get 'Melo to the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and other points unknown have opened. The Nuggets have been involved in highly publicized trade talks revolving around their star for almost five months, three of which overlapped with actual, meaningful games. Today, 'Melo is five months closer to unrestricted free agency than he was when the Nuggets and Nets first began to dance.



And that's what this is all about, after all: 'Melo plans to leave Denver come hell or high snow, and the Nuggets, having watched the Raptors and Cavaliers fall so hard so fast when their own stars fled, wants to get something before it's too late. If 'Melo won't sign with Denver, the Nuggets must look toward tomorrow and find some sort of consolation prize.

That why Anthony's other suitors are now in the driver's seat.

The Nuggets don't have the luxury of being able to blink, or bluff. LeBron James made that impossible. The Cavaliers have made that impossible. LeBron and 'Melo came into the league together in 2003. The season prior their arrival, do you know what the Cavs' and Nuggets' combined record was? 34-130. That's 34 wins combined, 130 losses combined. That's history for Denver, right? But it's the present for Cleveland, and it's quite possibly the future for the Nuggets if 'Melo doesn't bring back some gold.

So enter the Knicks, who could package a pair of first-round picks (assuming they can flip Anthony Randolph to the Wolves) with one of the team's young gunners like Wilson Chandler or Danilo Gallinari. And enter the Bulls, who just might consider moving Joakim Noah now that the Kurt Thomas-Carlos Boozer-Taj Gibson frontcourt looks like a top-flight unit on both ends.

And hell, enter the Mavericks (Rodrigue Beaubois, man?), Rockets (Kevin Martin and the Knicks' 2012 pick), Wizards (come home, 'Melo!) and every other team in the league. The Nuggets might try to play hard-to-get for a minute, but Denver's been batting its eyelashes for far too long to get away with playing coy now. The Nuggets have been open for business for five months now. The top suitor is gone, and the door is wide open. Let the ridiculous trade ideas games begin.

Source: Heidi Montag Turned Down 'Dancing With the Stars'

Heidi Montag may have missed her calling on 'Dancing With the Stars.'

According to RadarOnline, the 24-year-old reality star was offered a role on the primetime competition, but had to turn down the offer due to a contractual agreement she signed when working on 'The Hills.'

"She was devastated; she had even started training on the side," said a source close to Montag.

But it wasn't just a contestant spot that she was after. Montag was reportedly pitched by her agent for the hosting gig in 2008 before Brooke Burke was offered the job.

Montag was then considered for an upcoming season of the hit dancing show, but was not able to accept thanks the 'The Hills' and her involvement with 'I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'

But could their be any dancing in Montag's future? It doesn't seem likely, now that the blond bombshell has transformed her body.

"It was before her surgeries and so I'm not sure if she wants to risk it now," said the source. "She's scared of getting hurt."

Montag famously went under the knife in 2009 for over 10 plastic surgery procedures. But is she ready for more?

"I think I'm good for awhile. I'm surgeried out," she told Jay Leno last March.

Kings To Call Power Balance Pavilion Home, Never Fall Down Again

The Sacramento Kings' ARCO Arena will be transformed into Power Balance Pavilion next month, reports SB Nation blog Sactown Royalty. You may recognize Power Balance as the snake oil salesmen who pitch rad bracelets that purport to imbue their wearers with superpowers like "awesome balance" and "sweet power." Power Balance, however, recently admitted these superpowers are nonexistent.

Essentially then, these are neat looking placebos to be used for decoration. Interestingly enough, that's just what DeMarcus Cousins, star of the Kings and wearer of Power Balance bands, had already thought of them before learning of his home court's new name.

From NBA.com reporter and all-around swell dude Jimmy Spencer:

I asked DeMarcus Cousins weeks ago if the Power Balances he wears on both wrists work. He laughed, "Hell no! These are just for decoration."

Well there you have have it; we will, however, see if Cousins changes his tune once Power Balance presents fat endorsement checks they've used to woo players like Lamar Odom, Shaquille O'Neal, Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings.

Meanwhile, The Basketball Jones has endeavored to redesign the Kings' logo in light of the news.

Right Down the Line: R.I.P. Gerry Rafferty

A considerable component of what made the ‘70s so awesome has, sadly, left the building we call Earth. And so it is on the unfortunate occasion of Gerry Rafferty’s premature passing that I’m compelled to talk about myself. Bear with me, this sentiment is not as inappropriate or solipsistic as it sounds; in fact, it is arguably the highest form of praise. In other words, I am incapable of talking about Rafferty without discussing how large his music loome—and looms—in my own life. I suspect I’m not alone here.

Anyone who drew breath in 1978 knew Gerry Rafferty (if you didn’t you were too young; if you still don’t it’s never too late).

That song isn’t simply an ineradicable part of the ‘70s; it is the ‘70s. It is possibly the best song of the decade. It is probably one of the best songs ever. It is a perfect song. Or, if we can call any one song as perfect as music is capable of being, “Baker Street” is part of that discussion, period. Even though it has an irrepressible push and pull (that sax! that flute!) that culminates in one of the sublime (and relatively succinct) guitar solos in rock history, there is such a subtle sense of melancholy that it stays inside you, even if you are only eight years old. As you get older, perhaps you begin to listen to (much less understand) the lyrics and slowly realize it captures the themes of innocence, loss and redemption, all in about six minutes. Songwriters (and poets, and novelists) are willing to sacrifice vital organs to compose something this enduring and indelible. The note of hope cut with the wizened (but not cynical) eyes of experience enable this song to function almost as a parable of themes that any sentient being struggles with on occasion: nostalgia, regret, expectation, uncertainty. And above all, the question of whether you can—or should—go home again, if only in the figurative sense.

If “Baker Street” was all Rafferty ever did, his legacy would be more than secure and the gratitude of this generation (and subsequent ones, no doubt) would be substantial. Of course, he did more. Much more.

Naturally, Rafferty would be remembered even if there had never been a “Baker Street”, since his early hit “Stuck in the Middle with You” (with Stealers Wheel) became part of the regular rotation on classic rock radio in the ‘80s. Then, in the ‘90s, it was immortalized in the infamous “ear” scene in Quentin Tarantino’s film Reservoir Dogs.

And then, impossibly, there may be the song that is best of all, “Right Down the Line”. Also from City to City (an excellent album, well worth acquiring), this is a love song you can believe in. I’m not even certain exactly what I mean by that, but it is definitely not the typical love song that is shorthand for expressing intimacy, like a Hallmark card. This is one of those tunes that actually is capable of conveying the sorts of things you’d like to tell someone special, and since you know you can’t do it more convincingly, or beautifully, it manages to become more than a song. Anyone who has fallen under its spell (and I’ve met many women and men who endorse it) will understand that this is not over-the-top, at least in any superficial or facile sense.

A while back I wrote at length about that old-fashioned courting ritual and rite of passage called the mix-tape. I wrote “A mixed tape was de rigueur for establishing, assessing and understanding the various levels of any serious romance. The first mix was as important, in its way, as the first kiss: too early and you could blow it; too late and you may have missed an opportunity to send the right signal at the right time.” Well, “Right Down the Line” was not first mix-tape material. It was always, eventually a go-to, but you had to earn that one. Of all of the ones I invoked, Rafferty takes top billing, and “Right Down the Line” is a musical memory that will always hold a sacred place in my heart.

All of which is a roundabout way of saying thank you to Gerry Rafferty. Based on what little I knew, and the accounts I’m reading today, his life was not always a happy one and he fought desperately against demons too many of us are obliged to face. Hopefully even in his most lonely moments when he could not see the light, his heart was less heavy knowing how many lives he had improved with the gift he shared. I sincerely hope, if there is a karmic force and any sort of justice in our universe, he is in a peaceful place where he can feel the enormity of what he achieved, and realize that his life meant a great deal to more people than he could ever have imagined.