The Noon Buzz - January 14

Time for today's spin around the headlines...first off, special thanks goes out today (and the rest of the week) to 950 ESPN Radio in Philadelphia...we're helping each other out all week to get you all the best coverage of this Sunday's NFC Championship Game at the UofPho and 950 is providing us with all sorts of sound from Eagles HQ!

Anyway. Here's what caught my eye today.

"But mom said I could!" Pittsburgh RB LeSean McCoy, who I thought going into the season (and still do think) was the best running back in the Big East in 2008, is declaring for the draft amid reports that his mother was pressuring him into going pro. You can't ignore the fact that many of these players need to reap the benefits of the instant millions from going to the NFL early, but McCoy stood a tremendous chance of being the nation's most dominant runner as a senior in 2009. If all that has been said about Mommy Dearest is true, then LeSean seems to have some maturity issues.

"Good thing I'm who I am.." is probably what Michael Irvin is thinking right about now. Irvin had a gun pulled on him by a neighboring motorist on Monday night, but apparently, the guy in the car with the gunman recognized him from his days playing for the Cowboys. Irvin then went on to have a 'calm chat' with the guy before they drove away without incident.

"Rocky Top...you'll always be..." the victim of Jodie Meeks. So what if it doesn't have the same ring of the regular fight song? Meeks owned Knoxville last night, dropping a Kentucky record 52 on the Volunteers in a 90-72 win. He broke Dan Issel's 38-year-old record of 53 (though I don't think Dan will mind, he still owns four of the top eight scoring games in UK history) by shooting 15-22 from the field and an unreal 10-15 from outside the arc. A few more wins like this for the Wildcats and we'll be talking about the Wildcats as potentially a serious threat in the SEC.

"Anything you can do..." the San Jose Sharks and Boston Bruins can do better. The Sharks and B's both notched their 32nd win of the season last night in their 42nd and 43rd games respectively. San Jose dismantled the hapless Lightning 7-1 on home ice (reportedly making Steve Stamkos cry) while the Bruins physically punished the Habs on their way to a 3-1 win at the New Garden. While everyone is paying attention to those pesky (and slumping) Celtics and their recent slump, these two teams are continuing their torrid pace.

Stat of the Day: Since I have a huge affinity for Mid-Major college basketball...expect a couple more from this arena. Last night, there is no way there could be more of a 3-point success disparity between two teams like we saw yesterday between the Orlando Magic and New Hampshire. While Orlando was raining an NBA record 23 treys on the Sacramento Kings, New Hampshire only hit two against Boston University. Why is this notable? The Wildcats attempted 33. 2 of 33. Ouch.