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Alex Rodriguez isn’t exactly known for playing fair. This is a guy who has admitted to using steroids to further his baseball career. And now the third baseman for the New York Yankees is stretching the rules once again.

According to reports, Alex Rodriguez flew to Germany to get a controversial treatment done in an attempt to heal injuries to his left shoulder and right knee. The treatment, which is called plasma-rich platelet injections, has been called cheating by some experts. Other experts say that it’s bad science.

Either way, Alex Rodriguez should be above this. He should have used steroids. And he shouldn’t have flown to Germany to stretch the rules of fairness once again.

While Alex Rodriguez may one day finish his career with better statistics than any player who ever lived, he has done so at the expense of respect. Shame on him.

Alex Rodriguez is a cheater (Image: TSN.ca)

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As we head into Week 17 of the 2011 NFL season, let’s take a look at the power rankings. While the top of these NFL power rankings has familiar teams, the bottom is starting to be populated by underdogs who may be able to make a run at the Super Bowl.

Here are the NFL power rankings heading into Week 17:

1. Green Bay Packers
With only one loss, the defending Super Bowl champs are the team to beat.

2. San Francisco 49ers
With a stout defense and a smart offense, the Niners are built for the playoffs.

3. Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens are as good as any team defensively when things are clicking.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers
Other than losses to the Ravens this year, the Steelers have looked really good.

5. New Orleans Saints
Their offense is explosive. But is their defense good enough?

6. New England Patriots
Injuries and a shaky defense have the Patriots plummeting.

7. New York Giants
If the Giants make it to the playoffs, no one would want to face them.

8. Detroit Lions
Young. Hungry. Explosive.

9. Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals have a bunch of young talent. Are they ready?

10. Houston Texans
The Texans can run the football. That alone makes them dangerous.

Arian Foster could win a game by himself (Image: TSN.ca)

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Unlike many other bowl games, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is about more than just football.  On Friday, the teams — UCLA and Illinois — visited Glide Memorial Church & Kitchen and St. Anthony’s Dining Room in San Francisco.

L to R: Sean Sheller, Kai Maiava, Jordan James, Jake Brendel, Brett Hundley, Jay Barlow, Kola Awe and Mike Harris

As six-year volunteer Joan Holland said, “To us these folks are not homeless, they’re our guests and we are not a soup kitchen.”

St. Anthony’s Dining room serves 2,600 meals a day while Glide Memorial Church & Kitchen serves another 2,500 meals each day.

Nathan Scheelhaase (Illinois QB)

Janis Hill-Bennett (Glide volunteer) with Joseph Fauria (UCLA TE)

 

Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani founders of Glide Memorial Church and Kitchen

David Allen (UCLA LB)

On Thursday, players, coaches, sponsors and local dignitaries assembled for a kickoff luncheon for the second annual Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Guest speakers included interim head coaches Mike Johnson of UCLA and Vic Koenning of Illinois, players from each team and other special guests.

Throughout the week, the organizers of the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl have coordinated a series of exciting events for the residents of San Francisco, as well as the students, alumni and fans from the UCLA Bruins and Illinois Fighting Illini.

The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl will be hosted on Saturday, December 31 at AT&T Park (12:30 p.m. PST kickoff). Now in its second year, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is the only college bowl game that focuses on raising money & awareness about the issue of hunger in the United States. Hunger remains a serious issue in the United States. In fact, 49 million Americans, or one in six of our neighbors, don’t always know where their next meal will come from.

Cory Harkey (UCLA TE)

UCLA Players: Joseph Fauria, Cory Harkey & Luke Gane

Joseph Fauria & Lucie Ellis

Ilinois Pep Rally

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The San Diego Padres desperately need help at the plate. Their anemic offense last year killed any chance that the Padres could reach the playoffs. To help score some runs, San Diego traded a pair of prospects to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Carlos Quentin.

Quentin, who grew up in San Diego, should be able to help right away. Since becoming a regular four years ago, the 29-year-old has been an impressive power hitter. Last season, Quentin had 24 homers, 77 RBIs and 53 runs. While his batting average leaves much to be desired (.254), his power is enough to get the Padres excited.

As for the White Sox, this is another step in their rebuilding process. In return for Quentin, they get pitchers Pedro Hernandez and Simon Castro. Both played in the minor leagues last season.

With the Padres, Quentin will play left field. He’ll also be in the middle of their lineup — perhaps hitting cleanup for the offensively starved squad.

Carlos Quentin traded to the Padres (Image: TSN.ca)

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Welcome back, Andrew Bynum. The center for the Los Angeles Lakers took a break from racking up traffic tickets and got back to playing basketball. In his first game back from suspension, Andrew Bynum was dominant — scoring 29 points, pulling down 13 rebounds and blocking two shots.

With Andrew Bynum powerful in the middle, the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets by a final score of 92-89. Kobe Bryant and Paul Gasol both chipped in 17 points for the Lakers.

The Nuggets, who played the Lakers close all day, couldn’t get over the hump. Al Harrington had 21 points, while Nene, Arron Afflalo and Andre Miller each had 13 points.

The Lakers lost their first two games of the season but have responded with three straight wins. The Nuggets, on the other hand, have lost two straight after winning their first two contests.

Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant (Image: TSN.ca)

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LeBron James picked a team last year. And today, LeBron James has picked a wife. The Miami Heat superstar proposed to Savannah Brinson, who has been LeBron James’ girlfriend since high school. LeBron and Savannah already have two children together.

Why did LeBron James decide to get engaged now? Perhaps he was just following in the footsteps of his basketball idol. Earlier in the month, Michael Jordan got engaged.

With the Heat undefeated and a good woman at his side, LeBron James can only hope that 2012 is as good to him as the end of 2011 has been. The Heat look like the favorites to win the NBA championship this season and there are rumors that Savannah may already be pregnant with number 3!

LeBron James and Savannah Brinson got engaged

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Amare Stoudemire was out due to injury and the New York Knicks were on the road to take on the Sacramento Kings. It turned out to be a walk in the park for the Knicks, who rode Carmelo Anthony’s 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists to a 114-92 win.

The Knicks also got 22 points, seven rebounds and three blocks from Tyson Chandler, while Landry Field chipped in with 21 points and five rebounds.

As a team, the Kings shot only 34.9% from the field and missed 16-of-22 three-point attempts. Marcus Thornton led the way with 14 points, however he was just 5-for-13 from the floor.

The Knicks entered the season with high expectations but they’ve been all over the map early on. After this win, they sit at 2-2. The Kings, meanwhile, are just 1-3.

Carmelo Anthony slayed the Kings (Image: TSN.ca)

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New York Knicks rookie bigman Josh Harrellson got the start on Saturday night and was really impressive as the Knicks defeated the Sacramento Kings. He had 14 points and 12 rebounds, while nailing 4-of-8 from downtown. In the fantasy basketball world, those stats look like gold for a player available on the waiver wire.

That said, you should know that Josh Harrellson was only starting due to an injury to Amare Stoudemire. And since Amare Stoudemire’s injury isn’t believed to be serious, Josh Harrellson’s time in the starting lineup will be short.

Is Josh Harrellson worth a roster spot on your fantasy basketball team? If you can afford to grab him and hold him with the hope that he’ll play big minutes, go ahead and sign him. Josh Harrellson plays behind a pair of injury prone players in Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler. It could be simply a matter of time before he finds himself in the starting lineup again.

And like we saw tonight, Josh Harrellson can produce when given minutes.

Josh Harrellson Knicks (Image: TSN.ca)

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A lot of older teams around the NBA have struggled. This condensed season appears to be favoring the younger squads who have youthful energy. However, so far the San Antonio Spurs have been able to avoid struggles — even though their core is older.

Against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night, the Spurs cruised to a 104-89 victory. Manu Ginobili was simply fantastic, finishing with 23 points in 23 minutes to go along with four rebounds and two assists. He hit 9-of-10 shots from the field and 5-of-6 shots from three-point land.

The Spurs also got 17 points and 10 rebounds from DeJuan Blair, the team’s young center. Blair has been a surprise thus far this season, averaging 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds.

The Jazz, who are now 0-3 on the road this year, were led by Al Jefferson’s 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Can San Antonio keep it up? Well, they did win 61 games last year so perhaps they’ll be able to weather the storm that is this abbreviated regular season.

Manu Ginobili dominated the Jazz (Image: TSN.ca)

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The events leading up to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl were as exciting as the game itself. On Friday, the teams visited Glide Memorial Church & Kitchen and St. Anthony’s Dining Room in San Francisco. On Saturday, it was time for the tailgate party and the big game at AT&T Park. Though there were plenty of highlights, one of the best was seeing Hall of Famers Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott taking part in the festivities. Another high point was the undefeated 1951 University of San Francisco Dons being honored at halftime.

The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is the only college bowl game that focuses on raising money & awareness about the issue of hunger in the United States. Hunger remains a serious issue in the United States. In fact, 49 million Americans, or one in six of our neighbors, don’t always know where their next meal will come from.

The second annual Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl celebrated the successful culmination of Kraft Foods’ 2011 HUDDLE TO FIGHT HUNGER program, including the donation of the monetary equivalent of 25 million meals to Feeding America to secure meals on behalf of local food banks. At the presentation of the check at the bowl game, they had donated 25,554,558 meals to Feeding America food banks.

Illinois defeated UCLA 20-14 in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl game. The Illini snapped a six-game losing streak with the victory.

All images © Kori Ellis

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