Walsh falls; Quinn losing; Bower a loser

Bill Walsh (pictured with Joe Paterno), dead at 75. Leukemia wins, as it often does. Walsh was every bit the champion that Vince Lombardi or Chuck Noll was and as a trailblazer and one that transferred his greatness to coaches and players he was a diamond.

Speaking of Paterno, he had his chances to coach the pro game but said "no." In the right city, say Pittsburgh or Philly, with a quality general manager and talent procurer, Paterno would have stacked wins.

Browns rookie quarterback Brady Quinn holding out is dumb. Here's a guy who dropped like an anchor in the NFL draft to a city who is eager to love him and now he's going to wait around to sign a contract, thus risking the possibility of falling behind learning the system? Look, if you're a top 5 pick and you want to hold out, maybe it's tolerable but not when you are a selection in the later part of the draft and when the job is all yours if you just show up and play like you are capable. Guess a Notre Dame education isn't what it used to be.

Jeff Bower, Southern Mississippi football coach and Hall-of-Fame loser. Check the track record and decide for yourself. Bringing in player after player that mega-powers reject due to serious criminal charges says it all -- sell your soul at the crossroads to eat the leftovers off the master's table. Disgusting.

The Braves score and score big getting Mark Teixeira from the Rangers. If, and that's a big IF, Atlanta can re-sign agent Scott Boras, um, I mean Teixeira, the the Braves will have pulled off a trade that will keep their lineup loaded with power and production. The Rangers had to make the deal but in the end, truly, they got fleeced. Some value, just not enough. And way too much projection on the part of young players to get excited down Arlington way. Another example of why Texas is always Texas and Atlanta keeps winning.

Kevin Garnett will juice the crowd in Boston but with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen also wanting the ball, who becomes the no. 1 option, then no. 2 and 3? None of these guys seem likely to step into the shadows, do they? Some are already predicting the Celtics to be an Eastern power. Guess what? Don't see it. Give me team play, ala the Spurs, with one star and several quality players around him.