The Big Ten is a weekly look at the headlines in sports (with a touch of local flavor).

11. Phelps swims through record books.

What a disappointment at the last summer games, though. He only won like, what, five medals?

1o. Urbina gets 14 years in Venezuelan prison.

Former MLB player Ugueth Urbina was convicted of attempting to murder five of his ranch workers. Next to see time: Juan Uribe for allegedly killing a farmer in his home country of Dominican Republic, begging the question: WHY?

9. No small fry in McDonald’s All-American game

It’s depressing to watch 30 kids younger than you are who can dunk, hit NBA range threes and are less than four years away from making millions while competing in jerseys of the only restaurant you can afford.

8. The DL–coming to an ace near you.

Kerry Wood, Kenny Rogers, C.C. Sabathia (maybe), Kris Benson, etc. The season hasn’t even started and the disabled list is killing (fantasy) teams everywhere.

7. Former Illini Amer Delic upsets No. 4 tennis player at Sony Open

Dee, Deron and Delic. The Fighting Illini play on!

6. The Boss needs new “Prince”

Steve Swindal’s divorce from George Steinbrenner’s daughter means he’s no longer the successor to the Evil Empire. Steinbrenner has two sons so why was Swindal the go-to guy in the first place?

5. Briggs still barkin.

Only now he’s got agent Drew Rossenhaus doing his whining for him, putting the Bears in a tight spot: Trade Briggs to the Redskin, get the No. 6 pick overall and win the Super Bowl next year or draw a hard line and keep a guy who refuses to play for you, just to be stubborn. Tough call.

4. Four for Four teams left

The Final Four is all set. Florida, UCLA, Georgetown and Ohio State. Two 1s and Two 2s. And Joakim Noah’s annoying yelling.

3. Countdown to Opening Day begins.

Less than 100 hours to the first pitch, and less than a week before the Royals are already out of it.

2. Dirk goes Down

Even without the big guy, the Mavs can coast through the rest of the season to the playoffs, where they will choke, again.

1. Spring football begins.

How is this worthy of No. 1? Well, it means Illinois gets to start sporting its top 10 recruiting class. Bowl game or bust, baby.

Non-conference results:

• Prior starts season in AAA
• NFL Owners meeting pushes more discipline, keeps overtime setup
• Penguins stay put in Pittsburgh

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 29th, 2007 at 12:28 pm and is filed under All-around. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.