Digest

The fan page

By TOM JONES
Published November 16, 2006

Card of the day

Jets and former FSU running back Leon Washington better get his hand signals straight.

On his Topps "Signs of the Future" card, he's making a sign all right. It looks as if he's making the middle-finger gesture ... with both hands. Washington told reporters that he was trying to make a sign with his fingers paying homage to his home neighborhood - the east side of Jacksonville - and that he was making an "E" with his fingers.

Topps apologized for the card.

"In no way does Topps condone this type of behavior to be photographed for its trading cards and is deeply embarrassed that this photograph was not deleted in the early stages of the editing process," the company said in a statement.

But check this out. The value of the card has increased dramatically since news of the gestures became public.

We're not going to show the card to you, but if you want to see it, go to beckett.com.

Bowl projections

We're still sticking with the Ohio State/Michigan winner vs. USC/Notre Dame in the national championship game, but what about some of the other bowl projections with local interest?

Sports Illustrated is predicting the Outback Bowl will have Penn State-Tennessee. The magazine must be expecting Florida to lose the SEC Championship because it has the Gators going to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando against Wisconsin. Meanwhile, SI has FSU-Arizona State in the Emerald Bowl and USF playing Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl.

OSU-Michigan note of the day

How big is the Big Game? According to the Chicago Tribune, a representative of the rock band Nickelback requested four tickets for the game. Ohio State associate athletic director Steve Snapp replied, "If you were John Lennon and you needed four tickets (for) the Beatles, I couldn't help you."

He said it

"I'm not going anywhere. I expect to be around a while and coaching through each of your careers. You might not see me as much as I would like for a few weeks, but I'm still involved with your coaches and what you are doing."

That's what Penn State coach Joe Paterno, recovering from a leg injury, told his players Wednesday, according to the team's Web site.

Question of the day

Why did Butch Davis take the North Carolina job instead of waiting on a possible opening at the University of Miami? Answer: Davis' agent told the Miami Herald that North Carolina wanted a decision now. Davis might have been interested in Miami but wasn't positive the job was going to be open.

[Last modified November 16, 2006, 02:00:07]