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The Strike Zone

Tracking the week's news both inside and outside the confines of cool

OUTSIDE

Men's Warehouse's Central Park Zoo collection and its spokesman, Knicks announcer Walt Frazier.

Driver Tony Stewart's dustup Down Under with the owner of Sydney Speedway, which left the driver with a black eye and racing fans eager for another fiery season from Smoke.

LeBron James vs. Karma, Parts I (Cavs stomped), II (he tweets about it) and III (he gets injured).

The backpedaling McDonald's manager who fired an employee for letting Adrian Peterson into the restaurant for an after-hours restroom visit—then rehired her after the media got wind of it.

When life gives Nike lemons, Nike makes full-page newspaper ads.

The melting of Matty Ice.

The halftime show staged by the National Lacrosse League's Boston Blazers, in which three scantily clad dancers battled for the Blazers' mascot's attention with a lap-dance competition.

The choked-up, gee-whiz demeanor of new Michigan coach Brady Hoke. Somewhere in heaven Chris Farley's honing an impersonation.

Alex Ovechkin as Cold War--carryover spy in the latest SportsCenter commercial.

Yes, that was former Georgia coach Vince Dooley sacrilegiously yelling "War Eagle!" on the radio last week.

What cements Aaron Rodgers's celebrity more: his domination of Atlanta or his new girlfriend, Gossip Girl's Jessica Szohr?

Stan Lee's Guardian Project with the NHL, in which he's unveiling comic book adaptations (one per day online) of the league's 30 mascots.

The New York Post's dorktastic ROTJ lead-in to the year's third Jets-Pats game, especially Belichick as Vader and Nick Mangold as an Ewok.

Pete Carroll's Twitpic of a fourth-grade class's playoff game plan for the Seahawks, with a suggestion from one tot to throw a Hail Mary once per quarter. (Should've listened, Pete.)

Mickey Rourke goes from turnbuckle to turf: star of The Wrestler will play gay rugby player Gareth Thomas in a new movie.

The scarlet-and-gray passion of the 42-year-old Ohio State prof who spent two years and used more than one million pieces building a 1:100 scale Ohio Stadium replica out of Legos.

The female Philadelphia Union fans who cried sexism last week when the MLS team signed a deal to put the logo of Bimbo, a Mexican baked goods company (pronounced BEEM-bo), on its jerseys.

Just in time to ride The Fighter's coattails: Raging Bull's 30th anniversary Blu-ray disc, with a Scorsese commentary track and vintage La Motta footage.

Showtime knows a good thing when it sees it; the pay channel is said to be in talks for a Hard Knocks knockoff with the San Francisco Giants.

The migraine-inducing glare emanated on TV by Oregon's new forest-inspired home floor, which seemed like a cool idea—until it debuted last week.

LOW

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ANDY MEAD/YCJ/ICON SMI (BIMBO)

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MGM (RAGING BULL)

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ROBERT BECK (GIANTS)

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JONATHAN FERREY/GETTY IMAGES (OREGON)

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COURTESY OF PAUL JANSSEN (LEGOS)

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NED FRISK/BLEND IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES (BOY)

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MICHAEL BUCKNER/GETTY IMAGES (SZOHR)

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JOHN BIEVER (RODGERS)

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WWW.BLAZERSLACROSSE.COM (BLAZERS)

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ERIK LESSER/ZUMAPRESS.COM (RYAN)

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CHARLES TRAINOR JR./MIAMI HERALD/MCT/LANDOV (JAMES)

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STEVEN KING/ICON SMI (BRADY)

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GUARDIAN MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT (GUARDIAN)

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SI IMAGING: SIMON BRUTY (OVECHKIN), WWW.FREEWEBS.COM (GUN BARREL)

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JASON SMITH/GETTY IMAGES FOR NASCAR (STEWART)

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NEW YORK POST (JET-I)

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SI IMAGING: STU FORSTER/GETTY IMAGES (RUGBY PLAYER), BUZZFOTO/FILMMAGIC/GETTY IMAGES (ROURKE)

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MEDIABISTRO.COM (NIKE)

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MANNY RUBIO (DOOLEY)

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JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (FRAZIER)