The Strike Zone

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

OUTSIDE

Raise your hand if you're surprised: John Daly's new golf bag has a flat-screen TV on it.

The quiet beauty of Friday Night Lights' final game ever, in the series finale, especially the very last play. Don't worry; we won't tell.

The 11 cartoon candidates for mascot of the '14 Sochi Winter Olympics, including Santa Claus, a sun and this skiing dolphin.

Maybe, just don't leave the house, A-Rod? A week after Fox showed him being hand-fed popcorn at the Super Bowl, TMZ caught Rodriguez picking his nose in a John Varvatos store.

Perhaps the most uncomfortable cameo of all time: Bill Buckner will appear on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

THE LEAGUE

Comforting news considering there may not be any football—fantasy or otherwise—in '11: FX renewed The League.

Dear flashmobs: You can have Glee and Modern Family, but please leave our sporting events alone.

The movie nerds at Baseball Prospectus who determined the precise Cubs game attended in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, back in '85. (The Braves—not the Bears—won 4--2 that day.)

The inexplicable allure of Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl, a Super Sunday tradition featuring dogs playing with football chew toys. It drew 9.2 million viewers this year.

Too many clowns and concerts, not enough hockey and hoops, in the premiere of ABC's sports-arena-set Matthew Perry comedy, Mr. Sunshine.

First Gentleman of hockey Mike Rupp, who accidentally spilled a fan's beer, then offered $10 and a signed puck as an apology.

The Wall Street Journal's revelation that Kansas employs senior citizens to make sure that Jayhawks basketball players go to class.

The enormous Gene Simmons tribute (with extending tongue) erected, bizarrely, behind one goal by FC Zurich soccer fans.

The Salahis—the Real Housewives of D.C. couple that got busted for crashing a White House party—snuck into Jerry Jones's Super Bowl suite, Tweeted about it and got booted.

Score big for sarcasm: Comedy Central just gave Norm MacDonald his own sports recap show.

LOW

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JED JACOBSOHN/GETTY IMAGES (GOLF BAG)

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KEVIN PARRY/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES (DAVID)

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DAVID HOLLOWAY/ANIMAL PLANET/AP (PUPPY BOWL)

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AMERICAN MEDIA/GETTY IMAGES (SALAHIS)

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BILL RECORDS/NBC (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS)

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HENRY DONALD/FLICKR RF/GETTY IMAGES (BEER)

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ASP/CAL SPORT MEDIA/ZUMA PRESS (SIMMONS)

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CHUCK SOLOMON (RODRIGUEZ)

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PARAMOUNT PICTURES/PHOTOFEST (BUELLER)

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JEFF JACOBSEN (FLASHMOB)

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BOBBY BANK/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES (MACDONALD)

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SOCHI 2014 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE PRESS OFFICE/EPA (DOLPHIN)

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ADAM LARKEY/ABC (PERRY)

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GLENDA POWERS/FOTOLIA.COM (SENIOR CITIZEN)