FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley have shone for Miami.

Chris Keane/Icon SMI

All times Eastern.

• 7:00 p.m., ESPN2: Just hours after slipping out of the AP Top 25, Joe Krabbenhoft and the Wisconsin Badgers travel to Virginia Tech in search of their first-ever road victory in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

• 8:30 p.m., ESPN: The Jaguars and Texans put their identical 4-7 records on the line, jockeying for little more than draft position and pride.

• 10:30 p.m., TNT: The Heat meet the Warriors in Oakland. Casual fans may leap at this chance to check out first-year phenom Michael Beasley. But don't sleep on fellow first-year standout Mario Chalmers, the Miami point guard who's given the Heat an important spark on the defensive end.

• 11:00 p.m., PBS: Five-time NBA champion Magic Johnson swings by the Charlie Rose show.

• 11:00 p.m., Versus: Rocky IV is either the best or worst film in the Balboa canon depending on the viewer's willingness to embrace camp. But love it or hate it, Rocky's quest to defeat a fearsome Soviet boxer with a 2,150-psi punch remains one of pop culture's most enduring pieces of Cold War agitprop from the '80s.

Brett Favre jerseys are hot items for the holiday season.

David Bergman/SI

The sports industry might not be recession-proof as once thought. But merchandise sales appear to be another story.

CNBC sports business reporter Darren Rovell says business flourished for the sports leagues on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving which represents the traditional opening of the holiday shopping season.

Rovell reports a 38 percent increase in sales at the NBA Store and NBAStore.com from last year, with Chris Paul's replica jersey moving the most units.

NFLShop.com also bested their previous Black Friday record, with sales accounting for the site's third-highest grossing day ever. The four bestselling items feature a New York flavor: Brett Favre jerseys ranked first and second, a Giants hooded sweatshirt ranked third and an Eli Manning replica shirt ranked fourth.

Black Friday Comes Up A Winner For Sports Leagues [CNBC.com]

This Bill Gramatica field goal celebration proved short-lived.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

By Lang Whitaker, SI.com

It looks like Plaxico Burress not only shot himself in the leg, he may have also shot himself in the foot. After somehow discharging a gun into his own thigh Friday night, Burress not only must fight to keep his $35 million contract, he'll also join the long list of athletes who have suffered injuries that could generously be classified as "dumb." Here's our list of the top five dumbest injuries suffered by athletes...

1. Gus Frerotte: The crème de la crème of auto-injuries. Gus plus headbutt plus concrete wall equals infamy.

2. Bill Gramatica: While playing for the Cardinals, the wee NFL kicker -- and younger brother of Martin -- celebrated a routine 42-yard field goal against the Giants by doing his ritual wild leaping into the air. This time, however, he tore his ACL.

3. Joel Zumaya: The Tigers’ flame-throwing reliever missed the 2006 ALCS with a sore wrist, which he reportedly injured while playing Guitar Hero.

Chad Lewis is helping the NFL expand in China, hosting football tournaments and educating journalists about the game.

Zachary Franklin

Zachary Franklin writes for City Weekend Magazine in Beijing. He recently caught up with retired NFL tight end Chad Lewis, who's working for NFL China to help raise the profile of American football in the Far East.

Chad Lewis is about to line up his players to run the next play of the flag football game. "Can we do some huddle?" asks the Chinese director. Everyone on the sidelines snickers at the unusual arrangement of words from the photographer, who's been filming Lewis nonstop since the former Philadelphia Eagles tight end touched down in China on Nov. 16.

The team comes in for the huddle and the director holds the camera above everyone's head. Lewis is the most difficult to film from a bird's-eye view, since the 6-foot-6 behemoth towers over most of the population in the People's Republic.

One can't do a shot of a huddle without the obligatory B-roll from within. "One more time!" the director shouts, moving the camera into the huddle to capture everyone's faces. Lewis' smile never fades. He's enjoying his time in China just like it were his first visit to the Far East -- even if he's been on this side of the globe five times prior, including two years in Taiwan as a missionary.

"I am fired up to be a part of this," says Lewis just before beginning a media day clinic at Beijing Agriculture University. "Having a plan for the NFL and China is so smart. Building a worldwide brand, you can't neglect this country."

The weeklong trip for Lewis is part of NFL China's promotion of the sport within the country. The organization has been showing weekly screenings of Monday Night Football at bars around the city to get people interested in the sport. They've held flag football tournaments and media clinics, educating China's journalists on the fundamentals of the game.

Lewis is different. He not only attracts more attention to the NFL because the league has taken the time to bring a player from the States to discuss the sport, but he speaks the language. That's major street cred. Lewis is one of three veterans from the four traditional American sports leagues that's fluent in Mandarin. The other two currently play basketball, and just happen to be Chinese nationals: Yi Jianlian of New Jersey Nets and Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets.

Pete Carroll and USC are likely headed to another Rose Bowl.

Don Ryan/AP

Darren Everson of The Wall Street Journal argues an interesting thesis in his column this morning.

Everson says USC is the best team in college football, supporting his claim with an analysis of Nick Holt's historically stingy defense.

With Southern Cal not expected to be invited to the BCS title game, the author refuses to cast the Trojans as victims of the system. They made their own fate with a September loss to Oregon State. 

Instead, Everson implies the current system is designed to crown the most deserving team -- not necessarily the best one.

[B]ack the Trojans trudge to Pasadena -- first for the season finale against UCLA, then, in all likelihood, for another ho-hum New Year's Day. Have they only themselves to blame for it? Sure. Just because they're college football's strongest team doesn't mean they're the most deserving of a title shot. Contenders in the SEC and Big 12 can make legitimate claims for those two golden tickets. But if we're wondering who's really No. 1, it says something that USC has gotten so good, it's tired of the Rose Bowl.

What do you think? Under the current system, is the "best" team in college football always the same as the "most deserving" team?

USC: The Best Team, Not the Most Deserving [The Wall Street Journal]