News item: Former top Orioles pitching prospect Adam Loewen passed up a minor league deal with the club to continue his comeback as a position player with the Toronto Blue Jays.
My take: Sure, I'm a little surprised he didn't show more loyalty to the O's, who stood by him through thick and thin, but it's not as if he's a traitor. It's also not as if it's going to make a difference in the greater scheme of things. Rick Ankiel comes along only once in a generation.
News item: Oakland Raiders fans have been coming out of the woodwork since I poked fun at them in my blog (which you should click on as soon as you finish reading this), claiming that I trotted out a bunch of worn-out cliches and half-funny jokes to portray them as dim-witted louts in bad Halloween costumes.
My take: I really don't know what their point is. If we were in court right now, I'd stipulate to all of that.
News item: Terrell Suggs went on a syndicated radio show and said Troy Smith should be the Ravens' starting quarterback instead of Joe Flacco.
My take: Got no problem with Troy, but Suggs has got to realize he's not the offensive coordinator, even if he did score as many touchdowns last week as anybody else on the team.
News item: Suggs also was reprimanded by the NFL for intimating that the Ravens' defense had put a bounty on Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward and running back Rashard Mendenhall.
My take: After weighing both those statements, I've got only one thing to say about T-Sizzle. He's my kind of interview.
News item: New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was fined $45,000 for his verbal assault on an official and critical comments about the officiating in last week's game against the San Francisco 49ers. If you include an earlier team fine of $117,000, that brings his season total to $162,000.
My take: Don't know what's going on in this guy's head, but I've petitioned the NFL to make me his designated charity.
News item: Brett Favre denied a report that he provided information about the Green Bay Packers to then-Detroit Lions president Matt Millen before the Lions faced the Pack in Week 2.
My take: Favre's either telling the truth or the winless Lions are even worse than anyone imagined because they still lost the game, 48-25, at Ford Field.
News item: New Seattle Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik revealed that former Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost and new Washington Nationals bench coach Jim Riggleman are candidates for M's manager.
My take: Obviously, Yost would be a curious choice because Zduriencik was part of the team that fired him in mid-September while the slumping Brewers were tied for the lead in the National League wild-card race.
News item: Baseball commissioner Bud Selig hopes to shorten the postseason next year by reducing the number of days off.
My take: That might work, but wouldn't it be easier if he just made sure the Chicago Cubs are in it?
News item: The declining U.S. economy did not keep Major League Baseball chief operating officer Bob DuPuy from telling reporters the Tampa Bay Rays need a new home.
My take: I've heard they're going to try to scoop up a foreclosure.
News item: Canada's women's Olympic biathlon team has produced a nude calendar to raise money for the team and awareness of the relatively obscure sport, which combines cross-country skiing and target shooting.
My take: If you want to buy one, you have to go to www.boldbeautifulbiathlon.com. They're $20 Canadian each plus $5 for postage and handling. I'll probably order a couple in case one gets lost in the mail.
News item: Jose Canseco says in an A&E; documentary that he regrets naming names in his steroid tell-all book, Juiced, because the expose "hurt so many people."
My take: Maybe I'm nitpicking, but this would all sound a lot more sincere if he had not already cashed the checks from the sequel.
News item: A golfer in Omaha, Neb., is suing another golfer after being hit in the head by a tee shot that might have deflected off a tree.
My take: This is just silly. If that guy told me I had hit him with my tee shot, I'd tell him the same thing I tell everyone on a golf course with me: If you don't like the way I drive, stay off the adjacent fairway.
Listen to Peter Schmuck on WBAL (1090 AM) at noon most Saturdays and Sundays.