News item: The New England Patriots are favored by about a field goal in Sunday's playoff showdown with the Ravens at Gillette Stadium.
My take: That means both teams are pretty evenly matched, so the game probably will come down to how well Tom Brady is able to exploit the Ravens' secondary.
Bonus take: OK, who am I kidding? I've heard the officiating crew is going to just give him his own penalty flag for this game.
News item: The Indianapolis Colts have announced that Matt Stover will be the team's kicker during the playoffs, even though Adam Vinatieri has returned from midseason knee surgery.
My take: The Ravens have all but acknowledged that replacing Stover was a mistake. I don't see why the Colts have to rub it in.
News item: Alabama finished its season undefeated with a 37-21 victory over Texas in the Bowl Championship Series title game Thursday night at the Rose Bowl.
My take: The game was closer than the score might indicate, and it might have been even more interesting if the Longhorns hadn't made an inexplicable play-calling blunder at the end of the first half. Still scratching my head over that shovel pass-pick six that gave the Crimson Tide an 18-point lead.
Bonus take: If you're going to put the ball at risk against a great defensive team in the final seconds before intermission, you need to put it at risk downfield and not in your own backfield. Otherwise, you're supposed to kneel down. I'm a baseball guy, and even I know that.
News item: The 2010 PGA season got under way in Hawaii on Thursday with the first round of the $5.6 million SBS Championship at the Plantation Course at Kapalua.
My take: The top five names on the leader board after the first 18 holes were Lucas Glover, Martin Laird, Nathan Green, Matt Kuchar and Nick Watney. Fill in your own Tiger Woods joke here.
News item: The St. Louis Cardinals signed free-agent outfielder Matt Holliday to a seven-year contract worth $120 million.
My take: Contrary to some reports, the Orioles apparently did not offer Holliday $130 million, which must come as a great shock to everyone.
News item: New York Jets coach Rex Ryan told reporters this week that he thinks the Jets should be favored to win the Super Bowl.
My take: And they would be if the playoffs had been held during the final two weeks of the regular season and nobody told the Colts and Cincinnati Bengals.
News item: Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder signed longtime Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan to a five-year contract worth $35 million and handed him complete control over football operations.
My take: Just curious: Would that be the Marty Schottenheimer complete control or the Joe Gibbs complete control?
News item: NBA commissioner David Stern has indefinitely suspended Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas for allegedly bringing several guns into the team's locker room and drawing down on teammate Javaris Crittenton.
My take: Turns out the politically correct decision to change the team's nickname from Bullets to Wizards didn't even help reduce the level of gun violence at Verizon Center, much less the rest of Washington.
News item: Andre Dawson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame this week, while Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven each fell a handful of votes short of the 75 percent ballot requirement for induction.
My take: I'm happy for The Hawk, and I'm pretty sure Alomar cruises in next year, but I can't figure out why Blyleven twists in the wind every year. The guy won 287 games and ranked third all time in strikeouts when he retired. He also pitched well in the postseason (5-1, 2.47 ERA) and helped two teams win world titles. I just don't get it.
News item: The Broncos became the third team in NFL history to start the season 6-0 and not make the playoffs.
My take: So, I guess both the Broncos and Chicago Bears missed Jay Cutler this season.
News item: St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa told the Contra Costa Times that it's possible new hitting coach Mark McGwire could be activated late in the 2010 season if the Cards are in contention.
My take: Activated? I'm just glad he has finally been located.
Listen to Peter Schmuck when he hosts "Sportsline" on WBAL (1090 AM) and check out "The Schmuck Stops Here" at baltimoresun.com/schmuckblog.