A. ACL. The list is plentiful in the NFL year in and year out, and latest to go down with the season-ending injury is Chicago Bears’ defensive tackle Henry Melton. He sustained it during Sunday night’s 40-23 win over Pittsburgh as Chicago stayed undefeated. Melton is second among all NFL defensive tackles with 13 sacks since the start of the 2011 campaign. The Bears are +650 to win the NFC at Sportsbook.ag.

B. Mario Balotelli. Why always me? Balotelli once asked that via t-shirt message. Answer: because you bring it on yourself, of course. The AC Milan striker was up to his old habits again on Sunday in a 2-1 win over Napoli during Serie A action. He was hit with a second yellow card for arguing after the final whistle, and he has been suspended for his club’s next three matches. Milan is +1600 at Bovada Sportsbook to win the league title.

C. Manchester City. The biggest recent news on the pitch, of course, came with the latest installment of the Manchester Derby. Playing at home in Etihad Stadium on Sunday, Man City humiliated Man U by surging to a 4-0 lead early in the second half before coasting to a 4-1 triumph. Through five games of the Premier League season, City is tied for third in the standings with 10 points, and United is tied for eighth with seven.

D. Don’t mess with Texas. Don’t worry, Nick Saban isn’t. Texas higher-ups could ask Saban how many zeroes he would want on a blank check, and he still wouldn’t make the move. Alabama is +175 to win the BCS National Championship, according to WagerWeb.

E. Excruciating end. That’s what has befallen the Baltimore Orioles. They contended throughout much of the season only to see a current six-game losing streak end their bid for an AL wild-card spot. Adding insult to injury, or vice versa, phenom Manny Machado tore a small knee ligament while running to first base on Monday. On the bright side, the 21-year-old third baseman may avoid surgery and be ready for the start of next season.

F. Forty-niners. Welp, that’s what you call a terrible week. San Francisco got blown out 27-7 at home by underdog Indianapolis after defensive end Aldon Smith—who played in the game—was arrested for a DUI. Smith checked into rehab on Monday, and there is no timetable for his return to football. Sportsbook.ag has the 49ers at +300 to win the NFC West.

G. Gameday. Now we know why ESPN College Gameday was in Fargo…. The entire slate of college football games was terrible. This weekend, though, the festivities are in Athens for Georgia vs. LSU. The two SEC foes are ranked in the Top 10 of both major polls. Georgia is a -3 favorite over the Tigers at WagerWeb.

H. Henrik Stenson. Stenson bullied the rest of the field en route to both the Tour Championship title and the FedEx Cup last week at East Lake. Of course, the Swede will have to do a lot more than that—win a major, for example—to really be known for anything other than playing a shot in nothing more than his underwear at the 2009 Doral event.


I. Injuries. They are starting to pile up in Dallas. Hamstring problems have slowed wide receiver Miles Austin each of the past two seasons, and he is questionable for Sunday’s game at San Diego. On the more serious side, defensive end Anthony Spencer will undergo knee surgery and miss the rest of the year. Spencer recorded at least five sacks in each of the past four seasons—including 11 in 2012. The Cowboys are +2200 to win the Super Bowl at Bovada Sportsbook.

J. Jeff Driskel. The injury bug hit the college ranks as well, highlighted by the Florida quarterback’s broken right leg during last Saturday’s 31-17 win over Tennessee. We’ll do the Gators and Vols a favor and not talk about anything else that happened in the game.
 
K. Katy Perry. Cincinnati Bengals fans voiced their outrage on Twitter over Perry’s hit song “Roar” being played too often at games this season. It was nixed during player introductions on Sunday, and the Bengals promptly went out and scored a huge win over Green Bay, 34-30. Does that say anything about the song?

L. Lacrosse. Cornell, which lost to Duke in the NCAA semifinals earlier this year, cancelled its 2013 fall season due to a hazing scandal. Word on the street is that Big Red upper classmen forced freshman teammates to shotgun beers. In other words, a college team is suspended for being a college team.

M. Andy Murray. After ending the British drought at Wimbledon, Murray lost early in Toronto, lost early in Cincinnati, lost early at the U.S. Open, and underwent back surgery. Last weekend’s procedure will likely sideline the world No. 3 for the duration of 2013. Murray is +275 at Bovada Sportsbook to win the Australian Open in January.

N. Nate Burleson. You know you’ve done it before: adjusting the box of pizza in the front seat while driving so that the box doesn’t fall or at the very least the cheese doesn’t slide off some of the pieces. But you probably haven’t broken an arm while doing it. Burleson did just that on Tuesday morning, and the single-car crash may end the season of the Detroit Lions’ wide receiver. GT Bets has Detroit as a -1.5 favorite over Chicago on Sunday.

O. Over the head. Baltimore Ravens’ wide receiver Jacoby Jones was hit in such a manner by champagne bottle-wielding stripper early Monday morning. Seriously, could there be more bizarre NFL incidents this week?

P. Pool party. That’s how the Dodgers celebrated their clinching of the NL West title, which conveniently occurred at Chase Field in Arizona. The Diamondbacks didn’t like it, but if they weren’t going to like it, they shouldn’t have lost to L.A. on their home field.

Q. Quest for the Cup. Matt Kenseth may take all the suspense out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup sooner rather than later. The No. 20 car has won each of the Chase’s first two races, first in Chicago and then last weekend in New Hampshire. Kenseth, a +120 favorite at Sportsbook.ag to win the title and has a 14-point lead in the standings over second-place Kyle Busch.

R. Rock-paper-scissors. One of the greatest games ever was played by a trio of Denver running backs late in Monday night’s blowout of Oakland. RPS decided whether Ronnie Hillman, Knowshon Moreno, or Montee Ball would plunge in from the one-yard line on the next play. Hillman won with scissors and promptly got the touchdown. Broncos’ coaches challenged the whole deal, but video evidence appears to have confirmed the call on the field.

S. Shaq. Shaquille O’Neal has bought a minority stake in the Sacramento Kings. But the sale can’t be official until Shaq comes up with a nickname, right? Oh wait, that’s already happened. “Shaqramento.”   

T. Two. The number of babies born to former USC basketball standout Brynn Cameron, one by way of Matt Leinart and now one by way of Blake Griffin. It may be time to set some odds on Cameron’s next baby daddy.

U. Uppercut. That’s what Clemson offensive tackle Isaiah Battle delivered to N.C. State defensive back Jarvis Byrd last Thursday night. For his efforts, Battle is suspended from this week’s game against Wake Forest. He also earned $41.5 million less per uppercut than Floyd Mayweather did during the boxing champ’s recent win over Canelo Alvarez. Clemson is -28.5 favorite over Wake Forest this weekend, according to TopBet.

V. Von Miller. Currently serving a six-game suspension for violation of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, Miller reportedly tried to get around the test with the help of a urine collector. Some may say that’s a nice try, but that’s nowhere near as epic as Michael Vick’s marijuana-filled water bottle or Onterrio Smith’s Whizzinator. 

W. Willy Wonka. Chicago Bears’ tight end Martellus Bennett compared his head coach to the king of candy in an interview last week. At the moment, Marc Trestman looks like he really has the genius that Bennett describes. The Bears are 3-0 and alone atop the NFC North. Golden tickets, anyone?

X. Ten. That’s how many fingers you are supposed to have. Rashad Johnson no longer does…at least not in full. The Arizona Cardinals’ safety the lost the top of his left middle finger while making a tackle in Sunday’s loss to the Saints. If that does not get you a lifetime pass onto the All-Madden Team, I don’t know what does. Hey, at the very least it should get him onto Gruden’s Grinders!

Y. Yu Darvish. Darvish has not allowed more than two runs in any of his last four starts after striking out nine Houston batters in 5.1 innings during a 3-2 Texas win on Tuesday night. The right-hander is a modest 13-9 this season, but he boasts a stellar 2.82 E.R.A. The Rangers (Perez) are -295 favorites over the Astros (Keuchel) on Wednesday, according to Sportsbook.ag.

Z. Denotes clinched playoff berth. That’s what the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and Pittsburgh Pirates all have by their names in the standings right now. They are assured of no worse than a spot in the NL wild-card game, but their sights are set on the NL Central. St. Louis has the inside track with a two-game cushion at the top. The Cards are +800 at BetOnline Sportsbook to win the World Series.

Read more articles by Ricky Dimon