A. Atlanta. The Braves will remain the Atlanta Braves, and they will still be playing within the city limits, but they are moving to Cobb County in 2017. After three more seasons, Turner Field—in the heart of downtown—will be no more. Team president John Schuerholz made the announcement from straight out of left field on Monday.

B. Boston. With the calendar turning over from baseball to basketball, Boston was supposed to stop winning. But don’t tell the Celtics, who seemed to have designs for either Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker at the season’s outset. Since starting 0-4, however, Brad Stevens’ club has won four of five. Including in the stretch is a 111-110 upset last Saturday at Miami, where Jeff Green drained a game-winning three at the buzzer.

C. Chicago. Remember Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game”? Who wouldn’t? The shoes that MJ wore in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals—when he scored 38 points in a 90-88 win at Utah to give Chicago a 3-2 lead in the series—are up for auction. A Jazz ball boy to whom Jordan gave the shoes is putting them up on eBay. Bidding will begin at $5,000. Speaking of under-the-weather Bulls’ stars, Derrick Rose missed practice on Wednesday due to a strained hamstring, and he is questionable for Friday’s game against Toronto.

D. Don Mattingly. It was questionable for a while, but Mattingly is headed back to the Dodgers. Mattingly, who finished runner-up in National League Manager of the Year voting to Clint Hurdle of Pittsburgh, will return for the fourth and final year of his deal. A contract extension has been discussed, but not beyond the preliminary stage. Sportsbook.ag has the Dodgers as +500 favorites to win the 2014 World Series.

E. EMAs. Compared to her performance at the MTV Awards, Miley Cyrus was controversy-free at the European equivalent. But she was not exactly out of the spotlight. Miley lit up a joint while on stage to accept her award for Best Video. Not too surprisingly, that part of the show was cut for the United States audience when it was aired on MTV.

F. False claims. All kinds of extracurricular activities have marred Justin Bieber’s South American tour. One was a rendezvous with a 27-year-old Brazilian woman, the aftermath of which was leaked in a video on YouTube. Claims have surfaced that the woman in question, Tati Neves, is a prostitute. Both Neves and members of Bieber’s entourage deny those claims.

G. George Zimmerman. This is actually about Spike Lee, although it relates to Zimmerman. Earlier this year, Lee retweeted a tweet that publicized what was thought to be Zimmerman’s address. It turned out to be the address of an elderly Florida couple with a son named George Zimmerman—not that George Zimmerman. The man and woman claim they have received death threats and have feared for their lives. So far they have sued Lee and Lee alone.

H. Hail Mary. The Cincinnati Bengals followed Nebraska’s lead with a Hail Mary of their own last Sunday. It worked, but unlike the Huskers, the Bengals did not win their game. After tying Baltimore on a last-second prayer, Cincinnati succumbed in overtime. Still, Andy Dalton’s double-deflection hookup with A.J. Green was all kinds of epic. Cincy is a -5.5 home favorite over Cleveland on Sunday, according to 5Dimes Sportsbook.

I. Richie Incognito. Richard Dominick Incognito, Jr. sat down with Jay Glazer on Sunday for his first televised interview since the bullying scandal involving Jonathan Martin. Among other things, Incognito insisted he is not a racist and indicated that threatening texts went both ways. The Dolphins are +2 road underdogs vs. San Diego in Week 11, per Sportsbook.ag.

J. Jabari Parker. Wiggins’ Jayhawks won the game, but the NBA Draft pick sweepstakes now involve two spots—not one. After scoring 22 points against Davidson, Parker went for 27 and nine rebounds in a stellar performance during Duke’s 94-83 loss to Kansas on Monday night in Chicago. Carbon Sports has Duke as a +600 fourth choice to win the National Championship. Kansas is +550.
 
K. Coach K. Mike Krzyzewski says that any NBA team tanking for a pick at or near the top of next summer’s draft should be ashamed. Well, a lot of them may settle for being ashamed if they witnessed Parker, Wiggins, and Julius Randle on Monday.

L. Luck. The Colts appear to have run out of it. Since upsetting the previously-undefeated Broncos, Indianapolis has lost Reggie Wayne to a torn ACL (confirmed one day after the big win), barely beat the slumping Houston Texans, and got blown out 38-8 at home by the lowly St. Louis Rams. Luck threw three interceptions against St. Louis after tossing the same amount in eight previous games this season.

M. Lionel Messi. The Argentine striker is likely out for six to eight weeks after tearing a left hamstring muscle. However, it may not signal a death knell for Messi’s club. FC Barcelona has already qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League, and its upcoming La Liga schedule should be a cakewalk. Barca is the second choice at +400 to win the Champions League title, according to Bovada Sportsbook.

N. Novak Djokovic. Djokovic remained undefeated (22-0) since losing to Rafael Nadal in the U.S. Open final. The Serb captured his fourth straight tournament title by beating Nadal in straight sets at the World Tour Finals on Monday. Serbia is a -180 favorite at BetOnline Sportsbook to beat the Czech Republic in this weekend’s Davis Cup final.

O. Out of work. Ed Reed’s tenure in Houston did not last long. The veteran safety was released on Tuesday, five starts into his three-year, $15 million contract. Five of those 15 million were guaranteed dollars. For those counting, that’s $1 million per start. That’s some efficient money-making for a 35 year old playing a 25 year old’s sport.

P. Indiana Pacers. Break up the Pacers! After just eight games, Indiana already has a three-game lead in the Eastern Conference. It is two games better in the loss column than every other team in the NBA not named San Antonio or Oklahoma City. Paul George is averaging 24.9 points per game for the 8-0 Pacers. Now that’s how you get it done after getting paid (ahem Albert Pujols, ahem Matt Ryan).

Q. Quack. Oregon may have been silenced by Stanford last Thursday, but the Anaheim Ducks are still making plenty of noise. The team leads the entire NHL with 31 points thanks to an awesome 15-4-1 record. Anaheim lost at Florida 3-2 on Tuesday, but it is still 8-1-1 in its last 10 games. Frederik Andersen, who has minded the net in seven of the Ducks’ games, sports a1.66 goals-against average. Anaheim is an even-money road underdog at Tampa Bay on Thursday, as indicated by Carbon Sports.

R. Rob Gronkowski. Mocking a man of Asian heritage probably isn’t a good idea in the wake of scandals involving Incognito and Riley Cooper. It’s especially dumb when it’s in a public and has a chance (in this case it was) of being caught on video. Then again, Gronk has never been in the business of making super-intelligent decisions.

S. Sprint Cup. Jimmie Johnson is on the cusp of a sixth NASCAR Championship. Leading by just seven points with two races to go, Johnson turned in a solid third-place showing last weekend in Phoenix, while Matt Kenseth stumbled to 23rd. Kenseth is still in second, but he is 28 points out of first in the Sprint Cup standings heading into Sunday’s finale at Homestead. BookMaker has Kenseth as a +400 favorite to win this weekend’s race.

T. Tampa Bay Lightning. On the same day its football team snagged its first win of the season, Tampa Bay suffered a huge loss on the ice. Steven Stamkos crashed into a goalpost during Monday’s loss to Boston and suffered a broken leg. The 23-year-old forward was tied for the NHL lead with 23 points at the time.

U. Unacceptable. That’s how head coach Mike Woodson characterized the New York Knicks’ effort in a 31-point home loss to San Antonio on Sunday. They bounced back on Wednesday, winning a road game against Woodson’s former team in Atlanta. The Knicks are +1500 at WagerWeb to win the Eastern Conference.

V. Robin Van Persie. Van Persie could not have scripted his first match against his former club any better. Now with Manchester United, RVP scored the only goal of the game in last Sunday’s 1-0 win over Premier League-leading Arsenal. At GT Bets, Man U is +450 to win the league championship.

W. Will Muschamp. Last Saturday, he watched his Florida Gators get clobbered at home by Vanderbilt. The Gators are sitting at 4-5 while in the midst of a four-game losing streak. Florida is a +13 road underdog on Saturday at South Carolina, according to 5Dimes Sportsbook.

X. Not eligible for postseason. You are starting to see those denotations pop up in the college football standings. While the Gators are at risk, they are nowhere near as bad as Arkansas. The Razorbacks are 3-7, have lost seven in a row since starting 3-0, and they are 0-6 in the SEC. Last Saturday’s loss at Ole Miss assured head coach Bret Bielema’s team of missing out on a bowl. Hey, at least Bielema isn’t Bobby Petrino.

Y. Yasiel Puig. Puig was something of an overnight sensation this season with the L.A. Dodgers, but he was not Rookie of the Year in the National League. That distinction, handed out on Tuesday, went to Marlins’ pitcher Jose Fernandez.

Z. Shabazz Muhammad. Muhammad says the Minnesota Timberwolves have banned rookie hazing. Veterans had apparently saddled up Muhammad with a Jonas brothers backpack. Now that just ain’t right, man. Luckily for him, he is no longer allowed to carry it around.

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