A. Arsenal. Well, that was no way for a league-leading team to perform. Arsenal, which had been atop the Premier League from just about start to finish this season, lost to Liverpool 5-1 last Saturday and even trailed by a shocking 5-0 margin before scoring a meaningless late goal.  The Gunners are now second behind Chelsea, which hammered Newcastle United 3-0 at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal is +300 at TopBet to beat Bayern Munich in the next round of the Champions League and it is +3000 to win the Champions League title.

B. Larry Brown. Break up the Mustangs! SMU is in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1985, and it took Brown fewer than two full seasons at the helm. The Mustangs (17-5, 8-3 AAC) legitimized themselves with a huge 76-55 win over then-No. 7 Cincinnati last Saturday. Cincinnati is +3300 at Bovada Sportsbook to win the National Championship; Florida and Syracuse are +600 favorites.

C. Maurice Cheeks. The Pistons gave Cheeks the boot on Monday following a 21-29 start to their 2013-14 NBA campaign. Cheeks lasted only 50 games after taking over as Detroit’s head coach at the beginning of this season. Of course, he is not alone. President of basketball operations Joe Dumars has fired eight coaches since the start of his tenure in 2000. The Pistons are -8.5 home favorites over Cleveland on Wednesday, per Sportsbook.ag.

D. Dumb. Smart was dumb last Saturday. Marcus Smart shoved a fan during Oklahoma State’s loss at Texas Tech last Saturday. For whatever it’s worth, Jeff Orr—the fan in question—also looks far from the sharpest tool in the shed. All in all it was a dark moment for college basketball, and Smart has been suspended three games for his efforts.

E. Melvin Ejim. Ejim went wild for 48 points in Iowa State’s win over TCU last Saturday. He converted 20-of-24 field-goal attempts, resulting in the most points ever scored in a Big 12 game. Ejim promptly followed it up with a six-point performance in a Monday loss at TCU, by far his lowest output of the season.

F. Freddie Freeman. Freeman pocketed the largest contract in Atlanta Braves’ history last week, $135 million over eight years. The Braves also avoided arbitration with Jason Heyward, who was extended two years for $13.3 million. They did not do anything else this offseason, but at least the Braves are keeping some of their own players. Atlanta is +2000 to win the World Series, per Bovada Sportsbook.

G. Gay. Michael Sam is the first openly gay NFL Draft prospect, and unlike Jason Collins in the NBA, Sam is too good to be left off a roster. Sam is going to get drafted, and the former Missouri linebacker will become the first openly gay player in the NFL. The story is just beginning.

H. Halfpipe. Heavy favorite Shawn White failed to medal in a competition he had dominated in the two previous Olympics. It’s still early, but the Americans’ overall performance in Sochi is off to a bit of a rough start. The United States’ men’s hockey team is a -350 favorite over Slovakia in its first game on Thursday, per Carbon Sports.

I. IIHF. The International Ice Hockey Federation says there are no plans for the sport to move to the Summer Olympics. The current games are in line to become the last to feature the NHL and its players, who currently have no plans to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Summer Olympics would avoid the problem of interrupting NHL seasons, but it looks like that won’t happen. As for the NHL, Bovada Sportsbook has Chicago and Pittsburgh at +600 to win the Stanley Cup.

J. Joe Jackson. This Joe Jackson is not shoeless, nor is he hop-less. Memphis’ 6-foor-1 (generous) guard rejected Gonzaga’s 7-foot-1 (conservative) center, Przemek Karnowski, in last Saturday’s nonconference game. The host Tigers promptly erased an 11-point deficit at the time (14 minutes remaining) and won by six. 5Dimes Sportsbook has Memphis as a -15 home favorite over Central Florida on Wednesday.
 
K. Khloe Kardashian. Khloe is not taking long to rebound from her breakup with Lamar Odom. She was doing some serious twerking and grinding on The Game at a Los Angeles nightclub on Monday. Video evidences confirms the ruling on the dance floor that saying they were getting friendly would be an understatement.

L. Jay Leno. Leno bid farewell from the “Tonight Show” on NBC last week after 22 years. He will be replaced by Jimmy Fallon at the conclusion of the Sochi Olympics.

M. Tracy McGrady. Who knows what Leno will do next, but McGrady is already trying his hand at a second career following his NBA exploits. T-Mac is trying out for the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Independent Atlantic League, and his first bullpen session on Monday was reportedly a successful one. He threw in the high-80s, and hitters said it felt more like stuff in the low-90s. Assuming T-Mac ultimately fails at baseball, he will finally have something in common with Michael Jordan.

N. Nick Saban. Saban may not be well-liked outside of Tuscaloosa, Ala., but he recently played Mr. Nice Guy. Alabama’s head coach extended a scholarship offer to defensive tackle Elisha Shaw of Tucker, Ga. even though Shaw’s playing career ended last summer with a neck injury prior to his senior season in high school. Shaw hopes to contribute as a coach and/or volunteer assistant. The Crimson Tide are +500 to win the National Championship next season, according to Bovada Sportsbook.

O. Terrell Owens. T.O.’s wife filed for divorce just two weeks after their wedding. T.O. hit back earlier this week, saying she could not divorce him because he is going to divorce her first. This sounds like a true match made in heaven!

P. Richard Petty. If you want some more drama, look no further than the NASCAR racetrack. Petty says that Danica Patrick will win a Sprint Cup race only “if everybody else stayed home.” Patrick has never won on the circuit, and she had just one Top-10 finish last season, at the Daytona 500 in which she started on the pole. Maybe she should send driver boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the prowl and have him settle things with Petty in the parking lot. Patrick is +4000 at Sportsbook.ag to win the Daytona 500; Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth are +1000.

Q. Joel Quenneville. The Olympic break came at a good time for the Blackhawks’ head coach, who can now turn his attention from ice hockey to horse racing. That’s right; Quenneville owns a three-year-old horse that will be running in the $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita Park on Saturday. Midnight Hawk, who is also part-owned by Falcons’ offensive line coach Mike Tice, is considered a possible Kentucky Derby contender. BetOnline Sportsbook has Midnight Hawk at +3500 to win the Kentucky Derby; Cairo Prince, Honor Code, and Shared Belief are +1000 favorites.

R. Dennis Rodman. Rodman is like the Justin Bieber of sports (even though Rodman is far from an athlete these days). Just when you think there can be no more reasons for him to be in the news, he resurfaces (to the good of absolutely no one). Three days after checking out of rehab, Rodman was throwing back shots left and right at a Florida nightclub last weekend.

S. Marreese Speights. Speights went off on Monday in the Warriors’ 43-point win over lowly Philadelphia. The 6-foot-10, 255-pound forward scored 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting. His previous point totals were two, three, four, and two. GT Bets has Golden State as a -1.5 home favorite over Miami on Wednesday.

T. Texas Motor Speedway. The April 6 Sprint Cup race at TMS will be called the Duck Commander 500. A three-year title sponsorship agreement was announced last week with the family-owned company featuring the living legends of A&E’s “Duck Dynasty.” WagerWeb has Johnson as a +220 favorite to win the Sprint Cup title.

U. Upset. This isn’t Dorothy’s Kansas. KU has generally run the state in terms of college basketball, but K-State is on the rise these days. The Wildcats enjoyed home-court advantage on Monday night and upset the Jayhawks 85-82 in overtime. Speaking of rivalry week, Duke is a -2 road favorite at TopBet to beat North Carolina on Wednesday.

V. Jonathan Vilma. The Saints’ linebacker made comments last month suggesting he would be uncomfortable in the locker-room presence of a gay teammate. How’s that working out for him right now? Not well after Sam came out on Sunday. Not surprisingly, Vilma is already doing some serious backtracking. 

W. Jimmy Walker. You might want to run—don’t Walk—to the betting window to throw down on Jimmy, who has already won twice in 2014. Walker triumphed at the Sony Open in Hawaii last month, and on Sunday he recorded a one-shot win in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am over Dustin Johnson, who is a borderline Pebble Beach specialist. Bovada Sportsbook has Walker at +2500 to win this week’s Northern Trust Open.

X. X Games. Haters argued that snowboard slopestyle is an X Games event that does not belong in the Olympics. Team USA, though, sure is glad it got the nod. The Americans swept the men’s and women’s events, with Sage Kotsenburg and Jamie Anderson winning golds.

Y. Yaya Toure. The Manchester City midfielder appeared to deliberately kick a Norwich City opponent during last weekend’s 0-0 Premier League draw. However, Yaya avoided a three-match ban and received no punishment. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is not amused that Yaya will be allowed to play in Saturday’s FA Cup showdown between the two EPL rivals. And Mourinho and City manager Manuel Pellegrini already hate each other. Drama. Get your popcorn ready. BookMaker has Man City as a -180 favorite over Chelsea.

Z. Jay Z. Ndamukong Suh recently fired his agent and is expected to announce a new partnership with Jay Z. The Lions’ controversial defensive tackle had been represented by Relativity Sports but will now become the rapper’s biggest football client. Jay Z already represents Kevin Durant, C.C. Sabathia, Robinson Cano, Victor Cruz, and Geno Smith.

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