mariano-riveraHow good has SI Vault been this week? If not you’re following them on twitter, you’re missing out. Today, they posted this undated photo of Mike Vick and one of his dogs. And is this Billy Bob Thornton from Bad Santa (2:00 minute mark – spectacular), or Tommy Lasorda? No clue if that’s Mariano Rivera’s wife planting a kiss on him, or just a randy fan.

Where are Artie Lange’s football picks, you ask? Stern fans know he’s been out sick this week, and we haven’t received his picks yet. We’ll post them as soon as we get them this weekend. (And we know you’re waiting – he’s 11-4 against the spread!) Speaking of weekend, same drill: CRM and Hernia will tag team things; their emails can be found on the right rail.

Big Saturday in college football: Red River Rivalry at noon, USC-Notre Dame at 3:30, and Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech at 6. Hopefully, those six won’t make Saturday a snooze-fest, which is what the SEC did last weekend.

Perhaps most importantly, there’s also the soggy Yankees-Angels series. Saturday’s game seems like a lock to be rained out, but they’ll definitely play tonight. (This isn’t terrible news for New York sports fans – two of the best teams in the NFL, the Giants and Saints, play at 1 pm Sunday; the Yanks’ make-up game would be at 4 pm. Not that we’ll be watching – we’ll be enjoying the Jets stomping the Bills.)

There seem to be two Yankee camps heading into the series: 1) This is their year, and nobody can stop them. All that spending paid off! A-Rod’s snapped out of his postseason slump! and 2) The Yankees barely beat the Twins. They couldn’t hit Carl Pavano, and they couldn’t hit Nick Blackburn. If not for some late-inning heroics, who knows if the Yankees advance?

We’re firmly in the first camp. Redemption awaits.

Oh, and because PTI just mentioned this anniversary from three years ago:

Oh, and who could forget this anniversary, from 2003?