Willie Clark found guilty in the murder of Darrent Williams, will do life in jail. [Denver Post]

Get out of Nashville while you still can, Kentucky blue is overwhelming the town for the SEC tourney. [Jeff Schultz]

Here’s a 1981 profile of former NFL player/announcer Merlin Olsen, who passed away yesterday. [SI Vault]

The San Jose Sharks set an NHL record with a third straight comeback victory. [NHL.com]

Gilbert Arenas will wear the No. 6 next season. He was born on Jan. 6. [WP]

Washington Huskies freshman defensive end allegedly punches out a guy trying to break up a fight, suspended indefinitely. [Seattle Times]

For the NASCAR fans. [The Atlantic]

Desperation: Atlanta Thrashers yanked 48-year-old Chris Chelios out of the AHL this week. [AJC]

Interesting cop-journalist situation in Aspen. [Aspen Times via Romenesko]

Was JaMarcus Russell treated for lethargy addiction? [SBB]

Here’s a good read about Temple best basketball player, Lavoy Allen. [Inquirer]

Merlin Olsen, a terrific sports announcer in the 1980s – we know him from calling the NFL on NBC with Dick Enberg – has passed away, according to the Cache Valley Daily. (You have to fast forward to the 1:15 mark in the video to hear Olsen.) Besides being a great announcer, Olsen was a 2-time All-American at Utah State and enjoyed a brilliant career as a defensive tackle for the LA Rams. He was a 14-time Pro Bowler and got into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1982. [CVD]

It appears after a routine run, the athlete came late out of curve 15 and did not compensate properly to make correct entrance into curve 16. This resulted in a late entrance into curve 16 and although the athlete worked to correct the problem he eventually lost control of the sled resulting in the tragic accident.  The technical officials of the FIL were able to retrace the path of the athlete and concluded there was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track.

Having said that…

Based on these findings the race director, in consultation with the FIL, made the decision to reopen the track following a raising of the walls at the exit of curve 16 and a change in the ice profile. This was done as a preventative measure, in order to avoid that such an extremely exceptional accident could occur again.

See, there’s nothing wrong with this extremely fast and dangerous track, but we’re going to change some stuff to protect the poorer lugers from themselves.

Finally, here’s the video of the crash if you still haven’t seen it. I’ve seen it a couple times now and NBC showed it before the opening ceremony last night. While it doesn’t look any worse than a million violent collisions, it is the end of a man’s life.

Thousands of tickets in the 50,429-seat Sun Bowl Stadium remain unsold, despite a charity drive by the university to have fans purchase tickets for troops stationed at El Paso’s Fort Bliss … In Ciudad Juarez, as drug cartels battle for control of the lucrative smuggling corridor around El Paso, daytime shootings and gruesome mutilations have become common occurrences.

Potentially good new, though! Stanford budding star Andrew Luck could still start at QB for the Cardinal. [Oklahoman, Press Telegram]

* “It’s like saying we should get rid of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and hold smaller parades all across America.” THE TOURNAMENT IS THE PARADE, YOU CLOWN. All those uninteresting satellite bowl games are smaller parades.

* A playoff would be hopelessly complicated to establish. Ari, let me introduce you to a man named Dan. Debate it on CSPAN! [We haven't sit down and seriously attempted to sketch out how a 16-team playoff would work. Perhaps over the Christmas break.]

* … the current lose-and-you’re-out format makes the whole season a cliffhanger. This is perhaps the biggest fallacy in sports. In fact … a judge has determined that yes, it is officially the biggest fallacy in sports. Didn’t you hear? This season sucked. Teams are “scheduling” a title, meaning fewer and fewer competitive non-conference games. Slippery slope.

“As far we’re concerned, with everything going on in the country, the last thing Congress should do is get into how college football games are played.” Keep parroting this garbage until the world ends in Dec. 2012, Ari. When isn’t Congress embroiled in a mess?

The Politics of College Football [Daily Beast]

Jasper Howard’s killer has been found. A murder weapon has not been found. (Courant)

A 43-year-old woman was trying to trade sex for Phillies World Series tickets. (NY Post)

The bad news is, if the Jets win with Leon out, his value plummets. Based on the schedule, it could happen. (Newsday)

Anthony Mason owes $1.8 million in federal and state taxes. (Detroit News)

A great, great read from a former Letterman staffer. (Vanity Fair)

The Houston Astros have found a manager: Brad Mills. (Chronicle)

Talking to the reporter who scooped the Kyrie Irving-to-Duke commitment. (Rush the Court)

Brett Favre’s teammates on the 1996 Super Bowl-winning Packers take umbrage with No. 4 calling his Vikings the “best team” he’s ever been on. (JS Online)

Do not do these things on the internet if you want to make friends. (Macworld)

Sidney Crosby will carry the torch for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. (Olympic Sports Blog)

Twenty-seven things the Yankees need to do to get No. 27. (NY Sport Space)

Brutal hockey hit – wait for the replay at the :35 second mark.

Here’s a Playboy Playmate getting attacked by Joe Francis.