He had to steal the spotlight for a day

Chauncy Billups to the Nuggets, Tim Duncan to the Spurs, and Magic Johnson to the Lakers all come to mind.I'm not saying Blake Griffin is in that category, but I am saying he might be. Add the the right player, at the right time to the right team, and you get animmediate and very positive return. I have a feeling Griffin is that player, the Clippers are that team, and this is the right time.Wow, the Clippers are the right team.I never thought I'd say that.. Leave it up to Dan Snyder to interrupt and screw up our Caps coverage. He had to steal the spotlight for a day.Caps embark on a West Coast back to back, starting tonight in Vancouver. Caps face off at 10PM against the Canucks. Then the Caps head to Edmonton for a 10PM face off against the Oilers Saturday night.You may recall the brutal boarding hit against Mike Green on Tuesday night, well, Greenie is OK and Colorado’s Davis Koci was not suspended for the hit. Koci said his intent was not to injure Green. However, the NHL may very well suspend Koci, they just have not done so as of yet.Both Green and Shaone Morrison are set to play tonight.Jose Theodore will be in the net tonight. Semyon Varlamov has practiced and taken shots and is ready to return, but it is unclear whether his return will be this weekend or next week.Karl Alzner is back in Washington and excited that his opportunity to stay is based on his play rather than his salary cap hit. And he is excited about facing Vancouver tonight, his home town, without different thoughts and superstitions and drama.“My mind is a lot more clear,” the 21-year-old said. “I don’t think about routine, stuff behind the scenes, being sent down I just worry about playing hockey and enjoying myself. Because of that, I’m a lot more relaxed on the ice.”There was a time when Alzner had to arrive at the rink precisely at the same time before each game. He would tap his stick on the ice 88 times during the national anthem.

Mistakes made in the first period still bugged him in the third because he believed the miscue, no matter how minor, might give the coaching staff enough reason to send him back to the minors.Even before suiting up Friday, Alzner’s homecoming provided him with some lifelong memories. Wednesday night, Alzner and some of the other young and/or inexperienced Capitals hosted the team for the annual rookie dinner, a rite of passage in the NHL. He didn’t want to divulge any details, but he said he called his credit card company ahead of time to warn them of an impending “expensive” expenditure.Don Cherry may be anti-Russian, but Vancouver is excited about hosting the great player in hockey. Read more →Read it all at It's nearly impossible to turn on sports talk radio or pick up a newspaper in Detroit these days without hearing chatter about the prospect of the Detroit Lions trading Calvin Johnson.Columnists Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press, Pat Caputo of the Oakland Press, and 97.1 the Ticket, have both recently touched on the subject, as have many contributors here at the Bleacher Report.Folks, it is not going to happen.Beyond my personal opinion that the concept of a team trading its best and onlynoteworthy player exceeds even a Lions level of stupidity, people within the Detroit Lions organization took strides to shoot down the rumors as well.Jim Schwartz called Johnson "virtually untouchable" when asked about the subject recently and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said it would be "insane" to trade Johnson. Linehan also said he would be "pretty depressed" if Johnson was traded.So would a lot of people who follow the Lions and know anything about football.If Johnson were traded, the Lions would likely get draft picks; potentially high ones in return.

Look at the history of players drafted high by the Lions.Aaron Gibson Bust Charles Rogers I think he's back in prison Joey Harrington Taking piano lessons Mike Williams Looking for a job Kevin Jones Bust. Kalimba Edwards Last seen at the bottom of the Oakland Raiders depth chart and now out of the league.Is there any need to go onCalvin Johnson is one of the best offensive football players in the NFL and he plays for the Detroit Lions. The notion of a bad team trading an elite player simply because they are a bad team has no precedent in the NFL; this is not Major League Baseball.Should the Lions have traded Barry Sanders back in the day just because they were a bad teamThe two quickest ways to hinder a young quarterback's development are to put him behind a terrible offensive line and give him no weapons to work with on the field.Matthew Stafford already has the disadvantage of being "protected" by Jeff Backus and Gosder Cherilus. Can youimagine how bad things would get if Bryant Johnson was his go-to guyCalvin Johnson is not going anywhere.Let's end this subject and move on to something else.Talk more about Tiger Woods and bimbos or Tim Tebow and the Bible. Both have more relevance than the concept of the Lions trading Johnson.. Regulatory News Bonds Here's a look at who will head some of the key committees Sen.

John Kerry of Massachusetts is set to chair theForeign Relations Committee, replacing Vice President-elect JoeBiden. Kerry had been interested in becoming secretary ofstate, but ended up instead as chairman of the committee, oneof the most influential in Congress. Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, battlinglife-threatening brain cancer, will remain chair of the SenateHealth, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee as the Obamaadministration pushes to expand health care, a top priority Sen. Max Baucus of Montana will continue as chairman ofthe Senate Finance Committee, where he will be positioned toplay key roles on healthcare reform, taxes and trade policy Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut will continue chairing theSenate Banking Committee He will work with his Housecounterpart, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, in efforts tobolster regulation of the troubled financial industry Sen.