Makes sense, even if it seems a bit odd:

Major-league baseball teams will start selling approved supplements to players in an effort to prevent positive drug tests.

Management and the players’ association are having NSF International, a company based in Ann Arbor, Mich., certify that products are clean. Once a supplement is certified, teams will buy the products and make them available for resale to players in the 30 major-league clubhouses.

With the new drug-testing rules in place this season, a first positive test will result in a 50-game suspension. Yikes. I guess I’d be selling legal supplements to my players too, since many of last year’s suspensions were likely due to banned substances found in supplements bought legally overseas. Hell, if I’m an MLB owner, I’d probably start giving the stuff away just to ensure nobody’s using something that could cost my team 50 games.

Wow. That was my initial reaction when I saw the headline on MLB.com announcing that Kirby Puckett had passed away Monday, one day after suffering a massive stroke. He was 45.

Rather than trying to encapsulate Puckett’s Hall of Fame career or discuss (again) the ugly details of his personal life, I figured I’d post some of the quotes I found about Puckett from various baseball people:

“If we had to lose and if one person basically was the reason…you didn’t mind it being Kirby Puckett. When he made the catch and when he hit the home run (in the 1991 World Series), you could tell the whole thing had turned. His name just seemed to be synonymous with being a superstar. It’s not supposed to happen like this.” -John Smoltz

“There was no player I enjoyed playing against more than Kirby. He brought such joy to the game. He elevated the play of everyone around him.” -Carlton Fisk

“There are a lot of great players in this game, but only one Kirby. It was his character that meant more to his teammates. He brought a great feeling to the clubhouse, the plane, everywhere.” -Rick Aguilera

“This is a sad day for the Minnesota Twins, Major League Baseball and baseball fans everywhere. Kirby’s impact on the Twins organization, state of Minnesota and the upper midwest is significant and goes well beyond his role in helping the Twins win two World Championships.” -Twins owner Carl Pohland

“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am terribly saddened by the sudden passing of Kirby Puckett. He was a Hall of Famer in every sense of the term. He played his entire career with the Twins and was an icon in Minnesota. But he was revered throughout the country and will be remembered wherever the game is played.” -Bud Selig

FoxSports.com also has a nice photo career retrospective of Kirby’s playing days.

I will say this: Despite all the dirt that was revealed about him following his premature retirement (and, sadly, there was a lot), there haven’t been many players in the history of baseball who were easier to root for than Kirby Puckett. If you liked baseball, you loved watching Puckett play. Period. He was always smiling, always hustling, always playing his ass off. His heroics in the 1991 World Series were legendary and were most likely the main reason he got elected into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot 10 years later. If only more of today’s players played the game the way Kirby did.

His career numbers: .318 / 207 HR / 1,085 RBI / 2,304 hits / 414 doubles / 134 steals. He still stands as the Twins’ franchise leader in hits, doubles, total bases (3,453), at-bats (7,244) and runs (1,071).

Keep an eye out for extra Couch Potato Alerts as the conference tourneys get started later this week. In the NBA, San Antonio has a tough week, going on the road to play the Lakers, Clippers and then the Suns. The game against Phoenix is the second of TNT’s doubleheader on Thursday.

NBA
Mon, 10:30pm: San Antonio @ LA Lakers - local
Tues, 10:30pm: San Antonio @ LA Clippers - local
Thurs, 8pm: Denver @ Philadelphia - TNT (HD)
Thurs, 10:30pm: San Antonio @ Phoenix - TNT (HD)

In the spirit of March Madness, the NBA is conducting a Big Dance Bracket where fans (or dirty old men) can vote for their favorite dance squads. Since the site is only providing still pictures of the respective dance squads, I’m guessing that we’re supposed to vote based on their appearance, not their dance prowess.

On Sunday, the 23 players invited to play or tryout for Team USA were officially announced. The only two collegiate players on the list are Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison and Duke’s J.J. Redick.

“They’re both great scorers,” Krzyzewski said. “I think some collegiate players going into this type of situation would be a little bit intimidated. I don’t think either one of these guys will. They more define the specialist role.”

Coach K appears determined to have enough shooters on Team USA, which was one of the downfalls of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team.

With the release of the new USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll, it appears that, unless Duke loses its third consecutive game, three of the #1 seeds are set. UConn, Duke and Villanova have been rotating through the top four spots in the poll for the last few weeks. If Duke wins a conference tourney game or two, they should lock up the #1 seed in the South (or possibly the East if UConn and ‘Nova falter early.) The Big East team that goes the farthest in that tournament will likely be awarded the #1 seed in the East, with the other team likely getting the #1 seed in the Midwest.

However, the fourth #1 seed is up for grabs. Memphis was first in line, but their loss last week to UAB has pushed them down to the #5 ranking, and Gonzaga took their place. If the Bulldogs go on to win their conference tournament, they have a good shot at being the #1 seed in the West. However, there are several other teams that could lay claims to the final #1 seed. Memphis, George Washington, Ohio State, Texas and, to a lesser extent, Illinois and North Carolina, could each make a strong argument with terrific play in their respective conference tournaments.

I used to be a huge Kirby Puckett fan. Who wasn’t, right? Then details of his “secret life” were revealed in a 2003 SI article. Fan no more.

Still, you never want to see this:

Hall of Fame outfielder Kirby Puckett, one of the most beloved players to ever don a Twins uniform, suffered a stroke Sunday morning at his Scottsdale, Ariz., home.

A nursing supervisor at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix told The Associated Press that the former Twins center fielder was in critical condition. She did not provide additional details.

Puckett had surgery to drain blood and relieve pressure resulting from bleeding in the brain, the The Star-Tribune of Minneapolis reported.

Puckett’s friend, former Twin Tony Oliva, said he’s been concerned about Puckett’s weight for many years:

“The last few times I saw him, he kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger,” Oliva said. “And we worried about him. I saw him about five months ago. He always tries to invite me. He says, ‘Come to Arizona, and we’ll play some golf.’”

What a sad story this guy has turned out to be. Once one of the most popular players in baseball, a guy many praised as a great family man, Puckett’s star certainly has fallen since being diagnosed with glaucoma in 1996 and forced to retire.

This isn’t the kind of news Tennessee fans want to be reading about as the Vols head into the Tourney:

Tennessee basketball players Anthony Passley and Jordan Smith were charged with possession of crack cocaine and suspended indefinitely from the team.

Officers trying to clear traffic near a nightclub spotted a car on the sidewalk under a no-parking sign and approached to ask them to move, DeBusk said.

Officers found 15.2 grams of crack cocaine in the car and charged the pair with possession for resale, the police spokesman said. Passley was charged with simple possession of marijuana, DeBusk said.

Crack? Really? What is this, 1985?

Passley, a red-shirt freshman, transferred from Wisconsin-Milwaukee, while Smith, a walk-on, has played only four minutes this season. Something tells me that’s all he’s ever going to play for Tennessee.

Even though he’s missed 22 games over the last three seasons due to various injuries, the New York Jets elected to rework QB Chad Pennington’s contract to ensure he will be with the team in 2006. Pennington was set to get $9 M in guaranteed compensation this season, but has agreed to drop that number to $3 M guaranteed along with $6 M in available incentives.

The Jets must be encouraged by his progress this offseason to invest even $3 M in the oft-injured QB. Pennington did manage to play 13 games in 2004 and was able to throw 16 touchdowns against nine interceptions for a QB rating of 91.0.

Coming off an injury-plagued season in 2005, Ahman Green’s future in Green Bay was in serious doubt. But he convinced new head coach Mike McCarthy that he was determined to be a Packer when he showed up early this offseason to train for 2006. The Packers signed him Sunday to a 1-year deal with a $3 M base salary and up to $2 M in available incentives.

As for Brett Favre’s pending retirement decision, this move would only serve to increase the chances of the quarterback’s return. If the Packers were in full rebuild mode, they would likely cut ties with Green and look for younger prospects at the position.

The NFL may have no idea when free agency is going to start (a weekend of labor talks and deadline extensions ended with yet another extension, this time until Thursday at 12:01 am), but when it does, Shaun Alexander won’t be available. The reigning league MVP agreed to an eight-year, $62 million deal with the Seahawks Sunday, a deal that should keep the six-year veteran in Seattle for the rest of his career.

Agent Jim Steiner said the deal is the richest for an NFL running back and will pay Alexander over $15.1 million in guaranteed cash, through signing and other bonuses and 2006 base salary.

This contract should make a lot of people happy. The Seahawks will again be one of the premier teams in the NFC now that their workhorse back is locked up long-term, and fantasy owners will continue to benefit from Alexander running behind one of the best offensive lines in football.

As for the ongoing labor negotiations, the Thursday extension was granted to reportedly give the owners time to vote on the Players Association’s latest offer. Hopefully all of this drama will end this week and we can turn our NFL focus back to free agency and the upcoming draft. Stay tuned.