On the strength of a masterful pitching performance by John Danks and a towering home run by Jim Thome, the Chicago White Sox are AL Central Division Champions. The Chi Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 1-0 on Tuesday night and will now face the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS.

Thome broke a scoreless tie leading off the seventh with a booming 461-foot home run to center off of Nick Blackburn, who was just about as masterful as Danks on the mound. Thome pumped his fist as he rounded first base, following one of the biggest home runs among the 541 he has launched during his illustrious career.

That slim run total was enough for Danks, who allowed two hits over eight innings. Danks matched his longest outing of the year by going eight, striking out four and walking three. Danks threw 103 pitches working on three days’ rest, giving the White Sox a 3-1 record with their starters going on the short break, before giving way to Bobby Jenks.

The Sox haven’t looked good the past two weeks, but none of that matters now. Danks was absolutely incredible and playing at home on a chilly night in Chicago was the perfect remedy to quiet the Twins’ bats.

Looking ahead, it’ll be interesting to see if the Rays will show any rust after clinching a postseason berth over a week ago. While the Sox have a disadvantage having to start on the road, they almost have to feel like they’re playing with house money right now. Momentum is a dangerous thing. Game 1 will start at 2:30 PM ET Thursday at Tropicana Field.

Davis: “…what I would call propaganda, the lying that had been going on for weeks… and months… and a year… and time.”

Kiffin: “Does that mean I don’t get paid?”
Davis: “That’s what I’m saying to you.”

Lane Kiffin responds…

I’m still not clear how Davis can fire Kiffin without paying him the remainder of his contract. I smell a lawsuit.

FOX Sports.com has the latest breakdown of this year’s Heisman Trophy candidates as college football heads into Week 6.

4. Javon Ringer, RB, Michigan State
Ringer ran 44 times for 198 yards and a touchdown, and added two receptions for 20 yards in the win over Indiana.

3. Chase Daniel, QB, Missouri
Daniel completed 36 of 43 passes for 439 yards and two touchdowns in the 42-21 win over Buffalo. The Tigers play Nebraska this week.

2. Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
Bradford completed 19 of 34 passes for a career-high 411 yards and four touchdowns in the win over TCU.

1. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
McCoy completed 17 of 19 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran nine times for 84 yards and two scores in the win over Arkansas.

All of these candidates have been fantastic so far, but none of them have faced very legitimate opponents. That quandary will be fixed for two of these players when Bradford’s Sooners host McCoy’s Longhorns in two weeks. And I can’t wait to see how Ringer stacks up against Ohio State’s defense on October 18, because he has absolutely shredded opponents to date. Daniel will get a decent test this week against Big 12 opponent Nebraska, although the matchup looks less sexy after the Huskers fell to VA Tech last Saturday.

According to Newsday, Brian Cashman has agreed to a three-year deal to remain general manager of the New York Yankees.

STATEMENT FROM BRIAN CASHMAN
NEW YORK YANKEES SR. VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER
RE: RE-SIGNING WITH YANKEES THROUGH 2011

“I know I’ve said it before, but it’s an incredible opportunity and honor to hold the title of general manager for the New York Yankees. With it comes a great responsibility to ownership, the people who wear the uniform and our fan base.

“I’ve got a job to finish here. That’s the bottom line.

“I consider coming off a season where we didn’t reach the playoffs for the first time since 1993 as a personal challenge. I’ve never been one to run from a challenge, and I look forward to having the chance to go after this thing again.�

And with this news, it’s pretty much a guarantee that the Yankees will target CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero, Mark Teixeira, Francisco Rodriguez, Adam Dunn, Carl Crawford, Ben Sheets, Rafael Furcal, Milton Bradley and Pat Burrell this offseason. Wait – that was going to happen with or without the club re-signing Cashman.

Scott Linehan is out as head coach of the St. Louis Rams and Jim Haslett is in. (At least on an interim basis.)

And in his first major move as interim head coach, Haslett has decided to hand the reigns of the Rams’ offense back to quarterback Marc Bulger.

Bulger took all the snaps with the first-string offense in practice — which was open to the media for the first time since the 2005 season — on Tuesday.

“Marc’s the starting quarterback, and he’ll be the starting quarterback the rest of the year unless something happens,’’ Haslett said. “I talk to Marc and Trent (Green) about it. It’s more a gut feeling on my part. I talked to the offensive coaches, and everybody involved, and I thought Marc would give us the best opportunity to win games for the next three months.’’

Well this should make Steven Jackson and Co. happy again. Although with the way this team has played over the first four weeks of the season, it won’t matter who’s under center.

Post all of your roster questions here. I’ll do my best not to give you horrible advice.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from Week 4. Click on the picture to see a bigger version at NFL.com.

This is a nice shot of a 49er defender hanging off of Reggie Bush, who is having a great season thus far. This picture captures how an improving San Francisco defense was able to contain Bush. (Unfortunately, they couldn’t contain anyone else in the Saints’ offense.)

The timing of this picture is incredible; the photo was snapped just as the ball reached the hands of Tony Gonzalez. There were probably 30 photographers trying to get this shot, but only one managed to capture it.

I like this shot because it represents the first bit of real adversity in Jay Cutler’s remarkable 2008 season. I especially like the contrast between his look of disgust and the faceless mass of out of focus Kansas City fans in the background, who were no doubt cheering their fool heads off.

At NFL.com, you can vote for the photo of the week. (But be warned, none of these were nominated.)

The Oakland Raiders have fired head coach Lane Kiffin.

The inevitable became reality Tuesday when Lane Kiffin was fired by Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis without pay via the telephone, according to team sources.

Tom Cable, the team’s offensive line coach, was emerging as the leading candidate to replace Kiffin, a source said. Cable was among three coaches interviewed by Davis on Monday night; the others were offensive coordinator Greg Knapp and special consultant Paul Hackett.

Davis is expected to have a press conference later Tuesday to explain his decision to dismiss Kiffin.

Unlike the St. Louis Rams, who fired coach Scott Linehan on Monday, the news was not delivered by Davis in a face-to-face meeting. Kiffin was notified by a team executive Tuesday morning that Davis would call him at 9:15 a.m. PT to relieve the coach of his duties. The call came shortly after that time.

Linehan also was allowed to speak briefly with his players on Monday. Kiffin will not be afforded the same opportunity, a source said.

Wow, don’t piss off Al Davis, I guess. You’d think that Davis would have the common courtesy to fire Kiffin face to face, but obviously things were much worse between the two than anyone could imagine. Amazing how Davis hired this man less than two years ago and now it appears that he can’t stand him.

Update: The Raiders have chosen offensive line coach Tom Cable as their new head coach according to NFL.com.

As SPORTSbyBROOKS.com reported less than a week ago, former MNF reportor Lisa Guerrero is now blogging for the L.A. Times. In one of her first blogs, she takes aim at New England Patriot fans.

Let me get this straight: Boston fans suffered through 80 years of Red Sox disappointment but can’t sit through the first Patriots loss in 21 regular season games?

I, of all people, should not be surprised. From 1992 to 1994, I was the director of entertainment for the Patriots. Believe me, those bleak years were anything but entertaining.

Back then, they played at Foxboro Stadium, best known for having the worst field conditions in professional football, in front of maybe 20,000 fans, best known for urinating off the upper terrace and assaulting women in the dirt parking lot. Really!

In other words, this was a drunken, dirty, obnoxious crowd. I don’t mean that in a good way.
Those fans were an embarrassment. The team stunk — 6-10 in 1991 and 2-14 in 1992 — and there wasn’t a lot to cheer about. Remember Dick MacPherson? Exactly.

But isn’t that when true fans continue to show up … and know how to use the indoor plumbing?

Well, exit Hugh Millen/Scott Zolak and enter Drew Bledsoe/Tom Brady. Guess what? The crowds started showing up again.

It’s easy to be a fan when your team wins three Super Bowls in four years, but one loss at home in a couple of seasons and the rats jump off the sinking ship like Tom Brady jumped off Bridget Moynihan.
This past Sunday, when the Pats took a beating, their fans couldn’t take a hit.

In fairness to Patriot fans, anybody would have left with the way Ronnie Brown was shredded New England that day. But Guerrero brings up a good point and it’ll be interesting to see how loyal Pats fans are if the team starts to go down without Brady.

Every week, I highlight a few players that you should target in waivers. I use the ESPN league data when filtering players, so the only players eligible for discussion here are those that are available on the waiver wire of at least 50% of ESPN’s leagues. I’ll list each player’s percentage-owned after their name so you have an idea of how available they are in leagues around the country. I’ll always try to mention a few players that are available in 90% of leagues for those of you in 12-team leagues or leagues with big rosters. I’ll rank them in the order I’d pick them up in a league with a high-performance, PPR scoring system.

QUARTERBACKS

1. Marc Bulger (57.7)
Bulger is over our 50%-owned limit, but he deserves special mention due to all that’s going on in St. Louis. It’s entirely possible that Bulger will be reinstated as the starter, which means he’s worth picking up for owners that are having problems at QB.
2. Kyle Orton (14.4)
“Neck Beard� (who has shaved his neck, so I guess he’s just “Beard�) has averaged 234 yards and 2.5 TD over the last two weeks, and he did it against two pretty good teams. He has an easy remaining schedule, so if you need a decent backup, he’s a solid choice.
3. Chad Pennington (34.3)
A nice matchup with the Chargers makes Pennington an attractive pickup this week.
4. Damon Huard (5.6)
Huard was efficient if unspectacular against the Broncos. An easy schedule makes him a relatively attractive option if you need help at QB.
5. JaMarcus Russell (42.1)
Russell seems to be improving but the Raider offense is probably going to be spotty week-to-week.
6. Matt Ryan (44.5)
Ryan has yet to throw for more than 200 yards in a game and has just two TD on the season.
7. Kerry Collins (23.8)
Getting Justin Gage back helps, but the schedule is rough over the next three weeks.
Brian Griese (36.8)
8. Joe Flacco (15.0)
Flacco looked pretty sharp against the Steelers. His schedule is ugly the next two weeks, but it gets easier after that.
9. Gus Frerotte (19.4)
10. Ryan Fitzpatrick (0.1)
If Fitzpatrick can catch on, he has a couple of good WRs to throw to and a decent RB lining up behind him. Who knows what’s going on with Palmer’s elbow.
11. Trent Green (6.8)
12. Matt Flynn (0.2)
If Aaron Rodgers is going to miss significant time, Flynn is the first in line to take over.
13. Brady Quinn (18.6)
With Derek Anderson’s win against Cincy, the Quinn era will probably have to wait for now.