EDYTA > GEORGE NOVAK, WANNY, SABAN...

Anyone else intrigued by the ongoing Jason Taylor saga? If you haven't been paying attention to the Miami Dolphins' offseason, you probably aren't aware that the former Defensive Player of the Year (and Pittsburgher) is rather focused on his dancing/post-football career these days.

The blog Sean's Ramblings noted that on the recent season finale of Dancing With the Stars, JT remarked that dancing partner Edyta Sliwinska was the best coach he ever had.

And while she's certainly in better shape than legendary Woodland Hills coach George Novak (who coached Taylor during his teenage years), it was a pretty big shot at all of Taylor's former coaches, a list that includes Jimmy Johnson, Nick Saban, and Dave Wannstedt. Although I'm pretty sure Edyta is a better coach at anything than Cam Cameron and Jim Bates.

It's pretty easy to see where Taylor is going with this. He knows that his football career is close to the end, the Dolphins were 1-15 last year and in total rebuild mode, and now they're being run by a tyrant and all of his minions who are already giving him the cold shoulder. His ongoing soap opera with The Tuna has become to Profootballtalk.com what Britney Spears and Angelina Jolie are to WWTDD, with daily updates on who said what.

The Dolphins attempted to deal Tayor to the Jaguars, but that now looks like a dead end. So it may come down to who blinks first. Taylor is apparently not going to attend offseason workouts or training camp, usually the precursor to a lengthy holdout. Check that, it's actually the definition of a holdout.

So how far is Taylor going to take this? Only Coach Edyta may know.

The News

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--Congratulations to Jerry E. of Pittsburgh, winner of this week's contest, a Rings N'at T-shirt courtesy of Burghshirts.bigcartel.com. New contest starts tomorrow!

--Quite the performance by Marc-Andre Fleury last night as the Pens shut out the JaromiRangers, 1-0.

--Mike Tomlin defends Sunday night's game plan. Who are we to question it?

--Mel Stottlemyre is hired as the new Mariners pitching coach, killing my dream of watching Jim Colborn get the job and subsequently "Zach Duke" Felix Hernandez. That's right, I just used Zach Duke as a verb.

--A Michael Vick Halloween display is causing quite a stir in Tennessee.

-- An enormous Jason Taylor, the biggest animated human figure ever built at 26ft, is unleashed on London. And now there's video.

--Future Pirates, Cubs, and Penguins owner Mark Cuban is eliminated from Dancing with the Stars.

--If you think the Rockies can continue their historic run, you could make some serious cash over the next couple weeks.

--Stats, Analysis, and Fun Facts from the Steelers-Broncos, courtesy of Post Game Heroes.

--Sons of Sam Malone takes Me-Shawn Johnson to task for his interview with Ocho.

--A mind-blowing story about David Copperfield.

--Hey, Anna Kournikova's eating again!

--NBC's Notre Dame ratings are at an all-time low. I think now is a good time to extend Charlie Weis another 10 years. You know, when the value is low.

--A Wisconsin man found a 3.92 carat diamond at an Arkansas diamond park that's open to the public.

--A painting found in the trash could fetch up to $1 million. Is it me, or a lot of people finding valuables today?

A LIST OF TODAY'S TOP LISTS

Seven subtle cues that often mean a person isn't being completely honest with you

10 of the Greatest Movie One-Liners of All Time

6 Videos of Comedians Laying the Smack Down on Hecklers

Pens Lose, Top Football States, Media Awards, Most Annoying Players, Frat Pack Circle of Trust

NHL:
Pens lose, Pens lose. That's 0 wins in their last 5, for those of you scoring at home.

FOOTBALL:
ESPN ranks the top football states...PA comes in at #4, behind Texas, California, and Florida. PA ranked #1 among pro teams, #7 among college, and #6 among high schools. (Thanks to reader John for the tip)

MEDIA:
SI hands out their 2006 Media Awards, giving Chris Fowler and James Brown person-of-the-year honors. I know he was a great singer and I'll miss him dearly, but did he really have that much to do with the sports media?

NFL:
A player's poll ranks the league's most annoying players. Surprise, surprise, Terrell Owens is #1. Do editors and producers sit around and think of ways to inject him into the news? And by the way...Joey Porter was voted #2.

Chris Simms parlays his 46 passer rating into a 2-year extension in Tampa.

Jason Taylor calls out cheater Shawne Merriman

McCLATCHY:
As noted in yesterday's comments, here is the story on the McClatchy Co's sale of the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis. McClatchy paid $1.2 billion for paper in 1998, and is now selling it for $530 million. Clearly this is the worst investment by a McClatchy since Kevin Young...or Pat Meares...or Derek Bell.

HOCKEY:
The world's oldest hockey stick, carved in the 1850s, sold for $1.9 million dollars. No truth to the rumor that it only became available after John LeClair was out of hockey.

RANDOM FUN STUFF:
The Frat Pack Circle of Trust, fully illustrated.

How the mighty have fallen: Worldofbritney.com is shutting down on January 31.

Yahoo lists the biggest movie bombs of 2006, including All the King's Men, The Wicker Man, and Basic Instinct 2, which took in $5 million and cost $70 million to produce. Ouch.

TMZ gives us their 2006 Celebrity Bad Behavior Photo Gallery