The New Jersey Nets defeated the Boston Celtics yesterday, earning the Nets just their 6th win of the season.

An embarrassed Ray Allen hides his face with a paper bag, as Kevin Garnett prepares to do the same during the Boston Celtics loss to the New Jersey Nets on Saturday (katchop)

On the same day the Celtics hung a sign in their locker room aimed at inspiring the team to get its act together, Boston stumbled through an inexcusable 104-96 loss to the lowly Nets at the TD Garden.

The sign in the locker room reads, “Individuals win games, but teams win titles.” It was born after the team watched the HBO documentary “Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals” instead of practicing Friday.

Maybe they should have practiced. Boston showed up for the first three minutes, built a double-digit lead over the five-win (now six-win) Nets, then promptly disappeared.

Original Photos Yahoo,  buzznet

The Canadian Women’s hockey team is under fire for their post game celebrations in Vancouver after winning the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The Canadian Women's hockey team won a gold medal in Vancouver at the 2010 Winter Games, but also earned criticism for taking their party out of the locker room and back on the ice (katchop)

The team spilled back out onto the rink, now emptied of fans, for souvenir snapshots. But its members were apparently unaware that a photographer from the Associated Press was still in the building.

The resulting photos from the news agency show team members, some of them holding beers, posing for photos on the ice surfacing machine, and lying on the ice surface with a giant bottle of champagne and cigars in hand.

After his photographs appeared, Gilbert Felli, the International Olympic Committee’s executive director for the Olympic Games, said the photos were “not what we want to see.”

“I don’t think it’s a good promotion of sport values,” he told the Associated Press. “If they celebrate in the changing room, that’s one thing, but not in public. We will investigate what happened.”

Original Photos Yahoo, themagicdragon, thebsreport

The USA currently has earned 32 medals at the 2010 Winter Games, while 2006 medal leader Germany trails with 26.

Despite winning multiple gold medals thus far, Germany's reign of Winter Olympic domination is in danger of coming to an end in Vancouver (katchop)

USA has been the leading country in the medal count for fourth consecutive day with 28 32 medals. As usual, USA is still followed by Germany with 24 26 medals, Norway with 18 medals, Canada with 15 medals, and Russia with 13 medals.

There are few days left before the end of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and there are 66 medals waiting to be awarded.

Original Photos DayLife, uberreview

The Philadelphia Eagles have released former Pro Bowl RB Brian Westbrook.

Unlike Antwan Barnes of the Baltimore Ravens in this 2008 game, the Philadelphia Eagles released Brian Westbrook on Tuesday night (katchop)

Eagles coach Andy Reid said he called Westbrook with the news Tuesday morning. Reid said Westbrook should still have an opportunity to play for another team.

“Brian is one of the greatest Eagles of all time and he is an even a better person and leader,” Reid said. “In my mind, there has not been a more versatile running back that the NFL has seen.”

Reid said he thinks Westbrook still wants to play.

LeSean McCoy, who rushed for 637 yards with four touchdowns in 16 games as a rookie, will become Philadelphia’s No. 1 running back.

“That’s who’s going to take the ball from here,” Reid said.

Original Photo lancasteronline

Several nations have expressed concerns over the speed of the bobsled track at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

The Japanese women's bobsleigh team crashes after a defective floor mat jammed their accelerator pedal (katchop)

Some teams voiced concerns about safety at a meeting Friday with race officials. The head of the Swiss team, Markus Wasser, said in an interview that high speeds and gravitational forces at the bottom of the track give pilots no time to correct driving errors.

The team withdrew driver Daniel Schmid for what it called “safety reasons” after two crashes in training. Swiss gold medal favorite Beat Hefti also withdrew from two-man with concussion following a crash on Wednesday.

For luge, speeds were slowed when the start was moved lower down the track after Kumarishtavili’s death on Feb. 12.

IOC president Jacques Rogge, in an interview with The Associated Press, promised Saturday to do “everything in my power” to prevent a repeat of the crash and said the International Olympic Committee will work with the luge federation to “take all the steps that might be needed” to avoid another tragedy at future games.

Original Photos Yahoo, atlaschrome

The San Diego Chargers released LaDainian Tomlinson on Monday.

The San Diego Chargers released LaDainian Tomlinson making him an unrestricted free agent (katchop)

The main thing for me now is to try to win a championship,” Tomlinson, 30, told SI..com.

“That’s my No. 1 goal. That’s why I still work hard and train like I do, because I still believe there’s a chance of winning that championship. So the next team I go to has to have a chance of winning a title. I can think of a few teams off the top of my head, but that’s what my agent is for. I’m sure he’s going to do some research, talk to some teams and present some options to me.”

Original Photos Chargers.com, pachd

The US defeated Canada last night in men’s hockey, and even though it was only a preliminary round game, many Canadians are taking it hard.

Martin Brodeur did not come up big last night for Canada (katchop)

Canada could use a drink right about now.

What has already been a disappointing Olympics for Canada took perhaps its worst turn yet at Canada Hockey Place as the gold medal favorites, the team shouldering the hopes of a nation, lost to their hockey-indifferent neighbors to the south.

Hockey is king here. It trumps everything else going on at these Winter Games, which is why, a week before the gold medal will be decided, a preliminary game between the U.S. and Canada is the biggest event of these Olympics so far to many Canadians.

Original Photos CNN

Paul Holmgren, the Philadelphia Flyers GM, is contemplating making changes to the Flyer’s roster.

Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren is considering changes to the Flyers' roster, including signing Olympic figure skater Mike Weir who Holmgren feels "would be a natural fit in our locker room" (katchop)

Everyone seems to be paying attention to the Winter Olympics, but one man in South Jersey might have other things on his mind. Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren has just 10 days to make a big decision: Does he stay with what he has in the goaltending position or try to make a deal by the March 3 NHL trade deadline?

It won’t be an easy verdict.

For one thing, he put a lot of faith in the signing of free agent Ray Emery this season and so far it hasn’t really worked out. Emery already sat out a month after abdominal surgery and now he’s in the middle of another month off for a left hip injury which will eventually need surgery, sooner or later.

Giving up on Emery would be admitting the signing was kind of a mistake in the first place.

Original Photos Daylife, sulekha

Amy Williams won a gold medal in the skeleton for Great Britain in Vancouver that the US and Canada have protested.

Canada and the US have protested Great Britain's Amy Williams gold medal in the Skeleton in Vancouver, claiming that the Olympian's helmet gave her an unfair aerodynamic advantage (katchop)

How did someone who hadn’t placed above fourth in any World Cup events this season suddenly vault to the top of the Olympic podium? According to protests from the United States and Canada, it was her helmet.

The U.S. filed two protests and Canada filed one with the International Federation of Bobsleigh and Tobogganing, the governing body that oversees skeleton. The two countries claimed that ridges on Williams’ helmet didn’t conform to aerodynamic standards set by the FIBT.

Original Photos Yahoo, wikimedia

The Boston Celtics have acquired slam dunk champ Nate Robinson from the New York Knicks.

Nate Robinson officially is a leprechaun after the New York Knicks traded the slam dunk champion to the Boston Celtics (katchop)

I’m sad to see Eddie go,’’ Allen said. “He was a brother of ours. We won a championship together, so we’ll be forever connected. My heart goes out to him because I know he really wanted to be here and help us do what we were trying to set out and do, win a championship this year.’’

The atmosphere in the locker room once the trade deadline passes isn’t terribly different from any other day. But the relief is there.

“As a player, you feel a little more comfortable knowing you’re here for the rest of the season,’’ said Davis. “You’re not getting traded to another team, you’ve just got to keep playing, staying focused on what we have to do, staying focused on the main goal.’’

Said Allen, “We were saying how it’s a lot of guys in grocery carts this past month, because a couple of us have been shopped left and right.’’

Original Photos leprechaunsofireland, nyc3432

Shani Davis won a gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver by skating in circles really fast.

Disaster was averted in Vancouver for speed skater Shani Davis when the gold medal winner's emergency parachute deployed at the end of the 1,000 meter event (katchop)

Davis, in fact, became the first long-tracker in Olympic history to win back-to-back 1,000s but, unlike his command performance in Turin four years ago, this one had a high degree of difficulty. Skating in the last lap — and before a crowd that included comedian Steven Colbert, IOC president Jacques Rogge, VANOC president John Furlong and Premier Gordon Campbell — Davis trailed eventual silver medallist Tae-Bum Mo from Korea by a quarter of a second after the first split, but made up the difference with the second-fastest final lap of the competition.

He would win the gold by 18/100ths of a second with a time of 1:08.94, more than 3.5 seconds slower than his world-record time as the Richmond facility again lived up to its Slowval nickname.

Original Photos Quartermilestones, Yahoo

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers might be injured, but the Lakers still keep winning.

Pau Gasol and the Los Angeles Lakers have found winning without Kobe Bryant to be so easy that even.. ah never mind (katchop)

Brown made his third start and had his first career double-double, scoring eight points in the final 1:13 while Bryant sat out his fourth straight game because of a sprained left ankle.

The defending NBA champions have won all four games they’ve played without Bryant, who also was unable to play in the All-Star game.

Four different players have led the Lakers in scoring during his absence, including Ron Artest, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, who had 18 rebounds and eight points against the Warriors.

Original Photos Yahoo Sports, blahblahblah.beloblog.com

The Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Jennings says he was joking when he tweeted that he was bipolar.

Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks says that he's not bipolar, but his hair might be (katchop)

Brandon Jennings this afternoon said he was just joking around on twitter about being bipolar, “Didn’t have to write an article about it.” Welcome to the world of celebrity, Mr. Jennings. Look, we’ve all made the “I’m bipolar” joke with friends and loved ones when we’re in a mood, but if you do it on twitter, it comes off differently. No harm done, but you have to be a little careful about what you put out there.

Original Photo NBA.com

The Daytona 500 was won by Jamie McMurray in a race delayed numerous times by potholes.

There are more people that know the Daytona 500 was delayed due to shockingly poor track conditions on Sunday than there are people who know what driver actually won the race (katchop)

The dismal track conditions at Daytona have been the subject of conversation for years. Three years ago, the topic was hot, and then it cooled down like the slice of asphalt that came loose on Sunday, not once, but twice.

Was it embarrassing? Yes.

Could the fiasco have been avoided? Yes, had the speedway been paved three years ago when everyone was crying for it.

But we’re missing the point on why DIS officials should be embarrassed.

Why? Because they never fixed the pothole the first time on Sunday.

Original Photo Yahoo Sports

Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks won his 3rd NBA Slam Dunk Championship.

The New York Knicks' Nate Robinson is the NBA Slam Dunk Champion for the third time (katchop)

After bringing several Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders on the court with him, Robinson’s final dunk came when he threw the ball off the backboard, grabbed it and turned midair for a two-handed backward slam.

“The best thing I brought with me, the Dallas cheerleaders of course,” Robinson said. “I asked if they could help me out with the dunk. They did their job and I did mine.”

While not using the cheerleaders as props—“They’re way too beautiful for that,” he said—Robinson celebrated his final dunk by grabbing a pair of silver and blue pompoms from one of them and waving them in the air.

Original Photos Yahoo Sports

Colton Orr and the rest of the Toronto Maple Leafs are happy to have time off for the Winter Olympics.

Colton Orr of the Toronto Maple Leafs casts a big shadow amongst the tough guys of the NHL (katchop)

Maybe our minds weren’t where they should be,” Leafs coach Ron Wilson said, referring to the 11-day Olympic break, which begins Saturday. “We made some bad mistakes. The defence left the front of the net on all four goals.

“We made it easy for them.”

At the morning skate, Wilson warned about a mental letdown but felt his club, revamped by the trades, was beyond that. He also said there was a fresh attitude on the team, and the players “wanted to go into the break feeling good about themselves.”

So it was disappointing to the coach and his troops when they fell completely apart in the second period, looking anything but the team that improved its own-zone play since the trades.

Original Photo Yahoo Sports

The San Francisco Giants have reached a 2 year deal worth 23 million with Tim Lincecum.

Tim Lincecum agreed on a 2 year deal with the San Francisco Giants, with the contract containing provisions such as a coffin for all road trips and no non-dome day games (katchop)

Lincecum will have two years of arbitration eligibility remaining when the two-year, $23 million deal he agreed to Friday expires after the 2011 season. So in a sense, the Giants will face the same predicament they confronted this year: Do they risk taking Lincecum to arbitration and paying him an enormous sum on a one-year contract if they lose the case? Or do they attempt to sign Lincecum to a longer multiyear pact which might pay him less on an annual basis but still represents a sizable financial commitment.

From Lincecum’s perspective, he can’t lose. By contrast, the Giants have some thinking to do.

Original Photo Day Life

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Troy Polamalu received a lot of attention while starring in a TruTV Super Bowl commercial.

Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers was a big hit as Punxsutawney Polamalu in a TruTV commercial during the Super Bowl, even if the version with a midget Britney Spears was not aired (katchop)

TruTV, part of Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System, was named best rookie Super Bowl advertiser by The Wall Street Journal. The 2-year-old cable channel, which used to be Court TV,  depicted Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu as the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil.

Original Photos YouTube, contactmusic,  viralclip

Maybe not eat them, but if your kid plays for the Buffalo Sabres and they are playing the Boston Bruins, there is a good chance that  Milan Lucic might smack them around a little bit.

Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins gets ready to fight Adam Mair of the Buffalo Sabres, who might have soiled his hockey pants (katchop)

Although he gave up some size, Mair came out strong landing a few hard left hands on Lucic who responded toward the end of the bout. What’s more impressive is that Mair had broken his nose a few days earlier in Columbus and I don’t many athletes who would have willingly exchanged punches with someone as dangerous as Lucic in such a condition.

Original Photos Yahoo Sports, ScientificAmerican

It might be a little premature, but some people are talking about a dynasty in New Orleans for the Saints.

The Saints winning the Super Bowl has changed the look of New Orleans (katchop)

Over the next couple weeks, the Saints will ensure that centerpiece Drew Brees finishes his career in New Orleans by giving him a very large contract extension. Whenever the time is right, they’ll also do the same with head coach Sean Payton and make sure that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is happy where he’s at in order to keep their two playcallers intact for years to come as well.

With those three vital pieces in place, the Saints could challenge for multiple Super Bowls and not be a one-year wonder. Continuity breeds success and considering they have a family-like atmosphere in their locker room, the team won’t have a hard sell on its hands in trying to bring free agents like Darren Sharper back to New Orleans next season.

Original Photos jonesindustrialservice, dunceupounatime, vegatransports