Vikings punter ponders name game

Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe probably was just thinking out loud when he said it, but he made Internet headlines when he mused that he could make a lot of money if he changed his last name to "World of Warcraft," after his favorite video game.

Kluwe hosts a talk show on Minneapolis radio station 93X and recently told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "Back when Chad Johnson changed his name to Ocho Cinco, I told the guys at 93X that I was going to change my name to Chris 'World of Warcraft.' They said that's too long. So they started calling me Chris Warcraft. I could make a lot of money if I changed my name to that."

Kluwe never said he was serious about the name change, only that he was serious about video gaming.

"More people like to hear me talk about playing video games than football," Kluwe said. "I've played video games since I was 4. I play them a lot more than I kick a football. I kick the ball about 45 minutes a day. I play video games about five or six hours a day. But that's OK. I don't watch TV."

• EAGLES HAVE LANDED -- Yes, that is Philadelphia -- 5-5-1 nearly a month ago -- in the NFL playoffs.

"The Eagles barely were playoff contenders entering Sunday," Tony Augusty of the Detroit News noted. "To even have a shot, the Buccaneers had to lose, the Bears or Vikings had to lose, Tony Romo had to take a homeless man to see 'Phantom of the Opera,' Ed Hochuli had to blow a call, and Bill Belichick had to smile.

"Improbably, all the scenarios we didn't make up came true."

• EXPECT UNEXPECTED -- From the Past Performance Is Not Indicative of Future Results file:

-- The Detroit Lions, 4-0 in exhibition games, go 0-16 in real ones.

-- Pac-10 football teams, 1-6 against the Mountain West Conference during the regular season, go 5-0 in bowl games against opponents sporting a combined record of 46-14.

• NO MR. POPULARITY -- How much damage did Brett Favre do to his reputation by coming out of retirement to quarterback the New York Jets for the 2008 season? Listen to Jets running back Thomas Jones during an interview with New York radio station WQHT-FM.

"We're a team, and we win together ... but at the same time, you can't turn the ball over and expect to win," Jones said. "The other day (in a season-ending loss to Miami), the three interceptions really hurt us. I mean, that's just reality. If I were to sit here and say, 'Oh, man, it's OK,' that's not reality.

"The reality is, you throw interceptions, I'm (ticked) off, I don't like it. You know what I'm saying? I don't like it; I know everybody else on the team doesn't like it."

Meanwhile, an anonymous Jets player told Newsday, "There was a lot of resentment in the room about him (Favre). He never socialized with us, never went to dinner with anyone."

This is what happens when you win one of five games in December.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL WIRE SERVICES