Well, it is football, after all
New England's Wes Welker comfortably placed a "foot," "feet" and "toes" into his mouth during a news conference for Sunday's NFL playoff game between the Patriots and the New York Jets.
The wide receiver made 11 straight-faced foot references Thursday in an attempt to rankle Jets coach Rex Ryan, whose wife, Michelle, has reportedly posted foot-fetish videos of herself on the Internet.
The shoot-from-the-lip coach has been mum about the topic, calling it "a personal matter," since reports of the videos surfaced last month.
However, Ryan has been chattering on and on this postseason about other "personal" business: his rivalries with Peyton Manning and Bill Belichick.
Trying to fire up himself and his team, Ryan called last week's wild-card matchup against Manning, whose Colts Ryan had beaten only once in six meetings as a defensive coordinator and head coach, "personal."
Whether his rhetoric was the reason or not, the Jets won, so Ryan played the "it's personal" card again this week to call out Belichick, his Patriots counterpart, who whipped New York 45-3 in Week 13.
When asked Friday to respond to Welker's taunting, though, Ryan again went quiet, declining comment.
It might be a case of cold feet, and they might belong to his quarterback.
The Jets' Mark Sanchez, a Southern California native, is known for playing poorly in wintry weather.
The Weather Channel has predicted a calm between two storms around game time Sunday in Foxborough, Mass., but it should be about 32 degrees with temperatures falling and a stiff crosswind.
Better bundle up those tootsies.
■ FIRE SALE -- Former Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez has donated 12 bags of Wolverines apparel to a Detroit-area Salvation Army store. He delivered 432 items to the store in Wayne, Mich., less than a week after his firing.
A Salvation Army representative said the collection includes caps, shirts and jackets. A "Coach's Closet" tent sale, with prices starting at $6, is planned for today at the store. Some items might be auctioned.
One item not included was a Wolverines defensive playbook. Maybe Rodriguez never had one.
■ AIR BALL -- Professional bowlers will be competing for more than $1 million over the next week in major PBA tournaments at the South Point and Red Rock bowling centers.
Those events are unlikely to produce a video like the one recorded last week at the Team USA Trials tournament at Sunset Station that has become an Internet sensation with more than 1 million hits.
The video shows one of Josh Scanlan's 10th-frame deliveries. After starting with two strikes, Scanlan appears to get his thumb stuck in the ball. The errant shot bounces onto an adjacent lane, in and out of a gutter and then registers a strike in that lane.
"It's amazing to see a fluke shot get so much attention," said Scanlan, of Grayslake, Ill., who finished 49th.
The video can be seen at bowl.com/tv.
COMPILED BY JEFF WOLF
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
