What to watch for in this weekend's biggest matchups.

DEREK ANDERSON over Brady Quinn — Nice move by the Browns.  If you have a competent quarterback, you do everything to keep him, regardless of who's on the bench.  [cough Chargers! cough]

HORNETS over Jazz — Great Western Conference game on ESPN tonight, and for once it's actually on early enough (8:00 Eastern) to watch. Thank goodness New Orleans is so far west!

Mainstream Media over BLOGS – Not often I take this side, but we have Pro Football Talk to thank for yet another premature round of "Will He or Won't He?" concerning Brett Favre's non-retirement.  Another scoop from PFT: Sprint's unprecedented new plan!  So be sure to sign up, and ignore that pesky $29.45 billion fourth-quarter loss.

NCAA HOOPS over Marginally Interesting Things — Tomorrow's the beginning of March, so it's time for me to start paying attention to the college game.  Pretty nice schedule this weekend.

Speaking of nice weekend schedules, be sure to check in with KD tomorrow and Sunday.  There's gonna be words, and pictures, and it's gonna be a blast!  I'll see y'all back here Monday. 

Is there anything worse in the sports media than completely senseless weekly power rankings?  Well, yes, and it's something I'm going to address it in today's Weekend Picks.  And also people who actually have some kind of emotional investment in power rankings.

1. Scarlett.  I encourage these two to just wander around getting photographed together for the next three years or so.  I'd be cool with that.

2. Sean Salisbury.  Godspeed, and good luck broadening the Salisbury brand. 

3. Body paint.  Inauthentic though they may be, I was nonetheless drawn to these soccer kits.  The breasts really helped, I found.

4. Jerry Jones.  Nice of him to support rival Dan Snyder by dancing it up at Six Flags with Urkel.  HE IS FUCKIN CRAAAAAZYYYYY!!!

5. Isaac Sosa.  Homeboy hit a game-winning three with a fractured testicle.  And you cried when you broke your ankle.  Pussy.

6. Satin jackets.  All hail the '86 Dodgers.  What they lack in Blue Jay-esque mustaches, they more than make up for with satin jackets.

7. Rockland County, New York.  The best thing I read all week. 

8. Duke.  The Blue Devils will henceforth make the Power Rankings every week they can provide video of their mascot getting injured.

9. Jonathan Papelbon.  He doesn't, like, habla the espanol so good, man.

10. Hometown Hotties.  Not all that impressive in the intellectual department, but I spent so much damn time working on that post that I had to bring it up again. 

And the video of the week: it's an old classic, but I've watched so many Professor Brothers and Baby Cakes episodes this week that I had to do a tribute to Brad Neely:

New York Post today revealed that co-captain Stephon Marbury has been banned from Madsion Square Garden by team president/coach/popcorn baron Isiah Thomas. 

Marbury has been instructed by Isiah Thomas not to attend Knicks home games - another indication of the continuing feud between the former pals…

Insiders believe Thomas feels Marbury cost the Knicks the season by rebelling so strongly in November when the coach looked to remove Marbury from the starting lineup after five games. Marbury's bolting of Phoenix fractured the locker room. Thomas also resents Marbury for having surgery instead of trying to postpone it. "It was very bad timing for the team," the friend said, "but it had to be done."

Thomas said Wednesday if Marbury had the season he did in 2006-07, the Knicks "would've won five, six more games and we'd be right in the thick of things."

And in case you think that sounds preposterous, here are the current NBA standings.  As you can see, the Knicks are a mere 26.5 games behind division leader Boston and just 21 games below .500.  Why, if they'd won five more games this season, they'd only be 16 games under .500 and… still not good enough to make the playoffs. 

But still.  TOTALLY Marbury's fault, dude.  You'll see.  Isiah's gonna have the Knicks fixed up in a jiffy. 

hung out with Kenny G.  His idol Kenny G.

[Batista] spent 20 minutes backstage with his musical idol, Seattle native Kenny G. They talked music, baseball and saxophone breathing techniques in a private waiting area before Batista was serenaded with his very own Kenny G session.

"He played for me," Batista said. "It was my favorite song, 'Alone.' Now, I feel like I've had everything. I've talked pitching with Sandy Koufax, had Kenny G play for me. Maybe if I could have an interview with God, then I'd be served. I'd be complete."

Completely devoid of musical taste, more like.  That's a real holy trinity of awesomeness, Miguel: God, Sandy Koufax, and Kenny G.  I guarantee you that no other Mariners fan hates the M's as much as I do.

[Walk Off Walk]

Henry Abbott examines a slice of the NBA's culture — specifically, players' dining habits — in this oddly fascinating post at TrueHoop.

[S]prinkled in there among the things players talk most frequently — you hear it again and again — is the Cheesecake Factory.

Nowadays, if ever someone tells me that they bumped into an NBA player out in public, I like to stop them mid-sentence and guess: "Was it at the Cheesecake Factory?" It can make you look like a freaking genius… People always want to know what it's like to be an NBA player. I feel pretty confident that one of the easiest and most accurate things you could do to live just like an NBA player is to eat a meal at the Cheesecake Factory.

Abbott then posits why NBAers are drawn to the Factory and examines who's gone on record in their support of the soulless chain: Gilbert Arenas (natch), Lindsey Hunter, J.J. Redick, Bobby Simmons, and Andre Iguodala, among others.

"Ooh, look at me, I'm a basketball star and can afford to eat with the sultan at the Cheesecake Factory!"  Well, la dee dah, you princes of roundball.  Some of us are getting by on Ramen noodles and Olde English High Gravity, you know.

Devin Harris made his debut for the Nets in a 120-106 win over the Bucks last night, leading his new team by scoring 21 points in just 21 minutes off the bench after practicing with New Jersey for the first time on Wednesday. 

Not that Vince Carter noticed.  "…zzzwha?  Who?  Kevin Harris?  I dunno, reporter lady.  Can't you ask someone who cares about the team?"

[The Sporting Blog]