MAKE PLAYS

The question has now become what commercials aren't the Mannings in?

Now that little bro has a ring of his own, the Manning duo has certianly become a marketing machine....not like they weren't already.

In their most recent commercial, the Mannings face off with the Williams sisters in the Oreo's "Double Stuff Racing League", also known as DSRL.

While the siblings trade some trash talk, the poor group of "reporters" can only try to keep up. If only this happened in real life...

Even though we see these icons in more places than we really need to, this spot certainly has its perks. The Mannings are still that awkward kind of funny, and the Williams clan are still playing off their diva persona.

The real question remains is who would come out on top in the DSRL?!

I'm going to have to take the brothers on this one. They already have one of the best SportsCenter commercials on their resume.

- Julie

Masturbation enthusiast, occasional racist, xenophobe and extremely overrated Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery has some sort of film being made about his experiences as an intern at Vogue.

Apparently this film will be a romantic comedy, which I'm sure will take over Slap Shot as the funniest sports movie of all time.

Let's go to Reuters with more

"Avery, who considers himself something of a fashion jock, spent the summer at Vogue, where, among other duties, he served as guest editor of MensVogue.com.

A member of the NHL's New York Rangers at the time of the internship, he has since signed with the Dallas Stars. He told The Hollywood Reporter he's always been a fashionista. 'I was always trying to be the best-dressed kid in school,' he said.

As an instigator and fighter who piles up penalty minutes, he said he took some ribbing for his Vogue stint, but has learned not to worry about the stereotypes of sport.

'I think it's great to be into something that you care about," he said. "But I'm still an athlete who likes to beat the crap out of people.'"

Needless to say, I won't be seeing said film. Instead, I'll just watch this beautiful piece of cinema repeatedly.

Moving on from overrated fashion-loving hockey players. Make Plays received a tip on Sunday from sports staff writers Tom Copain and Patrick McDermott that Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Michel Therrien was spotted along the Penn State sidelines on Saturday.

I questioned their judgment. After all, why would Therrien be at a Penn State football game?

Turns out they were right.

So, Therrien's journey started with a Char Valley game on Friday and ended with the Stillers on Sunday. Hmmm, there was a football game held at Heinz Field on Saturday but Therrien decided to go three hours east to watch a game. Good choice, Mike.

Of course Penn State and the Stillers won this weekend, both playing pretty well defensively. I'd check on Char Valley, but that's the high school next to mine, and they're irrelevant in football, so.... But anyway, perhaps the Steelers and Nits saw this video and were inspired to play defense the way they did.

With Thomas Brady's leg being busted up by the greatest football player of all time, Bernard Pollard, it made me think of hated athletes that if hurt, we wouldn't feel bad.
Anyway, while writing my ticket to Hell, let's go.

1. Marian Hossa -- traitor -- Detroit Red Army
In case you didn't hear, and I wish you didn't hear, but Hossa backstabbed the Pittsburgh Penguins and signed with the Kwame Kilpatrick Felons this off-season. I wouldn't care except for the fact that said Felons rode the 92-year-old stubs of Chris "I had my best season at age 35" Osgood. When the Pens play the Detroit Unemployed Auto Workers (Thanks, Ford!) for the first time on Nov. 11, I'm expecting Brooks Orpik to combine this and this to Fiesta Mexicana. When that happens, this will happen in the Collegian's web office.

2. Ray Lewis -- I can't libel him, but one time he was questioned by police about a murder in Atlanta -- Baltimore Brown Colts
"Where was Ray Lewis when Joey Porter was shot?" was a popular T-shirt sold on the Clemente Bridge outside PNC Park in 2002 or so. "God's Linebacker" seems to have to put a spell on everyone so that they forget that he was questioned by police about a murder in Atlanta. Maybe he'll tear an ACL after celebrating a tackle he made 8-yards downfield.

3. Bill Belichick -- former Cleveland Browns coach, record (36-44) -- video coordinator, New England Patriots
Sports night editor Kevin Zitzman said, "he's not technically an athlete, but still." Enough said.

4. Jimmy Clausen -- member of the Clausen family quarterbacking triumvirate -- Notre Dame
Oh, Jimmy. Holding a press conference at the College Football Hall of Fame to announce where you're going to college. Riding in a limousine to said conference. A nice, New Jersey guido haircut. Participation in Beer Olympics. Being average. By the end of his college career maybe he'll be able to steal the title of "Best Clausen quarterback ever" away from Casey.

5. David Eckstein -- 2-foot-3 shortstop -- Arizona Diamondbacks
OH MY GOD, ECKSTEIN RUNS DOWN TO FIRST ON A WALK (he rarely walks). HE'S SO SMALL AND GRITTY AND, AND, AND, HE HUSSSSTLLLESSS!!!11!!1. To paraphrase firejoemorgan.com, David Eckstein sucks at baseball.

6. Brett Favre -- farmer in Kiln, Ms.
Denim model and Collegian football writer Travis Johnson's current man crush, Favre's injury would be all over ESPN. On second thought, never mind. ESPN spends more time on Brady's injury than Walter Cronkite did on JFK on Nov. 22, 1963.

7. Steve Downie -- Lady Byng candidate -- Philadelphia Flyers
This and this, which made this kind of enjoyable. He enjoys cross-checking teammates in the mouth when they refuse to stand naked in a tight bus bathroom. The player, Akim Aliu, signed with Chicago. The Blackhawks and Flyers play the day after Christmas. I hope Aliu gives Make Plays a beautiful Christmas present.

-- Shorts with help from Kevin Zitzman

It's finally here. For the past three months I've been able to block the events of June 4, 2008 - the night where I wanted to punch holes throughout my apartment building. That was the culmination of probably the most exciting spring of my life. The playoff run that I had been waiting for since I started watching hockey. But it ended with a Sidney Crosby shot that almost trickled behind the goal-line at Civic Arena. Expletives were aplenty after the horn sounded on game 6 and the 2007-08 Penguins season.

The Pens training camp opened yesterday at the Igloo and unfortunately the Collegian's travel budget wasn't able to accommodate our Pens gurus (myself, interwebz masters Ian Brown and Erin Prah along with whipping boy Kevin Zitzman).

But, hey, the Pens drop the puck on Oct. 4 (although the Pens web site says the game will only be televised on CBC) in Stockholm. Now, if Steiggy and Errey aren't there to call the game on FSN Pittsburgh, it looks like the four of us will have to move our Pens party from State College to somewhere in Ontario, although if any of you guys know who to steal Canadian TV channels, let us know.

Anyway, there's a complete roster turnover. Gone are playoff heroes like Pontius Hossa, Adam Hall, Upper St. Clair's own Ryan Malone, WWGRD, Jarkko Ruutu, Georges Laraque and ConkBlock.

However, there's no reason to worry if you're a Pens fan. We have Satan. And Matt Cooke, Eric Godard, Ruslan Fedotenko and maybe most importantly Janne Pesonen. Plus, they were able to resign the Flower, Genocide and Free Candy all for reasonable contracts.

So, strap up the skates, turn on The X for Mike Lange and the ole' 29er because the bingo game is ready to roll.

-- Shorts

Most of you were probably eager for today's new Associated Press Top 25 to see where Penn State ranked -- the Nittany Lions were bumped all the way up to 12 -- but for me, I was excited to see Vanderbilt ranked for the first time in 24 years.

The Commodores hold a special place in my heart, partly because as a Virginian I have a soft spot for Southern football, and also because they achieve success while maintaining high academic standards. At Vandy, athletics are treated the same way as any student activity; there is no separate athletic department. Varsity athletics are simply a division of student life.

Athletes at Vandy don't have their own dorms or dining halls, they are treated like regular students. That may seem like a pretty simple concept, but it is a radical one within major college football.

With all of the off-field shenanigans going on here in Happy Valley, maybe good ol' Joe Pa could take a cue from what's happening down in Nashville.

As excited as I am about the 'Dores winning ways, they have broken my heart before. Last year, they were 5-3 and needed only one win to become bowl eligible, but they lost their final four games. Vandy also suffered a heart-breaking loss at Florida in 2005, losing to the Gators on a missed extra point that got pushed back on a questionable excessive celebration penalty.

We should get a pretty good idea of how good Vandy is soon. After a bye week this Saturday, the 'Dores will host Auburn.

-Steve

While Phillies fans are rejoicing at another division title, for some baseball fans, the end of the season is an extremely sad day.

As an Oriole fan, I've had time to prepare for this. I've pretty much known since Opening Day that we would not be participating in the postseason, but the idea that my Orioles will not take the field again until next April is still hitting me as I type this. I'm sure there are a bunch of Pirates fans out there that can sympathize with me.

Many of you out there are probably wondering how someone who roots for a team that has been in a rebuilding phase since 1998 can possibly be upset that another season has drawn to a close (especially when the Orioles' rotation included such names as Brian Bass and Alfredo Simon this past month).

But the thing about baseball is that it is different from every other sport. Being a baseball fan becomes part of your life, it's much more than 3 1/2 hours every Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Being a baseball fan is a commitment, and now that I won't be able to watch my favorite team for six months, I have a void to fill in my life.

Former commissioner Bart Giamatti (who is best known for banning Pete Rose, but who I know as the man who gave up being president of Yale to become president of the National League, a pretty boss move if you ask me) sums up my feelings about the end of baseball season best.

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone."

Pretty depressing, but I have some reason for optimism. My Orioles open next season on April 6, at home against the Yankees.

While it's certainly too soon to name probable starters for that game, it's reasonable to assume that Mike Mussina, after winning 20 games for the first time in his career this season, will be on the bump for the Yanks, and Moose sports a 4.83 career ERA against the Orioles, his worst number against another AL team.

It may be a long ways off, but I can already taste what first-place is going to feel like after we punish Mussina and the Yankees on Opening Day.

-Steve