To know list: 5 cards—but only are ace—in Billy Beane's hand

[1] JANUARY 2005 All times Eastern

SAT 1

Georgia Tech at Kansas (2:30 p.m., ESPN). College football? We think not. Take time out from the Corporate Bowl for the real game of the day, featuring two teams with designs on college hoops' No. 1 ranking.

MON 3

Sugar Bowl (8 p.m., ABC). Undefeated Auburn plays No. 8 Virginia Tech for ... nothing. But, hey, the Tigers get some time in New Orleans. Not a bad consolation.

TUE 4

Orange Bowl (8 p.m., ABC). Southern California plays Oklahoma in the college football "title game." It's amazing there will be controversy and criticism once again. With such a good system. Imagine that.

* Will Wade Boggs get in on the first ballot? Has another year of retirement made the careers of some players who didn't get in a year ago suddenly seem worthy?. Find out when the Baseball Hall of Fame announce its 2005 inductee(s).

WED 5

The four-day Chili Bowl--the Super Bowl of midget racing (if you aren't in the know, think little dune buggies)--gets under way in Tulsa, Okla., with Tony Stewart and other NASCAR drivers among those behind the wheel.

SAT 8

NFL playoffs doubleheader (4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., ABC).Your fantasy football season is over, but there's still reason to watch. Go back to being a fan of a team and the sport instead of a make-believe owner.

SUN 9

More NFL playoffs (1 p.m., FOX; 4:30 p.m., CBS), which means another entire day of eating and drinking and lying around--so different from every other Sunday since September.

* Kansas at Kentucky (1:30 p.m., CBS). College hoops fans have had this circled on their calendars for months, anticipating a colossal clash between Bill Self's loathing and Tubby Smith's eating disorder.

SAT 15

U.S. Figure Skating Championships (8 p.m., ABC). It's time for your sequins-and-frozen-smiles fix. Don't think it's a sport? The winner is the result of a vote, just like the college football champion, and let's see one of those football guys do a triple-triple combination.

FRI 21

It would be hard to top Spurs at Suns, with Tim Duncan and Amare Stoudemire going at each other in a possible Western Conference finals preview. Hey, why isn't this one on national TV?

SUN 23

NFC championship game (3 p.m., FOX). If the Eagles don't win--don't think for a single second they won't get there--then why'd they bother to sign Terrell Owens? It's either the Super Bowl or the whole thing was a failure. A minor matter known as the AFC championship game (6:30 p.m., CBS) follows.

MON 24

Duke at North Carolina (7:30 p.m., ESPN2), women's hoops. Two of the best teams going, and one of the best rivalries in any sport. You think the passion's only there for the men?

TUE 25

Illinois at Wisconsin (7 p.m., ESPN). Will the Illini still be No. 1? This could be the stiffest challenge in their attempt to roll through the Big Ten.

SUN 30

Rockets at Heat (1 p.m., ABC). Yao and Shaq square off in a battle of big boys that may or may not spill onto South Beach.

--Kara Yorio

[2] KEN ROSENTHAL'S HALL OF FAME BALLOT

No sense getting bogged down

I still remember walking down the ramps of Fenway Park after Game 1 of the 1988 ALCS, hearing fans grouse about Wade Boggs. The Red Sox had lost to the A's 2-1, and Boggs had twice struck out with runners in scoring position to end innings. I wrote my entire story for the now-defunct Baltimore Evening Sun about the fan discontent over Boggs, the gripes that he was selfish and inadequate under pressure.

The passage of time dims the red-hot glow of such moments, and as Boggs makes his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot, the breadth of his accomplishments is abundantly clear. Five A.L. batting titles. Fifteen seasons--including 10 straight--with a .300-plus batting average. And, oh yes, a career .448 on-base percentage with runners in scoring position.

I will check off Boggs' name on my Hall of Fame ballot with enthusiasm, recalling his artistry, his spectacular bat control, his sheer brilliance from the left side. Boggs finished with 3,010 career hits. End of story.

My other votes will be repeats: Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Rich Gossage, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Bruce Sutter and Alan Trammell.

Darryl Strawberry is on the ballot for the first time.

Think I'll pass.

[3] YOU HEARD IT HERE

'At one point, when I was playing, we were 5-2 and the second-best team in the NFC.'

--Giants quarterback Kurt Warner, telling Sporting News Radio's Jeff Rickard he's still too good to be on somebody's bench next season

[4] A COACH'S ODYSSEY

Tricky Rick will get another shot--and might even take it

This was supposed to have everything Rick Majerus wanted in coaching. He had hoped for years to land a job in Southern California; now he had landed the Southern California job.

The money was good. The administration was eager and accommodating. The only thing missing was a strong group of players to make the Trojans immediately competitive. He would have had to work hard at that, maybe harder than he initially imagined. Majerus began to reconsider accepting the job not long after a conversation with interim coach Jim Saia about the roster he would inherit.