Al Michaels busted for suspicion of DUI

Al Michaels — the legendary sports announcer most famous for his call of the "Miracle on Ice" hockey game at the 1980 Olympics — was arrested Friday for suspicion of DUI, reports TMZ.

Law enforcement officers told TMZ the 68-year-old Michaels went through a a DUI checkpoint in Santa Monica at approximately 10 p.m. on Friday.  The officers detected the odor of alcohol while speaking to him and placed him under arrest.

Sounds like he went from one Miracle on Ice to a few too many vodkas on the rocks.

The famous Emmy Award-winning announcer was reportedly pulled over and given a field sobriety test and, after performing poorly, he was taken into custody. Michaels was released from jail at 4:15 AM on Saturday on his own recognizance.

According to our sources, Michaels blood alcohol level was right at the legal limit -- he blew a borderline .08 and a .09 in two breathalyzer tests.

TMZ's sources say Michaels could not have been nicer throughout the ordeal.

Considered an American icon in the world of sports broadcasting, Michaels' voice has been heard on television sets for nearly four decades.  He was the play-by-play man for "Monday Night Football" for 20 years before moving over to "Sunday Night Football."

He's also done baseball and basketball ... but his call of the United States' 4-3 upset hockey victory over the Soviet team on February 22, 1980 still stands as one of  the greatest of all time — and where the strains of the popular "U-S-A ... U-S-A" chant first reached a fever pitch.

Chris Johnson pays tribute to Newtown victims on 'MNF'

It must have been an emotional few minutes when Chris Johnson sat down and wrote down the first and last names of all 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on his shoes before Monday night's game against the New York Jets.

Like the Jets players who wore SHES decals on their helmets, the Tennessee Titans running back made  a small gesture to pay tribute to the innocent victims of the shooting that meant something bigger than the game.

"Kind of heartbroken, so just something to try and give back and show tribute to those families knowing how much they hurt," Johnson said.  "And a situation where on "Monday Night Football" everybody around the world is watching."

Johnson wrote the names of each of the victims on his shoes along with "RIP SHES" and a cross on each one.

Whether it was some sort of coincidence or a message from above, those same cleats led Johnson on an amazing 94-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

They were the deciding points in the Titans 14-10 victory.

Tebow used 666th Monday Night Football game as battle between good and evil

Yesterday, on the morning of the Jets-Texans game, Tim Tebow took the opportunity to turn a broadcast of Monday Night Football game into a holy rolling tweet.

Leave it up to the New York Jets Bible-thumping quarterback to go on Twitter and tweet Jets fans:

"Looking forward to giving God all the glory in tonight's 666th Monday Night Football game.  Romans 8:37-39."

It really was broadcast No. 666.  What were the chances?

Tebow may have used the Bible to help rally his team by publicizing the evil number 666 — historically known as the sign of Satan — but his preaching did nothing to help the Jets find salvation.

Playing in a game numbered with the mark of the beast proved to be an bad omen for the team.  The faithless fans watched the Jets lose.  NFL verse: Texans 23-17.

Tebow did get to carry the ball five times for 19 yards and a long throw to Jason Hill was dropped.  No water to wine, but enough to get fans calling for Tebow to start.

The Bible verse Tebow referenced in his tweet says: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, not anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God."

I'm guessing that by "depth," it doesn't mean the number of Jets receivers on the roster.

If Tebow wants to focus on a number he should start with the single No. 6.  The jersey number of Mark Sanchez — the quarterback separating the Jets from good and evil.

Aaron Rodgers rips NFL, apologizes to fans

The NFL released a statement Tuesday with a double-discount excuse for what most people concede was an atrocious ruling at the end of Monday night's Green Bay Packers-Seattle Seahawks game.  In case you've been living under a rock, the NFL said it agreed with the decision not to overturn the touchdown on replay although it never said the initial call of a simultaneous catch was correct.  Got it.

A few hours later, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was more direct on his radio talk show on WAUK-AM Milwaukee.  Rodgers was more animated than at his press conference following his team's shocking loss.  He opened up the show by joking to host, Jason Wilde, "I'd say this is a highly anticipated show today."

Rodgers took a more angry tone after the opening crack while discussing the game-winning Hail Mary pass that gave Seattle the debatable victory.

"First of all, I've got to do something that the NFL is not going to do: I have to apologize to the fans," Rodgers said.  "Our sport is a multi-billion dollar machine, generated by people who pay good money to come watch us play.  The product on the field is not being complemented by an an appropriate set of officials.  The games are getting out of control.

"My thing is I just feel bad for the fans. They pay good money to watch this," he continued.  "The game is being tarnished by an NFL that obviously cares more about saving some money than having the integrity of the game diminished a bit."

Rodgers called the NFL's backing of the controversial call "bold" — and not in a good sense.

Rodgers went on to read the NFL statement in a harsh and sarcastic tone and noted how it was worded: "the officials determined both [Golden] Tate and [M.D.] Jennings had possession of the ball" when the players fell to the ground.

"I call bull on that because they say 'officials,'" Rodgers sniffed.  "There was zero communication between them."

The bitter quarterback went on to rip the simultaneous rule — who has the ball on their chest first.

"That's garbage, obviously," said Rodgers. "They're covering their butt here ... I mean, come on.  That's embarrassing."

Rodgers went on to rip the officials for coming into the Packers locker room to pull out players for a meaningless extra point claiming they "got kind of a rude welcome."  He also beefed about the crowd on the field after the fiasco in the end zone.

"How did all those people get on the field?  It was a mob scene over there," he said.  "It's unbelievable.  It was chaos."

Not as chaotic as it is in the NFL offices right now.

Victor Cruz: I would not take credit for Golden Tate's controversial catch

You can't look anywhere today without seeing replays of Monday Night Football's controversial touchdown call — or non-call, if you prefer — that gave the Seattle Seahawks a last second victory over the Green Bay Packers.

Seahawks rookie quarterback Russell Wilson's Hail Mary pass as time expired was credited as a touchdown to his receiver Golden Tate — even after Packers cornerback M.D. Jennings came up with the ball.  In the mad scramble for the ball on the play,  one replacement referee signaled "touchback" and another raised his arms showing "touchdown."  After a review, the TD call stood.

While Tate told SiriusXM NFL Radio he had no problem saying he deserved credit for the touchdown catch.  "I know I had the ball," he said in the  postgame interview.  Jennings said if Tate was asked to take a lie detector test, he would fail.

On ESPN's Mike & Mike Morning Show Tuesday, New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz told his hosts that he doesn't think he would have taken credit for the touchdown catch like Tate did.

"Probably not.  I would have been honest," said Cruz.  "Obviously, the film shows, the video shows that I obviously didn't catch the football.  I wouldn't have owned up to catching it, if I didn't catch it."

The salsa-dancing Cruz thought the replacement referees made the wrong call.

"I thought it was a tough play," said Cruz.  "Obviously the refs at least have to agree on the call at the very end.  But obviously I felt like it was the wrong call.  We hated it, we wished it wouldn't come down to something like this with the replacement refs, but unfortunately it has.  And it cost Green Bay the game."

Cruz went on to confess that players are getting more physical and getting away with more infractions because of the replacements.

"I feel like the defenders — and I would do the same thing, if they're seeing that some of the refs aren't calling some of these downfield holding calls or pass interference or whatever the case may be.  I would start using that to my advantage, start holding a little bit and stuff like that."

And the frustration goes beyond the New York Giants' players.

The blown call even has New Jersey politicians calling for the rent-a-refs' heads.  Just hours after the Packers were victims of the inept referee crew,  a State Senator wants to block replacement referees from working pro football games in New Jersey.

They take their football seriously — and honestly — in the Garden State.

Titans Marc Mariani's gruesome leg break brings back memories of Theismann and LT

Nobody likes to see an athlete's season— or even career— cut short but, if you are old enough to remember Lawrence Taylor's infamous hit on Joe Theismann on a Monday Night Football game in 1985, Tennessee Titans Marc Mariani's gruesome broken leg injury injury brought back those same nightmares.

Mariani broke his left leg while returning a punt against the Arizona Cardinals.  Replay showed he snapped his leg near the calf as he went to the ground at the end of a 14-yard return with 9:40 left in the first quarter Thursday night.

He remained on the ground for several minutes as a team doctor put an air cast around his broken leg.  He was carted off the field after a few teammates came over to comfort him.




Not surprisingly, he did not return to the sidelines.

Mariani, a seventh-round draft pick out of Montana, was a Pro-Bowl returner in 2010.

Best wishes for a speedy return— in more ways than one.