New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, second from left, is escorted from a police station in handcuffs, Monday, Dec.1, 2008, in New York. Lawyer Benjamin Brafman says Burress plans to plead not guilty to a weapon possession charge during a Monday afternoon court appearance. Burress accidentally shot himself at a Manhattan nightclub Friday evening. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

By accidentally shooting himself in the leg at a New York nightclub, Plaxico Burress has become a poster child for how to be a knucklehead, but Sean Avery is catching up.

The Dallas Stars winger has been suspended indefinitely by the NHL for making a crude remark about former girlfriends who now date other players.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

To Bob Lastowski, the name was familiar, but what was he doing at Holyoke High?

"I walked into my office one day in October, and there was this very nice, polite young man," the Purple Knights football coach said. "I was told it was Arthur Reynolds.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

All it took for Ryan Murphy to play football was an abundance of persistence, and a promise he secretly doubted a true athlete like himself could keep.

"My doctor wouldn't give me clearance at first," said Murphy, who kicked extra points for Mahar Regional High School of Orange for two years, ignoring whatever inconveniences an artificial left leg might bring.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

Basketball's version of the chicken-or-the-egg debate is under way at the University of Massachusetts, where a 1-3 start has some fans asking what comes first, the available talent or the system.

To much fanfare, Derek Kellogg is installing dribble drive motion offense to UMass, much as John Calipari did at Memphis. It did not hurt Calipari that he did so with an elite cast of stars, while Kellogg has two good Atlantic 10 guards (Chris Lowe and Ricky Harris) and an otherwise unproven crew.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

The Edmonton Oilers say they love it in Springfield, but that hasn't stopped them from doing a little flirting in the Southwest Plains.

The Falcons' NHL partner checked out Oklahoma City, either last weekend or months ago, depending on the source. Falcons president Bruce Landon isn't thrilled, but he is not panicking, and neither should we.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

Red Sox fans hate to admit it, but sometimes, George Steinbrenner has a point.

In 2006, the Boss made clear he would prefer his Yankees players boycott the World Baseball Classic.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

Any doubt that two hockey teams can exist in one valley was put to rest Saturday night.

In Springfield, the Falcons drew a season-high 6,347 for a 5-1 victory over Providence.

In Amherst, the University of Massachusetts edged Boston College 4-3 in overtime before 8,389, a sellout crowd and the largest ever for hockey at the Mullins Center.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

The President-elect is a sports fan, we know.

Plays some basketball. Roots for the White Sox. And says, if he could legislate anything in sports, he would work out a BCS college football playoff.

Actually, I'm not sure Barack H. Obama realizes the extent of the power he's inheriting. I think he could do a lot to fix sports, though I'd rather he fix the economy and end world strife first.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

Every Sunday morning, I bring my daughter to play in the peaceful solitude of Chicopee's Brooks Field.

The playground, soccer field and basketball court are usually quiet and vacant. The only human activity is often nestled in one corner of the expanse, where kids in shoes or on roller blades play hockey at Fred R. Krampits Skating Arena, an outdoor rink with boards, real nets, and its own history and pulse.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

Just think, University of Massachusetts men's basketball fans.

Had the Minutemen beaten Southern Illinois, they would be playing Memphis, Duke and either UCLA or Michigan in a 96-hour period this week.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

The first returns from Allen Iverson's trade to the Detroit Pistons brought mixed results, not unlike the mixed messages of The Answer's entire NBA career.

The deal that sent Iverson from Denver to Detroit had a ripple effect in our region. Atop the NBA East power structure sits the Boston Celtics, and while contacts and money always factor into these decisions, the Pistons were also dealing to reclaim their position as the conference's team to beat.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

Coming your way in March, the NCAA Division II men's basketball championships will be played in Springfield, and some of you will ask why we should be interested.

Tuesday's games at Carbondale, Ill., gave the answer.

AP PhotoBruins center Stephane Yelle delivers a hit on Toronto wing Mikhail Grabovski.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

More than 40 years have passed since hockey's Original Six were also its only six.

Weepy nostalgia only exposes one's age, so let's deal in the present. Better play by the six oldest NHL teams, the Boston Bruins among them, makes for a much better league.

Few teams have received as much positive spin for losing a first-round playoff series as the Bruins, who took Montreal to a surprising seven-game limit last spring.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

To debate the length and cost of a contract offer to Jason Varitek is to overlook the most essential negotiating ingredient of all.

A little honesty.

By RON CHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com

Fortunately for the University of Massachusetts, its men's basketball players did not meet Derek Kellogg the way I did.

I met him in 1987, when he was 14 and playing in a Babe Ruth baseball tournament in Vermont. A feisty and competitive kid back then, he is now a self-assured and competitive grown man, the curator for the Division I hoop team we call our own.