•The Tampa Bay Lightning got their yucks from a good-old fashioned game of "strip shootout," where if you don't score on a breakaway, you remove a piece of clothing. The players said they got really excited by the game, which gives a whole new meaning to "high-sticking."

•The Bears ink Jay Cutler to a two-year extension. While he hasn't exactly set the world on fire, he's a better option than Rex Grossman, Brian Griese, Chad Hutchinson, Jonathan Quinn, Craig Krenzell, Kordell Stewart, Chris Chandler, Henry Burris, Cade McNown, Jim Miller, Shane Matthews, Steve Stenstrom, Moses Moreno, Rick Mirer, Dave Kreig, Eric Kramer, Steve Walsh, Will Furrer, Peter Tom Willis...

•The Yankees take a 3-1 series lead on the ample back of CC Sabathia. Accusations of Sabathia throwing a Rivera-like spitball were refuted when FOX cameras picked up a hot dog vendor in his line of sight, indicating it was only drool.

•Tennessee Papa John's were offering one free topping for every Titans touchdown this weekend. Hope you like cheese pizza.

•In advance of the NFL's upcoming jaunt to London, one British tabloid attempts to bust 10 myths about the NFL. Sadly, the part about a coin toss being used to decide tie games is no myth.

•The NBA expects to have their referees back on the court in time for next week's opener, and none too soon. Did you see that Cleveland game last night? The Mavs were only getting whistled if they actually fouled LeBron!

•To cap the morning off, we've got some video of a ladies room fight at this weekend's Texas/OU game. More like Yellow River Rivalry, amirite?

Mark Gullett, the marketing director with the Tampa Bay Lighting, knew that he was in danger of being laid off. So his son, Ben, 14, came up with the idea of producing a YouTube video touting his dad's employment credentials. When Mark was laid off on Thursday, Ben posted his video. And the result has been pretty amazing.

"I'm shocked at all the attention it's received," Mark Gullett told me by phone today. "I've had several job leads already, and lots of people emailing and wishing me luck. In today's job market with employers getting stacks of resumes, you need to create a way to stand out, I guess."

Ben has done just that. The video is kind of brilliant in its simplicity: Shot in black-and-white, it's just Ben in several different locations, holding up flash cards touting his dad's employment qualifications, with music in the background. But more than that, it tells the story of a family man who loves his kid. Sample messages: "We make smores," and "But most importantly he is my Dad. I love you Dad."

"Ben is really a pretty typical 14-year-old," Mark said. "He spends a lot of time on MySpace talking with friends, watching YouTube videos and texting his girlfriend. He also plays the drums. He's shot a lot of videos of himself drumming, and likes to play around with taking pictures and stuff. So when this came up, he said, 'Why not make a video?' "

Mark had also been involved in producing video with the Lightning, where he had worked for nine years, so the two worked on the video together. Mark helped with the script, but mostly it was Ben's production. The video has had 8,000 hits since Friday.

"So many people have emailed us, just wishing us well," Mark said. "I even got a message from Vince Lombardi's granddaughter. It's been surreal."

Mark has one firm offer outside of sports, and several leads. He and Ben have put up a web site, MarkbyBen.com, where people can see the video and leave messages.

As for Ben, he'd like to see his dad get another job in hockey.

"Ben loves hockey," Mark said. "He's been playing for nine years, on a local travel team. He enters high school next year so I'm sure he'll get into other sports as well."

Mark said that Ben got kind of nervous a couple of times and almost dropped the cards, but otherwise had no problem showing his emotions on camera.

"I was surprised," Mark said. "He wrote some pretty touching stuff."

Photo: WTVT Fox 13.

Teen Helps Dad Find Job On YouTube [Florida Today]

Martin St. Louis was going after a loose puck just after a face off, late in the Tampa Bay game at Ottawa on Saturday. The linesman who dropped the puck did a little ill-advised pirouette to get out of the way of the scrum, just as St. Louis went head first into the action. The skate clipped him in the forehead opening up a gash that required eight stitches—although I suppose that's preferable to some of the other possible outcomes, like blindness or decapitation.

Here's a link to another angle in a very large (file size) animated GIF. By the way, it's surprisingly difficult to find footage (or even a picture) of a guy getting his head cut open by a hockey skate. It barely got a mention in the game recap. I don't know what's wrong with this world sometimes.

St. Louis gets a skate to the face [Hockey Herald]
Senators 2, Lightning 0 [NHL.com]

Then, they apparently decided that was enough for them to know it wasn't going to work and they gave him the boot. I believe the term is "small sample size." Or maybe as Melrose told a Toronto radio show, "It wasn't a hockey decision ... I wouldn't give in and they figured the best way of getting their way was to get rid of me."

Does it make him happy to know that Tampa has only won once since he got fired?

"I'm not going to lie to you, yeah it does, and any coach that says it doesn't is a liar. I hope Tampa Bay doesn't win a game the rest of the year."

How do you feel about Tampa co-owner Len Barrie?

"Lenny was, uh ... like I said, I hope Oren Koules does well, I like Oren."

Is it true that a front office employee tried to diagram plays for you during a game?

"No, because I wouldn't let it happen, but I can guarantee you that was one of the reasons I was let go because I wouldn't let stuff like that happen. Now they can do whatever they want, it doesn't matter to me and they've got the guys in charge to let them do it."

Anyway, Melrose is headed back to ESPN where he belongs and Tampa is right back where it belongs—in the basement. And that's just the way Melrose likes it.

Barry Melrose on Tampa Bay: 'I Hope Tampa Bay Doesn't Win a Game the Rest of the Year' [Fanhouse]
Listen to Barry Melrose Interview [Fan590]

Meanwhile in Stockholm, Ottawa and Pittsburgh split their two games series, a 4-3 OT win to the Penguins in game one and 3-1 to Senators in the other. Dany Heatley has three goals so far for the Sens, earning him the title of Champion of European NHL Scoring. All four of those games were sold out too, making this whole European vacation a raging success—unless these teams lose 7 of their first 10 games the way the Ducks did last season after they opened in London. In which, case screw you, Earth, and your stupid rotation. But otherwise, look for many more across the pond games in coming seasons, because ... why the heck not? Hockey pucks are certainly more welcome than Robo-Jason Taylor.

Now hockey fans (and yes, it may not seem like it right now, but we count ourselves among that group. The NHL just doesn't make it easy for us) must sit patiently and wait for the real season kick off on Friday. That's plenty of time to find a way to freeze over your backyard kiddie pool.

• Rangers Czech in with win, [NY Daily News]
• Senators: Losing their looks [Sportsnet]
• NHL Capsules [AP]
• Trips abroad can help forge team ties [Yahoo]

'Ning Win! 'Ning Win!: It would be a sad day (not for Larry Brooks, mind you) if John Tortorella got fired. So we quietly rejoiced as Shane O'Brien scored two goals - bringing his career total to six - pacing the Lightning to a 4-1 win in Carolina, their first road win in eight tries. Tampa has won consecutive games for the second time this year and might've gotten Tortorella off the hot seat. You get that through your head, Brooksie?

Sens Lose? Sens Lose? Ottawa is really good. Washington is really bad. Vitkor Kozlov does not care. The big Russian scored once and added two assists as the Capitals stunned the Senators 4-1 in Canada's capital. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and margarine magnate Tom Fleischmann also scored for the Caps, who were 2-9-1 with one tie (remember tie games? Those were fun) in their last 13 meetings with the Senators.

Elisha Cuthbert Knows All About It. Gary Roberts is the latest to fall prey to Sean Avery's unique brand of shit disturbance. Avery goaded the 20-year veteran into a four minute penalty that led to a goal, then chipped in with a goal and assist of his own as the Rangers knocked off the Penguins 4-2. Sidney Crosby registered an assist, which means Canadian newspapers now have their lead story for the morning.

Phoenix Coyotes Hockey...Feel the Heat: The 'Yotes said 12,027 showed up in the desert tonight, although NHL.com reports "there were several thousand fewer seats filled." You know things are bad when the league website won't even go to bat for you. Oh yeah, Phoenix beat Dallas 5-2.

The Ghost of Ol' Big E: On the same day Eric Lindros called it a dizzy, nauseous and blurry career, his former club was spanked by the New Jersey Devils (Scott Stevens' former club...eerie) to the tune of 4-1. As a tribute, several Flyers skated the entire 60 minutes with their heads down.