This and that

• The Jackson Clarion-Ledger did a nice job with Andy Kennedy coverage yesterday and was right on the money with this morning's headline: From bad to worse. Think about what a lousy 24 hours Kennedy had. Got arrested for assaulting a cab driver during a trip where he was looking forward to seeing old friends. Lost to Louisville (not that that was unexpected or anything, but a loss is a loss). And, to make matters much worse, lost star guard and second-leading scorer Chris Warren for the season with an ACL injury. Ouch.

Could anyone else who watched the Louisville-Ole Miss game tell what Pitino said to Kennedy afterwards when they shook hands? I love trying to read lips, and it was pretty clear to me that he said, "I'm sure everything will turn out fine." Feel free to speculate about exactly what he's referring to ... I'd guess he's not talking about basketball per se.

Great new details in this story by The Big Lead, by the way.

• Xavier is ranked No. 7 in the AP poll, but HOW HUGE would it be for the Musketeers to beat Duke? I think they've got a chance. Can't wait to watch this game. Check out the preview on Xavier's site. Here's the Enquirer's. And here's DevilsDen.com's.

• This item about Kevin Youkilis (Sycamore HS, UC) on BostonHerald.com about his willingness to move to third base to accommodate the signing of Mark Teixeira kind of surprises me because they said about 50 times during SportsCenter last night that the Red Sox, according to owner John Henry, would not be a factor for Teixeira. I realize Sean McAdam probably wrote his notebook before that news broke, but once the news did break, it kind of renders all of the "what-if-the-Red-Sox-sign-Teixeira" stuff moot. And the beauty of the internet is you can make changes to stories on the fly. So I guess you'd rewrite it as, "Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis said yesterday - before Red Sox owner John Henry said the club wouldn't be a factor for Mark Teixeira after all - that he would've been willing to move back to his original third base position to accommodate ..." Something like that.

The Boston Globe reports that Youk's agent, Joe Bick, has entered into early-stage conversations with the Red Sox about a long-term contract.

• The Astros have signed veteran infielder Aaron Boone to a one-year, $750K contract. This is interesting not only because Boone broke into the bigs with the Reds but also, as the Houston Chronicle points out because Boone is expected to to share time at third base with Geoff Blum in an attempt to fill the hole left when Ty Wigginton wasn't tendered a contract last week. And lately there have been rumors about Wigginton to the Reds, including a Walt Jocketty quote to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon about Wigginton fitting in if "we don't find that outfielder we want." Of course, other teams, including the Pirates, Indians and Giants, also have expressed interest in Wigginton.

In another Hot Stove development, expect the Juan Rivera rumors to come to a screeching halt, as Yahoo! Sports reports the Angels are close to signing him to a three-year deal.

• Dayton Daily News' Chick Ludwig writes about the Michael Jackson song Chad is singing to T.J.. Sing all you want, Chad, but I can't imagine you'll both be back.

• IndyStar.com's Mike Chappell leads off his notebook about former Bengal Keiwan Ratliff's huge interception return for a touchdown late in the Colts' 31-24 win Thursday night.

• Non-local link of interest: Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus brings up some valid points in his column about how to improve Baseball Hall of Fame voting.