Sports Notes, 11/18/07

-- The Seahawks may be diminished this year. But if the BEARS want people to start thinking about them as a playoff contender again, they would do well to win today's matchup of the last two NFC champions.

-- I don’t care what their record is. For the Clippers to lose by 20 at home to a Bulls team that just doesn’t seem to care proves that they will always be the Clippers.

-- From the file of “Still Basking In The Glow Of Defeating No. 1,” the best headline I’ve seen on the Illinois-Ohio State game was “Shut the Bucks Up.” That was from the cradle of my own writing talent, The Daily Illini.

-- (For the record, that still doesn’t beat “In Like a Lion, Out Like Illini,” my headline for the Danville Commercial-News on the 1995 season opener, which Illinois lost to Michigan 38-14 after Lou Tepper jawed all summer about how he was going to beat UM.)

-- Of course, the basketball team had to scratch their way back from a halftime deficit to eke out a 2-point win against a Hawaii basketball team that may not average many more points per game than the football team, but hey, a win is a win.

-- Confidential to former Chicagoan Phil J. in Los Angeles: See, if you’re going to say something like that, you’d better make damn sure it’s actually funny to even have a chance of getting away with it.