The Buzz: He's game for the big game

DAVID WRIGHT is psyched for the Super Bowl. He's a big Giants fan. How big? When he traveled to Japan last year, he got up at 4 a.m. to catch a game. And that team barely squeaked into the playoffs.

But his rooting for the G-Men predates his arrival in New York.

The Mets' third baseman told The Record (Hackensack, N.J.) that while he was growing up in Chesapeake, his dad was a Redskins fan. Wright developed what he called, "a friendly competition," basically rooting for whoever was playing the Redskins (sounds like some folks the Buzz knows). He eventually grew attached to the men in blue.

Wright says he's going to throw a party and have some folks over to root his Jersey boys to victory. Geez, you'd think with his swag and cachet in the Big Apple he'd be able to score a ticket to the game.

The devil made them do it

First, the archbishop of St. Louis says "appropriate action" should be taken after Saint Louis University basketball coach Rick Majerus, evidently forgetting that he works for a Jesuit institution, said in an interview that he supports abortion rights.

Then, ESPN talking head Dana Jacobson draws a one-week suspension from her network after spewing vulgar remarks about another Catholic institution, Notre Dame, at a celebrity roast.

They didn't have a prayer of escaping these flaps unscathed.

Drunk with power?

All Shawn Haney wanted to do was help his son's DeForest (Wis.) High football team get an edge for its state playoff game against Waunakee High.

So the sheriff's lieutenant prematurely leaked investigative reports of a drinking party allegedly involving members of Waunakee's team to school district officials. Then he tried to pressure the state athletic association to step in when no players had been disciplined in the days leading up to the big game.

That led to his firing, which he is appealing.

"This is Wisconsin," said Lester Pines, Haney's attorney. "We do take our football kind of seriously."

Talk about stating the obvious.

But here's the kicker. Even with no Waunakee players suspended, Haney's kid's team won the game anyway.

On shaky footing

LeBron James is introducing a Yankees-themed sneaker in March.

Nike does not plan to sell the shoes in Cleveland, which is probably a good thing. They'd only be lost soles there.

Rocking their world

Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times notes that Oregon State fired basketball coach Jay John on Sunday, then kicked center C.J. Giles off the team barely 24 hours later.

"Or to put it in rock 'n' roll terms," he writes, "Jay, Giles banned."

Getting his kicks

When Lawrence Tynes trotted onto the field for his third attempt at a go-ahead field goal against the Packers, what were Giants fans thinking?

"Please don't send him in again, for the love of God, if there's an ounce of mercy in your soul, don't send him in!" according to David Letterman.

"The first one looked like I kicked it, for God's sakes - no offense," Letterman told Tynes on his show the other night.

Tynes replied: "No, no, I would say the second one probably looked like you would have kicked it."