Letdown: November is a time of year to anticipate big college football games. So what do we get instead? No. 1 Florida playing Florida International and No. 2 Alabama taking on Chattanooga. Ohio State is playing Michigan, but that's not nearly the attraction it used to be. Any good basketball games on?

As gimmickry goes, ESPN's College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon was harmless enough, but the value of the exercise eluded me.

Late Sunday afternoon, one of my daughters received a text message from a male friend that read, "Your father is a genius." "What's that all about?" she asked me. "It's what I've been telling you for years," I said. "No, really. What?" "It's about the Redskins. They must be winning."

Bystanders: When DeAngelo Hall was involved in that shoving match on the Falcons sideline and Atlanta coach Mike Smith was trying to get at him, Hall's defensive mates didn't exactly rush to his aid. Might tell you something about the make-up of the Redskins - or what they think of Hall.

From his courtside position at the Ted Constant Convocation Center, Kenny Gattison enjoys a good view of his retired No. 44 jersey that hangs in the rafters. As the new radio analyst for Old Dominion men's basketball, Gattison can't complain about his working conditions.

Because of the storm, today's scheduled chat with Rich Radford, The Virginian-Pilot's Old Dominion football writer, and Bob Molinaro, longtime columnist, has been canceled. It will be rescheduled soon.

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Of all the world's walls - Berlin Wall, Great Wall of China, Wailing Wall - there's probably never been a wall quite like the one inside Joey Lawrence's home. Some people collect old beer cans or Pez dispensers; Lawrence has amassed autographs of the rich, famous and obscure on a 21-foot long plaster canvas in the family room of his modest Hampton home.

As the college football season winds down, here, there and almost everywhere anticipation has been replaced by resignation. It will take a couple of big upsets to prevent either Florida or Alabama from playing Texas in the BCS championship game, just as everyone has imagined for weeks.

NORFOLK The start-up season wound down with a homecoming victory, and suddenly it was time to drop the curtain on the first campaign at Foreman Field. "I felt running off the field that I didn't want it to end," said Bobby Wilder, the rookie coach whose rookie team finished 6-1 on its home turf. "It's difficult to let it go."

A-plus: Nobody came further and changed more opinions during the baseball season than Alex Rodriguez. In the spring, his name was leaked from the secret list of steroids users - remember his televised pity parties?