Pek-ingsanity replaces Linsanity in Madison Square Garden

A tiny petite Pekingese was the big winner at the 136th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last night.  The tiny breed with a  smushed-in face surrounded by a mop of fur won Best in Show at Madison Square Garden.

Malachy took the top prize after he beat out 2,077 pure-bred canines from 185 different breeds.

"I'm still in shock.  It's the thrill of a lifetime," said David Fitzpatrick, the dog's handler and one of his owners.

The little pooch beat out big dogs like a Dalmatian, Doberman Pinscher, Irish Setter, Kerry Blue Terrier, German Shepherd, and a wire-haired Dachshund to get the title.


The 4-year-old Toy Dog breed from China with a 2,000 year-old history had the crowd standing on their seats and cheering while he strutted his stuff on the arena floor.

Sounds like a familiar scene with another Asian who has been delighting rabid fans in the same venue.

While Malachy was the top dog at last night's event, New York Knicks Jeremy Lin— an underdog who is allowed to sit on the sofa— has been driving crowds wild with his own exploits on the Garden floor.

Except that the Chinese-American Lin has no such pedigree in his sport.  The undrafted, Ivy League benchwarmer has come from nowhere to take the NBA by storm after being unleashed.

Last night, while Malachy was downing doggie-treats on the Knicks home floor, Lin took his show on the road and beat the Toronto Raptors by heeling Jose Calderon and draining a last second three- pointer.

While Lin seemed to escape from some dog pound to become the toast of New York and build on his legend, Malachy— who is no stranger to the spotlight and has 115 Best in Show titles— will be calling it quits.

The 11-pound grandfather will retire to Pennsylvania after last night's victory.

"He's dignified, a wonderful companion who's charming.  He was giving me all sorts of vibrations that he was very relaxed.  He was trying to save his energy for when he entered the ring," said Fitzpatrick about his prized dog.

Wow.  Those words could have come from one of Lin's teammates last night as well.

Jeter gets caught up in Knicks Linsanity

Derek Jeter is in Tampa busy with pre-spring training workouts and claims he hasn't watched the New York Knicks much lately except for "some highlights"— but even New York City's biggest sports icon over the past 15 years expressed amazement at the Jeremy Lin phenomenon sweeping the city and the NBA.

"I've seen some highlights," Jeter said yesterday at the Yankees minor league complex.  "It's always fun  anytime there is a new athlete, especially in New York, it's pretty exciting.  He brought some excitement to the Knicks."

Jeter must have been laughing on the inside after he was asked if he ever saw anything like the Knicks point guard sensation who—  a benchwarmer only two weeks ago— is now Madison Square Garden's Va-Lin-tine to Knicks fans.

The New York Yankees shortstop may not have ever crashed on a teammate's couch, but he's no stranger to media frenzies himself.  Jeter has been making highlight reels since 1996 and his quest for 3,000 hits last summer had the whole city watching his every move.

"There's a lot of excitement with that team, Carmelo [Anthony] coming over, now you have [Lin]," he said.  "I'm not a basketball expert but I do know he has added a lot of excitement to that team, which is good.  I think sports in general are a lot more fun when you have a team from New York that is doing well."

Derek Jeter should know.

Teammate tweets photo of J-Lin's famous couch for bidding

It's the sofa that launched the career of New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin and could be coming to a living room near you.

Lin's teammate Landry Fields tweeted a photo of the brown velour couch that the Knicks phenom started crashing on the night before he became a New York sports legend.

Fields tweeted a picture of the most famous sofa in the sports world and thinks it could be the ultimate accessory for any couch potato's man-cave.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only couch made famous by @JLin7!," Fields tweeted Sunday afternoon.

"Let the bidding begin," he added.

Imagine hosting your friends on the couch and bragging "Jeremy Lin slept here" or " That spot on the cushion is J-Lin's drool."

The now legendary two-cushion sofa in Fields' Manhattan apartment was the resting place for Lin— the night before he jump-started the Knicks team and astounded the NBA— after he left the bench and torched the New Jersey Nets for 25 points on Feb. 4.

 Lin had been sleeping at the Lower East side apartment of his brother before being displaced and moving uptown to Fields' place.

Fields described the sled-style couch as "decent but not huge."

What is huge is Linsanity.

No. 17 has taken Madison Square Garden by storm.  The former-Harvard grad and NBA bench warmer has become a New York Knicks star by leading the team to five straight wins and playoff dreams. 

"Thank you to Landry for hosting me," Lin said after leading the Knicks— with a career-best performance— over the Nets on Saturday. "I think I might just move in with him."

I'm smelling a sit-com here.

Since getting a contract for the NBA minimum, Lin is now able to afford better digs.

The 6-foot-3 guard is shopping around for his own place and a real estate developer has even offered a one-bedroom apartment free until Lin can find a suitable place.

Knicks fans are hoping Lin buys instead of rents.  He's a free-agent after this season.

It's lights out for Clint Eastwood during Pebble Beach broadcast

While Phil Mickelson was playing lights out at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am yesterday, there was a scary moment for Clint Eastwood in the CBS broadcast booth when one of the studio lights played out.

Announcers Jim Nance and Nick Faldo were joined int the booth by the legendary tough guy actor when the overhead light popped like a gun shot and the studio darkened.

In true Harry Callahan form, Eastwood didn't even flinch while Nance and Faldo ducked and joked afterwards.

Insert your favorite Dirty Harry movie quote here.

"Ouch," said Faldo as Eastwood sat still and smiled.

"It's like an old western here with Clint Eastwood," ad-libbed Nance.

Eastwood has been making a lot of news lately.

He is an Academy Award nominee for his film "J. Edgar" and  took a lot of heat this past week for his controversial Chrysler ad during the Super Bowl.  Now the light malfunction on national TV.

Call it the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.  See, I couldn't help it.

Cruz and Manningham Rock the Grammys

It's been quite a week for Victor Cruz.  Seven nights ago, the New York Giants upset the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis and it's been a a dance in the park for him ever since.

In the following days, Cruz finalized a new multi-million dollar contract, was in a Broadway ticker-tape parade and cut the ribbon at Lincoln Center to open Fashion Week.

Tonight, the Giants star receiver was rubbing elbows with the the music industry's top recording stars at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.  He even handed out the award for "Best Rock Performance" alongside his teammate Mario Manningham.

During the whirlwind of a week, the only constant for Cruz at all of the events was re-enacting his famous touchdown salsa dance.

Tonight, Cruz was asked to do the Latin dance once again.

Cruz and Manningham were joined on the Grammys stage with NCIS star Paula Perrette who introduced the two players to cheers and shouts of "Cruuuz" from the audience.

Perrette then told Cruz, "This is a music show.  So you need to give us a little salsa."

Cruz obliged and managed a few steps before he was cut off by the Super Bowl hero Manningham.

"OK, OK," interrupted his fellow receiver.  "Save it for the field."

The award went to the Foo Fighters for their rousing rock song "Walk."

It seemed fitting because both players walked the walk on their way to the Lombardi trophy.

Jeremy Lin prefers planking over Tebowing

In less than a week, Jeremy Lin has gone from a little used NBA bench-warmer to the biggest story in the league.  Now everyone is comparing the Harvard-grad to the NFL's sweetheart Tim Tebow after Lin guided the New York Knicks to a three-game win streak.

Lin is a self-confessed planking fan so you're more likely to catch the Knicks point guard extending body across a stiff object than getting down on one knee in reflection ala Tebowing.

Lin has been bombarded with comparisons to Tebow and admitted the Denver Broncos quarterback has been a driving force:

"Actually lot of inspiration just because he's such a polarizing figure but I think the things he says in his interviews, his approach to the game is just unbelievable and I respect him so much.  I want to be able to do some of the things that he does in terms of the amount of charity work and the non-profit work, and the way he impacts people off the field.  I think that is what is most inspiring to me about him."

The comparisons between the two are inevitable and will probably continue as long as the economics-grad piles up numbers.

There is one thing most can agree— both are oddities in their desired arenas.

Lin, the rare Asian-American to play on an NBA court and Tebow the chaste athlete on a football field.

Lin, like Tebow, is a devout Christian and leaves all of life's ups and downs in the hands of God but— aside from their overwhelming wills to win— the paths to their respective pro careers took different courses.

The Knicks player wasn't drafted and received no offers as a recruit; while Tebow was a top high school prospect,  a Heisman Trophy winner and first-round pick.

Still, the point guard with a knack for the pick-and-roll has turned himself into a nationwide sensation— much like "Tebow Mania" did a couple of months ago

While thousands of Tebow jerseys sold out before the QB even won a game, the few No. 17 Knicks jerseys were already on the clearance rack just last week.

Now retailers are scrambling to stock their shelves after the sparse Lin jerseys were snatched up and had fans resorting to making their own.

So desirable are the No. 17 jerseys right now, they are selling for $54.95— $10 more than the jerseys of Knicks stars Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.

"Linsanity" has taken over New York City.

Tickets for tonight's game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Madison Square Garden have doubled on StubHub if you can find a seat.

Lin's feel good story is still on the opening page of what would be a nice Hollywood script.

He still has a long way to go before anyone knows if he is the real deal or just another Ken Maas.  Remember him.  Maas— as a replacement for Don Mattingly— hit 10 home-runs in his first 72 at-bats for the New York Yankees in 1990 to set a major-league record— only to fade faster than Kris Humphries' marriage.

If Lin lives up to the hype, count on him to plank rather than Tebow.

Death-defying moto-cross ride over Skinny Ridge

A video of a man traversing a thin path on top of a mountain on a dirt bike has viewers holding their breaths for 128 seconds during the high-wire act.

The Youtube clip shows the rider— strapped with a wide angle helmet-cam— racing along the top of the slippery, snow covered "Skinny Ridges" trail in Grand Junction, Colorado—  only inches from turning into a mangled mix of man and machine.

Knobby tires reportedly equipped with studs— for added traction— help keep the rider from tumbling to a sure death hundreds of feet in the canyon below.

Cynical haters want to know how come the helmet doesn't move or why the tires aren't dirty?

All I want to know is how he turned around.