Quick hits

Allegations have arisen that the New Orleans Saints had a "bounty" program, where defensive players could pick up some extra cash if they knocked out, or caused an opposing player to be carted off. That doesn't make sense. Isn't "Bounty" supposed to be the "quicker picker-upper?"

Tigerwatch: After one round at the Honda classic -- 7 strokes behind. After 2 rounds -- 8 strokes back. For his faithful followers, that's good news and bad news. The good news is he made the cut. The bad news is he hasn't started to putt on Sunday yet. Idle thought -- remember how his late father supposedly threw every distraction imaginable at Eldrick when he was a boy swinging a club, so he would learn to block it all out?  Forget the swing changes. To improve his putting game, he should go to a putt-putt course. If he can "master" the windmills while a thousand screaming kids are running around -- then he'll be ready for Augusta. And what better place to get accustomed to "fast" greens? Put a piece of felt on top of concrete, and it doesn't get any faster than that.

Ndamukong Suh thinks he's a leader. My only question would be -- of what? I suppose there have been exceptions to the rule, like King Tut, other Egyptian pharaohs, and that new guy over in North Korea, becoming leaders when they were still quite immature -- but these days it's probably a good idea to become a man first. Just a thought.

Remember not long ago when goalie Jimmy Howard of the Red Wings was the hottest thing going, with Ty Conklin as the backup, and Joey MacDonald was buried down on the farm in Grand Rapids?  Then Howard suffered a broken finger, Conklin seemed like he couldn't keep a basketball from going in the net behind him, and Joey got a shot, no pun intended. Now Conklin's in nowhere land, Howard's been losing, and Old MacDonald coming up from the farm is a sensation. E-I-E-I-O. Tricky business, being a goalie in Detroit.

Dwayne Wade broke Kobe Bryant's nose with a hard foul a few days ago in Miami. Kobe's tough to figure out. He'll whine and cry about the slightest contact on the court, and usually get the call from the refs, but yet he always seems to play through real injuries. Now there's a rematch between the 2 teams in LA. Payback time? Could get interesting.