Patriots, Bucs To Meet In London Next Year

The NFL has consistently maintained its support for regular-season games overseas, and the league reinforces that idea with the news it is sending the Patriots and Buccaneers to meet at Wembley Stadium next year. The inclusion of the Bucs seems to be a no-brainer, as the Glazer family no doubt wants to extend the reach of its NFL team into the home territory of its other major sports entity, Manchester United. Patriots’ brass is saying the right things, including Robert Kraft noting the club is “excited” about playing in Wembley, but voices from the locker room are not on the same page. G Logan Mankins: “I don’t really want to go to London if I didn’t have to.” One thing to watch -- a report says this could be the first of two games played in the U.K. next season.

Loss Of A Pioneer
Rogers Communications mogul and Blue Jays Owner Ted Rogers dies at age 75.

Forced Turnover 
Four-time WNBA champion Comets suspend operations after inability to find new ownership.

Rounding Second Base
Tribune Co. secures at least three Cubs offers in most recent round of bidding, expected to be impacted by collapsing economy.

Back In Black (Friday)
What economic slowdown? Pro leagues see sales increase over holiday weekend.

Gun Control 
Mayor Bloomberg criticizes Giants for handling of Burress situation; Drew Rosenhaus appears on "MNF" to discuss incident.

Time For A Tune-Up
Texas Motor Speedway adding suites in place of tough-to-fill backstretch seats, lowers some ticket prices by up to 45%.

Lure Of The Rings 
U.K. government, in bidding for 2012, ignored report downplaying Games' financial impact.

Blowin' In The Wind
John McDonough working the phones in effort to attract Obama to NHL Winter Classic.