YAHOO SPORTS' Kevin Iole wrote "no matter how good of a salesman" UFC President Dana White is, "he's not going to be nearly as successful without his best product." That is "the kind of position White has been in for the better part of the last year-and-a-half" while welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, "arguably his best fighter and unquestionably his biggest star, has been unable to compete." Getting its star back is "so important for the UFC that it's devoted an entire week's of programming this week on Fuel TV to it" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/12).
INSULT TO INJURY: FOXSPORTS.com's Greg Couch wrote Sunday "was a terrible day" for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, as Bears QB Jay Cutler, Eagles QB Michael Vick and 49ers QB Alex Smith each suffered concussions. Cutler in the Bears' loss to the Texans "stayed in the game, too, and then got hit in the head on the next play ... before sitting out the second half." The Texans-Bears game was "a study in how concussions are played in a gray area." Goodell "is going to have to act again somehow, like before next Monday," when the Bears play the 49ers on "MNF" (FOXSPORTS.com, 11/12). ESPN’s Chris Mortensen noted the NFLPA could "push to have non-team concussion specialists on the sidelines starting in 2013." Mortensen: "That’s their goal, non-concussion specialists to make all these decisions on these guys” (“Monday Night Countdown,” ESPN, 11/12).
KICKING AROUND IDEAS: The AP's Graham Dunbar reported a group of FIFA officials "began talks Monday that could result in age and term limits for world soccer leaders and change how World Cup hosts are chosen." The FIFA Congress of 209 members is "scheduled to meet in May and vote on ongoing reforms promised by president Sepp Blatter after a series of bribery and bidding scandals." Proposals under discussion include "an age limit of 72 for FIFA election candidates and a two-term, eight-year limit for the president." All of FIFA's members "likely will be asked to choose future World Cup hosts instead of the FIFA executive committee" (AP, 11/12).
