National Football League

RUMBLINGS

Published Oct. 10, 2010 10:12 p.m. ET

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With Ohio State-Michigan's perch at the end of the season salvaged, a Big Ten source said one change is likely: The Game could end up being played at night ... and on the Big Ten Network.

This isn't as rivalry-shaking as moving the game to earlier in the season, but the fact that a respected Big Ten source is talking about it seems to indicate that the topic has been broached in the league's inner circles and that it's only a matter of time before it happens.

Ohio State-Michigan is the league's most-valuable football property, the league is in the television business, and the best ratings are there for the plucking at night.

Goaltender Steve Mason and forward Jake Voracek are entering the last year of their entry-level deals, which means that since July 1, the Blue Jackets have been able to sign them to extensions. But general manager Scott Howson isn't talking about the matter.

It doesn't matter. The Blue Jackets believe that Mason is going to be a franchise goaltender, so his sophomore slump works to the club's advantage. If Mason had followed the 2008-09 season, when he won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, with another big year, he might have been looking at $6 million per season. Now, it's probably half that.

The team's personnel people think that Voracek will ultimately be a point-a-game guy, so they will try to lock him up long term before he becomes that. The question is whether Voracek will opt for a little more security or take a chance that a big year is coming up. The argument in favor of Voracek waiting is that he could end up on the first line with Rick Nash and Antoine Vermette, which could inflate his totals.

It's easy to see why Howson wouldn't want to discuss this in public.

When Frankie Hejduk served a one-game suspension in the Crew's scoreless tie with FC Dallas last week, it showed the fine line that coach Robert Warzycha walks with personnel decisions.

Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said that Hejduk's absence actually hindered his club's chances of scoring. That's because Hejduk, a defender, often jumps up into the offense and sometimes creates defensive holes. But the flip side is that the Crew also didn't score, and Hejduk has 12 goals and 25 assists in his MLS career.

His replacement, Danny O'Rourke, had no career goals, but he did shut Brek Shea down, which Hejduk might not have done.

But what if Hejduk had played? Let's just say the score might have been 1-1.

By the time the Denver Broncos' exhibition game with the Pittsburgh Steelers was over Sunday, rookie quarterback Tim Tebow had moved ahead of Dublin native Brady Quinn as Kyle Orton's backup. Tebow's promotion was a surprise, given that he missed the previous week's game because of bruised ribs.

Quinn had started the game with the second team, but when Orton went out after trying to tackle James Harrison, Quinn came in for one play and was sacked. Orton returned, but Tebow got most the snaps later.

Coach Josh McDaniels has always believed that Tebow would be ready sooner than most rookies are, which has put Quinn in a precarious position.

Are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers laughing at the Cincinnati Bengals over their decision to release receiver Antonio Bryant? Not publicly. But there have probably been a lot of I-told-you-sos.

The Bengals cut Bryant partly because of his knee problems, but there are murmurs that they found out what the Bucs had learned: that he had a bad attitude. The Bengals should have known this, but apparently, they were desperate enough for receiving help to take a chance.

Though some characterized the Bucs as cheap for letting Bryant walk in February, reporters in Tampa say the decision was made long before that -- by Bryant himself. Because of his criticism of the coaching staff, the quarterback and the team's medical staff, they were happy to let him go.

In his third game as a professional, former Ohio State All-American Alex Wimmers pitched five no-hit innings for Fort Myers. In three Florida State League (single-A) appearances totaling 102/3 innings, the new Minnesota Twins prospect has allowed two hits, has yet to allow an earned run, and has 14 strikeouts.

Coach Joe Paterno avoided naming a starting quarterback when the Penn State depth chart was released this week and then finally announced that true freshman Robert Bolden will get the nod over sophomores Matt McGloin and Kevin Newsome. The announcement came just minutes before the Big Ten announced its divisional alignment.

Some say this was an attempt to keep the pressure off a true freshman. Let's hope it wasn't done to befuddle Youngstown State.

Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch.

bhunter@dispatch.com

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