What’s this about an election?

Apparently the United States went to the polls yesterday and elected a new leader. This of course meant nothing good was on television to distract us from the world of sports that’s out there to keep everyone sane. It might have been slow in terms of recent standards but there were some noteworthy happenings.

— Apparently Rodney Stuckey thinks he’s more of an icon than Allen Iverson or the Answer has come along a lot further than we knew about being a team player. Stuckey has either refused to give up the No. 3 on the Pistons or AI just doesn’t want the number he’s worn for his entire career — he’ll be wearing No. 1 by the way. If this had happened to the Sixers version of Iverson, well I wouldn’t be too surprised if Stuckey was stabbed in a club the day after AI arrived. Then again, being in Detroit, it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine that occurring anyway.

— The third hottest starting pitcher is officially on the free agent market. Well, there’s only paperwork to go but A.J. Burnett is walking away from the Blue Jays, effectively leaving the team in an utter lurch. Without Burnett, the Jays will be down three starting pitchers for most of the 2009 season and while they can attempt to resign the mercurial righty, he’s not going to be worth whatever amount the Yankees end up throwing at him. It looks like Toronto’s going to sweating over the drawing board long and hard this winter.

— I think it was a bad move throwing Brady Quinn into the fire on such a short week. Telling him on Monday that he’ll start Thursday does not give him nearly enough time to prepare. The only upside is that the Denver defence is pretty close to as bad as it gets. But that same statement can be used for Cleveland’s D as well so expect a shootout on the NFL Network tomorrow — if you get that channel.

— My pick for the Thursday night affair: CLEVELAND (-3) over Denver. The Broncos are 1-6-1 against the spread and are pretty banged up. This is a winnable game for the Browns if Braylon Edwards doesn’t drop every other pass. Do you think the Broncos’ secondary will blame being lost in Quinn’s eyes when they look into the backfield while dropping into zone?

— It’s going to be a sad three-to-four months for the New Jersey Devils. They went from having Martin Brodeur — a historically great goaltender — to Kevin Weekes and the probability of missing the bloated playoffs. Also, I have no idea how a goalie tears his bicep. Knee, groin, ankle and back injuries are expected but a torn bicep? That’s just weird.

— The biggest shock in the world would have been the Yankees picking up Carl Pavano’s option. Should it even have run as news?

— I can’t help it, I’m in love with Champions League Football, err, soccer. Watching Chelsea get beaten by AS Roma because of the English side’s sloppy play was legitimately fun to watch. You can have mental lapses when Sunderland or Wigan come to visit but when you’re in Italy, you have to be on top of your game. The Blues defence was statuesque on Pannucci’s goal off a nice cross. Shame on you John Terry.

— Finally, while watching some election night programming on CNN, the highlight of the coverage may have been the most hilarious thing to ever occur during CNN election coverage: Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas shared his insight on the election VIA HOLOGRAM. That’s right there was a hologram of him talking to Anderson Cooper. I really don’t know if that can ever be topped.