Here are some people in the news who have made some headlines of late. For one reason or another, I think they deserve some notice.

Mark Cuban

Sometimes I think Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, makes George Steinbrenner look sane and likeable. His latest run in with the NBA has to do with his criticizing officials (what else is new?) for their officiating of the Denver-Dallas game in which Denver won 103- 101. Cuban complained about the officials through Twitter, an online social networking site. He was angry that the Nuggets’ J.R. Smith was not called for a technical foul after coming off the bench to taunt Antoine Wright after he missed a foul shot. After being fined $25,000 by the NBA, the Mavs’ owner wrote in a post, “can’t say no one makes money from Twitter. now the nba does.” Remember when he blamed officials for his team’s meltdown a few years ago in the playoffs? Give me a break! The game is the game.

Terrell Owens

Okay, here’s my problem. The guy is amazingly talented and skilled. Yet, when a team signs him they’re said to be “taking a chance.” I have no problem with that description but I have a boatload of problems with the fact that a team or anyone has to feel like they’re taking a chance by contracting the guy. I mean someone who brings what he brings to field should be welcomed. But he’s not and it’s his own fault. I really wish he’d learn a life lesson some day and realize that there’s such a thing as being a quality human being.

I know that some folks might say, “Hey, he’s a great player; he doesn’t have to be a nice guy.” And I come back with, “If you’re a lousy player you don’t have to be a nice guy either. It just helps make life go by a bit better for folks if, no matter how good or bad you are, you’re civil to folks.”

And by the way—it does matter obviously if you’re a nice guy to some degree or Owens wouldn’t be such an outcast. I’ve been around sports enough to know that there is such a thing as team chemistry and when it’s good, it helps and when it’s bad, it makes things bad. I wonder what the mix will be like for the Bills of Buffalo in 2009- 2010?

Lou Saban

Former college and pro football coach Lou Saban passed away on Sunday. Saban was a coach or administrator for nine different college and professional football organizations from 1955 to 1984. He also played for the AAFC Cleveland Browns. As an AFL coach, he guided the Buffalo Bills to championships in 1964 and 1965. Saban was a football guy through and through. As a college coach, he was associated with Northwestern, Western Illinois, Maryland, Miami, Army and UFC. In the pros, he coached the Boston Patriots, Buffalo Bills, and Denver Broncos.

Saban, who was very athletic, played his college ball for Indiana University and was an All-Big Ten quarterback one year and an All-Big Ten fullback in another season. In the renegade AAFC, he played for the Cleveland Browns for four seasons. He was voted to the AAFC’s All-Star team twice as a linebacker. In the AFL, his career record as a coach is 95- 99- 7. Saban is the only AFL coach to win two consecutive league titles and he’s the only AFL coach who got his team into the AFL playoffs three years running.

Tiger Woods

Okay, I am once again impressed with Woods. He got the 66^th win of his short career by coming back in the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He was down by five shots! He did it by mounting a definitive Tiger Woods’ late charge, making the tough shots and sinking a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole. He won the tourney by one, taking it away from Sean O’Hair.

Woods said, “It feels good to be back in contention, to feel the rush. It’s been awhile, but God, it felt good.”

It’s great to see such a talented, hardworking, likeable guy get back in the swing of things. Woods looks like he’s back from reconstructive knee surgery, which made him miss eight months of the PGA season. It was the first time that he’s topped the leader board since he won the 19-hole playoff in last year’s U.S. Open.

I was wondering if the old Tiger would come back. He has! Welcome back!

There you have it, going from the bottom of the blog to the top, the good (Woods and Saban), the bad (Owens) and the ugly (Saban).