Big news today that might change some of your holiday spending plans. The highly anticipated Jordan Collezione 11/12 featuring the Black/Red XI and the Taxi XII will now drop on Dec. 20 instead of Dec. 26 according to NikeStore.com.

12/20/2008 Jordan Collezione 11/12
338149-991 Air Jordan Retro 11 Black/True Red-White Air Jordan Retro 12 Black/Varsity Red-Cement Grey
$310 NikeStore.com

The upside for shoppers is that you'll be able to avoid the insanity of return day where everyone takes back all the junk they didn't want for the holidays. Budget accordingly, sneaker freaks.

Images via KixAndTheCity.com. Tip of the cap to jd3772000 on NikeTalk for the tip.

adidas is set to celebrate their 60th anniversary -- dubbed the 60th Anniversary of Soles and Stripes -- in 2009. As part of a year-long celebration, adidas is dipping into their vintage catalog to bring back classics.

To kick off the celebration, adidas is bringing back the adidas Ecstasy and the adidas Instinct in January. Both sneakers were initially released way back in the 1980s as outdoor performance basketball sneakers.

Even though their design was tweaked for hoops, both sneakers found their way onto the streets more than the blacktop as the young hip-hop community latched on to them because of their bright colors, high ankle, and aggressive styling.

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XXL: MUST-SEE TV

USC vs. Oklahoma, ESPN2, 7 p.m.
UCLA vs. Texas, ESPN2, 9 p.m.

Right on the heels of the ACC/Big Ten challenge comes this series between the teams of the Pac 10 and the Big 12, with tonight featuring a marquee twosome of meaningful games. First up, No. 6 Oklahoma hosts USC coming off its big victory over Purdue last week to win the NIT Season Tip-Off title. Then it’s a showdown of ranked powerhouses, as the No. 12 Bruins of UCLA head to Austin to face the No. 8 Texas Longhorns.

EXTRA LARGE

De La Hoya-Pacquiao 24/7, HBO, 8:30 p.m. Oscar De La Hoya vs. Fernando Vargas (2002) and Manny Pacquiao vs. Erik Morales (2006), Versus, 8 p.m.

Wet your whistle tonight for the biggest fight of the year, Saturday’s showdown between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao. The final episode of De La Hoya-Pacquiao 24/7 runs tonight on HBO, and at the same time Versus will be showing each of the boxers in one of their signature fights, Oscar’s 11th-round stoppage of Ferocious Fernando Vargas in 2002, and then Manny’s 10th-round stoppage of Erik Morales in their second fight from 2006.

LARGE

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Louisville vs. Rutgers, ESPN, 7:30 p.m.

A Big East battle of less-than-giants, as the slumping Cardinals roll into Piscataway to face the streaking Scarlet Knights. At 5-6, and on a four-game losing streak, Louisville is trying to avoid its first losing season since 1997. Rutgers (6-5) turned around a miserable 1-5 start to win its last five games and move into bowl eligibility. Predictably, Vegas loves the Scarlet Knights at home, to the tune of 10.5, with the over/under at 52.

NBA

Suns vs. Mavericks, TNT, 8 p.m.
Spurs vs. Nuggets, TNT, 10:30 p.m.

Tonight’s TNT doubleheader is an all-Western conference affair, with the Suns, on the a three-game skid, heading to Dallas (7-3 in their last ten) and then the Spurs facing the Nuggets in Denver with both teams on a hot streak.

NFL

Raiders vs. Chargers, NFL, 8:15 p.m. Ah, a once-mighty rivalry gone to crap. The Bolts and the Black and Silver will be playing for pride tonight in San Diego. With the lowly Chargers (4-8) owning only one more win than the Raiders (3-9), one wonders if the lopsided Vegas line, favoring the Bolts by nine, will provide any fuel to Oakland’s fire. Doubtful. Over/under is 42.

Barbara Walters Special, ABC, 10 p.m.

Babs counts down her ten most fascinating people of 2008. Michael Phelps is the only athlete on the list, battling it out for the top spot with such luminaries as Tom Cruise, Rush Limbaugh and that double-barreled yummy mummy combo, Sarah Palin and Tina Fey. So, my only question is this ... is “fascinating” really a word that comes to mind when thinking about Michael Phelps?

We're looking for the best/worst of sports-related shirts from around the world to feature in this space. If you have a submission, send it to FirstCuts@sportingnews.com.

LeBron might be the face of the Cavs, but the voice of the team is Joe Tait, the radio play-by-play announcer who has called every game of every season for the Wine and Gold since the team's inception in 1970 with the exception of two years in the 80's. That's well over 3000 games. He works by himself, no color man needed. He wears brightly colored sweaters that would have struggled to be called fashionable in the 70's, and they're awesome. And his trademark dunk call is, "WHAM! With the right hand."

Waiting For Next Year loves Joe Tait as much as I do, so they put together a tee that honors the voice of the Cavs and the phrase he exclaims with great regularity watching LeBron play every night. My only complaint is the background color of the shirt, which is solid and boring -- a questionable choice when Taits' sweaters provide such fertile visual ground. While you're at WFNY's shop, check out their 1991-1992 Cavs throwback tee, a shirt in tribute of Phil Dawson -- the Browns MVP, and the Witness Mo Boobie design, based off the Sports Guy's last mailbag.

eBay is full of hidden gems, particularly when it comes to sports-related items. David Arnott brings you the best oddities.

A common epithet for those who sidle up to big time athletes and try to curry favor from them is "jock sniffers," implying that the acolytes love these guys so much they would enjoy inhaling the sweet musk of sweaty underwear. Well, for jock sniffers everywhere, this is your lucky day, because now you can buy Alex Rodriguez's underwear.

Just as a fine wine reaches its peak at a certain age, A-Rod's spandex, pinstriped waistband and all, will only grow more and more comical as time goes by, until the person who possesses it comes to his senses and realizes he'll never be able to harvest enough skin cells to properly clone him. Because that's the only reason you would want the dude's sweaty undies.

Maybe you're a more sophisticated jock sniffer, or a more northern one, and you'd rather own Josh Beckett's underwear, or Kevin Youkilis's, because those undergarments stink of rugged victory.

Whichever path you take, please, please, please do NOT put on other people's underwear. Unlike, say, Wilt Chamberlain's suit jacket, nobody will think you're cool for wearing some other dude's jock.

(H/T to The Big Lead.)

I've set out to not use the phrase "with the way the economy is" at the insistance of Mottram, but let's just say that we're coming up on the holidays and FirstCuts is feeling generous (or overrun by free crap on my desk) and we'd like to hit you with a few books for you or a loved one. Not hit you literally, mind you ... oh forget it.



You read blogs, you say? I bet you've read a bit of work from both Drew Magary (Kissing Suzy Kolber and Deadspin) and the FreekDarko clan. That's why we're giving away Men With Balls and The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Alamanac.

Same drill as always: Leave us a comment about something -- a dope t-shirt you saw, the latest sports video game you're playing or what the weather is like where you live. We'll pick out a comment and alert a winner on Monday. Then we'll move on to another giveaway. (Also, if you've got an Xbox 360, please let us know when you leave your comment.)

Today on FirstCuts, we're able to bring you the first video trailer for NASCAR Kart on the Nintendo Wii.

The game, the latest under the EA Freestyle wing, obviously takes its cues from the Mario Kart series, but with less plumber butt. The game will feature 14 NASCAR drivers and 10 fictional characters. Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, and Elliot Sadler will be featured along with two mystery unlockable NASCAR drivers.

For more information, cover art and a full slideshow of drivers, course and other game screenshots, proceed past the jump.

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With this one in the books, we’ve got just four episodes of the season left. A reminder: Friday Night Lights’ schedule gets a little funky for the holidays, so be sure to check out our previous post with all the info on the remaining DirecTV episodes and the premiere date for NBC (Friday, Jan. 16, 9 p.m. ET).

For all the details on “Game of the Week,” hit the jump. Spoilers ahead!

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