Tipsheet has always held Jose Canseco in the highest regard. So we were shocked – shocked! – to learn his camp may have tried to strong-arm Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez, his former teammate.

Canseco has a new book, “Vindicated,” scheduled for publication by Opening Day. According to the New York Times, Scott Boras, Ordonez’s agent, filed a complaint with the FBI after Canseco spoke with a Boras employee and said Ordonez would be “clear” if the outfielder invested in the movie project.

Hmmmmm . . . .

Ordonez reportedly addressed this issue with Tigers president Dave Dombrowski. “One of Jose’s friends was leaving me messages,” Ordonez was quoted as saying. “I told Dombrowski because I didn’t know why he was calling me.”

But Ordonez didn’t press the matter with the authorities. “I didn’t want to press charges against him,” he said. “I don’t want any problems. He is probably desperate for money. I don’t understand why he is trying to put people down.”

For the record, Canseco denied the allegations. But it will be interesting to see what turns up in his book.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering if Tiki Barber is still belittling Eli Manning to anybody who will listen:

• Will Mizzou ever win a Big 12 Conference basketball road game?
• Now that Baylor is finally back on track, isn’t Mike Anderson’s job that much tougher?
• Why in the world would the NHL extend its contract with Versus? Does Gary Bettman really have no other choice?
• Who could have possibly guessed that the Ballpark Village project would putter along at a glacial pace once the new stadium was built?
• So who is advising O.J. Mayo on NCAA rules compliance– Reggie Bush?

LETTERMAN’S LIST

CBS funnyman David Letterman offered his “Top Ten Things Overheard at the Giants-Packers Game.” They included:

• “Here to sing the national anthem, global warming genius Al Gore.”
• “It’s minus-3 degrees, but it’s a dry cold.”
• “Eli’s hands are frozen to the center’s (backside).”
• “Packers tight end looks suspiciously like a polar bear.”
• “I’m glad I spent the extra money on the fleece-lined cheese hat.”
• “The referees will be officiating the second half from the hotel.”
• “Is that the temperature of Bush’s approval rating?”

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Jerry Greene, Orlando Sentinel: “Surely you’ve seen the video of Tom Brady apparently wearing a walking boot on his right foot? The New York Post added this headline: ‘Girlie Man Limps Home.’ That’s right, make the Patriots angry. That always works.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones appeared the other day on Oprah. Here is how bad things have gotten. Not only is Jones going to jail, but, on a dare, she lost to Winfrey in a 100-meter dash.”

Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: “The Jets hired Bill Callahan as an assistant head coach? I don’t get it. He was the one guy they could beat.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson recently took coach John Fox and general manager Marty Hurney on a two-day retreat. Big deal. The Raiders and 49ers have been on a retreats for several seasons.”

Bill Simmons, ESPN.com: “Thanks to the freezing temperatures in Green Bay, poor Tom Coughlin’s face turned a color of red that nobody even knew existed. In fact, Crayola needs to release a new blood-red crayon and call it ‘Tom Coughlin’s Freezing Face.’ Out of all the e-mails we received about it, my favorite came from Adam Z. in Carolina: ‘It looks like Hannibal Lecter peeled Coughlin’s face off. Someone get that man a hot towel, for the love of god!’”

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “News item: Herschel Walker reveals in an upcoming book that he has a multiple personality disorder. Comment: That explains why some days he ran the ball like Jim Brown, and other days he ran it like ‘Downtown’ Julie Brown.”

MEGAPHONE

“It’s his team and he can do whatever he likes . . . but look, you can find any coach you want, bring him in here and run the situation. But I don’t think they are going to do as good a job as I do. And that’s period.”

Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy, shrugging off criticism by team owner Donald Sterling.