When superstars bicker, we all suffer.

So Tipsheet was sad to see Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens acting out again.

“I’m a competitor and I want the ball,” T.O. said Sunday. “Everybody recognized that I wasn’t really getting the ball in the first half,” Owens also said. “I’m pretty sure everybody watching the game recognized it, people in the stands recognized it. I think my team recognized it.”

Owens has subsequently backtracked, insisting he had no trouble with quarterback Tony Romo or his coaches. But he did have trouble with ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson, whom he called “Sheshawn” three times on his radio show.

Johnson, the first overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft, had a nice career. But, T.O. said, “He is the ultimate underachiever on that (ESPN) panel. I am the reason he is in the booth. Everybody is aware when I was brought to Dallas, he was the one they let go to get me here.”

Elsewhere on the diva receiver front, Chad Ocho Cinco told Dallas-Fort Worth media types that the struggling Bengals were better in their hard-partying days:

“Think about this: You remember our ‘05 season right? Our ‘05 season we were unbelievable. Our ‘05 season is the year everybody went to jail and got arrested. That year everybody got in trouble. So maybe the bad was a good thing. It sounds dumb to say, but look at it. We have cleaned house and nobody is getting in trouble anymore, no DUIs, no arrests, now we’re getting our (backside) whopped. Maybe I don’t know, maybe I should go out have a drink, get in trouble. I don’t know what it is. Our ‘05 was one of the best years here in history. It was one of those years where there was a lot of distractions.”

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering if Chris Carpenter’s nerve problems will magically clear up without surgery:

• Will Mitchell Boggs, Jess Todd or Clayton Mortensen be prepared to step into the rotation next spring?
• Say, was that really Curtis Joseph allowing all those Blues goals Wednesday night? Isn’t he pushing 50 years old these days?
• Who could have guessed former NFL running back Travis Henry would run afoul of the law?

FANTASY FOOTBALL IS SERIOUS BUSINESS

This item from Florida comes from the Charlotte Sun-Herald newspaper:

PUNTA GORDA — A 35-year-old man was arrested Monday morning after he allegedly became upset over points in his Fantasy Football league and threatened to kill his roommate.

According to a report from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Chester Marcial “Chet” Ward, of the 4500 block of Duncan Road in Punta Gorda, allegedly sliced pages in the book his roommate was reading before holding a knife to his roommate’s neck and threatening to kill him.

The report stated the roommate, who ‘was in fear of his life,’ went to a neighbor’s home and called 911.

WORKING FOR A MADMAN

Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan knows Lane Kiffin’s pain. He, too, got the quick axe from wacky Raiders owner Al Davis.

“I was a little disappointed, to be honest with you. When you take a look at it, I was there 582 days. Lane Kiffin was there 616 days. So, what it really means is that Al Davis liked Lane more than he liked me,” Shanahan quipped during his regular Wednesday news conference. “I really don’t think it’s fair. I won three more games, yet he got 34 more days of work. That just doesn’t seem right.”

Here is some disturbing footage from Davis’ news conference:

QUIPS ‘R US

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

Mike Downey, Chicago Tribune: “Bringing a feeling of dread and dejection back to Wrigley Field, which is world-famous for it, the Cubs lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-2, Wednesday night to accept their seventh postseason whipping in a row. What did you expect? They are just Cubs being Cubs. Or should we be surprised that good old, reliable Ryan Dempster suddenly would turn into Wild Thing? Or that a rowdy Wrigley crowd by evening’s end would be as silent as midnight at the Lincoln Park Zoo?”

Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com: “The stunner isn’t that Carlos Zambrano is the Chicago Cubs’ starter for Game 2 of the NLDS. The stunner is that he wasn’t dropped to Game 3, or, I kid you not, even Game 4. The decision to have Zambrano follow Ryan Dempster in the playoff rotation must have been a toughie for manager Lou Piniella and pitching coach Larry Rothschild. They’re dealing with a proud, spectacularly gifted player who can no-hit lineups or — and this is what gives you the heebie jeebies about him — leave crater marks from the latest implosion. What helps make Zambrano, well, Zambrano — his emotionalism — is also what overpowers the man himself.”

Rick Chandler, Deadspin: “Al Davis needs to be tranquilized and relocated further back into the woods. Whenever he emerges into civilization — which is rare these days — only heartache and chaos can result; on Tuesday the target was Lane Kiffin, but next time it could be you or me.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Golf fans are still buzzing over the United States’ first Ryder Cup win over Europe in nine years. Not saying the Americans didn’t earn it, but, in retrospect, the gracious Europeans may have erred strategically by conceding those 40-foot putts.”

MEGAPHONE

“A Cub fan is a humble fan, because we don’t have a lot to throw back at other fans” in terms of successful seasons.”

Cubs fan Bob Krause.