Big Story:
The Panthers are in first place to start December; the Heat can begin to contact agents of players today; the NBA is about to teach MLB about what a hot stove league is all about; and why you should care about the Dolphins final four games this season.
Let's drop this agenda faster than Herman Cain's poll numbers.

Miami Heat:
Now we're finally getting to some real talk about basketball!
The Heat will open their facilities up to players Thursday and can also begin to contact players about possibly coming to the Heat.
No contracts can be signed until next Friday, but you can at least get your bids in early.
So who will the Heat go after?
Everybody is pointing to Samuel Dalembert, a 6'11" center from the Sacramento Kings.
But my guess is he's going to want the full mid-level exception salary and I'm just not sold Pat Riley wants to do that.
I think if Dalembert doesn't want to come play for the Heat for less than the mid-level exception (currently set at roughly $5 million per season for I think three years), then the Heat will start to look elsewhere in the middle.
Dalembert is good, but he's not that good.
I think the Heat will target Grant Hill or Shane Battier early in the process.
I think Hill would be the better fit, simply because he's a better athlete and can put the ball on the floor and go.
Battier is more of a spot-up shooter, but is probably the better defender.
As for the center position, don't sleep on the Heat taking a flier on Kwame Brown and/or Eddy Curry.
Brown had a decent season last year, averaging 8 points and 7 rebounds per game.
He's a big body and if he doesn't mind banging down low to open up more space for the Big Three, he's a viable option.
He's nearly 7 feet tall and 270 pounds. Is he the best option, no, but he hit 52 percent of his shots last season and didn't get into foul trouble on average.
Curry is an enigma wrapped inside a conundrum.
Curry is only 28 years old and is a legit 7 footer. His career fell off a cliff in New York in 2008-2010.
His weight ballooned to well over three bills.
He's reportedly gotten into much better shape and was working with the Heat prior to the lockout.
With him, you invite him to camp and if he shows up in shape and ready to go, you never know.
For his career, he's averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds per game.
It's a stretch, but if he's finally got his head on straight, you never know.
Plus, the Heat always have Dexter Pittman in the bullpen. He's dropped a lot of weight and is reportedly in phenomenal shape.
He dominated in college and could be a big plus…if he is in shape and has developed his game.

NBA Rumors:
Wow, the rumor mill exploded into the red hot stove league overnight.
The biggest development surrounded Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.
He's a physical freak and is coveted by the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, and any other team with a half of a brain.
But, few teams have the pieces to really go get him.
The Knicks don't, the Lakers do, but it's another team from New York that is going after him hardcore.
The New Jersey Nets are going to offer center Brook Lopez and two first-round picks to the Magic in exchange for Howard.
Howard becomes a free agent next July and he's not resigning for the small-market Orlando Magic.
The Nets have reportedly also said they will take on the absurd contract of Hedo Turkoglu to sweeten the deal.
Not to be outdone, the Lakers are prepared to offer a deal that will include some combination of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom.
But the Nets deal is much sweeter because the Magic would get a young center and better draft picks from the Nets than the Lakers.
Still, Orlando will sit back and wait to see who will become the highest bidder.
But wait, there's more.
The Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics are discussing trading Rajon Rondo to Indy.
Why would the C's give up on a young, talented point guard like Rondo?
Easy, because Celtics general manager Danny Ainge has his eyes firmly set on New Orleans point guard Chris Paul.
Bringing Paul to Boson would put together a really solid core of players for one or two more runs at the title.
But, it's going to be tough to get Paul in a trade because the NBA runs his team, the Hornets, and it's not known if they would even do a trade.
And then there's this….
Nene, the 29-year-old physical freak of a center told yahoo! Sports that he wants to play for a contender and that he might be willing to give up more money to go after a ring.
Paging Pat Riley…..take the full mid-level exception and all of your rings and find Nene…..PRONTO!!!
Is your head spinning yet?
Don't worry, that's just getting started!!!!

Miami Dolphins: (vs. Oakland, Sunday, 1 p.m.)
The Dolphins welcome in the hard to figure out Oakland Raiders.
The Raiders have improved, but without Darren McFadden, they still aren't as explosive as they want to be.
The Dolphins, well, they're 3-8 on the season and now playing for draft positioning.
No team can suck as bad as the Colts can this year.
As an aside, the Colts will start Dan Orlovsky at quarterback Sunday. This is the same guy who led Detroit to an 0-16 record and was last seen running out of his own endzone without any one chasing him.
Back to the Fins…
Currently, the Dolphins would have the number four/five overall pick, based on all the variables.
If they win this weekend, it could drop them back into the mid-teens.
Pick in the top five and you've got your choice of quarterbacks, including Matt Barkley, Landry Jones, and possibly my qb of choice Robert Griffin III.
Drop to the teens or far out of the top five, and you're looking at the Fins taking a right tackle.
Wow, that made me hurt just typing it.
So Dolphins fans, you either cheer for the team to win and enjoy another year of mediocrity.
Or.
You cheer for the Dolphins to lose and hope a new regime can finally right the ship in Miami.
Talk about a choice of two evils.

Florida Panthers: (@ Los Angeles, Thursday, 10:30 p.m.)
Well, as the calendar turns to December, the Florida Panthers have been reborn and are in first place in the Southeast Division.
Not only that, but they're putting space between them and the second place Washington Capitals.
The Cats are 6-3-1 in their last ten games and are 6 games over .500 this season.
If the season ended today…the Cats would be the number two seed in the Eastern Conference.
Think about that for a second.
Plus, the Cats improvement is great, but they also have a star goalie in the making in the minors and a star forward in the making adding muscle to his body in the minors.