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Breaking up may have been the best thing for American Idol and Simon Cowell both.

Idol did just fine this past season without Simon. But, judging from Wednesday's two-hour premiere of The X Factor, leaving Idol will benefit its former judge, as well.

However, Simon clearly doesn't have an original idea in his head, unless you count trying to make everything bolder and brasher than Idol, which he uses as his template.

Still, getting to run the show has re-energized Simon, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but the judges' table during his last two season on Idol. And the adjustments he has made to this star-making process should guarantee that X Factor gets a different result from Idol, if not much of a different product.

Everything about this show is designed to be bigger than Idol: The age range, the categories, the $5 million dollar prize ("the largest in television history," notes host Steve Jones). But it's those first two that could make the biggest difference. Broadening the age range -- it's 12 and up -- allows for children such as the 13-year-old, Shirley Temple-like Rachel Crow, the night's first auditioner, to capture the viewers' hearts, and it also lets singers like 42-year-old mother of two Stacy Francis, who've been told they're too old, get another chance. And breaking the contestants into four categories -- Boys, Girls, Over 30 and Groups -- assures viewers that there's a good chance they'll break the demographic pattern of recent Idol winners.

Staging the auditions before a live audience adds an energy level to the proceedings that Idol can't match, even if the crowd clearly has been coached to over-react to everything, good or bad. It also allows aspiring megastars like hotel performer Siameze Floyd to bring a new level of polished awfulness to the proceedings. (Idol, on the other hand, specializes in amateurishness.) And if you think the Idol lighting director can do wonders in manipulating viewers to vote for a contestant by giving him or her a blazing background, imagine what the people mixing the crowd sound can do for X Factor by bringing the applause up or down.

One of the new judges, record executive L.A. Reid, initially comes across as a more eloquent, better qualified version of Idol's Randy Jackson. The show spends nearly an entire segment setting up a rivalry between him and Simon. "I know what it takes to find an artist and turn them into a star," Simon says after watching the marginally talented but eminently packageable USC student Simone Battle perform. L.A. has a completely different assessment of her than Simon does, and he clearly does not like it when Simon disagrees with him. There's tension between the two of them that could be fun to watch as the season progresses -- particularly if Simon continues to emphasize flash over substance.

Not all the changes are improvements: When she goes into her little-girl act, judge/mentor Nicole Scherzinger makes Paula Abdul look smart. People who like Idol's emphasis on talent may have a hard time adjusting to X Factor's emphasis on "moments" over pure ability. And we won't even go into Simon allowing his producers to put Geo Godley on stage so he could expose himself to a crowd with children in it.

But just as Idol without Simon turned out to be a breath of fresh air, a re-engaged Simon in a new setting could make for a refreshing change of pace.

What's in a Wonderlic score? For Oakland Raiders rookie quarterback Terrelle Pryor, enough that he came out and defended himself against a report about a very low score.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Pryor received a seven on his test -- which he took on his August 20 pro day -- only to take it again the next day to improve to 21. He took to Twitter on Wednesday to try to set the record straight.

"Funny thing is I scored a 22 on my Wonderlic," Pryor tweeted. "Get it right ask @RosenhausSports."

Drew Rosenhaus is Pryor's agent.

Pryor's claim was backed up -- sort of -- by Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert, who administered both tests. Colbert would not confirm the score of the first test but told ESPN.com that Pryor's second test was significantly improved.

Colbert declined to disclose Pryor's score on the second test.

"The report of a seven test score is erroneous," Colbert said. "I administered both tests and I can tell you that his score was significantly higher than that. I informed all teams and scouts interested in him about the score. In scouting, we always go with the higher Wonderlic score."

Though Wonderlic scores are supposed to be confidential, Colbert said he received clearance from the NFL to reveal that Pryor's score was better than the reported seven.

The Wonderlic, which is annually administered during the NFL Scouting Combine, has stirred controversy in the past as it pertains to quarterbacks possessing high football IQs. Certain players' scores have leaked to create controversy.

The most notable player with a low score to have a great career was Hall of Famer Dan Marino, who reportedly scored a 16. Conversely, first-round busts JaMarcus Russell and Ryan Leaf scored a 24 and a 27, respectively.

The Bucs are already letting the NFL know they weren’t a one year fluke. The young defense, which consists of many young and unproven talents, is hitting hard and making news. That’s mainly because the NFL is hitting them hard back; the league fined two Buccaneers defensive members for hits on New Englad Patriots during last weeks game.
We already know of Mason Foster’s monster fine for his hit )or non-hit as many are calling it). Another Buccaneer has been added to the fine list: safety Devin Holland was slapped with a $10,000 fine for his pop shot on Patriots runningback Danny Woodhead bringing the Bucs total for the game to $30,000.
It’s actually Holland’s second fine in as many games. His very first NFL game saw him illegally strike a punt returner for the Chiefs which cost the rookie $5,000.
Mason Foster’s fine has been making news, both in it’s amount, the low end severity of it and Chad Ochocinco’s generosity towards the rookie. Ochocinco tweeted after the game that he had no problem with the hit and felt it’s the way the game should be played. he tweeted the day the fine was announced at $20,000 that he plans to personally reimburse Foster, whether the NFL likes it or not. He directly addressed the Commissioner, whom he mockingly called ‘Dad’ via twitter:

What do you do when your team loses in the playoffs, or worse yet, they didn’t make it at all. Do you anxiously wait until next season? Do you watch your old VHS copy of NBA Furious Finishes? Or do you get out and do something about it? If you’re the latter, then you’re in luck: The NBA’s largest basketball playground, NBA Nation, tips off its fifth summertime tour this weekend in Houston.
More than 1 million fans will visit NBA Nation this summer, which will travel more than 10,000 miles to eight NBA cities – Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, San Antonio, New York and Washington, D.C. The customized 18-wheel NBA Nation truck expands like Optimus Prime into 20,000 square feet of basketball playground, providing free interactive basketball activities as well as the opportunity to meet current NBA Players and legends such as Darryl Dawkins, who’s serving as official tour ambassador.
Chocolate Thunder will also be on the panel of judges for the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown. One winner from each city will receive a $1,000 prize and continue competing for the chance to be crowned the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown Champion. The runner-up in each city will receive $500.
Interested? Here are the tour dates to see when NBA Nation will be near you:
April 30 & May 1 – HoustonHouston International FestivalEast Side of Bagby Street, between Dallas and Lamar Streets
May 7 & 8 – DenverCinco De Mayo “Celebrate Culture” FestivalBroadway between 13th and 14th Avenues
May 14 & 15 – Los AngelesUniversal CityWalk Hollywood100 Universal City Plaza
May 28 & 29 – AtlantaAtlanta Jazz Festival10th St. between Monroe and Charles Allen
June 4 & 5 – MiamiGoombay FestivalSW 32nd & Grand Ave
June 10, 11 & 12 – San AntonioTexas Folklife Festival801 E. Durango Blvd./ Institute of Texan Cultures
June 18 & 19 – New YorkSouth Street SeaportFulton and South Street
June 25 & 26 – Washington, D.C.Safeway Barbecue Battle XIX13 & 131/2 Pennsylvania Ave

Seabrook returns for Blackhawks* Pronger back in lineup for Flyers* Predators earn first playoffs series winThe Chicago Blackhawks recorded a 4-3 victory in overtime over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday to level their best-of-seven series at 3-3 after they had been down 3-0 and facing early elimination.Ben Smith scored the game-winner at 15:30 in overtime for the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, who forced a decider on Tuesday in Vancouver and are now seeking to become just the fourth team to rally from a 3-0 series deficit in the playoffs.The winner of the series will meet the Nashville Predators, who advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time after their 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.Nick Spaling scored two goals for the Predators, who also clinched the best-of-seven series 4-2.The Philadelphia Flyers were also on the verge of elimination but instead forced a Game Seven with their 5-4 overtime triumph over the Buffalo Sabres.Ville Leino scored the game-winner at 4:43 in overtime, after Scott Hartnell had forced the extra session at 10:43 in the third.Game Seven is on Tuesday in Philadelphia.POSTSEASON CHARGEChicago’s charge to their series deciding game was set up by Michael Frolik’s game-tying score at 2:31 in the third before Smith clinched it with his third goal of the post-season.”Never in a million years did I think it would happen,” Smith told reporters. “I was able to get the rebound and put it over (goaltender Roberto Luongo). It’s pretty amazing.”Guys kept battling and stuck with it and we’re going to Vancouver.”Defenseman Brent Seabrook sparked Chicago with his return to the lineup after missing the last two games when he suffered a blow to the head.Daniel Sedin, Alexandre Burrows and Kevin Bieksa all scored for the Canucks who traded goals with the Blackhawks through regulation.Nashville had previously reached the post-season five times and lost in the first round each time before Sunday’s breakthrough.Teemu Selanne and Jason Blake scored for Anaheim who tied the game 2-2 in the second before Spaling gave Nashville a 3-2 lead early in the third period.David Legwand then converted an empty-net goal with 10 seconds left to clinch the victory for the Predators.In Buffalo, Philadelphia defenseman Chris Pronger returned to the lineup following a 21-game absence due to a broken hand, but he could do little to stop the early surge from the home team.Thomas Vanek scored twice in the first period as Buffalo built a 3-1 lead and chased Philadelphia goaltender Michael Leighton who was replaced by Brian Boucher.Flyers winger James van Riemsdyk scored in the second where Danny Briere added his second goal of the game to tie it at 3-3 before Nathan Gerbe put Buffalo back ahead with a wrist shot at 16:09 in the second. Please double click on the newslink: for more NHL stories

In Game 3, the Tampa Bay Lightning came out a bit too fired up for their own good and fell behind 2-0. In Game 4, the Lightning played as if the entire team had taken Lunesta right before the opening faceoff.
As Tampa Bay continues to try to figure out which level of intensity they need to come with when playing in front of the home crowd, the Pittsburgh Penguins took a 3-1 series advantage on the strength of James Neal’s double-overtime game-winner.
The Lightning now face the daunting task of trying to string together three straight wins against the Pens, with two of the games in Pittsburgh.

What’s Gone Wrong?
The Lightning don’t want it enough. In the two games in Tampa, Pittsburgh dictated the pace of the hockey game and they are winning the majority of the battles along the board. That allows the Penguins to control the danger of the Lightning snipers and continue to pepper aging goalie Dwayne Roloson with shots.
The unforced errors in their own zone have been terrible. On the game-winning goal last night, twice the Lightning failed to clear the puck out of their own zone, allowing the Pens a chance to set up a shot.
While Neal’s game-winner had eyes on it, he should have never had the chance to fire the surprise shotTampa Bay must be stronger on the puck. At one point in Game 4, Pittsburgh owned a 20-6 shot advantage. That’s unacceptable.
Dwayne Roloson was terrific for the Lightning in Game 4, but you can’t expect a 41-year-old goaltender to face 51 shots and not give up any.

Is the Series Over?
Beating a solid, spunky Pittsburgh team three consecutive times is going to be difficult. The Pens have played extremely well despite being without Sidney Crosby—perhaps the best player in the NHL. The Penguins know how to close out playoff series—they’re one of the best in the NHL at it over the last couple years.

Still, there is that understanding in the back of everyone’s mind that as long as you are alive you have a chance.
No one thought Montreal would rally from a 3-1 series deficit to beat the top-seeded Capitals in the first round last year. When Philly fell behind 3-0 to Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals, most expected to see the Bruins competing for the cup.
It’s happened three times in the last four years.
Despite the huge shot differential, Tampa Bay had just as much of an opportunity to win both Game 3 and Game 4. It’s not like Detroit and Phoenix, where the Red Wings ran the Coyotes out of the playoffs with multiple blowouts.
Still, the stark reality of this deficit is that in the history of the NHL, only 9.6 percent of the time has a team down 3-1 in the series rallied back to win.

How Do the Lightning Pull It Off?
The Lightning must understand they’re not going to win back all the games they lost on Saturday. Start with winning a shift. Shift after shift, just do you best to win the battles along the board and control the puck.
When you win the puck, shoot the dang thing.
“It’s been the focus of a lot of our meetings,” Lightning coach Guy Boucher told the St. Pete Times, “Our guys are teeing it up, and they’re trying to aim all the time.
“All year long we’re a team that put a lot of pucks on net. And right now we’re waiting for the perfect opportunity, the perfect shot.”
That needs to end if Tampa Bay is going to extend the series. The Lightning have some of the most skilled scorers in the league—but if you don’t shoot the puck you can’t score. Stop being cute with it—shoot it and see what happens. That’s how Neal won Game 4. It’s also how the Penguins have scored the majority of their goals.
Many of Roloson’s saves in the series have been easy, straight on shots. The Penguins just kept chopping wood—shot, save, shot, save, shot, save—until finally a rebound squirts out at the wrong time or the goaltender lets his concentration lapse for just a hair…and in the back of the net it goes.
That’s how you score in the playoffs, folks. The Penguins know this, the Lightning are learning it.
By the end of this series, the Bolts will have a wealth of knowledge on how to win in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They can only hope that class won’t be dismissed on Saturday.

Kawhi Leonard is an uptempo forward that can be extremely effective in transition. He excels on the fast-break and would be a perfect fit to run with Devin Harris.
Leonard has a turnaround jumper that is NBA ready, but he has work to do when squaring up to a defender.  He is a top notch rebounder because of his outstanding timing and long arms.
ESPN draft analyst Chad Ford highlights the part of Leonard’s game that you won’t see in the boxscore:
He’s still developing his game offensively, but when you watch him, it’s hard not to see what makes him special. NBA scouts love guys with intangibles, and Leonard appears to have them.
MUST READ: How Harrison Barnes Staying in the School Effects the Draft
Having a player that can step in and contribute defensively is a huge plus for any potential draft pick to have.
Good Fit or Bad Fit?
He is a great athlete that can run with the Jazz on the fast break. He can learn how to be an effective undersized scorer from Al Jefferson. Defensively he will have an instant impact on the team.
Chances of NBA Success: 65%
The intangibles, rebounding and athleticism are all there for Leonard.
The issue that will not go away is his size. Leonard is only 6-7 and is used to feasting on the smaller players of college basketball.
But he does have a huge wingspan and decent physical strength for his position. Considering him a defensive specialist at worst and a third banana on a playoff team at best.

Penguins players probably weren’t surprised that the NHL on Monday did not suspend Vancouver winger Raffi Torres, whose hit Sunday night on Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook again sparked debate within the hockey world about headshots and blindside hits. A small group of Penguins polled yesterday morning suggested that Torres should be suspended for the remainder of the playoffs because his action came during his first game after a four-game suspension for a violation of Rule 48 — the so-called headshot rule. However, those Penguins players also acknowledged unpredictable past rulings by NHL vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell regarding supplemental discipline. Left wing Matt Cooke, the Penguins’ own repeat violator of Rule 48, is not available in this series because of a suspension that carried over from the regular season for his elbow to the head of New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh on March 20.
– The Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning used the same lineups for Game 3 that they had for Games 1 and 2 of this best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series.
– Lightning assistant coach Wayne Fleming, who underwent surgery on a brain tumor April 7, attended his first home game since his diagnosis earlier this month.
– The first Stanley Cup playoff game at St. Pete Times Forum since 2007 featured a noise-making item called “rally drum,” which was presented to fans upon entrance. The “rally drum” resembled a miniature tennis racket, with strings replaced by a plastic shield — off which two plastic balls, attached to the handle, could be pounded to generate noise. The popular “thunder sticks” that created deafening noise for Lightning home games during its 2004 run to the Cup will return Wednesday for Game 4.
– With all due respect to Versus commentators Keith Jones and Jeremy Roenick, Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson on how he spends days between playoff games: “I like watching games. Usually, I tend to leave the room when the intermission report comes on.”

Philadelphia outlasted Buffalo 5-4 to knot their series with the Sabres a game apiece with game three scheduled to take place at the HSBC Arena. Five different Flyers lit the lamp but the story of the day was the Philadelphia goalie situation which was a question mark in last season’s postseason as well. Rookie Sergei Bobrovsky followed a brilliant performance in game one with one of his most dismal from when he was pulled just 12 ½ minutes in after giving up three goals on only seven shots. Brian Boucher came to the rescue to get the win stopping 20 of 21 shots to grab the win and potentially save the season. In contrast, Ryan Miller also struggled after posting his second career postseason shutout as he gave up five goals on 34 shots.
Claude Giroux began the scoring spree four minutes in when he blasted a shot from between the circles to give Philly an early 1-0 lead. The Sabres tied it when Thomas Vanek took a pass in the crease from Marc-Andre Gragnani and beat as sprawling Bobrovsky 2 ½ minutes later. Dan Carcillo sent a rebound of a Kris Versteeg shot home for a 2-1 lead at 7:20 before Vanek put one in just inside the right post to knot it at two. The Sabres took the lead on when Andrej Sekera tally to finish off a three on one rush. The Flyers finished the first period scoring blitz when James van Riemsdyk beat Miller inside the right post with just over six minutes left in the period.
Cody McCormick beat Boucher at 6:12 of the third period to make things interesting but the Flyers held on. The goaltenders settled down after an erratic first 20 minutes with Bobrovsky out of the game and Miller playing better but much of it had to do with Philadelphia’s futility with the man advantage. The Flyers were an anemic one of ten with the man advantage while the Sabres lit the lamp twice on the power play. There are several keys to game three and the obvious is that Philadelphia desperately needs production from their special teams.
Ryan Miller is generally tough enough and they need to score on him when they have the edge. On the flip side, stopping Buffalo with their penalty kill is just as important as well as scoring first and force the Sabres to play catch up. The one area Philadelphia has no control over is the injury situation with Chris Pronger. The Flyers were hoping he could return early in the series after having surgery on his hand but that looks to be a day by day scenario. Really tough to win long term with their goalie situation but in the near term I’ll back them at plus money.

The defending Stanley Cup champions might not be defending much longer. The Vancouver Canucks nipped the ’Hawks 3-2 in Game 3, putting the champs in an 0-3 series hole. Only three teams have ever overcome the deficit in NHL history: the Philadelphia Flyers last season, the 1975 New York Islanders and the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs.
Vancouver 3, Chicago 2: Former Red Wing Mikael Samuelsson snapped a 2-2 tie 6:48 into the third period to help the Canucks put a stranglehold on this series. The Hawks will have nightmares about Roberto Luongo, who stopped 30 shots and made some spectacular saves.
Nashville 4, Anaheim 3: Mike Fisher broke a 3-3 tie midway through the third period as the Predators took a 2-1 series lead on the Ducks. The Ducks were without star forward Bobby Ryan, who was suspended for two games. It showed on offense, as Pekka Rinne only faced 16 shots for the Predators.
New York Rangers 3, Washington 2: Brandon Dubinsky scored with 1:39 left to snap a 3-3 tie as the Rangers fought their way back into the series. The Rangers also had a goal waved off by officials at the end of the period as they determined the clock had run out before the puck crossed the line.
Series Standings Through SundayWESTNashville leads Phoenix 2-1Vancouver leads Chicago 3-0San Jose and Los Angeles tied 1-1Tomorrow’s matchup: Detroit at Phoenix, 10:30 p.m. Versus, Fox Sports Detroit (DET leads 2-0)
EASTWashington leads NYR 2-1Tomorrow’s matchups: Philadelphia at Buffalo, 7 p.m. Versus (Series tied 1-1); Boston at Montreal, 7:30 p.m. CBC (MON leads 2-0); Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m. local TV only (Series tied 1-1)