Shaq conducting the Boston Pops? Why not? He did What’s Up Doc? and You Can’t Stop The Reign.

I can’t wait until Ray Lewis conducts the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Someone’s getting stabbed with the baton before the night is over.

Some say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. There’s no better way to show respect for Philadelphia Eagles fans than booing Santa, pelting opposing players and fans with snowballs and cheering career/life-threatening injuries.

A Jupiler League game in Belgium turned into a tribute to Eagles fans when the teams were forced to retreat to their locker rooms after the visiting side was pelted with snowballs. Anderlecht was playing away at Club Brugge when two players were bombarded by snowballs every time they tried to take a corner.

The game resumed and ended with Anderlecht winning 2-0. However the fun didn’t stop there. Jonathan Legear, one of the players pelted earlier, celebrated by throwing snowballs at the away section. Here’s what happened next.

Apparently the steward is a Club Brugge fan.

If the Belgians want to see how it’s done, they should take a trip to 2009 on YouTube and learn from the masters.

Stay classy, Philly.

Note: Speaking of the Eagles, let’s all laugh at the Giants again.

Lawrence Phillips would be proud. The Nebraska Cornhuskers are collecting DUIs like the Baltimore Ravens under Brian Billick.

Safety Rickey Thenarse was slapped with a DUI this past weekend and won’t be eligible to play for the Huskers in the Holiday Bowl.

“It saddens me to announce that Rickey Thenarse will be suspended for the Holiday Bowl due to a violation of team rules,” Husker coach Bo Pelini said in a statement Sunday night.

Thenarse was found in his car which was stopped in the middle of a street at early Sunday morning. He blew a .11, had a suspended license as well as expired tags.

The safety isn’t the first Husker getting down DUI style this season. DT Baker Steinkuhler also was a proud recipient of one earlier this month. He’s also suspended from playing in the Holiday Bowl.

Husker Extra says his DUI was given near the same intersection where Thenarse received was intercepted by the police. Maybe it’s the Bermuda Triangle of booze and Husker football players can’t control themselves whenever they drive near it.

Thenarse is a senior which means he won’t be able to play in his last game. He should consider himself lucky. He could be Derrell Johnson-Koulianos.

First they don’t want to play outside because the ground’s too hard. Now they don’t want to play inside because their dome can’t keep it up. People, including former players, are getting tired of the Vikings complain about their situation.

Vikings players expressed concerns about the University of Minnesota’s stadium playing surface through Twitter. They took pictures and hoped there aren’t any catastrophic injuries during their game against the Bears. Other players have commented to local and national media about the same concerns. Team management decided to get on the bandwagon and express concerns about playing in the Metrodome next year.

“This is Minnesota. It snows. We’re a hearty bunch. We deal with it. Some people would say, ‘Well, a couple of shingles come off the roof, you don’t build a new barn.’ Well, the roof collapsed (at the Metrodome). We have concerns about the safety of the facility going forward. We’ll deal with that after the game, as well as we’ll deal with the financial and economic impacts of what happened.”

Asked if he was intimating a scenario that would keep the Vikings from playing at the Metrodome in 2011, Bagley said, “No, I’m saying we have concerns about the safety and viability of that structure going forward. We’ll deal with that in the near future.”

A “hearty bunch” that plays in a heated dome. Green Bay, Chicago and New England have no problem playing in the elements. Real football fans don’t want to hear complaints about the cold and snow. They’re not the only ones. Former Vikings who played outdoors at Metropolitan Stadium don’t want to hear it either.

“You’ve got to learn to tough it up,” said former running back Chuck Foreman, who played for the Vikings from 1973-79. “That field will be perfect to play on. That’s the way the game has been played for years. These guys get spoiled. Go out there, embrace the weather, enjoy it. Just keep yourself warm. It’s all mental.”

…[Vikings coach Leslie] Frazier, who played through plenty of blustery outdoor games at Soldier Field as a Bear from 1981-86, said the field will be safe and that players shouldn’t be concerned.

“I think our players will embrace (outdoor tradition) as the game goes on,” Frazier said. “They’ll be into it.”

Back in the Bud Grant era, players weren’t allowed to wear gloves or hover around heating systems on the sideline.

All they got was a cape to go over their shoulders, and even those didn’t work, former Vikings wide receiver Ahmad Rashad said.

According to him, the Vikings of the late ’70s never became consumed with the cold.

“If you get caught up in how cold it is or the field’s too hard or you can’t get your cleats in the field, you’ve got no shot,” Rashad said. “It’s the same for both teams; you just have to go out there and execute.”

Facilities might be “perfect” for today’s athlete, Rashad said, but a frozen field can actually lessen the impact of violent hits.

“It’s hard to get hurt because it’s harder for people to get leverage on a hard surface,” he said. “It’s tougher on Astroturf when you can get all that torque. There’s no torque on a frozen field.”

In other words, man up and play ball. Maybe the grounds crew can pour lava on the field at random times to heat things up and keep things interesting. Lava or flaming cauldrons of oil. I’m not picky.

It’s not a love of Campbell’s Soup or the ability to do the triple lindy on command.

Insult was added to injury when the Islanders visited several Long Island hospitals last Tuesday. They can barely buy a win and their fans have had all they can stands and they can’t stands no more.

“We were visiting sick kids and giving them gifts,” defenseman James Wisniewski said, “and one of the nurses there was really pretty rude to me, Doug Weight and Andy MacDonald. She’s a season-ticket holder and saying, ‘Nobody wants to go to your games; you’ve been giving tickets away for free.’

“It was kind of like, with that first comment, it’s, ‘Whoa.’ And then the second and third, it’s to the point where we kind of had to walk away.”

Rodney Dangerfield and Donovan McNabb feel their pain. Maybe the Islanders can form a “No respect” support group with McNabb and Pauly Shore.