NFL Truths: Tom Brady and Randy Moss are elevating the Pats, but Jason Whitlock also found guys who are a drag on their teams.

  Donovan McNabb says black QBs have it rough. And what of white CBs? Mark Kriegel asked Jason Sehorn, maybe the last of his kind.

  Logic dictates that experience carries teams into October. But some youngsters are turning that notion on its ear, says Dayn Perry.

  Was that Mark Cuban on Dancing With the Stars? It sure was, and Mike Kahn says it's another example of Cuban having fun.

  Arizona manager Bob Melvin made a great last-minute move by putting Micah Owings into his lineup. Pitching him was a good idea, too.Owings was 4-for-4 with three doubles and three RBIs to boost the Diamondbacks over the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 Thursday and stop a three-game losing streak for the NL West leaders.Given an ominous weather forecast, Melvin decided less than an hour before game time to hold back ace Brandon Webb (17-10) and pitch Owings (8-8).

  An ex-New York Knicks executive was fired over office politics, not because she dared to accuse coach Isiah Thomas of abusing her with crude language, a defense lawyer said Thursday in closing arguments at a sexual harassment trial.The plaintiff in the $10 million lawsuit, Anucha Browne Sanders, failed to adapt to an organizational shake up that began with Thomas's hiring in 2004, said Ronald Green, an attorney for Madison Square Garden.

  The union for baseball umpires will not contest the season-ending suspension given to Mike Winters for using a profanity aimed at San Diego's Milton Bradley last weekend.The World Umpires Association issued a contrite statement Thursday, and union spokesman Lamell McMorris said the WUA would not challenge the penalty handed down by Major League Baseball a day earlier."I've spoken with Mike Winters, and he sincerely regrets what happened on the field that day," McMorris said.

  New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress got some good news about his badly sprained right ankle.The second opinion on the ankle showed it was nothing more than a bad sprain, and that Burress can continue his current course of treatment.Burress will continue practicing on a limited basis about one day a week and intends to play Sunday night against the Philadelphia Eagles at Giants Stadium.

  New England Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork was fined $12,500 Thursday by the NFL for his low, late hit on Bills quarterback J.P. Losman.Losman sprained his left knee during the play Sunday and is expected to miss at least two weeks. Wilfork was penalized on the play in the Patriots' 38-7 win."A lot of people say that was a cheap shot," Wilfork said Thursday before he was alerted about the fine. "I'm far from a dirty player. If you know me as a person, you'd understand that.