Stem cell pioneer Dr. Colin McGuckin recently told LifeSiteNews that, despite amazing success with umbilical cord blood treatments, it remains difficult to obtain funding for research because of the “cult of celebrity” in science, which rewards controversial research over research that is truly effective in saving lives.

Yeah, that sounds about right. What a miracle, nonetheless!

Of his time playing for Campbell in New York, Savard said: “Me and Colie got along fine. He actually joked with me a lot. He made me feel comfortable and I owe a lot to him. He was the first coach that I broke in with, and he gave me an opportunity — maybe a little too much of one, playing the point on the power play my first year with Leechy [Brian Leetch] and Patty [Pat LaFontaine] and Gretz [Wayne Gretzky] up front, so maybe that got me in a little trouble.

In other sports, the athlete generally wouldn’t consider that complaining only made HIM look like a sore loser.

Despite a pedestrian 13-12 mark for the 101-loss Mariners, Hernandez was dynamite this past season, pitching to a major league-best 2.27 ERA in an AL- high 249 2/3 innings. The most telling stat — in his 12 losses, the Mariners produced only seven runs when he was on the mound.

That is absolute crazy. He deserves the Cy.

The Calgary Flames forward has an 11:30am disciplinary conference call with the league for his crosscheck to face of Phoenix Coyotes forward Wojtek Wolski in the third period of the Flames 3-1 loss on Wednesday night.

At some point, doesn’t SOMEBODY have to take the fall for the abomination that is the Calgary Flames? This team is being run into the ground, the fanbase is rightfully scared, angry and frightened all at once, and it’s probably going to take a while to fix.

After Darryl fired Keenan after making the playoffs two straight seasons, once by winning the division, hired his brother and then missed the playoffs HE should be fired. Brent probably should be, too, but especially Darryl.

When I interview creatives, I often ask them what advice they would give to the next generation, the up-and-comers. Curiously, there’s one incredibly important habit that nearly all of them possess that is almost never mentioned. So what is the secret ingredient in their productivity regime? It’s simple: They get up early.

Before Christmas, they will have completed their second trip to the West with a swing through Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. By the time Canadians finish celebrating Boxing Day on Dec. 26, the Lightning will have played 36 games, 22 of which will have been played away from the St. Pete Times Forum.

That is horrible. It’s as if the league wants the Lightning to fail.

BALTIMORE — In an upset, the archbishop of New York has been elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan handed a surprise defeat to Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona. Kicanas is the sitting vice-president of the conference. It is the first time since the 1960s that a vice-presidential candidate was on the ballot for president and lost.

Posted on hockey website www.mc79hockey.com, and written by Tyler Dellow, the emails raise questions about Campbell’s impartiality, especially as it pertains to his son Gregory, an NHL player who was then on the Florida Panthers, but now plays for the Boston Bruins.

This is terrible, and feeds the paranoia of all sports fans that there is some partiality happening (and now it goes beyond just the officials — it might be somewhat dictated from above).

Campbell should resign or be fired if these emails prove to be his.

NEW YORK — Scott Gordon was fired as coach of the New York Islanders on Monday during a 10-game winless streak that left the team at the bottom of the NHL standings.

Keenan, please?