Will Graves

If only the Olympic judges impressed as easily as President Obama.

Maybe then McKayla Maroney would have two gold medals instead of one.

PITTSBURGH -- Chris Hoke spent 11 seasons carving out a niche as one of the best backup nose tackles in football, winning over coaches with his work ethic and his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates with his affability.

Even better, he did it while staying relatively injury free, remarkable considering his position. Yet when a neck injury sustained early in the 2011 season lingered and doctors told him surgery was required to fix the problem, he figured his time was up.

"I think the man upstairs was trying to talk to me," Hoke said.

He briefly considered attempting a comeback but thought better of it when warned of the risk of re-injury.

PITTSBURGH -- Utah's defense turned Pittsburgh's "high octane" offense into a clunker.

The Utes bottled up Panther star running back Ray Graham, forced three turnovers and rolled up six sacks in a 26-14 victory at blustery Heinz Field on Saturday. It was a win that made up for in dominance what it lacked in aesthetics.

"We had a game plan and believed in it," said defensive end Derrick Shelby, who returned an interception 21 yards for a touchdown with 1:12 to go to seal it. "We knew we had to tackle Ray Graham and it looks like we did that."

PITTSBURGH -- The ball floated into Troy Polamalu's hands, and the All-Pro safety's instincts took over.

It didn't matter that it was just a preseason game. It didn't matter that the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year was playing his first half of football since February. It didn't matter that Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin appeared less than thrilled with Polamalu's decision to try and weave his way through a sea of Philadelphia Eagles in hopes of getting to the end zone.

It didn't even matter that Polamalu's trip to pay dirt was cut short by Vick, who chopped Polamalu down after a 36-yard return.

SPARTA, Ky. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. heard about how his fans flooded Jimmie Johnson's Twitter page after the five-time NASCAR champion seemed to abandon his Hendrick Motorsports teammate late in last week's race at Daytona and couldn't help but rib the social-media loving Johnson.

"I called him up and said, 'Now you know why I don't have Twitter,"' Earnhardt said Friday at Kentucky Speedway, where the Cup series will make its debut this weekend.

Earnhardt couldn't help but laugh, even if the fans of the series' most popular driver weren't quite so forgiving of Johnson's late move to pit for gas instead of trying to nudge Earnhardt to his first victory in more than three years.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Uncle Mo looks good to go. The Factor is good to go home.

A dozen days before the Kentucky Derby, two of the top contenders are headed in opposite directions.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky racing officials say jockey John Velazquez and chief racing steward John Veitch broke the rules during the running of the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic last fall.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission determined Thursday there is "probable cause" to cite both Velazquez and Veitch for violating state racing guidelines during mare Life At Ten's participation in the 1 1/8-mile race at Churchill Downs.