Welcome to Thursday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

THURSDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
NFL: Packers at Lions, 12:30 p.m. (Fox; WEEI)
NFL: Dolphins at Cowboys, 4 p.m. (CBS; WEEI)
NFL: 49ers at Ravens, 8 p.m. (NFL Network; WEEI)
College basketball: Boston College vs. St. Louis, 2 p.m. (ESPNU)
College basketball: UMass vs. Florida State, 4:30 p.m. (Versus)

AROUND THE WEB:

Paul Deutsch went from senior league to NHL for a brief moment Wednesday.

♦ The Wild were in a bind before Wednesday’s game against the Predators when starting goalie Nicklas Backstrom had to leave the team to address a personal issue. They summoned Matt Hackett from their minor league team in Houston, but they weren’t sure if his plane would arrive in time for him to serve as the backup to Josh Harding. So, they called Richard Deutsch, a 51-year-old who was a high school teammate of Wild assistant coach Mike Ramsey. Deutsch, a screen printer who plays in a local senior league, had some experience filling in for Wild goalies at practices on an emergency basis, even though he only starting playing the position at the age of 37 when his senior team was shorthanded at the position. Wednesday’s experience was a little different than a practice, however.

“Practice is one thing,” he said. “I have to tell you, the game faces are on, and I don’t see those very often. Usually it’s a practice, and we’re calm and we’re laughing and we’re ha, ha, ha. But game day is a lot different, so I’m trying to stay out of the way and not get in any trouble.”

After Deutsch “let the guys fire away” on him during warmups, Hackett arrived and was able to suit up in time to take the 51-year-old’s place. But Deutsch still got to say he signed an NHL contract, which he did just before the league deadline of 4 p.m. for him to be eligible that night.

“I actually was shaking while I was signing,” said Deutsch, who filled in “Minnesota Roosevelt Junior Varsity defenseman — 1978,” as his previous team on the contract.

♦ Giants running back Brandon Jacobs continued to voice his frustration with home fans who boo the team, as they did in Sunday’s loss to the Eagles. “We try to work hard and overcome adversity and they make it even harder for us to overcome our adversity when they do things like that,” Jacobs said Wednesday on WFAN radio, echoing his criticism from after the game. “As a player we don’t want to hear that.”

Added Jacobs: “I’m not saying I don’t care about our fans. When we’re down and going through adversity we need them to lift us up, not kick us down. That’s all I’m trying to say. We do have great fans and I’ve witnessed that as well throughout my seven years here. The things we’re going through this year, as far as playing at home, the negativity. We don’t want to hear things like that when we’re playing at home and we’ve still got a chance to win. It’s really hard. That’s all I’m saying.”

♦ In honor of the new Muppets movie, Baseball Prospectus matches Muppets characters to major league baseball players. For example, clean-cut Kermit the Frog best compares to Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. And the egomaniacal, arrogant Miss Piggy is best represented by Alex Rodriguez. Three former Red Sox make the list: Manny Ramirez is compared to the oddball Gonzo, Jonathan Papelbon is a match with the zany Animal, and Adrian Beltre fits as Pepe the King Prawn.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Nov. 24, 2005, the Red Sox traded prospects Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Jesus Delgado and Harvey Garcia to the Marlins for Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and which third player who never pitched for the Sox but remains active in the majors?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I think that while Bobby will be very careful about how he goes about the Boston job, I think he will rattle some cages. And I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. They didn’t make the playoffs last year. While they had a very good team, there was a lot that kind of went wrong in the second half. And I think that might be a good thing.” – Peter Gammons, during his Wednesday appearance on the Mut & Merloni show, discussing how Bobby Valentine would fit in with the Red Sox

STAT OF THE DAY: 145 – Consecutive minutes without allowing a goal for Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, before he surrendered a power-play goal to the Sabres in the first period of Thursday night’s game

‘NET RESULTS: Purdue 5-foot-9 guard Lewis Jackson throws one down during a rout of Western Michigan Wednesday night.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Reliever Guillermo Mota

SOOTHING SOUNDS: Lee Michaels turns 66 Thursday.

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