Clean-up in the Cubs dugout

Small wonder FC Copenhagen were in way over their heads yesterday, despite Chelsea's struggles. It was the Danish sides first competitive game, thanks to their winter break, since December 7th. Chelsea were 2-0 winners. Real Madrid's struggles against Lyon continued, but they did emerge from France with an important away goal and a 1-1 draw. Up today is one of the best of the eight matchups this round with Bayern Munich visiting Inter Milan. Manchester United are at Marseille, and should win comfortably there where they are a tantalizing +130 with the fine folks at Pinnacle.  Want to hedge?  Bet United to win and tie.

Guess Dusty Baker wasn't too popular as the Chicago Cubs manager.  A couple year's back, towards the end of his run in Chi-Town, he walked to his usual spot in the dugout to find someone had grown a tail in the spot he usually stood.  Coincidence?  Dog?  Nope, Dusty was positive it was the work of a human.

The Boston Red Sox told Carl Crawford before they signed him they had been following him on and off the field and were comfortable with who he was in both areas.  Creepy much?  Didn't George Steinbrenner once get suspended for doing the same with Dave Winfield?

Maybe Toronto Raptor DeMar DeRozan has it right when he says he doesn't like the fact the NBA Slam Dunk Contest has turned into a prop heavy gimmick, one where he wouldn't be shocked if somebody rolled out a trampoline?  And let's be serious, would it shock anybody if someone did at this point?  Here's what one of DeRozan's dunk's looks like in super slo-mo or as we call it, "Calderon on defence speed".

The quote machine known as Hank Steinbrenner says that "At some point, if you don't want to worry about teams in minor markets, don't put teams in minor markets, or don't leave teams in minor markets if they're truly minor.   Socialism, communism, whatever you want to call it, is never the answer."  That last bit on socialism/communism might be the best sports quote of the year, mostly because anybody that hammers those two areas is a friend of mine.  Joel Sherman at the NY Post says Hank is at his best when he's not talking.

Speaking of Hank, after the comments on Monday that some players were "too busy building mansions", Derek Jeter went Derek Jeter and said he didn't figure Hank was referring to him because his name didn't come out of Hank's mouth.  Oh Derek, be assured, he most definitely was talking about you first and foremost.  You can't just take all the glory.

After trading its highest scoring defenceman last week in Tomas Kaberle, what is highest on Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke's wishlist?  Why, an offensive defenceman, of course.  Extreme Makeover Maple Leaf continues.  And speaking of rebuilds, it might be an Ontario thing, with the Ottawa Senators looking to dynamite their club.

Just a small sampling of how New York Knicks fans felt in the hours before the Carmelo Anthony deal was made official with the news that Isiah Thomas was involved behind the scenes in the Anthony dealings.  Well worth the read for the anger The Big Lead throws around.

Which MLBer would you figure gets flown in to hang with Charlie Sheen over the weekend?  If you guessed the awesome San Francisco Giant Brian Wilson, you are correct.

Speaking of Wilson, here's 10 major leaguers it'd be great to have a beer with.  Not sure how Johnny Damon doesn't make the list.

With the MLS season just weeks away, Soccer By Ives looks at which clubs had the best off-seasons.  Hint: it isn't Toronto.

Another day, another "Atlanta Thrashers are having trouble and should leave that team without an NHL franchise for a second time" piece.  Can't happen soon enough.

The new Foo Fighters single "Rope" can be heard here.  It is good.

Why Brian Wilson is awesome, among the many thousands of reasons.


More ladies brawling in the streets, this time over the All-Star weekend in L.A.  Vicious!