Best Favre Thing Ever

Pretty safe to say that right now, there is no more dominant playoff pitcher than Cliff Lee.  Lee was absolutely filthy last night in shutting down the Tampa Bay Rays with a complete game, 11 whiff effort, and the Rangers were 5-1 winners to take the series 3-2, the first series they've won in franchise history.  The home team was winless in all five games of that series.  They Rangers will host the New York Yankees in the ALCS starting Friday night.  As for Lee, his timing couldn't be better - he's a free agent this off-season and word is he's after CC Sabathia money: 8 years, $160 million, give or take.

Another day of Euro 2012 qualifying went down yesterday, and the story of the day might have been England,  held at home to a scoreless draw by Montenegro, who aren't exactly a powerhouse, and a tiny country of only 620,000.  But it is not.  The story of the day is for a game that didn't end up taking place, thanks to Serbian fans rioting in Genoa, Italy ahead of their game, led mostly by fans of Red Star Belgrade who were sour the national team was starting a goalie who went from them to rival Partizan Belgrade.  A few death threats and fake obits at the team hotel were merely the start.  Mix in some flares lobbed pre-game, including at the Italian goalie, some fascist salutes and chants, and the officials had little choice but to shut it down.  But at least the Serbian fans aren't taking things too seriously (end sarcasm).  Italy will likely be awarded a 3-0 win.  Video below, some pictures here.   The rest of the qualifying wrap here.

A New York Jets fan set out to the tailgate on Monday night with pictures of Brett Favre's "Little Gunslinger" planning to show the pics and see what people's reactions were.  Worth every minute you'll spend watching, check this out. Not safe for work, for language and the title of the page.  Also, Bukkake passed on a link to Favre's official site with a holier than thou rebuke from a Darren Grossman blasting Deadspin.

LeBron James left last night's Heat game with what they're calling a muscle cramp.  Give my voodoo doll some credit, won't you?

The Pittsburgh Pirates interviewed former Toronto Blue Jay manager John Gibbons for a managerial position Monday.  Yeah, that ought to get the fan base thinking the last two decades or so of futility are about to come to an end.

How pimp is the Tampa Bay Bucs backfield with a Blount and a Cadillac?

Tough NFL betting in 2010. Most fans tend to bet faves, but check out the underdog records against the spread by week: (1) 7-7-2, (2) 10-5-1, (3) 11-5, (4) 9-5, (5) 9-5.  That's 46-27-2 so far, or a smoking 63%.

If the Philadelphia Phillies go to World Series, Game 1 will take place across street from Philadelphia 76ers' opener vs. LeBron James and the Miami Heat.  Loved hearing that Shaq O'Neal is referencing the Heat's "Big Two", and refusing to refer to Chris Bosh by name.  Of course, it would've been funnier if O'Neal wasn't deep into the back nine of his career.

L.A. NFL stadium developers are working on a stadium design to also host World Cup soccer action, with the U.S. a strong contender for 2018 hosting rights. 

Check out the neck ink of Denver Nugget Chris Anderson.  Scary.

Speaking of ink, when you're getting ready to get some done, and the tattoo artist shows it to you in a mirror and it shows up backwards, that means it is in fact, backwards, as this knucklehead found out the hard way when getting a Chicago White Sox tattoo.

Loonie tune Elizabeth Hasselbeck has a conspiracy theory - surprise! - on the Brett Favre Pecker Pics escapade.   She's surprised that the pics and voicemails would leak just ahead of a Vikings visit to the Jets?  Come on, what better time for them to leak!?

James Sharman of The Score offers up his take on Toronto FC's (latest) big winter.

Other than any divisional series win celebration, here are 20 overzealous sports celebrations, complete with video evidence.

I'm off on holidays for the next few days so you won't be seeing any updates.  Back Monday, but first, a couple vids to close things out, 

Check out the Serbian fans run wild in Italy yesterday in their Euro qualifier.  Classy.





Your "luck" may be changing, Buffalo Bills fans.  Here's a look at Andrew Luck, Stanford QB, who could well be the #1 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.  Note: he's the guy blowing up a USC player after a fumble.

The New York Yankees, as they are going, will not win the World Series this year.  Too many pitching question marks and they're now the Wild Card team after a 10-8 loss to Boston last night that was 10-1 in a heartbeat as Andy Pettitte had his worst start of the year.  While they've had a great year considering the ups and downs of Javier Vazquez and AJ Burnett, they can't go into the playoffs with only CC Sabathia a no-brainer.  Phil Hughes is running on fumes after never working this much, and too many question marks around the rest of the starters.  Now, when you've got a hot Curtis Granderson and a guy with Lance Berkman's abilities hitting at the bottom and Derek Jeter seemingly finding himself, you can make up for a lot, but this fan doesn't have the same feeling he typically does when the Yanks end up winning.  Right now, I'm thinking a Tampa and New York ALCS, with the winner getting beat by Philadelphia who should cruise through the NL.

Jose Bautista hit two more home runs last night to tally 52 on the season, now the biggest one season jump in MLB history.  Now, before this "MVP" train gets moving too quickly, consider this: nobody has ever won the award with a batting average in the .260's, much less a guy on a 4th place team.  Only four AL MVP's have even batted below .300. 

Manchester City were going to be in tough against rolling Chelsea regardless of the situation today, but with all their first choice defenders hurt or hurting, they could be in for a long day.  That one goes off early, 7:45am on Setanta Sports.

Toronto FC host the San Jose Earthquakes at 4pm today at BMO Field.  Coverage on CBC.  TFC need...you know the familiar drill.

Not only is Toronto Maple Leafs first round pick from 2009 Nazem Kadri not impressing at camp, he's not exactly impressing with his mouth either.  When asked why he wears #43, here was his dim response: "It was the number I was assigned.  As a kid, it was number 9. I liked that number because of Paul Kariya. Then he kind of went down the drain a little bit..."  Better a has been than a never was, Nazem. Respect Kariya.

Not exactly an awe inspiring main event in 2010 at UFC 119 from Indianapolis, where Frank Mir will fight Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic.  Pretty obvious to most who I hope will win, but not sure who does.  What I do like is the fight to finish in the first round.  Also on the card, the undefeated Ryan Bader takes on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in what should be a real interesting bout.  Full card here.

If you believe the rumors, Carmelo Anthony could be a New Jersey Net as soon as today as a four-team deal is being worked on.  Crazy how much talent is swinging to or looking to move to the East.

If you're an MLB team looking to host a "guaranteed win" night, your odds are stacked if you're doing it with the Pittsburgh Pirates in town.  The Pirates are 6-45 their last 51 road games.

I'm sure the LA Lakers will be thrilled to hear that Andrew Bynum postponed his knee surgery a month over the off-season so he could attend World Cup soccer games in South Africa.  It comes as no surprise then given Bynum's Pavano-esque recuperative powers that he's not going to be ready for the pre-season.

A Michigan man is giving the Travis Henry's and Evander Illegitimate-field's of the world a serious run for his money: he's got 23 kids with 14 different women.  Not shockingly, he's struggling to keep up with support payments.  The cure?  Not going to prison, which he is.

Back tomorrow with more, have a great Saturday.

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

Last year, Lebron James wore a pair of pinstriped shoes in New York for his beloved Yankees when the Cleveland Cavs visited. Last night, he wore another pair of shoes paying tribute to New York. There hasn't been such an overt display of desire since Michael Jackson last went for a ride on the merry-go-round...sounds like turmoil isn't merely restricted to one team in Dallas. Said Boston Bruins Marc Savard to Mike Modano during the chippy game a few weeks back on the subject of Steve Ott and Sean Avery: "too bad you'll be retiring after having to play with these clowns." Said Modano: "I know."...I love coaches - regardless of what level - going beyond the cliche when it comes to media dealings. And here's the latest: South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt. This is a beauty. Warning: you may detect sarcasm from Mr. Leavitt...the Donovan McNabb to the Chicago Bears rumors have started already. If you're the Bears, why do you want McNabb? He's been on a downward spiral for years, incapable of staying healthy, and, well, doesn't know the rules as we saw last week...the Pittsburgh Pirates have signed a pair of pitchers that haven't thrown baseballs before the last year and were discovered after winning a javelin throwing contest. In India. Yeah, that'll reverse years of futility...lost in the shuffle yesterday was another day of Champions League action that saw Manchester United and Real Madrid, among others, advance to the round of 16 when things start to get a lot more serious. Up today is another round of matches. Check out TSN, TSN2 and Setanta at 2:45 for a bevy of games...add the Globe & Mail to the list of Toronto media outlets that is questioning whether Sam Mitchell is long for the Toronto Raptors coaching job. I'll say this much: a loss tonight to the Charlotte Bobcats and it'll be a surprise if Mitchell makes it through the week...double digit underdogs in the NFL this year are 20-5 against the spread...as predicted last week, fading the Carolina Panthers was a good play because those that played the Detroit Lions the week prior were 0-10 against the spread heading into last week. Make that 0-11. Tampa Bay? You're on the clock for 0-12 this week...Bill Romanowski either has some insight, or has been hitting the pharmaceuticals a little too hard: he told Hardcore Sports Radio's "Drive This" that the New England Patriots will trade Tom Brady this off-season and keep Matt Cassell...interesting to learn that the Anaheim Ducks have all of five players signed for next year. While that may mean loads of cap room, it also means that a certain former General Manager of theirs may have some easy pickings for his future team...have a great Wednesday.