March of the Penguins in The D

A huge day of World Cup qualifying around the globe but as always, the focal point remains Europe. Some impactful matches: Ukraine at Croatia battle for second in Group 6, and Portugal and Sweden badly need wins to get back in the Group 1 mix...game five of the Stanley Cup finals goes tonight and the momentum seems to have moved towards the Pittsburgh Penguins anytime the pace picks up. But, this one is in Detroit and the home teams have held serve throughout so far, but something tells me the Pens are going to grab the series by the throat tonight, even with Pavel Datsyuk returning for the Wings...Toronto FC host the LA Galaxy who last year scored and conceded goals by the boat load. This year, they've tightened up considerably but are a crazy 1-1-9. Yes, one win, one loss and nine draws. Both teams will be minus some key players as a result of World Cup qualifying - Marvelle Wynne and Amado Guevara for Toronto, Landon Donovan for L.A. - but soldier on they must. Looks like TFC rookie 'keeper Stefan Frei is out with a foot infection...on The Score tonight (Showtime in the U.S.) starting at 9pm, Strike Force present their latest card, with Robbie Lawler facing Jake Shields in the main event. Nick Diaz and Scott Smith should be the fight of the night for my money. See the rest here..Stewart Cink on the PGA Tour tweets while playing. If you can tweet, email or anything resembling that while playing, how much of a sport are you playing, really?...Toronto Legacy as an expansion NHL franchise? Not with that name that makes the Minnesota "Wild" seem like a good idea. I'm sure the NHL would rather deal with that ownership group than Jim Balsillie, given how commissioner Gary Bettman - a former NBA man - operates. After all, the NBA once granted ownership of the Toronto Raptors to John Bitove when there were more suitable options (Dave Perkins)...the Toronto Blue Jays were the first to score on Zach Greinke this year, and now are the first to pound him without mercy. The Jays were 9-3 winners over Kansas City last night at Rogers Centre...the women's French Open final between Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova goes this morning. Don't imagine anyone cares much...playing the Florida Marlins today at -128, England -2 -128 over Kazakhstan, Croatia -.5 -1 -103 over Ukraine (LOVE that line) and the New York Mets -1.5 +133 over the Washington Nats...have a great Saturday.

The King Is Dead

Have you ever seen a team go from total dominance through two rounds of the NBA playoffs to a no-show in an elimination game than the Cleveland Cavs? The Cavs lost 103-90 to Orlando last night, and it wasn't even as close as that score. LeBron James wasn't talking post-game. Also something I haven't seen: the Eastern Conference trophy. Seriously, don't recall ever seeing that in the decades I've watched hoops...Everton opened the scoring in the first minute, but Chelsea proved to be the far stronger side as they lifted the FA Cup with a 2-1 win that seemed unlikely when forever the bridesmaid Michael Ballack came on for Chelsea...told that pitcher Chien-Ming Wang is upset that he isn't back in the starting rotation, New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman got off this gem: "his contract says 'baseball player', not 'starting pitcher'"...LA Dodgers manager Joe Torre says Manny Ramirez shouldn't go to the all-star game if he gets voted in. He also once said those still involved in the game shouldn't write books on the game, so there is that...Kansas City Royals stud pitcher Zach Grienke - only the third starting pitcher in the live ball era to have an ERA under 1.00 after his first 10 starts - gives great quote. Note the title of this piece here and you'll know what I mean by "great"...Chicago Cub Carlos Zambrano received a six game ban for his meltdown a few nights back. Does anything less than 10 days really mean much to a pitcher?...the NHL is expected to announce the Winter Classic is heading to Fenway Park. Also said to be in the works is a November date between the Montreal Canadiens and a visiting Toronto Maple Leafs team at Olympic Stadium. Awesome idea...tough day for #4 seeds at the French Open. Novak Djokovic is out on the men's side, while Elena Dementieva bowed out of the women's draw...the Washington Nationals are on pace to win 43 games this year. Soon to be #1 draft pick, flamethrower Stephen Strasburg, better be as good as advertised if they're going to ever turn it around...in the playoffs so far, Sidney Crosby and Gino Malkin have combined for an astounding 26 of the Pittsburgh Penguins 66 goals (39.4%) but the Detroit Red Wings shut them down last night and that was enough to give the Wings the opening game in the Stanley Cup finals with a 3-1 win...how to spend $1.5 billion in two minutes. Well, covering almost three years in two minutes of the construction of Cowboys Stadium in Dallas...the Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons outlines what the Toronto Maple Leafs off-season should look like. Well worth a read...have a great Sunday.

The Cups runeth over

Where's the arena to the left, you wonder? That's what Jim Balsillie is hoping to shape Copps Coliseum into. More here. And nice touch here having the hot ladies ogled by the creepy looking dude in the shades...the Toronto Blue Jays stopped their losing streak from reaching double digits with a 6-3 win over the Boston Red Sox. Mix in a New York Yankees win over Cleveland and the Bronx Bombers are alone in first place for the first time since the last day of the 2006 season...the LA Lakers are back in the NBA Finals after dispatching the Denver Nuggets. Have to say, I'm a bit surprised they turned it around as they did. They'll await the winner of Orlando and Cleveland's series, which sees game 6 tonight at the O-rena, or whatever they're calling it these days...Setanta Sports is carrying the FA Cup this morning, with Chelsea facing Everton at London's Wembley Stadium. Can't imagine Chelsea doesn't win this one comfortably. I'm in on the split line of -0.5 -1 -110 on Chelsea...Toronto FC star Dwayne De Rosario visits his former team - the Houston Dynamo - tonight. I'm guessing a very motivated DeRo puts on a show and TFC take three very key points on the road. Kickoff is 8:30 on SportsNet. I'm in on TFC at a great-value +383..not only is the Real Madrid at Toronto FC game happening, it will not be offered to season ticket holders as part of their one international friendly, for which they're already holding tickets. Ticket prices have not been announced, but my guess is MLSE is consulting with the New York Yankees about appropriate pricing models, starting with arm/leg and moving up to first born child and so on. Nice of MLSE to put a grass field in to accommodate Real, that has to make Toronto FC's players who've been begging to have grass installed for years feel great that it is good enough for an exhibition game, but not for the guys it pays every week. MLSE sucks, and we the fans swallow it all...the Stanley Cup starts tonight, and hard not to like the Pittsburgh Penguins at +134 for the series, I'm in on that too. Get down at Pinnacle. Pitt in 6 is my call, against the odds..today, I have gambling issues...have a great Saturday. May the winners be ours, and if not, at least mine.