In a move that would more than likely fix all of the Dallas Cowboys discipline, accountability and divisiveness issues by his sheer presence, the squad might be hotly pursuing Baltimore Ravens free agent Ray Lewis. Wonder if Terrell Owens will do his Lewis dance impression again if that happens? Hell, if I'm Jerry Jones, I make the offer, and give him the head coaching job while he's at it...the Super Bowl coverage has yet to start, but one thing for certain: nobody else will be publishing a Top 10 Quarterback WAG's - Wives and Girlfriends - list like this...the Atlanta Braves are looking to add Andruw Jones after he was released by the L.A. Dodgers. Frankly, for a mere $400k, with the Dodgers picking up the other $20 million and change, I'm shocked more teams aren't looking to gamble. Word is Jones has shed a few pounds, that's a start...if anybody can figure out why Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban, in keeping his tradition of matching fines received by the NBA with donations to charities, is looking to make a donation to the NHL Players Association Goals and Dreams Fund in the names of Steve Moore and Todd Bertuzzi, I'd love ti hear it...in a five month period ending last year, 41 WWE wrestlers tested positive for marijuana. Well, if you can't pop painkillers like candy anymore, what else are these busted up guys to do?...interesting English Premier League stat: if you take away the final five minutes of the game, here's how the standings would look with the points on 85 minutes, with the actual position and points in parenthesis. 1. Arsenal - 45 (41, 5th); 2. Chelsea - 44 (45, 3rd); 3. Manchester United - 43 (47, 1st), Liverpool - 43 (47, 2nd), Aston Villa - 43 (44, 4th)...interesting point about the idea salary caps promote parity: in the last 30 years, there have been 20 champions in Major League Baseball. In the NBA, with a cap? 9...Washington Capital star - and one of the world's most electric players in any sport - Alexander Ovechkin has taken over 100 shots on goal more than the next player in the league...quick poll at the right, enjoy...have a great Wednesday.

Ron Wilson: health ad-visor

If it isn't a first, it is at least a first in a long time: the Toronto Maple Leafs can be called forward thinking. Or at least, coach Ron Wilson can. Wilson thinks all players should be wearing properly fitted helmets and visors because they protect from injury. Given what players are paid and what injuries can do to a team's playoff hopes, it is shocking teams, if not the league, aren't pushing heavily for it...who knew the Toronto Raptors had three point guards capable of running the team not named Jose, and all cheaper than Jose?...well that didn't take long. World Baseball Classic tickets can now be bought one game at a time. Betting the "strip" method that forced you to buy tickets to all game at a given venue went over like a fart in church...in six games with the Vancouver Canucks, Mats Sundin's most impressive stat is that he's been in the penalty box when the Canucks gave up three game-losing goals...ESPN is taking a run at picking up the English Premier League broadcast rights for the U.S. for 2010-2013, stealing them from Setanta Sports. Meantime, nobody wants the NHL for any meaningful price...the always hilarious Noel Gallagher of Oasis chimed in on Arsenal's Arsene Wenger whining about his fav team Manchester City breaking the bank for star players...what a death spiral Prime Time Picks are in right now. Damn you, Tim Cahill, and your late goal!. Back with today's death sentence - err - lock - later...could the Hartford Whalers be back? Word is city of Hartford officials met with the NHL to discuss the return of a team. Good luck trying to figure out which of the half dozen teams could be on the move...it is a big day south of the border and around the world, if you're buying the hype. Here's hoping Barrack Obama can live up to the hope people have in him not as a black President, but as one of the world's leaders and the responsibility that goes with that...have a great Tuesday.

PTP: Chicago Bulls -4 -108. Send me a winner, Lord!

Had the Philadelphia Eagles shown up to play at all in the first half, they'd have easily ran away with the game yesterday. Instead, they dug too deep a hole, and despite leading in the fourth, couldn't hold on as the Arizona Cardinals left only the Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jags and Cleveland Browns as the only teams to never make a Super Bowl appearance. Oddly, the Cardinals could've made the playoffs with two fewer wins, being they're in the feeble NFC West.....there were more hard hits in the Baltimore and Pittsburgh game than the Dallas Cowboys delivered in December. Willis McGahee is gonna be awfully sore after that de-cleating job at the end of the Ravens loss that saw him stretchered out...the Steelers are 6.5 point favs going into the big game 13 days from now. Who do you like?...not sure this has happened in the NHL before: two players from the same team both scored their 300th career goals on the same night. Colorado Avs Ryan Smyth and Milan Hejduk did the deed...if you thought the existance of competitive eating contests or the Rock, Paper, Scissors championship was hilarity, how about a Beer Pong championship? This story from ESPN's Rick Reilly is well worth a read...last minute PTP selection with minutes to go before kickoff - which may be just as well for you all the way it has gone the last week. Taking Liverpool -1 +113. Yes, it may push, but didn't want to play the split line for record keeping purposes here. Good luck!...have a great MLK Day.

At least the Ontario Hockey League gets it. Hot on the heels of an amateur player dying after cracking his dome off the ice, the league has mandated that any player that takes his bucket off for a fight is tossed from that game and suspended for the next, and that should a player's helmet come off during a fight, the linesmen are to immediately intervene. In junior, where players where shields by rule, one Kitchener Ranger said that the new rules are going to wipe out almost all fights. That's not a bad thing...on the Max Kellerman Show, Stephen A. Smith talked about the Dallas Cowboys problems at length and boiled it down to a severe lack of trust among the players and the culprit is not Terrell Owens as one might suspect, but coordinator Jason Garrett and Tight End Jason Witten. Smith said that while T.O. may be juvenile in how he handles things and is overly sensitive, in this case, he is right, confirmed by several players on the team from both sides of the ball. Also taking a beating was Tony Romo, who some players say has "gone Hollywood" and is more concerned with Jessica Simpson than with the team. Smtih said the blame has to lay at the feet of Wade Phillips for allowing things to spiral to this point all the while saying things are fine. Interesting times in Big D...some time ago, your faithful blogger mentioned a severe disdain for the "Fox Robot". Come to find out it has a name - "Cleatus". Also come to find that one Conan O'Brien isn't a fan either, as you'll see in the vid here. Tremendous...Coed Magazine thinks they've got the 8 potential cover girls for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Check them out, and vote here. Sing along, "I love this Bar..."...clearly, Manchester City are not messing about. With Kaka looking like he's heading there from AC Milan, City are looking to get a top notch coach in the person of Jose Morinho, even talking of doubling his salary to 18 million (Euros). The Gallagher brothers have to be pretty thrilled with that...as mentioned a couple times now, the Philadelphia Eagles are your PTP today. Bet 'em hard...have a great Sunday.

Don't set your alarm, Chuck.

Could the Toronto Blue Jays be following the Raptors and having a good chunk of games on TSN2? It could be, if their home network of SportsNet or TSN don't pick up the slack. CBC has declined to pick up games after their two year deal expired. Not good days in Jaysland...the conventional thought in the NFL is it is tough to beat a team three times in one year. Reality is that in the free agency era, when a team has a chance to go 3-0 against a divisional foe, 65% of the time they've managed to do it. So call that another thing leaning towards the Pittsburgh Steelers...strange NFL playoff stat: Eli Manning has no touchdowns and 5 interceptions for his career playing at home...no late revealing of the PTP today, it is Manchester United at -1 -110 as they travel to face Bolton. Catch that game at 10am on Setanta Sports...if you're a believer in the Sports Illustrated jinx, you'll know that the Carolina Panthers were featured on the cover of the last issue. This week? The Pittsburgh Steelers...Newcastle United's Shola Ameobi returned home after a road trip with the Magpies to find his house turned upside down, so he called the police and reported a burglary, and then proceeded to remember he had left it that way. Nice play, Shola. Wonder if they test for weed in the EPL?...pretty understandable why the Tampa Bay Bucs would bounce coach Jon Gruden and GM Bruce Allen - didn't that guy manage Bryan Adams? - but strange timing, no? Guessing Gruden is sour about the timing given some of the college jobs that have come and gone, not to mention how far along certain NFL job interviews have gone. Upside? Maybe Jerry Jones in Dallas will see that making a move with strange timing beats no move at all...it almost seems impossible to believe: Ladanian Tomlinson can be had for a 4th rounder...has Toronto Raptor Jason Kapono ever broken a sweat?...have a great Saturday.

Memo to Kaka: You'll Soon Belong To Man City

Andruw Jones was at the Duke hoops game Wednesday wearing an Atlanta Braves hat. Odd when you're being paid by the LA Dodgers, no? Unless, of course, the Dodgers are just paying him to eat. One report says the Dodgers are going to release him, which late yesterday they in fact did. The Dodgers might be wise to bring up who will eat the contract. Jones is likely willing if he hears "eat"...Cristiano Ronaldo operates his business dealings under the name CR7. Pretty obvious what that means, right? Does the fact he's since trademarked CR9, and Raul wears 7 at Real Madrid, suggest something?...more soccer moves. Updating yesterday's Manchester City/Kaka story, it looks like a deal could be on again and it could reach as high as £107 million ($196 million $CDN, $158 million $USD) before player terms. That's a wild figure and if you're Milan, how do you not? Another story places the figure at £243 million...the mayor of Pittsburgh Luke Ravenstahl has temporarily changed his last name to Steelerstahl. Clearly, unemployment, poverty and the state of the Pittsburgh Pirates must all be solved in Pittsburgh...who is the best team against the spread in the NBA? The Oklahoma City Thunder. At least they've got that...you know the NFL is crazy huge when the 23-11 score of the Philadelphia Eagles/New York Giants game Sunday is revealed as the first 23-11 score in NFL history. Now you can one day tell your grand kids...blame yesterday's PTP loss on the Toronto Maple Leafs, who gave up four goals in 10 minutes and then just had to get an empty netter to salt away a 6-4 win. Aren't the Grand Salami's fun? This daily wager thing is starting to become a chore. I need a beer to clear my head (see right of page!)..the NCAA has banned recruiting 13-year olds. In response, Michael Jackson is celebrating the reduced competition...back with your PTP later.

PRIME TIME PICK: Tonight, looking to go 2-0 on the year with the Raptors and get back to .500. Raptors +4.5 -106 is the pick.

Here's David Letterman's Top 10 Highlites of My Hall of Fame Baseball Career, with Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice:

I think I've figured it out. If the stock market has risen this year, I've won my pick for PTP. If it has gone down, so has the PTP. Weird...returning with an all-new version tonight on the The Comedy Network - no joke - "The Gong Show". Hope they have a reprise of the famous Popsicle Twins...okay, Jerry Jones, the joke is over. Fire Wade Phillips already...Shaquille O'Neal is starting to hit his free throws after reviewing tape of his form as a teen, going 12 of 12 at one point and not missing over the course of two games, only the second time he's managed that in his career. Shaq has glossed himself "Shaqavic," saying guys whose last names end in "ic" all shoot well. Here's hoping Toronto Raptor Roko Ukic finds a consistent shot to make that more accurate...LaDanian Tomlinson - a religious man by all accounts - likens his treatment by the San Diego Chargers and they're contemplating trading him to being "crucified". It's a good thing LT isn't taking himself too seriously...Philadelphia Eagle Brian Westbrook missed practice yesterday because of a bum knee. I'm releasing my Sunday Prime Time Pick today and got down on the Eagles at -3.5 -107. Seldom have I liked a team more at this stage. They've got the secondary to limit Larry Fitzgerald and more importantly, turn the ball over their way. The Eagles will not self destruct the way the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers did and should pound them. Get in. Get in now at Pinnacle...best thing of this Toronto Raptor season regardless of how it ends: Andrea Bargnani is legit...could Terrell Owens be on his way out of Dallas? It could happen, if ESPN's Ed Werder and his typically anonymous sources are to be believed...turns out Man City's trillions can't buy Kaka - literally. Brazilian star Kaka has rejected a mammoth offer to move to City from AC Milan...Michael Irvin had someone in another vehicle pull a gun on him, only for them to not rob him when they realized who it was. I'm sure Irvin's "cousin's" crack pipe feels safer as a result...the NHL is looking at the Rose Bowl in California and the Vegas Strip as possible sites for the next Winter Classic. What says "winter" more than California or Nevada, after all?...the MLS draft goes today, and Toronto FC have three first round picks to use or package. I'd prefer the latter, myself...be back with tonight's Prime Time Pick later this afternoon, 4pm at the latest...saw an ad for the new episode of The Office tonight. Dwight and Andy fight - literally - to see who gets Angela after Andy hears his fiancee has been sleeping with Dwight. No doubt hilarity ensues...have a great day.

Prime Time Pick: Tonight, how about a load of fun? We're playing the Grand Salami "Under" 57.5 -106. For those unawares, that is an over/under total for all the NHL games combined. Always fun, and the under has been a generally good play of late, particularly when they're giving you 5.75 goals per game. Note: the stock market was up today. Just sayin'.

Rarefied air in Ottawa last night as the Senators not only won a game, but scored more than twice in so doing...
If you thought Isaiah Thomas charges were an interesting story, wait til you read about current New York Knicks nutritional overachiever Eddy Curry: soliciting sex from his limo driver, racial slurs and more. To a guy. Funny thing happened though, when Curry wouldn't pay $83,000 he owed the driver for other services, the limo driver went to court, and the press...LA Lakers coach Phil Jackson has never been one to pull too many punches, but have to love him going after his own player - Sasha Vujacic - and saying he doesn't "have a brain"...for those that didn't catch the Phil Kessel bomb yesterday, he's out with mononutleosis...one month until MLB training camps open - amen! - and the Atlanta Braves landed one of the few big arms left in Derek Lowe. Four years and $60 million for D. Lowe. Ben Sheets remains, but he's a huge injury concern despite incredible talent and results when right...with an assist to long-time RM reader YF, and a little luck, the Miami Heat pulled ahead in the dying moments of their game to win and cover, and send your Prime Time Picker into the black again at 7-6 (+$80)...Manchester United face Wigan today and are sure to narrow the Premier League gap at the top to two points with a win today. After Sunday's 3-0 win over Chelsea, you'd think there would be some let up but United tends to let the euphoria last a bit, so I anticipate a pounding today at Old Trafford. Translation? They're the Prime Time Pick for today at -1.5 -119. Coverage is on Setanta Sports at 3pm if you've wisely invested in that beauty of a channel...why is it that the further along the week gets that I'm starting to think that the Baltimore Ravens beat Pittsburgh on Sunday? The defenses are a wash, Pittsburgh has more weapons on offence and is at home and doesn't have a rookie at quarterback, yet I'm getting this feeling the Ravens just might do it...10 Things You Should Never Say to a Porn Star, but really should because it'd be damn funny...if you've been a baseball fan for any length of time, you know that Rickey Henderson stories are as good as they get. Here's five quotes from Rickey over the years that are worth a quick read, and here are a few other good ones...have a great Wednesday.

Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid told Jim Rome that when he gets stressed, he eats Big Mac's. Who knew? Reid's Eagles are going to their fifth NFC Championship game in the last ten years where one team that only won 9 regular season games this year will be going to the Super Bowl...AskMen presents their Top 10 Necessary NFL Firings...if you're the NFL, you've got to believe they prefer and all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl to Arizona vs. Baltimore. I know I do, despite hating the Eagles. Who wants to see a pretty much non-descript Arizona team - Larry Fitzgerald aside - or a no-offence outfit like Baltimore? Beyond the marketing angle, I think it will indeed be Pittsburgh vs. Philly but the way things have gone for chalk so far, at least one of those is likely to flame out...with the Tampa Bay Lightning in some money trouble, they are said to be looking to unload some salary. First juicy rumor has Vinny Lecavalier going to Montreal for Tomas Plekanec, Chris Higgins, junior star P.K. Subban and draft picks. Lecavalier would give the Habs a legit star up front, a guy who has won the Cup and performs night in and out, unlike the mercurial Alexei Kovalev...I've often said that New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez has really good years in even numbered years and monster years in odd numbered years. He's off to a good start in 2009 by upgrading from alleged girlfriend Madonna last year and is now dating Kate Hudson...biggest shock last night during the Toronto Raptors loss? That Leo Rautins got a sentence off without slurping Jose Caleron. To clarify one question from a RM reader, yes, I'm aware that I'm spelling Jose's surname differently but it is intentional because there's no "D" in that guy. One thing that the Raptors are great for: stopping other teams losing funks...Boston Bruin Phil Kessel is out with mono. What else could it be other than "mono"? Think about it...wonder how it feels for now-former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy to retire the same day that one of his long-time favs Marvin Harrison is pointed at by a second person as having had a gun during a shooting in Philadelphia last year, a gun later found at Harrison's car wash...Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice are your baseball Hall of Fame inductees for this year. The Rickey was a no-brainer, only held up by his refusal to retire, and Jim Rice was long overdue. How is it though that Jack Morris isn't in? 175 complete games and a couple rings ought to outweigh him not being a warm and fuzzy personality for the voters, no?...six games straight for the Detroit Red Wings and they get named the Prime Time Pick and it turns into a loss to the Dallas Stars. Starting to feel cursed, but no time to feel sorry for myself, or the faithful gamblers riding shotgun here. Will be back with the play for tonight mid-afternoon, a winning play...have a great Tuesday.

UPDATE: Maybe it is YF suggesting it, or maybe it is the line dropping to -1, but tonight's pick is the Miami Heat -1 +100.

The Arizona Cardinals two wins this post-season equal the total playoff wins they've had in their franchise history...take away the Super Bowl year and Peyton Manning is 3-8 in the playoffs in his career. Not quite what you'd expect..incredibly, the underdogs are 6-2 through the first two weeks of the NFL playoffs straight up...the more a certain RM reader posts about Jose Calderon, the more I wonder what the hell is Bryan Colangelo thinking?...that sound you heard around yesterday at about 11:45 was the wind being knocked out of Chelsea's Premiership hopes as Nemanja Vidic scored for Manchester United before the half and United cruised to an emphatic 3-0 win, their eighth straight game with a clean sheet. To confirm: Chelsea did not play the game a man down, it just looked that way with Michael Ballack being invisible. With Liverpool tying Stoke City, United sit five points back with two in hand. Looking good for Man U...new London Knight and soon to be number one NHL draft pick John Tavares had a no-trade clause that he used to block a deal to the Guelph Storm. Seems odd that a junior player has a no-trade, no?...Pacman Jones might be back in Dallas? Odd. Check out the ESPN report that precipitated his release here. Pac is suing over the report...if you've got $12.3 million burning a hole in your pocket, you can purchase A-Rod's Florida home. Check out the pics of this place here - incredible home...guess staying with the instinct that the New York Giants line was a sucker bet would've been a wise move. Prime Time Picks saw the second back to back losing days in a week to drop to 6-5 (+$80). Here's hoping it isn't three straight on that front as we're playing the Detroit Red Wings at -1.5 +165 at the Dallas Stars. Here's hoping hockey remains exceptionally kind to PTP...have a great Monday.

It doesn't matter that the Boston Celtics are "struggaling", the Toronto Raptors will need a big effort - particularly from the Killer B's - to down them today. Tip off is at 12:30..just hours away from the huge English Premier League tilt between Chelsea and hosts Manchester United. It is always a heated affair when these two giants lock horns and my prediction is today is no different. Hard to not like United at home, even with Chelsea captain John Terry returning from suspension, but United has struggled to find the net this year a lot more than last, so could be real tight. Catch it on The Score at 11am (Eastern). One small request - please don't give that score up here. I've got the PVR rolling and am aiming to not find out the score, a tough task to be sure...burning through Jeff Pearlman's "Boys Will Be Boys" book on the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990's and it is an incredible read for any fan of the game. Michael Irvin slept with twelve ladies in four days during Super Bowl Week ahead of their first trip against Buffalo. Reputation enhancing depictions come to Troy Aikman and Jay Novacek. Emmitt Smith? Not so much. Selfish and self serving. Charles Haley is crazy, no better word to describe him. Well worth the read...when running back Brandon Jacobs is out of the New York Giants lineup, they average 93 yards rushing as a team. When he's in, they average 171. With Jacobs in, tough not to like the defending champions at home against the Philadelphia Eagles...updating the Wayne Fleming story from yesterday, turns out he wasn't fired between periods. He was benched. Seriously. He's back next game..."American Idle" Carl Pavano, now of the Cleveland Indians, had this to say of his time as a New York Yankee: "When you're down, you expect your organization to pick you up, not kick you when you're down. I've had to pick myself up quite a few times the last four years." The only thing he picked up was a paycheque with a gun and ski-mask. Did Yankees GM Brian Cashman ever question his effort? No. They just kept paying him and rehabbing him and giving him chances. What a tool. The Tribe best make sure his feelings aren't hurt - he could end up out for the season...the latest Pat Quinn rumor has him going to the Pittsburgh Penguins...the Baltimore Ravens may not have deserved to beat the Tennessee Titans yesterday, but when you pick up that many key turnovers deep in your own zone, you did something right. 13-10 winners over the Tennessee Titans and they move on to the Conference Final. Oddly, if the San Diego Chargers - they of the 8-8 regular season record beat Pittsburgh today, the Bolts will host the Conference final. Strange, no?...outwitted myself yesterday in the Prime Time Picks by gunning for positive dollar value and looking for the extra goal. Of course, Arsenal fell short and didn't cover the -1.5. Today, and I know it wreaks of "sucker bet", but how can you not love the New York Giants, at a mere -4 -107, at home against the Philadelphia Eagles? If you're telling me the Eagles will not only go on the road and win, but do it for the second time this year at the Meadowlands, I call LIES. The rested conference champions and defending Super Bowl champions should feast on the Eagles, and let's be serious, Donovan McNabb vs. Eli Manning - who do you trust? Has to be Eli, no? The Eagles beat a Vikings squad that was intent on giving the game away, and if there's one thing the Giants don't do, it is beat themselves (that's what she said). Bet the Giants, bet the Giants hard with your good friends at Pinnacle...have a great Sunday.

It has been a couple days now since Adam "Pacman" Jones was released by the Dallas Cowboys. More than a little shocked he's not an Oakland Raider or Toronto Argo yet...as throwback unis go, the Cleveland Cavs versions - both - are top shelf...Charles Barkley blew a .149 a couple weeks back when he was pulled over for driving under the influence. Not good, Chuck. He's on a leave of absence from TNT as a result and one of sports best crews just got a lot weaker...interesting that Andrea Bargnani is looking far better since Jose Caleron went out, isn't it? The Raptors are surging minus Caleron and Jermaine O'Neal, and pounded the Memphis Grizzlies, as predicted in yesterdays Prime Time Picks, now 6-3 (+284) on the year. Today, you've got to move fast - we're playing Arsenal (-1.5 +115) in the English Premier League as they host Bolton...what do the Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Black Hawks and Pittsburgh Penguins have in common? Every starter in the NHL All-Star Game plays for those teams...Jason Spezza is -13 in the last month, and Dany Heatley hasn't scored in seven games. Strange days in the nation's capital...hockey coach Wayne Fleming, who has worked with the Canadian Olympic team in 2002 and 2006, was fired by his KHL team - that's the circling-the-drain Russian super league - between periods!...more on Cristiano Ronaldo wrecking his Ferrari: he had the car for all of two days. Wonder if speed was a factor? Word is teammate and Manchester United's goalie Edwin Van Der Sar was trailing him in his Bentley so there could well have been some racing going on...why look at the 50 hottest Victoria's Secret models? Because 49 just wouldn't be enough...best nickname for an athlete this week goes to San Diego punter Mike "Lou" Scifres...two of the divisional playoff games go in the NFL today with Baltimore at Tennessee and Arizona at Carolina. Have a feeling the Baltimore Ravens get it done though Jeff Fisher and the Titans tend to break out some surprises come playoff time, which they'll need when the Ravens defence is practically impenetrable. Cannot see Arizona even giving Carolina a game in the late affair as the Cards are terrible on the road and the Panthers are rolling...the Columbus Blue Jackets rookie goalie Steve Mason is having one hell of a year, he picked up his sixth shutout of the year last night with 45 saves against the Washington Capitals, who can score a couple goals here and there...have a great Saturday.

Check out the tattoo some Detroit Lions fan had done this week. Somewhere, Andy Warhol just ticked off another on the "everybody gets 15 minutes of fame" list...Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo wrecked his $450,000 Ferrari on the way to practice yesterday. No word if the car was touched before crashing. Ronaldo was unhurt in the accident, but hopefully this knocked his 2008/9 rust out. Manchester United will need it ahead of Sunday's huge game against Chelsea. Tune in to The Score at 11am Eastern - Hi Def if you've got it - for what should be a great one...basking in the glory of last night's Florida cover to move to 5-3 (+187) on the year. Tonight, gonna make a play on the Toronto Raptors (-5 -113) as they hose the Memphis Grizzlies...the Seattle Sounders FC are running a reality type show on a local news station that culminates on Super Bowl Sunday with the winner getting a roster spot on the team. Lame...the Toronto Maple Leafs Mikhael Grabovski picked up a three game suspension for his shove of the referee last night. So if you're keeping score at home: two for biting, three for shoving a ref, six for "sloppy seconds" blasts...Brett Favre says he's going to take his time making a decision whether to play or retire. Memo to Favre: the only fan picketing you'll see this time will be to keep you at home, not to return...I've figured out the real reason that the Boston Celtics are reeling: the mere mention of Stephon Marbury heading there...Max Kellerman mentioned on his radio show out of New York that he's been told by a very credible source in the New York Knicks organization that the Knicks are making their moves with an eye towards signing Lebron James and Chris Bosh...have a great Friday, back in the morning.

RandoMango returns this afternoon.

Well that didn't take long. The Dallas Cowboys have released Adam "Pacman" Jones for something that happened a few years back. Seems odd to release a guy for something the NFL was aware of and that he wasn't going to be punished for, particularly when he showed he can play a bit this year. After all, they're keeping a head coach who showed far less...if the NHL is front page news at ESPN, odds are somebody did something wrong. Ottawa Senator Jarko Ruutu went Mike Tyson and bit Andrew Peters of the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday night, through the glove. Ruutu was suspended for two games...yesterday's Prime Time Pick of Manchester United seemed doomed from the start with that plank Tomasz Kuszczak in goal. Still, United brought on Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo in the second half, but all for naught as Derby held on for the upset. This brings the PTP to 4-3 (+$87) on the year. Today, we are on Florida (-4.5 -108, though I wisely got in at -3 a week ago) to crush Oklahoma and take the NCAA National Title, complete with the requisite asterisk...7 of the 8 NFC playoff teams this year weren't in the playoffs last year. The New York Giants, of course, are the exception there...speaking of the Giants, does that 4.5 points they're favored by over Philadelphia this weekend seem exceedingly low? Has suckers bet written all over it, and I will likely bite regardless...are the Anaheim Ducks about to become to Brian Burke what the Oakland A's are to J.P. Ricciardi? Burke dealt a 6th round pick for Brad May. With the Ducks having most of their team unsigned next year, expect to see a bunch of Ducks heading to Leafland...for each game he misses, Toronto Raptor Jermaine O'Neal is paid more than $250,000. Funny that with him and Jose Calderon out, the Toronto Raptors are in arguably their best run of the year. With Calderon no longer freezing him out of the offence, Andrea Bargnani is seeing his point totals increase significantly...at least one Ottawa Senator is scoring this year: Mike Fisher is dating Carrie Underwood. Somehow, I don't suspect a certain player in Dallas is preparing a "sloppy seconds" blast...not sure how many of you have seen Manswers on Spike TV, but here's a look at the Top 10 "You've got questions? We've got Manswers" of last year. I'm a little shocked that the "what's the fastest way to get drunk?" didn't make the list. Curious to see if anybody has any guesses as to what that is/was. Answer coming after a few guesses...love that the New York Yankees got Mark Teixera amped up to go to the Yankees with a video montage set to his favorite tune: Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock". No word on if a separate video was sent to Teixera by his agent Scott Boras to the tune of "The Price"...this NFL season, 9 of the 15 overtime games have ended after one possession. Overall, 33% of games in regular season history have been won on the first possession...John Smoltz to the Boston Red Sox? Seems odd, no?...have a great Thursday, despite no new "The Office" tonight.

In a move that should surprise nobody after the Tom Brady setback stories surfaced last week, the talk is the New England Patriots will place the franchise tag on quarterback Matt Cassel, giving him a nice raise to $14 million giving the Pats $29 million in two quarterbacks. Seems crazy on the surface, but when your backup can bang off eleven wins in a season, you're crazy not to when Brady is a question mark...if the story I heard is true and that the Toronto Maple Leafs may ship Tomas Kaberle and Vesa Toskala to the Ottawa Senators for a draft pick and Jason Spezza, that is a trade Leafs GM Brian Burke needs to make now...after last night's New York Knicks loss and non-cover, Prime Time Picks sit at 4-2 for the year. Up today, taking Manchester United in Carling Cup play to top Derby at -1 -107. Yes, the Carling Cup is an annoyance in many ways, but United has enough depth to knock off a team from a division lower who set a Premier League record when they were up last year for fewest points in a season. And hey, all world defender Nemanja Vidic insists United are very much interested in winning this one. Mix in Derby is lacking a manager at the moment and United takes this one with ease. This game kicks off at 2:45 Eastern so get over to Pinnacle now. Coverage on Setanta Sports...here's one take on the 20 Hottest TV Sports Personalities "of all da times". Clearly, whoever put this together must not consider UFC a sport - wrong! - because there's no other way to explain how Rachelle Leah isn't top, well, two...wonder where the NHL ranks in the pecking order in the U.S.? In the new set-up at ESPN.com, it is printed furthest to the right of the page, behind soccer and the rest of the sports you'd expect. Now, I'm sure some will brush this off and look for things like alphabetical order and the like but let me assure you, there's no other reason than where it stands in the minds of "the worldwide leader" who know that people read left to right in most places...reading lists of athletes with illegitimate kids never ceases to amuse me. Here's an update...the Boston Celtics lost for the fifth time in seven games, this time to the lowly Charlotte Bobcats...have a great Wednesday.

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 - How Swede It Is!

The NHLPA should be filing a grievance over the Atlanta Thrashers third jersey. Clearly, the Thrashers are not trying to grow revenues with that abomination. Yes, I used "Thrashers" and "revenues" in the same sentence. A first!...over 150 Major League Baseball players remain free agents. Expect the action to get hot and heavy soon as we're barely a month ahead of pitchers and catchers reporting, and the logjam started to break yesterday with Pat Burrell landing in Tampa Bay and Milton Bradley joining the Chicago Cubs. Expect a lot of bargains out there as teams are paring back on giving average players huge deals. Translation: you'll be lucky to get half the four years and $40 million you're after, Jason Varitek...with each Ottawa Senators loss, and Pat Quinn looking cozy with Sens owner Eugene Melnyk, you have to start thinking Quinn might want to start house hunting in Ottawa as he could be a great fit to coach and or manage that team. Frankly, it is a shock Quinn has been out of the league this long with his resume...I don't know who should be the highest paid left back in the soccer world, but I know it shouldn't be Wayne Bridge, who just moved to Manchester City. He's not even the best left back in Manchester. That title belongs to Patrice Evra...here are the records of the NBA teams since replacing their coaches during this season: Minnesota is 2-10 under Kevin McHale. Sacramento is 2-7 under Kenny Natt, Washington is 5-14 under Ed Tapscott; Oklahoma City is 3-17 under Scott Brooks and Toronto is 5-12 under Jay Triano. Only Philadelphia has gone at least .500 since changing coaches, with Tony DiLeo at 4-4 since taking over...LaDanian Tomlinson looks like he'll be out for the Bolts game at Pittsburgh this weekend. The way Darren Sproles went off on Saturday, this is likely a good thing for the Chargers...Canada played fantastic against Sweden in the gold medal game at the World Junior Hockey Championships and were well worth the 5-1 score. Canuck goalie Dustin Tokarski was far more stable than the past couple games and made a big difference, though Sweden preferring to shoot with their asses against the wall tended to help. Two things. One, don't tell me that fighting is part of the game. There were no fights at this tourney despite it being "part of the game" and the hockey blew away anything the NHL produced of late. Two, hate to break it to the puckheads reading here, but diving is very much a "part of the game" right now. The Swedish goalie led the parade, but he was by no means alone...as an added bonus, Canada covered the -1 and that's now 4-1 on the year for Prime Time Picks. This pace keeps up and I may be asking that you chip off 10%. Tonight, we're playing our first NBA pick of the year and taking the New York Knicks - no, that isn't a typo - to cover the 2 (-105) at Oklahoma City...had I seen HBO's "Hard Knocks" on the Dallas Cowboys training camp earlier this year instead of yesterday, I might've been spared a lot of heartache. Said coach Wade Phillips: "if last year was a cupcake camp, this year is a marshmallow" on how he focuses on keeping players healthy but not allowing too much contact in camp. You reap what you sow, Wade. That's why your team was so mentally soft and shunned tackling as often as not...have a great Tuesday.

Monday, January 5th, 2008

The Utah Utes have quite the "we deserve to be National Champions" argument. Six of their 13 wins in this undefeated season came against bowl teams. Of course, it won't matter a lick in the end. And are you like me, where you can't think of "Utes" without thinking of Joe Pesci and "My Cousin Vinny"?...so far, my New Year's Resolution of not watching the Toronto Raptors until they win three straight is intact, but with Jose Calderon out, that could be done next game. Yeah, I said it...after throwing 7INT's all season, the Miami Dolphins Chad Pennington went and tossed four Favre's, err, interceptions. The Baltimore Ravens won easy 27-9. The Ravens move on to Tennessee for what should be a hard hitting game and frankly, I think the Ravens can win it. That said, once they dispose of San Diego, the Pittsburgh Steelers remain my AFC pick to play in the Super Bowl against...the New York Giants, who host the Philadelphia Eagles while the Arizona Cardinals travel to face the Carolina Panthers...in case you missed it the 865 times it aired this weekend, Bruce Springsteen is playing the Super Bowl...one of the great baseball sites out there is Fangraphs, which has a formula to calculate a players value relative to his actual salary. Check out Los Angeles Angel Gary Matthews Jr., who has been paid $15 million the last two years with a value of -$600,000. Yes, NEGATIVE...funny that Keyshawn Johnson's fellow analysts hammered him for trashing Brett Favre yesterday, and Thomas Jones earlier for doing so, but I don't exactly hear any New York Jets saying Jones was wrong. Part of their argument was that Jones has been on four teams in nine years. Well, there's two teams in six months now that haven't wanted Favre. ESPN Radio in New York's Max Kellerman calls Favre the "white T.O." and railed on last week that Favre's act is actually far worse than anything T.O. has done in recent memory in how he has held teams hostage, and nowhere near the talent that T.O. is and never has been...3-1 now in Prime Time Picks and ahead $200 after the Philadelphia Eagles nicely covered the field goal spread over Minnesota. Up today, who else could we play but Canada to take the Gold at the World Junior Hockey Championships? Got in a nice price of -1 -106 as well. Get on that fast before it shoots up, as it no doubt will, at Pinnacle...have a great Monday.

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

If Ulf Samuellson is looking for his shoulder pads, they can be found on the person of Kurt Warner...the Pittsburgh Penguins are continuing the recent trend of Stanley Cup finalists who suffer a hangover the following year. Not sure how a team with that talent can struggle like they have this year, and lately as they've lost five of six. Hopefully nobody thinks it is the result of losing the eternally overrated Gary Roberts like was often thought by knucklehead Toronto Maple Leafs fans...wagering advice: bet against the Arizona Cardinals next week. They don't travel well at all, and only managed to beat a horribly performing Atlanta Falcons squad by six...at the World Junior Hockey Championships, Canada had everything lined up: a reputedly soft Russian team playing its second game in two days, home ice, four leads, five power plays in a row at one point and it was almost all for naught as they needed to go to the shootout to win their semi-final game and are off to face Sweden in the gold medal game Monday night while Russia is left to play Slovakia for the bronze medal. Too often, the Pat Quinn coached team resembled the Leafs defence from his days coaching there: undisciplined, sloppy in their zone, and too many risky passes and bad penalties. They deserved to lose, to be fair, especially with goalie Dustin Tokarski looking awful...now that they've lost, wonder if Peyton Manning still thinks his comments from Thursday when he was named MVP hold true and that this is the most satisfying season he's had. Tell you one thing: in a big game, Eli is the better QB...2-1 on Prime Time Picks - thanks, Peyton. Sticking with the NFL here and playing the Philadelphia Eagles (-3) at Minnesota. Yes, the Vikes are a strong home side and the Eagles aren't nearly as strong on the road, but the Eagles D will terrorize Vikes QB Tarvaris Jackson and the Eagles have a more dynamic offence too, plus a hot Donovan McNabb. I like this pick so much I'm afraid...isn't it a little odd to see all these companies - banks, notably - who are receiving bailout funds from the U.S. federal government still maintaining their sponsorships of college bowl games? There’s the Capital One Bowl. Or the GMAC Bowl. The Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl brought to you by Bank of America. The EagleBank Bowl. You'd think these companies might want to stay under the radar, no? No way this would fly in Canada, at least not without people marching in the streets...word is the meltdown in Liverpool that ended with Steven Gerrard arrested started when the DJ blew off Gerrard's request that he play some Phil Collins, something the DJ flat out refused to do. My respect for Gerrard just disappeared but this is the world we live in, where such a man of steel and man of power, loses control by the hour...Philadelphia, Denver, New York and Boston are all in the hunt to host the Winter Classic next year. Where are the Canadian entries?...further evidence fan voting is a joke for All-Star games: four Montreal Canadiens are in the starting lineup. Nothing against the Habs players in particular, but if your team has four guys starting, you best be miles ahead of everyone else. That not being the case, the result is ridiculous...have a great Sunday.

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

Freak NFL stat: if you are +1 on takeaways/giveaways, you will win 80% of the games...in what would be a huge development, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger may jump ship to take over at Real Madrid. What a difference that would be, going from a large club with significant restraints because of the financing on the Emirates Stadium to one that is a bottomless pit of money...Chris Paul and Lebron James told the great show E:60 that they regularly play XBox head to head. Online. Something about that amuses me...add the Arizona Cardinals to NFL home sides that are struggling or struggled to sell out their game this weekend. As of yesterday morning, they had 3,700 tickets to get rid of. This, for a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in a decade. No word on if they managed to sell out...Stephon Marbury might land with the Boston Celtics. Seriously. Interesting Starbury fact: teams that deal him improve by an average of 27 wins the following season. Look for the New York Knicks to make a huge leap next season if that holds...the Baltimore Ravens five losses this year are to Pittsburgh (twice), Tennessee, Indianapolis and the New York Giants, who combined to go a whopping 49-15...a perfect 2-0 start to the year on Prime Time Picks, and today, gunning to make it 3-0. Here's some background: teams that enter the playoffs .500 are 2-7 since 1972, with one of those wins coming when two 8-8 teams played each other. San Diego enters the playoffs at 8-8. Indy has won 12 straight, but is only a one point fav. Seems strangely, sucker-bet low, no? Regardless, taking Indy to drop the hammer on the Bolts and cover the spread (-1 +101) comfortably. Get down with Pinnacle here...it was only a matter of time before somebody was killed from a hockey fight, and now, Don Henderson of the Whitby Dunlops becomes the test case for what the game does going forward...Buffalo Bills safety Ko Simpson started the "NFLers Arrested" edition for 2009 off with a roaring start, busted for not leaving the area while a friend of his was being arrested. In true athlete fashion, he played the "don't you know who I am?" card and told the police he's "worth millions!" Step your game up, Ko, Eddie Belfour already used that tactic in telling the cops he was worth "billions" years ago...NBA ref Derrick Stafford will not be punished for calling Vince Carter "boy", which Winessa didn't like. That is not right in my opinion. The NBA should come down hard on Stafford for calling a girl a boy...Canada faces Russia in one semi-final of the World Junior Hockey Championships. Of note, the U.S. soiled the bed in their quarter-final yesterday with a 5-3 loss to Slovakia, a huge underdog to one of the pre-tourney favs who will now face Sweden in the other semi-final. If you sweat karma, however, saw one sign at a bar driving through town yesterday that said "Catch Canada go for gold on Monday here"...have a great Saturday.

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

New York Jet running back Thomas Jones could be my new favorite player for blowing up Brett Favre as a self-centred, ineffective, team-killing sideshow who should have been benched for his terrible play the way anybody else would've. Good for Jones for giving Favre the treatment he has so richly earned...a nice and easy open to the year for Prime Time Picks as USC smoked Penn State 38-24 in the Rose Bowl. Up today, we're playing Russia at -2 (-103) at the World Junior Hockey Championships as they face the Czech Republic in quarter-final action. Get down with Pinnacle...Barroid Bonds had some work done on a hip to keep the flame of his professional career flickering for 2009. An alleged steroid user with joing issues? Weird...8,000 tickets remain unsold for the Minnesota Vikings home playoff game against Philadelphia this weekend. Clearly, the state of the economy is a big factor. When an NFL team is struggling to move playoff ducats, have to wonder what baseball teams are seeing in terms of season ticket sales for the 2009 year...just testing a little something today, please click here...San Diego Chargers LaDanian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates missed practice ahead of their playoff game this week. Just to confirm, it is 2009 and not 2008, though the stories remains the same. How does it make sense that the Bolts get home field at 8-8 instead of the Indianapolis Colts who were 12-5?...going back to Canada's thrilling 7-4 win over the U.S. in the World Junior Hockey Championships on New Year's Eve for a second, I'm amazed at how many are up in arms over the stick popping out of the American bench as the Canadians skated by celebrating a goal in the first period. Think about it: if the roles were reversed, what would your reaction be? Celebrating in front of the other teams bench like that is bush, and pretending it won't get some kind of reaction is naive...Eli Manning took a not-at-all veiled swipe at Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo. When asked what his plans were with the time off this week before they host their playoff game next week, Eli replied: "my plans to Cabo fell through, so I'm going to stay here. That's a joke, by the way". Have to say, clever, and strong...my fav bars: HiFi in New York City, and Refaeli...Charles Barkley ran the stop sign the night he got a DUI because he was racing to get around the corner to get some action from the girl who had given him the "best [blowjob] he had ever had in his life." Check out the police report here. Nice stuff, Chuck, other than the idiotic move of driving after drinking enough to fail a field sobriety test...a fantastic piece on the great day for the NHL at Wrigley Field, though the idea that Canada isn't an option seems odd. You'd think it'd be a natural. That said, a game in the new Yankee Stadium, or better - in Central Park - would be as good as it gets...have a great Friday.

Thursday, January 1st, 2008

Today is one of the rare occasions I get excited for an NHL game - the Winter Classic goes in Chicago today as the Black Hawks host the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings shut out the Hawks on Tuesday night 4-0 and have All World defenceman Nik Lidstrom coming back for this one, but have to like the youth of the Hawks to deal with the cold better than those old bones from Detroit. That, and the Hawks are a damn good team these days..the first of 365 Prime Time Picks for 2009 goes today, and they'll be tracked at the right of the page as well for verification purposes. All bets will be to win $100 just to keep it simple. Today, we're playing USC to cover the -8 points (-108) in the Rose Bowl against Joe Paterno and Penn State. Paterno will be coaching from the press box in this one after hip surgery, something you tend to need when you're older than God. If you want to play along, get your account set up with the fine folks at Pinnacle - it's easy, secure, and most importantly, yours truly gets a little kickback from them...a new DVD ought to be in the works - How To Trash Talk A Referree For Two Minutes And Not Get A Technical: by Rasheed Wallace of the Detroit Pistons...Dallas Cowboys Terence Newman ripped into the "coward" who not-so-anonymously went to the media to leak the meetings between wide receivers and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Said coward goes by the name "Jason Witten". It is going to get worse before it gets better in Dallas. My prediction for next move: a key player, or players, issue a "fire Phillips or trade me" edict to Jerry Jones...Bill Cowher didn't want to coach the New York Jets because he wants no part of Brett Favre as his quarterback. Smart man, that Cowher. After all, if there's one thing he wants, it is a QB who protects the ball and plays a system. Favre is said to have had serious issues over now-fired coach Eric Mangini calling out his decision making in film sessions...Scott Boras has gone crawling back to the LA Dodgers trying to revive interest in Manny Ramirez. You'd think after how he was embarrassed by A-Rod and the New York Yankees last season that maybe he learned to reign it in a little with the "smartest man in the room" act, but clearly that isn't the case. I hope the Dodgers offer $39 million over two years, giving ManRam a paycut from the money he'd have made staying in Boston, just to hear Mount ManRam errupt...have a great 2009!