Twin Killing

If the Minnesota Twins 12 inning, 6-5 win over the Detroit Tigers is a sign of things to come for the baseball playoffs, it is going to be the best playoff month ever for MLB. Dramatic, thrilling stuff. Frankly, it is hard not to like the Twins for how they play the game but with a pitching staff that has to be torched and lacks a true stud, and surely a bullpen worn out, tough to like them facing the New York Yankees. I pray the Twins start Carl Pavano in The Bronx. The Twinkies are 3-23 against the Yankees under manager Ron Gardenhire, and 0-7 this season. Not good. Clearly, the Yanks have to be overwhelming favs, and while I'd be stunned if they didn't make quick work of this one, the five gamer is always a dicey proposition. Also like the Anaheim Angels to run wild on Boston every time they get on the base paths, and take that series in five. Over the in the NL, I like the St. Louis Cardinals to down the LA Dodgers in four, and I could see an upset coming in the Philadelphia and Colorado series, which of course means the Rockies win. Who ya got?

Speaking of the Yankees, as we do here occasionally, catcher Jorge Posada is unimpressed that he's not going to be catching AJ Burnett as the two haven't been on the same page for good stretches of the year. Hard to argue these numbers though: Burnett has struck out 79 of 434 batters while pitching to Posada this season and opponents are hitting .270 with a .775 OPS when Posada is his catcher. When Jose Molina catches, Burnett has struck out 77 of 288 batters while throwing to Molina. Opposing hitters have a .221 batting average and a .658 OPS against Burnett when he's working with Molina. I'll say it right now: if Burnett has a strong October, the Yankees will win the World Series.

The Atlanta Thrashers are said to be a team that may end up moving to Winnipeg. Seriously, Winnipeg? Isn't that arena too small and let's be serious, we're not talking a giant market here. Given how Gary Bettman has handled the Phoenix sale, would it shock anybody if he simply rubber stamped this one and let them move, no argument? Word is that there are as many as 10 teams up for sale at the moment, so would it shock anyone if Jim Balsillie was dragged back into the fray?

Gabe Morency at Hardcore Sports Radio and co-host of "Morency" says that Tony Romo may be the most overrated athlete in all of sports. Frankly, it is looking like it could well be. He went on to add that there is a reason he wasn't drafted. The Dallas Morning News Bill Nicholls looks at the Cowboys offensive shortcomings in general. Also, good to see Romo wasn't clear on which down it was on the last play of the game. For sale: Romo Thanksgiving jersey. Size 50. $5.

Check out this awesome vid post-game on Monday Night in which a Minnesota Vikings fan gets his feelings on Green Bay across real nice like.

In case you were wondering, the three NFL squads that fired their offensive coordinators in the pre-season - Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Buffalo - are a combined 1-11 going into Week 5.

Longtime RM reader B. Kennedy passed me word that Toronto Raptors rookie DeMar DeRozan tweeted that he was about to get on the bus for a long trip to London. Two things. First, he apparently thought the Raps game was in London, England and didn't realize there was a London, Ontario two hours from Toronto. Two, he apparently thought he could get to London, England...by bus. Stay in school, kids. Guess at least it isn't as bad as Miami Dolphin Channing Crowder wondering if people spoke English in England last year when the Dolphins ventured across the pond for a game a couple years back. That remains one of my all-time fav stories.

And here's the #4 Scariest Sports Riot entry. Enjoy.

Detroit Tiger Miguel Cabrera had a little domestic dispute with his wife on at 6AM Sunday morning (or Saturday night, if you prefer), and returned to play Sunday without comment, but a scratch on his face. Oh, and he merely blew a .26 blood alcohol content. Good to see Miggy so focused with the Tigers season on the line. Here's audio of the 911 call, and the fine folks at The Big Lead wonder how the Tigers can possibly not suspend him, even with a knockout game tonight.

Turns out there are six separate covers for ESPN Body issue. Here's hoping Gina Carano (right) lands in my mailbox, and not Dwight Howard, Serena Willams, or an amputee. That said, I am a little sour with Gina. She said that picture was our moment.

The Green Bay Packers made about as many mistakes as a team can make in a game and still kept the game to within a touchdown. I wouldn't be getting too excited there, Old Has Been. And how funny was his act? For a guy who downplayed it as just another game, he sure seemed like he was out to stab a blood rival in the heart. But then again, honesty is not that guys strong suit.

So that's two straight games without a touchdown for Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo, a first. This happens when your number one end zone target and producer the past couple years is deemed expendable for not pandering to your fragile ego.

Only one major leaguer played all 162 games this season. Hint: he's an alleged vegetarian, despite his hefty appearance. Yep, Prince Fielder was the lone game in and out guy. Look out, Cal Ripken Jr.!

And in Week 4, Jon Gruden officially can go. Merely the latest BF blowboy, with grammar from the school of John Madden.

Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star looks at four ways the Toronto Blue Jays could improve their fortunes. Had a good laugh that the team had t-shirts made saying "Turn the Page Tuesday's" mocking the franchises constant milking of the early 90's World Series wins, a line dropped by AJ Burnett while a Jay.

The Battle of Ontario resumes tonight as the Ottawa Senators visit the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both sides are winless at this early juncture, though the Sens aren't leaving a goal every five shots like the Leafs are.

The first of a Top 5 series of crazy Sporting Riots starting today, starting with #5, of course.

PTP

The Prime Time Picks are off to a horror show of a start. And with Green Bay travelling to face He Who I Hate, there's only one sensible thing to do: yep, I'm playing the Minnesota Vikings. This is what is called a "can't lose" proposition. The Vikes are -3.5, -105.

Please...no Madden!

Bukkake provided today's picture, at right. In case you weren't aware, the Green Bay Packers are playing Old Has Been Brent and his Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. The only way the coverage for this one could get more nauseating is if John Madden returned to the booth to provide colour commentary.

The AL Central race will indeed go to a playoff game with the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins deadlocked after 162. That goes at on Tuesday night in Minny, with the winner getting the Yankees on Wednesday or Thursday. The Boston Red Sox will face the Anaheim Angels. In the Senior Circuit, the Philadelphia Phillies will face the hot Colorado Rockies, and the LA Dodgers will start in St. Louis against the Cardinals, both series starting on Wednesday.

I'm so soured on Tony Romo right now as Dallas Cowboys QB and Wade Phillips as coach that I'm not sure Drew Bledsoe and Chan Gailey could be worse. The Cowpokes had their game in Denver there for the taking with a dominant first half, and let the Broncos hang around and win it in the end, 17-10. Infuriating. And Roy Williams? Perhaps the worst trade in the NFL since the Cowboys swindled the Vikings in the Hershel Walker years ago.

Seems real hard to believe that the Tennessee Titans were 13-3 last year with a dominating defence. They're now 0-4 with a porous defence. Albert Haynesworth could be arguing for an MVP award after the fact.

Seems crazy to say after 8 games of a 38 game season, but it seems safe to say you can count Liverpool out of this year's English Premier League race. They're now 5-3-0 after yesterday's 2-0 loss to Chelsea, who bounced back in fine form after last week's upset loss to Wigan. Chelsea now sits atop the table alone. Arsenal went wild again, winning 6-2 over Blackburn.

A funny thing happened when Mark Sanchez went on the road to face a team firing on all cylinders: the rookie looked like a rookie and the Jets tasted defeat, losing 24-10 to the New Orleans Saints.

GBV pointed out that until they scored yesterday, the Cleveland Browns had one offensive touchdown in nine games. That's incredible, you'd think they even fluked a couple in that time.

After A-Rod hit two homers and seven RBI in an inning yesterday for the Yankees, that gave him a record 13th straight year of 30 or more homers and 100 or more RBI. The seven RBI in an inning is also an AL record.

The NFL had many players, coaches and officials with pink gear yesterday in support of breast cancer research. The fine folks at Sportspickle tweeted yesterday: "no pink anywhere on Bill Belichick. Therefore, Bill Belichick is pro-cancer."

Tonight, playing the San Diego Chargers at +6 (-105).

Oh, and Wade Phillips? I hate you. Literally. And Romo? You're not far behind.

One To Play

Some real juicy match-up's on the NFL schedule for today, led by Baltimore (3-0) at New England (2-1), the New York Jets (3-0) at New Orleans (3-0), and unless you've been living under a rock, a rather interesting story-line game between Green Bay (2-1) at Minnesota (3-0). For the first time ever, I'm pulling for the Packers.

Great question posed by sports handicapper Randall The Handle on fighting in the NHL: "if fighting is a part of hockey, why are there exactly zero goons in the NHL Hall of Fame?" In response, Bob Probert and Tie Domi declared themselves available for the next induction.

If today is, as some are speculating, Chipper Jones last game as a big leaguer, he will not only have spend his entire career with the Atlanta Braves, but also with one manager in the form of Bobby Cox.

Toronto Blue Jays fans can finally have something to look forward to, as days from completing year nine of his five year plan, the Jays tied a can to well-past-expiry-date JP Ricciardi. Sure, you can't blame all the Jays shortcomings in recent years on JP, but surely the GM has to be the ultimate fall guy for bad contracts, poor handling of Roy Halladay's pending move, and embarrassing the franchise as he did in situations like Adam Dunn's senseless calling out. Something tells me that Ricciardi, who went to the Gary Bettman School of Smug, will still have a few parting shots on his way out the door. The Jays would be wise to look to just fired San Diego Padres GM Kevin Towers.

The LA Dodgers almost blew a 6 game lead with seven to play, but beat Colorado last night to wrap up the NL West. I would've loved to mix in the 3-0 lead that Joe Torre blew against Boston in 2004 when he was the New York Yankees manager and add this as a second giant blemish on his resume. More than ever, I'm convinced the Yanks made the right move tying a can to Torre when they did, especially for how he tends to chew up his bullpen to the point nothing is left at the end of the season.

The Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers are dead even in the AL Central race. A win by both today, or loss by both today, will set up a one game playoff on Tuesday with the winner facing the Yankees Wednesday, who have to be licking their chops at the prospect of both teams in a pull-out-all-the-stops situation. With the Tigers using Justin Verlander today, that takes the best pitcher out of both teams from being used twice in the divisional series.

Would not have pegged Tottenham to draw 2-2 at Bolton, in a game where Spurs rode goals from two of their Croatian's in Niko Kranjcar and Vedran Corluka, and even less likely, Manchester United to need a last gasp own goal to escape with a 2-2 draw with Sunderland, who seem to give them trouble at least once a season.

So, about that Toronto Maple Leafs defence as pillar of the team. Nevermind. The Leafs gave up 6 in a 6-4 loss to the Washington Capitals. Their goaltending looks suspect, the defence looks lost, and one more loss like these and reality will set upon a fan base way too high over a solid pre-season.

Have a great Sunday.

Opening night in the NHL

Nevermind this starting-in-Europe nonsense, or a Thursday night domestically, the NHL season really starts tonight in the minds of most, no? A packed schedule, some full arenas, and most importantly for Gary Bettman and his cronies, the Phoenix Coyotes remained in Phoenix. Well done, GB!

Ray Emery returned to the NHL in style, racking up a shutout as the Philadelphia Flyers downed the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0. Soccer fans chuckled at the low score and wondered why all that took three hours.

The Detroit Tigers lost last night, while the Minnesota Twins downed Kansas City to reduce the Tigers lead to a game in the AL Central. If the Twins can get past Zach Greinke tonight, it could get real interesting in the last day or two.

I'm not going to say that karma does in fact exist, but in case it did, I sure wouldn't want to be taking swings at the frozen, severed head of Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams with a monkey wrench, even if he did play for Boston.

Toronto FC are off this weekend but will be doing some scoreboard watching with the playoffs looming. Most importantly, they could use a Chivas USA win over DC United, and the a Colorado win over New England in Denver wouldn't hurt either with the Revolution closer to TFC than the Rapids, and a Columbus win over visiting Seattle wouldn't hurt the cause either.

No overly appealing matchups on the English Premier League fixture list today, not with Chelsea slated to host Liverpool tomorrow morning at 11am Eastern (coverage on The Score, in glorious HD). Tottenham travels to face Bolton, and Manchester United hosts Sunderland - that's about as appealing as they get today.

Last Angry Fan has awarded its D-Bag of the Week and the winner this week is a most deserving candidate. This NFL coach tore down a mural of the team's greats in the stadium. He bussed rookies 10 hours - each way - to coach in a camp for kids he was putting on, and in violation of the collective bargaining agreement. He fined a player $1700 for taking a $3 bottle at a hotel without permission. And finally, he yanked the starting QB he took months to deliberate on after two and a half games or so. Eric Mangini, this award ought to have your name on it.

Hands down the most animated balk call, or any call really, in baseball history. Definitely worth a view here.

What says "professional" more than Adriano, then with of Italian soccer's Inter Milan getting drunk...every night? Might explain his fitness level in recent years, that led to a downfall at Inter and ultimately a move to Brazilian side Flamengo.

So the Toronto Blue Jays players are said to be revolting against manager Cito Gaston's recent treatment of them, including saying none of them are legit players, which is a joke given some of the talents they've got there in Adam Lind, Aaron Hill and LeRoy Halladay. Not sure why this is suddenly news, Vernon Wells has been revolting most of the year. Paul Beeston is getting to Baltimore to meet with the players and hear their beefs. If I'm a betting man, and I am, my money is on Kevin Millar as a ring leader here. That tool's mouth far exceeds his standing as a player. No wonder Roy Halladay wants out of that disaster of a franchise. The Toronto Star's Dave Perkins thinks the players are in no position to be yapping, given their performance, while Richard Griffin says they should shut up and play.

Have a great Saturday.

Still Tw-in it

The Colorado Rockies turned around a horrible start to clinch the NL Wild Card, and they've still got the NL West pennant in their sites heading into the final weekend which they can achieve with a weekend sweep of the team they're trying to catch, the LA Dodgers.

The Minnesota Twins kept their AL Central hopes alive with an 8-3 win over division leading Detroit to leave them two games out. The Tigers host the Chicago White Sox, while the Twins host Kansas City for three. A tie-break would go Tuesday, likely go Tuesday because of Monday Night Football in Minny on Tuesday. Could get interesting there at least.

With the players they've sold off in the last few months - Peter Crouch and Niko Kranjcar among others - you had to figure there was some money troubles with English Premier League side Portsmouth. Turns out the situation is worse than you could've assumed: the club is without money, and some players haven't been paid in the last month. Maybe they figure that at 0-7 they're not getting their monies worth.

Best thing about the Toronto Maple Leafs losing in overtime to open the year, to Montreal no less? It'll make for a far quieter day around the water coolers of this end of the globe today. And nice night for Leafs defencemen Francois Beauchemin and Luke Schenn, each a -2 and on the ice for three of the four Habs goals.

Former MLBer Chuck Knoblauch, whose career ended when he suddenly was unable to throw from his second base position to first with any accuracy, was charged with assaulting his wife. No word on how many punches he lobbed at his wife before connnecting.

That ESPN "Body Issue" - featuring various athletes in various states of undress - will include Gina Carano (yes!), ladies golfer Christina Kim, among others, for the gents, and for the ladies, Joba Chamberlain, Adrian Peterson, Zdeno Chara, Carl Edwards and Serena Williams among others.

The fine folks at SportsPickle have a great piece on Pittsburgh Penguin Sidney Crosby getting his playoff beard on the go, so he's got something visible come April. Solid.

ESPN.com's Peter Gammons figures that J.P. Ricciardi, or his replacement, will do well to get 60% of the value he would've had if he had traded Roy Halladay at the trade deadline in July.

There is hardcore, and then there is beyond that. Some couple - with the guy rocking a Michael Irvin jersey no less, because he's such a "Playmaker" - was caught on video gettin' their freak on at the new Cowboys Stadium. On a bathroom floor. Story, and video, here.

Finally today, here are the 100 greatest YouTube videos, all packed into four great minutes.

Halladay (goes out?) a winner

The NHL is back tonight. Excuse me for stifling a yawn. The world economy is teetering on the edge praying for a Toronto Maple Leafs win over the Montreal Canadiens in anticipation of what that can mean for the global economy in terms of merchandise sales for "Leafs AbomiNation".

Yes, the Denver Broncos may not have played the toughest schedule to date, but 16 points against through three games screams "we've played the Toronto Argos" each game.

The Detroit Tigers have lost 12 of 22 to stagger down the stretch run of the season. Worse, without having wrapped the division, they may need another start from Justin Verlander, which would prevent him from getting two starts in the first round.

Who is hosting Monday Night Raw this coming Monday? Let's just say they could call it "Monday Night Raw-thlesberger". Wonder how ESPN will feel with one of the NFL's biggest names appearing on a rival cable network? Maybe Big Ben figured it is better to be on Raw around Kelly Kelly et al than to watch grown men felating He Who Shall Not Be Named in Minnesota.

You're the city of Cleveland. You're widely considered the birthplace, or at least the symbol, of the world's current economic malaise. You're football team stinks and where it thought it had two NFL caliber quarterbacks, it is winless and has none. Your baseball team stinks, and just fired their manager and staff. And you've got LeBron James possibly leaving your hoops team after this season for greener pastures. What's not to love?

A year after being widely considered the fav in the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers are finally about to come good and clinch a playoff spot as their magic number is down to 2. A win this afternoon over Minnesota will earn them the privilege of taking on the New York Yankees in the opening round. The Philadelphia Phillies wrapped up their ticket last night.

The L.A. Kings are contemplating adding Wayne Gretzky to their staff. Honestly, if he were being judged on his resume alone, would this really be happening?

Terrell Owens is doing his best to not rock the boat in Buffalo, deferring to captains and dropping the same cliche's everyone else in the game drops, and still he gets knocked for it by a media who need him to go off so they've got something to write. Leave the guy alone, he's not doing anything to warrant the attention on or off the field at the moment.

Somebody get a fire hose and get the Toronto Blue Jays off of the Boston Red Sox. The Jays pounded the Red Sox 12-0 last night in what may have been Roy Halladay's last start as a Jay. "If there is a God," said Halladay. Okay, I'm mind reading on the last part.

One of my fav athletes of all time called it a career. Well done, Mats Sundin. That'll be one Hall of Fame induction I tune in for.

Another walk-off win...

On The Ultimate Fighter reality series tonight, Kimbo Slice faves Roy Nelson in what should be the most watched TUF show of all time. Nelson is quite the specimen - a giant boiler, attitude to the gills, but rumor has it, wins the fight. That said, and if that is indeed the case, it appears UFC boss Dana White has gone back on his vow that Slice would only fight for UFC if he makes it through the show as he's already said Slice will fight in the octagon at some point.

More Champions League action today, for those looking for daytime sports. Be sure to tune in to SportsNet at 2:30pm (Eastern).

Pat Gillick says that he's not interested in a return to the Toronto Blue Jays, and seemed to indicate he'd only be interested in a more prominent role if it were on the West Coast, which, unless I'm mistaken, Toronto is certainly not.

Seriously, do people think that posts on Twitter are private or something? Pro athletes seem most afflicted by this lack of understanding of the medium, and New York Jets receiver David Clowney was benched after tweeting his displeasure over his limited playing time. Yeah, that's what you want to do Clowney - spout off in the largest media market in the world with a hard assed coach who has a 3-0 start in his back pocket.

USC running back Stafon Johnson dropped a barbell on his throat in a horrible accident on Monday night and it could be a career ender. The upside for USC? Their loss to Washington is no longer their biggest choke job of the month.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim clinched the AL West a couple nights ago, and as part of their celebrations, doused the jersey of deceased teammate Nick Adenhart in champagne and beer. Seems kind of odd when it was a drunk driver that killed Adenhart, no?

Have a great Wednesday.

Feast to Famine

Minnesota Twin Carl Pavano has four more wins this year than he had in his entire four years with the New York Yankees. The Twins are in a huge series with the Detroit Tigers that was to start last night but was called off due to rain, so they'll play four in the next three days in Detroit. Wouldn't it be something if Pavano helps the Twins into the playoffs where they'd face the Yankees?

Hands up, who had the Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers a combined 2-7?

Best headline after the Detroit Lions beat the Washington Redskins: "Washington Bails Out Detroit Again"

Whatever happened to Kiana Tom?

There is no reason that I can think of that Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips should keep his job. The Cowboys remain sloppy, confused, take too many penalties, and for an offence that was to become more diverse without having Terrell Owens as the focal point, isn't. And ditch Flozell Adams while you're at it.

I'm all for rivalries between teams and fans taking part in the fun. But when a teacher makes a fourth grade student turn his fav teams shirt inside out, that seems a bit much. The odd part is this happened in New York State with a kid wearing a New York Yankees shirt, with - what else - a teacher who is a card carrying member of Red Sox Nation.

As if Declan Hill's book "The Fix" weren't enough, now comes word that UEFA - European soccer's governing body - is investigating allegations of 40 fixed Champions League and UEFA Cup games in year's past. Go ahead, small minds, suggest they were all 0-0 scores. It could've been worse however, if goalies followed the lead of this Swedish keeper and moved their posts in.


Jules Winnfield as a hockey coach. Perhaps the most entertaining pro hockey bit you'll see ahead of the Olympics.

Prime Time Pick for tonight is - Lord help me! - Dallas -9. Thinking 35-17.

Dirty Sanchez strikes again

When does retro go too far? When Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fischer is roaming the sidelines sporting a Houston Oilers shirt. Who can be happy with that? Surely nobody in Houston or Tennessee. And speaking of the Titans, wonder how they're feeling about Kerry Collins contract now? He closed the 24-17 loss to the New York Jets with 13 straight incompletions for the now 0-3 Titans, who lost four all of last year. As for the Jets QB Mark Sanchez, that "Dirty" mustache isn't going to rid him of that moniker, but a 3-0 start sure looks good.

The San Francisco Giants have scored 2 or fewer runs 56 times this year, including twice this past weekend. That level of futility will keep you out of the playoffs even with some stellar starting pitchers.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson may be done with UFC, but he's not done talking junk about Rashad Evans, saying he'd be glad to fight him anytime, anywhere. Apparently he forgot he was to do that for a healthy sum at UFC 107 in his home town no less.

Tonight, the Dallas Cowboys will be looking for their first home win at their new palace when the Carolina Panthers visit. Also firsts they'll be looking for: first sack and first turnover of the year, and with Jake Delhomme in, you have to figure there are some of both in the offing.

The New York Yankees swept the Boston Red Sox to even the season series at 9-9 and clinch the AL East with their 100th win of the season. Not bad after opening 0-8 to Boston and struggling in April. Andy Pettite won his 14th, the 12th time in his career he's won 14 or more.

Good of the Toronto Star to declare this hockey week at the Star. Question: when is it not hockey week at the Star?

Terrell Owens got wind of former New England Patriot Rodney Harrison calling him a clown and fired back with a hell of a salvo about needing Harrison to ship him some of the steroids he was using while he was still playing. Well, done, T.O., now if you could just produce on the field as well. Guess you need a more than average QB for that to happen. How exactly did the Bills not win that game yesterday?

What is shorter than New Orleans Saint Reggie Bush? His NFL hilite reel.

A pair of tickets for sale to the Phoenix Coyotes opener this week - $600 face value for the pair - had all of two offers. One for $15, total. Another for $60. If Gary Bettman has any sense at all, he gets that team out of Glendale and now, they could quite well be playing to crowds in the hundreds. Literally.

Word is the Chicago White Sox and Cubs may flip pitchers, with Jake Peavy off to the Cubs and Carlos Zambrano to the Sox. If you're the Sox, why would you do that move when you've already got one lazy, underachieving player with a bloated contract and bad attitude in Alex Rios?

Have a great Monday.

We're in!

J.P. Ricciardi often whines how the Toronto Blue Jays can't compete with the likes of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees with this rambling quote:

“Let me make this clear: It doesn’t matter if J.P. Ricciardi is the GM, or Joe Blow is the GM. Two years from now, five years from now, seven years from now, the reality that we face in Toronto is the division is not going to change. The Red Sox and Yankees are not going away. If the Yankees want to, they can take their payroll to $300 million.

The biggest thing that people forget is that when Toronto won the World Series, they had the highest payroll in baseball. There’s a direct equivalent to that. If we’re going to play in the big man’s division, and we’re not going to spend that money, it’s going to be really hard for us to compete with those teams.

I get this feeling that people are dying for me to lose my job, they think my world is going to come crashing down. I’m not built like that.

We’ve done the best job we can do under the circumstances in the situation we’ve been given. At the end of the day, if that’s not good enough, that’s not good enough. But until those two factors change, the next guy sitting in this role, whether that’s five years from now or 10 years from now, is going to be faced with the same problem: How do you get by the Red Sox and the Yankees?”

In response, the year "2008" chimed in and uttered the phrase "Tampa Bay Rays". As Steve Simmons notes, it isn't like they're tearing it up against anyone else either, 4-14 against Tampa Bay, for example. If he stays, it sounds like his boss will be none other than a returning Pat Gillick, said to be in as President, if you believe Bob Nightengale of USA Today. One thing you'd never hear from Gillick is that the Jays can't compete. He wouldn't infer it even and give his players a built in excuse from on high.

Toronto FC defender Nick Garcia is the most inept defender these eyes have seen on a guy alleged to be a defender. So amateur. Garcia's repeated mistakes let the Chicago Fire always remain in the game, not to mention his own goal, and the Fire tied the game with 22 minutes to go and held TFC to a 2-2 tie, which for TFC was about as good as a loss. How that guy collects a paycheque without a gun and a mask is beyond me.

Prepare yourselves for the Seattle Seahawks third jersey, to be unveiled today. Pretty disgusting, really.

RM reader GBV passes on the Sports Illustrated Cheerleader of the Week, and it is a fine Canadian edition from University of Western Ontario. Definitely worth a click through. And if that don't work for you, there is always Barbie Blank to check out, aka Kelly Kelly of the WWE.

If I hear another thing about Florida Gator's QB Tim Tebow, good, bad or indifferent, I'm going to snap. The world doesn't need to know if Tebow has a runny nose. That said, he did land in the hospital after a crushing hit yesterday in Florida's 41-7 win over Kentucky.

Is it possible that CC Sabathia is a $161 million bargain for the Yankees? He 2 hit the Boston Red Sox over seven innings in another quality start to get his league leading 19th win as the Bombers won 3-0 to reduce their magic number to clinch the AL East to 1. Sabathia has been everything the Yankees could've asked for: an innings chewing winner who is beating the best repeatedly.

The St. Louis Cardinals punched their playoff ticket as NL Central champions yesterday, and the LA Dodgers assured manager Joe Torre of another coattail ride, err, trip to the playoffs.

Oh yeah, another NFL Sunday is upon us and there are a couple teams desperately needing wins, few moreso than the Tennessee Titans, 0-2 as they visit the 2-0 New York Jets. It was the Jets that last year knocked off the then-unbeaten Titans. Prediction? Payback at +3 and an outright win. Liking the Detroit Lions at +6.5 at home hosting the Washington Redskins, and think that could be the Lions end of their losing streak. As for tonight, trying to reverse a disgusting 1-5, -424 open for the Prime Time Picks after last year's 60% effort, and we're playing the Cards at -2.

Two Edmonton Eskimos got into an altercation at practice this week. Happens all the time, right? Well, yeah, except the guy who gets the worst of it generally doesn't leave the field and come back with a shovel to resume the fight. No, really, true story.

Finally today, get rich with Ric Flair. Woooooooooooooooooo!

Bosh Hurting...Already

If this is the A-Rod the New York Yankees will see come playoff time, it is going to be a special year for the Bronx Bombers. A-Rod homered, doubled, and to show his hip is feeling real nice, ripped three bases on the Boston Red Sox last night in the Yanks 9-5 win over the Boston Red Sox. Also encouraging? Joba Chamberlain did not suck.

Toronto FC travel to Chicago today to face the Fire in what is essentially a must-win game. Sound familiar? Seems I've been saying that for weeks. Maybe this is the one they'll actually get it done on the road? The Fire will be without Mexican star Blanco, so that ought to help the cause. Kickoff is 8:30 on SportsNet.

As the Toronto Raptors training camp is about to get under way, along comes word that Chris Bosh will be out with a strained hamstring. I don't want to suggest he's made of glass or anything, but he does seem to get more minor injuries than the average guy. Well, other than Hose B Calderon, one of the few players in pro sports to ever miss games due to "soreness". See, I'm in mid-season Raptor form already.

Follow along here, if you can. Chelsea lost to Wigan 3-1 this morning in English Premier League action. Hard to figure, no? Manchester United moves into a first place tie with Chelsea after their 2-0 win over Stoke. Liverpool hammered Hull City 6-1, and Tottenham rode Robbie Keane's four goals to a 5-0 win over Burnley.

Baseball players freak injuries always have a home in this space, and add Chicago Cub Derek Lee is the latest. He suffered neck spasms after hitting a go-ahead home run a couple nights back when one of the teams relievers gave him a celebratory smack on the helmet.

Here are soccer's best - or worst, depending on your perspective - goal scoring celebrations. Not sure how this one didn't make the list: an Italian player biting a teammates pecker. No, really.

Rock stars have some pretty great deaths. Here are the 15 lamest.

Have a great day. GO TFC!

Down go the Tribe, again

Wayne Gretzky did about the only thing he could've done when both prospective Phoenix Coyotes ownership groups essentially indicated he was not part of their plans: he quit. The Great One finishes 18 games under .500 as a coach in Phoenix, and it'll be quite the surprise if he gets another coaching offer, or even if he wants one. Damien Cox at the Toronto Star calls his departure a sure sign that the Coyotes are dead in the desert.

Incredibly, the Cleveleand Indians hadn't held a lead for 70 innings before Michael Brantley's single off the Detroit Tigers Justin Verlander made it 2-0. The lead lasted all of 23 minutes. Speaking of futile teams, the Washington Natinals lost their 100th game yesterday.

ESPN.com's Jayson Stark offers up a preview of baseballs playoff bound starting rotations. Speaking of, the St. Louis Cardinals have three starters with at least 15 wins.

Jay Mohr told a story on the Jim Rome Show about his first time meeting Megan Fox. Says Mohr: "I looked at the tattoo of Marilyn Monroe on her right arm and say 'unbelievable, I have a tattoo of Joe DiMaggio on my right arm' and she says ' who?'". Must be a big fan of Norma Jean to not know her famed ex-hubbie.

The over/under for the Toronto Argos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers game this weekend is 44. Isn't that the equivalent of an over/under of 28 in the average NFL matchup?

The New York Post's Joel Sherman offers up his thoughts on expanding the number of teams in baseball's playoffs. Also pushing the idea this week is ESPN's Peter Gammons.

That's it for today, have a great one.

Guess who's back?

The Miami Dolphins are 0-2 with a schedule that brings them at San Diego, home to Buffalo, home to the New York Jets, home to New Orleans, at the Jets, and at New England their next six games. They're going to be out of the playoff race before October is done.

One sliver of research says that the long suspected theory of Manchester United often benefiting from more injury time than would typically be warranted is more than just speculation. Expect Liverpool's Rafa Benitez to spout off any minute waving this report.

Speaking of 0-2 teams, ESPN.com's Len Pasquerelli says the deck is stacked against the 0-2 teams, despite some high profile exceptions of late, most notably the 2007 New York Giants.

Fall must be near as the New York Yankees are back in the playoffs after winning last night to at least clinch a Wild Card spot. On the downside, Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano without runners in scoring position: 159-434 (.366). With runners in scoring position: 36 of 173 (.208).

What are the odds that Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn't return to the ring for competitive reasons alone? Pretty good, I'd say, when you hear news that he owes the IRS a mere $5.6 million in back taxes.

A mere 26 arrests in Buffalo on opening day for the Bills this past Sunday. This total could increase if they track down the criminals who broke into Donte Whitner's house.

The Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons takes another run at Blue Jays GM JP Ricciardi. Honestly, these never get old. Gonna miss them when Ricciardi is gone.

Check out this Clemson fan taking last week's loss to Georgia Tech REAL hard. Awesome stuff, including the commentators ridiculing him.

Brown Town

The Miami Dolphins ran the ball with authority all over the Indianapolis Colts last night keeping the Colts to 14:53 possession for the entire game and only three second half possessions. Dolphins win, right? Nope. 27-23 Colts. That last Dolphins drive brought back memories of the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl for how bad the play calling was. Only thing missing was a quarterback puking.
That drops the PTP up to 1-5 (-424) for the season. A long ways to go to approach last year's performance.

Herschel Walker has signed to fight for Strikeforce, a rising MMA outfit. It is an awesome deal for Strikeforce as they inked 29 personalities and fighters for the price of one.

The last few road trips of a baseball season are typically when teams have their rookie initiations. The Yankees, for example, decked out their rookies as Batman characters including Ramiro Peña as Catwoman. The Washington Natinals? Well, the always strong Sportspickle says the Nats dressed their rooks in a far more humiliating get-up: as Natinals.

First Buffalo Bill Leodis McKelvin's lawn was vandalized, and now the latest Bills incident saw Donte Whitner's house robbed of $400,000 worth of jewelry. Not safe times for Bills in Buffalo, but word is to make them feel like at home when they come to Toronto later in the year, they'll either be staying in the Jane/Finch area or in Scarborough.

Speaking of robbery, seems a Florida robber was busted. Not for leaving fingerprints, or caught on camera, but because in the middle of his robbery, he flipped on the homeowners computer to check his Facebook page, and neglected to log out afterwards. Real smart. You can't make stuff like this up.

Memo to Chuckie Gruden: you're not working an infomercial. Slow down, drop the volume, take a breath.

Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal figures that J.P. Ricciardi of the Toronto Blue Jays is the only big league GM likely to lose his job at this point. That would put Ricciardi in the exclusive kind of territory he believes he's worthy of, though not quite the destination he figured.

Before and after a fight photos. Exactly how it sounds.

Had to laugh that T.O. retweeted on Sunday night that Dallas might not have a T.O. problem now, but they may in fact have a T.R. problem still, as in Tony Romo. Until we see different, there's something to that.

Washington Redskin rookie Robert Henson got off a couple fan slamming gems on Twitter after the 'Skins were booed throughout their lacklustre 9-7 win over St. Louis Sunday. Pretty sure his blast that most of the fans booing work 9-5 at McDonalds wins Best Comment of the Week.

Another game, another one for the record books as the Toronto Blue Jays drew one of their smallest crowds to the Rogers Centre with 11,598 making it out. Manager Cito Gaston says fans clearly want to support a winner and while that is true, fans also want to see a team that plays like it cares. So more Adam Linds and fewer Vernon Wells', if you know what I mean.

In probably the most exciting moment in what has been a dreadfully dull CFL season, check out this guy working the goal posts at Ivor Lose Stadium in Hamilton. Thanks to GBV for this link.

PTP

Playing Miami tonight at +3.5, -105.

Easy, Brees-y...beautiful cover

Since 1990, NFL sides that opened the year 0-2 only made the playoffs 13.8% of the time. Teams that start 1-1 make it 40.8% and teams that open 2-0 qualify 64.2% of the time. So for 0-2 Detroit, Carolina, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Cleveland, Tennessee, Jacksonville, and Kansas City, good luck to you.

Most entertaining sporting event of the weekend, if not year? No question, the electric 4-3 thriller won by Manchester United at the last gasp on a goal by Michael Owen over cross-town rival Manchester City. That was game of the year stuff right there, any sport. City keeper Shay Given was a huge part of why there wasn't at least double the United goals. United keeper Ben Foster was a huge part of why there were three City goals.

I know the NFL schedule rotates non-divisional games, but seems real odd that yesterday's visit to Buffalo by Tampa Bay was their first in franchise history. The Bills won 33-20.

105,121 took in the opener of the Dallas Cowboys stunning new stadium, a record crowd. That screen hovering over the field is freaking insane. And as for the team on the field, they looked fantastic for the most part. However, their quarterback Tony Romo clearly must've had money on the visiting Giants, as he lobbed them four picks and the Cowboys lost 33-31 with a last second field goal.

Ahh, that Milton Bradley, always making friends and warming hearts wherever he goes. In an interview with a Chicago paper, he was asked if he had enjoyed his first season with the Cubs, and gave this gem of an answer: "Not really, it's just not a positive environment. I need a stable, healthy, enjoyable environment. There's too many people everywhere in your face with a microphone asking the same questions repeatedly. Everything is just bashing you. You got out there and you play harder than anybody on the field and never get credit for it. It's just negativity. And you understand why they haven't won in 100 years here, because it's negative." Right, and he just threw gas on the fire. Oh, the Cubs also suspended Bradley for the rest of the season.

Not sure I remember a September in the Wild Card era that had fewer races on the go. In fact, if not for the NL Wild Card, and AL Central, there'd be almost no races of note. Having said that, Joba Chamberlain seems interested in making the AL East race a factor again, as he got lit up badly in a New York Yankee loss while the Boston Red Sox were winning again to trim the Yanks lead to five with a series looming next weekend in the Bronx.

The 4th quarter was barely started in the New York Jets win over New England when three - THREE - request for Mark Sanchez jersey's dropped into my inbox. Jets fans are serious, no question. Funny how easily the Patriots could be 0-2 and the Buffalo Bills 2-0.

The New Orleans Saints could be seen as not as great as their Week 1 showing, where they lit up woeful Detroit. But to go into Philadelphia and drop 48 on the Eagles is something to take note of. This is a team to watch this year, for entertainment purposes, and because you'll be seeing them in late January and possibly into February. Drew Brees is the best QB in the game right now.

Have a great Monday.

Money May-o Clinic

Contemplated writing the first six comments today on NHL pre-season the same way our blessed sports networks start out their broadcasts, but why do that when there were merely dozens of actually important games and events yesterday?

Florida had to labour to down an inspired Tennessee yesterday, while Michigan continued to show improvement with a 45-17 win over Eastern Michigan. Notre Dame beat Michigan State 33-30 in a wild back and forth game, and in their annual "lose to a team they've got no business losing to", USC dropped a 16-13 result against Washington.

Yesterday's EPL action went largely according to form. The big match of the day kicks off at 8:30 on Setanta when Manchester City and Manchester United play in a super intriguing game.

Week 2 of the NFL goes off today and a couple of East matchups, one per conference, are of interest. The New York Jets and New England Patriots go off at 1pm (Eastern) and the Jets have been talking major trash ahead of this one of how they're going to get a serious piece of Tom Brady. Guess they haven't learned the one about not poking the bear. The New York Giants visit the Dallas Cowboys tonight as Cowboys Stadium opens, no doubt with more than a little scoreboard-over-the-field talk. The Baltimore Ravens at San Deigo Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers at Chicago Bears should also be interesting. Playing the Dallas Cowboys at -3 +108 for the Prime Time Pick (1-3, -219).

Toronto FC made for roadkill again last night in LA. David Beckham opened the scoring early, and former Red Edson Buddle scored late to carry the Galaxy to a 2-0 win. TFC is all but done for 2009 insofar as playoffs are concerned, but hey, they've got a healthy increase out to season ticket holders for 2010 out already, so there is that. Coach Chris Cummins would do well to leave Jim Brennan and Nick Garcia out of future lineups. This team will never have any success with those two in the side.

There were some impressive showings at UFC 103, including a thundering knockout from Tyson Griffin, a speedy win for Josh Koschek, and in the upper card, Junior Dos Santos beat a past it Mirko "Cro Cop" by "verbal submission", a first I believe, and Vitor Belfort beat Rich Franklin with a first round knockout.

Floyd Mayweather fought the baseball equivalent of a shutout last night, never in danger in a unanimous decision over Juan Manuel Marquez where the surprise was that Mayweather didn't finish him well before that. Marquez landed merely 40 punches through the first seven rounds. Seriously, that's it. Mayweather was landing nearly 60% of his punches through 10, an incredible hit rate. Had both that card and UFC 103 going last night and spent far more time on the latter. I find it far easier to watch an MMA fight between two guys I don't know than to watch two guys box I don't know in a 3/4 empty arena.

Stop the world, Kessel is a Leaf!

The long rumored deal that would send Phil Kessel to the Toronto Maple Leafs finally went down. A great move for the Leafs, especially when their offence this year was set to consist of, well, nobody that anybody fears really. But let's be serious, they've still got to get a few more Kessel types before the parade route should even be discussed or in other words, ignore the Leafs AbomiNation hype on this one. Great move. World changing? No. Not on its own.

UFC 103 goes tonight from Dallas, Texas with a pretty bland - in my estimation - main event of Rich Franklin against Vitor Balfour. Cro Cop faces Junior Dos Santos as the former looks to continue his improved form of late in the UFC with a second straight win, that should be a real good one. Full card here.

#1 Florida is a 29 point fav today against Tennessee. The Volunteers have never been 29 point dogs in their history and more than a few are saying the margin could be 50+ for Florida. Guess Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin will probably regret spouting off a few months back on Florida, among other teams, that he said his team would top.

Julian De Guzman, Toronto FC's largest signing to date by miles, is expected to make his debut tonight in L.A. when TFC takes on David Beckham and the Galaxy in a game with huge playoff implications for TFC. Kickoff is 10:30, coverage on SportsNet.

St. Louis Cardinal Matt Holliday hit an okay .286 with Oakland. Since moving to the Cards, he's feasting on inferior NL pitching and hitting a smoking .360.

You're tennis player Ivo Karlovic, playing for Croatia in the Davis Cup. You blast a record 78 aces in your match. Easy, blowout winner, right? Nope. He lost to Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek in five sets, with the final set a 16-14 affair. Crazy.

There is a San Jose Shark that has perhaps the best porn name ever. Check this out.

Carolina Panther Steve Smith was mic'd up for last week's season opener and as you can see below, he had some fun with it. Check out the 2:50 mark for his comments to Jake Delhomme after he threw his fourth pic. He was kidding, I think.

Friday Morning Meltdown

As a result of some technical issues, RM returns tomorrow.