"Prediction? Pain...."

Canada faces Russia tonight in the World Junior Hockey Championship's gold medal game in Buffalo, Ontario New York.  Puck drop is 7:30pm on TSN.  It is hard to imagine Canada playing as air tight a game as they did in Monday's semi-final win over the U.S., but they also beat Russia in group play with a less than air-tight performance.  Prediction? I'll say Canada, but leave it to Clubber Lang to deliver


Baseball's Hall of Fame voting goes today and you can bet that Roberto Alomar gets in, which I'm sure the Toronto Blue Jays will be whoring for the next decade or two.  Question is, which Jays hat does he wear?  The old school one?  The one with the stylized "T", the one with the Maple Leaf?  So many decisions.  Me, I'm not sure how Jack Morris isn't in yet - he was as reliable as a starter got in his day.  Tom Verducci looks at the ballot and assesses the field, and Jayson Stark says baseball needs to address the steroids era or they'll likely have a year or several where there is an empty podium.

The Miami Dolphins are said to be chasing both Bill Cowher and Jim Harbaugh as their future head coaches.  Can't lose with either guy, but then again, it is the Dolphins we're talking about.

The Guardian UK looks at David Beckham's latest footsie match with a team other than his own LA Galaxy and concludes he hasn't exactly been a great investment for the Galaxy with no championships delivered and constant flirting with European clubs in the off-season, and sliding impact on the MLS as a whole.  He might want to remember who threw him a face-saving life-raft when nobody else was interested in him as his days at Real Madrid drew to a close.  Also, how does Beck's figure he'll get any time at Spurs when they've got Luka Modric, Rafael Van der Vaart, Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon, Niko Kranjcar, Jermaine Jenas, all younger, faster and almost all better, options?

Speaking of Bale and Real, they are said to be ready to make a big offer to Tottenham to snag out-of-this-world midfielder Gareth Bale this month.  Don't do it, Spurs.  Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus are said to be lurking for an off-season bid.  Again, don't do it, Spurs.

Check out the best animated sports GIF's of 2010.  Some awesome stuff here.  Love the Lakers entry at #40, and of course #5.  Here's my personal fav.

LeBron James has dubbed his Miami Heat "The Heatles", because they sell so many tickets on the road.  Very, very lame.

If you've got 10 minutes or so to spare, I can guarantee you love this Fail 2010 compilation.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Well lookie here, a goalie!

A funny thing happened last night at the World Junior Hockey Championships.  Facing the home side USA - and we use that term loosely - who were unbeaten and untied in the tourney, and with far better performances albeit against softer competition, the goalie challenged and up and down Canadian team showed up.  Big.  Riding a superb performance in net from Mark Visentin and were dominant in beating the hosts 4-1.  Up Wednesday night is a gold medal game against Russia, who took out the whiny Swedes in a shootout.  Hey, don't hear Hockey Fan cracking on that as the way to end a game the way you do soccer!  Speaking of, nice work rocking the soccer scarves with Canada on them and lifting Toronto FC's well known "this is our house" chant.  Good to see people evolving from the ridiculously lame "Go [insert team name here] go!"

What hurts more, going 6-0 in your division and not making the playoffs like the Oakland Raiders did, or going 10-6 overall and not making it, like the New York Giants did? Oh, and nice year Eli Manning. Only 24 interceptions? 

Also on those two teams, the Oakland Raiders look like they'll be kicking Tom Cable to curb.  The New York Giants have a worse record in the last 8 games in all 7 of Tom Coughlin's seasons. Not once did they match wins from first 8 games.  They've also got four playoff wins over that run, all in their Super Bowl winning year.  Interesting thought on why keeping some continuity in the coaching area isn't a bad thing: if the league does go to a lockout and comes back, you might see a coach with just a couple weeks to work with before the season starts. 

Jason Garrett looks like he'll be named the full-time Dallas Cowboys coach, once the charade of respecting the Rooney Rule is complete. Dallas last minute comeback at Philly Sunday saw them drop from a #5 overall draft pick to #9. Ouch. Carolina, Denver and Buffalo have the top three picks, in that order.

The NFL Most Improved Team award goes to the Detroit Lions for finishing 6-10 after a 2-14 year last year, and of course going winless the year prior.  That's also their best record since 1995.

Great read from Kristian Jack at The Score as he takes his annual stab at the 100 top players in the English Premier League.  Be sure to check out the ridiculous graphic alongside Luka Modric's entry at #7 that covers his passes during one game and where they were from and to.  The man covers more ground than a lawn mower.

7 of 12 NFL playoff teams also made it last year. Did you know MLB hasn't had season w/ more than 1/2 of playoff teams repeating since '05?  Once again, another blow to the simplistic view that "salary cap = parity".

Winter Classic ratings were up 22 per cent from last year south of the border to 4.65 million overall. Not bad, considering game was moved from afternoon to the black hole of Saturday night prime time.  If you don't think the NHL keeps with it, you're begging.  Best comment I heard on the subject: the whinging over the weather and such is largely coming from Canadians sour that Canadian teams are not hosting or participating in these games.

Because I can never get enough of people dumping on Brett Favre, here's former Vikings QB Fran Tarkenton with his latest round of verbal assassination that leaves me saying "That's Incredible!"

Looks like Toronto FC are about to announce a huge change in the way they do things - and good on them! - with the hiring of former Dutch international Aron Winter to lead the coaching staff with Paul Mariner, formerly with New England in the MLS, riding shotgun.  Great stuff.

Those that dislike Cristiano Ronaldo will love reading that pretty much his entire Real Madrid team hates him after a blow-up with goalie/captain Iker Cassilas over comments made by his girlfriend, media hottie Sara Carbonero. Shame they can't win a thing without him.  Should've stayed at United, CR7!  Oh, and now comes word that the club has banned Sara Carbonero from even mentioning Ronaldo.  Nice team, gents.

Love seeing that the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL - below - have taken to practicing goal scoring celebrations in the style of EA Sports NHL '94.  I had it in mind to use this to take a dig at KD, who promised delivery of a video game, and he did indeed deliver.  Thanks bro!

Guessing the director that worked the Wichita State and Missouri State game this past weekend got called on the carpet for calling for this shot as they went to commercial?

Chelsea host Manchester United today in a huge game for both clubs hopes for this season.  For Chelsea, they're looking to solidify a Champions League spot for next year, while Manchester United would love a positive result here to move a step closer to the EPL title for this season.  Kickoff is 2:45pm on Setanta.

Fear not, Buffalo Bills fans, "Chan [Gailey] has a plan" says new Bills assistant head coach Dave Wannstedt.  Well that takes care of that.  Love that he says "everywhere he's been he's been successsful" of a career 22-26 coach.

The NBA, in a bid to speed up games, is cracking down on teams that treat the horn to signal the end of a timeout as merely a suggestion to wrap up their conversation, and the early results suggest it is shaving some time off.  Also likely to shave off time: eliminating all the bloody timeouts.  Just a thought.

Weekend wrap

Great picture at right, though I'm sure the NFL will clamp down on "Sterger #69" jersey's before this update makes it to the interweb.

And speaking of Brett Favre, All you need to know about his priorities: he wore a hat with #4 on it yesterday, not a Vikings hat, and didn't stick around for handshakes. What did the Vikes expect for a guy making $20 million this season? Here's hoping we never have to see him again or hear a word about him that doesn't conclude with how old he was when he died.

Seldom have I ever seen a guy take a beating for five minutes the way Frankie Edgar did in defending his lightweight title Saturday night against Gray Maynard - who yours truly met in Vegas in November - and stick around for a second round.  Maynard hit Edgar with 97 shots in the opening round, most staggering bombs, and Edgar survived to work his way into a draw, though I haven't a clue how one judge scored him a 48-46 winner.  UFC President Dana White says that Anthony Pettis - the guy that executed that ridiculous Matrix-style kick last month - will step aside while these two stage a rematch.  Makes sense.  And in other great UFC news, Brittney Palmer made her ring girl debut for UFC after a run in the WEC.  Me likey.

The Canadian World Junior entry were hardly awe inspiring in a 4-1 win over Switzerland that wasn't salted away til well into the third.  They've got a date with the host American team - though you won't know they're host with the crowd likely to be 2/3rds Canadian in Buffalo - and will have to be far, far better if they're to advance to the final.

Canadian World Junior coach Dave Cameron says "there are three or four" legitimate teams in the tourney. So worst case, you've got a 75% shot at medalling if form holds.  And TSN pumps it up like it is the be all, end all. 

The New England Patriots are 82-3 when winning turnover battle since 2001 and 13-0 this year.  Nobody was even close to them this year for protecting the ball. They turned it over 9 times. Second? Kansas City with 12.

The puckhead's screaming about the poor quality of ice leading to a decrease in competitive integrity (because all 82 games are equally fought by every team), or the glare of the stadium light's in Pittsburgh are missing the point. This event is about promoting the league first and foremost, and with the ratings it draws, it isn't going away. The elements are part of the story, and a game played in cold, snow, fog or whatever other element is always going to beat an arena game for the casual fan anyways.  Besides, we wouldn't get GIF's like this Alex Ovechkin spill.  Oh, the Caps won 3-1.

Tampa Bay Bolt Steven Stamkos scored 61 goals during 2010, the calendar year.  Nobody scored more.

The New Orleans Saints loss yesterday ensured they'd play Seattle instead of Philadelphia. I wouldn't go so far as to suggest they were looking to lose yesterday, but you might.   Looks like the NFL is going with a "last in, first out" approach for the NFC West winner.  Despite a 7-9 record, the Seahawks make the playoffs.  All nine losses were by 15+ points, for those interested in that kind of thing.

A mere 75 days until Toronto FC has its curtain raiser on the 2011 season.  So far, they're without a GM, a coach, possibly have lost their captain, and have about a half dozen holes to fill (at least).  Other than that, all is well.

UFC 129 in Toronto will see Georges St. Pierre defend his Welterweight title against Jake Shields, and Randy Couture take on Lyoto Machida. There's supposed to be at least one more major fight, likely Brock Lesnar. 

It has been over a week now since Christmas, and The Sports Pickle tells us that Rex Ryan is very disappointed that he received socks for Christmas.  The question remains, however, is did his wife?

Not a fan of any soccer game that has to go to penalty kicks as it isn't a great way to decide a game.  But it did provide this moment.  Yep, that's a player springing a leak at midfield as he awaits the shootout.

An awesome collection of great sports quotes from 2010 in the National Post.

Paul Daugherty at Sports Illustrated says "why not?" to whether athletes should be allowed to use performance enhancing drugs.  Interesting take.

The New York Yankees had their hearts set on a former Cleveland Indian, former Cy Young Award winner, and they just may deliver him after all in the form of...Bartolo Colon? 

In 2011, I need this in my life more, or at least some.  No clue how it works, but every sports team should have this in their buildings.

Final prime timer of the year, playing Seattle +3.

Happy 2011!

A Happy 2011 to you all.  Going to guess most are in a bit of a haze today - good for you! - so we'll keep it light today with this gem that comes to us all the way from 1974.  A letter exchange, when people still did that, from a season ticket holder of the Cleveland Browns, and the reply provided.  Back Monday with the full edition.

Last call for 2010!

Canada faces Sweden today in World Junior Hockey play with first place at stake in Group A, which brings with it a bye to the semi-finals.  That would come in handy for a very beat up Canadian squad.  Puck drop is 4pm on TSN, great way to get the New Year's Eve festivities started early.  Be sure to check out yesterday's post and the comments section for a spirited diatribe by Bukakke and yours truly on the "hats during anthem" issue.

Jason Whitlock says that Rex Ryan needs to be less clown and more coach.

Here's a great bit on some of the best plays in sports in 2010, and you can get your votes in to rate them as well. Worth the time, though more than a few were highlighted in this space over the course of the year.  For me, Landon Donovan's goal for the U.S. at the World Cup was the play of the year.  Goosebumps.  Yes, moreso than Canada's Olympic Gold winning goal from Sydney Crosby even, which didn't make the cut.

Steve Simmons at The Toronto Sun gives us his view of the year in sports.

I'll leave the analysis of Octavio Dotel's signing by the Toronto Blue Jays to Fark.com: Octavio Dotel agrees to a one-year contract of choking in the 9th inning for the Blue Jays.  Drunk Jays Fan is similarly unimpressed.  Or furious.  One or the other. 

LeBron James now says that he didn't advocate for contraction, and needed to go to the internet to see what the word meant.  See kids, stay in school. 

Thanks for reminding us we're watching a "football game" with "football teams", idiot colour guy at The Music City Bowl.  Also, you don't need to start every sentence with "when you talk about..."  Just talk about it, FFS.

If you're a fan of the chalkboard quotes that Woody Paige uses on ESPN's Around The Horn, you can see them here.  Updated often.

Not sure how they managed it, but the good folks at The Bleacher Report managed to narrow down Mike Singletary's coaching run - and I'd bet hard he never gets another head coaching job - with the San Francisco 49ers to 10 Most Bizarre moments.

UFC 125 goes tomorrow night with Gray Maynard - a good guy I met in Las Vegas in November - facing Frankie Edgar for his Lightweight title. Full card here.  The prelims are airing on Rogers SportsNet, free of charge.  A bit of a blow yesterday to the potential card for Toronto with word that Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez suffered a torn rotator cuff in his title win over Brock Lesnar.  He'll be out 6-8 months now.

A couple UFC entries here in the Top 24 Knockouts of 2010.

Dallas Cowboys fans will not be lamenting this Sunday's game likely being the last with one Roy E. Williams.

You may recall a few weeks back that Edmonton Oiler Linus Omark took a verbal beating from the Tampa Bay Lightning after his spin move - nowhere near the net, mind you - before scoring in a shootout against the Bolts.  Funny, I don't hear the Bolts crying now that Steve Stamkos pulled a similar move in tight against the Montreal Canadiens last night.  Hockey's "codes" are no less a joke than baseball's.

Complex delivers the best 90 women of the 1990's.  Some real blasts from the past here.

I read a reference to Chris Bosh yesterday that called him "Ringo".  Freaking awesome.

20 fantastic Bar Rafaeli photos, and some fresh Megan Fox ones.  You're welcome.

Before we close the day, there will be a brief entry tomorrow morning.  You're going to want to see it for sure.  Be safe tonight, don't drink and drive.  Catch you on the other side.

Now THIS is how you get jacked up for a soccer game.  Oh wait...the kids are 10-year olds?  Wild video from Poland.  Remember this the next time you hear an announcer talk about a "raucous" NBA/NFL/NHL/MLB crowd.

"Executed"? Really?

Managed to tune in to the dying minutes and post-game of Canada's 10-1 beatdown of Norway yesterday at the World Junior Hockey Championship's in Buffalo.  Not sure what was more embarrassing, seeing the Canadian fans celebrating the 10th goal like it was a gold medal winner, or seeing the losers wearing their hats for the national anthem post-game after you could clearly hear it announced in the building that one should "please remove (your) hat" for the playing thereof.  There's no excuse for wearing a hat during the playing of any anthem, ever.  Would love to see that caricature Don Cherry take that subject on, no way he'd talk down to his minions like that.

Brett Favre was fined $50,000 for not cooperating with the NFL's investigation into the sext messages he sent Jenn Sterger. Let that be a lesson to you, NFLers: don't cooperate. Far cheaper, and no suspension.

That nut Tucker Carlson says that "Mike Vick should have been executed" for his dog fighting crimes. No, seriously.

Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports looks at steroids, responsibility and why the Hall of Fame vote gets more agonizing every year: 

Further to yesterday's Brock Lesnar bit, word is he is looking for a way out of the MMA game after completing his last fight for UFC.  Having your ass handed to you can have that effect. He's got a $2 million offer from WWE to work a match at WrestleMania. Speaking of packing it in, Chuck Lidell took some time to tell us what we already knew yesterday: he's done as a fighter.

13 NHL teams received revenue sharing last season.  Would you believe that all 13 are in the United States?  Strange, isn't it?

Rudi at Canadian Soccer News looks at the Toronto FC and Dwayne De Rosario situation and concludes it is time for MeRo to go.

The hottest 30 calendars of 2011.  And if that wasn't enough, here's the Nuts 2011 calendar.  NSFW, people.

All the best jukes, step-overs, goals and moves from the 2010 World Cup all in one convenient mix-tape. You're welcome.  No better way to spend nearly 9 minutes today.

Total Skills FIFA World Cup 2010 Edition By Fuentes from fuentesquatre on Vimeo.

The Vikings win?

At the World Junior Hockey Championships, Canada went down a goal in the opening minute to the Czech's before scoring a touchdown in what ended up a 7-2 final.  So far, so good for the red and white.  Up tonight is a 7:30pm curbstomping game with Norway.

Absolutely stunned that the Minnesota Vikings not only covered last night in Philadelphia, but won outright by a 24-14 score. Who saw that coming?  Crazy, crazy NFL season.

The San Antonio Spurs become just the fourth team in NBA history to go 11-0 at home in a single month when they smoked the LA Lakers 87-82 last night. That also marked the first time the Lakers have lost 10 games by the end of December since 2007.

Manchester City hammered Aston Villa 4-0 to temporarily jump into top spot in the EPL yesterday, but cross-town rivals Manchester United drew Birmingham in a tough game 1-1 thanks to a last minute controversial goal by Birmingham that tied it to leave it as a Manchester split of first place, albeit with United having two games in hand.  Tottenham were impressive 2-0 winners at Newcastle. Up today, Chelsea has a tricky one in visiting Bolton (Setanta, 2:45pm), Arsenal is at Wigan, and Liverpool hosts Wolverhampton. The latter two are on Setanta, albeit on tape delay.  Does "tape delay" still apply?

Brock Lesnar allegedly has an offer from the WWE to do a WrestleMania match.  Perhaps the Undertaker thing in October was a precursor to that? Can't imagine Dana White and the UFC go for that, not when White said he won't allow it on a recent appearance on the George Strombolopolous Show.  Besides, my bet is he's got an end of April date in Toronto in front of a huge UFC crowd at the Rogers Centre. Yes, I just said "huge crowd" and "Rogers Centre" in the same sentence.

Hey, don't look now, but the Toronto Blue Jays added a piece this off-season. Octavio Dotel is in, ostensibly as their new closer. Now they just need some (serious) bullpen help and a first baseman.

Not sure what it is, but the Toronto Raptors seem to run into good fortune occasionally when visiting the Dallas Mavericks. Sure the Mavs may have been missing Dirk Nowitzki, but the Raps still got it done without Andrea Bargnani and others with a 84-76 win.  Yes, the Raps kept somebody out of triple digits.  Caleron was out people, recognize.

The circus that is Toronto FC never ends. Captain - and the term is used loosely in his case - Dwayne MeRosario DeRosario has gone off to Scotland to work out with Glasgow Celtic without the team's knowledge and now, by all indications, against their wishes. If this is some power play to get a raise from TFC, here's hoping it fails.  I suspect MeRo's days with TFC are done whatever the case.  MLS and TFC are now arranging the proper trial paperwork with Celtic.  Also, Gerry Dobson at SportsNet weighs in.

How happy were the New Orleans Saints to clinch a playoff birth on Monday night in Atlanta?  Happy enough they returned to the field post-game to take a team picture on the Falcon at mid-field.  Speaking of clinching, here is who needs what to wrap up a birth in Week 17.

There might be only three backs - Michael Turner, Steven Jackson and Rashard Mendenhall - who average 20 carries a game this year.

Carolina has the top pick in the NFL draft, assuming that's still a go next year, and will almost certainly be taking quarterback Andrew Luck, assuming he comes out.

I've got three words for Hugh Hefner, who just got engaged to 24-year old girlfriend Crystal Harris: Anna.  Nicole.  Smith.

The Kansas City Chiefs won 10 games - total - the three years prior to this season, in which they're at 10 already and a division winner.

And for the third year running, if you use "frozen tundra", you are not smart. That's like saying "frozen ice".  Redundant. I prayed that would fade when John Madden rode home on his bus with his eye shadow, but still happens.

NHL referee Paul Devorski allegedly mocked fans in Columbus who were upset about a call he made with the old "rub my eyes like I'm crying bit" and then dropped a middle finger on them.  Classy.

With warm weather slated for Pittsburgh on Saturday, the NHLWinter Classic is lining up its various backup plans for the , which sounds like it might not be so wintery in any case.

Here's a ridiculous idea to speed up sports: eliminate timeouts. All of them.  Would love to see a basketball game or football game played without them.

There is penalty killing, and then there is this gem you may have heard about from Tyler Carroll of the Guelph Storm killing a 5-on-3 at the Kitchener Rangers last week.  As impressive as it gets.


I don't know who this team is, but they sure are terrible.

Great Monday Nighter last night in Atlanta where despite giving the home Falcons repeated chances to put the game away in the fourth, the New Orleans Saints emerged victorious 17-14.  The Saints are getting healthy at just the right time and while they seem to lack the mojo they worked last year, are going to be a serious threat come January and the playoffs.

How long til somebody in the Canadian media says snow in Northeastern U.S. is just Canada invading with World Jr's in upstate New York?  Canada takes on the Czech Republic at 4pm today on TSN.

A year ago at this time, the New Jersey Devils sat top of the NHL. Today, they sit 30th.

In the New York Jets last 4 games, 3 that ended in losses, they trailed 17-0 to New England after the first quarter, 10-0 to Miami after the first quarter,  and 10-0 to Chicago after the first quarter. Generally not the way you want to start games.

After five straight losses to Chelsea, Arsenal turned the tables with a 3-1 win at home that really puts a dent in Chelsea's title hopes. Still strikes me as odd tuning in to the Monday EPL broadcast and seeing ESPN logos plastered on the microphones of the commentators, among other places. Not sure if it is ESPN gone global as much as it is the EPL becoming a big property on The Worldwide Leader.  Another round of games starts today during the busy holiday time in the EPL, including Manchester United at Birmingham at 3pm on TSN2.  I suspect Newcastle at Tottenham at 10am will see more than couple goals there.

What does it say of the Toronto Raptors that they use their mascot - entertaining though he may be - and a member of their Dance Pak flanking DeMar Derozan to push tickets?

In Sunday's Toronto Sun, Steve Simmons took the Blue Jays to task for a very underwhelming, step back off-season. On Monday, he tweeted out that he's had problems with his Rogers Yahoo! email.  Coincidence?

The storm that has pounded the northeastern U.S. has made for some interesting scenarios, but few as comedic as the New York Giants being (still) stuck in Green Bay after the whipping they took Sunday. Am sure Tom Coughlin's made it a real relaxing time for them.

For reasons I'm not sure anyone can fathom, the San Diego Chargers say they're sticking with their G.M. A.J. Smith and coach Norvelle Turner.

Not sure what I wanted more, the almost annual Kitchener fire to hit Fairview Park Mall on Sunday when Justin Bieber visited, or an IED to take out Don Cherry during his visit to Afghanistan. Thinking the latter as The Bieb's days are numbered as is.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats may move to Burlington?  Is there anyone in favor of that, especially the good people of Burlington?

Tough week ahead for the Philadelphia Eagles as they battle for the second seed in the NFC.  They've got Minnesota at home, and then an extra-rested Dallas team on Sunday just five days later.  On second thought, maybe not that tough.  The Eagles are 14 point favs tonight and while I don't normally like taking chalk at that large a number, tough to bet on the Vikes.  Eagles it is.

The New England Patriots haven't lost a fumble or thrown an interception in the last six games, the longest such streak in NFL history, with the record interception streak running since October 23rd against Baltimore for Tom Brady, 319 pass attempts.  That's the stuff of champions.

Check out this Arizona Cardinals cheerleader in a panic. 

Loved Kobe Bryant telling LeBron James on Saturday that "I'm a f&%#ing champ"...


Detroit Lions centre Dominic Raiola tells Miami Dolphins fans to suck a part of his anatomy.

Back!

Back after a few down days celebrating Christmas, and celebrating it hard more often than not. Hope the holidays have treated you well. The plan is to be here daily through the week.

The NFL made an early decision to cancel the Sunday Night game in Philadelphia with a massive snow storm on the boil, marking the third straight week Minnesota has been bounced around. That game will go on Tuesday now. Meanwhile, despite the New York Islanders requesting their game last night against Montreal be postponed, the NHL declined. Wouldn't want to piss off the 2,000 or so loyal Islanders followers.  And better still, the New Jersey Devils announced at the end of the first period - around 8pm - to the 5,329 in attendance that buses leaving their arena would stop running after 8:30pm because of the storm. Way to go, NHL. Those there are Winter Classics!

The hockey tourney only Canada cares about opened, and Canada started well, with a 6-3 win over Russia. Up tomorrow at 4pm is the Czech Republic. Warning to those dialing in on TSN: bring a mop to keep near your TV. After all, Pierre Macguire is gushing all kinds of man juices on colour commentary.

In the last 68 minutes, the New York Giants have allowed 73 points, including yesterday's 45-17 loss at Green Bay.  Yeah, that's all on the punter, Tom Coughlin. Enjoy unemployment.  Speaking of, the San Francisco 49ers parted ways with coach Mike Singletary after an embarrassing season on the field, and on the sidelines.  He got into a ridiculous shouting match with QB Troy Smith yesterday.
 
The Seattle Seahawks have been outscored 114-58 their last three weeks but somehow, still have a shot to make the playoffs in this wild NFL season.

Manchester United strengthened their grip on first place in the English Premier League with a far-easier-than-the-2-0-scoreline suggests win over Sunderland, leaving them with 37 points. Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney were fantastic, with the former scoring both.  Manchester City move into second place after yesterday's 3-1 win at Newcastle, giving them 35 points, although they've played two more games than the rest of the top four.  Up today is a killer matchup that sees third-place Arsenal host fourth-place cross-town rival Chelsea. 3pm kick-off on TSN2.

What is better than former MLBer Lenny Dykstra, well known to have some money troubles, bouncing a cheque on an escort?  And since when do the pros accept cheques?

The 2000 Baltimore Ravens didn't use the word "playoffs" all season—they substituted "Festivus." The Super Bowl was referred to as "Festivus Maximus."  Weird.

Back tomorrow (Monday) morning. Check back often.

Merry Christmas from RandoMango

Merry Christmas, everybody.  A festive video for you today from your friend and mine, Bukkake.

PTP

Playing the Steelers tonight at -13.5. Who isn't?

What would we do without the NY Jets?

Somehow, video has hit the interweb of New York Jets coach Rex Ryan's wife appearing in a foot fetish video, with someone who sounds a lot like Rex Ryan in the background. What would we do without the Jets and their weekly dominance of headlines?  Check out the very uncomfortable Ryan in his presser yesterday.  Thanks to JJ for the original video...I think.

One in four pieces of NFL merchandise sold is of the Dallas Cowboys, according to 60 Minutes.  Not bad for a team a decade and a half removed from its last championship.

63% of tickets sold for the Buffalo World Junior's have been sold to Canadians.  There's a reason that when held in the lower 48 that the tourney is in a border town.  My guess is that tourney becomes increasingly a Canadian and border city fixture.  



The Sports Pickle on Larry Brown getting axed by Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Bobcats: "Larry Brown is lucky he only got fired by Michael Jordan. Working for a guy with a mustache like that? Could've been worse."  Jordan, of course, is rocking a Hitler 'stache of late.

It has now been 100 days since Mo Johnston and Preki were relieved of their duties with Toronto FC.  No official replacements in sight, despite talk of a Christmas target.

Good news, baseball fans, 54 days til pitchers and catchers report if you're wondering.

The Qatar Group that is said to be purchasing Manchester United may be a ways off, but it is sure getting a lot more media run the last couple days. Where there's smoke...

The ever delusional Mario Balotelli, who struggles to crack Manchester City's starting lineup, says that only Lionel Messi is better than he is. Right, Messi, a couple guys on his own team, a couple dozen in his league, Cristiano Ronaldo and about 50 other guys around the world, roughly. Ass hat.

Funniest line I heard on Manny Pacquiao's May fight with Shane Mosley: he must've confused "fighting for money in May" with "fighting Money May".

Awesome UFC vid ahead of UFC 125 next weekend.  Turn up the volume on this one.

Quick one today...

Up next for Manny Pacquiao is a date with "Sugar" Shane Mosley on May 7th of next year in Las Vegas.  Not exactly an inspired choice given Mosely has a loss and a draw in his last two fights.   

The Toronto Star's Doug Smith referred to Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon as "the most important player on the roster". Between that and the ridiculous insights into baseball put forth by Dick Griffin, Star sports is lacking. Good thing for Damien Cox, Dave Feshuk and Cathal Kelly.

The 9-20 New Jersey Nets, winners of 3 of 4, find themselves only 2.5 games out of a playoff spot in the NBA lEast.

I have more than my share of fun cracking on the Toronto Blue Jays and their apologists fans, but am a big fan of the blog Drunk Jays Fans, who don't have the blinders on. Here's an example of their fine work in taking apart a recent interview with former Jays President Paul Godfrey and running it through their "Bullshit Translator". Great stuff.

Bill Simmons (aka "The Sports Guy") says Indianapolis Colt Austin Collie is a real live version of Kenny on South Park, and you wait for him to get killed each week. Collie's got three concussions this year now, not that St. Peyton Manning's forced passes into coverage have anything to do with it of course.

UFC is in half a billion homes right now, and in the next two months that will double as they've got deals ready for China and India. They ain't going away. Ever.

Boston Celtic Paul Pierce on the rivalry of the New York Knicks with his team: "When the Knicks and Celtics become a rivalry, I probably won't be in the NBA." Boom goes the dynamite!

Down goes Favre, again

A picture says a thousand "eff yeah's!", after all, and the picture at right sure does that.  Brett Favre couldn't leave well enough (and beyond done) alone, he wanted to go out (on a stretcher, presumably) one last time on Monday Night to show he still had it.  Bad play, Brett.  On the upside, he did add to his impressive array of stadia he's thrown interceptions in.  And on the heels of that comes this great INaction figure in the second picture, that I must have for Christmas.  I think I'd carry it around with me like a safety blanket, such would be my joy.

The San Diego Chargers have outscored opponents by 128 points, an average of  9.1 per game, but are just 8-6 and in second place in their division.  The Seattle Seahawks have been outscored by 84 but are tied for first in the terrible NFC West.

The Atlanta Falcons have won five straight with four of them on the road, and find themselves sitting as a very quiet #1 seed in the NFC, which is about as open as it has ever been.

Bill Cowher is said to have narrowed his list of desired coaching spots to three teams and they are Houston, New York Giants and Miami.  Of course, standing in the way is the fact that each of these teams actually has a coach.

The Montreal Canadiens are "dirty" and "despicable", according to the Boston Bruins and the legendary Boston cheerleaders…err…media.

Off of sports for a second.  There's a U.S. women who lacks something that we all have: she has absolutely no fear.   No, really, she's missing the "danger detector" that gives us all phobias.  How awesome would that be?

Who was the portly fellow in yesterday's edition?  None other than former NHLer Keith Tkachuk, who only retired this past summer.   Here's KT just last year.  Scroll down to yesterday's edition to see the "after" shot.  Apparently teeth are high in caloric content.

Trent Dilfer went back and catalogued the the Monday Night Football game between the New York Jets and New England Patriots a few weeks back and found that in the first 30 offensive plays for the Patriots, if you take away the three goal line, Patriots came out in 27 different formations.  Might explains some of the difficulty teams have had in adjusting to their attack.  That, and Tom Brady might be the best QB ever. 

Heads-up to Felix Hernandez: The Zack Greinke trade means the previous 4 AL Cy Young's were all traded within 15 months of winning the award.  Greinke's departure from KC leaves a social anxiety inducing fear among their fans: the current starters on the Royals roster went 24-36, with a 5.25 ERA in the big leagues last year.  Ouch.  Greinke had no interest in playing for the Toronto Blue Jays regardless of what Dick Griffin at the Toronto Star was selling.

Check out this Oklahoma City Thunder fan hitting a mid-court shot for $20,000...for the second straight week.  Yep, same guy, twice.


Electrifying times at Dallas Cowboys Stadium, albeit in a high school football game.


Count on the great Jay Glazer to find this clip from Sunday's NFL action, which makes the New York Jets trip by Sal Alosi look minor.  But since it isn't a New York team, it flies under the radar.

The usual mega-Monday edition...early!

The Minnesota Vikings will host the Chicago Bears on the Monday Nighter, and it'll be played at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium with the Metrodome unavailable after last week's deflation of its roof.  Vikes punter Chris Kluwe, who has to be eyeing a post-football career in the player's union given his repeated bitching about how the league doesn't take care of players, is again spouting off that the field will be unplayable, and as hard as concrete, given the lack of heating coils.  Playing Chicago -8 tonight in this one.


If the rumor mill is running accurately, it sounds like we'll be talking about Qatar a lot more in 2011. Talk is a Qatari group is going to purchase Manchester United in June for a mere $2.3 billion (Canadian/U.S.) from those purveyors of trailer trash, the Glazer family, who also own the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

I don't know if Michael Vick is a better MVP choice than Tom Brady, and I'd say he's not even close given the time missed, but he sure wins for most exciting player. His Philadelphia Eagles were down 31-10 and in the final 7:28 and roared back to win 38-31 over the shell-shocked New York Giants. Tom Coughlin's dog is going to wish it was Vick's after that meltdown.  That of course brought on an epic Manning Face.

Despite winning 33-30 over the Washington Redskins in a wild game, the Dallas Cowboys can't be too thrilled that in 7 of their last night 9 games, they've allowed 30+ points.  Not exactly what was expected of that talented unit.  Skins QB Rex Grossman almost derailed the rumored reason behind starting him over Donovan McNabb: tanking to get a better draft pick.

The New Jersey Nets, soon heading to Brooklyn under a new name, have now compiled five first round draft picks in the next two years.  That's a hell of a team coming down the turnpike.

Not often I go with trivia here, but let's see if anybody can identify the guy at the right of the picture here.  And yes, that is St. Louis Cardinal Chris Carpenter in the pic as well.  Answer comes tomorrow.

The Price Is Right has seen its ratings drop precipitously since Bob Barker put away his ridiculously oversized microphone and Drew Carrey took over, so what better time for the NHL to get some representation on the show today at 11am?  After all, who knows poor ratings like the NHL?  Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and Jeremy Roenick will be on, apparently to promote the Winter Classic during the showcase showdown.

The craziest fan brawls in sports, complete with video evidence.  Far too much North American content, unfortunately.  The rest of the world does fan brawls so much better.

Check out New England Patriots guard Dan Connelly, all 300 or so pounds of him, pick up a kickoff and rumble 71 yards down the field.  Awesome.  More awesome?  He didn't go to the lame oxygen mask after.
 

I'm going to confidently state that Houston Texan Brian Cushing, suspended earlier this year for PED usage, will follow the career arc of Shawne Merriman: explode on the scene, dominate, get busted and suspended, and come back and slowly fade away in a series of injuries.  Of course, Cushing did add "fight with teammate in the middle of a game" to that arc yesterday when he got into it with Antonio Smith.


This is Tom Ince, in England's FA Cup play for Notts County, absolutely embarrassing the AFC Bournemouth defence.

Quick one today, as Christmas festivities get into full swing.

Another big weekend in the English Premier League this weekend got mostly wiped out by snow in England, headlined by Manchester United visiting Chelsea tomorrow, where they have not won a game in eight years. No idea when they'll be made up.

After Thursday's beatdown in San Diego, the San Francisco 49ers have now lost five games this season by 18 or more points.

The Miami Heat seem to have found their stride, winning their 11th straight last night in New York.

The NCAA bowl season gets under way today with the barn burning New Mexico Bowl that will pit a pair of 6-6 teams head to head.  I can barely contain my yawn.  Here's a full list of all the match-ups, a bit of a preview and a watchability rating.

Check out the 75 best protest signs of 2010.  #5 is my fav.

Check out the absolutely incredible headkick by Anthony Pettis last night in his WEC 53 bout with Ben Henderson, in what may have been the best MMA fight I've ever, ever seen.  That'll be the last WEC event as that organization and its array of lightning fast, small fighters gets folded into parent company UFC in 2011.  Pettis won the wild bout with Henderson in a five round decision.

The Champions League draw for the round of 16 games went off this morning, and here's what we've got: AS Roma-Shakhtar, a lock-to-be-entertaining AC Milan-Tottenham Spurs matchup, Valencia-Schalke, Inter Milan-Bayern Munich in a rematch of the 2010 final, Lyon-Real Madrid, a juicy Arsenal-Barcelona matchup, Marseille-Manchester United, and FC Copenhagen-Chelsea.

The 50 dirtiest players in sports history, complete with video evidence.  Love it.

Finally, that overpaid, sack and interception prone Minnesota Vikings QB has been put on the IR and is done for the year.  No, not Brett Favre unfortunately, the other one.

Just in case you missed Boston Celtic Nate Robinson's face plant in New York a couple nights ago, here it is. 

We mentioned a few days back that the New York Yankees are taking a flyer on Mark Prior.  Great tweet from Joel Sherman of the New York Post: "Story from March 4, 2011: Prior looks great in #Yankees camp. Story from March 22, 2011, Prior to see Dr. James Andrews."  Not exactly a reach, is it?

Christmas wishes, delivered by Chicago White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen, as only he could possibly deliver them.

What is it with them Terry boys and other guys women?  First John Terry, Chelsea captain, gets with then-teammate Wayne Bridge's ex, creating severe tension and a split from the English national team for Bridge, and now we get word that JT's brother Paul was having an affair with a lady whose boyfriend was - you guessed it - a teammate of Paul's, who then proceeded to hang himself.  Their mom will be so proud at Christmas!

HBO has always been known as an envelope pushing network in terms of the content it runs.  But Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau is taking the language to levels that The Sopranos, Entourage and Boardwalk Empire might find embarrassing in the new series 24/7 that follows the Caps and Pittsburgh Penguins around ahead of their New Year's Day Winter Classic.  More here.

For a change, a brief one

The NFL's lead negotiator says that the key piece in their view towards labour piece is an 18-game schedule.  So here's how this play's out: the NFL wants to ratchet down the percentage paid out to players.  The players don't want to lose money.  So throw them a little cut on the former, with a gain on the latter thanks to an additional 12.5% on the schedule, mix in some better benefits and pension upon retirement, see a season in 2011. 

Orlando Magician Dwight Howard says his days in the Slam Dunk Contest are done.  Also done?  The Slam Dunk Contest.  Long past due.

Not sure who owns this Cleveland Browns bus, but it sure is awesome.

The Phillies now have as many players making $20 million or more (Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard) as the New York Yankees (Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia).  Unlike the rest, only Sabathia and Texeira are under 30.  Think this Phillies fan is a bit excited that Lee is back in town?  Do not look at that link if you've got vertigo.

Refreshing hearing UFC boss Dana White muse on the judging in sports and shake his head and say "ours have to be the worst" during a visit to the George Strombolopolous show a couple days ago.  You'd never hear boxing, figure skating or others that rely on judges ever criticize their judges like that. Of course, it is each commission that provides the judges, not the UFC. 

The Sports Pickle looks at what being a fan of certain teams says about you.

The San Francisco 49ers are the sacrificial lamb being served up tonight in Thursday night NFL action when they visit the San Diego Chargers.  It may seem a suckers bet for how easy it appears, but we're playing the Bolts -9.5 tonight, and you should too.

Wild brawl in Russia's KHL, all of six seconds into the game.  I'm sure it wasn't pre-planned or staged in any way, it is just the passion that can errupt in a game that is six seconds old.

Jets tripping

Now that he's retired, Brett Favre and his true love - no, not Jenn Sterger - finally got around to getting married like they've long planned yesterday.  Good luck, you crazy kids.

Seems the New York Jets defence isn't taking well to coach Rex Ryan saying they weren't good enough on Sunday in their 10-6 loss to Miami.  Says defensive end Shaun Ellis: "I guess we needed a shutout."  Think there's a divide in that team between the offence and defence?  I'd bet that.  Hard.  Former Miami Dolphin (among others) Zach Thomas looks at the tripping incident Sunday in the Jets/Dolphins game and provides pretty compelling evidence that the Jets lined up people to get in the way intentionally with Sal Alosi tripping a Dolphin, as we all now know.  Dirty.

Very classy of UEFA boss Michel Platini and FIFA boss Sepp Blatter to pile on the losing bids for the World Cups in 2018 and 2022.  Platini calls the Qatar win for 2022 "something beautiful" while BlatterEngland "bad losers" called for their complaints in the aftermath of the 2018 vote in which Blatter declared England the best technical bid that ended up receiving all of two votes, most likely given Blatter's huge influence over the lesser lights that comprise most of the voting committee.  Franz Beckenbauer, as respected a man as there is in the game, hammered FIFA for the leaking of vote totals, which were to be secret, and said he's lost confidence in the organization of which he is a part.  Oh, it gets better:  there's now word that Qatar paid $10 million for each FIFA vote.

Wallace Matthews at ESPN.com says Derek Jeter's anger at the press conference announcing his new contract is misplaced, and he should be ecstatic to get the contract he received.  Matthews also says if Jeter was sour over the negotiations, wait until he hears from GM Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi that he isn't fit to lead off or play short stop every day.

Manchester City's Carlos Tevez sure changed his mind about being on the right side of Manchester after leaving United in the summer of 2009.  Nevermind that he was scoring with great regularity, that the team is improving greatly and a threat to win titles, or that he is the highest paid player on the team, or that he's the team's captain, he wants out in the January transfer window because, in the end, it really is all about Carlos Tevez.  Shame really, he's a fantastic player who works hard, but clearly is a bit of a headcase.

Remember the giant controversy over the Dallas Cowboys scoreboard being too low and punts hitting it?  Well, it hasn't happened in a regular season game yet.

Las Vegas over/under on New York Knicks wins this season was set at 35.5. They'd reach 36 by going only 20-37 rest of way

Jose Canseco is going off the deep end any moment now, if he hasn't already. Check out his tweet at the right.

NBC Sports looks at the Cliff Lee signing by the Philadelphia Phillies and says it is too early to pencil them into the World Series.
Cliff Lee is the first major free agent the New York Yankees targeted in 20 years (Greg Maddux being the last) that the Yankees missed out on.  Pretty decent track record, and pretty decent record over the last twenty years.  So far, the Yankees Plan B includes Canadian catcher Russell Martin - nice - and Mark Prior, a big reach albeit with no risk on a minor league deal.

The first time Toronto Raptor Jose Caleron missed a game due to soreness, I was impressed because nobody had ever to my knowledge missed a game before for that reason.  History is always impressive, no?  After that, I started to question his toughness.  The times after that - I've lost count - I started to think maybe I was being too harsh.  Who could expect a guy with a contract pushing eight figures a year to show up for work and play through a boo-boo?  And now that he's missed another road trip, well, I'll say it: he's a pussy.

I may get carpal tunnel after this one...

To start with Brett Favre or Cliff Lee?  Hmm.  One is done, another not, so Lee it is.  In a stunner, Cliff Lee turned down a seven-year $148 million offer from the New York Yankees and looks like he'll take 5-years and $120 million from the Philadelphia Phillies to be the #2 to Roy Halladay.  First thing: why even have an agent?  Lee is said to have reached out to the Phillies himself to put the wheels in motion, and left nearly $30 million on the table.  For this you pay a guy 5% or $6 million?  Second thing: that is one hell of a rotation the Phillies will be trotting out with Halladay, Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels as your top four.  Now, let's not get crazy and say they're better than what the Atlanta Braves rolled out in the 1990's, but that is damn good, although three will be 33 or older before 2011's season is done. Third thing: the Texas Rangers, in the game for dollars and years, have to be stinging in losing Lee, given they traded prized prospect Justin Smoak for four months of Lee.  Fifth thing: Yankees GM Brian Cashman will regret not throwing in Ivan Nova alongside Jesus Montero back in July when they were minutes from acquiring Lee.  I'd wager heavily that had Lee moved to New York then - and he wanted to - he might not have even hit free agency.  George Steinbrenner will be rolling in his grave here, this wouldn't have happened under his watch.  Sixth thing: history may show Texas and New York are happy they didn't have Lee for six or seven years, but short term, they won't be happy.  Sixth thing: the Phillies offered Lee three years and $54 million last winter, so he gained $66 million and two years by going away for a year.  Not bad!  Seventh thing:  my guess is with Albert Pujols vowing he'll go to free agency if he doesn't sign in the next 10 days, the Yankees will be approaching St. Louis for one of their pitchers, likely Chris Carpenter most readily available given age/risk, for a short term fix.  Eighth thing: cannot wait for next season!

In a gritty one, Manchester United were the more impressive side than sloppy Arsenal, who repeatedly gave the ball away, and were 1-0 winners to jump on top of the EPL by a pair of points with a game in hand. 
Arsenal have lost 10 and drawn one of their last 11 games against Man United and Chelsea in all competitions, scoring only five goals.  They cannot get it done when it matters most.  Chelsea and Man U will play Sunday in London.

And then, there is Brett Favre.  His vaunted streak of 297 games came to an end yesterday, and with the reaction on the sporting networks, you'd have thought he died for the treatment he got.  We can only dream.  It looks like Favre is officially done for the year as he's likely to be placed on IR, replacing "INT" as the way he ends a season for the last couple years.  But fret not for Brett, within minutes of word coming out that he wouldn't be playing in Detroit last night, his website was selling "297 starts" balls for a mere $499.99.  

Jon Heyman at SI.com has repeatedly referred to a "mystery team" being in the Cliff Lee running on Twitter, and has since seen a strong backlash from colleagues including Keith Law, Peter Gammons and most fiercely, Buster Olney, mocking him for being a mouthpiece for an agent looking to create leverage, among other things.  Funny stuff here. Still, in the end, Heyman either knew something, or guessed right, and he's not hiding his smugness over it.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told 60 Minutes that not only was he good friends with George Steinbrenner, but that he has no doubt that if Steinbrenner were alive and owned the Cowboys and Jones were GM that he'd "no doubt" be fired. Yet he keeps himself on the job.



FIFA President Sepp Blatter hasn't taken enough PR hits of late, so he's adding fuel to the fire by saying that homosexuals "should refrain from any sexual activities" during Qatar 2022.  The Pope thinks this guy has overstepped his bounds.

TSN.ca has an article touching on the top sports moment's of 2010 where you can vote for what will be the top moment on its annual Christmas Eve year in review show.  Not sure how the World Cup didn't get a mention.  The Toronto Star has an article on The Lou Marsh Award, for Canada's best athlete.  You can make your picks there as well.  Inexplicably to me, Joey Votto is trailing Sidney Crosby.

Jim Gray was allegedly paid $500,000 to try to give credibility to the joke that was LeBron James "The Decision".  Shame he cost himself any and all cred if that is true.


Carmelo Anthony is beating the trade drums again and says he'll only accept a move and sign an extension with the New York Knicks.  If I'm the Denver Nuggets, I make the deal now.  The Knicks want him, he wants to go there, and adding him gives the Knicks ensures the Knicks make the playoffs, and are a threat to do some damage.  May as well get something for him before he jumps for nothing.  Of course, word comes this morning that Anthony - again - says that he wants to remain with the Denver Nuggets. Sound familiar?

My bad for not mentioning UFC 124 in Montreal this past weekend.  When Georges St. Pierre said he'd shut Josh Koschek up, I assumed he just meant his mouth.  Didn't figure he'd shut his eye with some impressive jabs in the first round.  The fight was all GSP, a 30-25 shutout on all the scorecards.  Guess GSP's work with Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao's trainer, on his boxing worked a bit. Be sure to see the video at that link from 15 seconds on to get a glimpse of Kos' eye.  More importantly, GSP emerged healthy and should headline the massive UFC 131 coming to Toronto at the end of April.

The Sports Pickle has a great piece in which Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for the collapse of the roof on the Metrodome in Minnesota.  Nice.

113,000+ watched a hockey game in Ann Arbor, Michigan as Michigan hosted Michigan State this past Saturday, a world record.  That's about as many as watched the average NHL broadcast south of the border.  Impressive!

Buster Olney says it is time that MLB does away with its divisions and goes back to a balanced schedule, league format, with the key benefit being that the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays don't have to worry about topping the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees every year with other spots available.  Who could argue against that?  A balanced sched is a far more fair test for all.  Article here, Insider only unfortunately.

Oh yeah, Baltimore beat Houston in overtime - and covered! - while the New York Giants beat the Minnesota Vikings, who appear to have packed it in for the season.

The usual mega-Monday edition...early!

Over the last nine quarters, the New England Patriots have outscored the Detroit Lions, New York Jets and Chicago Bears 103-10 combined. Tom Brady has won 21 of 22 games against NFC opponents. Pretty impressive run to say the least.

The Dallas Cowboys can't stop anybody it seems, but their games are sure entertaining, and they don't blow their brains out like they did earlier in the year.  The covering the spread machines covered the +3.5 against Philadelphia last night in a 30-27 win that might be remembered most for running back Tashard Choice, who should have all but ended Marion Barber's days in Dallas the way he's been playing relative to MB3, asking Michael Vick for his autograph post-game.

Up next for the struggling New York Jets, who were a bumbling mess in a 10-6 home loss to the Miami Dolphins: road games in Pittsburgh and Chicago.  9-6 is well within reach, Jets fans, and judging by the look on Fireman Ed's face, he knows it.  And as if that isn't bad enough, then there is Sal Alosi, Jets strength and conditioning coach, who took it upon himself to trip a Miami Dolphin racing down the sideline. 



Speaking of reeling, the Washington Capitals have lost six straight, and were hammered 7-0 by the New York Rangers yesterday, who were sporting one of the nicer third jersey's in recent memory.  Alexander Ovechkin got in the second fight of his career and it didn't turn the fortunes of his team.  But wait, I thought that fighting always picked your team up?  Weird.

Manchester United and Arsenal will tangle today in Manchester with first place in the English Premier League on the line.  There's a 3pm (Eastern) kickoff there, and I'll be shocked if it isn't three points for Man U when all is said and done.  Chelsea continued their struggles with a draw at Tottenham in a game they were outplayed for the most part, but had a chance to win in the dying moments only to see Didier Drogba denied on a penalty kick that would have won it.  Remember when the talk was that Chelsea would have the title wrapped up around Christmas?  They might be out of the race by Christmas the way they're going.

How important is it to have a defensive gem like Carl Crawford in left for the Boston Red Sox?  Well, they did have Manny Ramirez out there for years. And who do you suppose is the most interested and potentially upset over the Sox dropping that contract on Crawford?  How about Liverpool, the soccer club in England's Premier League now owned by Sox owner John Henry.

Toronto FC's main man Jurgen Klinnsman told Soccer Central that he hopes to have a coach and GM - likely the same person - in place by Christmas.

Mentioned above that the New York Rangers were rocking some nice third jersey's.  At the other end of the spectrum, there's the Florida Everblades of the ECHL, rocking the most hideous jersey's of all the times.

Detroit's win over Green Bay was their first in twenty games against divisional opponents.

After yesterday's showing by the Kansas City Chiefs, their QB Matt Cassell, out after an appendectomy, might be in line for some MVP votes.  Why?  In his absence, the Chiefs generated all of 67 yards total offence yesterday.

If you've been under a rock and have not seen the video of the Metrodome roof collapsing in Minnesota, check it out below.  The only way this would have been better is if #4 was standing underneath it.  Of course, there's some suggestions that Favre might have been on the roof with a buck knife and snow suit to give him a chance to keep his precious streak alive.  The Vikings will now "host" the New York Giants in Detroit tonight, with tickets available for free in a nice move by the NFL in a city that could use some nice moves.

Here's Jets assistant coach Sal Alosi tripping Miami Dolphin Nolan Carroll.


Here's a new way to score in hockey, from an Under 20 game in Sweden.  Watch closely.

Prime Time Pick

Playing Philly -3.5 -105 tonight. As usual, expect the big weekend wrap edition tomorrow, likely morning.