Saturday, October 11th, 2008 - The Crocodile Hunter Dares Not Go Here

The Boston Red Sox rode a no-hitter into the seventh from Dice-K Matsuzaka and a pair of runs into a 2-0 win and a series lead. With three on the road in Boston to come after today, it is nothing short of a must-win for the Rays...pitcher Brett Myers has more hits than Ryan Howard, but that's not holding back the Philadelphia Phillies from taking a 2-0 lead over the LA Dodgers. They're now off to L.A. for three games..former Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella, who made a living out of banging on the media until he joined them, teed off on Ottawa Senator Jason Spezza for how he does interview. Weird. Almost as weird as the way Spezza is always smiling in his interview and finishes each thought with what he thinks is a punch line and then laughs...another round of World Cup qualifiers goes today, including Canada likely getting fisted at Honduras. As always, there are several interesting games going in Europe - Croatia at Ukraine, Russia at Germany, Portugal at Sweden and more...qualifiers will cost Toronto FC Carl Robinson (Wales), Amado Guevara (Honduras), Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala), Tyrone Marshal (Jamaica) and Kevin Harmse (Canada) as they travel to face FC Dallas in a must-win game, who, unfortunately, will have Kenny Cooper in the lineup...the first bout in the classic Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs rivalry goes in Toronto tonight. Habs win this one...talk about a tough week for Hugh Hefner. First, Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson jump ship. Then, there's talk he's near financial ruin. You know what fixes that? 19 year-old twins moving in...chicks may dig the long ball, but that don't mean success for your team in the NL. Ryan Howard is the first home run champion in the NL to advance to the League Championship Series since 1995...from the Department of Lame, the NFL fined Arizona Cardinal Adrian Wilson for the hit that left Buffalo Bill Trent Edwards concussed. Here's hoping they also fined the ground, because that looked like it rocked his head a lot harder than Wilson did...Cleveland Browns tight end Sargeant Kellen Winslow Jr. remains in hospital, allegedly for swollen nuts...have a great Saturday.

Friday, October 10th, 2008

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison was fined $20,000 for criticizing officials after a bad call on Sunday. His comment is an instant classic: “You don’t make a call like that unless he might have money on it.” Betting - no pun intended - that has NFL Commissioner Rodger Goodell way more round up than a Pacman dust-up in a bathroom...Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk wants Mats Sundin, a message he delivered in Sweden last week...it was a banner night for the Detroit Red Wings last night, as they hoisted theirs, and a banner night for the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs, who rained on their parade in winning 3-2. Here comes the irrational hopes of the dreaded Leafs Nation...the Philadelphia Phillies rode a pair of homers to a 3-2 win in the series opener against the LA Dodgers. Game two goes at 4:20 Eastern, with game one of the ALCS following at 8:30...here's 10 reasons to care about the NHL, including snazzy new threads from the Carolina Hurricanes...just so Bukkake isn't left disappointed, Pacman Jones is playing this week...remember Clint Malarchuk, one time NHL goalie who famously had his jugular cut? As if that wasn't enough, he accidentally shot himself. In the face...the average score of the New York Giants first four wins is 32-12...good start for the Calgary Flames Craig Conroy and Rene Bourque: -4 last night...looks like the fine folks at EliteXC are under investigation for match fixing for last week's Kimbo Slice/Seth Petruzelli fight. Problem one if they were working a fix was that Petruzelli played the part of Butch Coolidge from Pulp Fiction and didn't work the fix, instead winning the fight...one big sign that the Leafs management is heading in the right direction: Don Cherry says they're not...Curtis Joseph and Shania Twain? Seriously? First Mutt, now Cujo?...have a great Friday.

Thursday, October 9th, 2008 - Cero Cinco

Today is a day I wonder "where would we be without photoshop?"...Cleveland Indians one-time slugger Travis Hafner - whose power seemed to disappear about the time drug testing came into play - has spent most of 2008 on the shelf and now they figure out he may need shoulder surgery? What were they doing with him the last five months?...seems a death in the family is what had Terrell Owens in tears on Sunday with a towel draped over his head...the NHL season starts today and my biggest fear is a Maple Leafs win over Detroit tonight for what the Toronto media and fan base will be spewing in the morning. That said, a blow-out might also be just as tough to stomach...Seth Petruzelli, who beat Kimbo Slice in 14 seconds in the EliteXC event, might have done more damage to that organization than knocking out its golden boy: he talked openly of how EliteXC promotors gave him enough cash to "make it worth his while" to stand and trade blows with Slice, rather than taking him to the ground where he isn't as good...since April 16 and including the postseason, the Tampa Bay Rays are 32-4 at the Trop in games decided by two or less...if Indy Colt Marvin Harrison's slow start could be blamed at all on being distracted over the summer shooting involving a gun of his, later dumped at a car wash he owns, he's about to get way more distracted: the victim is suing him and fingering him as the triggerman...Toronto FC coach John Carver is officially my fav coach in any sport. He's issued an ultimatum to Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment and GM Mo Johnston: open the purse strings and bring in a top notch player or he walks. Amen to that, J.C....Philadelphia Eagle Hank Baskett is having himself some cybersex with Hugh Hefner's now ex-girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson. Make of this what you will...UEFA boss Michel Platini is talking about salary caps being brought in to levelize the playing field for clubs in Europe. I think you'll see Paul Gascoine sober, sane, and Prime Minister of England before that happens...Michael Strahan is endorsing Vaseline? Yeah, that'll do wonders to keep his secret safe...have a great Thursday.

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008

At left: O.J Simpson's new home. Cozy, ain't it? Still chasing pictures of his next home in Hell...SI.com's Tom Verducci told Jim Rome he thinks that Manny Ramirez is a great fit for the Toronto Blue Jays, and the interest should be mutual. Jim Rome hoped it wouldn't happen because baseball and the media need ManRam in a "major market"...if the City of Toronto and media were in mourning over the loss of the Molson/Steelback/Whatever Indy for a year, imagine how Montreal feels getting dropped from the F1 loop for next year, a far more storied and big time event than the Indy...wonder how Don Cherry will feel about the Leafs big, tough, first round Canadian defenceman Luke Schenn, who has made the team, wearing a visor?...one day of a diving market last week cost Jim Balsillie of RIM $1.2 billion. That's a drop in the bucket for a guy still said to be looking at buying the Nashville Predators and ideally, move them north to Hamilton or Kitchener in a new building...pretty weak night in sports last night with only NBA pre-season on the go...looking forward to PETA going off over Brett Favre killing a wild turkey, bagging it up - blood, guts and all - and leaving it in a teammates locker. That Brett, he sure is redneck...what a sad country we live in when you have the national, tax-payer funded TV network running a contest to pick a theme song for Hockey Night In Canada...have a great Wednesday.

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

Nice work by Tennessee Titan Keith Bullock in showing the cameras his squads perfect record, except, well, he got it backward. But thanks to being able to flip a picture, Bullock's now got it right, other than his jersey of course...the Washington Redskins have yet to turn over the ball this year. That's incredible...quick, who thought the Miami Dolphins would beat the AFC Championship teams from last season in consecutive games? Me neither...a great list of ten things to avoid saying to Chicago Cubs fans...the Tampa Bay Rays are off to the ALCS after closing off the Chicago White Sox. Incredibly, they're listed as an underdog for the series so I've already sprinkled some on them at +117 as they face Boston, who closed out Anaheim. The Rays are rolling, have loads of arms, don't have a soft spot in the order, and are witches with the leather...also got in on the LA Dodgers at +101. You can get in too with the fine folks at Pinnacle..a rare deadline deal the benefited both teams big time: Manny Ramirez and Jason Bay's moves...if A-Rod plays out his contract, he'll have career earnings of $445 million in 24 years, not counting endorsements...finally got around to watching the PVR'd Toronto FC game from Saturday, a 3-1 win over New York Red Bull. Question: where the hell has that kind of performance been the last three months? Chad Barrett is a keeper...I'm generally not a fan of homer hankies, white outs and so on, but that black out the ChiSox fans were rocking looked great. One final ChiSox note: 47% of their runs scored this year came by way of the home run. That's way too bomb dependant...that EA Sports ad for NHL 09 isn't very realistic. If it were, Kyle Welwood wouldn't be dishing out hits in the corner...the Toronto Raptors start their NBA pre-season games today in Cleveland. Word out of camp so far is that Andrea Bargnani is looking real impressive. A big year from Bargnani and the Raptors could be a top four side in the suddenly deep East...CC Sabathia is a need for the Yankees, and he may be interested in them, but after 513 innings the last two years, I'm real worried about his arm falling off. Given the choice of one, my money goes to Mark Teixera who is young, selective at the plate, has a solid OBP, power, and a great glove at first. That said, I'd wager the Yanks get both. And a side of AJ Burnett...the Detroit Lions could still go 12-4, says Roy Williams. Reason enough for Jerry Jones and Dallas to not trade for Williams, who wants out of The D, and is delusional...I'm going to keep saying it until it comes true: Rod Marinelli will be fired in Detroit today...have a great Tuesday.

Monday, October 6th, 2008

What a turnaround it has been for the Washington Redskins since losing in Week 1. At that point, they didn't even have a two minute offense in place, nevermind were able to execute it. Now, they've got back to back road wins over Dallas and Philadelphia...14 seconds is all it took for some no name to all but ruin Elite XC's golden boy. It took less time for every media outlet giving Elite XC attention to lose their number…the Philadelphia Phillies swept the Milwaukee Brewers, saving added wear on CC Sabathia's soon-to-be-Yankee-if-there-is-a-God arm…the Chicago White Sox staved off elimination by downing the Tampa Bay Rays. Across town, the Chicago Cubs are history…the two biggest pitching acquisitions of the year, Rich Harden and Sabathia, are both home and cooled off for the year…another week in the NFL, another pile of injuries. Starting QB's Trent Edwards and Brian Griese are among the walking wounded…for the first time in his run as a Dallas Cowboy, I'm worried about T.O.'s state of mind, but I feel that way anytime somebody is talking about God publicly…worth watching again: Saturday Night Live…prediction: Rod Marinelli will be fired by the Detroit Lions today…an interesting read from an Irish paper on the life of David Beckham in Los Angeles, on and off the field…the Detroit Shock won the WNBA title. Yes, the WNBA still exists…Joe Torre is 11-3 all-time managing against Lou Piniella. Of course, most of those game while Lou was stuck with the then horrible Tampa Bay Devil Rays...6-4 on the PrimeTime Picks now after the Pittsburgh Steelers put in an impressive showing in Jacksonville. Didn't figure they'd have a lot left after that war on Monday Night with Baltimore, but the Steelers surprised. Tonight, playing the New Orleans Saints at -3...thanks to a 12th inning win, the Anaheim Angels forced a game four against Boston...maybe the best bank robbery idea of all time, and it worked. 10/10 on the originality scale...only one of the four NHL games this weekend featured more goals than Toronto FC's 3-1 win over New York Red Bull on Saturday. Just sayin'...have a great Monday.

Sunday, October 5th, 2008

No Rando today - a late night followed by an early morning rise to build a deck left my without time.

That said, here's tonight's PrimeTime Pick:

Jacksonville -4.

PrimeTime Picks record: 6-3 (+306)