Saturday, October 25th, 2008 - Joe Pa Going Down In C-Bus Tonight

As lame as the "This One Counts!" aspect of the baseball All Star Game is, here's an interesting fact. The winning pitcher of this year's game was Tampa Bay Ray Scott Kazmir, the loser was Philadelphia Philly Brad Lidge. In game 1 of the World Series, Kazmir was the loser, and Lidge chalked up the save. One difference: Ryan Howard was in the All Star Game. He's missing and presumed dead this playoff year...want a free wager winner tonight? Bet Ohio State at +2 at home against Penn State. Yes, I know Penn State is scoring 45 a game, but they're not going into the Shoe and winning. Tune in to ABC at 8, enjoy Terrelle Pryor going wild. Bet with Pinnacle...Curt Schilling took to his blog again to hammer Manny Ramirez. Shortly after, he pulled down the more offensive comments but like Two Girls & One Cup, once it is out on the internet, it lives forever. Check out the hard hitting stuff here from He Who Is An Authority On Everything...big day in Toronto today. The annual Rock, Paper, Scissors World Championship is on. As always, I'm pulling for rock...last year, the Cleveland Browns averaged 25.1 points per game. Going into tomorrow's game, they're at 15.3...Australia, China, England, Russia and the United States are among the bidders for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup's...Isaiah Thomas overdosed on sleeping pills? Somewhere, Kim Etheridge is trying to calculate how many reasons Zeke has to live...Toronto FC closes off the regular season with a trip to San Jose tonight. A win or loss only hurts their draft position - they have their own pick plus San Jose's first rounders - so here's hoping for a draw...UFC 90 goes tonight and Canadian Patrick "The Predator" Cote gets served to the incredible Anderson "The Spider" Silva. Cote is a 5-1 underdog in this one, and will do well to last two rounds...have a great Saturday.

Friday, October 24th, 2008

The Tampa Bay Rays didn't get a lot off Phillies starter Randy Myers, but they got enough to win 4-2 and even the World Series at a game each. The Series now moves to Philly for three games starting tomorrow...surely nobody is surprised that Gary Bettman is denying that there is any discussion of a second Toronto team in the NHL? Of course, the cynical Leaf fan in me - and I'm hanging on by a thread there - suggests that a new NHL team there would give them one in Toronto...speaking of Bettman, real hard to believe his proclamations that all is well in the NHL when the Toronto Maple Leafs travel to face another Original Six squad in Boston and there are as many empty seats in the lower bowl empty as full...the Philadelphia MLS expansion slated for 2010 might not happen after all, and into the breach might be Montreal. Great news for Canuck soccer fans...Mike Ditka says if the NFL wants to eliminate head shots and helmet to helmet shots, they ought to eliminate facemasks so players are less willing to get their faces into a guy. Great idea, Ditka, because guys getting fingers in their eyes is so much better. Unlike Ditka, I didn't start talking about a different subject mid-sentence...the English Premier League is back in action with each squad playing a game this weekend and another mid-week. This is where the depth or lack thereof shows. Marquee match of the weekend is Chelsea hosting Liverpool on Sunday...despite the leagues toughest schedule and more than a few injuries along the way, the Pittsburgh Steelers sit at 5-1. They've got a big one with the New York Football Giants at home Sunday. Yes, the Giants are actually going to play someone good this season. Weird...word is a memo went around at ESPN to not report the Brett Favre filling in the Lions on the Packers attack story. If that is true, that is pathetic. For his part, Fox Sports Jay Glazer, who wrote the piece on Favre's call to the Lions, told Jim Rome he stands by the story 1000%. Logically, hard not to believe it what with Lions coach Rod Marinelli giving a "no comment" when asked. Had there been nothing to it, he'd have said so as there'd be no reason to keep quiet. But if there is something to it, potentially being exposed as a liar is reason enough to say "no comment"...by the way, how is there no rule against guys giving away teams tendencies if they've got inside knowledge or even playbooks but filming signals cost the New England Patriots dearly? Isn't the former far more effective?...the Breeders Cup goes this weekend. Tough call, but I'm going with Travis Henry over Shawn Kemp and Jamie Lynn Spears...have a great Friday.

Who knew that pro-wrestling and figure skating had come together to form one sport?

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

With their 3-2 win to take a 1-0 series lead, the Philadelphia Phillies are now 87-0 on the year when leading after 8 frames...the Tampa Bay Rays are the first team since the 1991 Atlanta Braves in any sport to go from having the worst record the prior year to making the championship the next year...the Phillies have lost four World Series, each time to AL East opponents...if you're like me, you got another email on buying Bills tickets for their Toronto game. Warms the cockles of my heart every time...good of the Browns to suspend Kellen Winslow for stating, well, the truth about his having a staph infection and being the sixth Brownie to suffer from it. The Browns are a disaster and only last year's weak schedule gave them any appearance of a future and hope...for sale: Carey Price jersey. New. Stitched. Drop me a line for details...true story: I have yet to watch a full period of NHL action this year...Tony Romo will in fact be out until after the bye in Week 9 it seems. So much for optimism...the Tennessee Titans opponents thus far are a combined 12-26, if you care about these things...the Toronto Raptors will have 25 of their games broadcast on TSN2. This isn't a big deal, unless you're a Rogers subscriber, where that channel isn't carried to date. If you're on Bell ExpressVu, you're all set...happened to stumble into one minutes of Knight Rider. Other than the smoking hot Deanna Russo, that show is a horror show based on that one minute...and if you haven't been watching Entourage this season, shame on you. That show is on FIRE this season with non-stop hilarity...Tom Brady ignored the New England Patriots wishes to have the surgery done by doctors of his choosing and - surprise, surprise - he's now got infection problems. Beantown is starting to look like the mojo is gone, no?...check out this survey of NBA GM's on the looming season. Minnesota T-Wolves GM Kevin McHale picked the Raptors to win the Atlantic division this year. There's reason enough to believe it won't happen. 16% of GM's picked Andrea Bargnani as the international most likely to have a breakout year which placed him second in that category. 0% gave Jose Calderon a vote as best international, and only four got votes there. Interesting stuff...have a great Thursday.

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

Game 1 of the World Series goes tonight, finally. I'm thinking Tampa Bay Rays in six though recent history says - think Detroit and Colorado - that the team that is off as long as the Philadelphia Phillies has been tends to go out, and go out fast...how is this for a nice contract kicker: Boston Red Sock Dice-K Matsuzaka will see his annual salary for 2009 and 2010 go up by $2 million if he finishes top three in Cy Young voting this year, which he could well given his win total - assuming his ugly ERA is ignored...Manny Ramirez to the Philadelphia Phillies? My keeper fantasy team is begging for that development. He might hit a billion homers playing in that launching pad...Jose Canseco says he regrets writing "Juiced" and naming names. What he should regret is calling it much of a book at all. Pretty sure I've seen better writing from Grade 4's. On a more serious note, his book did a lot to clean up baseball, far more than The Mitchell Report did or will...without looking at the standings, who do you figure has scored more points than anyone else in the NFL this year, and it isn't even close? Believe it or not, the Chicago Bears...word is that EliteXC is done. The MMA company that UFC President Dana White said wouldn't last until Christmas didn't. So, does that mean that Kimbo Slice could participate in a future run of The Ultimate Fighter?..."The Special One" Jose Morinho is at it again, deriding players in the English Premier League for diving. This, while holding up Italy's "Serie A" as a league where that doesn't happen. That in itself is funny, and by funny, I mean incredibly wrong. What's funnier is that Morinho is Portuguese, the land where the art was developed, refined and perfected. At least of the players he named, none were English. If there's one thing you have to respect among English players, it is that that kind of garbage is frowned upon. Reason #1 why Wayne Rooney is my fav player...another NHL team in Toronto would be my hockey dream come true - any team in the area to supplant the Leafs as my team - who I simultaneously love and hate - would be great. Shame the odds of it happening are nil...if the Leafs keep not stealing the extra point in the shootout, people are going to think they're under orders...Buffalo Bills QB and rising star Trent Edwards was on Pardon The Interruption yesterday and was asked to play a little "Toss up" for what city he preferred - Toronto or Buffalo. He chose Buffalo. In response, Edwards degree from the esteemed Stanford has been revoked...going to be another week minus Tony Romo at the helm for the Dallas Cowboys. Wonderful...have a great Wednesday.

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 - Beantown Bandwagon Empties

Teams from Florida - the Marlins and Rays - have never lost a playoff series to date...for the seventh time in eight years, baseball will have a different World Series winner...when Gary Bettman talks of how NHL season tickets are up 4%, he might want to mention that the Chicago Black Hawks are carrying most of that. Their figure went up from 3,500 to 14,000...Sargeant Kellen Winslow says that his latest illness is another bout of staph infection, the sixth time a Cleveland Browns player has had to deal with that. Does wonders for the image of Cleveland, I'm sure...good of the Green Bay Packers to hammer that fake named Brett Favre for allegedly calling the Detroit Lions to tip them off on some of what the Packers would run when they played a couple weeks back. It didn't work for the Lions, and only serves to show what a prick Favre really is. Losing to Oakland looked good on him. It won't be the last this year in a season going nowhere for 'ol Brett...hard to believe, but Ben Wallace is actually making more - about $100k more - than some teammate named Lebron James this year...so who thought New England had that kind of performance in them? And what happened to the smoking hot Denver Broncos of September?...as far as Champions League matchups go, hard to get too many that are more appealing than Real Madrid travelling to Turin to face Juventus. That, and seven other Champions League games go off today at 2:45 Eastern...good to see Kansas City Chief Larry Johnson has that anger under wraps. I mean, why else would a guy spit in a woman's face?...have a great Tuesday.

This might be the best thing I've seen in some time...

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Monday, October 20th, 2008 - Cowbell up!

Cowbell up! The Tampa Bay Rays won a 3-1 nail biter over the Boston Red Sox last night to advance to the World Series and continue their cinderella run. They'll tangle with the Philadelphia Phillies starting Wednesday night. Hard not to like the Rays in this one, they've just got it all right now. And how good was David Price in relief? Wow...and why are players - in the singular - not referred to as being "a Red Sock" and instead are said to be a "a Red Sox"?...the New York Giants remaining schedule has them facing one team currently under .500...no lame jokes here on how there was a power failure in Buffalo while the "Chargers" were in town, but have to laugh that the outage came after three small helium balloons got caught up in power lines. The Bills are a playoff lock and a real threat to do damage...NFL linemen today weigh an average of 50 pounds more than they did 10 years ago. That is a lot of meat colliding out there each week...good of the NFL schedule makers to send San Diego across the country to Buffalo before they hit the road again for a game in London, England next week against New Orleans. Let's hope this time no NFLers are asking if they speak English in England like Miami Dolphin Channing Crowder did last year, a comment that is only rivalled by a major league baseball player saying he didn't want to go for a tour of Japan because he "didn't like Chinese food"...wonder if Jerry Jones likes 4-3 as much as he professed to like 4-2 after the Dallas Cowboys were hammered by the St. Louis Rams? If they don't get that defense ironed out, it could well be 4-5. Wade Phillips is a defensive guy, non? He's gonzo when the season ends, if not sooner, and with good reason...the 6-0 Tennessee Titans haven't given up more than 17 points in a game this year...anybody else waiting for Scott Boras to issue a Manny Ramirez free agency update in the middle of a World Series game?...not sure about you, but I can't take any guy seriously who is rocking a sun visor. Just wear a hat, it looks way better...make the world a better place, punch Johnathan Papelbon in the face...the Toronto Maple Leafs are struggling to score goals. Didn't everybody see that coming?...have a great Monday.

Sunday, October 19th, 2008

This is all starting to feel pretty familiar, no? The Boston Red Sox looking all but dead and buried, down 3-1, start the comeback and are now level in the ALCS after a 4-2 win last night. Jon Lester and Matt Garza take to the bump tonight...three first half goals were all Toronto FC needed en route to a 3-2 win over the visiting Chicago Fire. If you believe in symbols, Danny Dichio's walk around the field with his kids sure looked like a goodbye from the legend...you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy. New York Yankees phenom Joba Chamberlain hit the trifecta of being nailed for speeding while under the influence with an open container in his vehicle...Kelly Pavlik lost to old warhorse Bernard Hopkins? Wow, not sure anybody thought that was even possible with the seemingly washed up B-Hop...Chelsea and Manchester United poured on the offense in their wins yesterday. Hard not to see both of them as the top two in the end...good of Lou Holtz to compare Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez to Hitler...been a tough haul of late in the Prime Time Picks, now sitting a 6-6 and a mere $6 ahead. The Seattle Seahawks are +11 tonight at Tampa Bay, and taking the Bucs seems the most obvious play because the Seahawks are, well, brutal. But in gambling, the easy play is usually the dumb play so we're going contrarian here and taking the Seahawks to get a cover on that spread...now you'll have to excuse me, I've gotta go talk to satan about selling my soul for a Red Sox loss...have a great Sunday.