Lee > CC

Game 1 of the World Series is in the books an you'd have thought it was the New York Yankees who had been off a week and not the Philadelphia Phillies for how they swung the sticks. Phillies starer Cliff Lee delivered one of the best World Series starts you're likely to see this side of Don Larsen, fanning 10 in going the distance in a 6-1 Phillies win. Chase Utley hit a pair of solo shots off CC Sabathia and nobody from the Yanks pen looked effective. Scary what one game can do to your optimism.

Pedro Martinez on the bump tonight ought to be electrifying. Pedro, you may recall, once said "call the Yankees my daddy" after they pwned him for a good stretch. Mix in the moment, and it being Pedro and him being a former Boston Red Sock and Yankee Stadium ought to be electric tonight, especially with the Yanks down a game. AJ Burnett goes for the Yanks, and hopefully continues his trend of strong pitching at home. Joe Girardi has an interesting decision to make at catcher: go with Burnett's choice Jose Molina, or the less preferred Jorge Posada. Notable: neither catcher has a lot of success against Pedro. Posada is 15 of 72, 4 HR, 34 K against Pedro while Molina is 2 of 10 with 1 K.

Had you given me the money, I would not have bet on the Toronto Raptors to beat the Cleveland Cavs last night, or even cover the +5, even with the Cavs playing the second straight night, especially when they lost the previous night. The Raptors won 101-91 with Andrea Bargnani scoring a game high 28. Shocking, or as shocking as one game of 82 can be. Some things were entirely predictable though, like former-Raptor-and-now-Cav Jabronio Moon taking ill advised shots that only found air.

Off the usual sports topic, but one of my fav bands - Danko Jones - is going to be opening across Canada for another of my fav bands, Guns 'N Roses. How awesome is that?

Pretty intriguing Week 8 NFL schedule this weekend, what with the Old Has Been returning to Green Bay for the first time, this with Minnesota, Miami at the New York Jets in what should be a real heated affair given how much trash talk followed the previous game which the Dolphins won in the dying moments, and Denver at Baltimore and Atlanta at New Orleans are also real appealing. Not so interesting? St. Louis at Detroit. Ouch.

The always quotable Texas Tech coach Mike Leach delivered another one after a bad performance last weekend, blaming his coaching staff for not getting through to the players the way their "fat little girlfriends" can.

Weirdest thing about the Slap Chop: don't you have to cut your food down to size so it actually fits the Slap Chop, rendering the Slap Chop redundant? Just wondering.

Have a great Thursday.