The Cups runeth over

Where's the arena to the left, you wonder? That's what Jim Balsillie is hoping to shape Copps Coliseum into. More here. And nice touch here having the hot ladies ogled by the creepy looking dude in the shades...the Toronto Blue Jays stopped their losing streak from reaching double digits with a 6-3 win over the Boston Red Sox. Mix in a New York Yankees win over Cleveland and the Bronx Bombers are alone in first place for the first time since the last day of the 2006 season...the LA Lakers are back in the NBA Finals after dispatching the Denver Nuggets. Have to say, I'm a bit surprised they turned it around as they did. They'll await the winner of Orlando and Cleveland's series, which sees game 6 tonight at the O-rena, or whatever they're calling it these days...Setanta Sports is carrying the FA Cup this morning, with Chelsea facing Everton at London's Wembley Stadium. Can't imagine Chelsea doesn't win this one comfortably. I'm in on the split line of -0.5 -1 -110 on Chelsea...Toronto FC star Dwayne De Rosario visits his former team - the Houston Dynamo - tonight. I'm guessing a very motivated DeRo puts on a show and TFC take three very key points on the road. Kickoff is 8:30 on SportsNet. I'm in on TFC at a great-value +383..not only is the Real Madrid at Toronto FC game happening, it will not be offered to season ticket holders as part of their one international friendly, for which they're already holding tickets. Ticket prices have not been announced, but my guess is MLSE is consulting with the New York Yankees about appropriate pricing models, starting with arm/leg and moving up to first born child and so on. Nice of MLSE to put a grass field in to accommodate Real, that has to make Toronto FC's players who've been begging to have grass installed for years feel great that it is good enough for an exhibition game, but not for the guys it pays every week. MLSE sucks, and we the fans swallow it all...the Stanley Cup starts tonight, and hard not to like the Pittsburgh Penguins at +134 for the series, I'm in on that too. Get down at Pinnacle. Pitt in 6 is my call, against the odds..today, I have gambling issues...have a great Saturday. May the winners be ours, and if not, at least mine.

Cavs stay alive

Miracle of miracles, the NHL is not going to wait until June 5th to get the Stanley Cup Finals on the go. Instead, they'll start tomorrow at 1pm to accommodate NBC. Kidding. It'll actually be 8pm, but are any of you thinking an afternoon start would've been unthinkable in Gary Bettman's NHL? For those left that care, the schedule is here, and of course, today's poll questions is who do you like to hoist the cherished mug. Me, I'm liking Pittsburgh...Manny Ramirez is fourth in NL all star voting among outfielders which shows once again how ridiculous fan voting is, and how much people really care about performance enhancing drug use...the Cleveland Cavs, with A-Rod and CC Sabathia in the front row, raced out to a 22 point first half lead that they blew, and took another lead in the second hald to win Game 5 112-102 and stay alive in the Eastern Conference final. Game 6 goes tomorrow at 8:30 in Orlando...Toronto Blue Jays stud pitcher Roy Halladay has gone 7+ innings in each of his 11 starts this year. Shame he's not available this weekend as the Jays host the Boston Red Sox. That Jays bandwagon has emptied quicker than a Belgian weight lifting competition when the drug testers show up...GBVH has passed on a rumour that Real Madrid may be playing a friendly in Toronto against Toronto FC. Hard to imagine, but this season seat holder would reli$h that vi$it...the more I watch The Ultimate Fighter reality series, the more I love Michael Bisping. The guy is hysterical...have a great Friday.

Chaaaaaampionnnnns!

Hard to call Barcelona anything but a worthy champion after yesterday's performance. Manchester United came out a house of fire in the opening 10 minutes and easily could've scored on three occasions, but against the run of play, Samuel Eto'o turned the Man U defence inside out to open the scoring and from there, it was an impressive show of midfield dominance from Barca. What I cannot for the life of me figure out is how Man U manager Sir Alex Ferguson sends out his team for 60 games or so playing a 4-4-2 formation and then in the biggest one of all goes 4-3-3. The lack of midfield depth was exposed badly on many occasions. Kudos to Cristiano Ronaldo, about the only Man U player who had a good game. The rest were largely passengers and ineffective. How good was Lionel Messi's goal to put it away? Incredible. Iniesta was the man of the match for my money. Sir Alex Ferguson, among other United members, said Barca was a worthy winner, though I'm guessing Chelsea supporters wouldn't agree after they were robbed in the semis...it took overtime, but by knocking off the Chicago Black Hawks 2-1, the Detroit Red Wings are going to put NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to work to not have the Stanley Cup Finals start next weekend...the Chicago Cubs are taking on manager Lou Piniella's personality. First Milton Bradley had another of his trademark meltdown's and of course, then talk of how umpires are conspiring against him, as though that'll smooth things over, and yesterday, Carlos Zambrano went wild after a disputed call and whipped the ball into left field, threw his glove, and went Paul O'Neill on a water cooler on the way out. The Friendly Confines? Not so much...New York Yankee Mark Teixera went yard again for the now first place Yanks to continue a smoking hot few weeks. He's now hitting .275 with 15 homers and 39 RBI...so what is worse this week, blowing a 10-0 lead like the Tampa Rays did Monday or blowing an 8-2 lead and then blowing a 10-8 extra inning lead like the Blue Jays did yesterday in dropping their 9th straight? That's your new poll question...the LA Lakers may have won game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead, but one unnamed Denver Nugget isn't sure all was on the up and up, claiming the Lakeshow "paid" for the game. Somewhere, NBA Commissioner David Stern just went Carlos Zambrano...rather annoying that "OTA" has become a part of everyday discussion when it comes to the NFL. Why not call it "Spring camp" or something? The world needs no more acronyms...have a great Thursday.

Champions League Final goes today

I don't think there is anyone that can argue that today's Champions League finalists aren't the two best clubs in Europe/the world this past season. Champions of their own leagues who both look to score and win with style, it ought to make for a great finale as Manchester United look to defend the title against Barcelona. I'm pulling for United, and made a wager on them at +172 to win in regulation and +106 to lift the trophy as a bit of a hedge if it goes overtime. Wouldn't shock me at all if I lose both ends of that, but I really suspect United's physical strength will rule the day. Question is can John O'Shea contain all universe player Lionel Messi when Messi comes down United's right side. I'm saying United win 3-1. United will wear all white for this one, and in discussing it, Sir Alex Ferguson of course took time to throw dirt on Real Madrid, 6-2 losers to Barcelona earlier this month, who wear all white. Awesome..next time you're crossing the border into Buffalo for a Sabres or Bills game, you'll notice the old Auditorium is coming down. Check it out here, you can watch it happen piece by piece...the Edmonton Oilers are about to become one super exciting squad to watch. Mix in young talent, great ice, and now an offense first coach in Pat Quinn and they'll be going places next year. Amazed it took Quinn so long to get a job, thrilled he landed in Edmonton...the Toronto Blue Jays - now losers of eight straight - haven't hit a home run in 67 innings...the LA Dodgers have won three games by drawing a bases loaded walk. The rest of MLB has pulled that one off twice combined. Hard to believe how well they Dodgers are getting it done minus Manny Ramirez...so, about Cleveland Cavs Mo Williams guarantee the Cavs would win the series: nevermind. The Cavs were overtime losers last ...the Pittsburgh Penguins completed the sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes, no doubt to great sadness at the NHLPA. The Detroit Red Wings are aiming to finish off the Chicago Black Hawks tonight...if you haven't seen the Jose Canseco fight on the weekend, check it out here. I haven't seen a guy run like that since Jack Tripper got in the ring on Three's Company...and then there is this Black Sabbath fan. Freaking awesome...have a great day. Enjoy the final.

"Enis" Kroenke doesn't rhyme with "genius"

In the NHL last night, oh, wait, another night with no action. Moving on...here's what a small sample size can do. Going into play yesterday, A-Rod was hitting a brutal .189, albeit with 7 homers of his 15 hits. Mix in a 5 for 5 day yesterday and he's a more reasonable .259. Not a bad return to Texas, site of his drug usage days...if the Toronto Blue Jays were a song, right now they'd be Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers "Free Fallin'". Losers of 7 straight, and dropped to third place in the AL East. The Jays are 8-11 against teams north of .500; 19-10 against teams sub. 500...Cristiano Ronaldo says he only cares what happens with Manchester United next year and his heart is in Manchester. Of course, only a year ago he was said to be thinking Madrid and Real Madrid so who knows what is real other than this: he's very likely playing better than last season, at the key time too. Cannot wait for tomorrow's Champions League final...the most unlikely winner of 10 straight in the MLB - the San Diego Padres - just won 10 straight...frankly, I figured Vince McMahon et al would be a lot more biting than they were last night in their skewering of Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke...Jeremy Shockey was taken from a pool party in Vegas on a stretcher after being "dehydrated". Isn't that code for "partied way too hard"? Is there a guy whose career has had more ink but done less than that guy?...Cleveland Cavalier Mo Williams has done what the NBA and NHL playoffs were not missing so far: he has guaranteed a win in the Cavs series with the Orlando Magic. Nice of him to make that guarantee when he and his teammates have done about nothing so far to help LeBron James, and if not for that last second prayer LBJ hit, they're down 3-0...not only was I off in suggesting that it would be brutal if the Stanley Cup Finals started this Saturday if the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings wrapped up their series in the next couple days, that would have been the best case scenario if it were a case at all. The series is slated to start June 5th. Way to go, Gary Bettman. That could mean nine days off for the Wings...have a great Tuesday.

Raw is War

Bukkake passes on this great football helmet from the Van Horn Eagles in Van Horn, Texas. I've seen a lot of logo theft among football teams, but lifting Van Halen's logo is sheer genius. Loads more here...in honour of the French Open, here are the 26 hottest ladies there, or at least in one person's opinion... did I hear right? Toronto Blue Jays cleanup hitter Vernon Wells has gone 16 games without an RBI. Somebody alert Elias Sports Bureau, there's got to be a record threatened if not set here for guys batting 4th making over $15 million sans RBI. The Jays have lost their 6th straight and are in second place with Boston a half game up. The New York Yankees sit a game out...Chicago Fire beat New York Red Bull to jump past Toronto FC for first in the MLS East...the Windsor Spitfires scored on their first three shots en route to a 4-1 win over the Kelowna Rockets to take the Memorial Cup. Word is there are plenty of cars being offered for the parade, and nobody will have to miss work for the occasion...the David Price era - if you don't count last fall's couple starts and stellar relief through the playoffs - starts today for the Tampa Bay Rays. Price will face the terrible Cleveland Indians...the English Premier League season is over, and relegated to the lower league are Newcastle United, Middlesborough and West Brom. For those not awares, that is the equivalent of the bottom three in the NHL getting sent down to the AHL with the top three from the AHL coming up...hard to believe - meaning not hard to believe at all - that the Washington Redskins are being investigated for possibly tampering with Albert Haynesworth. Right, because teams and agents work out deals five minutes into the opening of free agency legitimately...nice month for Helio Castroneves. First, the IRS got off his back for tax evasion charges, and then he won the Indy 500 yesterday...the still slumped/finished David Ortiz doesn't want to sit out. Of course not, why let everybody know if they already don't that they'd be better off without you...don't forget, Monday Night Raw goes tonight, and expect the Denver Nuggets to take plenty, especially with the LA Lakers up 2-1 in the series and Raw being moved from the Nuggets home to the home of the Lakers...as headlines go, tough to beat "Porn Star Blows World Record Bid"...with a Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup final looking to be all but a lock, the best we can hope for is Gary Bettman won't wait until Saturday afternoon to start the final series...have a great Monday.

TFC curbstomp Revolution

The Pittsburgh Penguins look like they're getting stronger by the game and round as they went to the road and hammered the
Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 to go within a game of the sweep and another shot at the Stanley Cup...the final day of EPL action goes today, and we'll soon know who is out for next year. Setanta Sports features Newcastle United against Aston Villa, where Newcastle is desperately trying to hang on in the top tier and need a win. The Score will see champions Manchester United at Hull in HD at 11am...ESPN's Peter Gammons told The Michael Kay Show that New York Yankees Mark Teixera and A-Rod are to the middle of their order what Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz once were for the Boston Red Sox. That's some high praise. He also says A-Rod's performance with essentially 10 games of spring training shows how incredibly talented he is, and when he starts hitting to right field he could well end up leading the AL in home runs and RBI. A-Rod went deep in the 9th to tie yesterday's game with Philly, and Melky Cabrera won it later that inning to put the Yankees a half game out as the Toronto Blue Jays lost again. Boston lost and are a half game out as well...the Indy 500 goes today. I remember how big a deal that used to be but it now seems to sneak up on me. Hard to not get an entertainment sprinkle on the field at +768 at Pinnacle with Tomas Shekter and Paul Tracy among those in my favour...not sure why I find it so funny seeing guys whose second language is English swearing to themselves mostly in English, like Evgeni Malkin last night after getting kicked in the head accidentally and rubbing his jaw dropping F-bombs...Toronto FC finally broke loose at home and stomped the New England Revolution 3-1 after trailing for less than a minute. Fantastic win. Danny Dichio played arguably his best game for TFC and had a hand in all three goals, as did Amado Guevara in scoring a pair. And then there's Carl Robinson, money game in and out. The best sporting event in Toronto (Canada?) this year will be when TFC hosts a playoff game...Matt Hughes downed Matt Serra at UFC 98, and Lyoto Machida crushed the previously unbeaten Rashad Evans to take the light heavyweight title with a second round knockout. No fight was better than Sean Sherk and Frankie Edgar in the first fight of the televised card, won by Edgar in a decision...the French Open is under way. Didn't know it started on a Sunday, or maybe I just forgot...have a great Sunday.