World Cup 2010 draw day!

The World Cup draw goes today in South Africa at noon eastern. Follow the draw live here if you need.

So Yankees manager Joe Girardi spent some time this week teaching New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez to slide. What happens last night in Toronto? In addition to a Jets victory, Sanchez gets hurt. How, you wonder? Sliding, of course. Not sure what Rex Ryan was thinking bringing in Girardi, everybody knows the Yankees favor the Giants.

The MLB Players Union supports moving the first round of the playoffs to a best-of-seven setup. Mark the calendar: a fresh and good idea from a union. Weird. With how many days were used in the playoffs this year, and days off in particular, you could play a best of 11 over the same time frame. Best of seven first rounder? Yes please! Only fair thing to do and a truer test.

After getting axed by Hardcore Sports Radio, Gabriel Morency is back in full fledged business today with a website and the promise of online broadcasts, apparently a couple times a day. I'm going to wager he comes out swinging for his former employers in a big way today and for the next bit.

Yahoo! Sports looks at the Top 10 NFL Plays of the Decade. What, no video links? Shame on them. Anyways, literally remember every one of these and for most, remember where I was when. Impressive. Or sad.

There have been more than a few publications covering the risks of trading for Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay in the last week or two, this is but another. Memo to LeRoy: This stuff is emanating from Boston exclusively, demand a move to The Bronx.

Speaking of the Jays, Baseball America has run its annual look at each team's farm system and ranking them top to bottom. The Jays system ranked #28 in the game, ahead of only St. Louis and Houston. Ouch. The Texas Rangers ranked tops.

Are you an Atari 2600 fan, and would love to relive some of the games of yesteryear? Look no further than this link. Brilliant. Off to play some River Raid I go.

Finally today, check out the Tiger Woods Voicemail Slow Jam Remix. This has #1 written all over it.

Indefensible

Pretty soon the question won't be who has Tiger slept with, but who hasn't he. And nice work by wife Elin to take this opportunity to renegotiate their pre-nuptial agreement upwards from $20 million she'd receive if she stayed with Eldrick for 10 years. I'm sure Katie Holmes is getting ideas now. We can only hope when he tees it up at Pebble Beach in January somebody yells "he has been!" when someone yells the obligatory "get in the hole!". Who is giving Tiger PR advice, Roger Clemens?

There are 108 MLBers with permission to use otherwise banned stimulants because they have been diagnosed with ADHD. That number is up fro 106 in 2008 and 103 in 2007 and I'll guess from 0 the year before drug testing came into play. Maybe I'm just (testing) negative.

SI.com's Jon Heyman updates the Roy Halladay market and says the smart money has the big horse going to either the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox. A lot of familiar names in each package - two or three of Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Jesus Montero and Austin Jackson from the Yanks, and Clay Bucholz and Casey Kelly from the Sox. Gonna be a big move for whatever team gets the deal done, and seemingly, the Jays too with those names. Not for 2010, but in the years beyond.

The New Orleans Saints are said to be ready to ditch Reggie Bush after this year with him due to count $8 million against the cap. Not hard to believe considering they're not lacking for options at running back and he hasn't exactly lived up to the hype he had coming out of USC.

Oregon and Oregon State are playing their "civil war" game tonight, and it is also a "war of the roses" to see who will go to the Rose Bowl with USC on the outside looking in, a rarity for them. Oregon are 9.5 point favs with an over/under of 63.

Not sure which mobile apps you're using on your BlackBerry or device of choice, but none are better for a sports fan than Score Mobile. Get it here. Also, UberTwitter is solid too for sports fans following the best in the business of reporting what is going on. Follow me here, and you'll see those I'm partial to.

Make that 0-18 for the New Jersey Nets after getting crushed by the Dallas Mavericks. Speaking of 18, the Nets will play the Toronto Raptors December 18th and while the Nets may not win - and they quite well may - they can be sure they'll score 100+ against the defensively bankrupt Raptors, who gave up 114 last night - after three quarters. The final? Atlanta 146 to the Raps 115.

Can't you feel the buzz emanating from the alleged Centre of the Universe Toronto with the Buffalo Bills set to host the New York Jets tonight? Yeah...me neither.

Ron Artest says he drank during NBA games. I'm not buying it. If he had, he surely wouldn't have reacted so badly to a Detroit Piston fan offering him a cold beer back in his Indiana Pacers days.

RM returns at 2:30pm Eastern.

Urlacher delivers his best hit of the year

As quotes on teammates go, Chicago Bears (injured) linebacker Brian Urlacher just topped Hines Ward for Most Inflammatory Comment On His QB for the week with this gem hammering Jay Cutler and praising how the Bears played with Kyle Orton at the helm. Check this out.

Hey, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Montreal last night. This seems more impressive when both are, you know, good. Somehow, despite five fewer wins than the Habs, the Leafs are only five points back with a game in hand. Ahhhh, the NHL point system.

This one comes from regular reader and occasional contributor TS: Cincinnati swept its division games, going 6-0. Five of the last six teams to sweep their division games reached the Super Bowl. Just for fun, we'll say "make it five of seven".

The Tiger Woods plot gets thicker by the minute. One report says there was no blood whatsoever in his vehicle, which is impressive when your face was busted up. Another has a lady saying she has 300+ text messages and voice messages from Tiger over the course of a 31-month affair. When you give no story, one gets found. And for some reason, comic Chris Rock is teeing off on the media for their handling of the story. Like Rock a lot more when he sticks to what he does best.

If the NHL punishes careless use of the stick, do they not suspend Keith Ballard for clubbing his own goalie? Seems like they should, no?

Argentine/Barcelona winger/striker Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or as Europe's best player this year. Hard to argue against that one really. Even though Cristiano Ronaldo had a great year in his own right, it was Messi who helped Barca to the Champions League title.

The Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin received a two game suspension for his knee on knee hit that left him more damaged than Carolina Hurricane Tim Gleason. Frankly, seems he's getting off a bit light, especially when that two games could cover his "day-to-day" status in terms of his own injury.

The World Cup Draw goes tomorrow. Here's a bit of a primer, including what pots each team is found in. Gonna be a real lack of productivity Friday morning, that's for sure.

Best team in the NFL against the spread? The San Francisco 49ers at 8-2-1.

Check out this Chinese report on the Tiger Woods situation, complete with a re-enactment. Awesome.

Have a great Wednesday.

Saints splatter Pats

Nevermind who the week-schedule Minnesota Vikings are beating, or the just-scraping-by Indianapolis Colts, the New Orleans Saints are the best team in the NFL today. What a performance last night, have you seen anybody shred the New England defence like that, and hold Tom Brady to zero touchdowns in a 38-17 curb stomping? On Monday Night? Amazing showing. More on that to follow.

Terrell Owens was tweeting away during the game last night: "Man! The Pats r gettin thumped!!! These ppl need 2 start giving Brees his just due!! Enuff of Brady/Manning already!!! I'm jus saying!!" Manning belongs in an MVP conversation with Brees. Old Man and Brady? Nope.

One NFL player writing anonymously in ESPN The Magazine says home field advantage is worth 14 points to the New Orleans Saints and if they get home field through the playoffs, they're his pick to win the Super Bowl.

New York Yankee Derek Jeter was expected to be named SI Sportsman of the Year yesterday. Of course, that brings up questions as to whether he was more deserving of the honour than A-Rod, or Mariano Rivera from the Joel Sherman's of the world.

ESPN.com's Buster Olney says that Roy Halladay will veto any trade proposal after he reports to spring training. That cold steel you're feeling by your temple is a gun, Jays GM Alex Anthopolous. Ought to get real interesting with the baseball winter meetings set for next week.

Not sure what Pittsburgh Steeler Hines Ward was thinking could be gained from wondering aloud why Ben Roethlesberger wasn't playing in what amounted to a playoff game on Sunday night, and then telling Bob Costas the locker room is divided on the subject. Of course, he later backtracked on those comments but hard to shove that cow back in the toothpaste tube. Easy for Ward to talk of course, he's the one usually delivering the head shot, not receiving them. There's also talk that Roethlesberger was BENched on Sunday to get him to stop hanging onto the ball so long. Interesting times with the defending champs.

Speaking of concussions, I'm sure NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is a bright guy, but doesn't his idea of not allowing players who have suffered concussions or had their proverbial bell rung from returning to a game seem, well, obvious? He's also talking of forcing a player to miss a subsequent game, though I suspect that will be a tougher sell to teams and players.

Former Buffalo Bills QB Jim Kelly says the team needs to focus on drafting a quality quarterback. Well, duh. Even a guy with as many concussions as he's had would know that much. That said, loved his smack saying that said QB should not be from California after less than inspiring runs from Rob Johnson, JP Losman, Trent Edwards et al.

The Bleacher Report brings us the 30 hottest female tennis players, circa 2009. Good stuff.

A recent poll says that the Montreal Canadiens are Canada's most popular hockey team, and not the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hope they didn't sink a lot of cash into finding out what most know.

Keith Ballard clubbed goalie Tomas Vokoun in the head after a goal. To make that bad situation worse, they both play for the Florida Panthers. Scary stuff. Trying to think of another sport where something so mindless happens and am drawing a blank. See the vid below.

"Gray" Cup

The Grey Cup will soon be renamed the Gray Cup if there are too many more drab games. Like many, I tuned out after that duller than dishwater first half and only by fluke returned to catch the final minutes. In the end, the Montreal Alouettes booted a last second field goal to claim the CFL's top prize. In a related story, went to the restaurant at the right in Saskabush and asked for a table for 12. Weirdest thing - they put out 13 spots. (Thanks to Bukakke for the pic.)

It was a day of dramatic comebacks in the NFL yesterday, none more impressive than Vince Young driving the Tennessee Titans 99 yards for a last second touchdown to win the game over Arizona.

The Indianapolis Colts were getting throttled by the Houston Texans, and went to the break down 20-7 and it should've been worse. Incredibly, they rallied to win 35-27 and move to 11-0. The last three teams to reach 10-0 in the NFL failed to win the Super Bowl. Now, if the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints meet in the big game - and how great would that be? - that obviously would change.

Speaking of the Saints, they host New England tonight in what should be a shootout if the over under of 56 is any indication. Patriots coach Bill Belichick is being uncharacteristically complimentary of his opponent, calling the Saints the best team in the game.

Andy Reid couldn't leave well enough alone. Not content to see Bill Belichick claim the title of Dumbest Coaching Move of the Year, Reid went for an onside kick to open the game against Washington. The Skins recovered of course. What an idiot. Shame that the Eagles pulled out the game late as stupidity does not deserve to be rewarded.

On last nights Baltimore overtime win over a fading Pittsburgh Steelers squad, Did I really hear Cris Collinsworth say "Ray Lewis has a little blood on him. It may be somebody else's"? Wouldn't be the first time we've heard that said of Lewis. And what was with his chest thumping at the conclusion of the game? You'd barely know he was playing for all he did out there.

MSN Canada ranked the Saskatchewan Roughriders fans as the rowdiest in Canada. Possible, I suppose, but the ranking loses lots of cred for ranking the Toronto Maple Leafs fans at #4 and ahead of Toronto FC's at #5. No, plainly. And laughable.

Chelsea throttled Arsenal 3-0 yesterday to move five points clear of second place Manchester United. Didier Drogba scored a pair of beauties for the Blues.

Grey Cup Sunday

The Grey Cup goes today and not sure I've ever been less interested. Maybe it is in part to the last three games being total duds. Montreal is a 9.5 point fav against Saskatchewan with the game in Calgary. Kickoff is 6:30pm Eastern on TSN.

Sports Pickle has an outstanding picture of the day. Tiger Woods is the theme. Speaking of Woods, word is now emerging the cuts on his face came not from his car accident, but in the middle of a fight with his wife. He best take a page from the book of A-Rod and get proactive on this. Silence is a killer when the media freight train gets rolling.

Ana Ivanovic has taken the time to unveil the outfit she'll be sporting at the Australian Open in January. The way she's played of late, she need not worry about multiple colours for other matches.

Manchester City tied their seventh straight EPL game yesterday, 1-1 with Hull City. The big one of the weekend goes today at 11am on The Score with cross-town rivals Chelsea and Arsenal getting it on. Should be a great one. Also great should be the Real Madrid and Barcelona tilt at 1pm on The Score. Is there anyone that wouldn't love to see Barca hammer Real?

Hey Maple Leafs fans, doesn't Sunday feel better with the Leafs not having played the night before?

And doesn't it feel even better that Notre Dame lost - again - and Charlie Weis is at the brink? The Domers were beat 45-38 by Stanford. Apparently, Weis had already cleaned out his office before yesterday's game. Imagine how many chocolate bar wrappers were in that office?

Ben Roethlesberger is out for Pittsburgh today. Wise move for a guy who once rode a motorcycle sans helmet, particularly facing the hard hitting Baltimore Ravens. Incredible that the line went from -2 for the Ravens to -9 with Big Ben out. Have to play the Steelers with that kind of lumber.

Bud Selig is packing it in as MLB Commissioner after 2012. Don't suspect there will be a lot of glorious tributes to Bud. Cue the Bob Costas rumors.

Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan is a career 11-1 at home. Hard not to figure on that being 12-1 with the Falcons hosting Tampa Bay today.

Am I completely off my rocker for thinking there will be no undefeated teams after this weekend? Indianapolis is in Houston, and New Orleans hosts New England tomorrow in what should be a shoot out.

GBVH pointed out that six NHL games went to a shootout last night with five teams scoring a goal or less. Pretty funny that when I take shots at how dull hockey has become there is nobody taking me to task for that one.

Have a great Sunday all.