A full weekend of English Premier League action starts off today. Leaders Chelsea will look to regain their form when they host West Ham just days ahead of a crucial Champions League game with Inter Milan, minus keeper Peter Cech. Manchester United host the squad that has given them huge problems the last couple years, Fulham, tomorrow. The Cottagers pounded United 3-0 back in November. Sunderland look to win for the first time since November 21st.
The Phoenix Coyotes, if you're wondering, are averaging 11,296 fans a game, and are projected to lose another $20 million U.S. Yeah, that's way better than selling to Jim Balsillie and moving the team to greener pastures.
A New Jersey seamhead says he's got the 2010 MLB season figured out. Good news fellow New York Yankee fans, 103 wins and 10 games ahead of Tampa Bay in the AL East it is. Toronto Blue Jays? 70 wins and 33 back. Ouch. Or not.
In one of the funnier things I've read recently, there is talk of Oakland Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell, half hearted and now being taken seriously given the subject, having "lethargy addiction".
Don't often preview NHL match-ups in these parts, but tonight in Montreal there is a big one as the Boston Bruins, visiting the Montreal Canadiens, are both fighting for their playoff lives at the bottom end of the Eastern Conference qualifiers. Should be a great game tonight.
Check out this incredible analysis of water consumption in the city of Edmonton during the gold medal hockey game last Sunday, complete with detail on what was happening when in the game, as well as how things looked the day before. Amazing. Wonder what Super Bowl looks like? Guess there's a lot more time to hit the can with all the ad spots but you'd have to think half time is a huge spike. More impressive would be a booze consumption chart, if that were possible.
When Chris Chelios, called up by the Atlanta Thrashers earlier this week, was traded to Chicago for Denis Savard in 1990, current Thrasher Evander Kane had not been conceived. He was born a year later.
Further to yesterday's baseball realignment story, Deadspin has passed on its thoughts in an article called "How To Ruin Baseball in One Easy Step". Deadspin furthers the discussion by asking what teams with designated hitters, generally highly paid specialists, would do if they chose to move to the NL for a season.
The knives are out in Spain for Real Madrid, as the manager and players are taking a tonne of flack for another round of 16 flameout this week. Couldn't happen to a more deserving club. One caption beside a picture of Cristiano Ronaldo read "Cristiano, humiliated. He promised every title and has already lost two".
There is actual talk, says ProFootballTalk, that another embarrassing incident from Ben Roethlesberger could spell the end of his days in Pittsburgh. Say one thing about the Rooney's, they don't mess around.
Hard to believe I went through two days of Champions League play the last two days with nary a mention. Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 7th goal in six games but it wasn't enough to send Real Madrid into the quarters as Olympic Lyon drew 1-1 in Madrid. Real captain Gutiblames a lack of teamwork on their flaming out - didn't we say there would be problems with that many fresh faces and egos demanding the ball? Very classy of Ronaldo to saunter off to the dressing room without shaking hands post-game. Best talent in the world, but grow up and take it like a man, CR9. Manchester United advanced with a 4-0 win over AC Milanpowered by two Wayne Rooney goals, knocking out former star David Beckham. Not a good week for former #7's of Manchester United, obviously, with Ronaldo and Beckham both getting to watch their former side advance. Arsenal and Bayern Munich also punched their tickets into the quarter-finals by finishing off their match-ups this week. The other four entrants will be sorted out next week.
Says the great Jason Whitlock via Twitter: "we ripped Pacman 4 lovin 'scrip clubs,' but malewhores r better off making it rain in 'scrip clubs' than trying 2 game college students, no?" Other than the part about people getting shot, he makes a solid point. Whitlock also says that David Copperfield couldn't extricate himself from the mess Ben Roethlesberger is in right now.
So much for a carry-over effect from the Olympics for the NHL on NBC. Ratings for this past Sunday's Detroit Red Wings/Chicago Black Hawks tilt - a matchup of two Original Six squads - drew ratings about as low as the games broadcast before the Olympic games. Tony Kornheiser at PTI says, semi-tongue in cheek - that maybe the ratings are abysmal for regular NHL games and much higher for the Olympic version because there isn't fighting. That, and games take about 40 minutes less, are more entertaining etc.
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig's committee for on-field matters is investigating a system that would see different divisional alignments year to year, not allowing teams to play in a division more than two timezones away. One example: the Cleveland Indians, in payroll slashing and rebuilding mode, might look to actually play in the AL East to capitalize on 18 visits - instead of eight - from the well-drawing New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. The divisions would align on competitive and budgetary reasons. Seems pretty convoluted, no? I think, as I've mentioned before, the easiest route is to open the playoffs to more Wild Cards and shave off a dozen or so regular season games. Sure, some will argue it negatively impacts the record book, but MLB clearly spent about a decade not concerned about the integrity of the record book, right?
Not sure which of these 10 awesome game show fails is my fav, but it is a toss-up between the wheel spin at The Price is Right and the bonus round answers on Family Feud. Great stuff.
Howard Stern held a beauty pageant among some of the ladies who Tiger Woods tapped in recent years and winner Jamie Jungers, among the rest, had all kinds of interesting information to reveal.
Check out these fans trying to hook Chelsea captain John Terry into signing an autograph "To Wayne...sorry...John Terry". "Wayne" of course would refer to former teammate, Wayne Bridge, a story we've covered here at length. Awesome.
Former Cleveland Browns QB Derek Anderson, just released by the Browns, is hoping to get a measure of revenge on a franchise and a fanbase that he calls "ruthless" and "don't deserve a winner" after they cheered when he went down with a tore knee ligament in 2008. Guess Anderson forgot that he didn't exactly live up to his contract after a huge 2007 that got him paid.
If the estimates that there are 20-40 blows to the head in an average NHL game, not including fights, the league and players can forget about eliminating it totally - simply too much incidental contact. But you can increase suspensions for the Matt Cooke's of the world who deliver blind siders, intended or not, and eliminating fighting might decrease the odd head shot, but that's too obvious for some of the Mensa rejects at all levels of hockey. It sounds like there is a new rule in the works for next season that will punish any hits from behind or the side - an improvement - while still allowing for head on head shots (think Scott Stevens plastering Eric Lindros in 2000).
Look for the Chicago Cubs to come out strong out of the gate this year, as they've only got 6 of 38 games to start against teams that were .500 or better last year.
Italy's top soccer league, Serie A, will now be punishing blasphemy with immediate suspensions, and they'll be using video evidence as source material. Good to see one of the leagues most renowned for diving focusing on what really matters in the game.
In further evidence that winning cures all ills, New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter are back to being buddies again, driving to games together, warming up together and so on. Pretty sour that regular reader and occasional contributor TS beat me to the punch on saying they're not truly friends until they have a sleepover.
Is there anyone anywhere that can look at Pen Rapelisberger and think he looks like an elite athlete? He looks like a bouncer at best. Check out Big Ben's off season track record: 2006, he wins the Super Bowl in February and follows that up five months later by nearly dying after cracking through the windshield of a car in a motorcycle accident where he wasn't wearing a helmet. That said, I'm going to guess he couldn't find a bucket to fill that giant mellon (and it is rare that any Croatian blooded guy can accuse someone of having a giant mellon). In 2009, Ben again wins the Super Bowl in February and in July is named in a civil lawsuit for allegedly raping a hotel worker in Reno, Nevada. 2010: Alleged sexual assault.
If you're the owner of a team trailing the Phoenix Coyotes by a couple of points, a team that you're helping see through the year financially thanks to the wisdom of Gary Bettman, wonder how you feel about them adding $2 million in payroll last week at the trade deadline, moves that could see you out of playoff contention?
In case you missed it, and it being an NFL drug suspension and not an MLB one, you likely did, Miami Dolphin's free agent - and that ought to help his free agency cause, no? - Jason Ferguson was suspended for eight games for violating the league's performance enhancing drugs policy.
Tough off-season for the Arizona Cardinals so far. They've dealt Anquan Boldin, have seen Kurt Warner retire, and have lost Karlos Dansby and Antrel Rolle to free agency.
Here's a great piece on Sidney Crosby's gold medal winning goal last Sunday, covering off how things went down in the final seconds. It all happened so quick that the fourth picture only has one guy aware that the game is over in the entire building by the looks of it, #87 himself.
See the video of Matt Barnes of the Orlando Magic faking throwing the ball at Kobe Bryant's face on Sunday? Barnes and Kobe were going at it all game. Would make an interesting finals, no?
With ESPN not allowing for use of their pics - the source of most used in this corner - gonna mix it up on occasion and throw in the odd lady, in this case, yesterday's SunShine Girl. Good move, or bad?
The latest Chris Bosh story has him moving to the New York Knicks in a sign and trade this summer, where he'd join LeBron James. The Raps would get David Lee, for starters. Do with this what you will.
Here are 20 Epic Logo Fails. Not sure what the folks who designed the logo for Arlington Pediatric Center, Clinica Dental, China Restaurant and really, the rest, were thinking.
Are you like me, and look at Toronto Blue Jay Travis Snider and think "Brock Lesnar"? Eerily similar faces.
When did TSN's SportsCentre start including hits among its stats for hockey? Just noticed that.
Manchester United's Wayne Rooney hurt his knee playing for Englandin a friendly last week, and his Man U manager Sir Alex Ferguson, in a big departure as far as coaches go, blamed...the player.
Remember the blown calls in last year's baseball playoffs? It took a while, but MLB finally got around to addressing the matter with the umpires in question, and three paid with their jobs.
Tony Kornheiser returns to Pardon The Interruption today after a two week suspension for trashing Hannah Storm's outfit. That ought to be interesting.
Pittsburgh Penguins dirt merchant Matt Cooke crushed Marc Savard with a blind-side head shot for his third such hit this year. This guy shouldn't be in the NHL. Period.
Not content to be left out of overtime discussions, the CFL is looking at mandating that teams go for two points in overtime after scoring a TD. Headline from Deadspin: CFL Slowly Morphing Into XFL. I didn't realize the XFL ever awarded points for failure, like the CFL lamely does with the "rouge".
Sidney Crosbydeclined a chance to handle the Top 10 on The Late Show with David Letterman. He does know the NHL isn't exactly swimming in big name exposure like that, right?
FIFA, soccer's ruling body, is leaving the "paradinha" - Portuguese for "little stop" - up to its officials to call as permissible or not at this year's World Cup. I've been playing for decades and never once did I think the penalty kick rule allowed a stop of any kind, it was always required that there be forward motion. This is bush league stuff, completely unfair to goalies, and FIFA would be wise to clarify the rule immediately. Check it out below:
A full weekend of English Premier League action starts off today. Leaders Chelsea will look to regain their form when they host West Ham just days ahead of a crucial Champions League game with Inter Milan, minus keeper Peter Cech. Manchester United host the squad that has given them huge problems the last couple years, Fulham, tomorrow. The Cottagers pounded United 3-0 back in November. Sunderland look to win for the first time since November 21st.
