You get me closer to God...

It took triple overtime, but the Ottawa Senators got a stay of execution with a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins that even they must not have expected the way this series has gone the last few games. Chicago and Philadelphia were both 3-0 winners, with Philly eliminating New Jersey in five games, and San Jose found the offence in a 5-0 win over Colorado.

The best Tim Tebow tweets last night after he was drafted at the tail end of the first round by the Denver Broncos: he's now one mile closer to God, and second, the most famous white Bronco since OJ Simpson. The Dallas Cowboys got themselves a top 10 pick at the 24 spot in Dez Bryant, which could mean the end of that bust Roy Williams. Full first round analysis here if you're an ESPN Insider. Or, at SI.com if you don't. Good day for Oklahoma, with three of the top four picks taken, noted Bukakke.

Here's an odd stat: Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers entered play yesterday with ten hits. That's one more than the DH's for the New York Yankees and two more than the DH's for the Minnesota Twins.

Speaking of the Yankees, they pulled their first triple play since 1968 yesterday in a 3-1 loss at Oakland. Check it out here. Just before that, seems Oakland A's pitcher Dallas Braden - a name few will recognize - took umbrage with Alex Rodriguez - GASP! - stepping on the pitchers mound dirt running back to the dugout. The horror! Am I the only one who finds most "unwritten rules" to be ridiculously lame?

Bill Simmons (aka "The Sports Guy") says ESPN has wanted the NHL back for two years. Apparently NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is playing the jilted lover card and rather than doing what is best - going to ESPN - he holds on to his Versus pipe dream. Tool. If you're not on ESPN in the U.S., you don't exist.

Looks like a Tiger Woods divorce is imminent, as wife Elin is said to be furious he returned to golf so soon. Just think how she'd feel if he returned to banging porn stars.

Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt won't confirm or deny reports that they're in the Ben Roethlisberger hunt. And how great would it be for Ben to go to the retirement community that is Arizona? Think of all the widows he could rape...err...hit on.

Finally today, or at least before a couple great video clips, check out the dozen evilest pictures of The Pope, courtesy of one Danko Jones.

If you've ever been to a Montreal Canadiens game at the Bell Centre, you know the Habs send two kids out with Habs flags out ahead of the team. So what does Alexander Ovechkin do? Snow plows them. Wow. Part of me thinks "Ovie, they're kids!" Another part says "what a message to send to your opponent that anyone in a Habs jersey is a target." The remaining part thinks "holy hell that is funny". Seems Habs fans aren't very amused.


Best baseball slide. Ever.

Rapelesberger gets 6

Bayern Munich rode the hot boot of Arjen Robben to a 1-0 Champions League win over Lyon. The next leg goes in France so Bayern still has plenty of work, but German visits to France historically have gone swimmingly. Yeah, I said it.

It is a six game suspension for Ben Roethlesberger, potentially reduced to four if he meets certain requirements. I'm assuming "not raping anybody" is on that requirement list. The suspension will cost him $2.8 million. Hope it was worth it! The Buffalo Bills are said to have declined interest in Roethlesberger, while they were previously interested in Mike Vick. That shows how toxic Big Douche is. Also not interested, according to Pro Football Talk, were Rams, 49ers, Raiders, Jaguars, Seahawks and Browns. I've got a feeling he goes. But where? Finally today, check out this bit from a Pittsburgh radio station, lifted from Empties Crushed, a solid blog out of Pittsburgh.

Jeff Passan at Yahoo! Sports presents one of the better realignment ideas for baseball or more to the point, unalignment, and scrapping the divisions altogether. Frankly, makes a world of sense. Oh, and as you've read here a million times, he concurs a salary cap will never happen and adds that a reduction in revenue sharing seems more likely than an increase in light of how some teams aren't using it to better the on field product. Long read, but a well thought out one with plenty of details as to what schedules would look like, playoffs and so on. Memo to Bud Selig: do it. One idea I'll add in favor of additional wild cards if you don't intend to ditch regular season games: cut off a handful of pre-season games. Will it really effect teams that much? Seems not, if all are impacted equally.

Stop me if this sounds at all familiar. San Jose Sharks Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley: no goals in the playoffs.

The best thing about the NFL Draft, which starts tonight with the first round, and stretches the remaining rounds across the weekend, is this: it will put an end to all the ridiculous speculation, the overdone mock drafts that are rarely even close to the mark, and gets us one step closer to actual play in September.

How much does Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis love drafting speedy players? So much that his scouts will inflate players 40 yard times by a few 10ths of a second if the player is only a speed merchant.

The Washington Capitals exploded for four goals in the third to beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 in a game the Habs led 2-1 late in the second, and mostly dominated for two periods. Fork? Meet Montreal. 3-1 Caps in the series and the final result is but a formality, though the Habs have been surprisingly in it for the most part.

The Boston Bruins won 3-2 in double overtime to take a 3-1 series lead over the Buffalo Sabres. With the #2 seeded Sabres and #3 seeded New Jersey Devils on the ropes in the East, the NHL has to be thrilled they're not wasting a Pittsburgh-Washington bout in the second round.

The Vancouver Canucks downed the LA Kings 6-4 to level a very interesting series there. Have to say, a very entertaining first round.

Roy Halladay made sure that shoddy Philadelphia Phillies bullpen wouldn't hurt him last night as he went the distance in a 2-0 shutout of the Atlanta Braves to lower his ERA to 0.82 with a 4-0 record.

Usually the first month of every baseball season sees a trendy injury. This year, the trend is pitchers taking no hitters deep into games. Yankee pitcher Phil Hughes was the latest, going into the 8th before the Oakland A's broke it up. 3-1 final for the Yankees to move to an MLB best 11-3 on their 6th straight win.

Speculation is part of the Toronto Raptors problems this past season was they partied far too much. The way they sleep walked through far too many games, that doesn't surprise me in the least. How very professional of them.

Kim Kardashian likes them fast, flashy and with diamond studded earrings. She was seen having dinner with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo last weekend, fresh off her breakup with Reggie Bush.

No shortage of content lately, no? Have a great Thursday.

Chris Bosh, 14th overall pick in the draft?

The NFL schedule is finally out after much discussion. Some interesting items: Week 17 will be nothing but divisional games. Now, if they were smart, they'd have all games kick-off at the same time to avoid any advantages given to later teams. Also, the Buffalo Bills will host the Chicago Bears in Toronto. Thanksgiving Day USA will feature a trio of games in New England at Detroit, a killer matchup of New Orleans at Dallas, and Cincinnati at the New York Jets. And, as mentioned here months back, it'll be Minnesota at New Orleans to open the season. The rest of the schedule here. But make sure you finish reading RandoMango first, of course.

Bill Simmons, aka The Sports Guy, says a Yankee fan he knows emailed him David Ortiz' 2010 stats and called him "Big Pop-up," to which I had no comeback and wanted to cry. Wait, Simmons was left speechless? Wow.

Everytime the Ottawa Senators are down to the Pittsburgh Penguins, like they were 7-4 last night late in the game, and look to "send a message", the message I get is "we are losers". The Pens are now up 3-1 and the gap is widening.

In other series, the Detroit Red Wings shut out Phoenix 3-0 to even their series at 2-2. Nashville Predators rode a scorching Pekka Rinne to a 4-1 win, taking a 2-1 series lead over the Chicago Black Hawks, and San Jose beat Colorado 2-1 in overtime, their only two goals against Colorado in 7 periods or so. Philadelphia took a 3-1 stranglehold on their series with the New Jersey Devils and you get the feeling if they get goaltending, they could do some damage this playoffs.

So much for Kevin Garnett's abscence opening a door for the Miami Heat in game two of their series. The Boston Celtics hammered the Heat 106-77 and that has to be pretty much the end of them, no?

Charles Barkley appeared on Jim Rome is Burning yesterday and had this to say on Kobe Bryant: "When you get hurt all the time, you're definitely on the downside of your career." Chuck would know.

If I were Ben Roethlesberger, I'd be begging NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend me now before more stories of my douchebaggery like this emerge from the fine citizens of Pittsburgh. Seriously, he seems like a bigger bonehead than the worst traits of Pacman Jones, Terrell Owens and Old Has Been. You just knew he was going to be in there, right?

Jose Canseco might be worth following on Twitter, if you like following the unhinged. Check out a small sampling of his tweets here. Scroll over them to magnify.

In Champions League play yesterday, Barcelona were shocking 3-1 losers at Inter Milan in the first leg of their semi-final. They're still very much in it with the home leg to come, but now the math could see them out the same way Manchester United ended up in the quarters. Up today, Lyon are at Bayern Munich.

What would an NBA draft look like with every single player available? Well, try this on for size. Chris Bosh, if you're wondering, would go 14th.

Finally today, two soccer vids from the last week or so.

First up, a goal celebration fail that is absolutely amazing. A must see for fans and non fans alike.


Second, this is one of those goals - from Inter Milan's Maicon - that you can point to when somebody says soccer isn't that difficult or impressive. There's no one act in sport that can top this in my book. Thanks to GBVH for passing on.

4:20

Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says Toronto Argos and BC Lions owner David Braley is contemplating blacking out home games in a bid to increase attendance. Guess Braley doesn't know all the Argos fans are already in attendance and those watching at home aren't likely to attend anyways. Maybe he meant blacking out Lions games in Ontario? Only that would be more laughable than a guy owning two teams in an eight team league.

Maybe the Toronto Blue Jays contemplate blackouts? There's a very real chance they draw fewer than the Kitchener Rangers will tonight in their OHL Eastern Conference Final as they host Windsor in the 5,700 capacity Auditorium. The Jays set another record low last night with just over 10,000 in attendance. Does anybody know what their season ticket base is?

What ever happened to Jaroslav Halak? The guy that was a stud the final months of the regular season for the Montreal Canadiens and stole the top job is now a shell of his former self, as the Washington Capitals took a 2-1 series lead last night after Halak gave up four in short order in the second period. Seems that Carey Price will be in the pipes to start next game.

One concern that the New York Yankees had going into this season was how the heavy workload of last season, including the playoffs, would wear on Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Through three turns in the rotation the answer is "not much at all", or at least, not yet. The trio is 6-0 with a 2.17 ERA.

Ben Roethlesberger's suspension is expected to be announced tomorrow. With the NFL schedule set to be unveiled tonight, I'm guessing Steelers fans - along with their rivals - will be scrambling to see if their team faces the Steelers in the first few weeks of the season.

Just because I'm sure some miss the fights that are a "part of the game" in hockey come playoff time, here's a look back at the Top 10 fights of this past NHL season, complete with video. No idea how Evander Kane's knockout of Matt Cooke isn't top ranked just for the victim alone. Interesting factoid from frequent reader BigHeadedJerk: Kane was named after Evander Holyfield. Presumably the fighter version, not the breeder, though they are one in the same.

The Boston Red Sox used their four best starters against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays in a series that wrapped up yesterday. The result? A four game sweep by the Rays.

Word is Milwaukee Brewer Prince Fielder wants a $200 million contract. If the Brewers were to cough up that much cash, it would be just $34 million less than owner Mark Attanasio paid for the team in 2004. Can't imagine a $200 million investment in an overweight guy likely to break down over the years is a sound investment, and his agent Scott Boras doesn't have the Yankees and Boston Red Sox to pull into a bidding war. If he gets $200 million, what is Albert Pujols worth with a better bat and glove at the same position?

Finally, in honour of 4:20 and all the burners out there, always good to reset this gem of a video from The Price is Right.

I don't want to pretend that things like jinxes exist, but something strange happens to the San Jose Sharks come playoff time year in and out. Last night, they were beaten early in overtime by the Colorado Avs, led by Craig Anderson's 51 saves in goal. The goal was scored from Dan Boyle. Yes, San Jose Shark Dan Boyle. In other series, Pittsburgh looks like they've got a firm grip on the Senators now after a dominant win. The Phoenix Coyotes surprised - me at least - with a win in Detroit. Philadelphia leads the Devils in a series that is playing out as tight as most figured. Chicago rode a red hot goalie performance from Antii Niemi to even their series 1-1 with the Nashville Preds.

The New York Yankees have won their first four series of the season against teams that were a combined 78 games above .500 last year, and two playoff teams. Their only concerns right now are staying healthy, getting Nick Johnson to realize it is okay to swing a bat occasionally, and getting Javier Vazquez right. Beyond that, they're on their way to 105 wins and will runaway with the division again. Joel Sherman at the NY Post has more.

With the European air travel turmoil, Barcelona are busing 1,000 kilometers to Milan for their Champions League tilt tomorrow. That ought to do wonders for their legs.

Jeff Blair at the Globe & Mail wonders if the Toronto Raptors are too Eurocentric and if they need to be as Bryan Colangelo gets told to "not bother" by agents for American players. I'm not sure how valid all that is, but he nails it in calling Jose Calderon a walking mismatch.

The Atlanta Falcons have embraced MMA training as part of their off season program. Seeing what it has done for Minnesota Viking Jarred Allen, I can see why. Matt Leinart? Not so much.

Check out the Top 20 Awkward Sports Moments, with video evidence. By "awkward", I assume they mean "incredible".

SI.com's Peter King figures that Ben Roethlesberger will be suspended between 4 and 8 games by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Score has secured broadcast rights to Italy's Serie A through 2012. Shocking how much TV coverage there is of soccer compared to five years back.

If you have any doubts about Aussie Rules rugby players toughness, or sanity, check out this Aussie Rules player get crushed.

Check out this song dedicated to Chris Bosh staying with the Toronto Raptors. Creepy?

Kevin Garnett = D-Bag

Alexander Ovechkin bounced back with a fantastic performance last night as his Caps beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-5 in overtime. Still, the Caps are hardly dominating this series and headed back to Montreal, they're far from out of the woods here. Five more games on the go today.

Toronto FC are in Colorado today to take on the Rapids. Kickoff on GolTV is 5pm.

Since January 29th, Oklahoma City Thunder are 26-11 with only two losses by more than eight points. Since February 18th, the LA Lakers are 15-12, only 2 wins by double-digits. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

Funny that there's not acres of forest being wiped out to talk about how easy it is to hit homer's in Yankee Stadium. That's what happens when you grow a sample size. Next up: Vernon Wells.

Tottenham are having a lot to say about how the English Premier League will finish up. Spurs beat Arsenal last week to all but end Arsenal's title hopes, and just when it looked like Chelsea had the title sewn up, Spurs beat them 2-1 in a game that was not even that close. Paul Scholes scored with 17 seconds to go to lift Manchester United past Manchester City and narrow the gap at the top to a point. So what did Arsenal do with a chance to narrow the gap to two points this morning? Lost 3-2 at Wigan after leading 2-0. Incredible season.

Funny what a stellar playoff run can do. Alex Rodriguez didn't hit his first home run of the season until yesterday and I don't recall reading about it once or hearing it mentioned on any of the half dozen podcasts I listen to daily. Incredible what a month can change.

Why is it the more time passes, the more Boston Celtic Kevin Garnett becomes a douchebag? Maybe it is the "Boston" coming more into play.

Colorado Rocky Ubaldo Jiminez tossed a no hitter in Atlanta yesterday, the first in Rockies history. For the Braves, it is the 17th time they've been no hit. Jiminez is also 3-0 on the year.

In other baseball news, the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals in a mere 20 innings. The Cards even had two infielders pitch, and pitcher Kyle Lohse play outfield, and the game was scoreless until the 19th. Game time: 6 hours, 53 minutes. Players used: 46. Pitching changes: 17. Runners stranded: 35. The teams combined to hit 1 for 25 with runners in scoring position.

A video triple for your Sunday viewing pleasure to close things off for the day. Enjoy.

Check out Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo turn a defender inside out with a ridiculous stepover. Shame that Ronaldo allows himself the balance to pull a play like that at full speed but to often goes to ground when nudged. Oh, and he finished the play and scored.


If you missed Ottawa Senator Andy Sutton's crushing hit on Pittsburgh Penguin Jordan Leopold Friday night, check it out here...


Check out the Top 10 Slam Dunks of this past NBA season.