Philly grabs one back

It didn't start pretty with the San Francisco Giants out to an early 2-0 lead, and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay tweaked his groin batting, but the Phillies clawed back and were 4-2 winners to cut the series lead to 3-2 for the Giants.  They'll tangle again at 3:57 (Eastern) tomorrow back in Philly.  Up tonight, it is game six in the ALCS.  Maybe it is loyalty, but I've got a funny feeling the New York Yankees even it up and send it to - gulp! - a game seven against Cliff Lee tomorrow night.

New England Patriot QB Tom Brady isn't a guy that talks a whole lot, but his "they talk a lot for a team that has beat us once in nine years" crack on the Baltimore Ravens is absolutely nuclear.  Awesome.

Things are going to get real interesting on the labour front in the NBA if Commissioner David Stern is serious about rolling back player salaries by a third, or $750-$800 million across the board.  If he's serious, there is no way there is a season to start 2011/12, no?

9,802 in Columbus to see the Blue Jackets on Wednesday with the Anaheim Ducks in town, 8,820 in Atlanta on the same night to see the visiting Buffalo Sabres.  I know Gary Bettman's argument against more Canadian teams is they won't draw well in the U.S., but here's a thought: neither do some U.S. teams.  GB will look real smart if Atlanta fails a second time.  Oh, and not to be outdone, the Phoenix Coyotes drew 6,706 last night.  Picture of league health at right.

The NFL has released its "hits" video that went to all teams this week.  Check it out here.  After yesterday, I'm tempted to suggest this problem is all the result of shoddy officiating, just for fun.  If you're wondering what I'm referring to, check out the discussion that yesterday's crack on officials brought here.

After all that ink wasted, Wayne Rooney has signed with Manchester United for another five years.  It'll be interesting to see if his anger over them saving money on players sold rather than acquiring new ones makes a difference come January's transfer window.

In ESPN The Magazine's "Lists" issue, New Orleans Hornet Chris Paul was asked to name the five best passers in the game. Who did he have tops? Chris Paul.

Also listed, Brett Favre's final pass in a playoff game went to a member of his team six times. Intercepted?  Five. Nice.

Talk about punching above your class: LA Laker Sasha Vujacic is engaged to Maria Sharapova.

I managed to catch a minute of the Toronto Maple Leafs/New York Rangers game last night. Didn't better my life a bit.

Philadelphia Phillies Ryan Howard, batting cleanup, has yet to cash an RBI this playoffs. That's hard to believe, but speaks to the very streaky Phillies offence.

The Dallas Cowboys are using officials in practice this week in an effort to cut down on the penalties they're drawing.  Up next week: using a head coach.

The very evolved NFL analyst Mark Schlereth says that if the NFL continues to look at ways to remove hitting from the game, they'll end up being soccer.  I'd love to get Schlereth on the field some day with a Nigel De Jong say, and show him how little contact there is.  Know what you're talking about, MS, otherwise you look like a pure jerkoff.  Oh, guess the league isn't removing contact entirely if Pittsburgh Steeler James Harrison backing off retirement talk is any measure.  What a shock.

If the stories are to be believed, looks like Boston Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell - experience: zero - is in line to be the new manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.  The largest downside of this hiring for AL East rivals: the Sox pitching is bound to improve after the not-so-great work Farrell did with Josh Beckett, John Lackey and Jonathan Papelbon.

Not sure what is more impressive in this clip from a youth hockey game.  The celebration after the goal, or that it looks like they drew a bigger crowd than the NHL cities named above.

Hockey snow angels @ Yahoo! Video

Groin pains

New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul left the Hornets game last night with a groin injury. The Hornets were outscored 42-17 by the Portland Trail Blazers the rest of the way to lose 97-89...heard one NHL rumor floated that had the Montreal Canadiens trading Alexei Kovalev, Andrei Markov and Jaroslav Halak to the Florida Panthers for Jay Bouwmeester and Nathan Horton. No chance the Habs make that deal even if they had a deal to extend Bouwmeester, who is a free agent after this season...separated at birth: The Score's Adnan Virk and the New York Yankees Andy Pettitte...it is almost becoming a weekly installment: wrestling talk. Here's a look at the 20 Worst Mask Gimmicks...two weeks until baseball camps open and there are piles of big name free agents still available. Word is Adam Dunn, regular 40 home run man, could be had for a year and a mere $5.5 million. Guessing Toronto isn't a possibility after JP Ricciardi cracked Dunn last year...speaking of free agents, the latest on Manny Ramirez is he turned down a one year deal for $25 million from the LA Dodgers. No chance he gets an offer for that much elsewhere...when you think top five paid men in baseball for 2008, you likely don't figure Bud Selig checks in third at $18 million. That's a serious ticket...there's a giant fuss made in New York everytime LeBron James rolls into town so of course Kobe Bryant made sure the basketball public remembers who the man is in dropping a Madison Square Garden record 61 points on the Knicks last night...BJ Penn has filed a protest over vaseline that was on Georges St. Pierre's shoulders during Saturday's fight - a no-no. I think he should be more upset about the glue GSP must've had on him too as Penn couldn't seem to get GSP off him for the last three rounds...AC Milan management say that David Beckham wants to stay in Italy beyond the scheduled March return to the LA Galaxy. Gee, play for a top team in a top league or play for one of the worst teams in a lesser league? Hardly a tough decision...managed to catch Sunday's The Office on the PVR last night. As great as it was, not sure there have been a funnier five minutes in the history of television than that opening sequence...back with a PTP winner later today. Have a great Tuesday.

PTP: As you can see to the right, the Prime Time Pick for the day is up. Loving these "totals" of late, and tonight is no different.

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

Freak NFL stat: if you are +1 on takeaways/giveaways, you will win 80% of the games...in what would be a huge development, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger may jump ship to take over at Real Madrid. What a difference that would be, going from a large club with significant restraints because of the financing on the Emirates Stadium to one that is a bottomless pit of money...Chris Paul and Lebron James told the great show E:60 that they regularly play XBox head to head. Online. Something about that amuses me...add the Arizona Cardinals to NFL home sides that are struggling or struggled to sell out their game this weekend. As of yesterday morning, they had 3,700 tickets to get rid of. This, for a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in a decade. No word on if they managed to sell out...Stephon Marbury might land with the Boston Celtics. Seriously. Interesting Starbury fact: teams that deal him improve by an average of 27 wins the following season. Look for the New York Knicks to make a huge leap next season if that holds...the Baltimore Ravens five losses this year are to Pittsburgh (twice), Tennessee, Indianapolis and the New York Giants, who combined to go a whopping 49-15...a perfect 2-0 start to the year on Prime Time Picks, and today, gunning to make it 3-0. Here's some background: teams that enter the playoffs .500 are 2-7 since 1972, with one of those wins coming when two 8-8 teams played each other. San Diego enters the playoffs at 8-8. Indy has won 12 straight, but is only a one point fav. Seems strangely, sucker-bet low, no? Regardless, taking Indy to drop the hammer on the Bolts and cover the spread (-1 +101) comfortably. Get down with Pinnacle here...it was only a matter of time before somebody was killed from a hockey fight, and now, Don Henderson of the Whitby Dunlops becomes the test case for what the game does going forward...Buffalo Bills safety Ko Simpson started the "NFLers Arrested" edition for 2009 off with a roaring start, busted for not leaving the area while a friend of his was being arrested. In true athlete fashion, he played the "don't you know who I am?" card and told the police he's "worth millions!" Step your game up, Ko, Eddie Belfour already used that tactic in telling the cops he was worth "billions" years ago...NBA ref Derrick Stafford will not be punished for calling Vince Carter "boy", which Winessa didn't like. That is not right in my opinion. The NBA should come down hard on Stafford for calling a girl a boy...Canada faces Russia in one semi-final of the World Junior Hockey Championships. Of note, the U.S. soiled the bed in their quarter-final yesterday with a 5-3 loss to Slovakia, a huge underdog to one of the pre-tourney favs who will now face Sweden in the other semi-final. If you sweat karma, however, saw one sign at a bar driving through town yesterday that said "Catch Canada go for gold on Monday here"...have a great Saturday.