The fix is in, TFC on wrong side

Not sure if Jose Bautista has ever used PED's, but in light of all the conversation this week, hard not to laugh at this screen capture from a couple nights's ago.  If you haven't figured it out, look at the advertising behind him.  Last night's, his Blue Jays were on the wrong end of an 11-5 curbstomping at the hands of the New York Yankees.

It all seemed set perfectly.  A reputed so-so team, albeit on the road, hosting Toronto FC in Champions League play.  To make it better, the hosts goalie was named Jose Calderon.  Surely the Reds would score at will, no?  Nope.  In a game that was officiated so badly WWE officials would be red faced, TFC were 1-0 losers.  I have read Declan Hill's book called "The Fix" and quite honestly, after what I saw last night, he might be ready to add a chapter.  Nobody can be that inept, can they?

Tweets Bill Simmons, aka "The Sports Guy" on Chris Bosh not playing for the U.S. national team this summer:"I'm OK w/ Chris Bosh skipping out on Team USA, he didn't need any more big game reps. The 2003 NIT, 1 Olympics + 11 playoff games is enough."  Awesome.

Philadelphia Phillies starter Cole Hamels went 102 batters and 372 pitches between runs scored in support of him by his Phillies.  Ouch. 

A great career retrospective on Roger Clemens, from the fine folks at The Sports Pickle.

With UFC legend Randy Couture set to face former heavyweight boxing champion James Toney this weekend at UFC 118, here's a peak at the top 10 freak fights of all the times.  Toney, if you've yet to see, is taking smack talking to some impressive levels ahead of this one.  Seems positively annoyed that few are giving him a big chance in this one.  If he gets off a punch, sure.  If Couture gets in tight and gets him down, he's cooked.

Detroit Tiger Johnny Damon was placed on waivers a couple days ago and claimed by his former team, the Boston Red Sox, a team and city that as recently as last week he disparaged in an interview on The Michael Kay Show.  So with a chance to join a playoff contender, what did Damon do?  Weigh his options, and value his legacy as a Yankee far greater, says Lee Jenkins at SI.com, as he declined a move to Boston.  Well played, JD. 

The San Francisco Giants are .000944881889764 games out of the NL Wild Card position with 35 to go.  No, seriously.

Real Madrid and Barcelona have five of the world's seven highest paid soccer players. 

Bonus picture.  Check out a member of the U.S. Army Rangers - their elite crew - parachuting into the Texas Rangers game last night. Those pesky flag poles!

Dominican't

So, about the idea that Real Madrid is a soccer power in Europe? Nevermind. Liverpool were never threatened by the Spanish side in yesterdays second leg of their Champions League round of 16 game, taking Real apart with stunning ease 4-0, and it wasn't even that close. Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard were beasts all game. Why Cristiano Ronaldo would contemplate leaving Manchester United for that outfit is beyond me. Real is likely heading toward another coaching change and more roster turmoil. Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Villareal also advanced to the final eight..SI.com's Peter King, between sips of Starbucks, figures Arizona Cardinal Anquan Boldin will be a Philadelphia Eagle or New York Giant before July hits. As a Cowboy fan, at least the Redskins will always suck...Koko B. Ware is going into the WWE Hall of Fame? Who is next, The Berzerker?...Carlos Marmol came on to close out Holland and the Dutch proved too much and downed the Dominican 2-1 in 12 innings. Anybody else think that he's going to get the Andreas Escobar treatment when he goes home to the D.R.?...it didn't take long for the conspiracy theorists to figure A-Rod's sudden hip injury and surgery is merely cover for an MLB suspension...since November 28th, the New York Isles are 1-19-2 on the road. The 1980's must seem decades ago. Forgive me while I channel Yogi Berra...among the many interesting points in Declan Hill's book "The Fix" - a look at the extent to which soccer is fixed in the gambling world - is a revelation that some bookmakers in Russia stopped taking bets on the NHL in the 1990's, such was the level of fixing going on there with Russian players in particular. At the time, there were rumblings of "protection money" being extorted from Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny, but I don't recall gambling ever being brought up...Bret Hart once gave Vince McMahon a clothesline in a strip joint. True story. By the way, if you've never read Hart's bio "Hitman", do yourself a favor and start now...in Champions League action today, it doesn't get any bigger than Inter Milan at Manchester United. Also a big one in Rome, as Arsenal travel to face AS Roma. Again, I feel a strange fever coming over me today at the office around 3pm...Adam "Pacman" Jones has a new job, but it isn't in the NFL. He's on the terrible show "Pros vs. Joes", which led to this awesome email to Jim Rome: "Dear Jim, is Pacman a 'Pro' or a 'Joe'?"...line of the day from Gary Loewen at the Toronto Sun: "the NBA Development League is being innovative by allowing its three division winners to choose their first-round playoff opponents. No Raptors jokes here, please"...finally on my 10th listen, I figured out what Quinton "Rampage" Jackson screamed into the mic as he and champion Rashad Evans faced off in the ring after Jackson's win over Keith Jardine to hype their fight down the road: "there's gonna be some black on black crime." Amazing. Love me some Rampage...have a great Wednesday, back later with your PTP.