Coming home

As ideas go, the idea of dropping a basketball court into the very middle of a domed football stadium is not a great one. Expect a very poor atmosphere tonight at Ford Field for the Final Four. Pretty sad when you've got to spend good money to essentially watch the game on a big screen because you're so far away you can't see a thing on the court. I'm liking UConn and UNC to emerge victorious and set up the final match-up Monday, though Michigan State is essentially playing at home and could punk UConn...at the opposite end of atmosphere will be BMO Field today for the home debut for 2009 of the undefeated Toronto FC as they face the expansion - and very good - Seattle Sounders FC. The Sounders have opened at 2-0 but won't have their 21-year old Columbian scoring ace Fredy Montero, who not only has been accused of sexual assault in the last week, but also stalking. I'm counting on TFC to go back to Fortress BMO form and win this one. Montero's might not ever visit Toronto. Word is Juventus is hot on his trail which means there are surely other squads chasing. If you're attending, drop by the beer vendors around Section 114 pre-game and at the half. Mango is thirsty!...the New York Giants have cut Plaxico Burress. Only question is what took them so long? It's been over four months since he took target practice on himself...it only took a couple days since he was cut by the Detroit Tigers, but Gary Sheffield is now a New York Met. I haven't read much about CitiField but presumably the outfield is a lot smaller than the mammoth one that was at Shea Stadium. Don't think you'd want that butcher in a large outfield...it was only an exhibition game, but the New York Yankees and Mets both won their openers last night in their new digs...if you're gonna lose, lose big, and that's what the Cleveland Cavs did in last night's PTP, getting crushed by the Orlando Magic. In other wagers, won my first ever golf wager as I took Anthony Kim (+120) to beat Ernie Els in the first round of the Houston Open, completed yesterday. Today, we're playing Chelsea -.5 -1 +106 to ruin Alan Shearer's debut as manager of Newcastle United. That's solid value for a team that has to win to stay in the race against a team that, well, isn't good...that's all I've got today, time to bust open a beer shortly for TFC prep. So freaking jacked!!

Cutting bait

So if Matt Cassel costs a second round draft picks, how is Jay Cutler and a fifth round draft pick worth Kyle Orton and a pair of first rounders, plus a third from the Chicago Bears? And here I thought Denver was in a tough spot with the trade demands and need to trade so obvious...Michael Kay of the Yankee Network on Derek Jeter batting leading off: "That's 162 at bats that Jeter won't hit into a double play." Ouch. The bloom is falling off the rose more everyday when guys like Kay are cracking like that...Peter Gammons lists the three best teams in baseball as the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. The AL East is going to be scary if that holds true...that eerie silence you hear in the Toronto area is the calm before the storm that is going to hit BMO Field tomorrow when Toronto FC make their 2009 home debut. Cannot. Freaking. Wait. Coverage is on CBC at 4pm for those not able to get in or further away...North Carolina guard Ty Lawson is already a winner at the Final Four, winning $250 at a Detroit casino last night. The rest of his teammates were down about the same in Windsor area peeler joints. I'm only guessing on the latter. Also in that article is the lame revelation that Caesar's in Windsor is suspending wagering on the Final Four this weekend at the request of the NCAA...the normally mild mannered Cito Gaston went off over revelations that Roger Clemens had a hand in having him fired, calling him an asshole among other things. Sure he may have had a hand in Gaston's dismissal, but Clemens performance in Toronto is the only thing that made keeping him a possibility...in Germany's World Cup qualifier Wednesday, striker Lukas Podolski got into it with captain and all-round douche-bag and perennial second place man Michael Ballack. There's video below of how that went. Of course, the German camp says all is fine...the New York Yankees will open their new palace tonight against the Chicago Cubs. You can watch here at 7:05 tonight, and check out pics of this incredible new building here, and video here, and finally, panorama shots here...what do the LA Lakers, Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards have in common? They're the only teams to beat the Cleveland Cavs twice this season...some curious jersey's here. Including the obligatory clowns with #69, you get a Carolina Hurricanes jersey with a Hartford Whalers logo. Hid. E. Ous...the English Premier League is back in action tomorrow after the international break. Will Manchester United take the defibrilators to their title chances and down Aston Villa Sunday? Should be a great one...back with your PTP later.

Germany's Lukas Podolski does what everyone in the world wants to do to Michael Ballack...

Piazza hit the juice?

ESPN Insider says that if Wade Phillips gets axed by the Dallas Cowboys, former Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is ready to step in. If that is the case, do it now, Jerry Jones. A lame-duck Phillips is not going to get that team turned around to the extent that talent needs...on the cover of today's Toronto Sun is pictures of a Toronto FC fan in Columbus getting tasered post-game on Saturday when a few fights broke out. Check out the quotes by somebody named "Chris" in this article. Not to go conspiracy theory, but I have a hard time believing any fan goes to a game and can claim to be shocked by some of the smack talk and these quotes seem fabricated...it is a mad, mad world if David Beckham remains the highest paid soccer player. Really, there isn't one guy in this top 10 I wouldn't prefer to have over him...Michigan State has made the Final Four in 5 of the last 11 years. Yet somehow, Duke gets all the love from the media and seeding committee...I know TSN Sportscentre is to be a slightly modified (translation: hockey loaded) version of the ESPN one, but it has a long way to go before it even becomes half that good. After 10 days with the latter, can't say I miss Bob McKenzie in the least, not when I can see all sports covered, documentary type stories, fantasy updates and views and far better reporters and an overall lack of stuffiness...Jeff Pearlman - who wrote the fantastic book that looked at the 1990's Dallas Cowboys "Boys Will Be Boys" - has another called "The Rocket That Fell To Earth" covering Roger Clemens. Among the revelations, he quotes Reggie Jefferson as saying everybody knows Mike Piazza was taking steroids. Wonder if Piazza will have a presser to announce he's never used, and reiterate he's not gay? Clemens started using his second year in Toronto - after a fantastic first year - and had a part to play in Cito Gaston's firing, among other things...there is going to be one hell of a press conference coming in the next day or two as the Detroit Tigers have released the live wire that is Gary Sheffield...have a great Tuesday, back later.


Guitar Hero Metallica. As if you needed more evidence Lars Ulrich is only about money.

Eff You, Crew

Dallas Stars, Texas Rangers and Liverpool owner Tom Hicks has decided that after the Sean Avery fiasco, future Stars free agents must undergo psychological testing. No word if future Rangers need to undergo performance enhancing drug testing or if any future Reds need to be tested for post game thuggery in pubs...a full slate of international games have taken over the soccer world, except in the MLS where Toronto FC will travel to Columbus to face the defending champion Crew, and bring 2,000 of their fans along. TFC is +404 on the money line for this one, thanks in part to being minus Carl Robinson and Amado Guevara, who are off playing qualifying games for Wales and Honduras, respectively. Wonder if the TV coverage (GoalTV at 7pm) will show a sign the TFC fans made that reads "Fuck You, Crew"..after being called a bad example because of his drug addled past by Pele, soccer legend Diego Maradona replied that he wasn't sure if Pele was a good example or a bad example because he lost his virginity "to a man." It may be 2009, but never too late for a little homophobia it seems...sometimes you see a coach get fired and figure "he'll have a job in five minutes." This is not one of those times. Canada's Men's National soccer team finally put an end to the joke that was Dale Mitchell's reign. Only thing I can't figure is why they took so long. Don't expect to see Mitchell near any team with aspirations again...the NCAA train just keeps on rolling with the first Elite Eight games today - quarterfinals in every other sport. Liking UConn to down Missouri and Villanova to knock out Pitt...for today's PTP, playing France -1 -103 at Lithuania. That one kicks off at 3:45.