Paging Roger Goodell...

Lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs repeatedly and you're bound to lose your job, which is exactly what happened to Pittsburgh Pens coach Michel Terrien. The Empties Crushed blog weighs in: "This is too bad. I liked Mike. Thought he was one of the better coach the Penguin organization has had in long time. It's a shame the player didn't step up for him and win more game." If you've read that closely, you're probably on the floor howling like I was. Well done, GS...NBA all-star over under? 264. Total? 265. Incredible. Lost by a single point. The Anaheim Ducks, on the other hand, were not so accommodating in losing 6-2 and giving PTP its second straight loss. Fortunately, had a big enough wager on Man United to offset the other two. Back in the saddle later today, and can't wait for the return of the NBA tomorrow. Also, if you can find a line on when YF wagers next, take the under, no matter what it is...the Shaq/Kobe sharing of the MVP was vomit inducing enough, their interviews together after even worse...David Beckham says his future is out of his hands. Welcome to professional sports, Beck's. His AC Milan lost an electric 2-1 game to Inter Milan...you know how sometimes you just see a guy's act and you get that feeling "this will end badly"? That's the feeling I had when I saw the grilled up Buffalo Bill Marshawn Lynch a couple years ago. Then in the last off-season, he drops a hit and run on somebody. This past weekend, he mixed in a fellony gun possession charge. Memo to Marshawn: Roger Goodell, on line one...San Diego Padres reliever Heath Bell is coming into camp more fit than years prior, 25 pounds lighter. He'll need to be at the top of his game for a very poor Padres rotation. How did he get fit, you wonder? Was it the Pudge Rodriguez "*wink* no more burgers *wink*" diet? No. Wii Fit, of course...have a great Monday.

The only part of the NBA All-Star game worth watching...

Scudeto Smackdown!

If, as it sounds, the performance enhancing drugs issue ends up bringing "The Rings" - Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada - to stand next to A-Rod at the opening press conference that might rival media day at the Super Bowl, that can only be a good thing for him and the Yankees. Sidebar: I got in at 5-1 on the Yankees to win the World Series this year. Incredibly short odds in a brutal division with Boston and Tampa Bay, but better than the 3-1 you used to get in the hey-day...if you're in the top 50 in men's tennis, you're required to specify one hour per day that you are available - and where you'll be - for drug testing. That's ridiculous. If I were under such a regime, I'd offer up 4am-5am daily...AC Milan and Inter Milan will lock horns in a match that could all but clinch the Italian Serie A championship for Inter. Expect fireworks, literal in the stands, figurative on the field. Go AC!...the Olympics are a year away, and the fine folks at SI.com are getting ready for the hockey tourney by looking at the potential U.S. and Canadian national teams. No doubt more to follow...by tomorrow, all Spring Training camps will be open in MLB. Here's a solid overview from Jayson Stark on who made moves, who didn't, and other things to look for this season...I'm sure you've all seen the "Mighty Putty" infomercial by now. Here's an alternate version...The Onion Sports Network delivers this obituary for A-Rod. Funny stuff...baseball's 40-40 club: Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Alex Rodriguez and Alfonso Soriano. One of these is not like the others, so far at least...in the Pop Culture Grid in the February 16th issue of Sports Illustrated, former Toronto Raptor and now Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva answered "Toronto" to "______ is completely underrated." Make of this what you will...looked so good at 2-0 after the first frame for the Pittsburgh Pens PTP, but somehow, the Toronto Maple Leafs pounded them - again - and it was a 6-2 Leafs win. Today, playing the Anaheim Ducks at home at -1.5 +139 against the terrible Atlanta Thrashers. If you're looking for other options, liking the under in the NBA All-Star game at 263, and Manchester United over Derby in FA Cup play, despite the -1 -1.5 -106 split line. Man U doesn't concede goals to anybody of late, though of course, I do fear the Kuszcak-in-goal (or Foster) factor in non-EPL games. Tough..have a great Sunday. May the winners be ours!

There will be blood

I accept the argument that women's tennis is more esthetically appealing, looks aside. It doesn't have the power of the men's game so rallies are naturally longer. But I don't accept the argument they should be getting paid the same as the men in a Grand Slam when Serena Williams can dispatch her opponent in 2 of 3 sets to win the Aussie Open in 59 minutes as it turned out in a 6-0, 6-3 beating. At 59 minutes, the guys are barely breaking a sweat. Play 3 of 5 and then you can have the same cash. You can be sure that Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal will be earning their payday tonight in the men's final...also tonight, UFC 94 goes from Las Vegas and as mentioned a couple days back, it should be one hell of a main event in Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn. Penn backed off his "I want to kill GSP" statements Thursday on the Jim Rome Show but was one hell of an interview. Quick question: how was GSP not Canada's Athlete of the Year last year?...Serie A - Italy's top flight soccer league - might be in another gambling scandal as it appears champion Inter Milan intentionally dropped points down the stretch last year to increase the gambling odds on the chances they'd take the title in the end, which they did, resulting in a higher payout presumably for some heavy hitters...you learn something every day in the sporting world, baseball in particular. Did you know that there is actually a limit to the number of "Type A" free agents you can sign? Each year, baseball classifies free agents as Type "A" or "B" based on their value, and draft picks are assigned for "A" free agents you sign from another team. That is common knowledge I'd guess. But they also have a formula that specifies how many "Type A's" you're allowed to sign in a given year and this time, it is three. So if the New York Yankees even wanted to sign Manny Ramirez or Ben Sheets right now and the players were willing to play for a dollar, they can't because they previously signed CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Mark Teixera. I suspect that somewhere, Scott Boras is curled into the fetal position lamenting the loss of his fav bargaining chip, the "Yankees are interested" card...have one last chance to get to a .500 record for the month of January which is pretty impressive after one horrific week this month. Playing the Atlanta Hawks +2 -105 tonight. Enjoy!...see, an entire RM during Super Bowl Week with nary an NFL reference. I'm sure that'll be more than made up for tomorrow. Have a great Saturday, enjoy UFC 94 if you can.

Friday, December 19th, 2008

The Buffalo Bills made some dubious history with last Sunday's Meltdown at the Meadowlands, becoming the first team to blow a lead in the final two minutes on a defensive touchdown since 1981. Still can't figure how the notoriously hyper conservative coach Dick Jauron goes for a passing play in that situation...have to say, didn't figure Mats Sundin would end up playing for the Vancouver Canucks, signing for the balance of the year only. Maybe he's looking to acclimatize himself for the 2010 Olympics and defending the Swedish gold?...Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending reject Scott Cleminson is having an incredible run filling in for Martin Brodeur in New Jersey. Meanwhile, notes GBVH, Curtis Joseph doesn't look like he cold stop a beachball when he's gets put in the pipes to boost NHL scoring totals...last nights 8-5 win for the Boston Bruins was the first time this year the Bruins gave up five goals...Brett Favre made the Pro Bowl? I'd have rated him third best QB in the division and if not for Trent Edwards concussion that seemed to derail his season, he might've been the fourth best...incredibly, only 8% of Tiger Woods income as a pro golfer has come from actually golfing. The rest is from endorsements...the Champions League round of 16 draw went this morning and there are a few real tantalizing matchups - no pun intended on the "real". How about Chelsea vs. Juventus, Manchester United vs. Inter Milan and Real Madrid vs. Liverpool? I'm going to suggest Juventus, Manchester United and Liverpool escape those fixtures. Can't wait to see Man U's Sir Alex Ferguson and Inter's Jose Morinho resume their war of words...the Indianapolis Colts have come back when trailing by 7 or more six times this year, and the dreaded defensive touchdown - which always seems to do in a solid cover or under play - dropped Prime Time Picks to 18-13...good of the Colts Reggie Wayne to show us his plummer impression last night...Boston Red Sox owner John Henry says they've been outbid on Mark Teixera? Who has the cash to do such a thing? Come on, Brian Cashman!...former UFC champion Randy Couture is looking at retirement - wise - and doing movies, including one he'll star in alongside Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren. What is it, Rocky 4.5? Insert your joke about working with Stallone and the very washed up Lundgren "here"...Manchester United will face Liga de Quito from South America in the Club World Cup final in Japan on Sunday...a part of me would love to see the Toronto Raptors lose to the lowely Oklahoma City Thunder tonight, just to see the hand wringing increase in Raptorland...it was a record day for RandoMango yesterday: 581 hits, blowing past the previous high of 289...tickets to the new Yankee Stadium home opener are already going for a mere $45,000+ at StubHub... have a great Friday.

Another reason why Charles Barkley rules: check out his George W. Bush impression:

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

It is Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.A. and that means a trio of NFL games go today, with the night game of Arizona visiting Philadelphia having the most intrigue far and away. That said, when you've got lines available, every game is interesting. For tonights Prime Time Pick (14-9), we're going to ride the Cardinals, despite them being now a 2 point fav on the road. Also love the Tennessee Titans (-10.5) to crush the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys (-13) to anihilate the Seattle Seahawks. As always, get your plastic out and get to Pinnacle to get your wagers down...Notre Dame faces USC on Saturday and is a 32 point dog, the biggest they've been a dog since 1975. Really looking forward to the Trojans violating the Irish...of the first 9 NHL games completed last night - the time at which this was written - only 3 saw 6 goals or more...been almost a week sans some kind of wrestling talk here. How about the 20 hottest women in wrestling?...the fine folks behind the Whizzinator are facing jail terms for “conspiring to defraud the federal agency that administers federal workplace drug testing programs,” presumably by creating said device...not sure what is more shocking, Inter Milan losing to Panathanaikos, who came in a 10-1 underdog, or Inter coach Jose Morinho (1) not making any excuses and (2) crediting the other team...have a great Thursday.