Manny in or Manny out?

Finally the LA Dodgers and Manny Ramirez have gotten together and completed a two year, $45 million deal it appears, though ESPN.com reported it a done deal briefly last night before pulling back. Safe to assume that when Scott Boras pushed him to jump agencies over to him and opt out that he promised him a lot more than that when he was slated to pick up $40 million if he stayed with the Boston Red Sox...the World Baseball Classic is about to take another hit if the talk of there being a cyst in A-Rod's hip is accurate, as shown in a weekend exam. Maybe A-Rod is going the Jason Giambi route? First apologize, albeit with far greater detail than Giambi ever gave. Second, get some kind of mystery medical problem. Third step is to come back and kill the ball. Fourth, grow a moustache. Somehow, I think the latter would be impossible for A-Rod. Word is a cyst isn't a serious problem - just a bruise on bone - but will give the Yankees a good reason to pull A-Rod out of the WBC..tickets for the Tampa Bay Lightening can be had for $239. For the season. That's right, for $5.67 per game, you can get a seat in the upper bowl. Incredible value. And it isn't like only a handful of tickets are going at that rate - 20% of the arena is available at that price...the Seattle Sounders - the latest addition to MLS - are capping season tickets at 22,000 and will average north of 30,000 in their 32,000 configured Q-West Field...Chris Jericho could be the best heel in the history of wrestling...Andruw Jones is not exactly coming back hard after last year's terrible season: 1 for 9, 8 strikeouts...Manchester United's Darren Fletcher played last week's Champions League game hours after finding out his house in Manchester had been broken into while he was gone, and his fiancee threatened by a knife. He's the 14th player from Manchester or Liverpool - the cities and their four teams to be robbed this year while away...Nickelback's Chad Kroeger has a hockey rink in his basement big enough for three on three. Not a fan of them, but that's pretty freaking cool...the NHL Trade Deadline will be the talk of the day no doubt. Here's a look at some of the rumours overnight...tight PTP winner last night. Also had a narrow cover in the Houston Rockets as well. A sign of good things to come? Let's hope! Back with your pick later.

Sour Grapes

Washington Nationals GM Jim Bowden resigned over the signing bonus skimming arrangement that saw some in the club take huge chunks of bonuses paid to signees from the Dominican Republic. With the U.S. government investigating, that might be the least of his problems. For his part, Bowden made the Cincinnati Reds worse in his days there, and took over a .500 team their first year after moving from Montreal and turned them into a joke...speaking of the Expos, did not know that among the banners hung from the rafters at the Bell Centre is one saluting the Expos time in Montreal and a few of their players...it may be just over the Ontario border but Quebec is a far better place for a sporting event. As I walked up to grab a beer, I noted no sign for a limit. So I asked how many I could get and the answer was "you're the boss, as many as you want." You could also still get beer in the third period. Amazing...I'm contemplating taking up a collection to close the mere $1.5 million gap between the LA Dodgers and Manny Ramirez so it can be over and done with. Four months of this talk is too much when neither have better options...SI.com's Don Banks says Ray Lewis is the big loser of the first weekend of NFL free agency, having talked of interest in the Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets. Problem is neither have made any moves his way and now the Ravens have him at their mercy. Sounds a lot like Manny Ramirez plight, no?...Manchester United took their second title of the season, adding the Carling Cup to their World Club Championship in January. Still to come: the EPL title, looking a virtual certainty with a soon-to-be 10 point lead assuming they beat Newcastle United Wednesday, plus the FA Cup and Champions League...Don Cherry is anti-Alexander Ovechkin, and Ovechkin gave Cherry the best reply you give an old curmudgeon like that: he treated him as irrelevant. Good for Ovi...the Denver Broncos may move QB Jay Cutler, and Cutler is livid about it and refusing to meet with the team to discuss the matter. So if you're scoring at home, he's sour about the idea of leaving, and making it impossible to stay...the Detroit Red Wings have one fighting major in three months. Yeah, fighting is "part of the game" so they must really be suffering in the standings. Or not. They have eight fights all year, 13 lower than the second lowest team in Washington. Since 2005, they have 50 fights. The Anaheim Ducks have 66 this year...you bet two women you can have sex with both for 12 hours. They bet you can't. You pop a few Viagara to enhance your performance. You make it past 12 hours. Then, you die...back later with your PTP.

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.

In a move that would more than likely fix all of the Dallas Cowboys discipline, accountability and divisiveness issues by his sheer presence, the squad might be hotly pursuing Baltimore Ravens free agent Ray Lewis. Wonder if Terrell Owens will do his Lewis dance impression again if that happens? Hell, if I'm Jerry Jones, I make the offer, and give him the head coaching job while he's at it...the Super Bowl coverage has yet to start, but one thing for certain: nobody else will be publishing a Top 10 Quarterback WAG's - Wives and Girlfriends - list like this...the Atlanta Braves are looking to add Andruw Jones after he was released by the L.A. Dodgers. Frankly, for a mere $400k, with the Dodgers picking up the other $20 million and change, I'm shocked more teams aren't looking to gamble. Word is Jones has shed a few pounds, that's a start...if anybody can figure out why Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban, in keeping his tradition of matching fines received by the NBA with donations to charities, is looking to make a donation to the NHL Players Association Goals and Dreams Fund in the names of Steve Moore and Todd Bertuzzi, I'd love ti hear it...in a five month period ending last year, 41 WWE wrestlers tested positive for marijuana. Well, if you can't pop painkillers like candy anymore, what else are these busted up guys to do?...interesting English Premier League stat: if you take away the final five minutes of the game, here's how the standings would look with the points on 85 minutes, with the actual position and points in parenthesis. 1. Arsenal - 45 (41, 5th); 2. Chelsea - 44 (45, 3rd); 3. Manchester United - 43 (47, 1st), Liverpool - 43 (47, 2nd), Aston Villa - 43 (44, 4th)...interesting point about the idea salary caps promote parity: in the last 30 years, there have been 20 champions in Major League Baseball. In the NBA, with a cap? 9...Washington Capital star - and one of the world's most electric players in any sport - Alexander Ovechkin has taken over 100 shots on goal more than the next player in the league...quick poll at the right, enjoy...have a great Wednesday.

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

Word coming out of Los Angeles says CC Sabathia wants to be a Dodger. A single tear just ran down my cheek. But seriously, as much as I'd love to see CC in pinstripes, the history of MLB is riddled with pitchers on giant contracts that come nowhere close to living up to them. See "Kevin Brown, Barry Zito, Mike Hampton, Gil Meche etc.". When it comes to pitchers, shorter terms are always better, with almost no exceptions...the text portion of "Drive This" on The Score is annoying. I cannot believe people are paying $0.50 to tell the world that they "like Cam's hat!" or that "Sarah is hot!"...Memo to Jon Gruden: the visor look was never cool. Never will be...I'm utterly mesmerized by Guns N Roses "There Was A Time". That song continuously is rattling about my brain...who would I trust more with the game on the line, A-Rod or Tony Romo, you ask? A-Rod. And right now, the gap is widening. As much as I love Romo, he's too turnover prone and careless with the ball. The next three games will tell how wide - or narrow - that gap becomes...Spanish star David Villa is set to make a move to Manchester City in January. City is aware that you need to occasionally be able to defend, right?...there are three remaining spots left in the Round of 16 in UEFA Champions League action, and five teams - all playing today - are chasing them. I would love to see Chelsea crash and burn but that's stating the obvious...ProFootballTalk.com is running an "Emmitt Smith Word of the Week". Seriously. This week: amorition. #22 meant to say "aberration". We think...the Phoenix Coyotes may soon be extinct?...have a great Tuesday.

Saturday, November 8th, 2008

The painful "will he or won't he?" saga of Mats Sundin appears as though it is a "he will", with December 1st as the likely return date for the legenary Swede. The Leafs don't seem a likely landing spot, and as mentioned here before, that is for the best for both. Where he does end up remains a mystery, but there could be some interesting trades coming as some teams look to clear cap room to try to land Sundin...the Oakland Raiders are an NFL worst 7-29 on the road since 2003...the LA Dodgers offer to Manny Ramirez is said to be two years and $45 million. No chance that is accepted. SI.com's Jon Heyman still has the Toronto Blue Jays listed prominently as a possible suitor. Makes a lot of sense, no?...that thud you just heard was the Toronto Raptors coming back to reality after a beatdown at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks last night...are the Montreal Canadiens for sale? Depends who you believe, but hard to figure that George Gillett would be airing such a possibility in their 100th season...Bud Selig and MLB want no part of Mark Cuban owning the Chicago Cubs. How does that make any sense? He took over the sad sack Dallas Mavericks and made them an absolute first class operation where players want to go now, so why not? Because he criticizes the establishment on occasion, and usually with good reason? Pathetic...that's it for today, Manchester United vs. Arsenal beckon...have a great Saturday.

Sunday, October 26th, 2008

It took a while to get going, and a wild ninth inning, but the Philadelphia Phillies took game three 5-4 to take a 2-1 series lead...Busy day in Philadelphia. If you've ever been to Philly, you'll know that the homes of the Flyers, Eagles and Phillies are all in the same complex - literally sharing a parking lot. Today at 1pm, the Eagles host Atlanta. At 7pm, The Who is playing the home of the Flyers, the Wachovia Center. And of course, at 8pm, the Phillies host the Tampa Bay Rays in game 4 of the World Series. Traffic should lift by about Tuesday...what do Tony Hawk, Michael Phelps, Alex Rodriguez and Kobe Bryant have in common? They did a Guitar Hero World Tour ad. In their underwear, a la Tom Cruise in Risky Business. Check it out...St. Louis Blue goalie Manny Legace went baseball on us, pulling his hammy slipping on the carpet laid out for Republican Veep nominee Sarah Palin for the ceremonial faceoff. Seems odd, don't it? Wipe out on carpet, but no sweat on ice?...word is the Toronto Blue Jays are willing to give AJ Burnett four years and $54-million in a take-it-or-leave-it offer. Bank on the latter...there is talk the LA Dodgers will make a two-year, $60 million offer to Manny Ramirez. If you're ManRam, how do you not take that? When your agent is Scott Boras, that's how...surprise, surprise, the Ottawa Senators are looking for a goalie. Shame Ray Emery is in Russia...hey, no PrimeTime Picks tonight. But, a big fan of Buffalo (-1), Pittsburgh (-3) and Seattle (+5). Place your wagers at Pinnacle...it wasn't easy, but Anderson Silva beat Patrick Cote by TKO last night after Cote blew out his knee...Buffalo Bills QB Trent Edwards is completing 76% of his passes in the fourth quarter. That'll do. Oddly, the Bills are playing their first divisional game of the season this week, and 6 of the next 10...the Detroit Lions have yet to score in the first quarter this season...freaking Penn State. Sour...funny that ten NFLers can get busted for steroids and it's almost a non-story, but one baseball player is even suspected and it is top billing everywhere. Strange...Isaiah Thomas trying to cover up the overdose story and say it was his daughter puts him in O.J. Simpson territory for worst father ever...have a great Sunday.