So about the Phoenix Suns threatening the LA Lakers in the Western Conference finals...nevermind. It was a 128-107 blow-out last night to open that series, and it wasn't even as close as that score suggested.

A poll of 100 major leaguers during spring training and published in the latest issue of ESPN The Magazine has 38% saying the New York Yankees will win the World Series; the players estimate 5% of players are using some form of performance enhancers; 52% called the Yankees the best franchise to play for and 23% called the Pittsburgh Pirates the worst, 67% said Barry Bonds deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, and the players guessed 36% of players were unfaithful to their spouses.

It was a wild one in The Bronx last night, as there were 6 homers in the Yankees 11-9 win over the Boston Red Sox, four for the Sox, and the Yankees pair coming in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game thanks to an A-Rod blast, and win on a Marcus Thames two run shot.  The loss drops the Sox 8.5 back of the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays.  With Toronto and New York ahead of them as well, they've got a mountain to climb.  Real shame for Jonathan Papelbon, who gave up the big bombs.

The irony of Bret "Hitman" Hart rocking a Toronto Blue Jays jersey on Monday Night Raw last night: so few of the Jays hit with any regularity.

What ever happened to Tampa Bay Ray Carlos Pena?

Peter King at SI.com has his first cut at the NFL Power Rankings, for what they're worth in the middle of May.  Good news if you're a Green Bay fan, as they check in top of the list.  Not so good if you're a Buffalo Bills fan, unless you think having the second pick in the draft in 2011 is something to look forward to right now.

After watching his Barcelona team look to an unproven player in a key game, Thierry Henry started to read the writing on the wall, and it now appears his signing with New York Red Bull in the MLS is about to happen.  Good news for NYRB fans especially, and soccer fans on this side of the pond of Henry can find even a fraction of his old form he showed at Arsenal.  He was a special, special player just a few years back.

Franck-ly, I can see why French soccer star Franck Ribery, among others, would be fooled into thinking Zahia Dehar is older than 17.  Loads of pics here of the girl that has a few Frenchmen in legal hot water.

It is only game two, but it looms large for the Montreal Canadiens after you're on the wrong end of a 6-0 curb stomping.  Will the Habs turn to Jaroslav Halak again?  You'd think that's a no-brainer given what he has produced in the playoffs so far.  If he doesn't find that form or something close to it, and there's little reason to believe in Carey Price right now, the Habs are not long for the playoffs.

Anytime you hear features of how a guy "isn't like the rest", be skeptical, because ultimately, it ends up being a load of garbage when all is said and done.  The latest is Houston Texans wideout Andre Johnson, who figures that he's outperformed his contract and wants to renegotiate the remaining five years and $60 million remaining, the poor guy.

Speaking of contracts, the Washington Capitals have lobbed $67 million over 10-years at Niklas Backstrom.  I really, really cannot believe teams think deals of that length are wise.  Way too much room for issues, be it injury, rising caps leaving players undervalued, or simply a player unde performing for years and becoming a bad contract. 

Barcelona's Lionel Messi scored 47 goals this past season for his La Liga winning club. In case you missed any, or wanted to see some of his brilliance again, check them out here.  Yes, all of them.  Even if not a soccer fan, check this guy out.  Mindblowing many times.  Oh, Messi also took a dig at England's Ashley Cole, saying his soon-to-be-ex-wife Cheryl Cole - smokin' Cheryl Cole - should cheer for Argentina as his team plays the most attractive football and Argentinian men know how to treat women.  Ouch.

Gretzky would pocket $22.5 million if Coyotes sold

The bad blood is starting to flow in the Houston/LA Lakers series, one evened up by the Lakers yesterday. The Tru Warrior got into it with Kobe Bryant after The Rapist flicked an elbow at Artest's mellon, leading to the rather unfortunate haircut at right, and Artest's ejection...it took until the dying minutes of injury time for Barcelona to generate their first real chance of the game, one which they trailed 1-0, but Andres Iniesta dropped a dagger into Chelsea's hearts with a killer shot from the top of the box to even the score, and put Barcelona into the Champions League final against Manchester United. And really, could there be a more appealing final? Those two have been the best all year, with United also doubling as the defending champion. Develop a cold on May 27th, this is gonna be a great one...on the heels of Arsenal bowing out of the Champions League on Tuesday, one fan figured that was enough, and decided to hang himself, wearing his jersey no less. Good thing he's not taking things too seriously...Derek Jeter isn't even looking to pull an employee discount in renting a private box for the season at Yankee Stadium. The cost? A mere $850,000. Word is the box is even equipped to not show replays of balls going past him to his left side...shame for Manchester United that Chelsea flamed out. After all, with the Blues having Michael Ballack in their side, it would have guaranteed a win for United with the perennial bridesmaid on the other side...Charles Barkley has the Denver Nuggets to win the NBA's ugly trophy. If that happens, can you think of a more important trade in any sports history than the Nuggets acquisition of Chauncey Billups?...Memo to New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman: go get Huston Street or somebody that can work out of the bullpen other than Mariano Rivera or Brian Bruney. Then purchase a gun and shoot Phil Coke...the nicer the weather gets, the less I care about the NHL playoffs, but for what it is worth, Pittsburgh won to get to within a game of their series with Washington, and Carolina surprisingly leads Boston after a 3-2 win...think Wayne Gretzky wants the Phoenix Coyotes sale to Jim Balsillie to happen? He stands to pocket $22.5 million if it does...Toronto FC won the opening game of the Canadian Championship, 1-0 over the Vancouver Whitecaps...back with the PTP later.

Alone, the terms "Pittsburgh Steelers fan", "gynecologist" and "The Price is Right" aren't that funny, but when you put them all together and the guy doesn't go with the traditional $1 bid when he thinks the rest have overbid, well, that is worth a look.

Nolan said yes to this?

Not sure how Nolan Ryan, legendary red ass, is involved in upper management with the Texas Rangers, and an abomination like their new bucket - at right - is approved as part of the uniform for 2009...after three increasingly impressive performances from him, AC Milan is willing to pay $8 million ($CDN) to purchase the contract of David Beckham from the LA Galaxy. Memo to the Galaxy: Sell! After all, Beckham can walk after the 2009 season for nothing. Pocket the cash, spend it on other players...UFC is capitalizing on a hot run in the public eye and opening a series of UFC branded gyms in the U.S., complete with octagon's. Finally something for Ken Shamrock to do other than talk about coming back...who wins the Super Bowl of WAG's, Arizona Cardinals or Pittsburgh Steelers? Well, if you've got Brenda Warner on your side, that pretty much has to mean you lose, right?...check out Chelsea's Michael Ballack go "Randy Johnson" on a pigeon around the one minute mark...good of Kurt Warner's agent to wait til Super Bowl week to talk of how his client would be nuts to not explore free agency. The only person that helps now is his agent...for those keeping score, that's four times now that Novak Djokovic has shut it down in a major. The on-court temperature in his loss to Andy Roddick was just under 60 degrees celsius. No joke...here's a peak at the all-time Top 10 NFL Defences...ahead of next month's World Cup qualifier, Mexico is hoping to turn around their struggling ways when playing in the U.S. in a rather unique way. One promotion is offering voodoo dolls of U.S. players. Seriously...ESPN's Buster Olney noted that when David Wells wrote a book that gave a few glimpses into the New York Yankee clubhouse, then-manager Joe Torre tore him up for betraying the clubhouse code. Wonder if Torre is chewing out his mirror these days?...back later with your Prime Time Pick.