Champions League Dream Matchups

If the New York Rangers were comfortable under coach Tom Renney, that is about to change dramatically now that Renney is out and been replaced by John Tortorella, who ought to be a hit in New York. How has Pat Quinn been overlooked again? Makes no sense, when the Rangers are scoring a league low 2.33 goals a game and Quinn is an offense-first, offense-second coach...spring must be around the corner if Vernon Wells is battling injury again. Jon Heyman at Sports Illustrated notes V-Dub became a lot less durable after signing for $126 million...now comes word that the Jerry Jones issued gag order doesn't just apply to the coaching staff, but also the players. In response, Tony Romo issued a final press release saying "I don't see what the big deal is, I've been gagging since December, and every December."...if you're ever going to "develop a fever", today at about 2pm is a good time, especially if you can have it carry you through tomorrow. The next two days you'll see some of the best Champions League action of the year with such high profile matchups today as Manchester United at Inter Milan and Arsenal at AS Roma. Man U is minus stud defender Nemanja Vidic - best in the world in my book - through suspension. Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho is hilarious - even when he loses, he claims to have been responsible for the other team rising up. His latest claim is his success at Chelsea caused United to step their game up. More and more, he's my fav quote in sports, up there with Charles Barkley. There's nothing he won't say...I haven't a clue what to make of this Randy Johnson tale - whether it is real or fake, but the story and the voice telling it are sure creepy...how do you define "fantasmagoric"? This save by the Dallas Stars Marty Turco, apparently...I've never understood why newspapers print spring training schedules or keep standings, but guess it is baseball, and data is never in short supply. Jacked for games to get started...the Toronto Maple Leafs are a team in the gutter, GM Brian Burke is talking openly about how they'll likely be there for at least another season, and payroll is down. How then do you explain hiking ticket prices 3.5% for next season?...this PTP thing is starting to wear on me again. Seemed so easy earlier in the month. I shall return! And return later today, I shall...have a great Tuesday.

It doesn't matter that the Boston Celtics are "struggaling", the Toronto Raptors will need a big effort - particularly from the Killer B's - to down them today. Tip off is at 12:30..just hours away from the huge English Premier League tilt between Chelsea and hosts Manchester United. It is always a heated affair when these two giants lock horns and my prediction is today is no different. Hard to not like United at home, even with Chelsea captain John Terry returning from suspension, but United has struggled to find the net this year a lot more than last, so could be real tight. Catch it on The Score at 11am (Eastern). One small request - please don't give that score up here. I've got the PVR rolling and am aiming to not find out the score, a tough task to be sure...burning through Jeff Pearlman's "Boys Will Be Boys" book on the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990's and it is an incredible read for any fan of the game. Michael Irvin slept with twelve ladies in four days during Super Bowl Week ahead of their first trip against Buffalo. Reputation enhancing depictions come to Troy Aikman and Jay Novacek. Emmitt Smith? Not so much. Selfish and self serving. Charles Haley is crazy, no better word to describe him. Well worth the read...when running back Brandon Jacobs is out of the New York Giants lineup, they average 93 yards rushing as a team. When he's in, they average 171. With Jacobs in, tough not to like the defending champions at home against the Philadelphia Eagles...updating the Wayne Fleming story from yesterday, turns out he wasn't fired between periods. He was benched. Seriously. He's back next game..."American Idle" Carl Pavano, now of the Cleveland Indians, had this to say of his time as a New York Yankee: "When you're down, you expect your organization to pick you up, not kick you when you're down. I've had to pick myself up quite a few times the last four years." The only thing he picked up was a paycheque with a gun and ski-mask. Did Yankees GM Brian Cashman ever question his effort? No. They just kept paying him and rehabbing him and giving him chances. What a tool. The Tribe best make sure his feelings aren't hurt - he could end up out for the season...the latest Pat Quinn rumor has him going to the Pittsburgh Penguins...the Baltimore Ravens may not have deserved to beat the Tennessee Titans yesterday, but when you pick up that many key turnovers deep in your own zone, you did something right. 13-10 winners over the Tennessee Titans and they move on to the Conference Final. Oddly, if the San Diego Chargers - they of the 8-8 regular season record beat Pittsburgh today, the Bolts will host the Conference final. Strange, no?...outwitted myself yesterday in the Prime Time Picks by gunning for positive dollar value and looking for the extra goal. Of course, Arsenal fell short and didn't cover the -1.5. Today, and I know it wreaks of "sucker bet", but how can you not love the New York Giants, at a mere -4 -107, at home against the Philadelphia Eagles? If you're telling me the Eagles will not only go on the road and win, but do it for the second time this year at the Meadowlands, I call LIES. The rested conference champions and defending Super Bowl champions should feast on the Eagles, and let's be serious, Donovan McNabb vs. Eli Manning - who do you trust? Has to be Eli, no? The Eagles beat a Vikings squad that was intent on giving the game away, and if there's one thing the Giants don't do, it is beat themselves (that's what she said). Bet the Giants, bet the Giants hard with your good friends at Pinnacle...have a great Sunday.

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 - How Swede It Is!

The NHLPA should be filing a grievance over the Atlanta Thrashers third jersey. Clearly, the Thrashers are not trying to grow revenues with that abomination. Yes, I used "Thrashers" and "revenues" in the same sentence. A first!...over 150 Major League Baseball players remain free agents. Expect the action to get hot and heavy soon as we're barely a month ahead of pitchers and catchers reporting, and the logjam started to break yesterday with Pat Burrell landing in Tampa Bay and Milton Bradley joining the Chicago Cubs. Expect a lot of bargains out there as teams are paring back on giving average players huge deals. Translation: you'll be lucky to get half the four years and $40 million you're after, Jason Varitek...with each Ottawa Senators loss, and Pat Quinn looking cozy with Sens owner Eugene Melnyk, you have to start thinking Quinn might want to start house hunting in Ottawa as he could be a great fit to coach and or manage that team. Frankly, it is a shock Quinn has been out of the league this long with his resume...I don't know who should be the highest paid left back in the soccer world, but I know it shouldn't be Wayne Bridge, who just moved to Manchester City. He's not even the best left back in Manchester. That title belongs to Patrice Evra...here are the records of the NBA teams since replacing their coaches during this season: Minnesota is 2-10 under Kevin McHale. Sacramento is 2-7 under Kenny Natt, Washington is 5-14 under Ed Tapscott; Oklahoma City is 3-17 under Scott Brooks and Toronto is 5-12 under Jay Triano. Only Philadelphia has gone at least .500 since changing coaches, with Tony DiLeo at 4-4 since taking over...LaDanian Tomlinson looks like he'll be out for the Bolts game at Pittsburgh this weekend. The way Darren Sproles went off on Saturday, this is likely a good thing for the Chargers...Canada played fantastic against Sweden in the gold medal game at the World Junior Hockey Championships and were well worth the 5-1 score. Canuck goalie Dustin Tokarski was far more stable than the past couple games and made a big difference, though Sweden preferring to shoot with their asses against the wall tended to help. Two things. One, don't tell me that fighting is part of the game. There were no fights at this tourney despite it being "part of the game" and the hockey blew away anything the NHL produced of late. Two, hate to break it to the puckheads reading here, but diving is very much a "part of the game" right now. The Swedish goalie led the parade, but he was by no means alone...as an added bonus, Canada covered the -1 and that's now 4-1 on the year for Prime Time Picks. This pace keeps up and I may be asking that you chip off 10%. Tonight, we're playing our first NBA pick of the year and taking the New York Knicks - no, that isn't a typo - to cover the 2 (-105) at Oklahoma City...had I seen HBO's "Hard Knocks" on the Dallas Cowboys training camp earlier this year instead of yesterday, I might've been spared a lot of heartache. Said coach Wade Phillips: "if last year was a cupcake camp, this year is a marshmallow" on how he focuses on keeping players healthy but not allowing too much contact in camp. You reap what you sow, Wade. That's why your team was so mentally soft and shunned tackling as often as not...have a great Tuesday.

Friday, December 26th, 2008

Tickets for the six LA Kings home games in January - even for good seats in the lower bowl - can be had for $11.50. They're not rolling Nashville or Atlanta in either: Philly, Anaheim, Detroit, Chicago, New Jersey and Tampa Bay. Wonder if anybody believes the salary cap - revenue determined - will continue to rise? A great article on tickets at bargain basement prices runs here....the elephant in the Yankee room is where will Derek Jeter play when his defense goes from sub-par to brutal? First base is no option with Mark Teixera installed. Right field?...the Phoenix Coyotes are set to receive funds from the NHL to maintain operations. How long until Wayne Gretzky extricates himself from that mess? He doesn't seem the kind of guy that would go down with a sinking ship and sully his name...there is a high school football team in Arkansas that is removing punts from its playbook. Seriously, they're going to go for it on every fourth down. That is awesome...one thing about the the NFL/CFL I'll never understand: why you need a two/three minute warning in a sport that already gives plenty of timeouts, of the official and TV variety...for a guy who put up some insane numbers and single handedly carried the LA Dodgers to the playoffs - despite what Jeff Kent would have you believe - things sure are looking dicey for Manny Ramirez to land that big last contract. Scott Boras is starting a nice streak of failing to come through for some high profile clients. Last year, A-Rod, this year, Manny. The Anaheim Angels say they're out of the bidding on Man-Ram..a whole heap of English Premier League action goes today with the traditional Boxing Day slate. Arsenal travels to Aston Villa in the most attractive match of the day. Shame Arsenal is minus Cesc Fabregas for the next four months. All the teams will turn around and play again Sunday...speaking of Boxing Day traditions, the World Junior Hockey Championships, important nowhere in the world but in Canada, start today. Canada faces the Czech Republic tonight at 7pm (Eastern) from the nation's capital. Drinking game idea: have a sip each time Pat Quinn is mentioned as a possible head coach in Edmonton. Do not plan to drive anywhere...the LA Lakers ended the Boston Celtics 19 game win streak with an emphatic home win yesterday. Is there any way those two don't meet in the finals again this year?...have a great Friday.