Chilly chilled

Looks like it wasn't just a guess here yesterday that the Green Bay Packers may have authored the demise of two rival coaches.  Brad Childress did indeed get the boot in Minnesota.  In related news, NFL analyst Rodney Harrison says here that it is time to put Brett Favre out of his misery.  Why?  We were just starting to have some fun?  For his part, Favre is giving hints he may pack it in immediately.

Sure, Peyton Manning's interception thrown in the red zone aided a few teams in his division in their playoff hunt, but you don't expect a rival QB - Jacksonville Jaguar David Garrard in this case - to tweet out "Thanks Peyton.  U da man???"

A wild weekend in the English Premier League, with Tottenham rallying from a pair down in the second half to beat rival Arsenal 3-2.  Chelsea shockingly lost again, this time 1-0 to Birmingham despite dominating, which allowed Manchester United to pull even in the Premier League with their 2-0 win over Wigan.  Sure, United may have seven draws in 14 games, but "undefeated" sounds a lot more like championship material than a team with four losses in 14, which is the case with Chelsea.   Mix in Arsenal and Manchester City and there are four teams within three points of first place.  Going to be a wild race, though United defender Patrice Evra expects his team to take the title.

Canadian boy Joey Votto was the runaway NL MVP winner, with 31 of 32 first place votes.

The Miami Heat were pounded at home 93-77 by the not-exactly-powerhouse Indiana Pacers. What a crying shame.

Turns out those NFL uniforms for next year turned out to be fakes.  Depending on your team, major relief.

Jason Whitlock has a great look at how important it is to treat being a quarterback as a full-time job, something that Brett Favre and Vince Young have failed to do.

Turkey's Hamit Altintop provides a lighning bolt for the latest FIFA Goal of the Year nominee.  What a bomb this is.

Don't get too hot now, Buffalo Bills, or you may miss out on drafting Andrew Luck.  Check out the run - and thundering shoulder - Luck dropped on the weekend.

Maybe "committment" means something else in Beckham's world?

David Beckham says he's very much committed to MLS. Right, because what says "committed" more than trying to engineer a move to AC Milan permanently. Then again, he probably thought that sleeping with his assistant while he was in his early days in Spain was showing his commitment to his wife. What is old is new again. Milan will play a friendly in LA as part of the deal to keep Beckham until June. That game is set for July 19th..if you can figure out why the New York Rangers were awarded a 17th round compensitory pick because Alexei Cherapanov died this year, I'd love to hear it. If that is the case, the Maple Leafs should be looking for a bunch of compensatory picks for some of the deadwood they've drafted over the years...ahead of what could be the final nail in the coffin for Liverpool's EPL hopes this year, manager Rafa Benitez is talking some big junk and saying his team will go in and win at Manchester United's home Old Trafford. Don't take his advice, people. Man U wins this one tomorrow...if you haven't heard how Terrell Owens release from the Dallas Cowboys was delivered by Jerry Jones, you might want to read this. Almost plays like a break-up of sorts...there is growing talk that the big name NBA free agents of 2010 - LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh - are more likely to re-sign and extend their deals with their current teams this summer than before thanks to the economic crisis causing a drop in the salary cap and limiting how much another team could offer moreso than even in the past...Peyton Manning and the Manning family were honoured in their home state of Mississippi on Tuesday with Manning Day. Shame Peyton wasn't around. He was busy golfing with Tiger Woods that day. Stay classy, Peyton...the notion that Brian McNamee injected Roger Clemens at Yankee Stadium in 2001 is hardly a revelation. Considering the time those guys spend at the ballpark, odds are...Terrell Owens has more receiving touchdowns the last two years than do the Buffalo Bills combined...it wasn't always pretty, but the goals sure were as Manchester United downed Inter Milan 2-0 to take their round of 16 game. Also advancing: Barcelona, Arsenal via the dreaded shootout, and Porto...have a great day.

Two straight for Prime Time Picks!

Kobe Bryant has said he could play wideout for his hometown Philadelphia Eagles or left field for the LA Dodgers. Not sure about the wideout thing, but after a couple months of ManRam in left last year, who couldn't see themselves playing left?...the status of fighting in the NHL is going to be on the table at the next GM meetings, and if you believe that Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland is among the smarter people in the game, it will get a serious look. Holland, and no doubt others, are starting to wonder if it has a place in the game. Ultimately, I think there will be peace in the Middle East before some of the dinosaurs in the game see the light and push fighting out of the game...the pending trade that sends Toronto Raptor Jermaine O'Neal to Miami for Shawn Marion, among others, is the bold sort of move Raps GM Bryan Colangelo needs to make if they're to retain Chris Bosh beyond next season. Matrix either re-signs or the Raps have $17 million plus to play with this off-season. Good move either way, sure better than the original trade for sl-O'Neal...Sidney Crosby is out of the NHL All-Star game this weekend with his nagging knee issue. Only the NHL would lose its golden boy on one of its marquee events. Well, that and both the representatives from the defending champions in Nik Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk...scratch Ryan Dempster and Rich Harden as pitching possibilities for Canada in the World Baseball Classic...is Kurt Warner better than Peyton Manning? Here's one article that makes a hell of an argument for that. Incredible stat: as measured by passer rating, Manning's worst game of the season in 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 came in a playoff game. Ouch...the Minnesota Vikings are said to be watching developments in LA for a new stadium that may be built in Industry City, California. That leaves the Timberwolves as the lone team in Minny that hasn't threatened to move or be shut down by its league. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com also cites the Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers as possible teams to move to LA, and there could even be two teams to do so...the Detroit Pistons haven't lost to the Toronto Raptors since 2003...Mark McGwire's brother seems to have implicated his brother as a steroid and HGH user. Shame that didn't happen last week before the Hall of Fame balloting was completed, would've been interesting to see if he managed the minimum to stay on the ballot...Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo says he's going to be more of a leader next year. Well, it is January - a time to make resolutions. Unfortunately, we know how most of those end...last night's Prime Time Pick has to be the easiest to date with the under coming in 22 points under the spread. Stay tuned for tonight's pick later. Could well be a third straight NBA pick looking for a third straight winner...have a great Friday.

Prime Time Pick - sticking with what is working and playing yet another NBA game (not that there are tonnes of options in the pro ranks tonight). Get down on the New York Knicks at -5.5 -110 at Pinnacle FAST before this one goes up. Three straight, coming up!

The Arizona Cardinals two wins this post-season equal the total playoff wins they've had in their franchise history...take away the Super Bowl year and Peyton Manning is 3-8 in the playoffs in his career. Not quite what you'd expect..incredibly, the underdogs are 6-2 through the first two weeks of the NFL playoffs straight up...the more a certain RM reader posts about Jose Calderon, the more I wonder what the hell is Bryan Colangelo thinking?...that sound you heard around yesterday at about 11:45 was the wind being knocked out of Chelsea's Premiership hopes as Nemanja Vidic scored for Manchester United before the half and United cruised to an emphatic 3-0 win, their eighth straight game with a clean sheet. To confirm: Chelsea did not play the game a man down, it just looked that way with Michael Ballack being invisible. With Liverpool tying Stoke City, United sit five points back with two in hand. Looking good for Man U...new London Knight and soon to be number one NHL draft pick John Tavares had a no-trade clause that he used to block a deal to the Guelph Storm. Seems odd that a junior player has a no-trade, no?...Pacman Jones might be back in Dallas? Odd. Check out the ESPN report that precipitated his release here. Pac is suing over the report...if you've got $12.3 million burning a hole in your pocket, you can purchase A-Rod's Florida home. Check out the pics of this place here - incredible home...guess staying with the instinct that the New York Giants line was a sucker bet would've been a wise move. Prime Time Picks saw the second back to back losing days in a week to drop to 6-5 (+$80). Here's hoping it isn't three straight on that front as we're playing the Detroit Red Wings at -1.5 +165 at the Dallas Stars. Here's hoping hockey remains exceptionally kind to PTP...have a great Monday.

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

If Ulf Samuellson is looking for his shoulder pads, they can be found on the person of Kurt Warner...the Pittsburgh Penguins are continuing the recent trend of Stanley Cup finalists who suffer a hangover the following year. Not sure how a team with that talent can struggle like they have this year, and lately as they've lost five of six. Hopefully nobody thinks it is the result of losing the eternally overrated Gary Roberts like was often thought by knucklehead Toronto Maple Leafs fans...wagering advice: bet against the Arizona Cardinals next week. They don't travel well at all, and only managed to beat a horribly performing Atlanta Falcons squad by six...at the World Junior Hockey Championships, Canada had everything lined up: a reputedly soft Russian team playing its second game in two days, home ice, four leads, five power plays in a row at one point and it was almost all for naught as they needed to go to the shootout to win their semi-final game and are off to face Sweden in the gold medal game Monday night while Russia is left to play Slovakia for the bronze medal. Too often, the Pat Quinn coached team resembled the Leafs defence from his days coaching there: undisciplined, sloppy in their zone, and too many risky passes and bad penalties. They deserved to lose, to be fair, especially with goalie Dustin Tokarski looking awful...now that they've lost, wonder if Peyton Manning still thinks his comments from Thursday when he was named MVP hold true and that this is the most satisfying season he's had. Tell you one thing: in a big game, Eli is the better QB...2-1 on Prime Time Picks - thanks, Peyton. Sticking with the NFL here and playing the Philadelphia Eagles (-3) at Minnesota. Yes, the Vikes are a strong home side and the Eagles aren't nearly as strong on the road, but the Eagles D will terrorize Vikes QB Tarvaris Jackson and the Eagles have a more dynamic offence too, plus a hot Donovan McNabb. I like this pick so much I'm afraid...isn't it a little odd to see all these companies - banks, notably - who are receiving bailout funds from the U.S. federal government still maintaining their sponsorships of college bowl games? There’s the Capital One Bowl. Or the GMAC Bowl. The Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl brought to you by Bank of America. The EagleBank Bowl. You'd think these companies might want to stay under the radar, no? No way this would fly in Canada, at least not without people marching in the streets...word is the meltdown in Liverpool that ended with Steven Gerrard arrested started when the DJ blew off Gerrard's request that he play some Phil Collins, something the DJ flat out refused to do. My respect for Gerrard just disappeared but this is the world we live in, where such a man of steel and man of power, loses control by the hour...Philadelphia, Denver, New York and Boston are all in the hunt to host the Winter Classic next year. Where are the Canadian entries?...further evidence fan voting is a joke for All-Star games: four Montreal Canadiens are in the starting lineup. Nothing against the Habs players in particular, but if your team has four guys starting, you best be miles ahead of everyone else. That not being the case, the result is ridiculous...have a great Sunday.

Monday, December 29th, 2008

One thing I know about Bill Parcells: his agent is a genius. He's got a clause in his contract that gives him a $12 million payout if the Dolphins are sold and he elects to opt out of his contract. Wise move, when the Dolphins look like they'll be approved for sale in the coming weeks. Now, if only Parcells could at least hire a personal trainer. Or maybe earn an appearance on "What Not To Wear"...trying to take a "glass is half full" view of the Dallas Cowboys beating yesterday and what I can surmise is this: no matter what Jerry Jones said pre-game, Wade Phillips in particular will not return. And yes, I know Jones reiterated that he'll be back post-game. Presumably, this means a more disciplined, less sloppy team in the future as the new person would be bound to be more assertive and prepared than the ever-stunned looking Phillips. Tony Romo did nothing for his rep as a big moment bust and his time to shed that reputation is ticking faster than it even did for Peyton Manning a couple years back. That's just scratching the surface of problems on an all-world talented team, but with an all-garbage work ethic. Say one more thing: aside from Terrell Owens yesterday, hard to really praise anyone on that offence...the Sports Illustrated Jinx is alive and well: they did after all call for a Cowboys and New England Patriots Super Bowl. Both are now out, though the Pats out at 11-5 seems particularly harsh, but that's the setup...assuming he's done - and he sure looks the part - Brett Favre will finish his career with a year in which he led the league in interceptions, his yards per game were at a six year low, and he will have had fewer 20+ yard plays than in every year since the 1992 season, his first in Green Bay. Hope it was worth it, Brett...and how about them Detroit Lions? They were looking like they might spoil their perfect record at 14-14, but fade they did and an 0-16 season it is...it isn't a punchline, but it sure sounds like one: a 13 point fav in Tampa Bay lost at home. To. The. Oakland. Raiders...what were the Pittsburgh Steelers thinking playing Ben Roethlesberger yesterday when he's been taking a pounding all year? Of course, he got his bell rung and suffered a concussion...tough times in the household of Manchester United's Wayne Rooney - my fav player. He and the wife dropped a mere $535,000 (Canadian) on Christmas gifts for each other...what year is this? The Chicago Black Hawks have won nine straight, the Boston Bruins eight...Canada beat Kazakhstan 15-0 in the World Junior Hockey Championships. Insert lame Borat reference as you will "here"...Toronto FC may unload all three of their first round picks - #2, #4, #13 - in the coming MLS draft to obtain veteran talent. I like it...fights in the NHL are up 15% over last year, and an astounding 75% over three years ago. This is what you do when you've got little else to sell in most markets...have a great Monday.