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.

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.