Don't ya wanna see how it ends?

Seldom have I seen such a swell of emails as came last night the hotter Game 6 in the incredible Chicago Bulls/Boston Celtics series. Yet another overtime game, the fourth in the series - this one a triple affair - that saw the Bulls escape with a 128-127 win despite Ray Allen's 51. If you haven't seen hilites, they're below. Expect to be hearing about this one 'round the water cooler today. Game 7 goes tomorrow...the Vancouver Canucks nearly blew a 3-0 lead in game one of their series last night, but Sammy Salo put them ahead for good and they downed the Chicago Black Hawks 5-3 to remain unbeaten in the playoffs...now comes word that Brett Favre has hired a personal trainer to get him fit. Seriously, I know the world is fearing Swine Flu, terrorism and a collapsed economy, but I'd be most impressed if President Obama put an end to the joke that is Favre and tossed him in Guantanamo Bay or something. I'm betting there are more than a few Minnesota Vikings fans that agree too...Jaromir Jagr is still entertaining the idea of returning to the NHL and the Edmonton Oilers are his preferred destination. I'm expecting some comment from Bukkake on this one...speaking of Obama, found it odd yesterday to get an email from a guy I work with who has in his signature "Yes we can!" with credit to the source, especially given (1) we're in Canada and (2) nobody of the 6,000 people in my company has anything in their work email signature other than their contact information, maybe a privacy message and one about not printing the email if not needed. People are strange...the New York Rangers are interested in Martin St. Louis. Right, because they don't have enough undersized forwards...maybe it was lost in translation, or maybe it was years of (alleged) performance enhancing drugs have caused some "interal" changes, but David Ortiz said watching Pedro Martinez pitch earlier this year at the World Baseball Classic gave him "hot flashes". Suspect he meant "flashback"...guessing not too many would have pegged the Orlando Magic, minus Dwight Howard, to close out the Philadelphia 76ers last night, but they did just that, and may have saved Stan Van Jeremy (aka "The Master of Panic" as Shaq said) his job...if you haven't seen the latest Gillette ad with Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter and Roger Federer, take a peak here. Speaking of R.F., word is John McEnroe is interested in coaching him. Not sure what McEnroe - himself a great - could teach arguably the best of all the times, but it sure would be interesting. The coolest part of that is that a guy with McEnroe's resume is so willing to praise Federer. You don't see legends of any sport do that too often. Federer has not surprisingly politely declined and when I say surprising, I'm not sure if it is the politeness or the decline that is more surprising...back later with your PTP.

Super Sunday!

Seldom have I seen a more dominant performance than the one Georges St. Pierre put in en route to a fourth round stoppage "on the doctor's advice" of BJ Penn. Absolutely incredible against a guy who is renowned for his defence in particular yet couldn't stop the onslaught...if you're still awake in a couple hours, the Australian Open men's final is kicking off what should be a fantastic day of sports on the 2009 calendar. Roger Federer is my pick to knock off Rafael Nadal with the world's #1 ranking also at stake. Have to figure Nadal's semi-final has to have emptied his tank to a large degree...at 11am Eastern, Liverpool hosts Chelsea in a huge Premier League fixture (coverage on The Score) that could see a draw cripple both teams chances after Manchester United downed Everton yesterday, and of course, the big NFL final goes today - the Super Bowl, as you may have heard it referred to as - in what should be a pretty compelling game if the analysts are accurate. Few are predicting anything but a close game but not this guy, I think the Pittsburgh Steelers - who I've praised up and down all season - are simply too good to not get it done in impressive fashion. They've beaten the best along the way, and tonight, after playing one of the toughest schedules in NFL history, they'll hoist the stirling silver trophy to cap off an impressive season. It would be practically cheating to call anything else the PTP to open February, so we're taking the Steelers -6.5..the ads are always a big part of Super Bowl Sunday, check out the 10 sexiest of yesteryear here...here are the 30 most ridiculous prop bets being offered on the game today. Plenty of options can be yours at Pinnacle, of course...and while we're linking away, how about this mosaic? Warning: don't be opening this around your mom or co-workers, if you know what I mean...the NFL Hall of Fame inductees were named yesterday. How is it even possible that Cris Carter - #2 all-time in receptions to Jerry Rice - was denied? Shannon Sharpe is the #2 across most tight-end categories and won three rings, but he's denied? Tough crowd...post Super Bowl tonight, The Office is running an hour long episode with special guests Jack Black and Jessica Alba. If you're looking for a different kind of Office special, here's a preview of "The Office - XXX"...have a great Sunday.

UPDATE: Now packing a barf bag for my Super Bowl party for the disgusting patriotic pap we'll be forced to see when Bruce Springsteen plays "Born In The USA". Word to the wise: do the same.

There will be blood

I accept the argument that women's tennis is more esthetically appealing, looks aside. It doesn't have the power of the men's game so rallies are naturally longer. But I don't accept the argument they should be getting paid the same as the men in a Grand Slam when Serena Williams can dispatch her opponent in 2 of 3 sets to win the Aussie Open in 59 minutes as it turned out in a 6-0, 6-3 beating. At 59 minutes, the guys are barely breaking a sweat. Play 3 of 5 and then you can have the same cash. You can be sure that Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal will be earning their payday tonight in the men's final...also tonight, UFC 94 goes from Las Vegas and as mentioned a couple days back, it should be one hell of a main event in Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn. Penn backed off his "I want to kill GSP" statements Thursday on the Jim Rome Show but was one hell of an interview. Quick question: how was GSP not Canada's Athlete of the Year last year?...Serie A - Italy's top flight soccer league - might be in another gambling scandal as it appears champion Inter Milan intentionally dropped points down the stretch last year to increase the gambling odds on the chances they'd take the title in the end, which they did, resulting in a higher payout presumably for some heavy hitters...you learn something every day in the sporting world, baseball in particular. Did you know that there is actually a limit to the number of "Type A" free agents you can sign? Each year, baseball classifies free agents as Type "A" or "B" based on their value, and draft picks are assigned for "A" free agents you sign from another team. That is common knowledge I'd guess. But they also have a formula that specifies how many "Type A's" you're allowed to sign in a given year and this time, it is three. So if the New York Yankees even wanted to sign Manny Ramirez or Ben Sheets right now and the players were willing to play for a dollar, they can't because they previously signed CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Mark Teixera. I suspect that somewhere, Scott Boras is curled into the fetal position lamenting the loss of his fav bargaining chip, the "Yankees are interested" card...have one last chance to get to a .500 record for the month of January which is pretty impressive after one horrific week this month. Playing the Atlanta Hawks +2 -105 tonight. Enjoy!...see, an entire RM during Super Bowl Week with nary an NFL reference. I'm sure that'll be more than made up for tomorrow. Have a great Saturday, enjoy UFC 94 if you can.

Serious Guacamole

How great is that caricature on the right? If you don't agree, you clearly haven't seen who is lounging on Jessica's couch...Shannon Sharpe says that on Super Bowl Sunday, there are enough avocado's consumed to stack them 18 feet high from endzone to endzone. Who figures this stuff out?...in 2008, there was only one left-handed starting pitcher who gave up fewer home runs, pitched more innings and had a lower rate of walks per 9 innings than the New York Yankees Andy Pettitte. That would be CC Sabathia. Two lefties at Yankee Stadium is going to be a real good thing..the Pittsburgh Steelers faced nine of the top 10 defenses this past season. Translation: they'll get theirs against the Arizona Cardinals who are not a top 10 team defensively...maybe it is just me, but I think I'm looking forward to Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn at UFC 94 tomorrow as much as I am the Super Bowl this weekend. If you get a chance to see UFC Primetime - a three part preview of the fight that goes to each man's camp - check it out on Spike pre-fight today or tomorrow. This is gonna be a war. My money is on GSP, but no result would surprise me...it wasn't looking good for the "under" on 195 play last night at 111 points at the half but thanks to a 29 point half for the Cleveland Cavs and 76 on the half including the Orlando Magic, it was a comfortable under in the end and a 99-88 Magic win...it'll be Roger Federer against Rafael Nadal in the finals of the Australian Open. Great weekend for sports, to state the obvious...I get that TSN paid some big bucks to cover the Olympics, but that watermark they're using on screen is a touch oversized, no? Then again, it is more subtle than the four billion ads they ran over the last year plus telling everyone they had the Grey Cup...how has Joe Torre's upcoming book been received by his former employers? Not good. Best line on the subject: "David Wells will be named the team nutritionist before Torre is invited back to the Bronx." Hope it was worth it, Torre. No more number retirement, no Old Timers Day, nada. Asked what he'd do if he saw Torre now, Wells said he'd "knock him out"...Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer Michael Irvin told Jim Rome that not only will Anquoin Boldin have a greater impact on the Super Bowl than Larry Fitzgerald, he's also a better receiver overall...as you may have seen from GBVH yesterday, Mickey Rourke will not be taking on Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania after all. I'd expect Vince McMahon to kill Rourke for backing out over the coming weeks, but the publicity will be well worth it for the WWE...the United States is putting in bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup's. Bet on them getting one of the two. The beauty of the World Cup is that you don't even need to say what sport it is. Really, it is the only true World Cup...back with the Friday night PTP later. Have a great day.