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.

Signs of life in The Bronx

San Francisco Giant Buster Posey may look like a kid, but he's playing like a seasoned vet in his rookie year.  A mere 4-for-4 night led the way for the Giants in a 6-5 win where they scored the winner in the last inning for the guy who has to be the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year (apologies to Jayson Heyward).  The Giants now hold a 3-1 lead over the Phillies with Game 5 slated for tonight.  Pretty decent pitching match-up in Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum, no?  That one goes at 7:57pm (Eastern).  I might be in the minority, but baseball's playoffs rule, save for the commercials that stretch games way beyond what need happen.

The New York Yankees finally showed some signs of life last night and rode the back of a gritty CC Sabathia start in a must-win game to a 7-2 win.  The ghosts of Yankee Stadium showing up and pushing the Texas Rangers into a mistake filled second inning didn't hurt the cause, nor did homers from Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano.  Game 6 goes in Texas tomorrow night.

Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker James Harrison is said to be contemplating retirement because he's so livid over the NFL's $75,000 fine on him for his nasty hit on Mohammod Massaquoi of the Cleveland Browns Sunday.  Of course, Harrison didn't help his cause by admitting Monday he was out to hurt guys.  Retirement?  Really?  Me thinks Harrison is a bit of a drama queen.  Who would retire with your team just about the favorite to win the Super Bowl right now?

Champions League group play saw eight games take place yesterday. Inter Milan raced out to a 4-0 lead after an early red card on Tottenham's 'keeper Gomes, but Spurs made it real interesting and it ended 4-3.  The group stage is now half complete and only Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Lyon, Real Madrid and Arsenal are a perfect 3-0.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says the Wayne Rooney issue will be "put to bed" this morning.  I'm sure a guy who has had several allegations of marital infidelities recently is thrilled with Ferguson's choice of words.  Former EPL cokehead striker Robbie Fowler, now playing in Australia, says that Rooney is interested in playing in the Aussie A-League.  Right, just as soon as he spends a couple years with Toronto FC.

I can't say I've ever much paid attention to or respected the dozen's of NFL Power Rankings that appear every week, but this one caught my eye simply for the dominance of the AFC.  You're into the sixth slot before a single NFC team appears.

Dallas Cowboys Tight End Jason Witten tweeted that his kids were going to go out as Buzz Lightyear and Woody of Toy Story fame for Hallowe'en.  So of course, yours truly thought it would be a good idea to respond with this: "dressing as Wade and Jason far scarier."  In typical Cowboy fashion, he did not respond.

I generally take up for Terrell Owens because he has always kept his nose clean of a lot of the off-the-field that a lot of other guys get a pass for to a greater degree than you should relative to a guy who trashed the odd QB (see Favre, Brett).  And while I'd never take up for Ben Roethlesberger and his act of recent years that saw multiple allegations of sexual assault, T.O. trying to compare his suspension to Michael Vick's and imply he got off lighter is just rhetoric.  One, Roethlesberger wasn't charged with anything and got four games.  Two, Vick was charged with something got three games.  It was the John Q. Laws that took care of the rest of his time from the game with a stay in the crowbar motel.

Do not mess with the St. Leonard Cougar's of the Ontario Football League.  Check out their act at Ivor Lose Stadium in Hamilton on Saturday in their league semis, as a dozen or so players ventured into the stands with bad intentions and got into it with fans.  My personal fav comes around the 21 second mark.  Watch left of the screen as #40 crowns a guy with a milk crate shot that Mick Foley would think was stiff.  Good of the refs to let it go for a couple minutes before slowly wading in to try to separate people.

"You need balls to produce semen"...

Oakland A's outfielder and purported blue chip free agent this next off-season Matt Holliday has all of one homer since August 20th, including spring training...judging by the empty seats in the first half hour of the game, clearly a 7:30pm weeknight home start is too early for the Toronto FC faithful. How have they not figured that out at MLSE? Wait - I think I just answered my own question. Nonetheless, TFC dropped a 1-0 loss on previously undefeated Chivas USA in very impressive fashion. Frankly, the score flattered the visitors. Asked about the game, TFC manager John Carver thanked the PTP for dropping the hex on Chivas...Manchester United jumped three points clear of Liverpool and Chelsea after a 2-0 win over Portsmouth, and still have a game in hand. Start putting the red ribbons on the EPL trophy, it is about over...a team in Brazil's top soccer league is giving its players Viagara when they play at altitude to improve their circulation. Maybe Viagara would've cured Jay Cutler's thinking this offseason while still with Denver?...with the departure of host Richard Garner, the sports talk landscape has lost the fantasic Drive This! at Hardcore Sports Radio but the amazing duo of Cam Stewart and Gabe Morency now have a show called Morency. Said Gabe on the subject of the Montreal Canadiens: "I don't understand how any of the Montreal Canadiens have kids because you need balls to produce semen." In response, the Habs went out and meekly took their sweep last night. Nice of Carey Price to mockingly raise his arms at the end as the boos rained down. It'll be an interesting off season in Habsland with new ownership, potentially a new GM, a new coach and ten players free agents...the New York Rangers - despite Sean Avery's attempts to let the Washington Caps back in it - are now up 3-1 and looking likely to advance...RM reader JG passed on this hilarious modification of team logos, inspired by the Detroit Lions new logo. I really want to see the Cleveland Browns adopt a fiercer shade of orange...David Beckham's next European stop sounds like it could be in North London with Tottenham Hotspur...Washington Natinal - yes, that was intentional, this was not - Elijah Dukes was fined for being a few minutes late to a team meeting after appearing at a Little League event. Way to go, Nats, that's why you are who and where you are...word is Roger Clemens had a dozen apartments around the U.S. for various girlfriends to occupy. Wonder if he misremembers that happening with Debbie Clemens no doubt raging?...back with your PTP later, have a great Thursday.

Carling Cup Final

Another four games go in the English Premier League today in a light schedule overall. No real tricky fixtures for the top teams today. The big match of the day comes with the Carling Cup Final (10am, Setanta Sports) as Manchester United looks to grab the first of up to four trophies this year when they face the schedule challenged Tottenham Hotspur, who are in the midst of a brutal 7 games in 17 days stretch. I think United wins this one comfortably, and they're the PTP of the day on a split line of -0.5 -1 +100...if you're at all like me, you'll never, ever tire of Mike Tyson moments...here's a piece of the Joe Torre/Tom Verducci book on then-Texas Rangers pitcher Rick Helling, who warned the union about the use of steroids back in 1998 and ultimately was ignored. Pretty interesting stuff that says a lot about the mindset at the time, and it isn't a stretch to read between the lines and figure out that the majority were using something at the time, such was the environment...Tony Romo's comfort in Dallas - or as this author puts it, "lack of accountability" - is being aided and abetted by Jerry Jones. Starting to feel more like a Brett Favre thing, and you can imagine how I'm feeling about that given my disdain for Favre...after Friday's "I need another word for 'vagina'" thing, here's a bit on 50 words women really hate...have a great Sunday.