Raps rolling?

Is it a coincidence that Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon missed last night's game and the Raps actually held an opponent to under 100 points? Methinks not. Yes, I know playing Minnesota helped, but Calderon's numbers show he's a black hole on the defensive end. B. Kennedy, we await stats. The Raps have now won three straight after bottoming out in Atlanta last week.

Of all the upsets you'd have thought possible in yesterday's Champions League play, you probably wouldn't have figured on Juventus to flame out 4-1 at home even against a team as strong as Bayern Munich. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a pair for Real Madrid, including a beauty from long distance, as Real advanced with a 3-1 win over Marseille. CR9 leads the Champions League in scoring with six. Today, Group F is full of possibilities with all four teams within three points of each other with the last game to go today. Not much of note beyond that, certainly not like yesterday.

Love that Curtis Granderson deal for the New York Yankees. He's a witch in the field, has speed to burn, has a good contract, and could hit 40HR's hitting full time at Yankee Stadium (he had 30 this year, but only 10 came at the massive Comerica Park). If they can cut down his whiffs, even better. And hey, we wears #28 so hopefully that's a good omen for a team looking for title #28. Tom Verducci at SI.com salutes the efficiency of the Yankees in making this move. For Arizona, they loaded up with a lot of young talent, and it is a real shame seeing the Detroit Tigers unload key pieces like that. Another rust belt team suffering.

Don't think that rules the Yankees out of the Roy Halladay Stakes yet as the Blue Jays are said to covet Jesus Montero more than anyone from what I'm reading, and Joel Sherman at the NY Post says the Yanks are stepping up their chase of Halladay. If I'm the Jays, I think I want Phil Hughes more than Joba Chamberlain, too. Joba is a little too tightly wound and the line between greatness and mediocrity is thin for him at times. But, he's just 24 so if he can get his lid on straight, still plenty of time and he's shown he can be a top flight pitcher in spurts. Definitely don't see both getting moved. The Yankees also have plenty of catching options and as Montero isn't their highest ranked, it wouldn't shock me if a Halladay deal still gets done.

If you're at all a hardcore baseball fan like yours truly, it will come as a bit of a downer that Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN and moving to the MLB Network and Boston station NESN. Shame a guy with that kind of history and connections is going lower profile.

Gatorade has shelved plans for a "Tiger Focus" drink and says the timing has nothing to do with Tiger's adventures the last two weeks. There is talk it may be re-branded "Tiger Trysts". And now comes talk that there are naked photos of Eldrick that Playgirl may be looking to run. Honestly, this stuff is amazing. Has a guy had things unravel so quick? If he doesn't hit that tree a few weeks back, does any of this come to light right now?

Most annoying thing about the Tiger Woods talk: the constant "world's most famous athlete" talk. That's nonsense. He doesn't approach the likes of David Beckham or Cristiano Ronaldo who are known literally everywhere, or guys like Michael Schumacher, retired though he may be. Honestly, do you think anyone in Central or South America or vast swaths of Africa and the Middle East knows Tiger? Come on.

Sports Illustrated is running a poll to ask who the biggest steal of NFL drafts was this decade. If anyone votes for someone other than Tom Brady, they're on glue.

If you believe the past dictates the future, then the Washington Nationals should be headed to the playoffs in the next year or two. After all, that's what happens with any team that has Pudge Rodriguez behind the plate, no?

I'd like to state for the record that if you think cleaning your car off of snow just means flicking your wipers on and off, you're a loser.

Have a great Wednesday.

Pack Shuts Down Ravens

The winter baseball meetings are on in Indy and the talk is amounting to little so far of substance, other than the St. Louis Cardinals inking Brad Penny to a deal. Sounds like the Seattle Mariners are ready to make some noise looking at signing free agents Chone Figgins and John Lackey in a move that would weaken the division champion Anaheim Angels and give the M's a solid boost, and are in the Jason Bay market too.

The plot thickens for Eldrick Woods. One report says he had no fewer than six mistresses on the go and word is the list could grow to a dozen by week's end. Not sure why more guys like him don't go the Derek Jeter route and stay single. Jeter is routinely applauded for his collection of ladies over the years because he hasn't been married. Get married and cheat and you get what you see now with Tiger. And just this morning, we get word that someone was possibly taken from his house on a stretcher - either his wife, her sister or mother in law. This stuff is getting worse, not better.

The Toronto Blue Jays are planning on making a big splash in the draft next year, with a huge $16 million earmarked for signing draftees. Anything in even low double digits is considered big. GM Alex Anthopolous is going to do some impressive things in that role I'm guessing.

Champions League play resumes today. A defensively decimated Manchester United travel to Wolfsburg hoping to wrap up the group. Also today, Juventus hosts Bayern Munich in a match that will see the winner advance to the round of 16, though Juve gets through with a draw as well. If Marseille stun Real Madrid at home, they'd be in while Real would be out - how great would that be? And All that is off at 2:45pm Eastern with a pair of games on Rogers SportsNet.

All is not roses with the New England Patriots, and QB Tom Brady is openly questioning the teams preparations leading up to games. There's been some talk that he and Randy Moss - who rarely are seen talking during games - are not on the same page. Funny what happens to teams when they hit some rocky patches, no? Let me break it down for you, TB12: your defensive backs can't stop anybody.

The Green Bay Packers did the Pittsburgh Steelers a huge favor last night in beating the Baltimore Ravens to drop them to 5-7. That's likely one less team the Steelers will have to contend with if they're to make the playoffs.

Finally, a look at the dozen hottest NHL W.A.G.'s.

Have a great Tuesday.

After yesterdays dramatic comeback and overtime 33-30 win at Washington, Drew Brees finally has a win when the temperatures are 45 (Fahrenheit) or colder. He's now 1-5 in those games. As for the Saints, they're now 12-0 and a have a very real shot at 16-0 with a schedule that includes Atlanta (away), Dallas (home), Tampa Bay (home) and Carolina (away).

Also undefeated are the Indianapolis Colts after their 27-17 win over a hot Tennessee Titan squad. They've got Denver (home), Jacksonville (away), NY Jets (home) and Buffalo (away) left on the dance card this season.

When Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin talked of how his squad would unleash hell this past week, pretty sure nobody figured that the hell would be on his own team and fans and not the Raiders. The Steelers were beat27-24 by the Raiders at home. Ouch. Should Baltimore win in Green Bay tonight, the Steelers run in this year will become that much more difficult.

I've heard some great sports stories over the years, but didn't hear of this one before. Check out this look at Brendan Shanahan. Honestly, this is a top five sports story ever. Find out what happens when he was treated badly as a kid by an NHLer whom he asked for an autograph. Amazing.

It is December 7th and if the NHL playoffs started today, the Detroit Red Wings would be on the outside looking in. Seems more and more like their loss to the Pittsburgh Pens in the Stanley Cup final last year was the swan song for an era.

Tennessee Titan running back Chris Johnson has three TD runs of 85 yards or more this year. No running back has more than two in a career. Amazing.

For some reason, TNA wrestling is going to start going head to head with WWE on Monday night's starting January 4th. They must really believe in Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, who clearly left the "drove WCW into extinction" bit off their resume's.

If you go 5 of 122 in anything, that's not great. In this case, that is 5 hybrid limos out of 122 parked yesterday at the Copenhagen climate talks. The Mendoza Line towers over that.

Tony Romo had a great game, a rarity for him in December, but his teammates were lacking in a 31-24 loss to the New York Giants. Check out this schedule down the stretch: vs. San Diego, at New Orleans, at Washington and home to Philadelphia. Going to be some anxious times in Big D.

If you don't follow a tonne of NCAA football, you likely still know enough to know that when USC, Oklahoma, Michigan, Notre Dame and Florida State are all unranked, as they are now, something is off.

Speaking of the NCAA, the Bowl Championship Series games were announced last night, and for added fun, one site took it upon themselves to wage a head to head battle among those team's cheerleaders. Have to like Texas here.

The Canadian men's national soccer team is expected to officially name Stephen Hart as head coach today at a 1:30pm presser. Yeah, that ought to strike fear into the hearts of opposing sides around the globe.

Frequent contributor Bukakke passes on a website that bills itself as "a new single-serving site devoted to men who probably shouldn't be allowed anywhere near children." So very worth a peak.

Have a great Monday.

RM returns at 3pm today...at the latest

Almost forgot...there's NFL action today!

They may have won two straight, and back to back nights no less, but the Toronto Raptors are still historically bad defensively. Mark the Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons down as the first media member to declare Chris Bosh a limited time offer in Raptors colours. Simmons says this will be his last year in Toronto. Me suspects he's right.

A funny thing happened on the way to Tim Tebow's coronation as Greatest Human Being Ever as his Florida Gators got smoked in the SEC Championship game by 32-13. AlabamaTexas needed a last second field goal to beat Nebraska 13-12 and they're likely to face Alabama in the mythical national championship.

With the World Cup draw in the books, here is some reaction from around the world, and some analysis.

Rejoice, haters - the New York Yankees are looking to cut payroll to $185 million or so, which, in case you're concerned, would still be enough to squeeze Roy Halladay into the fold.

Check out this hilarious comparison of the problems facing Jay Z and Tiger Woods. Amazing what people come up with.

It is a good thing that the Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather fight is going March 13th and not May 1st, as originally discussed. Why? Because the hype machine is going into overdrive on this one and we all might be bored of the idea by May. Both are splitting the purse 50/50 and stand to make $40 million or more.

Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy will be appearing on ABC's 60 Minutes tonight. Guessing that NBA Commissioner David Stern will be sweating bullets throughout that one.

Miranda Kerr. You're welcome.

The first episode of Morency is in the can, and good stuff, other than the lame "ragealution" tag. Get on board at morencysports.com.

Hard to believe I made it this far on an NFL Sunday with not one NFL reference. That's hard to do! A lot of story lines out of today's schedule including the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts push for perfection, and a huge NFC East matchup between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys. It'll be interesting to see if the brutal-in-December of late Cowboys show up again.

World Cup 2010 draw day!

The World Cup draw goes today in South Africa at noon eastern. Follow the draw live here if you need.

So Yankees manager Joe Girardi spent some time this week teaching New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez to slide. What happens last night in Toronto? In addition to a Jets victory, Sanchez gets hurt. How, you wonder? Sliding, of course. Not sure what Rex Ryan was thinking bringing in Girardi, everybody knows the Yankees favor the Giants.

The MLB Players Union supports moving the first round of the playoffs to a best-of-seven setup. Mark the calendar: a fresh and good idea from a union. Weird. With how many days were used in the playoffs this year, and days off in particular, you could play a best of 11 over the same time frame. Best of seven first rounder? Yes please! Only fair thing to do and a truer test.

After getting axed by Hardcore Sports Radio, Gabriel Morency is back in full fledged business today with a website and the promise of online broadcasts, apparently a couple times a day. I'm going to wager he comes out swinging for his former employers in a big way today and for the next bit.

Yahoo! Sports looks at the Top 10 NFL Plays of the Decade. What, no video links? Shame on them. Anyways, literally remember every one of these and for most, remember where I was when. Impressive. Or sad.

There have been more than a few publications covering the risks of trading for Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay in the last week or two, this is but another. Memo to LeRoy: This stuff is emanating from Boston exclusively, demand a move to The Bronx.

Speaking of the Jays, Baseball America has run its annual look at each team's farm system and ranking them top to bottom. The Jays system ranked #28 in the game, ahead of only St. Louis and Houston. Ouch. The Texas Rangers ranked tops.

Are you an Atari 2600 fan, and would love to relive some of the games of yesteryear? Look no further than this link. Brilliant. Off to play some River Raid I go.

Finally today, check out the Tiger Woods Voicemail Slow Jam Remix. This has #1 written all over it.

Indefensible

Pretty soon the question won't be who has Tiger slept with, but who hasn't he. And nice work by wife Elin to take this opportunity to renegotiate their pre-nuptial agreement upwards from $20 million she'd receive if she stayed with Eldrick for 10 years. I'm sure Katie Holmes is getting ideas now. We can only hope when he tees it up at Pebble Beach in January somebody yells "he has been!" when someone yells the obligatory "get in the hole!". Who is giving Tiger PR advice, Roger Clemens?

There are 108 MLBers with permission to use otherwise banned stimulants because they have been diagnosed with ADHD. That number is up fro 106 in 2008 and 103 in 2007 and I'll guess from 0 the year before drug testing came into play. Maybe I'm just (testing) negative.

SI.com's Jon Heyman updates the Roy Halladay market and says the smart money has the big horse going to either the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox. A lot of familiar names in each package - two or three of Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Jesus Montero and Austin Jackson from the Yanks, and Clay Bucholz and Casey Kelly from the Sox. Gonna be a big move for whatever team gets the deal done, and seemingly, the Jays too with those names. Not for 2010, but in the years beyond.

The New Orleans Saints are said to be ready to ditch Reggie Bush after this year with him due to count $8 million against the cap. Not hard to believe considering they're not lacking for options at running back and he hasn't exactly lived up to the hype he had coming out of USC.

Oregon and Oregon State are playing their "civil war" game tonight, and it is also a "war of the roses" to see who will go to the Rose Bowl with USC on the outside looking in, a rarity for them. Oregon are 9.5 point favs with an over/under of 63.

Not sure which mobile apps you're using on your BlackBerry or device of choice, but none are better for a sports fan than Score Mobile. Get it here. Also, UberTwitter is solid too for sports fans following the best in the business of reporting what is going on. Follow me here, and you'll see those I'm partial to.

Make that 0-18 for the New Jersey Nets after getting crushed by the Dallas Mavericks. Speaking of 18, the Nets will play the Toronto Raptors December 18th and while the Nets may not win - and they quite well may - they can be sure they'll score 100+ against the defensively bankrupt Raptors, who gave up 114 last night - after three quarters. The final? Atlanta 146 to the Raps 115.

Can't you feel the buzz emanating from the alleged Centre of the Universe Toronto with the Buffalo Bills set to host the New York Jets tonight? Yeah...me neither.

Ron Artest says he drank during NBA games. I'm not buying it. If he had, he surely wouldn't have reacted so badly to a Detroit Piston fan offering him a cold beer back in his Indiana Pacers days.

RM returns at 2:30pm Eastern.

Urlacher delivers his best hit of the year

As quotes on teammates go, Chicago Bears (injured) linebacker Brian Urlacher just topped Hines Ward for Most Inflammatory Comment On His QB for the week with this gem hammering Jay Cutler and praising how the Bears played with Kyle Orton at the helm. Check this out.

Hey, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Montreal last night. This seems more impressive when both are, you know, good. Somehow, despite five fewer wins than the Habs, the Leafs are only five points back with a game in hand. Ahhhh, the NHL point system.

This one comes from regular reader and occasional contributor TS: Cincinnati swept its division games, going 6-0. Five of the last six teams to sweep their division games reached the Super Bowl. Just for fun, we'll say "make it five of seven".

The Tiger Woods plot gets thicker by the minute. One report says there was no blood whatsoever in his vehicle, which is impressive when your face was busted up. Another has a lady saying she has 300+ text messages and voice messages from Tiger over the course of a 31-month affair. When you give no story, one gets found. And for some reason, comic Chris Rock is teeing off on the media for their handling of the story. Like Rock a lot more when he sticks to what he does best.

If the NHL punishes careless use of the stick, do they not suspend Keith Ballard for clubbing his own goalie? Seems like they should, no?

Argentine/Barcelona winger/striker Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or as Europe's best player this year. Hard to argue against that one really. Even though Cristiano Ronaldo had a great year in his own right, it was Messi who helped Barca to the Champions League title.

The Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin received a two game suspension for his knee on knee hit that left him more damaged than Carolina Hurricane Tim Gleason. Frankly, seems he's getting off a bit light, especially when that two games could cover his "day-to-day" status in terms of his own injury.

The World Cup Draw goes tomorrow. Here's a bit of a primer, including what pots each team is found in. Gonna be a real lack of productivity Friday morning, that's for sure.

Best team in the NFL against the spread? The San Francisco 49ers at 8-2-1.

Check out this Chinese report on the Tiger Woods situation, complete with a re-enactment. Awesome.

Have a great Wednesday.

Saints splatter Pats

Nevermind who the week-schedule Minnesota Vikings are beating, or the just-scraping-by Indianapolis Colts, the New Orleans Saints are the best team in the NFL today. What a performance last night, have you seen anybody shred the New England defence like that, and hold Tom Brady to zero touchdowns in a 38-17 curb stomping? On Monday Night? Amazing showing. More on that to follow.

Terrell Owens was tweeting away during the game last night: "Man! The Pats r gettin thumped!!! These ppl need 2 start giving Brees his just due!! Enuff of Brady/Manning already!!! I'm jus saying!!" Manning belongs in an MVP conversation with Brees. Old Man and Brady? Nope.

One NFL player writing anonymously in ESPN The Magazine says home field advantage is worth 14 points to the New Orleans Saints and if they get home field through the playoffs, they're his pick to win the Super Bowl.

New York Yankee Derek Jeter was expected to be named SI Sportsman of the Year yesterday. Of course, that brings up questions as to whether he was more deserving of the honour than A-Rod, or Mariano Rivera from the Joel Sherman's of the world.

ESPN.com's Buster Olney says that Roy Halladay will veto any trade proposal after he reports to spring training. That cold steel you're feeling by your temple is a gun, Jays GM Alex Anthopolous. Ought to get real interesting with the baseball winter meetings set for next week.

Not sure what Pittsburgh Steeler Hines Ward was thinking could be gained from wondering aloud why Ben Roethlesberger wasn't playing in what amounted to a playoff game on Sunday night, and then telling Bob Costas the locker room is divided on the subject. Of course, he later backtracked on those comments but hard to shove that cow back in the toothpaste tube. Easy for Ward to talk of course, he's the one usually delivering the head shot, not receiving them. There's also talk that Roethlesberger was BENched on Sunday to get him to stop hanging onto the ball so long. Interesting times with the defending champs.

Speaking of concussions, I'm sure NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is a bright guy, but doesn't his idea of not allowing players who have suffered concussions or had their proverbial bell rung from returning to a game seem, well, obvious? He's also talking of forcing a player to miss a subsequent game, though I suspect that will be a tougher sell to teams and players.

Former Buffalo Bills QB Jim Kelly says the team needs to focus on drafting a quality quarterback. Well, duh. Even a guy with as many concussions as he's had would know that much. That said, loved his smack saying that said QB should not be from California after less than inspiring runs from Rob Johnson, JP Losman, Trent Edwards et al.

The Bleacher Report brings us the 30 hottest female tennis players, circa 2009. Good stuff.

A recent poll says that the Montreal Canadiens are Canada's most popular hockey team, and not the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hope they didn't sink a lot of cash into finding out what most know.

Keith Ballard clubbed goalie Tomas Vokoun in the head after a goal. To make that bad situation worse, they both play for the Florida Panthers. Scary stuff. Trying to think of another sport where something so mindless happens and am drawing a blank. See the vid below.

"Gray" Cup

The Grey Cup will soon be renamed the Gray Cup if there are too many more drab games. Like many, I tuned out after that duller than dishwater first half and only by fluke returned to catch the final minutes. In the end, the Montreal Alouettes booted a last second field goal to claim the CFL's top prize. In a related story, went to the restaurant at the right in Saskabush and asked for a table for 12. Weirdest thing - they put out 13 spots. (Thanks to Bukakke for the pic.)

It was a day of dramatic comebacks in the NFL yesterday, none more impressive than Vince Young driving the Tennessee Titans 99 yards for a last second touchdown to win the game over Arizona.

The Indianapolis Colts were getting throttled by the Houston Texans, and went to the break down 20-7 and it should've been worse. Incredibly, they rallied to win 35-27 and move to 11-0. The last three teams to reach 10-0 in the NFL failed to win the Super Bowl. Now, if the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints meet in the big game - and how great would that be? - that obviously would change.

Speaking of the Saints, they host New England tonight in what should be a shootout if the over under of 56 is any indication. Patriots coach Bill Belichick is being uncharacteristically complimentary of his opponent, calling the Saints the best team in the game.

Andy Reid couldn't leave well enough alone. Not content to see Bill Belichick claim the title of Dumbest Coaching Move of the Year, Reid went for an onside kick to open the game against Washington. The Skins recovered of course. What an idiot. Shame that the Eagles pulled out the game late as stupidity does not deserve to be rewarded.

On last nights Baltimore overtime win over a fading Pittsburgh Steelers squad, Did I really hear Cris Collinsworth say "Ray Lewis has a little blood on him. It may be somebody else's"? Wouldn't be the first time we've heard that said of Lewis. And what was with his chest thumping at the conclusion of the game? You'd barely know he was playing for all he did out there.

MSN Canada ranked the Saskatchewan Roughriders fans as the rowdiest in Canada. Possible, I suppose, but the ranking loses lots of cred for ranking the Toronto Maple Leafs fans at #4 and ahead of Toronto FC's at #5. No, plainly. And laughable.

Chelsea throttled Arsenal 3-0 yesterday to move five points clear of second place Manchester United. Didier Drogba scored a pair of beauties for the Blues.

Grey Cup Sunday

The Grey Cup goes today and not sure I've ever been less interested. Maybe it is in part to the last three games being total duds. Montreal is a 9.5 point fav against Saskatchewan with the game in Calgary. Kickoff is 6:30pm Eastern on TSN.

Sports Pickle has an outstanding picture of the day. Tiger Woods is the theme. Speaking of Woods, word is now emerging the cuts on his face came not from his car accident, but in the middle of a fight with his wife. He best take a page from the book of A-Rod and get proactive on this. Silence is a killer when the media freight train gets rolling.

Ana Ivanovic has taken the time to unveil the outfit she'll be sporting at the Australian Open in January. The way she's played of late, she need not worry about multiple colours for other matches.

Manchester City tied their seventh straight EPL game yesterday, 1-1 with Hull City. The big one of the weekend goes today at 11am on The Score with cross-town rivals Chelsea and Arsenal getting it on. Should be a great one. Also great should be the Real Madrid and Barcelona tilt at 1pm on The Score. Is there anyone that wouldn't love to see Barca hammer Real?

Hey Maple Leafs fans, doesn't Sunday feel better with the Leafs not having played the night before?

And doesn't it feel even better that Notre Dame lost - again - and Charlie Weis is at the brink? The Domers were beat 45-38 by Stanford. Apparently, Weis had already cleaned out his office before yesterday's game. Imagine how many chocolate bar wrappers were in that office?

Ben Roethlesberger is out for Pittsburgh today. Wise move for a guy who once rode a motorcycle sans helmet, particularly facing the hard hitting Baltimore Ravens. Incredible that the line went from -2 for the Ravens to -9 with Big Ben out. Have to play the Steelers with that kind of lumber.

Bud Selig is packing it in as MLB Commissioner after 2012. Don't suspect there will be a lot of glorious tributes to Bud. Cue the Bob Costas rumors.

Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan is a career 11-1 at home. Hard not to figure on that being 12-1 with the Falcons hosting Tampa Bay today.

Am I completely off my rocker for thinking there will be no undefeated teams after this weekend? Indianapolis is in Houston, and New Orleans hosts New England tomorrow in what should be a shoot out.

GBVH pointed out that six NHL games went to a shootout last night with five teams scoring a goal or less. Pretty funny that when I take shots at how dull hockey has become there is nobody taking me to task for that one.

Have a great Sunday all.

Night in the ruts

Aston Villa host Tottenham today in what should be the EPL match of the day. Spurs scored 9 last weekend so it'll be interesting to see if they can keep that torrid pace. That one goes at 12:30.

Wonder if Phil Mickelson is thinking "told ya I could out drive Tiger"? And are you like me, stunned to learn Tiger wasn't driving a Buick like he endorsed for years? And if he was driving a Caddy, why didn't it tell him which way to go? That's all I've got. I'm here all week, tip your waiter. Word is there was a bit of a domestic spat at Eldrick's home and that his wife delivered the cuts to his face. Something to do with a National Enquirer article detailing an affair Tiger was having with Rachel Uchitel?

The winless New Jersey Nets are approaching the all-time futility record set by the expansion Miami Heat at 0-17 and need another to go. And to make matters better, they're on the road, though they had a stop at lowly Sacramento on the trip and lost that one last night. Real shame that Wince Carturd isn't there still for this. He deserves this kind of streak.

Word is Touchdown Jesus is bailing on Notre Dame and the Second Coming, such is the state of the Domers.

The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. has put together the top six goals of the decade, including some Canadian content. Check it out here.

A Saturday without a UFC event? Seems weird, no? Had to get that in before The Ultimate Finale airs next weekend on Spike TV for a relatively dull season of The Ultimate Fighter.

So much for Robin Van Persie's placenta treatment speeding up the healing of his bad ankle. Now comes word he'll be undergoing surgery and will be out five months.

Former Buffalo Bills QB JP Losman is now a champion, after he lead the Las Vegas Locomotives to the UFL championship. And right on cue, he wants back in the NFL. Honestly, if you're the Buffalo Bills, is he your best option right now? Could well be.

Allen Iverson's alleged retirement plans could be over already as the Philadelphia 76ers, his first team and where he had his best moments, are interested.

The Toronto Argos are said to be interested in moving their home games to BMO Field. Cannot imagine that MLSE goes for that with a grass installation happening now. If there is something worse than playing soccer on turf, it'd be playing it on chewed up grass. Totally defeats the purpose.

When Chris Bosh took a knee from Paul Pierce last night in the Raptors 116-103 loss in Boston, and it was left to the coaching staff to stand up for him, you saw all you needed to see about the heart of the Raptors and how tight they are as a team, which is to say, "very little" and "not very".

Word is Roy Halladay has told the Toronto Blue Jays he'd accept a trade to the New York Yankees. Make it happen, Brian Cashman.

Have a great Saturday.

RM returns Saturday

Turkey Day USA!

A trio of NFL games on the go today as per tradition. The Green Bay Packers visit Detroit, who will be minus Matt Stafford. Slight leanage to the Lions at +11 there. Pretty wild seeing the Dallas Cowboys point spread at -13.5 today when they host Oakland at 4:15pm when you consider the Cowboys have score 14 - total - the last two weeks. As for tonight, loving the Denver Broncos at +6.5 at home to the New York Giants. That's a PTP for you. The entire day has me less anxious than years prior as I don't have to fear hearing John Madden blather on about turkey and all the "fixin's".

Not sure how much strength of schedule should factor into MVP talk in the NFL, but when you've played Green Bay twice and Pittsburgh (and lost that one) as your lone teams above .500, not sure the Old Has Been should be mentioned in the same conversation as Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and others. Sorry, I'm not buying it. He's not even the most valuable on his team.

What does it say of Toronto FC when none of the players they left unprotected for the expansion draft of the Philadelphia Union were taken? Suppose it could say that even an expansion team doesn't want a guy like Amado Guevarra and his salary, but feel like I haven't cracked on TFC enough after their 5-0 loss in New York to close the season.

Cleveland Browns QB Brady Quinn, a Notre Dame alum, thinks it would be a mistake for Notre Lame to axe Charlie Weis. BQ is an authority on mistakes, after all.

The Boston Red Sox are stepping up the Roy Halladay chase which has to mean the New York Yankees are about to get anxious too. Most baseball people told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark, as told on ESPN radio, that they expect Halladay to end up an Anaheim Angel which I'm not buying. This is gonna get hot and soon, methinks.

Allen Iverson says he's retiring from hoops. Forgive me if I feel more than a little skeptical that this is truly the end.

I know the NBA season is long with ups and downs for the best of them, but if you get crushed 116-81 by the Charlotte Bobcats, you are not a good team. Yes, this means you, Toronto Raptors, on pace for the worst defensive team since 1976. Jose Calderon turned the ball over more times than Chicago Bear's QB Jay Cutler in prime time last night with 6.

You don't often get three shorthanded goals in a month in the NHL, but the Chicago Black Hawks managed to pull it off in one as the pounded the San Jose Sharks 7-2 for their eighth straight win. The NHL is better when the Hawks matter. Still my fav unis in hockey.

Turns out Mike Shanahan is indeed meeting with the Buffalo Bills, and talks went well yesterday. He'd be a strong hire for them, though I thought he was a lock for the Cowboys job next year. That said, not sure how he works for a dime less than $7 million, which he's due next year from the Denver Broncos after they axed him mid-contract.

And finally today, a Happy Thanksgiving to my friends south of the border.

A week after hearing of how Robin Van Persie of Arsenal was going to be rubbed down by some Serbian lady with placenta to help aid the healing of his ankle, Frank Lampard of Chelsea is heading for the same treatment. Weird, weird trend.

The Round of 16 starts to become clear...

Things have really turned around for Vince Young with Tennessee. How else to explain the picture at right? Weird.

Albert Pujols was a unanimous choice as the NL MVP and really, was there any doubt? Any other finish would've had me thinking it was voted on by boxing judges, or of late, UFC judges. That is Pujols third MVP win.

Champions League play yesterday saw Fiorentina, Lyon, Sevilla and Arsenal seal up their Round of 16 slots with another game to go. Liverpool won yesterday but it wasn't enough to see them through, and that could well see them offload some key pieces in the January transfer window, though they contend they never budget beyond this group stage. That said, if they finish outside the top four in England this season, they'll not even have a Champions League spot to bank on. Today, there are another eight games with AC Milan and Marseille practically a knockout game. Manchester United, Chelsea, Bordeaux, and Porto are already qualified for the next round and will no doubt rest some stars. All that action starts at 2:45 Eastern with SportsNet covering a pair of games over their regional channels.

Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke may not be perfect, he may be a hard ass and come off as arrogant, but when word came out from Tom Buccigross at ESPN.com that one of Burke's sons came out as gay, papa Burke handled it all with tremendous grace. I'm sure the less evolved fans of hockey will make some kind of light of that, and that's truly a shame. All that said, have to howl at the Toronto Star headline online from Damien Cox that reads "Cox: A son's secret..."

Here's a good reason why teams work to manage when a player becomes arbitration eligible in baseball: to avoid said player getting ready to submit and arbitration figure of $23 million and $1 dollar, the extra to make him the highest pa

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id starting pitcher over CC Sabathia, who is far more accomplished overall. The player? Tim Lincecum. Clearly, he's still hitting the weed if he thinks he deserves that at this early stage of his career.

As if we haven't already heard enough about Tila Tequila, she's trying to stretch her 15 minutes and is now saying that San Diego Charger Shawne Merriman uses ecstasy that avoids the NFL's drug tests. Right, this is the guy that got nailed for using steroids but he's found a way to create a strain of ecstasy that avoids detection. Oh, he's also a pedophile and racist, says Tila.

If opposing teams at BMO Field thought getting peltedby Toronto FC fans with toilet paper and streamers was bad, check out what happens in Turkey. Must be real bad beer to be raining it down like this. Not to mention some fireworks and a chair.

A day ahead of one of my fav days of the year: U.S. Thanksgiving, and of course, that means a pile of football is on the schedule. Cannot wait!

Have a great Wednesday.

VY gets it done again

Vince Young continues to impress, leading the Tennessee Titans to another win to move them to 4-6 after they beat the Houston Texans 20-17 last night. Incidentally, the Titans are 4-0 since head coach Jeff Fisher put on that Indianapolis Colts jersey at a charity function so he "could feel like a winner".

So the Buffalo Bills have been in contact now with Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden and now Bill Cowher, declined by all. Something tells me they may want to set their sites lower. Considerably lower.

Minnesota Twin Joe Mauer was a near unanimous choice for AL MVP with New York Yankees Mark Teixera and Derek Jeter finishing second and third. There were some grumbling that Jeter didn't get the nod, which seems ridiculous when you realize he had only the fifth best OPS on the squad, and you have to credit a good chunk of his defensive improvement to Teixera, who would have received my vote, had I had one. That said, can't go wrong with Mauer as MVP, he had a huge year in his own right playing the toughest position physically and dragged a beat up Twins squad into the playoffs. Strangely, Mauer missed one first place vote from being a unanimous choice and that vote didn't go to Teixera or Jeter, but went to Miguel Cabrera from a Seattle writer. That single vote netted Cabrera a $200k bonus. That's a lot of cheeseburgers. Albert Pujols should run away with the NL MVP voting today.

FIFPro, the union of soccer unions, is going to lobby the MLS to have them change their player contract structure, which has all players under deals with the league and not individual clubs, a practice it contends violates FIFA rules. With the MLS collective bargaining agreement set to expire at the end of January, this could mean some huge changes for the way MLS does business. Frankly, the current model has done well to keep teams spending in line, even though its owners would make the NHL envious with their deep pockets.

If you drive with the hood of your hoodie up, you're a loser. For the record.

Count the LA Dodgers and Anaheim Angels among the teams that have inquired about soon-to-be-former Toronto Blue Jay pitcher Roy Halladay. I really can't see the Dodgers, embroiled in an ownership war between Frank McCourt and his soon to be ex-wife, being players on this one. Both also hold spring training in Arizona, with Halladay said to prefer being dealt to an east coast team that holds camp in Florida.

Now for something entirely different. After getting hammered by Tottenham Hotspur in English Premier League play 9-1 on Sunday, the players from Wigan have thrown their money together to reimburse their fans who traveled to the game. Classy, really.

Check out this great piece from SI.com's Joe Posnanski on baseball's least valuable players and pitchers. Memo to Vernon Wells fans: you will not be pleased.

Don't forget, another day of Champions League action goes today, including Inter Milan facing Barcelona.

Have a great Tuesday.

Monday wrap

Not sure how BC Lion Emmanuel Arceneaux feels after this meeting at the right with the turf at Olympic Stadium in Montreal yesterday, but it sure looks painful to these eyes. The Lions were hammered by the Als, while the Saskatchewan Roughriders booked their tickets to Calgary for the Grey Cup by beating the Stampeders.

It wasn't always pretty, but Real Salt Lake lifted the MLS Cup after a shootout victory when 120 minutes left the teams level at a goal a piece. Former Toronto FC striker Danny Dichio picked the #8 seeded RSL to win the Cup and proved right.
Galaxy striker Landon Donovan was asked over the weekend by ESPN columnist Bill Simmons, a huge soccer junkie the last couple years, why there isn't a fancier name for the MLS Cup and Donovan replied that "unlike other sports we don't call our championship a world anything when it is only played in America." Awesome. Except for forgetting there are teams in Canada, too.

I didn't figure that the Denver Broncos were as good as their 6-0 start suggested, but hard to believe that they're as bad as their 0-4 run now, including yesterday's 32-3 balance of power swinging loss to rival San Diego. Shocking losses yesterday by the Pittsburgh Steelers, losing 27-24 at Kansas City, and Cincinnati losing at Oakland. New Orleans and Indianapolis both moved to 10-0, though the Colts barely scraped by in Baltimore. Both have some tricky games on the schedule next week with Indy visiting Houston, and the Saints hosting New England on Monday Night.

A Playboy article (December 2009) notes that an average NFL game has only about 12 minutes of actual playing time.

Further cementing his reputation as the master of the obvious, Terry Bradshaw on Dallas Cowboys receiver Roy Williams: "he's certainly not worth two first-round picks and all that money Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is paying him. He's not proving anything.'' Not sure about you, but I've entirely tuned out NFL pre-game shows and find I enjoy the game a lot more without the overkill.

Steve Mariucci, former NFL coach turned analyst, objected to the Buffalo Bills firing Dick Jauron in the middle of the year. Methinks that his close friend Dick Jauron probably doesn't mind nearly so much.

Is there any second year pro in any sport that has seen more column inches than Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Luke Schenn?

Well you had to know this wouldn't take long. The interweb brings us all the Thierry Henry hand ball game. Check it out here.

Ilya Kovalchuk is said to be close to signing a 10 year deal worth $90 million to stay with the Atlanta Thrashers, not because he's seeing a team headed in the right direction, but because he prefers to play somewhere with less pressure. That, friends, is a loser.

Hands up, who had Los Angeles King Anze Kopitar as the leading scorer at the end of November?

Sports Illustrated gives you a list of the ten best pound for pound fighters in boxing history.

Have a great Monday!

PTP

We're playing Chicago +3 tonight.

Beckham's day to shine?

On the NFL schedule today, is there a game featuring teams more desperate to win than the Atlanta Falcons visiting the New York Giants? Both have been less than they were expected to be of late, and need to turn it around to stay in the playoff hunt. Also interesting are Indianapolis visit to Baltimore, and I suspect that the Colts unbeaten run ends today. San Diego's visit to Denver will have a big part in deciding the AFC West. Also looking forward to the New York Jets at New England, and I suspect Rex Ryan will be crying again as the Patriots will crush them, and Philly at Chicago tonight ought to be good. Not interesting? Pretty much the rest.

The CFL semis go today with BC visiting Montreal in the East final. Yes, BC is now in the east apparently. In the West final, Calgary will be visiting Saskatchewan. Let me know how they go, I've got very little interest in the CFL this year for some reason, save for seeing the Toronto Argos continue to sink to new depths.

The MLS Cup goes tonight in Seattle and ought to be a banner day for the MLS with David Beckham's LA Galaxy facing Real Salt Lake in the final. RSL has been rolling of late, but the Galaxy have been a top team all year, score in bunches and defend well too, so can't imagine Beckham isn't hoisting the Cup when it ends. Game time is 8:30 Eastern, coverage on GolTV. Welcome news is that the MLS is contemplating holding future games at the home of the higher ranked team, which only makes sense.

Chelsea and Manchester United further separated themselves from the pack yesterday with easy wins while Liverpool drew Manchester City 2-2 and Arsenal lost 1-0 to Sunderland. Seems more and more likely the top four will not include Liverpool this year.

UFC 106 is in the books and Forrest Griffin beat Tito Ortiz by a split decision that unlike the last couple cards, wasn't a robbery. Josh Koschek threw himself into the title picture with an impressive win over Anthony Johnson by submission. Lot of big knockouts last night...good stuff.

If Notre Dame coach Charlie Wies can survive a home loss to UConn, hardly a football powerhouse, he's surely made of Teflon, even if buying him out for the remaining six years on his deal will cost $18 million. Absolutely love when anything bad happens to Notre Lame.

Alexander Ovechkin has nine goals in nine games at the Air Canada Centre after another last night. But the real shocker is that the Maple Leafs beat the Caps in a shootout 2-1.

Really thrilled as a taxpayer I get to pay for Don Cherry to pitch his Rock Em Sock Em 21 on the CBC. Cherry says Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau are the top line for Canada at the Olympics which, if you've not heard, are coming soon.

Ohio State beat Michigan for the sixth straight time to clinch a Rose Bowl game where they'll more than likely get killed by some quicker and more athletic team.

That smell hovering over Toronto today isn't the Leafs, or rotting leaves, but is the presence of Wince Carturd. Winessa and his Orlando Magic are in to play the Raptors, who, at 6-7, have to be pretty happy with their start considering all the games they've played out west already. Tipoff is 12:30 on CBC.

Word is Roy Halladay will not entertain signing with the Toronto Blue Jays after his current contract expires. Well, obviously. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are said to be hot on picking up Halladay, which can only be good for the Jays.

The French Football Federation officially declined a request from Ireland to replay the controversial game between the two. That marks the first time in recent memory where France didn't surrender.

Nice to see racism alive and well in 2009 as Ole Miss allowed a rally by the Ku Klux Klan on campus before they played LSU yesterday. No, seriously, check out the pictures. Losers.

Have a great Sunday, back with your PTP later.