The Boston Celtics opened a house of fire against the LA Lakers last night, with a rocking Gahhhhden, but it wasn't to last, as the Lakers took game three with a 91-84 decision. Wonder if Paul Pierce still thinks it isn't going back to L.A.? Funny stuff in the stands, as there were 5,000 Khloe Kardashian masks - aka Mrs. Lamar Odom - handed out pre-game, and the fans were working a "Ug-lee sis-ter" chant as he obviously did get the less attractive Kardashian option.
Stephen Strasburg made his Washington Natinals debut last night, and it was a strong one with a win, 14 K's and no walks over seven innings. ESPN.com'sBuster Olney points out that a good major league pitcher will get about 11 missed swings of every 100. Strasburg had a stunning 18 missed swings among 94 pitches. Now, before we get too crazy here, let's remember that he pitched against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team not even good enough to be called bad. Let's see what he does a month in when teams have a bit of a book on him and he's facing a team that's at least a threat. Strasburg's next start is Sunday against the equally woeful Cleveland Indians. Enjoy Strasburg while you can, word is his agent Scott Boras is being militant he's only to work 95 innings in the bigs this year, which leaves him with 88 left.
How much is estimated to be gambled on the World Cup? A mere $1.5 billion, says Chad Millman at ESPN.com (Insider required).
The Sporting News is predicting that the New York Jets will win the Super Bowl this year in Dallas, over Dallas.
Crazy World Cup stat: 11 of the last 13 World Cup's have had one or both of Brazil and Germany in the final.
I'm not going to explain to you why this is funny, but if you don't know, know that it is. Portugal's Nani hurt himself and is said to be out of the World Cup thanks to a busted collarbone suffered while trying an overhead kick.
The Vancouver Whitecaps new logo is out in time for their MLS launch next year. It is very much simple, which I tend to favor, but also a bit of a nod to those Canucks unis of yesteryear, no? Some snow and water colours, and mountains, fittingly, but the rip job from Volkswagen seems a bit odd.
David Geffen - entertainment mogul - wants to buy the LA Clippers and bring LeBron James in to make the franchise. Not only that, he's said his ownership would in fact deliver LeBron. Personally, I'd love to see it happen, but can't see 'bron going to a second class franchise in a city that Kobe Bryant owns already.
I'm figuring if I attempted to squat 1000+ pounds, whatever blew out of me wouldn't be spewing out of my mouth, but not this guy...
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
That's the very fine Rosie Jones holding the World Cup. Not a bad way to start your day. England may not win the Cup, but the Cup got nice and close to a nice lady! More Rosie here.
Not sure how the NBA and NHL couldn't figure a way to stay out of each other's way, but they're head to head again tonight. Surprisingly, Sunday's head-to-head saw the NHL put up surprisingly strong TV numbers in the U.S.
The Glazer family, who own both Manchester United and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are a mere $1.6 billion in debt. They have the biggest soccer club in the world and a team in the can't-lose-money NFL and somehow they're still going to screw it up.
Starting Thursday, going to be picking every World Cup game for your entertainment and mine. Feel free to post your picks in the comments, and track your own. At stake: bragging rights.
Woody Harrelson scores a big penalty kick in a charity game, marking the first time the Rest of the World beat England in some kind of charity game. Pretty funny seeing him and Mike Myers celebrate.
Apologies for the delay, Blogger was down for most of the day.
Can you recall a Stanley Cup Final where there were two more inept goalies than this one? Don't get me wrong, it is making for far more exciting stuff seeing some goals scored than when you're watching a dull game where five guys collapse before Hal…err…the goalie, but these guys don't look like champions. The Chicago Black Hawks moved to within a game of winning the Cup thanks to a 7-4 win. Not a good night for Chris Pronger. He was -4 and in the box for another goal in the first five.
The Boston Celtics evened their NBA Final at a game apiece, beating the LA Lakers wire to wire last night in L.A. Celtic Paul Pierce was caught on video saying the series will not be coming back to L.A. See video at the bottom of today's entry.
We talked last week of Alex Rodriguez ridiculous numbers when a team walks Mark Teixera intentionally to get to him, so what did Toronto Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston do yesterday with one out? He walked Tex. Now, A-Rod didn't come through this time, but nor did he ground into a double play like Cito was hoping he might, so then that left the Jays to face Robinson Cano, who is hitting as well as anybody in the world this season, and doubled home a pair. We'll leave it to SI.com's Jon Heyman to assess the move by Gaston via Twitter: "Cito's call to int. walk Texeira w/ 1 out and pitch to ARod, Cano is single dumbest move I've seen this season. #getaclue". Careful Heyman, lest Cito and the Jays see you suspended from your job for asking legit questions in much the same way that Fan590's Mike Wilner was for questioning Cito earlier in the week. The Jays took two of three from the Yankees, though the last two could have gone either way.
Tweets the great site Mental Floss: Poet Heinrich Heine left his wife his fortune with one catch: she had to remarry. “Then there will be at least one man to regret my death.”
Gonna go out on a limb and suggest that the new Toronto Blue Jays ads, at left, featuring bird characters in suits are very much lifted from Them Crooked Vultures, at right. Best move the Jays have made in decades! To take it a step further, even the SportsNet broadcasts go to commercial playing TCV.
Gotta love Alberta allowing bars to serve booze at 8am for the World Cup.
The MLB draft starts tonight and ends sometime in the next year or so. Only slight exaggeration there. Ought to be an interesting few days for the Toronto Blue Jays, with four picks in the first 41.
Quick hits: Toronto FC played a scoreless draw with Kansas City that was as dull a game as you'll ever see. Expected more from TFC ahead of a three week break for the World Cup…speaking of the World Cup, seems a lot of big name stars are going down ahead of the big tourney: Arjen Robben of Holland is the latest to join the list of the out or questionable with a bad hamstring. Holland has looked damn impressive in the run up to the tourney…strange as it may seem, but Ken Griffey Jr. didn't hit over 100 RBI in his last decade in the Majors...
Paul Pierce talks smack...
Blogger.com had some technical difficulties all day, so your RM is written, but won't be up until 7pm (at latest).
Blogger is currently unavailable online, so RM is delayed for the moment.
If you've followed along, Chris Pronger went to the Stanley Cup finals in his first year as an Edmonton Oiler, as an Anaheim Duck and as a Philadelphia Flyer. That is damn impressive, and no small coincidence. The Flyers were 5-3 winners last night to even the series at 2-2, and send it back to Chicago for game five tomorrow.
Pity Kim Myong Won, a striker for the North Korean entry to the World Cup. When the team submitted their roster on Tuesday, they listed him as a goalie. No biggie, right? Wrong. He will only be eligible to play goal in what has to be the most ridiculous thing I've heard all week. But hey, at least he'll possibly play. Same can't be said for Ivory Coast'sDidier Drogba (broken arm) who appears to be doubtful or England's captainRio Ferdinand (knee), who is in fact out. I suspect that England might be better off without Ferdinand in any event. Kudos to England manager Fabio Capello for not going the easy route and making John Terry captain again. Instead, it'll be Steven Gerrard leading the team out of the tunnel next Saturday when they face the U.S.A.
Toronto FC look to keep their strong run of late, especially at home, on the go when they host Kansas City at 4pm. It is getting almost too easy to say they win. Who saw that coming after the first few games this year?
The Toronto Blue Jays bats keep pounding homers, and that led to a 6-1 beating of the New York Yankees at the Rogmahal last night. Up today is a juicy Ricky Romero v. Andy Pettitte matchup, and am personally pumped to be bringing my boy to the game, his first seeing the Yankees.
A prominnent concussion doctor says that the NFL is in need of an "enormous culture change" if they're to properly care for players. He actually thinks the league really and truly cares? They routinely send out guys with pain killers and a variety of injuries, what makes him think the tougher to recognize head injury would be so different?
The LA Lakers opened the NBA Finals last night with a no-doubt 102-89 win over the Boston Celtics at home. Kobe Bryant had a mere 30 and has the look of a guy who is hell bent on avenging the 2008 championship loss to Beantown. Cannot imagine the Lakers don't win the series.
Word is the NHL schedule for next year could see the playoffs end as far out as June 17th, 6 days later than game 7 is slated for this year which was pushed out because of the three weeks lost due to the Olympics. How the hell does that make sense? Game four of the Final goes tonight in Philadelphia.
The Baltimore Orioles are 39-89 since the 2009 All-Star break, and weren't exactly world beaters before that. They've had and have a pile of top flight prospects too in Matt Wieters, Brian Matusz, Adam Jones and more than a few others. Just goes to show prospects don't necessarily mean legit "pros".
The 10 Worst Blown Calls in Sports History. Speaking of, Tom Verducci at SI.com says that the call blown by Jim Joyce that cost Detroit Tiger Armando Galarraga a perfect game could change baseball. Sure, but wouldn't you think the series of blown calls in last year's playoffs - as one example - would have prompted that even moreso? If you've seen hilites of how Joyce and the Detroit Tigers squad and fans handled his appearance yesterday, you have to be impressed with all parties.
Honda dealerships in Ontario are picking up the tab at this year's Honda Toronto Indy on the Friday of the event, once more famously known as the Molson Indy. Free admission. I'm going to go out on a very sturdy limb here and suggest the only reason they're giving away tickets is because nobody is buying them. Crazy, I know. Somewhere in the Rogers Centre, there's an idea taking shape.
Speaking of the Rogers Centre, Toronto Blue Jays attendance ought to see a boost over the next few days, what with the New York Yankees in town. The Jays will have their best attended series of the season so far this weekend.
Cannot believe that the "Chris Pronger stole a puck" story is getting the run that it is. Who. Freaking. Cares. Question mark.
Don Cherry finally said or did something original, a first for him in at least a decade, and even that was a rip off job of something that's decades old.
Game three of the Stanley Cup Final was the best of the bunch so far, and even went to overtime. In the end, the Flyers were 4-3 winners were victorious, leaving them a game down. Game four goes Saturday night in Philadelphia.
The Toronto Blue Jays have allowed four runs the last two nights total from innings one thru eight hosting the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays. But, they've allowed 10 in inning nine the last two nights. Yep, Cito Gaston is back. The Jays blew a 3-1 lead and lost 7-3.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga, who was robbed in the ninth by a horrible call which you can see here at the bottom of today's entry, was actually beat out for a rotation spot by Dontrelle Willis. Remember him? Willis was dealt to Arizona for next to nothing. To his credit, Galarraga has been classy about umpire Jim Joyce severe error, but come on, that's a joke.
Speaking of "remember", remember when Tampa Bay Ray Carlos Pena was even a decent player?
It took 24 innings over two nights for the LA Dodgers to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, both 1-0 scores over 10 and 14 inning games.
Hard to believe, but the New England Patriots are letting Tom Brady enter his last year of his contract and aren't talking extension. I know they're not a team to be bullied by any player, but Tom Brady isn't just an ordinary player, is he? Might Brady jump ship?
Is there anybody anywhere that would've guessed the two Yankee pitchers most likely to head to the All-Star Game this year would have been Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes? Hughes-es is now 7-1 on the year after another stellar start last night.
The Toronto Blue Jays had the Tampa Bay Rays on the ropes last night, but Jays closer Kevin Gregg brought his gas can out to the mound and tried to burn the Rogers Centre down - which would've left a sea of burnt plastic seats and very few casualties, if it were to happen literally - and the Rays worked four runs across the plate in the 9th on all of one hit in the inning. Five walks will tend to help that cause on occasion. Speaking of five, five games is all that separates first through fourth in the AL East.
Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals goes tonight in Philadelphia with the Flyers badly needing a win to get back in the series. The Flyers have only lost three of their last 10 so it is far too early to count them out.
Nine times since they became New York Yankees teammates, an opposing team has chosen to walk Mark Teixera to get to Alex Rodriguez. All A-Rod has done is go 5 of 6 with three grand slams, two walks, a sac fly and 19 RBIs. Might not want to walk Teixera ever to get to A-Rod.
Ought to be a festive night at BMO Field in a nothing game as Toronto FC host Vancouver in the final game of the Canadian Championships. That's a small "f" in final intentionally, TFC has already wrapped up the title and will lift the Voyageur Cup for the second straight year.
The quality blog SportsbyBrooks figures the only chance that soccer has to be as big in the U.S. as the NFL is if the English Premier Leaguedrops a team or several in the U.S. Cannot see it happening, either the EPL going that route or it getting NFL big. That would be huge, however.
Washington Redskin Albert Haynesworth is being sued for $10 million by a stripper he impregnated, and then decided he should no longer talk to her after finding out she was pregnant, leaving her to fend for her self. Maybe AH figured that blue collar ballerinas have a great benefits package?
So I hear the NBA Finals start tomorrow. Good of them to get around to that.
A bad, bad own goal...from a country I won't mention.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
The Chicago Black Hawks were 2-1 winners to grab a 2-0 series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers. If game one was open and exciting, game two was the complete opposite.
Stephen Strasburg, aka "the best pitching prospect ever", will make his debut for the surprising Washington Nationals on June 8th. Nats manager Manny Acta told The Jim Rome Show last week that Strasburg is on a 150-160 innings pitched limit for this season, which leaves him about 100 innings to throw.
The best idea to come to attending live NFL games, perhaps ever, is that NFL RedZone, which moves to each game as it goes into the red zone, will be available to every stadium. Why? Frankly, because the NFL in-game experience is real dull aside from the party with all the ridiculous time outs.
If you can't sell tickets to a game ahead of time, you may as well try to sell them after. The Florida Marlins are selling leftover tickets from Roy Halladay's perfect game on Saturday. In other news, the Toronto Blue Jays are said to be contemplating doing the same, what with all their inventory.
Speaking of the Jays, they were impressive 3-2 winners over the suddenly shaky Tampa Bay Rays. Brandon Morrow looked impressive on the bump as the Jays moved to 3.5 behind the first place Rays. Is the AL East a four team race?
Monday, May 31, 2010
A little late today, blame a pretty crazy time at the office.
Barely a week after winning the Champions League, Jose Mourinho is off, as was rumored last week, to Real Madrid. Check out this article, in which JM sets a new world record for usage of the word "I". The guy has a hell of a resume, but I suspect the moment Sir Alex Ferguson bails from Manchester United, he'll be in hot pursuit of that job to continue his whoredom to the biggest clubs in the game.
You can almost set your watch to it. Adidas unveils the new ball for a given World Cup, declaring it the most technologically advanced version yet. Shortly thereafter, players complain that it is difficult to control, behaves strangely, and Adidasresponds denying the feedback and mentioning they had extensive player feedback in the development process. The tourney starts, the comments die off, life goes on.
Bob McCown of Fan 590 called Toronto Blue Jay Aaron Hill the worst hitter in the American League. Ouch.
One AL executive on the subject of pending free agent Cliff Lee: “I have no doubt that the Yankees will sign Cliff Lee.” Here's hoping said executive is with Seattle right now, or New York.
Quick weekend wrap to wrap: the NBA Final is set, and will see Boston and the L.A. Lakers play for the ugly trophy...Toronto FC were 3-1 winners at San Jose, and sit second place in the Eastern Conference...the Chicago Black Hawks opened the Stanley Cup Finals with a wild 6-5 win over Philadelphia. That's almost as many goals as were scored in last year's entire final series. Only mild sarcasm there...Rashad Evans beat "Rampage" Jackson by decision in UFC 114's main event...Rock of Ages in Toronto is one hell of a great night of entertainment. Guaranteed hit for anybody who grew up in the 80's or was a fan of that era's rock.
Have a great day.
RM returns over the noon hour, I hope.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Baltimore Oriole Adam Jones - seen at left - was detained by Canada Customs who have taken to holding back any athletes with criminal records. Wonder who they got him mixed up with? Hmmm.
The Stanley Cup Final starts tonight with Chicago hosting Philadelphia, two teams that were 26th and dead last just three seasons ago. There ought to be a lot of post-whistle trash talk as both feature some yappy players. Between the two, 29 of the 40 players that closed out their respective conference championships are Canadian born, so expect Don Cherry at his nauseating finest. Who wins? I've got Chicago in six. You?
UFC 114 goes tonight in Las Vegas, with a juicy main event of blood rivals Quinton "Rampage" Jackson facing Rashad Evans. This one ought to be nasty given the venom each have been spewing about each other for over a year now. I'm going to call Rampage to win by knockout, but no result would surprise me.
Toronto FCtravel to San Jose to face the Earthquakes. With a week between games, it'll be interesting to see if TFC retain momentum. Methinks they win 2-0, even on the road where few MLS teams are tearing it up.
The NBA's top free agents this off-season - no need to name them again and add nauseum - are said to be ready to hold a summit to discuss their plans. Sounds like Dirk Nowitzki will be among them as well, as he's likely to opt out of his Dallas Mavericks contract.
Steve Nash is promising the Phoenix Suns win today to force a Game 7. Often, I find guys making "guarantees" annoying, largely because unlike Joe Namath or Mark Messier, they so often don't come through, but I'd really like to see this one happen. Nash rules. The winner of the Western Conference will move on to face the Boston Celtics, the surprise representative of the East. The Celts closed off Orlando last night.
My hatred of Wince Carturd for his Toronto Raptors days has been well documented over the years, but honestly, he may have been supplanted by Hedo Turkoglu, who is trying to justify his unavailability for a game this season because he had a sore tummy and was later seen out on the town. Funny that despite talking of how he was only at the venue he was photographed in for 15 or 20 minutes and left, he doesn't say he went home. Hedon'tnow wants out of Toronto. Here's hoping it happens. Thanks to GBV for the linkage.
The Boston Red Sox through 49 Games in 2009 were 28-21 with 256 runs for and 229 against. This year, through 49 they are 27-22 with 255 runs scored and 238 against, aided by a couple solid weeks. That said, two straight losses to the Kansas City Royals have a way of killing some of that momentum.
The Philadelphia Phillies were first team in modern history to go five straight games without scoring against the opposing team's starter. Seems impossible for any team, nevermind one with as many weapons as they've got.
Before passing away yesterday, Gary Coleman had fallen and hurt his head. So much for "the bigger they are..."
Best wishes to long time reader Boris D on the day of his nuptials. All the best, my friend.
Beer isn't only for drinking. You can also catch a baseball with it first, and then drink it, like this Chicago Cubs fan did this week. Awesome.
Generally in the NBA, if you have a better field goal percentage, three-point percentage and attempt more field goals, you're going to win. Except for the Phoenix Suns, who lost game five 103-101 in L.A. last night giving the Lakeshow a 3-2 series lead.
Today, the NHL is expected to announce a pair of "Winter Classic" games. Washington will play Pittsburgh at Heinz Field on January 1st, 2011. Calgary will host Montreal in February. No clue why they announce that on the eve of the Stanley Cup Finals starting.
Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders have filed a grievance against their former QB JaMarcus Russell to recoup some of the signing bonus they paid him that would include the coming three seasons when he won't be a Raider.
MLB Umpire Joe West is at the eye of a storm again, this time feuding with the Chicago White Sox and Ozzie Guillen, and of course, talking publicly about it. He is the only ump with a publicist, so shows he is wanting the attention. He should be fired immediately.
The Philadelphia Phillies not only lost three straight to the New York Mets, but they were shut out in all three games.
Boston has to be gripping with the Celtics losing again last night to bring the Orlando Magic within a game of levelling the Eastern Conference Championship. Heard Boston media member Dan Shaughnessy on The Jim Rome Show call Rasheed Wallace a "green" player for his regular season "energy conservation". Love that. The Toronto Raptors are a very enviro friendly team, in that respect, at least defensively.
Toronto FC didn't even need to play last night to win the Canadian Championship - their second straight - after their competition - Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact - drew 1-1 rendering them out and leaving TFC with a meaningless home game next week against Vancouver.
Strange bit of World Cup trivia: no northern hemisphere team has ever won the World Cup when held in the southern hemisphere. Same applies to the south when held in the north. So does that mean Spain has no chance? Methinks not, especially with Cesc Fabregas and Fernando Torres getting healthy.
Tiger Woods is building a new house on 12 acres in Florida, and it includes four separate pools. Yeah, losing some endorsements is really hurting his cashflow.
Jose Mourinho appears to be heading to Real Madrid. Something about that seems real fitting.
Nobody will ever accuse David Ortiz of being the most mobile guy in the world, but a thirty second trot around the bags after a home run is downright glacial. Video included.
The Toronto Blue Jays are now fourth in the AL East. Somewhere, Shea Hillenbrand is getting his marker out for a dry erase board.
RM returns later this morning...
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Loving the Canadian version of Operation, courtesy of The Sports Pickle. Face seem familiar? Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns evened their series with the LA Lakers last night. Not bad, when some would've seen them winning a game tops this series after getting badly outplayed in LA.
The great site Mental Floss says that before they settled on "Magic," names suggested for Orlando’s NBA franchise included Juice, Orbits, Challengers and Aquamen. Maybe Raptors isn't so horrible after all. Wouldn't it be awesome if the Boston Celtics, like the Boston Bruins did earlier in the month, soiled the bed on a 3-0 series lead? The Celts visit Orlando tonight.
Milton Bradley is back with the Seattle Mariners after admitting he needed some help for his inner demons, and is now speaking openly about his issues, including suicidal thoughts. Scary stuff.
How can the Texas Rangers be filing for bankruptcy? Start with owing at least $30 million to former players, including $24.9 million owed to A-Rod, the top unsecured creditor. Former Ranger pitcher and Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan is leading a group of investors that have bought the team.
Hard to believe, but for all the World Cup soccer finals played, there have only been 35 different players that have ever scored in final game.
The Philadelphia Phillies fan that earlier this year puked on a young girl has pleaded guilty to assault. Classy.
If WWE's intent is to go and stay PG, not sure how showing a guy remove his own eyeball as a talent on Raw on Monday night is playing into that.
Have a great day.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The Philadelphia Flyers took care of the Montreal Canadiens with a 4-2 score, and 4-1 on the series last night, to set up a very interesting Stanley Cup Final matchup where they'll face the Chicago Black Hawks. Unfortunately, the series won't start until Friday. How does it make sense that previous rounds would start a day or two after a previous round but now they're holding off four days? And to start on a Friday? The worst TV night there is? Only Gary Bettman's NHL.
Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis says that the NHL is in better financial shape than the NBA because of the salary cap that prevents owners "from taking stupid pills". He does know his team is signing guys to 10 year deals, right? And that the NBA limits both terms and dollars? That said, the NBA does allow teams to exceed the cap maximum.
And you thought the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox stage long games: a NCAA Division II baseball game went 12 innings and over 9 hours to complete.
Not sure what good Canada playing Argentina in a soccer friendly accomplishes for either team, but yesterday's 5-0 beatdown didn't accomplish much. Frankly, the Canadian Soccer Association would do well to ensure games like that are not broadcast. Frankly, it could have been double digits, and Lionel Messi wasn't even in the mix.
As athletes go, Barry Zito isn't the most normal one. He doesn't generally speak in cliche's, has opinions worth hearing, but when you hear this voicemail he left, you start thinking he's on the wrong side of crazy.
Monday, May 24, 2010
I know there are a lot of hockey fans out here in Ontario that despise the Montreal Canadiens, but I was shocked to go to a corner store this morning and see people stocking up on fireworks in anticipation of their elimination in Philadelphia tonight. Did not see that coming.
You'd think with Canadian border patrols detaining major leaguers with criminal records when they come into the country, the Toronto Blue Jays would have a better home record. Strangely, the Jays are actually a better road team this year.
Might the Philadelphia Phillies be riding Roy Halladay too hard? He is averaging 122.5 pitches a start, and had four straight of 115+, and is the only starter in the bigs to have four complete games, more than many teams have. They do know he's never gone into October before, right? Might be worth saving some, just in case. Halladay had his worst outing of the year yesterday in getting torched by the Boston Red Sox.
After cracking on Andre Johnson as not being all he was made out to be for holding out early into a contract, it would only be fair to acknowledge he did show up for Houston Texans camp because he didn't feel right sitting at home. What, he figured that staying away would feel great?
Watching last night's New York Yankee loss at the Mets, it dawned on me that if the surest hit in baseball is the home run, the second surest is anything to Derek Jeter's left. What's worse for D.J. is in a contract year, he's not hitting either.
The rest of the weekend in short: TFC wins (good), Inter Milan wins (bad), Chicago Black Hawks advance to Stanley Cup finals (good), Czech's win hockey worlds (who cares?), Phoenix Suns pull one back (nice!), and weather (kick ass).
Scoring from 45 metres out on a dead ball should never, every happen...but does.
Scored me some Manchester United tickets yesterday for their July 16th visit to Rogers Centre to face Scottish powerhouse - oxymoron? - Celtic FC. For the privilege of sitting mid-field, 18 rows up, I'm $166.50 lighter in the pocket. Ouch.
Frequent RM reader Big Daddy passed on this amazing website that documents the "WTF?" jersey's you see people sporting. And, you can participate. The Toronto Raptors even make the cut if you look further in, and you won't believe which jersey a guy is repping.
Quick head's up that RM returns Monday. Have a great weekend, enjoy the weather.
Simply put, the best commercial I've ever seen.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Well, not sure why the NHL thought it was a great idea to have both NHL playoff series going the same night in the Conference Finals, but they're finally breaking up that pattern tonight with the Western Conference series getting the extra day in between games two and three. The Eastern Conference series moves to Montreal tonight and Damien Cox of the Toronto Star thinks it may be time for the Canadiens to give Carey Price a go. So much for going with who brought you to the dance. What if Price starts and bombs, then what? The Habswon't have Andrei Markov in the lineup, his season is done after knee surgery that will keep him out for six months.
The Phoenix Suns are not only getting pounded in their Western Conference series, the LA Lakers are doing it playing the Suns up-tempo style. The Lakers were 124-112 winners last night to take a 2-0 series lead.
Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho - whose ego knows no bounds - thinks that winning the Champions League is bigger than the World Cup. Different, perhaps, and I do accept his point that you could argue you're the world's best team given you can get players from everywhere, but no chance is it more prestigious. The World Cup is once every four years and ask anybody at all connected to the game who won the last World Cup and they'll say "Italy" in a heartbeat. Quick, who won the Champions League four years ago? Inter Milan faces Bayern Munich Saturday in Madrid for the Champions League final.
Joel Sherman of the NY Post writes that A-Rod is the no-doubt New York Yankees go-to guy in a big moment if they have a choice, a change from the past to be sure. Not mentioned yesterday, but worth mentioning that the New York Yankees had Nick Swisher up on the steps holding a bad, ready to pinch hit for Derek Jeter in the bottom of the 9th with the game on the line. Has Jeter been pinch hit for in the last decade plus? The Tampa Bay Rays continued their roll last night in pounding the Yanks 10-2 to move four games up in the East.
Tom Verducci at SI.com looks at whether the Washington Nationals, surprisingly competitive this year, are being too careful with Stephen Strasburg. I've got two words to answer that in the "negative": Mark Prior.
What does Al-Qaeda have to do with sports? Well, when they're plotting revenge on Holland and Denmark over their depictions of Allah, and the World Cup is looming, lots as it turns out. Love how one person can do something they deem offensive and it is an all out assault planned on a sporting event, team or country. Very reasonable.
I'll acknowledge the Toronto Blue Jays are beating everybody's expectations - including yours, if you're thinking of lying and telling us different - but remember this: they were 27-16 a year ago today and in first place in the AL East, and we know how that ended up (28 games back, if you didn't). That, and as Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star noted yesterday, the Jays have only played 14 to date against the best of the AL, and are a less than stellar 3-11 in those games.
The International Ice Hockey Federationtook a swipe at Sidney Crosby, among others, for skipping the second rate World Championships, insinuating they lack loyalty to the programs that made them rich and famous. Translation: they're sour they don't have those guys over in Germany to help sell tickets to a nothing event. Criticizing those players for their fatigue and comparing them to miners is ridiculous. Crosby, as one example, went from the Stanley Cup win last year to a camp in Calgary less than two months later, then into the Olympic camp, and into a season with the Penguins. At some point, the gas tank has to be tapped.
The captain of New Zealand's World Cup entry predicts England will win the World Cup for the first time since 1966, for what that is worth, beating either Spain or Brazil in the final. On the other side of the coin, American player Jozy Altidore bumped into David Beckham at an LA Lakers game a couple nights back and told Beckham the U.S. would beat his England side on the opening weekend 3-0. If you're not a fan of the game and looking for a team to cheer for that is a bit of an underdog, take the U.S. They won't annoy you with the diving tactics that certain other countries can't let go of (looking at you, Portugal and Italy), and play with speed from the opening whistle on.
It is a good thing Tiger Woods doesn't have friends like Kansas City Chiefs wideout Dwayne Bowe, who let a rather large secret loose when he talked of how his Chiefs teammates would fly ladies in from around the country on road trips, including sending messages to girls on teammates Facebook accounts and flying those girls in for them.
The "cutting edge of broadcasting". English commentators rule.
Have you ever seen a double alley-oop? You can now.
Why the Phoenix Suns are in a lot of trouble after losing Game 1 to the LA Lakers: Lakers coach Phil Jackson is 46-0 in playoff series after winning Game 1, including 22-0 with the Lakers.
Safe to say that much like last year at this time, the New York Yankees bullpen is their soft spot, at least if the last 10 days are any indication. Leading 5-1 against the lifeless Boston Red Sox, Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera combined to blow their second lead in three days, and they're the reliable ones in that pen this year. Also a problem for the Yanks: going into last night, Derek Jeter had swung at just 19.8 percent of pitches out of the strike zone since 2002. This year, however, Jeter has swung at 33.3 percent of all pitches out of the strike zone. Might explain the plummeting average the last couple weeks. All three are going to need to be much better with the awesome Tampa Bay Rays visiting for a couple of games starting today.
Word is Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas - a top five to ten player in the world - wants to bolt London and head to Barcelona. That'd be a terrible loss for Arsenal, but Fabregas might not want to follow in the same path of Arsenal-captain-to-Barcelona footsteps of Thierry Henry, didn't exactly work out fantastic for the player.
Deadspin is running some of the best soccer chants of the year - the Liverpool Europa League bit is my fav - and you can check out the rest here.
Drunk Soccer League? Hell freaking yes. Somewhere, Paul Gascoigne is limbering up.
After years of intensive research, I can officially confirm that if you wear sunglasses indoors, you're a douchebag. Rock stars exempted.
The Toronto Raptors may not have won the NBA Draft Lottery last night - that was the Washington Wizards - but their remaining fans were treated to a draft lottery day playoff treat when one Wince Carturd stepped up to the free throw line with roughly thirty ticks on the clock and his Orlando Magic trailing by three. Carturd, who shoots free throws at a mid-80's clip, missed both. Oh sweet, delicious karma. The Magic are down 2-0 to the Boston Celtics with the series moving to Boston.
Very classy of Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, a first rate talent, to blast his manager for benching him when H-Ram took six seconds to get to a ball he missed because he was loafing it to the ball. Problem is he's such a talent that unless he wants Fredi Gonzalez to keep his job, he likely won't. Shame he's such a dickhead that refuses to apologize to his manager or teammates, who came out in support of the benching.
Toronto FC are at Vancouver tonight to face the Whitecaps in the latest round of the Canadian Championship. A win will wrap up the title for TFC for the second year running.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
So about the Phoenix Suns threatening the LA Lakers in the Western Conference finals...nevermind. It was a 128-107 blow-out last night to open that series, and it wasn't even as close as that score suggested.
A poll of 100 major leaguers during spring training and published in the latest issue of ESPN The Magazine has 38% saying the New York Yankees will win the World Series; the players estimate 5% of players are using some form of performance enhancers; 52% called the Yankees the best franchise to play for and 23% called the Pittsburgh Pirates the worst, 67% said Barry Bonds deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, and the players guessed 36% of players were unfaithful to their spouses.
It was a wild one in The Bronx last night, as there were 6 homers in the Yankees 11-9 win over the Boston Red Sox, four for the Sox, and the Yankees pair coming in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game thanks to an A-Rod blast, and win on a Marcus Thames two run shot. The loss drops the Sox 8.5 back of the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays. With Toronto and New York ahead of them as well, they've got a mountain to climb. Real shame for Jonathan Papelbon, who gave up the big bombs.
The irony of Bret "Hitman" Hart rocking a Toronto Blue Jays jersey on Monday Night Raw last night: so few of the Jays hit with any regularity.
What ever happened to Tampa Bay Ray Carlos Pena?
Peter King at SI.com has his first cut at the NFL Power Rankings, for what they're worth in the middle of May. Good news if you're a Green Bay fan, as they check in top of the list. Not so good if you're a Buffalo Bills fan, unless you think having the second pick in the draft in 2011 is something to look forward to right now.
After watching his Barcelona team look to an unproven player in a key game, Thierry Henry started to read the writing on the wall, and it now appears his signing with New York Red Bull in the MLS is about to happen. Good news for NYRB fans especially, and soccer fans on this side of the pond of Henry can find even a fraction of his old form he showed at Arsenal. He was a special, special player just a few years back.
It is only game two, but it looms large for the Montreal Canadiens after you're on the wrong end of a 6-0 curb stomping. Will the Habs turn to Jaroslav Halak again? You'd think that's a no-brainer given what he has produced in the playoffs so far. If he doesn't find that form or something close to it, and there's little reason to believe in Carey Price right now, the Habs are not long for the playoffs.
Anytime you hear features of how a guy "isn't like the rest", be skeptical, because ultimately, it ends up being a load of garbage when all is said and done. The latest is Houston Texans wideout Andre Johnson, who figures that he's outperformed his contract and wants to renegotiate the remaining five years and $60 million remaining, the poor guy.
Speaking of contracts, the Washington Capitals have lobbed $67 million over 10-years at Niklas Backstrom. I really, really cannot believe teams think deals of that length are wise. Way too much room for issues, be it injury, rising caps leaving players undervalued, or simply a player unde performing for years and becoming a bad contract.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi scored 47 goals this past season for his La Liga winning club. In case you missed any, or wanted to see some of his brilliance again, check them out here. Yes, all of them. Even if not a soccer fan, check this guy out. Mindblowing many times. Oh, Messialso took a dig at England's Ashley Cole, saying his soon-to-be-ex-wife Cheryl Cole - smokin' Cheryl Cole - should cheer for Argentina as his team plays the most attractive football and Argentinian men know how to treat women. Ouch.
Gonna be a very good day in offices everywhere today across Canadaland, what with the Montreal Canadiens getting it prison style in Philadelphia last night with the Flyers winning 6-0 to take the first game of their Eastern Conference series. Could it be that Habs fans emulate their team last night and simply don't show up to work today? I have yet to see my boss today, interestingly.
In the Western Conference series, the Chicago Black Hawks downed San Jose 2-1.
Real heartbreaker - or not - seeing Wince Carturd have himself a decent game in a losing effort for his Orlando Magic in the first game of their series against the Boston Celtics. Searching high and low for a line on Kevin Garnett busting Carturd's and his mother's noses with "errant" elbows. The Phoenix Suns visit the LA Lakers in the first of their Western Conference series.
Word is that TSN analyst Pierre McGuire could be the frontrunner to take over the GM’s duties of the Tampa Bay Lightning, which would leave a giant vacancy on the airwaves, and a welcome one at that. Can you imagine being a rival GM and calling that guy around the trade deadline? You might celebrate three birthdays before getting a deal done.
The head of English soccer was recorded saying that Spain are working with the Russian's to bribe World Cup officials, and promising their support for the Russian 2018 hosting bid in return. I'm sure that's the kind of thing FIFA love to hear about with the tournament weeks away from kicking off. Pretty sure Spain needs more help in getting players healthy than they do from the officials.
German captain Michael Ballack is out of the World Cup after suffering an ankle injury in the FA Cup final won this weekend by his Chelsea club side. With Ballack out of the tourney, I'm sure the referee's will appreciate not being shadowed by that constant whiner.
The Boston Bruins weren't content to blow a 3-0 series lead, they had to go and blow a 3-0 lead in game seven as well. Mix in a late too many men on the ice call - the 33rd of all teams combined this playoffs - and the Philadelphia Flyers scored to win 4-3 and move on to the next round where they'll have home ice advantage against the Montreal Canadiens. Not bad for two teams that waited til their 82nd game to qualify for the playoffs as the #7 and #8 seeds.
Check out the average numbers for American League DH's going into yesterday: .231 batting average, 4 home runs and a .699 OPS. Says one GM to Peter Gammons: "drug testing at work."
Ahh, the internet. It isn't enough that the Cleveland Cavaliers can lose a series, that LeBron James had a less than stellar series, or that he may be leaving Cleveland. But here's one - I'm gonna say "ridiculous" - theory as to why they lost: LeBron found out teammateDelonte West was tapping LeBron's mother. I will say ridiculous as there's no way that story didn't go mainstream if true, not with how many media members are watching LBJ's every move right now.
Don Cherry says he'd invest in the return of the Winnipeg Jets? Finally, we have good reason to keep the team in Phoenix. Sincerely, Don Cherry's Restaurants, and the Mississauga IceDogs.
Toronto FC are in LA tonight to face the Galaxy. Kickoff is 10:30pm Eastern and TFC looks to grab their first road points of the season and continue a fine run of form. They've had success at LA in the past, but a second game in 3 days across the continent seems a big ask.
Man is that wager that LeBron James will skip town on Cleveland ever looking good after the Cavs were a second round flameout to the Boston Celtics thanks to a game six 94-85 loss. Does anybody think he'll stay? There are some great hoops fans that read here daily and curious what they're figuring.
The Philadelphia Flyers are in Boston for game seven in their bruising series. The Flyers have won the last three games and Chris Pronger has turned back the clock. If they get decent goaltending again, they'll be hosting Montreal Sunday night. San Jose visits Chicago Sunday afternoon as that series gets under way.
ESPN The Magazine's May 3rd issue ran an article on whether playing fantasy sports for money is gambling and concluded that if the definition of gambling is "to put something of value at risk", fantasy has to be gambling. To pretend it is anything but gambling is laughable.
If the Boston Bruins should win tonight, it'll mark the 33rd time they've met in the playoffs, the most of any of the playoff matches in the NHL/NBA/NFL/MLB. The Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs are a distant second at 23.
Tough year to be a Hart Trophy or Vezina Trophy nominee in the NHL, and tougher still for at least one, if you check out the picture to the right. All said nominees have been bounced for the playoffs with a couple rounds to go.
Mike Tyson is going vegan? How long til somebody gets off an "ear of corn" joke?
The always quotable Chicago White Sox Manager - he of the no filter - Ozzie Guillengets off this gem on Chicago's sports teams: “We all suck, all sports in Chicago are very bad… we need something good and positive for the city. We need the Blackhawks to eat some Sharks.” I'm sure his boss will be thrilled he just did his team like that.
Sometimes, you read a headline and it doesn't have any more significance than normal. But there are other time's - like this - where the same headline takes on a whole new meaning, or is funny. Or both.
There was no doubt left as to whether the Montreal Canadiens were the deserving winners last night, and in the series. When you hold Sidney Crosby to one goal and four assists over the course of seven games, you're doing something right. Had to laugh hearing Crosby mocking their style of giving up twice as many chances and shots and finding a way. Isn't the latter the point? Only fans should talk about style I think. He would have a lot more credibility had his squad not found a way to lose three straight. As for the rioting in Montreal last night, you'd think that a fan base that has seen as many Cups as they have might act a bit more like they've been there before, considering they're not even "there" yet. I get that it is a small segment of the overall - and interestingly, growing - fan base, but come on people. At least wait until the Cup is lifted before going LA Laker Fan on us. It would not at all shock me to see the Habs in the Stanely Cup final as they'll be facing a very beat up Boston or Philadelphia team, both with considerable question marks of their own. If I'm the Habs, I'd rather see Boston who don't have the playoff type warriors the Flyers do in Mike Richards and Chris Pronger, among others.
Speaking of the Flyers, they beat the Bruins 2-1 last night to escape a 3-0 crater in that series and force game seven tomorrow night. The Flyers are the first team since 1975 to dig out of a 3-0 hole.
If you were at all wondering, wonder no more: Sammy Sosa is back to being black.
Isn't it funny that the NFL's defensive rookie of the year Brian Cushing gets popped for performance enhancing drug use, and is suspended for four games, and that barely makes a ripple among every day sports fans? And funnier still that they took a second vote for his award after the information came out and he still won? A baseball player pops a Sudafed and it is days of discussion among the major media outlets and he's treated like he tried to kill the Pope.
Oakland A's pitcher - and the "before" poster boy for orthodentist's everywhere - Dallas Braden appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman and read the Top Ten a couple nights ago. He also said the matter with A-Rod has been "taken care of." For what it is worth, Daryl Strawberry told The Michael Kay Show that "he's never heard of" the unwritten rule Braden cried about, and he'd be pounded if it were him for his act a few weeks back. Orel Hershiser added "traditions are passed from older players to the younger, not the other way around, and I'm going to side with Alex here, this guy is too big for his britches and arguing for some not deeply set rule. I don't have a problem with it, I really don't."
RM returns early afternoon after the riots in Montreal settle...
The Vancouver Canucks met their demise with a 5-1 thumping - at home no less - to the Chicago Black Hawks. The Hawks now face the San Jose Sharks in what should be a dynamite series, and I suspect the winner their lifts the Stanley Cup when the dust settles.
Tonight, the Boston Bruins are in Philly for game six, but the big one of the night sees the Pittsburgh Penguins try to maintain their Cup defence with a game 7 hosting Montreal. The Habs are already playing with house money, and aren't making near the mistakes the Pens are on defence. Mix in a goalie playing out of his mind in Jaroslav Halak against one who looks terrified at times in Marc-Andre Fleury and you have to think an upset is somewhere from possible to probable. But, tough to go against any team with Sidney Crosby on it. Too close to call, but I'm going to say the Habs do it. If it goes OT, that pick changes to the Pens who would be a lot better four on four with the added room around Halak.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are now down 3-2 to the Boston Celtics after getting hammered at home 120-88 in a game where LeBron James didn't score til 30 minutes in, and shooting 3 of 14. Last home game for LeBron? Could well be.
Interesting thought on the NBA playoffs and how quick series have gone: the brevity of so many series will directly impact next year's salary cap negatively, so if a team like the New York Knicks was counting on an extra million or three in the pile to let them chase two max contracts, that is now under threat as the revenue pile won't be as large as it would in an average year's playoff run.
Who but the Cincinnati Bengals could be so quickly contemplating bringing in JaMarcus Russell already? That team is threatening to replace the Oakland Raiders for where a player ends up rather than being a destination you aspire to.
With the Toronto Blue Jays hosting of the Philadelphia Phillies June 25-27 moved to Philly thanks to the G20 - and isn't that a commentary on the state of baseball in Toronto? - New York Met Jeff Francouer is arguing the extra home games for Philadelphia aren't fair. He may have a point, but would love to hear his suggestion as to how you reschedule three interleague games. It isn't like the Jays were hosting a divisional rival where there are a lot more opportunities to make games up with the odd double header. That said, surely they could've gone to a neutral site to eliminate this discussion. Montreal, perhaps?
Curious as to how your NFL team drafted relative to the Dallas Cowboys draft board? Find out here, as the Cowboys board has been revealed. A few bargains for the Miami Dolphins, the Tampa Bay Bucs got a better player at #3 in the Cowboys estimation than the Detroit Lions at #2, the Bills took CJ Spiller right where Dallas had him, and the Cowboys nabbed Dez Bryant a lot later than the 11th pick they had him projected. Loads more at that link.
The Bleacher Reportweighs in with their take on the 25 worst uniforms. For my money, the Pittsburgh Pirates aren't checking in nearly high enough at #15, nor are the Toronto Raptors at #9.
Do yourself a favor today, go hit your fav record store - yes, they still exist - and grab Danko Jones"Below The Belt". You're welcome. Caught Danko last night in Toronto at the Mod Club, and Jennifer Hedger and hubbie Sean McCormick were beside me for the show. McCormick was jacked. Hedger seemed astounded at Danko's tongue.
The Montreal Canadiens not only survived game six to even the series 3-3 with a 4-3 win, it is pretty safe to say they were full value for the win. Interesting that many of those that crack of Alexander Ovechkin as being a cheap shot artist while pumping up the virtues of Sidney Crosby aren't saying a word about his after-the-buzzer crosscheck on Tomas Plekanec. Game 7 goes tomorrow in Pittsburgh.
It is almost a lock that the first game coming out of a series with Boston that the New York Yankees will lose, and that they did again in Detoilet last night. Scoring more than two runs when they twice had the bases loaded with none out might have made a difference.
Says Bill Simmons (aka "The Sports Guy") via Twitter on Tiger Woods, with sarcasm oozing:
"I believe Tiger - there's no way a mysterious car accident that knocked him out for 10 mins had anything to do with his neck injury." Awesome. More on Tiger's injury below on video.
The Orlando Magic are 13-2 their last 15 against the spread. In the two they didn't cover, they missed covering by a basket. They're 8-0 straight up through two rounds of the playoffs.
The Toronto Blue Jays are 6-8 against teams above .500, and are also are 0-4 against Boston, 1-2 against Tampa and have yet to play Minnesota, Detroit or the New York Yankees.
There have been an incredible 498 arrests of NFL players since the year 2000. Almost as impressively, somebody has taken the time to set up a database with all of them.
Over the weekend, Buster Olney said he'd be "stunned if [David] Ortiz finishes the month on the Boston roster." Can't wait for that press conference by Big Papi!
Elisha Cuthbert, girlfriend of Dion Phaneuf (aka "The Next Leafs captain")...what happened?
Because the truth is always way funnier than fiction, check out this clip from the Golf Channel on Sunday after Tiger Woods pulled out (heyooo!) with a bulging dick...err...disc in his neck.
