You get me closer to God...

It took triple overtime, but the Ottawa Senators got a stay of execution with a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins that even they must not have expected the way this series has gone the last few games. Chicago and Philadelphia were both 3-0 winners, with Philly eliminating New Jersey in five games, and San Jose found the offence in a 5-0 win over Colorado.

The best Tim Tebow tweets last night after he was drafted at the tail end of the first round by the Denver Broncos: he's now one mile closer to God, and second, the most famous white Bronco since OJ Simpson. The Dallas Cowboys got themselves a top 10 pick at the 24 spot in Dez Bryant, which could mean the end of that bust Roy Williams. Full first round analysis here if you're an ESPN Insider. Or, at SI.com if you don't. Good day for Oklahoma, with three of the top four picks taken, noted Bukakke.

Here's an odd stat: Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers entered play yesterday with ten hits. That's one more than the DH's for the New York Yankees and two more than the DH's for the Minnesota Twins.

Speaking of the Yankees, they pulled their first triple play since 1968 yesterday in a 3-1 loss at Oakland. Check it out here. Just before that, seems Oakland A's pitcher Dallas Braden - a name few will recognize - took umbrage with Alex Rodriguez - GASP! - stepping on the pitchers mound dirt running back to the dugout. The horror! Am I the only one who finds most "unwritten rules" to be ridiculously lame?

Bill Simmons (aka "The Sports Guy") says ESPN has wanted the NHL back for two years. Apparently NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is playing the jilted lover card and rather than doing what is best - going to ESPN - he holds on to his Versus pipe dream. Tool. If you're not on ESPN in the U.S., you don't exist.

Looks like a Tiger Woods divorce is imminent, as wife Elin is said to be furious he returned to golf so soon. Just think how she'd feel if he returned to banging porn stars.

Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt won't confirm or deny reports that they're in the Ben Roethlisberger hunt. And how great would it be for Ben to go to the retirement community that is Arizona? Think of all the widows he could rape...err...hit on.

Finally today, or at least before a couple great video clips, check out the dozen evilest pictures of The Pope, courtesy of one Danko Jones.

If you've ever been to a Montreal Canadiens game at the Bell Centre, you know the Habs send two kids out with Habs flags out ahead of the team. So what does Alexander Ovechkin do? Snow plows them. Wow. Part of me thinks "Ovie, they're kids!" Another part says "what a message to send to your opponent that anyone in a Habs jersey is a target." The remaining part thinks "holy hell that is funny". Seems Habs fans aren't very amused.


Best baseball slide. Ever.

Rapelesberger gets 6

Bayern Munich rode the hot boot of Arjen Robben to a 1-0 Champions League win over Lyon. The next leg goes in France so Bayern still has plenty of work, but German visits to France historically have gone swimmingly. Yeah, I said it.

It is a six game suspension for Ben Roethlesberger, potentially reduced to four if he meets certain requirements. I'm assuming "not raping anybody" is on that requirement list. The suspension will cost him $2.8 million. Hope it was worth it! The Buffalo Bills are said to have declined interest in Roethlesberger, while they were previously interested in Mike Vick. That shows how toxic Big Douche is. Also not interested, according to Pro Football Talk, were Rams, 49ers, Raiders, Jaguars, Seahawks and Browns. I've got a feeling he goes. But where? Finally today, check out this bit from a Pittsburgh radio station, lifted from Empties Crushed, a solid blog out of Pittsburgh.

Jeff Passan at Yahoo! Sports presents one of the better realignment ideas for baseball or more to the point, unalignment, and scrapping the divisions altogether. Frankly, makes a world of sense. Oh, and as you've read here a million times, he concurs a salary cap will never happen and adds that a reduction in revenue sharing seems more likely than an increase in light of how some teams aren't using it to better the on field product. Long read, but a well thought out one with plenty of details as to what schedules would look like, playoffs and so on. Memo to Bud Selig: do it. One idea I'll add in favor of additional wild cards if you don't intend to ditch regular season games: cut off a handful of pre-season games. Will it really effect teams that much? Seems not, if all are impacted equally.

Stop me if this sounds at all familiar. San Jose Sharks Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley: no goals in the playoffs.

The best thing about the NFL Draft, which starts tonight with the first round, and stretches the remaining rounds across the weekend, is this: it will put an end to all the ridiculous speculation, the overdone mock drafts that are rarely even close to the mark, and gets us one step closer to actual play in September.

How much does Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis love drafting speedy players? So much that his scouts will inflate players 40 yard times by a few 10ths of a second if the player is only a speed merchant.

The Washington Capitals exploded for four goals in the third to beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 in a game the Habs led 2-1 late in the second, and mostly dominated for two periods. Fork? Meet Montreal. 3-1 Caps in the series and the final result is but a formality, though the Habs have been surprisingly in it for the most part.

The Boston Bruins won 3-2 in double overtime to take a 3-1 series lead over the Buffalo Sabres. With the #2 seeded Sabres and #3 seeded New Jersey Devils on the ropes in the East, the NHL has to be thrilled they're not wasting a Pittsburgh-Washington bout in the second round.

The Vancouver Canucks downed the LA Kings 6-4 to level a very interesting series there. Have to say, a very entertaining first round.

Roy Halladay made sure that shoddy Philadelphia Phillies bullpen wouldn't hurt him last night as he went the distance in a 2-0 shutout of the Atlanta Braves to lower his ERA to 0.82 with a 4-0 record.

Usually the first month of every baseball season sees a trendy injury. This year, the trend is pitchers taking no hitters deep into games. Yankee pitcher Phil Hughes was the latest, going into the 8th before the Oakland A's broke it up. 3-1 final for the Yankees to move to an MLB best 11-3 on their 6th straight win.

Speculation is part of the Toronto Raptors problems this past season was they partied far too much. The way they sleep walked through far too many games, that doesn't surprise me in the least. How very professional of them.

Kim Kardashian likes them fast, flashy and with diamond studded earrings. She was seen having dinner with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo last weekend, fresh off her breakup with Reggie Bush.

No shortage of content lately, no? Have a great Thursday.

Chris Bosh, 14th overall pick in the draft?

The NFL schedule is finally out after much discussion. Some interesting items: Week 17 will be nothing but divisional games. Now, if they were smart, they'd have all games kick-off at the same time to avoid any advantages given to later teams. Also, the Buffalo Bills will host the Chicago Bears in Toronto. Thanksgiving Day USA will feature a trio of games in New England at Detroit, a killer matchup of New Orleans at Dallas, and Cincinnati at the New York Jets. And, as mentioned here months back, it'll be Minnesota at New Orleans to open the season. The rest of the schedule here. But make sure you finish reading RandoMango first, of course.

Bill Simmons, aka The Sports Guy, says a Yankee fan he knows emailed him David Ortiz' 2010 stats and called him "Big Pop-up," to which I had no comeback and wanted to cry. Wait, Simmons was left speechless? Wow.

Everytime the Ottawa Senators are down to the Pittsburgh Penguins, like they were 7-4 last night late in the game, and look to "send a message", the message I get is "we are losers". The Pens are now up 3-1 and the gap is widening.

In other series, the Detroit Red Wings shut out Phoenix 3-0 to even their series at 2-2. Nashville Predators rode a scorching Pekka Rinne to a 4-1 win, taking a 2-1 series lead over the Chicago Black Hawks, and San Jose beat Colorado 2-1 in overtime, their only two goals against Colorado in 7 periods or so. Philadelphia took a 3-1 stranglehold on their series with the New Jersey Devils and you get the feeling if they get goaltending, they could do some damage this playoffs.

So much for Kevin Garnett's abscence opening a door for the Miami Heat in game two of their series. The Boston Celtics hammered the Heat 106-77 and that has to be pretty much the end of them, no?

Charles Barkley appeared on Jim Rome is Burning yesterday and had this to say on Kobe Bryant: "When you get hurt all the time, you're definitely on the downside of your career." Chuck would know.

If I were Ben Roethlesberger, I'd be begging NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend me now before more stories of my douchebaggery like this emerge from the fine citizens of Pittsburgh. Seriously, he seems like a bigger bonehead than the worst traits of Pacman Jones, Terrell Owens and Old Has Been. You just knew he was going to be in there, right?

Jose Canseco might be worth following on Twitter, if you like following the unhinged. Check out a small sampling of his tweets here. Scroll over them to magnify.

In Champions League play yesterday, Barcelona were shocking 3-1 losers at Inter Milan in the first leg of their semi-final. They're still very much in it with the home leg to come, but now the math could see them out the same way Manchester United ended up in the quarters. Up today, Lyon are at Bayern Munich.

What would an NBA draft look like with every single player available? Well, try this on for size. Chris Bosh, if you're wondering, would go 14th.

Finally today, two soccer vids from the last week or so.

First up, a goal celebration fail that is absolutely amazing. A must see for fans and non fans alike.


Second, this is one of those goals - from Inter Milan's Maicon - that you can point to when somebody says soccer isn't that difficult or impressive. There's no one act in sport that can top this in my book. Thanks to GBVH for passing on.

4:20

Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says Toronto Argos and BC Lions owner David Braley is contemplating blacking out home games in a bid to increase attendance. Guess Braley doesn't know all the Argos fans are already in attendance and those watching at home aren't likely to attend anyways. Maybe he meant blacking out Lions games in Ontario? Only that would be more laughable than a guy owning two teams in an eight team league.

Maybe the Toronto Blue Jays contemplate blackouts? There's a very real chance they draw fewer than the Kitchener Rangers will tonight in their OHL Eastern Conference Final as they host Windsor in the 5,700 capacity Auditorium. The Jays set another record low last night with just over 10,000 in attendance. Does anybody know what their season ticket base is?

What ever happened to Jaroslav Halak? The guy that was a stud the final months of the regular season for the Montreal Canadiens and stole the top job is now a shell of his former self, as the Washington Capitals took a 2-1 series lead last night after Halak gave up four in short order in the second period. Seems that Carey Price will be in the pipes to start next game.

One concern that the New York Yankees had going into this season was how the heavy workload of last season, including the playoffs, would wear on Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Through three turns in the rotation the answer is "not much at all", or at least, not yet. The trio is 6-0 with a 2.17 ERA.

Ben Roethlesberger's suspension is expected to be announced tomorrow. With the NFL schedule set to be unveiled tonight, I'm guessing Steelers fans - along with their rivals - will be scrambling to see if their team faces the Steelers in the first few weeks of the season.

Just because I'm sure some miss the fights that are a "part of the game" in hockey come playoff time, here's a look back at the Top 10 fights of this past NHL season, complete with video. No idea how Evander Kane's knockout of Matt Cooke isn't top ranked just for the victim alone. Interesting factoid from frequent reader BigHeadedJerk: Kane was named after Evander Holyfield. Presumably the fighter version, not the breeder, though they are one in the same.

The Boston Red Sox used their four best starters against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays in a series that wrapped up yesterday. The result? A four game sweep by the Rays.

Word is Milwaukee Brewer Prince Fielder wants a $200 million contract. If the Brewers were to cough up that much cash, it would be just $34 million less than owner Mark Attanasio paid for the team in 2004. Can't imagine a $200 million investment in an overweight guy likely to break down over the years is a sound investment, and his agent Scott Boras doesn't have the Yankees and Boston Red Sox to pull into a bidding war. If he gets $200 million, what is Albert Pujols worth with a better bat and glove at the same position?

Finally, in honour of 4:20 and all the burners out there, always good to reset this gem of a video from The Price is Right.

I don't want to pretend that things like jinxes exist, but something strange happens to the San Jose Sharks come playoff time year in and out. Last night, they were beaten early in overtime by the Colorado Avs, led by Craig Anderson's 51 saves in goal. The goal was scored from Dan Boyle. Yes, San Jose Shark Dan Boyle. In other series, Pittsburgh looks like they've got a firm grip on the Senators now after a dominant win. The Phoenix Coyotes surprised - me at least - with a win in Detroit. Philadelphia leads the Devils in a series that is playing out as tight as most figured. Chicago rode a red hot goalie performance from Antii Niemi to even their series 1-1 with the Nashville Preds.

The New York Yankees have won their first four series of the season against teams that were a combined 78 games above .500 last year, and two playoff teams. Their only concerns right now are staying healthy, getting Nick Johnson to realize it is okay to swing a bat occasionally, and getting Javier Vazquez right. Beyond that, they're on their way to 105 wins and will runaway with the division again. Joel Sherman at the NY Post has more.

With the European air travel turmoil, Barcelona are busing 1,000 kilometers to Milan for their Champions League tilt tomorrow. That ought to do wonders for their legs.

Jeff Blair at the Globe & Mail wonders if the Toronto Raptors are too Eurocentric and if they need to be as Bryan Colangelo gets told to "not bother" by agents for American players. I'm not sure how valid all that is, but he nails it in calling Jose Calderon a walking mismatch.

The Atlanta Falcons have embraced MMA training as part of their off season program. Seeing what it has done for Minnesota Viking Jarred Allen, I can see why. Matt Leinart? Not so much.

Check out the Top 20 Awkward Sports Moments, with video evidence. By "awkward", I assume they mean "incredible".

SI.com's Peter King figures that Ben Roethlesberger will be suspended between 4 and 8 games by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Score has secured broadcast rights to Italy's Serie A through 2012. Shocking how much TV coverage there is of soccer compared to five years back.

If you have any doubts about Aussie Rules rugby players toughness, or sanity, check out this Aussie Rules player get crushed.

Check out this song dedicated to Chris Bosh staying with the Toronto Raptors. Creepy?

Kevin Garnett = D-Bag

Alexander Ovechkin bounced back with a fantastic performance last night as his Caps beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-5 in overtime. Still, the Caps are hardly dominating this series and headed back to Montreal, they're far from out of the woods here. Five more games on the go today.

Toronto FC are in Colorado today to take on the Rapids. Kickoff on GolTV is 5pm.

Since January 29th, Oklahoma City Thunder are 26-11 with only two losses by more than eight points. Since February 18th, the LA Lakers are 15-12, only 2 wins by double-digits. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

Funny that there's not acres of forest being wiped out to talk about how easy it is to hit homer's in Yankee Stadium. That's what happens when you grow a sample size. Next up: Vernon Wells.

Tottenham are having a lot to say about how the English Premier League will finish up. Spurs beat Arsenal last week to all but end Arsenal's title hopes, and just when it looked like Chelsea had the title sewn up, Spurs beat them 2-1 in a game that was not even that close. Paul Scholes scored with 17 seconds to go to lift Manchester United past Manchester City and narrow the gap at the top to a point. So what did Arsenal do with a chance to narrow the gap to two points this morning? Lost 3-2 at Wigan after leading 2-0. Incredible season.

Funny what a stellar playoff run can do. Alex Rodriguez didn't hit his first home run of the season until yesterday and I don't recall reading about it once or hearing it mentioned on any of the half dozen podcasts I listen to daily. Incredible what a month can change.

Why is it the more time passes, the more Boston Celtic Kevin Garnett becomes a douchebag? Maybe it is the "Boston" coming more into play.

Colorado Rocky Ubaldo Jiminez tossed a no hitter in Atlanta yesterday, the first in Rockies history. For the Braves, it is the 17th time they've been no hit. Jiminez is also 3-0 on the year.

In other baseball news, the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals in a mere 20 innings. The Cards even had two infielders pitch, and pitcher Kyle Lohse play outfield, and the game was scoreless until the 19th. Game time: 6 hours, 53 minutes. Players used: 46. Pitching changes: 17. Runners stranded: 35. The teams combined to hit 1 for 25 with runners in scoring position.

A video triple for your Sunday viewing pleasure to close things off for the day. Enjoy.

Check out Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo turn a defender inside out with a ridiculous stepover. Shame that Ronaldo allows himself the balance to pull a play like that at full speed but to often goes to ground when nudged. Oh, and he finished the play and scored.


If you missed Ottawa Senator Andy Sutton's crushing hit on Pittsburgh Penguin Jordan Leopold Friday night, check it out here...


Check out the Top 10 Slam Dunks of this past NBA season.

Aliens at Yankee Stadium?

Dan Rooney, part of the Pittsburgh Steelers ownership group, when asked if the team supports QB Ben Roethlesberger, offered his full support, if you can take "no comment" to mean they support him.

A funny thing happened in last night's NHL playoffs: the favs won more games than not, and more stunningly, there were goals galore in a couple games. The stunner: the Chicago Black Hawks getting it handed to them at home, 4-1 losers to the Nashville Predators. Also, do yourself a favor and check out Sidney Crosby making a huge defensive play and turning Jason Spezza into a pylon in the hilite reel at the right of the page. That starts a minute into the pack. With the NHL playoffs being almost entirely upsets through all the first games, here's a peak at the ten most famous first round upsets.

My best take on Toronto FC's Julian De Guzman, far and away the team's highest paid player at a million per: if you asked a casual observer "which guy on that team do you figure makes the most on the team?", virtually all would respond pointing at Dwayne De Rosario, and you might go five or six deep before you'd heard De Guzman's name. Talented, sure, but he's barely making an impact. TFC won their home opener Thursday night and JDG was again a non-factor. They say your team is in a great spot when your best player is also the hardest worker. In that case, TFC is in trouble.

Amazing, but true: going into last night's baseball action, Adam Dunn of the Washington Nationals had 11 walks this season to lead the majors. He, along with eight other players, had more than the entire Houston Astros team who checked in with six, four which were by one player. That's a bad team, though I'm sure umpire Joe West figures they're just playing the game right.

Toronto Raptor Chris Bosh - and you may not be saying that for long - has yet to decide on his free-agency plans. What, you expected different?

A great, hilarious website courtesy of long-time reader Bukakke. Check out one man's email exchanges with various Craig's List advertisers. The "Disguised Weapon" one literally had me in tears I was laughing so hard.

Sure, the Boston Red Sox have a lot of pitching and can pick it in the field. But a little offence wouldn't hurt them. How long til they ditch David Ortiz?

Thursday's game one overtime loss to Montreal marked the first time in his entire career that Alexander Ovechkin didn't register a shot or a point. Not a positive development for the runaway President's Trophy winners. Ovie had this to say.

Hear about the fat dude that got smashed at a Philadelphia Phillies game and got into it with multiple fans, including an old dude who popped him, and then another dude that crushed him before fat dude projectile vomited all over the place, including an 11-year old girl? Full details here. Amazing. The family of the girl said he jammed his fingers in his mouth and did it on purpose. Only in Philly.

Hear about Chicago Sun-Times writer Joe Cowley who says that not only should the Toronto Blue Jays move from Toronto because nobody cares, but they should move to the murder capital of the world in Caracas, Venezuela? Real smart. There'd be no security concerns there for millionaire athletes visiting. This is also the guy that has previously been assailed by other writers for how he handles MVP ballots. Oh, Mr. Cowley? The Jays have averaged more fans in attendance than your ChiSox 21 of the last 33 years. The Jays, for their part, don't seem concerned.

GBVH notes that there were 14 MLB games played last night. The home side won 13 of the 14, with the Toronto Blue Jays the only loser.

Have a great Saturday, back tomorrow.

RM returns at 1pm

No RM today...

RM returns tomorrow morning with a super sized edition.

Supergrass

Toronto FC make their home debut for 2009 at BMO Field, and for the first time at home, on grass. They host the expansion Philadelphia Union, who are 1-1 entering this one. RedNationOnline has TFC winning their first of the year 2-1.

Upsets were the order of the night last night as the NHL playoffs opened. Road teams - Ottawa, Philadelphia, Colorado - took their opening games, with only Phoenix holding serve. 20 goals in four games made the "under" a wise play.

A day after finding out his LA Lakers will be facing Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder in a tricky first round NBA playoff matchup, Lakers coach Phil Jackson is already working the refs about how often Kevin Durant gets to the line. Right, Phillip, because if anyone knows about a guy getting to the line a lot in a game, you do with Michael Jordan.

TheBigLead took a great run at Ben Roethlesberger's look during his apology for his bad taste while out in public, cracking his haircut as a "WWE look". I think he makes some of the legendary bad seeds of wrestling look good. Big Ben did clean up his look ahead of his meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday.

UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste in Maxim? Yes please!

Great Q&A by SI.com's Grand Wahl with MLS Commissioner Don Garber. Check it out here. He certainly gives the impression, unlike Gary Bettman, for example, that no topic is beyond a candid answer.

Sounds like Tiger Woods and wife Elin are going to be starting divorce proceedings any day now. Nevermind interest in the settlement, can you imagine what Tiger is going to do when he's NOT married? Is there a woman anywhere that he won't chase?

The Vancouver Whitecaps, who enter the MLS next season, are looking like they'll blow away their 16,500 season-ticket target.

Check out this great sign at Yankee Stadium welcoming back Hideki Matsui. Hilarious.

There were 10,610 at the Toronto Blue Jays game last night. Question: what are they going to get against Kansas City in mid-June, say, and they're 15 games out? If you don't allow for the possibility that baseball might never come back to the early 90's glory in Toronto, you're kidding yourself.

Check out Manchester United's exit from the Champions League last week re-enacted with the power of Lego! Clearly a Bayern Munich fan judging by the omission of all United goals in a game they won. Funny stuff.

Mid-week Mega Edition

Classy as hell of the New York Yankees to ignore Hideki Matsui's uniform yesterday during the ring ceremony and mob their former teammate, and last year's World Series MVP, led by the playoff MVP Alex Rodriguez.

The NHL playoffs start tonight and like most playoffs, the first round tends to be the most interesting. My picks: Washington over Montreal in five, New Jersey over Philly in six, Buffalo over Boston in six dreadfully dull 1-0 games, Pittsburgh over Ottawa in six, San Jose - yes, SAN JOSE! - over Colorado in five, Chicago over Nashville in five, Vancouver over LA in six, and Detroit over Phoenix in six. I'm hoping it is a Washington and Chicago Stanley Cup final, with Chicago to win, but suspect it will be Washington against Detroit, with Washington winning. Who ya got?

Montreal Canadiens forward Tomas Plekanec said his team need not be concerned about the opposition goaltending as it isn't like they are are facing Ryan Miller or Martin Brodeur. True, but it isn't like you've got Alexander Ovechkin on your side either, TP.

Jimmy Rollins hurt his calf running to the 3rd base line during ceremonies for the Philadelphia Phillies home opener. Love baseball injuries!

The loading up of the NFL's Eastern divisions continues, with the AFC at it this time with the Miami Dolphins acquiring wideout Brandon Marshall from the Denver Broncos for a pair of second rounder. Great deal for the Fish, especially if they can keep Marshall away from South Beach some. Once again, it is a painful reminder of what the Dallas Cowboys gave up for Roy Williams when the Fish pull Marshall for a pair of #2's.

The NHL draft lottery went last night and Toronto Maple Leaf GM Brian Burke's worst fears when it came to that weren't realized as the Boston Bruins, holding the Leafs pick from the Phil Kessel deal, didn't get top spot in the lottery - that went to Edmonton. But, it isn't like Burke would've forecast the pick this year being what will be a great #2 most likely. Burke has maintained all along he'd do the deal again and in Kessel, who seems a 40-goal lock in a full season, and he just may be right. Maybe.

CBS Sports and the voice of The Masters Jim Nantz has his panties in a bunch because Tiger Woods used some less than appropriate language, whatever that means in this day and age. Here's an idea, Nantz: if you don't want colourful language coming across the airwaves, have your network turn off the mics. I'd rather hear a guy be real and drop an f-bomb or the like than hit a bad shot and say "Gosh Darn it, that shot really wasn't great". Welcome to 2010, Nantz. Oh, and thank Tiger for coming back because nobody really cares about your sport...err...game...unless he's there.

Steve Simmons at the Toronto Sun tears Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment a new one for having "something deep within the culture of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. that produces embarrassing team after embarrassing team." Not sure why the Toronto Argos and Blue Jays get off so easy in the city of horrid teams, but he does make a solid point.

Long time Boston Globe writer Dan Shaughnessy writes that it is time for the Boston Red Sox to push David Ortiz into a lesser role. Why, 2 for 18 with 9 K's, no homers and one RBI isn't worth $12 million? The way the Sox have started the year, they likely need to make a few changes to get going.

Shame there were so many people dressed as blue seats at the Rogers Centre last night. They missed a hell of a performance from Ricky Romero who took a no hitter into the eighth before AJ Pierzynski played like he got hit - wasn't even close - to get to first, before former Jay Alex Rios hurt the hopes of the dozens in attendance with a homer into the Jays bullpen. The Jays were 4-2 winners. Pretty unimpressed that commentator Buck Martinez, who has made a nice transition from a killer colour man to play-by-play, chose to play to superstition and wouldn't mention that he was working a no hitter. Buck - you're not behind the plate or in the dugout anymore. Let the fans just tuning in know what is up.

KFC's Double Down: are you kidding me? At least it isn't available in Canada.

Toronto may be getting its own version of The Jersey Shore, as a casting call is out for Iranians to get immortalized on TV. Toronto could have so many versions, too: think "Woodbridge Shore", "Pretentious Whores" and "Hipster Bores".

SI.com's four NBA writers unanimously have Chris Bosh leaving the Toronto Raptors this off season when he hits free agency. Can you blame him?

"Where's Halladay?"

Love this Ben Roethlesberger pic, mostly because of what is written over his left shoulder. Stellar.

Not since 2003 has a team qualified for the NHL playoffs with fewer than 90 points. This year, Philadelphia and Montreal break that streak with 88 point seasons. Montreal also enters the playoffs in 19th place in the overall standings - the lowest of all entrants - but plays in the final 16. But hey, that's the system. Am sure no Habs fans are complaining. Well, other than having to face Washington who could well take them out in three.

The Toronto Blue Jays have a guy named "Merkin" on their team? Awesome. If you don't know what that is, check it out here. In other opening night news at the Rogmahal, wonder how many Jays fans were miffed Roy Halladay wast introduced last night?

The Big Lead looked at baseball predictions from 108 media members and the team chosen to win their division most was the Philadelphia Phillies, with 100 votes.

Boston Red Sox fireplug Dustin Pedroia called umpire Joe West's allegations last week that his team and the New York Yankees play slowly "ridiculous". Pedroia also added this gem: "if he doesn't want to do Red Sox and Yankee games, he should tell the umpires' union. Then when we're in the World Series, he'll be out of that assignment, too." Dan Shulman told Prime Time Sports that the two biggest culprits "by far" are David Ortiz and Jonathan Papelbon, who "make it all about themselves out there".

What does it say of Heavyweight boxing when Evander Holyfield won a slice of the world championship? What does it say of Heavyweight boxing when I'm only mentioning it three days after the fact? Bet this is the first most are hearing of it.

Manchester City are said to be ready to pay £50m to sign Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas. City are also said to be hot for Liverpool striker Fernando Torres and Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The complexion of the English Premier League would definitely change if those two jumped ship.

I don't know why this video of Metallica as a smooth jazz act is so funny, I just know that it is. If this thing goes viral, I'm sure Lar$ Ulrich will be pouncing for a cut, and pushing his bandmates to go in this direction.

Former NBAer Derrick Coleman (aka "Grandmama") made a $87 million for his career. That's the good news. The bad is that he's now $4.7 million in the hole after trying to revitalize Detroit's economy and things didn't pan out as he had hoped.

When asked why he struggled his first time out as a New York Yankee, Chan Ho Park delivers the best answer. Ever.

A lot of venom for a Monday morning...

With a draw at Blackburn yesterday, it is all but a foregone conclusion that Manchester United's quest for a record fourth straight English Premier League title is done. Not a good couple weeks for Man U.

It took all of five games into the season for Seattle Mariner Milton Bradley to flip off the fans. The more things change...

Moving to the weaker National League is working out just fine for Roy Halladay. Check out his line through two starts in the first week: 2-0, 1 complete game, 16 innings pitched, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 17 strikeouts.

Major League Soccer has now moved ahead of NBA and NHL in terms of average attendance. No, seriously.

Barry Bonds says he is "proud" of Mark McGwire for admitted past drug usage. Doesn't that just feel greasy? Bonds also wondered whether Big Mac's bean bag had experienced the shrinkage Barroid has.

Comic/actor Jim Carrey via Twitter: "Well, I ate my inoffensive sandwich with an acceptable glass of milk and took the dogs out, while avoiding any controversial thought, then I was sexually assaulted by Ben Roethlisberger! I can't be certain but it sure looked like him! Good thing I'm a Steelers fan!" Big Ben, it appears, will not be charged for his latest act though it remains to be seen what NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell does. I'm betting suspension.

In other Steeler news, they fired a shot across Big Ben's bow by dealing Santonio Holmes, Super Bowl MVP just last year, to the New York Jets for a fifth rounder after he has run into his own controversy. Is there anyone not tied to the Jets right now? A fifth rounder for a talented guy with some issues? Man, the Dallas Cowboys sent way more than that Detroit's way for Roy Williams, and he doesn't produce nearly as much.

Speaking of Dallas, check out the demolition of Texas Stadium in this video here. The good stuff starts at 1:15. 20,000 came out to tailgate and watch. Love that before blowing up one tonne of TNT, American's think blowing off some fireworks seems fitting.

After getting crushed at home in a game they had to have to keep the final playoff spot in the NBA's East, I think the solution for the Toronto Raptors lies in them travelling to Detroit on the same airline that carries Polish government types. A more gutless team I've never seen.

One great comment from Jim Nantz of CBS Sports covering The Masters yesterday, when he said Tiger "managed a 69 through all of this". Shame he didn't add, as Jason Whitlock suggested, that he was "five strokes short of a climactic finish." Phil Mickelson won, if you haven't heard. Tina Fey's delivered a few haymakers that golf isn't a sport on Saturday Night Live this past weekend too. Great stuff.

The Houston Astros are the seventh team in the 21st century of Major League Baseball to start 0-6. The only one of the previous 5 that didn't lose at least 94 games were the 2008 Detroit Tigers who finished 74-88.

The NHL playoff matchups are set, and you can view them here. Seems unlikely that any of the top four seeds in the East get beat. Interesting Stanley Cup stat: one non-top six finisher in the last 25 years has gone on to win the Stanley Cup.

Six games to open the season on the road against the other AL East powers - Boston and Tampa Bay - and the New York Yankees went 4-2. Not bad, considering Alex Rodriguez is just starting to hit, Mark Teixera isn't, and Derek Jeter is stranding more people a game than the SS Minnow did once.

Check out UFC President Dana White go off in a presser about how irate he is over Anderson Silva's garbage effort Saturday night. Shame all sports leadership isn't this honest and fan focused.

TFC gutted in New England

Not content with an impressive first half and a 1-0 lead on the road, Toronto FC instead went down like a house of cards in what would finish a 4-1 loss at New England, arguably as bad a defeat as last year's season closer in New York.

Lionel Messi has 14 goals in 9 games for Barcelona. Not sure too many NHLers have scored at that rate, yet it always is Hockey Fan cracking on soccer as being low scoring. With the 2-0 win, so much for Ronaldo's "guaranteed win" yesterday for his Real Madrid. He can now enjoy watching Barca take effectively take La Liga and the Champions League on his home field. Of course, Ronaldo still says - and maybe even thinks, in his own myopic way - that Real Madrid can overcome to win the league.

Toronto FC defender Nick Garcia is the worst thing to happen to Toronto since SARS.

CC Sabathia was four outs from a no hitter yesterday in the New York Yankees 10-0 beating of the Tampa Bay Rays before Kelly Shopach hit a legit single to put an end to it.

Not sure what it is with combat sporting events going overseas for events, but Frankie Edgar beating BJ Penn has me thinking of Mike Tyson losing to Buster Douglas in Japan all those years ago. Couldn't see it coming, and still can't believe it. Edgar decisioned Penn and took all five rounds on two of the judges scorecards, four on the other. Shocking. The other main event saw Anderson Silva score an unimpressive decision over Demian Maia.

And with the first overall pick in the 2011 draft, Toronto FC select...

Fox MLB colour man Tim McCarver saying throwing more pitches doesn't mean you're more likely to get hurt is like saying a dozen beers is as likely to get you drunk as one. Moron.

Toronto FC GM Mo Johnston has traded the first pick in the 2011 draft for a 2011 second rounder from Vancouver...

18 of the last 19 Masters winners have come from the final pairing so it wouldn't seem promising for Tiger Woods, who is four shots back of leader Lee Westwood. But, stranger things have happened on the final Sunday at Augusta.

Strange days in Montreal when Les Glorieux are getting a standing ovation for tying the Toronto Maple Leafs, who ultimately went on to win the game on a Dion Phaneuf overtime goal.

A healthy collection of misspelled uniforms. Good stuff.

Pittsburgh Penguin D-Bag Matt Cooke goes looking for a fight with Atlanta Thrasher Evander Kane and gets...thrashed. One punch. Take that BITCH. I'm no fan of hockey as a part of fighting, but this is awesome.


A brilliant edit of the Tiger Woods Nike commercial, with Morgan Freeman's famed bit from The Shawshank Redemption spliced in...

A busy sports Saturday...

UFC 112 goes today in Abu Dhabi. Anderson Silva defends the middleweight title against Demian Maia, and BJ Penn looks to keep the lightweight championship from Frankie Edgar in what should be a total cakewalk for Penn.

He's shot a 68 and a 70 in two rounds of The Masters. How many are waiting to see Tiger Woods card a 69 and have that as joke fodder?

Damien Cox of the Toronto Star looks at the NHL's MVP race and figures Sidney Crosby is the worthy winner over Alexander Ovechkin and Henrik Sedin.

Cristiano Ronaldo is calling his shot, saying his Real Madrid will not only beat Barcelona today in a La Liga battle for first place, but will also go on to win the league championship. That game goes on GolTV at 4pm (Eastern).

Another loss has the Toronto Raptors tied in eighth place with the Chicago Bulls who shockingly dropped an overtime decision to the New Jersey Nets. Those two will play Sunday in Toronto.

It is the final night of the NHL season for some teams, and there's still plenty to sort out in terms of not only who is in or out of the playoffs, but also who gets slotted where.

Only two English Premier League games set for today with neither anything to write home about, plus the FA Cup semi-finals.

Toronto FC play their second game of the year tonight with another road game, this time in New England. Expect to see a tonne of TFC supporters in the stands for this one. Kickoff is 7:30pm on GolTV. RedNationOnline thinks TFC could well get the "W" in this one.

Check out Kenyon Martin's locker room eruption over the April Fool's joke in which his luxury sled was filled with popcorn set up against Cristian Bale's famed on set meltdown. Lots of great language here.

Hottest celeb baseball fans, plus the Hilton sisters who may be celebs, but aren't hot.

You're an American hockey coach in Slovenia who leads your team to the championship. So what happens in the aftermath? Six of your players beat the tar out of you. No, really. I read this piece and thought the six players were complete morons and deserved to be booted from the team - which they were - until I found out the reason why: the coach urged a 19-year old player to drive home post game despite the players warning him that he had had too much to drink. Of course, the player got in an accident.

Poor Wayne Rooney. Out injured last week during Manchester United's loss to Chelsea, he tries to have a pint but gets busted on camera. Hope he has better luck today.

Step the pace up...

MLB umpire Joe West called the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox "pathetic and embarrassing" for dragging out the pace of games. Now, I don't think it is right to call the two biggest clubs in the game out like that, especially as an umpire, but they're sure symbolic of a bigger issue on the pace of games. Do catchers need to come out every other pitch in a big at bat? Do you need multiple mound visits from the pitching coach? Do batters need to step out of the box every pitch to go through their rituals? No, no and no. I get that baseball is a game played without a clock, but there are rules about pace of pitches and such, and it would be nice to see them enforced so games don't approach four hours on a regular basis.

ESPN's baseball analyst Jayson Stark told The Mike And Mike Show that 3 teams took in 80-90 million in revenue sharing that by the CBA is mandated to be spent on salary and reported to MLB. They each had payrolls under $50 million, so they're making the difference, plus tickets sold, in pure profit. Funny that nobody rails against that.

AJ Burnett refers to Roy Halladay as the Peyton Manning of pitchers. High praise on many levels.

Toronto Blue Jay Travis Snider is developing a healthy collection of golden sombreros, with two already this season. But at least Vernon Wells is showing signs of life, with four homers in three games, albeit at long ball friendly Texas.

Chris Rock appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman a couple nights ago, and dropped this gem on Tiger Woods returning to golf: "Tiger hasn't had sex since Thanksgiving. He's going to win The Masters and then rape Phil Mickelson." Check out the rest of Rock's appearance here, in which he hammers Letterman for his own infidelities.

Speaking of golf, says Vic in NoCal, a regular on The Jim Rome Show via Twitter: "60yr old Tom Watson leading at Masters only proves that golf is a GAME, not a SPORT. A game of great skill, but a game nonetheless." Well put, Don Vic.

If you've followed RM over the years, you know I'm a big fan of baseball injuries, because they tend to be of a ridiculous nature whenever it is off-field stuff. The latest gem is Milwaukee Brewer Jeff Suppan, making a mere $12.5 million this year, has landed on the DL with a bad neck because he - wait for it - slept on a rolled up towel. Pillows too much for the $12.5 million dollar man?

With a win tomorrow, mixed with two New York Rangers overtime wins over the Philadelphia Flyers this weekend, the Toronto Maple Leafs would knock the Montreal Canadiens out of a playoff spot. Yeah, pretty unlikely.

Have you seen the latest Tiger Woods ad by Nike, in which they spliced together his late father's voice to do the voice over? If you're gonna go that far Tiger, you're a bigger whore than the ones you were banging. But, true to form, Tiger offered up as much substance as he normally does in the ad.

Check out now all-world star Lionel Messi as a five year old in this video below. Not sure what's more impressive, his play, or that he's about the same height now.