So if you get hurt in a given sport, you generally don't want it to affect your status long term or into the next season, right?  Especially if said injury occurs at the conclusion of a season.  Get it fixed, heal in time for the new season.  That's what anyone with a brain or sense of logic or loyalty to the team would do.  Of course, that's not what the Old Has Been did.  He's got an ankle injury that requires surgery if he is to be ready for the 2010 season.  To make matters worse, it appears he didn't even tell the Minnesota Vikings 'til after the draft.   And very classy of him to let Green Bay Packers fans know that the one year in Minnesota meant as much to him as ten in Green Bay.

It is a lot to ask for a team to come out of a game seven win and bounce back to start the next round two days later, and so far, it has seen the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens drop the openers in their respective series.  The Habs were pounded by the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3, who showed the Habs what a power play looks like.

It wasn't easy, but the LA Lakers got a clutch moment out of Pau Gasol - and who would have bet on that? - to finish off the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games with a 95-94 win.  The Thunder are just getting started.  And how awkward is that picture at right?

Should be a great night of boxing tonight in Vegas as Floyd Mayweather faces "Sugar" Shane Mosley.  I've got a juicy +401 on Money May to win by TKO, KO or DQ.  Get in at Pinnacle (link above).


Bill Simmons, aka "The Sports Guy", tweets on the NBA MVP vote:  "Twelve people voted against LeBron as MVP? Last time we had 12 people that dumb, they were delivering the OJ Trial verdict."

Speaking of the NBA and Twitter, good to see Chris Bosh take to Twitter to ask if he should stay or leave Toronto.  Good to see he's taking things so seriously.

Pretty classy of a Boston sports radio host, Fred Toettcher, to refer to Tim Tebow and family and friends at the draft last week appearing to be so white it was "like some kind of Nazi rally." Didn't Don Imus get canned for saying something like that once?

Check out the 10 Funniest Videos of Athletes Cursing in sports. I have to say, I can watch number one every day forever and I think I'd still laugh.

And another top 10, check out the Top 10 Controversial World Cup moments.

And a third, for your viewing pleasure: SportsCenter's Not Top Play's of the Week.

Here's a crazy baseball analysis, complete with graphics, at HardballTimes that shows umpires strike zones shrinking the pitcher is at two strikes, and grows when they're at three balls and no strikes. Measurement wise, from 3.02 square feet to 2.42. An absolute must see if you're a baseball fan for the graphics alone.

Toronto FC visit Real Salt Lake tonight in MLS play. Kickoff there goes at 9pm, coverage on SportsNet in glorious HD, if you like.

Speaking of the MLS, interesting article here in which the Seattle Sounders Freddie Ljungberg says that high profile players from Europe that he talks to are intrigued by the idea of coming to the MLS, but put off by the idea of being giant fish in their team's pond, with the thinking being you need two or three such players per team to start to mold quality sides.  He's got a hell of a point.

LeBron James, D-Bag.

.06...not a blood alcohol reading

If we had heard that Tiger Woods had tapped 19 ladies, you had to know the actual number had to be a multiple of that.  Well, word from the National Enquirer - not the strictly gossip rag it used to be - got their hands on a list Eldrick had to complete as part of his sex addiction rehab, and the actual number is 121.

The New York Mets are in first place in the NL East. Not sure there is a bigger surprise in baseball with the first calendar month just about in the books.

The FanHouse looks at whether the slight decrease in baseball attendance early in the season is a crisis, or a temporary condition. I'm going with the latter, especially with the Yankees and Philadelphia having played so few home games where they push 50,000 a night. The other side of the argument, says Joel Sherman of the NY Post, is that there isn't likely to be overly compelling races with the AL Central and NL Central almost certainly Minnesota's and St. Louis' to lose, and the AL East the likely source of the Wild Card.

You won't ever be able to accuse Colorado Rockies catcher Miguel Olivo of not having stones, literally or figuratively.  In the middle of a game earlier this week, he went and passed a kidney stone.  Wow.

The San Jose Sharks opened their series with the Detroit Red Wings with an entertaining 4-3 win.  The Wings looked a little gassed from a tough seven game series with Phoenix.

Check out the Washington Capitals shot stats for the first round loss to Montreal: 292 on net, 182 blocked, and 102 missed the net for 576 Total or an average of 82.3 per-game.  That's an incredible shot rate for so few goals in the end.  The "blocked" total is especially impressive. Great line of smack on Washington: Wednesday wasn't the first time a group of Canadiens came into your town and burnt it to the ground.  The Caps are the third Presidents Trophy winner to make a first round exit in the last five years.


AJ Burnett threw eight innings of three hit, shutout baseball yesterday to move to 3-0.  Imagine if him and Roy Halladay were on the same team?

 The Tampa Bay Rays 17-5 start is the best start in the game since 2003.

No matter what Ben Roethlesberger, you'll always be able to say that you were the subject of an Eminem dagger, in his new song "Recovery" when he delivers this gem: "I'd rather turn this club into a bar room brawl, get as rowdy as Roethlisberger in a bathroom stall."

The SportsPickle gives us 13 ways to shorten MLB games. Funny stuff. Love #13. Sorry, America.

"Iron" Mike Ditka took to the airwaves to discuss Miami Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland'sDez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys question to as to whether his mother is a prostitute, and he's less than impressed with Ireland, saying he deserved a smack in the head. What's really shocking for me - if you've ever heard Ditka speak - is that he managed to stay on one topic for more than a couple sentences.

This one is gonna hurt more than most. Croatian hoops team Cibona was taking on the Serbian squad Partizan for the NLB league championship. With .06 on the clock, Cibona hits a three-pointer to take the lead. Fire up the party, game over, right? Wrong. Partizan inbounded the ball and with a last-ditch effort, Partizan's star Dušan Kecman tossed up a 75 foot prayer. It goes in and it is the Partizan fans that get to go crazy as the Cibona team walks off the court in shock, never having even contested the shot having been too busy celebrating early. As a Nigerian gent told me at The Bulldog in Amsterdam years ago, when it comes to sports, "it is NEVER over" til the whistle goes.

In-termilan-ally boring

The Champions League final for May 22nd is now set, with Bayern Munich ready to face Inter Milan, who advanced despite a 1-0 loss in Barcelona yesterday in a skill killing, sit-back-and-defend effort, indirectly aided by the referee who only made that kind of play a no brainer when he wrongly sent off Thiago Motta after a second yellow card early on for what was clearly an exaggerated reaction from Sergi Busquets, who ought to be ashamed of himself for embarrassing himself and his team like that. Crazy Stat Dept: Barcelona completed 1372 passes over the two games, while Inter Milan completed 373, a difference of 999.

The Montreal Canadiens took more shots - some to the face - than a film set in Chatsworth, California, but did just enough to sneak by the Washington Capitals, President's Cup trophy winners this past season, and also now holders of the record for most home ice Game 7 losses. Alexander Ovechkin handled 20 questions post game, 17 of which were met with "I don't know" as an answer, and three met with a one word answer. Safe to say he's a little sour, and who can blame him, particularly where the ghost that is Alexander Semin is concerned. For the Leafs Nation out there who are stinging from the Habs win, take heart in this: if not for the Leafs win in overtime the last game against the Habs, they'd be facing a much easier opponent in Boston. Hockey fans take heart in this: because the Habs aren't facing the Bruins, the NHL won't have to hold emergency meetings on how to get teams to break an interminable 0-0 deadlock. I kid because I love. Methinks we'll see an all Pennsylvania Eastern Conference Final, with Chicago and Detroit tangling in the West. Crazy Stat Dept.: Habs goalie Jaroslav Halak stopped 131 of the last 134 shots he faced.

Toronto FC opened defence of their Canadian Championship with a strong 2-0 homefield win over the Montreal Impact on goals by (who else!?) Dwayne De Rosario and Chad Barrett, with a beauty. There was a lot of bad blood in this one as the odd punch flew, and TFC defender Ty Harden had his leg sliced down to the bone with one collision. That's 3-0 on grass at home, and 3-1 since Jim Brennan retired. Just sayin'.

It dawned on me that David Stern is to the WNBA as Gary Bettman is to franchises in the horrible markets. Both are costing their leagues money propping up doomed enterprises.

Check out the top ten worst staph infections in MMA history. Try not to yack.

How about this story: Boston Red Sox slappy - on a good day - David Ortiz says he wants to play two or three more years. He may not be on any performance enhancers anymore, but he's on some kind of drugs if he thinks a washed out Designated Hitter who can't hit is gonna see another two or three years. At this pace, he'll be lucky to make it to the All-Star break in a Red Sox uniform.

Freaking Mark Sanchez. California boy gets drafted to the New York Jets, dates models right out of the chute, and now has graduated to Jamie-Lynn Sigler, aka "Meadow Soprano". Damn.

E.J. Hradek at ESPN.com says the New Jersey Devils should make the wise choice and cut bait with pending free agent Ilya Kovalchuk. I can already hear Leaf Nation getting moist over the prospect of signing Kovy. But tell me if this sounds familiar: a pure goal scorer of questionable work ethic, weak defensively, that contributed little to his nation's Olympic run. Sound like Kovy? Take away one nut and it is Phil Kessel, too.

As if yesterday's dive in the Barcelona/Inter Milan match wasn't ridiculous enough, check out this. I love soccer - I can't state that enough - but guys like this shouldn't play. They're an embarrassment to themselves, the team and their game. Be a pro, or at least a man.

Three-lic

The second leg of the Barcelona and Inter Milan Champions League matchup goes today in Barcelona with Barca needing a 2-0 win in the most simple scenario after a 3-1 loss in Milan. Should be a gem, with kickoff at 2:45pm (Eastern) on SportsNet. Prediction: a similar 3-1 score for Barcelona, sending the game to overtime.

The Detroit Red Wings made it a no-doubter in game seven of their first round series, hammering the Phoenix Coyotes 6-1 to move on to face San Jose in the next round, while Vancouver will meet Chicago in what should be a great series. The Western Conference matchups will get sorted out tonight when the Montreal Canadiens visit the Washington Capitals in their own game seven. The Habs could turn the Caps into hockey's version of Kansas' hoops team, as far as poolies are concerned.

Here are the Super Bowl 2011 odds as they stand after the draft, via Bodog. Indianapolis Colts 8/1, New Orleans Saints 9/1, San Diego Chargers 10/1, New England Patriots 10/1, Dallas Cowboys 11/1, New York Jets 12/1. Right now, I'm thinking Cowboys host the Jets.

For a guy who is suspect defensively and against lefties, the idea that the Philadelphia Phillies Ryan Howard is overpaid seems possible as he's about to hit $25 million a year averaged out. But, his numbers the last four years average out to 49.5 HRs and 143 RBIs a season, and MVP voting finishes of: 1, 5, 2, 3, though Rob Neyer at ESPN says at the very best, he's one of the top 20 players in baseball. Here's a peak at six baseball writers on the deal. And here's another that says the biggest fan of the deal might be New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who inked Mark Teixera, a better fielder by miles, and a more complete hitter with power numbers in the same area code, for less.

The Canadian Championships get started at BMO Field tonight with the Montreal Impact visiting Toronto FC. That's going to be no easy task for TFC despite last year's thumping of the Impact.

Bases loaded, 8th inning, tie game, David Ortiz at the plate. What do the Red Sox do? Elect to pinch hit. That, Big Pop-Up, is a sign you're officially finished, and it happened in Toronto last night.

Word is the Oakland Raiders will finally throw in the towel on JaMarcus Russell, perhaps as early as this week. Hard to determine if he's a bigger bust than Ryan Leaf, isn't it? Time will tell, but Russell has to get points for eating himself out of a job, after a big holdout before he set foot on the field.

In Champions League semi-final play yesterday, Bayern Munich reached the final with an emphatic 3-0 win over Lyon, all three goals coming from Croatian Ivica Olic.

The "one day contract" thing teams throw about is always, without fail, lame. What's worse is a guy musing on whether it will happen while (a) he is still playing and (b) discussing it with regard to a certain GM he's not a fan of and (c) the GM responding. Looking at you, LaDanian Tomlinson and AJ Smith in San Diego.

Very classy of Miami Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland to ask now-Dallas Cowboy first rounder Dez Bryant if his mom was a hooker in pre-draft interviews. That the discipline challenged Bryant didn't bust him in two is shocking. Ireland has since apologized, as if that matters.

Check out the Milwaukee Bucks mascot dunking off a ridiculously high ladder. Pretty sure that this wasn't Andrew Bogut.

To 7 they go...

Former Toronto FC coach Chris Cummins finally came clean in an interview with Kristian Jack at The Score as to how things closed out with Toronto FC and he buries GM Mo Johnston, painting him as a backstabbing control freak. In response, Mo is saying he's going to pursue legal action. Also likely suing: Backstabbing Control Freaks, coming after yours truly after that association. How very MLSE of him. Remember when Toronto Raptor coach Butch Carter sued Marcus Camby, then of the New York Knicks, for $5 million during the playoffs for defamation of character, only serving to embarrass himself and his bosses? I digress. RedNationOnline cracks Mo saying he'll either go loudly or quietly, but go he must. I wouldn't be so sure, this is MLSE we are talking about and normal logic doesn't apply.

Over first 10 years of Philadelphia Philly Ryan Howard's career, he'll have earned $190.5 million, including the five year extension he signed yesterday for $125 million. Who else has done that the first ten years of their career? Nobody. The Toronto Sun's Bob Elliot tweets that it is a "good thing the Jays chipped in $6 M to help Phillies make 2010 budget" on the Roy Halladay deal. Ouch. So if he's worth $25 million, that has to be the starting point for Albert Pujols, no? ESPN looks at how two years ago, Howard and the Phillies couldn't agree on a one year deal and how this came up.

The Montreal Canadiens rode a 53-save performance from Jaroslav Halak to a 4-1 game 6 win over the Washington Capitals. The SportsPickle tweets that "the word 'clutch' in Russian is 'сцепление'. Just as I suspected. It looks nothing like 'Ovechkin.'" A mite harsh for a guy who has virtually won all there is to win, but this is a #1 seed a game away from a first round exit. Speaking of exits, the Buffalo Sabres and Nashville Predators are out.

Ratings for the first round of the NHL playoffs have been remarkably strong. Strong enough that ESPN is contemplating picking up hockey again for 2011. Gary Bettman is no doubt not interested.

With the New York Yankees visit to the White House yesterday, that is now five visits with three different Presidents for "The Core Four" of Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte. Thanks for that, TS.

The combined score of the last four Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates games: 53-3 Brewers. Incredible.

A TV idea that has to happen soon: "The Bachelor: Ben Roethlesberger."

Remember when the Boston Red Sox would assure 30,000+ were at the Rogers Centre for a visit? Last night there might have been less than a third of that, despite the announced crowd of 13,000. This long piece in the Toronto Star looks at whether the Jays will ever draw again.

Turns out there is an entire website, with a book available, dedicated to "The Baseball Codes".

Is it possible that Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin, expected to go top two in the NHL draft, would prefer to go second overall to avoid being taken by the Edmonton Oilers? Eric Francis seems to think so. Frankly, I don't get it - have always loved any trip to Edmonton, and if a place was good enough for some guys named Gretzky and Messier for years and years, not sure how you wouldn't want to add your name to those ranks by getting that team back to glory.

Four out of five aren't had. CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes are a combined 9-1/2.43ERA/.211 BAA/3HRs in 92.2IP. At the other end of the spectrum is Javier Vazquez: 1-3/ 9.00ERA/.309BAA/5HRs in 20IP.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is talking up a rookie wage scale, and can't possibly agree more. As he notes, the St. Louis Rams are likely to pay Sam Bradford $40-$45 million before he steps on a field. What if he's the next Ryan Leaf? I've long thought nothing does more to blow up a team's salary structure, and arguably chemistry, than giving a guy who turns out to be a bust huge dollars.

No team has ever started 4-9 or worse in the AL East - like the Boston Red Sox did - and ever made the playoffs, even as a wildcard. What's the problem with the Red Sox? Well, as the Boston Globe puts it: "In Tim Wakefield, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek, [manager] Terry Francona also has four older players on the downside of their careers who believe they should be playing every day and aren't. Having two such players on the roster would be a lot to handle. He has four."

With the "retirement" of New Jersey Devils coach Jacques Lemaire, the the next Devils coach will be the 15th in 23 years for Lou Lamoriello.

Tito Ortiz was arrested for beating Jenna Jameson yesterday. Are you like me and thinking "hey, Tito won a fight!"

Perhaps the best post-goal celebration I've ever seen...

We're back!

Seriously, following Jose Canseco on Twitter is the height of hilarity, if you don't mind watching a guy that is unravelling mentally. Check out the post at right.

Toronto FC played far and away their best game of the year in a 2-0 home win over the Seattle Sounders at soggy BMO Field. Nice to see Julian De Guzman show up, heard he signed last August. Coach Preki was glowing in his praise of the effort and result though he's concerned about the recklessness of some players: "I want us to be committed and hard, but not stupid."

Strangely, so far there hasn't been a single rainout this MLB season, and only two games thus far -- one at Yankee Stadium on April 16th, and last night at Citi Field -- have been shortened by the elements.

All eight NHL postseason series were even after two games for the first time in the best-of-seven era. Also this round: 18 too-many-men penalties, so far. Seems a bit much, no?

Speaking of the NHL, Vancouver took out LA Kings last night to advance, joining the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks as the first to move onto round two. Three game sixes on the go tonight with Pittsburgh, Chicago and Boston all needing a win to advance. Quite the competitive first round, it must be said, with only the Flyers taking care of business in five games.

Chelsea crushed Stoke City 7-0 to get a touch closer to the English Premier League title. Two games left to play and one point up on Manchester United. Chelsea can all but seal it with a win Saturday at Liverpool, though that is no gimme.

Check out the Baltimore Orioles next 14 games: four against Boston, six against the New York Yankees, and four against Minnesota. The Orioles, 3-16 now, might sit 5-28 after all that is said and done. Ouch.

I could go the easy route and just unload with a variety of takes on the NFL draft this past weekend, but instead I'll go with two. The first covers the winners and losers, the second does the grade method. If the latter proves accurate and Dez Bryant ends up rookie of the year for the Dallas Cowboys, that's a hell of a steal for a #24 pick.

As for the Buffalo Bills, owner Ralph Wilson emphatically stated the Bills had no intention of moving up to pick Tim Tebow with a late first round pick, while the Denver Broncos camp contends they were hellbent on Tebow. I don't know what Tebow does as a pro, but the one universally agreed upon bit of analysis I've read this weekend is Denver reached big in taking him in the first round.

Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United's manager, is as good as they come with more medals than a war vet. But when he says that Gary Neville could and should be in the mix for a spot on England's World Cup entry, it makes me question his sanity. I get having your players back, but Neville is beyond expired.

Here's a little quiz for you if you've got some time. Take your pick on Vancouver real estate, and guess whether it is Crack Shack Or Mansion. Frightening.

At the Penn Relays this past weekend, Usain Bolt ran am 8.79 anchor leg in the 4x100 race. Crazy fast. Check this out.


Finally today, if you haven't seen the A-Rod run across the mound that created a fuss in Oakland last week, check it out below. Just wondering though, when a pitcher covers behind the plate on a run-scoring hit, is he allowed to walk through the batter's box? Does anybody care?

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.