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.

Robben takes a bat to Man United

With Wayne Rooney starting and looking fit, and Nani playing as well as he's played in his life, you'd have figured Manchester United was easily into the Champions League semis, especially after taking a 3-0 lead. But mix in an out-of-nowhere goal from Ivica Olic and a red card to Man United's Rafael that was largely the result of Franck Ribery whining to the referee with 40 minutes to go and Bayern Munich scored a second to see them advance on the away goals rule despite being played off the field when it was 11 v 11. Munich will now face Olympic Lyon, with the winner of that semi facing the winner of Inter Milan and Barcelona. So an early congratulations to Champions League winner Barcelona.

Go figure that the one New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox game that goes under three hours for nine innings stretches beyond that thanks to extra innings. The Yankees were 3-1 winners, and Red Sox "Nation" is in full on panic mode no doubt.

Jose Calderon whining over fans booing an air ball from him is pretty fresh. He's the same guy who collects his paycheque with a ski mask and gun, and panders to the fans when he hits threes by inexplicably holding up six fingers. He's not all that's wrong with the Toronto Raptors, but he's the biggest symptom: soft physically and mentally, a bloated long-term contract and can't defend a lick. Trade the piece of shit.

Said Toronto Raptor Sonny Weems after the Raps loss in Cleveland Tuesday night: "Every game we've played them, it's been real close. I don't think they want that in the first round of the playoffs. We're going to come to play." Said LeBron James in response: "I'm not getting into that," James said, grinning. "They're having a great season so far." Pwned.

Very classy of former New York Giant Tiki Barber to leave his pregnant wife for a 23-year old intern. What is it with people in the TV business and interns?

Love New York Yankees President Randy Levine getting after the whining Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, crying that the team will have a hard time re-signing Prince Fielder. Shame Levine didn't mention the Brewers shipping their best young talent to Cleveland for a rental of CC Sabathia, or that they also made a huge offer to Sabathia in free agency, but he just didn't want to live in Milwaukee. Some things are beyond mere money, Attanasio.

Try to steal a purse, and get suplexed for your efforts. Surely this isn't real, is it? Incredible either way. Click the link for video.

Have a great Thursday.

Bosh Busted, Barca Blowout, Brennan Bows Out

Barcelona's Lionel Messi went off for four goals, three of the gorgeous varietal, to put a stop to Arsenal's Champion's League hopes after the Gunners opened the scoring with a 4-1 win. Barca will now take on Inter Milan in the semi-finals, who downed CSKA Moscow 1-0. Messi is on an incredible tear of late, with a pair of recent hat-tricks and yesterday's four goal game.

There are 11 Major League Baseball teams with at least four guys on the DL. That's a lot of talent on the shelf so early in the season, nobody hurting moreso than the New York Mets who are minus Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, among others.

Jim Brennan is not only no longer the captain of Toronto FC, he's also done playing and moving up to the front office. All this after one regular season game played. If TFC were any more a circus, I'd think they were the Toronto entry in the CFL.

The other two Champions League semi-finalists will be decided today when Bayern Munich, 2-1 winners in the first leg at home, visit Manchester United. Here's a bit of a development that could end up being a major difference maker: there is talk that Wayne Rooney may in fact play today. He's either one hell of a quick healer, or United isn't liking the idea of life minus Rooney much in a critical game. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson says he won't be playing. Lyon visits Bordeaux in the other matchup, with the home side needing to win by a couple, for starters.

Interesting idea from JC Bradbury - lead man at Sabernomics.com - on the subject of Human Growth Hormone. Bradbury offers this tidbit in the March 22nd issue of ESPN The Magazine on HGH: "Make it legal. The uninformed public calls HGH a performance-enhancer, but researchers know better. Testifying before Congress in 2008, Thomas Perls, an HGH expert, said, 'There is no credible scientific evidence that growth hormone substantively increases muscle strength or aerobic-exercise capacity in normal individuals.' Perls didn't go rogue. He was reflecting the academic consensus that HGH offers little to no athletic benefits." Interesting stuff.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is aiming to grow NFL revenues by about $1 billion per year with a target of $25 billion a year in revenue in 2027. That's definitely something you want to be hyping up as you're telling the players and public how much teams are struggling and you need to cut the players take of revenues.

If you were to do the NL year-end awards after one game, check out who are your likely winners: MVP, Albert Pujols (two homers, four hits). Cy Young: Roy Halladay (seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts), Rookie of the Year, Jason Heyward (two hits, a homer, four RBIs). Quite likely the guys that win it at the end of the season.

If you're wondering why the New York Yankees 6-4 win at Boston last night took so long at a shade under 4 hours, it might have something to do with both teams combining to throw 333 pitches. In related news, the 0-fer-the-season David Ortiz went off on reporters post game: "You guys wait till [expletive] happens, then you can talk [expletive]. Two [expletive] games, and already you [expletives] are going crazy. What's up with that, man? [Expletive]. [Expletive] 160 games left. That's a [expletive]. One of you [expletives] got to go ahead and hit for me." The only one I can't figure out is the second last one. Maybe Ortiz hasn't taken his "eye drops" like he did last year after two cold months?

Chris Bosh had his face caved in by an accidental elbow from Cleveland Cavalier Antawn Jamison. Presumably, this hurts the Toronto Raptors playoff hopes, if there were any. The upside for Bosh is he'll have more content for a DVD to produce.

Champions League Quarters resume today...

Champions League quarter final play resumes today with Arsenal visiting Barcelona, minus Cesc Fabregas. Hard to see Barcelona not advancing. Am sure that Inter Milan will look to kill any game at all in CSKA Moscow and squeeze out a scoreless draw or 1-0 win. That's great strategy when it works for manager Jose Mourinho but funny things happen to his teams when they go down a goal.

Yes, Duke won the NCAA hoops title this year with a 61-59 win over Butler, who few gave a chance to entering the game. Is it me, or are the Blue Devils the least impressive team to win in recent memory? Sure feels that way.

Remember when Daisuke Matsuzaka was said to be a guy that would revolutionize pitching? He's now not good enough to be in the Boston Red Sox rotation.

Speaking of losing weight, word is Barry Bonds has lost 30-40lbs or so. Wonder why that is?

What do Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal, Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry all have in common? All came to the NBA as teenagers, all now in their late 20's or early 30's and to varying degrees, older than their years would suggest. As ESPN The Magazine points out, of the nine high-schoolers drafted between 1995-1999, Bryant and Al Harrington are the only two whose games haven't undergone a substantial drop-off.

There were three starters yesterday - Shaun Marcum of the Toronto Blue Jays, Ben Sheets of the Oakland A's, and Jake Westbrook of the Cleveland Indians - that started their games with zero innings pitched the previous year. The last time that happened in MLB history was opening 1901, which was also the first day of American League history.

The Washington Redskins may have been 4-12 last year, but seven of those losses were by six points or less. It won't shock me if they're very much in the playoff hunt next year with a better coach and better QB now in the fold. There is also talk that Donovan McNabb, who has kissed and made up with Terrell Owens, may look to have T.O. brought in so the two can exact some revenge on Philadelphia together. Not sure how likely that is, but sure is an interesting story. The Eagles will visit the Redskins on Monday Night Football on October 25th.

Check out the line on Chicago Cubs starter, and alleged ace, Carlos Zambrano: 1 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 8 R, 8 ER, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 K. That's a 54.01 ERA through one game, folks. And Cubs fans thought all their problems left when Milton Bradley skipped town...

Tiger Woods wants to renew his wedding vows with wife Elin according to reports. I can see why he'd want to, but why would she? Not like he took them at all seriously the first time around. Jason Whitlock at the Kansas City Star says Tiger hit his presser out of the park yesterday.

I'm a fantasy sports and pool nut. Football pools, hockey, soccer, basketball...you name it, I'm in. Hell, I once ran a CFL pool with 40+ people in it where you'd pick the spreads and over/unders, and regularly took advantage of everyone's assumptions that all CFL games go over. But this is one I won't be participating in: a CFL fantasy league. Yes, using players.

Biggest surprise of MLB's opening day yesterday? No snow, anywhere.

Check out this Vanderbilt pitcher having his knee cap shattered by a line drive, and yet still makes the play to first. Nails.

Sox spank Yanks

It appears as if Duke will win the title without having to play a team in the entire NCAA tournament that ranked in the top 3 all season. Purdue was their highest ranked opponent and they checked in at one point as 4th. Of the millions of entrants in the ESPN.com bracket contest, only .03% of entrants picked this as the final matchup. I'm going to say "Go Duke" looking to work a reverse jinx here.

The four teams fighting for the last few Eastern Conference playoff spots - Boston, Philadelphia, New York Rangers and Montreal - will all play the Toronto Maple Leafs in succession. What are the odds on that?

Donovan McNabb is headed to the Washington Redskins in a true head scratcher of a trade methinks as far as the Philadelphia Eagles are concerned. By no means do I think McNabb is still a top five QB in the game, but to trade a guy with some game left within your division seems a bit crazy. Sure, Kevin Kolb may look good in practice and the odd game over the years, but NFL defences have a way of catching up to guys once there is a couple handfuls of games of tape on them. Take Derek Anderson, as one example. #NFL

Word out of the Buffalo Bills mini-camp is that some of Marshawn Lynch's teammates figure he wants out of Buffalo. Speculation is they're thinking so based on his absence from said workouts. Talk about jumping to conclusions.

Pretty sure I'm a rarity in 2010: haven't seen Avatar, heard a song by Justin Bieber, or been banged by Tiger Woods.

Speaking of Woods, expect productivity around North America to drop at 2pm today when he holds his presser at The Masters, where he'll likely say nothing worth hearing, in typical Eldrick fashion.

So much for the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox stacked pitching, if last night's first sample means anything. Both Josh Beckett and CC Sabathia were out relatively early, each tagged for five runs, in a game won 9-7 by the Sox. Today, another baker's dozen of season openers on the go.

Have a great Monday.

Happy Easter

The Major League Baseball season starts tonight at 8pm with the Defending World Series Champion New York Yankees visiting the hated Boston Red Sox. CC Sabathia and Josh Beckett will be the starters - not a bad matchup to say the least.

Mindblowing that a linesman in the right spot can miss not one, but two Chelsea attackers being offside in yesterday's 2-1 Chelsea win at Manchester United, the second goal which came off that play. United looked real flat for the first 45 minutes and I've said repeatedly that they're not going to win anything important with Gary Neville on the field. The race isn't over, but Chelsea definitely gained the upper hand yesterday.

So the Detroit Red Wings have had what most would term a very down year, yet they're four points short of another 100 point season with four games to play. They're also, it is worth noting, getting healthy just in time for the playoffs.

Who do the New York Mets grab to throw out the opening pitch of the season? Recent Celebrity Apprentice quitter Daryl Strawberry. Are they trying to tell their fans the season is one to quit on?

Butler beat Michigan State 52-50 in a brutally played game that looked at times like neither team wanted to win. Butler will face Duke in the finals on Monday night, who throttled a surprisingly timid West Virginia. The pre-season coaches poll had all four Final Four teams ranked in the top ten.

Have always wondered how NCAA college athletes, who allegedly don't make any money and aren't allowed to work, can afford so much ink.

The Toronto Blue Jays signed Adam Lind to a 4-year, $18 million extension with three decent club options beyond that. Maybe with that money, Lind will now hire a better agent as his current agent just got exposed as out of his league in giving the Jays a bargain of a deal.

In following the daily player Q&A with different Toronto Blue Jays in the Toronto Star, this much is clear: these guys listen to some horrible, horrible music.

A few videos to close today. If you haven't seen Andrew Bogut's gruesome fall last night in which he dislocated his elbow, check it out here. He'll be out for the year with that and a broken hand.


Check out Sky Sports commentator Chris Kamara completely unawares a Portsmouth player had been sent off.


Here's a time lapse of the grass install at BMO Field in Toronto...

EPL pivotal game

An earlier than normal edition of RM today, largely because there's no way I could do this later with a giant game kicking off at 7:45 today when Chelsea visit Manchester United in a game that could well determine the English Premier League champion, especially with third place side Arsenal now minus Cesc Fabregas for six weeks and Andrei Arshavin out for three weeks as well. It is going to be tough for the defending champions - United - minus Wayne Rooney, but they are at home. Loads of pressure on Dimitar Berbatov to provide something in attack with Rooney out, and I suspect he rises to the occasion. My head says "tie" here, but have a feeling that the more mentally tough United beat a mentally fragile Chelsea here 2-1.

The NCAA Final Four goes tonight from Indianapolis. I'm liking Butler and West Virginia myself, though the West Virginia selection is no doubt coloured by my hatred of Duke.

Speaking of Manchester United, they're said to be ready to drop £40million to land Bayern Munich/French midfielder Franck Ribiery. Not sure that will get the irate fan base off of the Glazer ownership group, but it wouldn't hurt.

The Hedo Turkoglu Party Machine. 'nuff said.

I don't know why a guy with Tourette's sucker punching his wife is funny, I just know that it is. Check the vid at that link.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman figures that the value of the NHL's next American TV contract will more than double over the current $75 million. Even if it does, that's hardly anything to be bragging about.

As if two free cards on TV and a pay-per-view weren't enough action for the UFC the last two weeks, they've got another pay-per-view lined up for week today, this one in Abu Dhabi. It has also been announced that UFC 115 will go in Vancouver on June 12th.

What happens when you take a video of a bulldog banging a stuffed animal, and mix it with a soundboard of NCAA commentator Gus Johnson? In a word: magic.

A very Good Friday to you...

Here is a Final Four primer. Or at least a look at the cheerleaders of the Final Four squads. If this has any bearing, it is gonna be Michigan State cutting the nets.

Toronto Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson is the first coach in team history to miss the playoffs in consecutive years and get a crack at making it a third. It says here that the Leafs make the playoffs next season.

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho says he isn't happy in Italy, and is no doubt throwing it out there as a thought for the big clubs in England where he wants back, badly. Great thing to say with your team barely hanging on to first place in Serie A and in the quarterfinals for the Champions League.

So if minimum wage is increasing and that includes wait staff, does that mean we can cut tips to correspond with the increase? Seems reasonable enough. Here comes the hate mail!

For a guy who went to a good academic school in Stanford, Tiger Woods sure isn't bright. Sure, he may have paid Rachel Uchitel $10 million in hush money, if the TMZ reports are true, but he must've neglected to pay over a dozen more, judging by how freely and frequently we are hearing more details of his affairs. Can't imagine he strays from his "that's between me and Elin" auto response at his presser Monday.

In another step to increase the quality of the product on field, and recognition off of it, Major League Soccer has expanded the "Beckham Rule" to allow teams the option of adding a second designated player spot and allowing teams to purchase a third. Here's hoping Toronto FC acts fast and as important, correctly. A man can dream, no?

90 days until LeBron James is a free agent. You've been warned.

Charles Barkley flips off TNT audience.


The best part about U.S. gold medalist Lindsey Vonn delivering the game ball to a New York Red Bulls game isn't that she rolled in in a NASCAR, but that the Red Bulls player Ibrahim Salou (#29) is a knuckle deep into his nose before shaking her hand.

Pig power

Chicago Black Hawks fans aren't too pleased over this mural at right going up in Chi-Town of Jonathan Toews in which his nose looks, well, like that of a pig. Also, fans are unhappy the mural includes the Stanley Cup, something the Hawks haven't lifted since 1961. Superstition, and all.

"Nosed" out of the picture of the day is this gem by a restaurant in - where else? - Bangkok, where they've created a life size replica of Tiger Woods made entirely out of condoms. No, really.

Barcelona opened yesterday's Champions League visit at Arsenal with as dominant a start as you could imagine, and only incredible keeping from Manuel Almunia - no, really...not an April Fool's joke - kept Barça from blowing them out early. The second half saw each side score a pair of goals for a thrilling 2-2 finish. Arsenal's in a lot of trouble for next week's return leg in Barcelona with Cesc Fabregas out on a suspension, in addition to him suspecting he's got a broken leg. The other game of the day saw Inter Milan grind out a 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow. In other injury news, Manchester United's Wayne Rooney is out 2-4 weeks with a bad ankle.

Damien Cox suspects the Toronto Maple Leafs will be splashing the cash around this summer. With most big names tied up, might they be a cap relief source for a team like the Chicago Black Hawks? Dealing Tomas Kaberle, which seems likely as he and coach Ron Wilson are feuding, will clear up an additional $4 million or so.

Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopolous says the brains of the management in the AL East are far more challenging to overcome than the dollars. So there.

NFL prospect Dez Bryant, who has had some shady dealings in the past that have led to an NCAA suspension, says "I ain't never got in trouble with nobody. I never said anything. I don't say anything wrong to nobody." Not sure what kind of pro he'll end up being, but if he can pound an opponent like he just did the English language, he'll be in Canton ultimately.

Kevin Durant gets some calls from officials, Kevin Garnett drops an f-bomb in the presser post-game. Nice work, KG.