Week 1 NFL Picks (The Appetizer)

 And so it begins. The NFL is back and so is the excitement that only my fellow blogger Pete can get from watching 350 pound men run around in tights hitting each other. The rest of the week 1 NFL picks for both Pete and myself will be posted tomorrow but to kick off the season we decided to begin with an appetizer and give you our picks for tonight’s game.

 Tennessee vs. Pittsburgh

Line: Pitt by 6.5

There are a multitude of reasons that could be hashed out to describe my pick. But I will stick with 10 words. Kerry Collins, Albert Haynesworth, Ben Roethlisberger, The Steelers and Kerry Collins.

Oh yeah I’m picking Pittsburgh by the way. And it wouldn’t be a two-person blog if there weren’t a little controversy. With the first pick of the season we already disagree as he who shall not be named picks the Titans (understandable) not only to cover, but to win the football game. Pete you need to return to the 416 immediately, the 613 is destroying your ability to judge talent. Anyways that’s it folks. Football season is back. Enjoy the view from the couch.    

Image of the week

This week, Michael Jordan and John Stockton will be inducted into the NBA hall of fame. Everyone knows who they were and that this day would come. Congratulations to both men, to Stockton, hope you're keeping the pounds off a little better than Michael is.

The Return of the Blog

The Ultimate Summer Recap

So it’s been a long hiatus from the world of writing for my fellow blogger and myself but after a long summer off its time to get down to business. Now I know what you’re thinking, “get down to business, you guys wrote like four articles”, but we’re serious now. And to prove it I’m going to recap the summer of sports as it was for a Toronto sports fan. So sit down, grab a cold one and relive the top 5 stories of the summer that was, who knows you might just remember why it is you’re a sports fan in the first place.

            First we must mention some of the sports stories that just missed out on the top 5. These included Real’s and thus Ronaldo’s landing in Toronto, Golf’s major championship’s including Tiger’s first loss in a major when leading going into the final round, and the unbelievable performance by Usain Bolt in the 100 and 200 at the Track and Field world championships. These stories were nice, if I had more time I would even elaborate on them, but its time to talk about what really matters in this sports fans eyes. Here are the top 5 stories of the summer.

5. The NFL Circus

5A. Brett Favre

            Is this guy kidding? If I wanted drama I would watch Desperate housewives not Brett Favre 24/7. That’s the next logical step for the summer of 2010. Put a live 24/7 feed in Favre’s house so that we can find out every time this guy changes his mind. To tell the truth Brett probably is an upgrade on Tavaris Jackson but the point is the Viking’s quarterback was freaking Tavaris Jackson. If that doesn’t tell you how far away they were from a championship you’re watching this franchise through rose coloured glasses. If I’m wrong about this I will eat crow in early February but until then I will say that Brett Favre’s return has a been a big waste of my time.

5B. Plaxico Burress  

            If there is one state where I do not want to own a gun in the U.S. it is New York. Two years in prison for shooting yourself in the leg, o sorry I mean possession of an unlicensed firearm, discharging an unlicensed weapon etc. Whatever happened to the right to bear arms? I’m kidding, but in all seriousness doesn’t this pale in comparison to the DUI manslaughter that Donte Stallworth received 30 days in prison for. I’m not saying what Plaxico did was right but 2 years seems like a lot. Regardless of what you think it is just another sideshow that the NFL has had running this summer.

5C. Michael Vick

            The saying is that if you do the crime, you do the time and Michael Vick served his time in prison. I’m actually really interested to see if he can make a genuine impact on the Philadelphia Eagles. Of all the odd stories out the NFL this summer Vick’s is the one that interests me the most. Two years ago the story was about what he did and although what he did was horrible its nice to think that maybe he’ll actually be making sports related news now. Sure there is still a circus that will surround him wherever he goes but at least Vick is back and playing football. Who knows he might actually make an impact.  

4. Jim Balsillie vs. The NHL

            I would love to comment on this major sports story. Really I would. But I wouldn’t even be beating a dead horse if I did. If I were to spend 250 words discussing this issue I would do some potentially disastrous things to the universe. The Nationals might have a winning season, we might go a month without having a name leaked from the 104 who tested positive in 2003, Lord Voldemort might return from the dead, Republicans might begin to accept the idea of healthcare for everyone. Since I have no desire of messing with the Universe’s balance I will not even dare to waste a paragraph on this topic. (As a side note, if it was possible for me to lose respect for Gary Bettman, I HAVE).

3. What’s up DOC?

            One of the more drawn out stories of the summer was the Doc Halladay saga. Honestly, any decent human being must just feel bad for the guy at this point. He has played with a piss poor organization for his entire career and not once have they shown signs of being anything better than average. And the entire time all he guy does is shut

his mouth, do his job, and just happens to be a top 5 pitcher in baseball. But this past July had to be the last straw. His GM puts him through the mental torture of being berated by questions at the all-star game over where he wants to go for absolutely no reason and drives the asking price up so high that he can’t even get a deal done. If Rogers really wanted to start saving money they’d ask for a loonie from J.P. Ricciardi every time he screwed up.  At the end of all this all I can hope for is that the Jays trade Doc for something this off-season and that they trade him to a winner, cause he seriously deserves it.

2. Colangelo’s Coup

            I know it’s easy to be pessimistic about the Raptors these days but lets here both sides of the story before we start egging Bryan’s house. The tagline for this section is not a mistake, what Mr. Colangelo has pulled off this summer was quite the coup. Not quite as big as what Jeff just pulled in the Big Brother house but pretty close. (As a side note I know what you’re thinking… this guy watches Big Brother. But I challenge you to watch the first 5 episodes of a season and not get hooked. Besides the summer is the only time when there is so few sporting events on that I am actually able to watch pointless TV. For those who think sports are pointless I would suggest that you are reading the wrong blog). Anyways, what Bryan did was address needs. Toughness and experience up front, see Reggie Evans and Rasho Nesterovic. A polished back up point guard who can step up if someone goes down, see Jarrett Jack. An athletic wingman that can jump out of the gym, see Demar Derozan. A player who can control the game down the stretch and create his own shot, see Hedo Turkoglu. Then fill out the roster with shooters and experience without crippling the team financially in the future. He did this by adding, Wright, Belinelli, Johnson and now what looks like Matt Carroll who is a functional player for the waste of space that was Marcus Banks. Now of course haters have legitimate complaints that can be made. This group is too soft and despite all this spending will this team really be able to compete with the elite? I don’t think so. But Colangelo has made his play. He wants to show Mr. Bosh what a strong supporting cast can do. Yes it is possible that Rasho is too old, Bargnani won’t continue to develop, Calderon had one good year, Bosh is too soft, Derozan is just a nice athlete and Turkoglu is an aging swingman whom was overpaid but I don’t see it that way. I’m cautiously optimistic that this team can finish fourth in the east. Only time will tell but I’m, dare I say it, excited for this upcoming Raptors season.

1. Burke’s Boys

            Possibly the biggest hockey story in the city of Toronto this summer has been Brian Burke’s revamping of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now there have been many theories and all the pundits have weighed in on what Burke is doing. Some think he is tanking and others that he is starting to build a winner. Personally I think it is absurd to think that a guy as passionate and hard-nosed as Burke is tanking. In fact I’m sorry I even mentioned it due to its obvious absurd nature. Brian Burke has wasted no time in his total makeover of the team.  They might not pile up a lot of goals but they will play hard and probably finish with a ton of penalties. If I had to I would put the odds on them leading the league in penalty minutes and fighting majors at 1:1. Brian Burke has his guys and as a Leaf fan I’m excited. Some may ask who will score goals on this team and to be honest I don’t have a great answer to that question. What I will say is that last year the Leafs, with that pathetic offence, finished tied for 10^th in the league in goals scored. Professional hockey players will score goals and now we have a defense that can finally make an impact. Maybe, just maybe and I’m sure my fellow contributor to this blog would disagree, you’ll be seeing the blue and white make a return to the play-offs after their long and painful hiatus.

            That’s it folks, the top 5 stories of the summer for a T.O. sports fan. But I should add that the best part of the summer, despite the lack of action is the anticipation. Before you know it, footballs will be flying, the puck will have dropped and it will be raining threes. So from one sports fan to another, keep it locked on the blog all year long as we kick back, relax, and enjoy the view from the couch

   - POB

We are not worthy

All Hail Alexander the Gr8.

In honor of Ovie's goal of the millennium last night, here is the interview he did with ESPN. The interview is great for two reasons; it is extremely candid (his brother, his driving), and they make Sidney Crosby and Don Cherry look about as exciting a pair of lawn bowling mennonites. Also gotta love Lebron playing "witness" for once.

Ovechkin E60 Video Part 1

Ovechkin E60 Video Part 2

Closing Time

Maybe not anymore.


As the season progresses and Jays fans continue to wet their depends every time BJ Ryan trots out to the mound, it is time to talk about the percolating issue of closing for Toronto’s boys of summer.

BJ Ryan stinks. The man’s degeneration has been more confusing than the plot of Lost. With 12 saves by the end of May last year, Ryan seemed to have recovered well from his Tommy John surgery the year before. Fast forward twelve months and he now throws a batting practice fastball and gets lit up more than Patrick Lalime in the post season. In 16 games so far this season, BJ has managed to blow 2 saves.

With this in mind, how necessary is the position of a consistent and dominating closer for lasting success in the Major Leagues? Generally teams must be able to rely on their bullpen late in games to succeed (think Jonathan Paplebon. 35,37,41 saves in the last three seasons). Toronto’s management acknowledged this importance by signing Ryan to a deal paying him 12 million dollars this season. This is roughly 1 million dollars for each point in his abysmal 11.12 ERA. Championship teams need a reliable closer and unfortunately reliable is just about the last adjective one would use to describe BJ these days.

Whats frustrating about Ryan’s deterioration is that it has been essentially the only low light in a promising start for the Jays. It is a shame that with Toronto’s young bats producing as they have and spirited (albeit inconsistent) efforts from the starting rotation that the last three outs in a number of games have been hard to come by.

Hopefully Jays’ manager Cito Gaston can manage to get his team off the island. One would hope he has enough sense to stop sending Ryan to the mound simply based on the value of his contract. Performance should be the only factor in determining playing time. With that in mind, it is time for Scott Downs to establish himself.

So last night as I sat in the library staring at the different scores in sports i realized something. I don't have an exam tomorrow. Let's go watch the late games. I must say while San Jose laid an egg in periods two and three the Utah, L.A. game was phenomenal. Here are a few things that got me thinking.

"Choke" Thornton?

I know a lot has been said recently about Big Joe not showing up in the playoffs but I have always been a defender of the big man. He's a stand up guy, who in my opinion is always playing hard and you can't blame one person for the team underperforming. However, last night i was praying to god that he had at least 17 broken bones because he looked downright awful. He was -3 and looked genuinely scared to touch the puck. I mean seriously, if you got a chance to watch his third period giveaway to Ryan Getzlaf, he looks like an atom age player playing in his first game of hitting. He was absolutely terrified to have control of the puck. Here's hoping he can turn it around and make one of the best match-ups in this play-offs competitive once again.

A Shooter HAS to shoot!

I behooves me every time I watch a shooter in the NBA pass up an open shot. I mean seriously, you don't defend well, you don't rebound well, you can't even handle the ball very well and yet you defer open shots. Do they not understand that their job is to shoot a basketball. Nothing else. I go on this rant in reference to Kyle Korver yesterday doing his best Jason Kapono impression for the first three quarters. He missed a couple of open jump shots so he started passing. Now thank god for the Jazz that Jerry Sloan is a patient man and left him in to start the fourth as he was a key in their run. However, the man must've had an ulcer in the process. Just shoot the basketball. If Jerry wanted anything else from that position he would play Andrei Kirilenko. Kyle finally got the message in the fourth sparking the Jazz to an upset win.



Order Restored.

Now I don't know who it is wearing Trevor Ariza's jersey, but for the first two games and three quarters it was not Trevor Ariza. Trevor is a nice player with decent ballhandling skills who can jump out of the gym. However, his career three point percentage shot hovers just under 30% but he still feels inclined to take it. Sound familiar Toronto fans. Yes in case you were wondering he is the rich man's Jamario Moon. However, in the first two games and three quarters of the third it was raining threes for this guy. That is not a joke he was 8 of 9 from the land beyond at that point. 8 of 9 that is absurd. Finally in the fourth quarter order returned. As Kyle Korver was taking and making his jumpshot, so was Trevor Ariza throwing up bricks. All was right again.

And that folks, was last nights view from the couch.

- POB