The countdown has begun for...

- ...The Super Bowl, as New England and New York square off on Sunday.  What I'm not sure about is whether Bill Parcells or Dave Meggett will be cheering for the Giants or Patriots.  Perhaps Tiki Barber will put on a throwback Drew Bledsoe jersey and pray New York doesn't win.  If he says he's happy for his ex-teammates he's lying - he's wanted a ring so badly and it stings that the team has come together without him or his ego in that locker room.

Speaking of Bledsoe, it would have been interesting if Robert Kraft were to have called him for this game in case Tom Brady's foot fell off during a drive.  Kid you not, I was thinking about it.

What I do know is this is New England's game to win and to lose.  The New York Giants have fought hard to get here and should be credited for coming together and growing as a team through the pains they have shared together.  Nobody expected the week 17 matchup of these two teams to be the Super Bowl preview.  We'd be in for a great game if this was the case.  But instead of the game being played in New York we watch this in Arizona, a neutral site game.

That said, Arizona's warm weather plays into New England's passing attack and if their O-line stays one step ahead of the Giants defensive front it will be a long game for that Giant defense that has a very suspect secondary as is.

My call is New England will win and cap off one of the greatest seasons in sports history.

-...Jason Kidd sweepstakes have begun as the disgruntled point guard wants out of New Jersey.  The backboard and basketball rims inside the area breathe a sigh of relief.

Let's remember how he showed up; he left a deep West Conference and a checkered past with Phoenix to a depleted East with virtually no dominant point guard left (A.I. had moved to the 2 spot by then).  Though he couldn't shake off the rusty jump shot or his wife's makeup from his knuckles he gave New Jersey a lift into the NBA finals twice and quickly helped himself to becoming the best point guard on the planet - facing nobody in the East to get there.

Since then he helped Byron Scott get fired and he still dents rims with regularity.  He also went through a messy divorce and hasn't been that leader New Jersey can depend on.  Perhaps he will head back West to help a decent team get better, but he will quickly find out that there are point guards - LOTS OF THEM - that will shread him to pieces every night.  If he goes to the West he isn't a top 4 point guard in that conference.  Good luck with that trade.

-...Johan Santana is looking to get PAID by the New York Mets.  Is it just me or are these prospects not what they seem?  If I'm giving up potentially the best pitcher in baseball why would I want a mid-20's pitcher with a losing record and a 22 year old who makes Richie Sexson a batting champ?  I suppose the Mets needed this one as they held onto Lastings Milledge so long that they got, well, nothing in return.  Unless this 22 year old becomes legit overnight and learns to hit at least .260 in the major leagues this trade will be a success for the Mets - unless Santana goes Francisco Liriano in two months.  God forbid.

-...Tiger Woods attempt at the Grand Slam.  We say this every year and we see him fall short.  No slight on the guy - it's not like he sucks or anything.

But Tiger is entering his golf prime, or at least according to history as guys in their early 30's find their best success on the golf course, Seve Ballasteros excluded.  So if there was a shot at it we could see the best attempts over the next couple of years.  After that, we may not see another male golfer bring the kind of game or intensity or desire to win like Tiger Woods. 

It's sad, but wait and see when Tiger hits 45; we'll watch Tiger past his prime and obviously not the golfer he once was KILLING himself on the golf course for another major championship and he'll be playing with a young stud who just doesn't have the same will, focus or guts Tiger brings to the golf course.  It's great now that we see the guy who wants it the most winning the most - but how will we react when we see that same man unable to beat random Joe's who luck out a major victory? 

We'll probably be cheering for the fallen hero to return to glory one last time the way we rooted for Jack Nicklaus in 1986 and, for me, 1998.

The countdown has begun.  Tick tock, tick tock.

Break out the hometown flag as this writer is playing the role of homer. 

It couldn't be further from the truth as the Toronto Raptors shocked the Boston Celtics Wednesday night in Beantown.  The game-winning basket was scored by the man who began the year as the second-fiddle to starting point guard T.J. Ford, who suffered a career-threatening injury when he was accidentally hit in the head by Al Hortford that triggered a neck/spinal cord injury that has plagued his young career.

What Calderon has done in place of Ford has not only been remarkable, it comes to no surprise to this writer who has watched a young man with a lot of talent find himself and his abilities to be a very effective point guard in the NBA.  In fact so effective that he should be going to the NBA All-Star game this year.

My gut feeling is he won't.

Heading into the game against Boston, Calderon was scoring just under 12 per game and roughly 8.5 assists per game to go with a shooting percentage of over 50%, free throw percentage over 91% and a 3-point shot at 42% - a significant increase from last season.  Let's also remember that his assist-to-turnover ratio is over 5.5 to 1 - best in the NBA.

But you must remember that he was the backup at the beginning of the season which will naturally keep his averages low for an All-Star calibre player.  That said, Calderon has averaged 14 per game, 9.5 assists per game, 50% shooting with over 96% at the free throw line and a 41% 3-point shot over the last month.  His assist-to-turnover ratio?  It dropped to 4.7 to 1 - still incredible.  It's also incredible to watch a guy adjust to the significant increase in playing time and having to be the man in crunch time which he has done gracefully.

Despite having a much better year than Jason Kidd, Kidd will represent the East at the point guard position.  That comes to no surprise as Calderon was not on the ballot and even if he was the All-Star selection process is a popularity vote and the best player does not always get voted in.  The next spot (or two) will be filled by Chauncey Billups who is having another solid season.  If a 3rd point guard is selected it gets tricky; Joe Johnson could be asked to slide to the point guard position if he is picked to go (as could Dwyane Wade), and the other true point guard candidate that could take that last spot is Mo Williams of Milwaukee, who's having a very good year in his own right.  Jamaal Tinsley would have gotten consideration before the new year but he has begun to fade.  Honourable mention to another guy who is having a solid year is Andre Miller.  However, I don't know if he would be producing like this with a team that was going somewhere.

If there were no ballots and they stuck the vote in my hands, Billups and Calderon would be the two point guards going out of the East.  Then again, I'd probably ask to move one of the stud guards from the West into the East.  I want to run down the loaded guns they have: Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Baron Davis, Tony Parker, Jason Terry and Steve Nash.  Not too shabby.  Nash, Paul and Williams would be my first 3 picks out of the bunch.

Perhaps the late opportunity to start and the lack of publicity for Jose Calderon will be the reason he sits at home during this year's All-Star festivities.  Make no mistake about this young man because he has come a long way since his rookie year with the Toronto Raptors.  If his improvement in his game continues he will be an All-Star next year - unless we witness an incredible comeback from T.J. Ford that would spark discussion as one of the best feel-good comeback stories of 2008.

 

Canadian humor.  Laugh a little.  Because when this post is over you won't want to laugh. 

Speaking of which, I can't laugh at this Washington v. Chicago Thursday night game with the irritating Bryant Mumble calling the game.  Bad injuries, bad first half so far.  But there are more depressing topics to discuss.

- I have been sitting on this for a while because I wanted to choose my words properly.  My problem is I can't seem to choose which words to keep or let loose.  It has something to do with a reputable award that is over-inflated and tainted.  That is called SI Sportsman on the year. 

When I found out it was Brett Favre I didn't know whether to laugh or shake my head - so I did both.  As if the man needed any more unnecessary recognition he gets an award he did deserve.   Look, I know he broke Dan Marino's record, I realize that.  But are you going to tell me he deserved this award over Peyton Manning and his climb to Super Bowl victory?  Who had more pressure on him than Peyton?  He answered his toughest critics by winning the big one.  Clearly he had a much tougher road THIS YEAR than Favre.  We're talking about a sports calender year and not a total body of work. 

But this year the sportsman of the year should have been Roger Federer.  The guy had another phenomenal year and a better year than Favre.

What is hilarious about this is the term "sportsman".  You would think of a "sportsman" as a good teammate, selfless player and great team and individual achievement.  Selfless he isn't.  Did you watch the Dallas game last Thursday?  Did you watch him go downtown a few times for no reason?  Did you see his disappointment in his face after Ryan Grant's rushing touchdown?  Or what about the time he cost his kicker a chip-shot against Minnesota in the playoffs a few years ago because he underhanded a pass over the line of scrimmage to avoid a hit - a LAUGHED about it.  It cost his kicker yardage and he missed the field goal.  Or what about his indecision on playing in 2006?  That may make him a poor teammate by compromising the Green Bay Packers franchise - and perhaps using this strategy to leave town and play for a better team.  How about meddling with another player's contract dispute (Javon Walker) - yet nobody will acknowledge Brett's disloyalty or selfishness in that situation.  Face it people, he is in the same class(less) as other football players you call selfish (Owens, Moss, CJ etc.)  Wake up and watch his Jeckyl and Hyde reaction to passing and rushing touchdowns.

- In case the last paragraph rubbed people the wrong way I should dust off a previous post where I said the Cam Cameron hire was a terrible hire for Miami.  Had to find something a bit easier to validate.

- Anyone that feels sorry for small market teams like the Kansas City Royals should just forget about it because signing Jose Guillen to 36 for 3 is ridiculous.  And he will miss the first 15 games thanks to his love for juicing.  RED FLAGS.  If he has to play clean this year will he drive in nearly 100 runs like he did last year?  Don't count on it.

- I was hoping Toronto would give Florida their entire farm system to get Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera but I forgot they don't have one.  Nonetheless they want to trade their best player, Alex Rios, for either Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum.  Toronto fans are still waiting for a GM.

But Detroit has put themselves into a great position.  They have a young slugger that could be an incredible impact over the next decade.  Pudge and Guillen and Mags will not be around forever.  The pitching nucleus looks good for the Tigers.  The closer position seems to be the one weak spot. 

What does Detroit do with Brandon Inge?  They could have put Cabrera to the outfield except Detroit picked up Jacque Jones.  Inge will be moved - with the Tigers eating up some of his contract.

- Jason Kidd either had a migrane or is on strike - which one is it?  Either someone doesn't want him in the organization or Kidd wants out.  Either way this doesn't sound positive.  I can't decide who's at fault because Jason Kidd lacks credibility.  We know he can pass the ball, we know he can dent rims with his jump shot and we know he can beat his wife but I don't know if he is telling the truth. 
  
- Went to the Raptor game last night to watch Phoenix and it was another incredible game to watch.  All I've got to say.

- Cleveland Cavaliers are breathing a sigh of relief thanks to Charlotte's 17 for 3 offer for Anderson Varejao.  It is much better than 52 for 6 for a guy who averages under 7 points and 7 rebounds per game.

- Not a shock to hear Marc Crawford could have been the one telling his players to hurt Shane Moore.  It's not the first time a coach has done that and it hasn't been the last.  Still, people are missing some points...

1 - Bertuzzi issued the warning in a post-game interview prior to that game
2 - Matt Cooke dropped the gloves with Moore in period 1 - but lost the fight
3 - You get retribution early in the game and get it out of the way so we can move on.  We all thought the Cooke fight was the retribution but Vancouver broke the unwritten code - severely
4 - Bertuzzi has always been dirty - he once kicked a guy in junior and had an 8-game suspension another time. 
5 - It was a gutless attack and going face to face would have been more appropriate.

Crawford isn't innocent.  He was smiling when Moore had his bloody face on the ice.  He is an embarrassment to mankind.  And he has never been a good coach.  Ask the 1998 Team Canada Olympic team.

It's time for bed.  There is a feeling of ridicule coming on...

Wanted to say thank you to everyone here that has ever listened to my show during its tenure.  I have been offered a job that I could not refuse, putting my show on a hiatus for the rest of 2007.  Depending on circumstances I could have a new time slot, new show name, new co-host and new format in 2008.  Or my new gig offers me a permanent contracted position.  

What I know is I appreciate blog nation and what it stands for.  I will continue to surface on the blogs and hope to write every weekend, if not more.  I'd like to thank Demonicume for helping me continue to post on both Fox and Real Sports Blogger. 

Have a happy halloween and remember those who sacrificed their lives for us on remembrance day.

The Dan

PS - Phoenix v. Chicago NBA Finals prediction.


 

It's been a wild week in the blog world this week.  Starting with Canada's birthday to America's birthday all the way to today with some interesting blogs between and around the two birthdays.  Perhaps this is a generalization but I would think that nearly 100% of the blog writers have an incredible amount of passion for sports.  That is why we joined this site in the first place.  Blog on...

Baseball

- I love Roy Oswalt as a pitcher and I think he has the potential to turn in a great looking career as long as he stays healthy.  However, can you justify him as John Smoltz's replacement on the All-Star team roster?  Not over John Maine.  Not over Brandon Webb.  Not even over Tom Gorzelanny, which would have solved the Pittsburgh issue if Tony LaRussa had kept Brian Fuentes at home originally and chose Gorzelanny to be the Pirate rep.  Then LaRussa could have taken either Hanley Ramirez or Edgar Rentaria to be the backup shortstop.

The American League Roster for the most part looks good.  Jim Leyland did the best job, in my opinion, of any manager of recent years.  LaRussa on the other hand simply continues to make a mess.

Ever since his DUI he has not had a very good few months.  His team, the defending World Series champions, are looking like duds in the worst division in baseball.  And there has been talk about LaRussa potentially being replaced.  Today I began thinking about his coaching career and how he has been blessed with some very good teams during his career.  He may go to the Hall of Fame with his 2 rings, but his teams have been so loaded that he could have a good 5, 6 or even 7 rings as a manager.  Even Bobby Cox thinks LaRussa has urinated too many chances away.

- Seems strange to see John Maclaren managing the Seattle Mariners.  I will always remember him as the 3rd base coach for the Toronto Blue Jays and getting run over during a game by current Chicago White Sox GM Kenny Williams, which brings me to my next point...

- With the White Sox being 1000 games out of a playoff spot why would they want Ichiro Suzuki right now?  Do they plan on signing him during the off-season?  And if they give him the $20 million he'll be asking for, will they have enough to bolster the lineup that has been impotent offensively?  And will they continue to go on with Ozzie Guillen as the coach?  Someone once told me this quote that seems to describe Guillen very well: Short fuse, short success.  Albeit he tasted gold early in his tenure.

- Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi could not reach the microphone fast enough to blast A.J. Burnett on radio yesterday.  This made news this morning and here are a few issues...

1) J.P. was the one who gave the bogus contract to the guy in the first place. 
2) Blasting players through the media is chicken-bleep
3) Burnett was up in the top 6 at one point this season in pitches per game and out of the 6 pitchers, he threw the least amount of innings.  With a guy who has a history of arm problems that means the blame should also go to the manager, John Gibbons, for not handling him properly.
4) How can J.P. claim Burnett is scared to let his arm loose when he has topped out at 100 MPH a few times the last 2 seasons?  Absurd claim.

Again, Burnett was not a good signing when it happened and J.P. is just trying to cover his butt for one of several questionable decisions during his tenure as GM.  He should have been fired 2 years ago as he is about to enter year 7 of a 5 year plan that has blown up in his face.
 

Basketball

- Grant Hill appears to be heading to Phoenix this upcoming season to play for the Suns for under $2 million.  A lot of people are looking at him wondering how he could "turn his back" on the Orlando Magic.  I find that hard to believe since they have been looking to upgrade at the 2 or 3 guard position and they did so with Rashard Lewis.  Granted, Hill signed for a huge contract after he was dealt by Detroit.  However, this is the same guy who busted his tail just to get back onto an NBA court.

We seem to forget the kind of pain and damage he suffered with his ankle and how his career was suppose to be over.  He bled, sweated and cried every single day during rehab to get himself back onto the court.  He did it for the love of the game and he did it to prove something to himself and those around him.  People questioned his heart, and today there is no doubt that he has the heart to compete on that court every single night if his body tells him "it's go time".  He didn't have to bust himself to come back but he did anyway.

The Orlando Magic franchise understood what they were doing with this investment and like certain investments they can sometimes turn up sour.  The only good thing about this investment was that Grant Hill's comeback to the NBA was a feel-good story for those who have been told they could not come back to play basketball at a high level ever again.  Hill owes the Magic nothing and he is not turning his back on the franchise.  His comeback should have a long-lasting impression on every Orlando player and no value can be placed on that.

- With all that said, can Hill play in the Phoenix system?  Well if you can make baskets and run you should be good, so as long as Hill is healthy he'll fit in nicely with the Suns.  Now they have an 9-man team rather than 8.

Hockey

- Huge scare in Buffalo as Thomas Vanek was offered 50 million for 7 years.  Why was that a scare?  I bet Buffalo wanted to sign him at 5 million per year and now they will be stuck paying 7.  This contract may look like a lot but with this kid's upside and his age this may be a steal.  They'd rather be paying a 23-year old that kind of money rather than a Chris Drury who's production will go down over the next few years.  Granted, Drury is dubbed as a great leader but if Vanek scores 40-50 goals per season nobody will care about Drury.  Someone on the Sabres will step up to be a leader.  You can teach more players to become leaders than teach them to score 40 per season.  We could be looking at the second-best left winger in the NHL behind Alexander Ovechkin.

Tennis

- Federer v. Nadal.  Its like a Main Event at a Pay Per View boxing match.  I crave for that matchup in every single tournament they enter and as long as Nadal gets through and Andy Roddick does what he does best for Federer (lay face down), we should get to see another incredible finals matchup at Wimbledon.

Have a great weekend folks. 

Greetings Ladies and Gentleman of the United States of America.  This is your Canadian representative, The Dan.  What we have are a series of questions posed to you from random Canadians that you can answer for us.  Send them to my direct e-mail account at chevradionoise@gmail.com and these will be read tomorrow during the 9AM-Noon editing of my show at www.chevradioam.com.

Here are some of the questions posed to you:

1. Are Americans embarrassed that CFL balls are bigger then NFL balls?

2. On a given day, how many people get laid at Disneyland and Disneyworld?

3. What's with America's fascination with scepter muscles?

4. Why is the Star-Spangled banner laced with an incredible amount of sexual innuendo? (Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, who's broad and we don't want to know what is gladly streaming).

5. What is with your infatuation of reality television and Paris Hilton?  Is it because both suck?

6. Why call it a bathroom where there is no bathtub anywhere in the room?

7. Is WhiteCastle that good?

8. TRADE ALERT: We have a dandy of a deal.  Since you guys are looking to win the 2008 Summer Olympics in basketball I would trade you back Steve Nash and I'll throw in Shania Twain and Donald Sutherland for LeBron James, Carrie Underwood and James Cromwell.  That way Donald can play Kiefer's dad on "24". 

Remember to tune into the All-Star Blogger Show tonight on www.blogtalkradio.com.  Good luck to all those involved in tonight's program.

The moment your team is eliminated from the playoffs or from playoff contention is the time you keep quiet from any smack talk towards another team that has faired better than you during the year. That should be the unwritten code for sports fans everywhere. Why crack on someone's team when your team was brutal? That's pure hypocrisy. If us fans can show some humility and sportsmanship then all is good. But all the baseball fans can talk junk all they want over the next 4 months. Now let's start this blog...

Basketball

- No matter how you looked at this matchup, a great team was going to be eliminated and it was going to leave a bad taste in people's mouths. The Phoenix Suns happened to be the fall team in the matchup and as a playoff observer without any bias, people probably would prefer to see the Suns over the San Antonio Spurs for entertainment value. However, I am of the opinion that this matchup should have went down one round later. Yes, Utah could have upset the Spurs and even Golden State could have bumped Phoenix. However, basketball fans would much rather have taken their chances to see a Phoenix/San Antonio conference final. No matter how good Utah is, the West final has lost it's lustre and that is unfortunate. Least I can say that 3 of the top 6 NBA teams made the final four and Utah is part of that 6.

- Also part of the 6 are the Detroit Pistons who finally found a way to beat Chicago. Despite P.J. Brown's first half of his basketball life, the Bulls could not capitalize as they were up 5 heading into halftime. This matchup showed us the vulnerability of Detroit who should have squashed Chicago much easier than they did. As for Cleveland, they have yet to face a quality playoff opponent yet and we'll finally get to see them play a real team in Detroit (Thank god their series with New Jersey is over - that was was trainwreck). Expect this series to be in Detroit's favour but don't ask how many games it will take because that will be decided by Detroit. It is their series to lose.

Hockey

- Heading into the Buffalo/Ottawa Eastern Final we knew one team would have a serious heartbreak when they'd get eliminated. For Ottawa it would have been a deeper cut to an already severe wound of past playoff failures. But they FINALLY prevailed and it's Buffalo that has to wonder 'what if'. This is a Sabres team that dominated the East for the entire regular season. They came up just short last season when they thought they had the Stanley Cup finals appearance within their grasp. Now they will lose at least one top star, potentially two. They will walk into next season with a talented team but certainly not as deep as this year's squad. Needless to say it was going to be hard to see one of these teams not make it as both franchises have skeleton's in their playoff closets. One more point about Buffalo: They remind me of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1992-94. They nearly made the Stanley Cup final in 1993 only to be an uncalled penalty and a Wayne Gretzkey performance of the ages away from getting the Toronto/Montreal hockey superpowers matchup. Then, like Buffalo did this season, the Leafs began the 1993-94 season with 10 wins in a row. Toronto then lost to a team who use to fall short and dissapoint in the playoffs despite having great talent: The Vancouver Canucks. Like Ottawa, they were the class of their division back in the early 1990's and won the Campbell Conference despite not winning the division that year like they did in year's past.

Football

- You won't go to mini-camp and now you will? Dear Brett Favre: Make up your mind and stick with it. This reminds me of his play on the field - questionable decisions.

Baseball

- Is there something up commissioner Bud Selig's sleeve? I did not understand ignoring the homerun record by Barry Bonds - until now. There could be one thing he wants to acheive by failing to show up for it and that's to send a message to fans and baseball that this record is worth nothing to him (I would understand it, but it's not the right move). The other thing could be that he's sitting on evidence that could clearly cream (pun intended) Bonds' career for good.

Currently I am near the end of the book "Game of Shadows". I am about 260 pages into it and the book has blown me away thus far. If Victor Conte had played his cards close to the vest perhaps he would still be supplying to this day. Though we have no evidence of other people designing undetectable performance enhancers as we speak, you know there are people out there producing and handing them to current athletes. We don't know the extent of how far or how bad this has gotten out of hand in all sports, much less baseball or the Olympics. And even more importantly, you want syringes and pills taken away from the high school kids who are looking for a pick-me-up to get into Division 1 Colleges or to get drafted as soon as possible - depending on the sport.

OTHER

- It's Victoria Day weekend and the fireworks are blasting off so loud outside my house that I keep thinking Jeff Weaver is giving up bombs to 12 year old kids at the local ballpark. This will go on all night so I hope you guys sleep well for me tonight because I certainly won't. Especially if Brad Lidge comes in to relieve Weaver.

The beautiful part about sports is you cannot run and you cannot hide.  This isn't like politics where something could happen that becomes a matter of public record and a politician will attempt to lie about how they voted on an issue or what they have said on record.  Better yet, they can tell you their favourite baseball player is Manny Ortez.  But while we sort out whether they are on the level or are just B.S. artists, we have sports on live and we pick for ourselves what we get out of it.  Everything about sports is right in front of you and that is the best part of it.  We can see events for ourselves and determine our own point of views on how things go down.  If we never had extensive coverage on sports we would have screamed 'conspiracy' during Game 4 of the Spurs/Suns game.  But since we saw it for ourselves would could formulate our own opinions.  That is why sports is so good.

- But what's not so good has been the play of the East Conference teams.  Watching the New Jersey v. Cleveland Game 5 last night made me want to scratch the walls until my fingers bleed.  Horrendous basketball, especially in the second half of the game.  Donyell Marshall played 7 minutes and that was 10 minutes too long.  And this comes after the Detroit Pistons failed yet again in their attempt to finish off the Chicago Bulls.  We talked up Detroit so much because in the second half of the regular season they stepped their game up after acquiring Chris Webber.  Now we have looked like fools as they have failed to pull the trigger to finish the Bulls off.  Credit to Chicago for fighting but Detroit has looked so bad I wonder how they got up 3-0 in the first place.  But that is not a fight we should get into as the NBA East is simply inferior to the West.  We are witnessing the NBA out of the West Conference, while the NBA East is playing for the NBDL title.  I'm sorry, the East is the B-league and they haven't played well enough to deserve better credit than the West Conference.  There is a good reason why the NBA First Team comes from the West, and deservingly so.

- The Phoenix Suns ran out of gas with their 6-man system yesterday as they lost a game they had within their grasp.  I wondered why they went with just the 6-man system but after about 5 seconds I understood that there was no way the Suns could have done anything more as they have only played the same 8 every single game.  Yes I know Pat Burke played but 3 minutes does not count.  When I looked at their roster there was one guy perfect to play in that game.  He's a veteran who has played in big games before, he's not what he once was but he probably has a ridiculous bank account: Former Wolverine and Phoenix Spokesman Jalen Rose.  Last night was a Jalen Rose type of game, perfect for his intensity and mentality.  He could have given the Suns 10 strong minutes, which would have meant less touches for Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa, and that would have been a good thing last night.  Whenever they tried to run the offense and hold the ball they exposed why Steve Nash is the MVP of that team.

- Regardless of the victory last night, Buffalo didn't exactly light the world on fire.  Now that 9-second goal was phenomenal because it set a tone for the Sabres, but right after that the Sabres were out-played by Ottawa.  Thank Ryan Miller for the victory because without it they are cleaning their lockers out as we speak.  For Buffalo to win, Miller will have to steal this series like no other goaltender has stolen a series before.

- Chris Pronger'#### on Tomas Holmstrom is an example of what is bad about hockey.  Hockey experts will say that it's 'part of the game', but that is bullcrap.  It needs to be taken out.  That cheap shot being down 4-zip is like Kyle Farnsworth throwing a 100 MPH at Manny Ramirez's head when down by 9 and Manny'#### 2 bombs in the game.  Or like hitting Peyton Manning extremely late in the knee when down by 3 TD's.  Or for a basketball reference, throwing a forearm shiver on a player going for a lay-up when your team is down 15.  So tell me, if it's not right in those other sports why is it ok in hockey?  The answer is simple: It isn't, but people have accepted it and that's bush.

- Was it just me or was Bronson Arroyo's last pitch last night a total strike?

- Who is talking Toronto FC and why?  Not even Toronto is talking Toronto FC.

Thanks to Miracle and Shooter for their continued hard work and commitment to my show.  I appreciate all the support.  Have a great long weekend everyone!