A Portuguesa

Hey Peeps and anyone else checking in. A special "Hey" goes out to Hazel Mae if she is checking in.

We're starting off in Europe this morning - no, not because my man Tilt is in Barcelona as we speak - but because UEFA's Under-21 European Championship kicks off today with our young men sporting "As Quinas" take to the pitch this afternoon against Belgium. The boys in Maroon and Green are in Group A with Belgium, Israel and the host Netherlands. Portugal will be led by wonderkid Luis Nani, Joao Moutinho who controls the midfield, Manuel Fernandes who plays the role of defensive midfielder, Antunes who anchors the defence, and Hugo Almeida up front. This group is considered one of the strongest under 21 teams Portugal has fielded since the great Luis Figo, Rui Costa, and Fernando Couto led the Golden Generation to two Youth World Cups in 1989 and 1991.

Our thoughts are with the young men who wear the shields proudly as they represent the Lusitanos around the world. As I found out in Boston last weekend when I wore my "Quinas" jersey - no matter how many generations you are removed from the homeland, everyone with a drop of Portuguese blood in them knows what the shields represent and the kinships transcends where you were born and your citizenship - more on that in this weekend's recap of our ten favourite memories from our trip to Fenway.

One last thought on the SenaTards and their fans - for my girl "B", I tried to show some respect for their accomplishment (reaching the Stanley Cup) - but it all went out the window with yesterday morning's sports reports and interviews with the Tards themselves. Today was the day that the media finally "broke" the devastating injuries the Tards were dealing with in the Stanley Cup run; though of course the team "doesn't want to use injuries as an excuse". The media used a number of bogus adjectives like "courageous" "heroic" and "gutsy" to describe what "these young men went through to bring a Cup to the fans of Ottawa". It shouldn't come as a shock that Tards fans were lapping this up like Jim Jones' kool-aid. This particular line of garbage shows why this organization and their fans are a complete joke; if you are not going to use injuries as an excuse, then don't - it is time the Tards and their fans wake up to the fact that they were beaten by a better team...the BEST team in the NHL. We don't want to hear about how Heatley and Redden, among others would not have played had it been the regular season - you were beaten in five games...deal with it, shut up and move on. And these jokers wonder why Canadians didn't support their run to the Cup...

Great end to the night in MLB last night with a back and forth game between Tilt's Blue Jays and my Dodgers (to bad he was in transit to Barcelona). Dustin McGowan and Brad Penny both pitched great games - only to see the bullpens mess it up. The Dodgers got a 2 run shot from Luis Gonzalez in the bottom of the seventh to erase a 1-0 Jays lead - McGowan retired sixteen in a row before allowing Jeff Kent to reach base before Gonzo's blast. Takashi Saito blew the lead in the ninth giving up a solo shot to Canadian Matt Stairs. The teams went to extra innings where the Jays took the lead with two outs on back to back hits - a miscommunication lead to John MacDonald's two out double, he eventually scored on Greg Zaun's single. That set the stage for Olmedo Saenz in the bottom of the tenth, after walking lead-off man Tony Abreu, Jays' closer Jeremy Accardo gave up a walk-off two-run shot to Saenz...Tilt, if you are reading this - I CALLED OLMEDO'S SHOT.

In other news of note, Josh Beckett wins another to move to 9-0 on the season - thanks to J.D. Drew's monster night (luckily we picked him up off waivers a few days ago).


FRIDAY'S THREE STARS
Dodgers PH Olmedo Saenz comes off the bench and hits a two-run shot to win it for the Dodgers in the bottom of the tenth...gotta love those walk-off shots.

Boston Red Sox RF J.D. Drew made the most of his return to the lineup, going 3 for 5 with to home runs and seven runs batted in.

Chicago Cubs LF Alfonso Soriano went 4 for 5, with three solo shots, to lead the Cubs to a 9-1 pounding of the Braves.


SATURDAY'S THREE PLAY
Another tough night going 2-2 but getting killed by the juice - in situations like this (if you are playing these picks - minimize the loss), we go into today - $755 for the week. We're going with big favourites today - what we believe to be sure things...though there is really no such thing. Good luck if you play them

New York over Pittsburgh - Clemens starts for the Yankees today, so you know Yankee Stadium will be rockin. Lay $100 on the Yanks - $260.

Minnesota over Washington - ok, we were wrong yesterday, but there is no way Johan Santana loses today...no way, no how. Lay $150 on the Twins - $400 (scary number because the books don't want you to play it).

Milwaukee over Texas - Expect Ben Sheets to come up big today after yesterday's loss to the Rangers. Lay $100 on Milwaukee - $150.

Chicago over Houston - We like the Sox to rebound after yesterday's loss to these road wimps; John Garland goes for the White Sox. Lay $100 on Chicago - $115.

That's it for today gang...have a great one peeps.

Good luck to the boys in the Netherlands today - we'll be watching and singing A Portuguesa today...Hero'is do mar!

Hazel, I hope things are groovy in your world.

I'm out.