Hockey God Speaks - Like Only He Can

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

You had to know it wouldn't take long for Hockey God (aka Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke) to share his views on the offer tendered to Ducks forward Dustin Penner by Kevin Lowe of the Edmonton Oilers. The business of professional sports is run by men who always try to respect their colleagues and not cause any waves or show signs of dissention amongst the ranks - Brian Burke is one man who really does march to the beat of his own drummer and has no problem calling out a player or fellow GM if he thinks something stinks. You can read Burke's thoughts on TSN - it is definitely worth the read.

This is why we've got a case of man-love for Burke, he pulls no punches. We wouldn't give a squirt of pee to be in Kevin Lowe's shoes right now - you know Burke is going to file this one in the memory banks and use this to kick Lowe right in the nuts somewhere down the road. From our perspective, the offer to Penner has more to do with Lowe's bruised ego after getting fleeced by Burke in the Pronger trade.

In other news

Things continue to get worse for Michael Vick as his "good name" is shelved by Nike. The sporting goods giant announced that it had decided to suspend Vick's contract with them, WITHOUT PAY and halting sales of Vick-related shoes and other products - to make matters worse, Reebok announced that they were pulling his jersey's off the shelf. If all that wasn't bad enough - news out today suggests that one of Vick's co-defendants plans to enter a guilty plea on Monday...we are about to find out about Ron Mexico's involvement in this mess.

Don't look know but the Asterisk hit his 754th home run last night - history could be made this weekend, regardless of how you view it, it is history.

MLB trade rumours about before the July 31st deadline for moving players without them having to clear waivers. One rumour that intrigues us has the Dodgers moving first baseman James Loney to the Rangers for Mark Texeira - while we hate the thought of moving a good young player like Loney...we love the thought of the Dodgers having a Portuguese kid on the roster.

Our man Sparky in yahoo group is convinced the Sox are going to get Jermaine Dye from the White Sox this weekend - saying the Sox have assured him he'll get 5 games per week. We'll see, but we've learned not to doubt Sparky.


FRIDAY'S THREE STARS
Winnipeg Blue Bombers slotback Milt "Chocolate Milt" Stegall set a CFL record yesterday when he caught his 138th TD passes putting him number one on the all-time list for touchdowns.

Cleveland Indians SS Jhonny Peralta hit two home runs and drove in five to lead the Tribe to a 10-4 win over the Twins.

We're giving the third star to Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke for bitch-slapping Kevin Lowe.


SATURDAY THREE PLAY
Tough night last night splitting picks - but as a bonus (we're taking it) the Yankees and O's completed a suspended game we picked back on June 28 - so the total stands at + $230 for week. Today's suggestions:

Atlanta over Arizona - we'll go with John Smoltz over Doug Davis today, Atlanta will be looking for payback after last night's loss in extras; expect Smoltz to shut down a weak DBacks hitting lineup. Lay $100 on the Braves - $135.

New York over Baltimore - we aren't quite sold on Clemens...but we are taking the Yankees offence against Burres in this one. Lay $100 on New York - $175.

Minnesota over Cleveland - the Tribe had a good night against Boof Bonser - things will be a lot tough against Johan Santana tonight. Lay $100 on the Twins - $140.

Toronto over Chicago - the Jays have been better of late, fooling their fans into thinking they can get back into the race - yeah right. Still though, you have to like Halladay against Buehrle tonight. Lay $100 on Toronto - $135.

That's it for today gang - thanks for taking the time to check in. Have a great one peeps.

Hazel, we hope things are groovy in your world - have a great weekend.

We're Out.